CHAPTER 6: TRUE SAGE MODE

Hey guys! I'm back with chapter 6! Last chapter was pretty uneventful, so I'll try to make this one a little more actiony (is that a word?) and maybe funnier.

DISCLAIMER: I own none of the characters I use except Kitsune Koji. Eveline belongs to a friend. Their account is linked in chapter two.

LET'S GO

I woke up in the morning and jumped out of bed. I looked at the clock. It was 6:00 AM. I went outside after getting dressed and sat down with a cup of coffee. I looked out over the horizon, out into the devastated country. Gio did all this? I thought to myself. How immensely strong could he be? I got up and walked back inside for another pot of coffee when I ran into Eveline. She had just woken up and was still pretty groggy.

"Morning," She said. She walked to the coffee maker and made a pot, then went and sat in the chair I was in. I walked out to her.

"I thought you were Sleeping out on your own and training on your own," I said, slightly tauntingly.

"I figured since we don't hate each other anymore we can try and be friends." she said.

"I thought I was wearing down your walls, not breaking them like Jericho's!" I said, trying not to laugh. She whacked me upside the head

"Very funny." She said. "Screw off if you don't want to be stimulating."

"That sounded...oddly sexual…" I said coyly

"SCREW OFF!" She yelled. I laughed and went back inside, where Fukasaku and Shima were sitting in front of a computer. They looked up and saw me.

"Ah! There you are!" They said simultaneously. They closed the laptop and got up. "You hungry?" Shima asked.

"Yeah, I am. Where's the kitchen?" I asked. They led me to a room with a stove, a dishwasher, a sink, and a refrigerator. They got out a few eggs and started cooking some scrambled eggs.

"Hey, You planning on helping me get sage mode down?" I asked Fukasaku.

"Yes." He said. "I have a few things to show you first, though. Two things to be exact." I ate breakfast, and we all went out to the training area.

"So, Kitsune," Fukasaku began. "What nature are you?"
"Is this a trick question?" I asked. It seemed obvious that I was primarily fire and lightning, and I told him just that.

"No, you aren't. See, you are the jinchuuriki of the nine tailed beast. Because of this, you have control of all five basic natures, plus yin and yang." Fukasaku explained. " I will teach you two techniques. One is lightning release, and the other is chakra shaping. We will start with the chakra shaping one. It is called rasengan. It was Naruto boy's signature move. You need to focus your chakra into your hand, spin it in three directions simultaneously, and then be able to keep doing that until it hits something or is released. It Naruto boy a whole week to master, and he only got it because he used shadow clones." Fukasaku explained.

"Oh, like this?" I said as I made one perfectly without shadow clones.

"Oh...okaaaaay?" Fukasaku said in awe. He finally shut his mouth and looked up at me. "The other technique is called the Chidori. It was created by Kakashi Hatake, and was often used by Sasuke Uchiha, your grandfather. It is a failed attempt to add lightning release to rasengan. You form an ox, a hare, and a monkey, then put your hand down and summon lightning to it." This was one I hadn't done before. I tried it. I got a few sparks, but nothing more. I tried again, using more chakra. It failed again. I poured as much chakra into my hand as I could, then tried one more time. My hand exploded with lightning, and a searing pain leapt up my arm, but I held the jutsu.

"NOW ACTIVATE YOUR SHARINGAN AND TRY TO HIT THIS CLONE!" Fukasaku shouted over the noise of the Chidori. I knew where the name came from now, the name Thousand birds. It sounded like a thousand birds chirping. I activated my sharingan. I ran at the clone and realised the lightning was speeding me up. I hit the clone and saw the lightning go through it's chest before it disappeared, along with my jutsu.

"As you can see, It pierces things. It can pierce virtually anything. It is extremely powerful, but it uses a lot of chakra. Sasuke could only use it twice a day at first." Fukasaku explained. I didn't feel tired in the slightest.

"Now can we work on sage mode?" I asked. "What does it even do?"

"See that frog statue behind you?" Fukasaku asked. "Go try and lift it normally." He requested. I walked over to it and attempted to pick it up. I grabbed on, lifted, and couldn't get it off the ground.

"Now activate sage mode and try again." He said. I absorbed some energy (just a little too much) and lifted the statue near effortlessly.

"Sage mode not only makes you stronger," Fukasaku explained, "It also makes you faster, more durable, increases chakra reserves, and increases reaction speeds. The more you balance the sage mode, the stronger it gets. You also need to learn it without the oil, as it can't be taken off the mountain."

We worked for hours, but I couldn't grasp it perfectly. We ate dinner in disappointment. When I went to go to bed, I had an idea. The next morning, when I woke up, I went out to the training area and formed two shadow clones, both of which put their hand on my shoulder. I then began to absorb nature chakra very slowly. I had them push it in until i was close, and then take it out when I was about to go over. Finally, I managed to balance it perfectly. I had no deformities and was stronger than ever. I looked over and saw Fukasaku sitting there, observing me.

"I see you have figured out a technique." Fukasaku mused. "You seem to have mastered the amount, but I can not continue until you do it without help." I looked at him, looked down at my hands, and formed a holding seal while gathering it alone, faster this time. I opened my eyes and knew instantly I was in sage mode. I looked over at him. He nodded with approval

"You seem to have it down. Do it three more times, then come to me in sage mode at the arena." He walked away. I did what he asked and went to see what he wanted. I got to the arena and saw Eveline standing there, outfitted for battle.

"Wanna try this again?" She asked, implying she wanted to fight me again. I took off the gi I was wearing so i was bare-chested and renewed sage mode fully.

"Fukasaku hasn't taught me to use that yet, but I know how to deal with it!" She shouted. She obviously hadn't learnt anything. I activated my sharingan and stood across from her. She launched herself at me, but with my sharingan, I saw it coming. I dodged under it and caught her foot, flinging her away, but I noticed something. She was faster. Did she improve this much on her own? I asked myself. No, it can't be possible I resolved. I kept my place and replaced the sharingan in my left eye with a byakugan. I fell into a gentle fist stance, and struck her four times, each on a different point, all in the solar plexus. She fell to the ground wheezing a storm. I stood over her and began taunting her.

"Didn't you want to fight me? You can't even land any hits!" I said, barely holding back a laugh.

"IMA KILL IT!" Eveline yelled. She launched back and jumped up, immediately slipping into a better fighting stance. She launched herself at me again, but this time she had a rasengan in her hand. I slipped down and kicked her, but she managed to tap me and launch me a bit back.

"Oh look. A single hit. Oh no." I said in a mocking voice. I formed a chidori and ran at her. I cut her leg and slid past her after dispelling the lightning. I hit in another three chakra points. She stumbled back and wove some hand seals I had never seen before.

"ALL KILLING ASH BONES!" She yelled as two large spikes made of ash release materialised. She threw them at me, and I dodged out of the way. They struck a cactus and made it dissolve. I turned back to her just in time to catch one that was coming for my face.

"Can't let that hit me," I muttered under my breath, ready for more. I slipped under her and used a rasengan to launch her away from me. I then wove a rat, an ox, a hare, and a monkey.

"ARTIFICIAL TRUTH SEEKING ORB!" I shouted as eight orbs came up out of the ground and circled around me. I had created them to replicate the truth-seeking orbs used by the sage of six paths. They were the same thing, balls containing every chakra release, but they were weaker. They could turn her to ash on contact. I launched one at her, and she jumped out of the way. I attacked her with them, constantly moving them without moving myself. Suddenly, she launched herself at me. I realised I could use that moment to test something. I summoned a truth-seeking ball and told it to expand. It became a shield in front of me, deflecting her blow. I combined the eight into a bo staff and jumped over to her. We stood across from each other, and she suddenly launched herself at me. The suddenness caught me by surprise, as I had deactivated my sharingan. She hit me four times, and I don't know how, but I was on the ground wheezing. "Look at the great Kitsune now!" she taunted. I guess I deserved it, but I couldn't deal with it. I looked up and simultaneously activated both sharingan and byakugan in both eyes. I was surrounded by a red aura. I jumped to right in front of her and slammed a rasengan into her ribs.

"I WILL NOT LOSE TO A WEAKLING LIKE YOU!" I screamed in a distorted voice as loud as I could. Suddenly, the aura disappeared. She got up, and Fukasaku got out of the hiding place he was in. I looked over at him.

"Fukasaku!" I cried. "What day is it?"

"Ummmm...Saturday?" Fukasaku replied, unsure of why I cared.

"But that means...if it's Saturday…"I muttered just loud enough to hear, "if...it's Saturday...then today is…" My eyes turned pure white. "IT'S BARGAIN DAY AT THE SUPERMARKET!" I screamed as loud as I could. "NOOOOOOOO!" I fell to the ground screaming.

"What...is he referring to?" Fukasaku asked, confused.

"I believe he is referring to this." Eveline pulled out a flyer for "Bargain Saturday". "Hey, Kitsune!" She yelled. "The store closes at 10:00 PM!"

"You mean…" I trailed off.

"If you hurry, you might make it." She said.

"I GOTTA GO!" I yelled as I sprinted at full speed to the supermarket.

Yes, that was a One Punch Man reference at the end. How was it? Reviews are welcome.