Hey guys, this is the 43rd chapter.
To BlackCyrstal06, thank you for your reviews. You're right, those are Eugeo, Alice and Selka. And well, I wanted to have Asuna, Sinon and Suguha to eventually be on the same footing as Hikari, along with Kirito as well. But let's just say that Kirito still has some time before he reaches their level.
ToBrin, thanks, I liked your suggestion and it clicked with what I was thinking. And hmm, I never actually thought of that, I was actually planning for the splitting of the Nanabi to be only because of the Chains from the Gedo Mazo being cut off from Tobi's mask before he could complete the ritual, so I'll just leave at how Tobi still doesn't know that the Bijuu can be split. In fact, here, now, Tobi doesn't even know that there are two Nanabi Jinchurikii. He assumes that the Nanabi is sealed into Suguha, that's it.
But then again, that could also be said for splitting the Yin and Yang halves in canon.
To be honest though, I'm still thinking on whether both Choumei's will get back their full chakra or not, since now they have their full components of their chakra, yin and yang, but they are just equally split apart. And I based this off the starfish regeneration trait, so I'm still considering about that.
Anyways, I suppose I could let you guys decide. Whether I should have both Choumei's regain their full strength, or have Fuu and Suguha eventually work together to form one big Choumei.
XXX
Two days later, in a training ground, Kirito, Kakashi and Sasuke were training. They had just finished sparring and were resting.
As they talked, Sasuke remembered Tobi's parting words. Earlier, it hadn't come up, so Sasuke forgot about it. But now they were training, Sasuke finally remembered, and he asked, "Kakashi, there's something I wanna ask you."
The cyclops raised his eyebrow, "Hmm? What's up?"
The last loyal Uchiha stared at his teacher, "That masked man, Tobi. He seemed to know you."
This got his attention, along with Kirito, and Kakashi hmm'd, "Really?"
Sasuke nodded, "He could do something similar to your Kamui, but on himself. And he told me, he looks forward to gutting you like you did her all those years ago."
Kakashi's eye widened, 'What? A similar technique to the Kamui, and those words... Obito?'
The Copy ninja's mind raced through all the times he had gutted someone, whether with a kunai, Chidori or Raikiri. Plus a similar ability to the Kamui... The first thing that came to mind was a dead friend, Obito's body was never found after that incident. That meant that he could very well be alive. Plus, there were next to no Uchiha outside the village, ignoring Itachi, and every ability the Mangekyou granted was unique to each pair of eyes. If you factored in the fact that the man had a mask with a single eye piece, which coincidentally was the right eye, along with the ability similar to the Kamui, and the fact that he hated/knew Kakashi, then it pointed towards Obito.
Then Kakashi's eyes widened, if Obito really was alive, and he had killed Rin, along with the fact that they never managed to help him. It wouldn't be strange for him to hate Kakashi.
Kakashi shook his head, 'No, Obito can't be alive. He died that day...'
He was broken out of his musings by Kirito's voice, "Kakashi? You okay?"
The cyclops blinked and nodded, "Yeah, I'm fine."
He looked at Sasuke, "I'm not sure who he is at this point, but I will find out."
Sasuke nodded, "Good."
It was unspoken, but the three men knew, Tobi was after the Jinchurikii. Yes, now there were four Jinchurikii in a relationship with Kirito, but among the three men, all of them had a close relationship with Hikari.
Kakashi was her teacher and her father's student. Sasuke used to like her, but now saw her as a comrade and potentially a sister now. Kirito, obviously, was her boyfriend and family. No words were needed as the three men knew they would need to work hard to protect them.
(On a side note, I just realized, now apart from Killer Bee, all of the Jinchurikii are all female... Hmmm)
At that moment, Kirito felt his mark pulse again, as if reacting to his emotions. But it vanished as soon as it came, so Kirito payed it no heed.
Meanwhile, in another training ground, more specifically the Namikaze training ground, the five Jinchurikii were training. Asuna, Sinon and Hikari were training on their own, whilst Suguha and Fuu were training together.
The main reason was that they wanted to explore what they had. Hikari, Sinon and Asuna all had different bijuu, henced they trained on their own. But Suguha and Fuu essentially had the same Bijuu, so they could train together. Another reason was due to the slow regeneration of the two Nanabi's chakra.
The Kyuubi had said that eventually both Choumei's would regain their full power of all seven tails. But the situation was new, and no one really knew how long it would take, or if the two parts of Choumei would even regenerate to form two fully powered seven-tailed Bijuu.
However, they didn't let that deter them. Hence, Fuu and Suguha were training together, discovering any changes or additions to their skills.
Like Fuu, Suguha had increased compatibility with wind jutsu now, along with enhanced senses all Jinchurikii received. But unlike Fuu, the swordswoman didn't develop a connection with bugs, instead with the nature in general.
Choumei-S had theorised that it may had something to do with her sage mode and connection with the eagles. But no one really knew, since Asuna, Sinon and Hikari all had their own sage modes, (Hikari was still working on hers, but it still counted as one), but they didn't really have any changes.
The Kyubi had suggested that it may had something to do with Choumei himself. The Nanabi had always been attuned to nature, even compared to every other Bijuu. Fuu had never had any way of connecting herself with the environment apart from Choumei, so that was probably why she had a connection to bugs specifically.
But Suguha, she already had sage mode before Choumei-S was sealed in her, albeit through eagles. Choumei-S' enhancement, may have just added to Suguha's existing link to nature.
Another difference was that Suguha couldn't use scale powder like Fuu. According to both Choumei's, Fuu already had him sealed in her from birth. That allowed his influence to alter the girl slightly to produce scale powder. But Suguha, on the other hand, was a grown woman. That meant he couldn't do much other than enhance her existing traits.
That was another reason why the two were sparring, apart from trying to get stronger.
Moving on, at another part of the training ground, Sinon was in Matatabi's full Bijuu form, sitting still on the ground. The girl was trying to push her limits in maintaining the bijuu mode for as long as she could. According to Matatabi, the current limit was an hour, which would change according to her state of health and stamina. Hence, the two partners agreed that they needed to extend the time they could stay in that mode.
Frankly, Sinon didn't really need to train more. All she needed was to do basic training, gradually increase every aspect she had. Her skill at archery was almost second to none, and all she lacked was her physical capabilities.
Her skill with Matatabi's blue fire was also improving. The time she needed to make them was decreasing, and the amount she could manifest the flames were increasing.
Now, Sinon, inside the Bijuu, started to sweat. It had been an hour, and she was starting to feel the strain on her body. But she pushed through, and after a good ten minutes, the girl started to shrink to her normal size as the blue flames that made Matatabi's body disappeared.
As the archer panted on the ground, she heard Matatabi's voice, "Good job. That was ten minutes more than your limit. Take a five minute break, and we'll continue."
The girl nodded as she unsealed a bottle of water.
At the same time, with Asuna, the girl was training with her Hyoton jutsu. Originally, the girl had wanted to train in using Isobu's power, like how her sisters were doing. But the Sanbi was having none of it. According to the turtle, before she started relying on his powers, she needed to understand hers.
That was why he had been pushing her to the limits in her bloodline. Asuna's heritage as a Yuki had laid dormant for some reason, possibly because it didn't have a reason to activate, along with her diluted Yuki blood. But once Isobu was done, her natural proficiency was the same as any Yuki.
Now, Asuna was focusing on making an ice sculpture by manipulating ice. Isobu, having been sealed in Yagura, had access to the late Yondaime Mizukage's memories, which included how the Yuki clan trained in their bloodline, and a good number of Hyotob jutsu.
The Sanbi had wasted no time in having Asuna train in that. And he was satisfied with the pace she was going. Another reason he had pushed the girl to master her bloodline, was because it would help her in using his powers. For someone who had a Bijuu in her for less than a year, her control was astounding. In fact, Suguha and Sinon were the same.
Normally, Jinchurikii needed years to even utilise the Bijuu chakra in their body. It had been the same for every Jinchurikii he knew. But Asuna, Sinon and Suguha, they had them for less than six months, and they could control the full bijuu modes for at least ten minutes, or at least, Asuna and Sinon could, since Choumei-S and Choumei-F were not at full power.
Granted, Matatabi and Isobu had only three tails of chakra at most. And Choumei-S and Choumei-F currently had only 3.5 tails of chakra, which fortunately could form a three tailed chakra cloak and a three tailed version two cloak for both Suguha and Fuu.
Anyways, back to the topic. Isobu's abilities all heavily revolved around water. Asuna herself was already rather familiar with water jutsu, and she had orca as her summons, which had a sage mode that also used water as the element. Not to mention her bloodline for the Hyoton. By improving her own proficiency at using water based jutsu, it will eventually improve her abilities with Isobu's powers.
The turtle closed his eyes as he felt Asuna finish another sculpture, this one a statue of Sinon with her bow. The bijuu let a small grin appear on his face, the girl had a very good memory, at least when it came to her family. That was a good trait, and he appreciated that in his host. The turtle's thoughts then wandered off as Asuna continued training.
To Hikari, the girl was meditating, focusing on drawing the Kyubi's chakra. The Uzumaki had decided to put senjutsu training on hold, for now at least. While not as good as her sisters, Hikari could hold her sage mode for about twenty minutes before she was forced to drop it.
Normally she would have tried to improve that first. But compared to the sage mode, the Kyubi's full nine tailed bijuu mode was far stronger, and Hikari had worked for a very very long time, yet she had no progress.
Truth to be told, the Kyubi had been holding out on her, and he was very impressed with her. Unlike his younger siblings, the Kyubi's chakra was too great, even if he only had the Yang part of his chakra, and even then, she had managed to draw out eight tails worth of chakra from him, and she could hold it for quite some time.
Anyways, since all nine tails were too strong, the Kyuubi had urged Hikari to get stronger, all the while holding back the chakra. If he was to be honest, Hikari was already capable of drawing all nine tails but her body would not be able to handle, he was just preventing it.
The reason, his chakra was too great, and if she had used all of them, she could have exploded from the chakra. Plus, the Kyubi was rather stingy with his chakra, especially since after Ginkaku and Kinkaku ate his flesh and gained his chakra. But now, he believed she was ready, all she needed was to prove herself.
(Note, in canon, Kurama alone could match six bijuu in a Bijuudama fight. That, in my opinion, is a shit load of power. And before anyone argues that Hikari is already strong enough, let me clear this up. Hikari is strong in a fight, but not too strong in a physical sense.
Here, Hikari has access to a relatively large arsenal of jutsu and fuinjutsu. Yes, her taijutsu is also excellent. But that does not warrant a body strong enough to withstand all nine tails. Unlike canon Naruto, who most focused on the Rasengan and taijutsu, as well as having his body trained to withstand senjutsu, which, Hikari has not, at least not to his standards yet.
So in case anyone was wondering, Hikari is physically weaker than Naruto, at least when he had the initial yellow Kyubi chakra mode. Hence Hikari would be unable to control his full power, that is the case several chapters before. But in a fight, Hikari would definitely win, since she is smarter and has a larger arsenal of jutsu.)
Now, the Kyubi thought as he watched his host trying to draw on all nine tails, 'I suppose she is ready.'
He ignored the smirk and smile he could feel from deeper inside the seal. The Kyubi then called, "Hikari, come in to the seal."
The girl was confused as her friend suddenly interrupted her from focusing. The last Namikaze nodded and closed her eyes again, before she opened them to see the Kyubi in the mindscape he shaped.
Hikari asked, "Kyubi? What's wrong?"
The Kyubi stared down at her, "Hikari, its time we had a spar."
The girl blinked. She blinked again, and again, "What?"
The Kyubi chuckled, "Its time to see if you can handle my full nine tails of chakra. Spar with me, I will determine if you can handle my full powers."
Hikari frowned, "How will you even know?"
The Kyubi nodded, "Yes, you are practically God here. But I can sense it, fight me, and if you are ready, then you are ready."
Hikari nodded and her eyes widened as she immediately jumped away just in time to dodge the Kyubi's hand slamming onto the ground.
The girl's first reaction was to yell at the Bijuu for suddenly attacking, but one look at his eyes told her everything. The Kyubi wanted her to come at him with everything, with the intent to kill. To prove that he had not been wrong in trusting her. To prove that she was worthy.
Hikari wasn't staring at a lazy fox with power, not the one she knew. No, she was facing the Kyuubi no Kitsune, the eldest and strongest amongst all nine Bijuu.
The Uzumaki's eyes hardened as she summoned three hundred clones. Then they charged.
The Kyubi just smirked as he took the wave of Rasengan and chains from the clones. The first two hundred clones were nothing, just normal Rasengan and chain attacks. But last hundred, that surprised him, if only slightly.
The last hundred clones all held an Odama Rasengan each, with Hikari, along with two other clones, holding one Rasenshuriken.
That alone was a very dangerous combination, but the Kyubi wasn't going to just hand the fight to the girl, even if she had more than earned his respect. No, she would have to fight for it. As the attacks almost reached him, the Kyubi roared.
A simple roar. That one roar caused a shock wave and easily dispelled the clones, and blew Hikari off balanced, undoing the Rasenshuriken. But the Kyubi wasn't done, and before Hikari could react, a tail slammed into her, sending her flying towards the ground.
Hikari groaned as she got up, and the Kyubi said, "Is that all?"
The Uzumaki wiped the dust off her cheek and focused. She hadn't really trained that much in senjutsu, but she didn't really have any other choice. What she needed now wasn't strategy, it was pure power.
In an instant, nature chakra filled her body, or at least, the physical manifestation in her mind. Her pupils turned into slits, not unlike a reptile. Her blonde hair, except the red ends, turned into light brown. The whisker marks on her cheeks also deepened, similar to how it did when she used the Kyubi's chakra.
The Kyubi smirked in anticipation as Hikari threw six Hiraishin kunai at him. But the bijuu was surprised again, as instead of Hikari appearing by one of the kunai, six clones had appeared, one at each kunai, with the original standing there.
Hikari then slammed her palms onto the ground, creating a dozen chains that wrapped around the Kyubi. The Kyubi growled as he pulled against the chains. He narrowed his eyes as he noticed the clones holding a Chou Odama Rasengan each, ready to pulverise him.
But the Kyubi hadn't lived for centuries sleeping. He roared, which dispelled the clones in the process, and managed to conjure up a sphere of chakra and bit into it, before he sent a blast of chakra at the original.
The girl didn't even have time as the blast slammed into her. And for a brief second, the Kyubi thought it was over, and felt slightly disappointed. But the changed, as he saw a single kunai shooting out of the blast at him, and his eyes widened as Hikari appeared before him with a Chou Odama Rasengan in her hand.
The Kyubi gritted his teeth as the Rasengan slammed into him, the explosion pushing him back some distance. But Hikari wasn't done, not by a long shot.
As the bijuu regained his bearings, he looked up to see a Rasenshuriken in his face, and he was sent to the ground, skidding across the dirt as the chains held him down, along with the explosion.
Hikari landed on the ground and stared at the fox as he got up, "Had enough?"
The Bijuu growled to himself. He hadn't expected Hikari to receive such a large boost just from using sage mode. But he wanted to test one more thing.
The Kyubi gathered his tails around his face, and started to gather chakra, forming a huge black purple sphere. Hikari's eyes widened before she quickly made a hundred clones, all ready to charge in with a Chou Odama Rasengan barrage again while she prepared to make a Rasenshuriken.
But before the two could move, a man's voice rang through the area, "That's enough, don't you think, Kyubi?"
The bijuu tsk'd and dispelled the Bijuudama, sitting on the ground as two people, a man and a woman, appeared in front of her. Two people she recognised from the pictures at home. Two people she thought she would never meet at all.
The bijuu grumbled, but it was obvious from the smile that he wasn't angry, "Ruin my fun..."
The man chuckled at the bijuu. He had spiky blonde hair and azure eyes. He also wore the standard Konoha Jounin uniform with a white short sleeved haori with flames at the bottom, the words 'Yondaime Hokage' etched on the back.
The woman had long red hair that reached her waist. She also wore a white blouse and a long green loose fitting dress.
Hikari said, shocked that her parents were in front her, "O-otou-san... Okaa-san?"
Minato smiled kindly, "Hikari, my daughter, you've grown into a wonderful young woman."
Kushina nodded in agreement with a smile, "Yes."
Hikari stuttered, still not believing what she was seeing, "H-how?"
Minato chuckled and glanced at the Kyubi a bit before he turned to his daughter, "It was last minute thing. When I sealed the furball into you, well, we thought since we couldn't watch you grow up, we'd have a bit of our chakra here."
Kushina nodded before the blonde girl launched herself at her parents, embracing them tightly. The girl said, "I never thought I'd meet you two like this."
Kushina smiled, "Fuinjutsu can do anything, ya know?"
Hikari pulled away and grinned, "Yeah."
Minato glanced at his daughter with an amused smile, "But never in my life, would I have expected my daughter to be in a harem, of all things."
Hikari blushed deeply, "Erm..."
Kushina giggled, "Its okay, we've seen what you went through, throughout your life, and we respect your decision. Besides, he's not a bad catch, better than how your father was at your age at the very least."
Minato sighed and looked at his wife, "Hey, you were like a tomboy back then, can't blame me for being shy, even if you are beautiful."
Hikari tilted her head in confusion, "What happened?"
Kushina smiled and they talked about how Minato saved Kushina from the Kumo ninja, how Minato complimented her hair. And how Kushina had to kiss him forcefully to let him know she loved him.
The three, along with the Kyubi, had also talked about how the Bijuu had been passed down from Mito to Kushina, and now Hikari. The bijuu had grumbled about Hikari being better than Kushina and Mito, earning some laughs from the family of seal masters.
They also talked about Tobi, and why Minato had sealed the Yang half of the Kyubi into Hikari.
Minato and Kushina had also talked to Hikari about her family. The two were happy their daughter had met her three sisters in all but blood, and they approved of her relationship with Kirito, even if it was a bit unorthodox.
After an hour of catching up, Hikari's parents started to fade away. Minato smiled, "I suppose our time is up."
Hikari nodded and smiled, she was happy she could meet her parents. Even if they were essentially shadow clones in chakra form.
Kushina smiled at her daughter, "Live a good life, Hikari. I don't think I need to tell you to eat well, to sleep well."
Minato nodded before he added, "And use protection, I don't want any grandchildren yet."
Hikari blushed and glared at her father, "Otou-san!"
Minato laughed and he looked at her daughter, "Tell Kirito we approve of him, and tell him to not worry about his origins. If Akihiko-san's plans succeed, everything will reveal itself."
Kushina nodded and smiled at her daughter one final time before they vanished back to the afterlife, bringing the memories of meeting their grown up daughter to the souls among the dead.
Hikari smiled, tears in her eyes that did not drop, "Goodbye, Otou-san, Okaa-san."
The girl turned to the Kyubi and the bijuu nodded to his host, "They were good people. We never were on good terms, but they have my respect."
Hikari smiled, "Thank you, Kyubi."
The bijuu nodded before he said, "Kurama."
Hikari blinked, "Eh?"
Kurama grinned at her, "My name is Kurama. You've more than earned my respect, Uzumaki, no, Namikaze Hikari."
The girl smiled at her friend, "Thank you, Kurama."
The Bijuu nodded before he said, "You proved yourself, so I'm sure you can use my full nine tails. Try it."
The blonde nodded and exited the mindscape, opening her eyes to see the other four Jinchurikii staring at her in worry.
Hikari blinked, "Erm... Is something wrong?"
The four visible sighed in relief. Suguha said, "Hikaru-chan, you sat there for two hours."
Asuna asked worriedly, "What happened?"
Hikari smiled, "Kurama wanted to spar. Speaking of which, I wanna try something. Stay here."
The four girls were slightly confused as Hikari vanished in a yellow flash, appearing some distance away from them.
The blonde thought, 'Let's go, Kurama.'
The bijuu smirked, "Ready when you are."
The girl nodded reached down to Kurama's chakra. Then she pulled.
In an instant, gone was the cute blonde girl. In her place, was a large nine tailed fox. The Kyubi roared as he laughed, "FINALLY!"
Kurama looked down at the four other Jinchurikii, surprised faces on their faces. The bijuu said to Hikari, "Well, I suppose a small spar is in order? To see how far you can go."
Hikari nodded in the bijuu and she looked at her sisters, "Sinon-chan, Asuna-chan?"
The two grinned at each other and ran towards Kurama, transforming into their Bijuu modes.
As the three charged, Suguha asked Fuu, "Hey, do you think we can do that?"
Fuu laughed slightly, "I've already done that once. But who knows, maybe once Choumei's regained all his chakra, maybe we could do that."
Suguha just nodded as she looked at her three sisters fight in what was essentially a kaijuu battle.
As Matatabi and Isobu charged, Kurama grinned as he raised his arms to block a combined punch (?) from the two bijuu. He then spun and slammed his tails into the two, sending them flying across the rather spacious training grounds.
Kurama grinned before he remembered something and asked, "Hey Hikari, I have another mode, something only I can do with a Jinchurikii, wanna try it?"
Hikari blinked and nodded, "Sure."
Kurama smirked and his body turned into a transparent yellow version of himself, with several lines extending down his body. Hikari also found herself in Kurama's head, around where his brain should be.
The girl blinked in awe as she was also in a similar form. She wore a haori, not unlike her father's Hokage haori, and there were seal lines around her body. Hikari also noticed she was shrouded in the same kind of chakra.
The blonde said in awe, "What is this?"
Kurama smirked, "This is a mode that only I can use with a Jinchurikii. Mito and Kushina never got to use it since they never sought to master my chakra."
That was only half the truth. Kurama had reached down and pulled on Ashura's chakra that laid dormant in Hikari's reserves, hence it gave them a more versatile version of the full bijuu mode. But then, Hikari didn't need to know that.
(To be honest, while I liked the yellow chakra mode, I don't like why there wasn't an explanation to why Naruto had a special mode. So here, I'll have it because of Ashura's chakra.)
Matatabi and Isobi both groaned/growled as they got up and they were surprised to see their eldest brother in that form.
The two bijuu shook out of their surprise as Kurama leaped at them. The nine tailed fox swung his fist at Isobu before he swung his tails at Matatabi. The turtle growled as he swung his tails at the Kyubi, while Matatabi grabbed onto his tails.
Kurama just smirked as he flailed wildly, sending his two younger siblings away as he thought, 'Hikari, let's try some of your jutsu. In the normal Bijuu form, we are only limited to our normal techniques, but this is an equal combination of your powers and mine. Try it.'
Hikari grinned and tried to summon her chains through the Kyubi's chakra body, and she was pleased to see the chains shooting out of Kurama's chest, striking both Isobu and Matatabi.
Hikari then got an idea, and Kurama smirked in approval as he felt what she was thinking. In unison, the two raised their right arm, and to the shock of the two other Bijuu, a Rasenshuriken formed.
Kurama and Hikari threw the enormous jutsu, and the two bijuu knew no more.
A while later, Asuna and Sinon groaned as they sat up. The two noticed Hikari, Suguha and Fuu sitting nearby in the training ground.
Hikari quickly went to them and asked, "You girls okay?"
Asuna nodded as she rubbed her temples, "Remind me to never spar with you in Bijuu mode."
Sinon nodded in agreement as she rubbed her eyes. Hikari just laughed as Suguha asked, "So, you girls hungry?"
The loud grumble from the girls' stomachs was the only answer they needed before they headed out.
Meanwhile, in the Akatsuki's hideout. Pein looked over the village again. Zetsu had given him his report, and had stated that Madara had suggested a full invasion for the Bijuu.
Nagato didn't really care for the village anyways. But he supposed it was time to get all the Bijuu. His paths were all combat ready, even if Itachi and Kisame weren't exactly ready, and he didn't want Konan to join the fight this time. His six paths were enough.
Nagato sighed as he spoke through Yahiko's body, "Zetsu, start scouting out Konoha's defences. I'm attacking in three days."
The plant smirked/grinned, "As you wish."
With that said, Zetsu sank into the ground. Nagato sighed as the spy left, 'Uzumaki Hikari. Its time to see if you are worthy. Prove to me that you carry our clan's legacy.'
XXX
Done. So that's the 43rd chapter. The next few chapters will be the Pein arc. So yeah, until then, review please.
