Rite of Passage Part Two

It was the morning after Shio and Ietaka revealed their old Akatsuki allegiances to me. After my small freakout, I had calmed down and tried to think about this new information rationally. Akatsuki as of right now is not relevant to my current situation, neither can I really act on any of this new intelligence any time soon. So in the interest of my own sanity, I had decided to put my mind and body to work in the hope that I can put my newfound worries to the back of my mind and worry about the Akatsuki later, or hopefully never as it will eventually sort itself out later anyway.

I found tracks leading toward the west, and from the looks of it, they were only a few days old at most. So for the next day, we followed the tracks, our keen noses keeping us on the right path when the tracks became harder to spot in some areas. So as the day grew old and dusk began to set in Shio had called for us to find a place to rest, the weather was clear and the night was proving to be warmer than before so we elected to sleep in a more elevated position atop a small hill.

It was a new moon out that night, the stars above twinkled as I gazed upwards, none of the constellations were familiar to me, no Orian or any of the dippers, no north star, nothing to indicate I was even in a strange alternative version of my home. The sky was so clear that I was even able to see one of the arms of the spiral of this galaxy, back home we called it the milky way, and I wondered not for the first time if there was anyone on this planet that bothered with astronomy. "To think, up there are other worlds with other god trees. I wonder if I can live long enough to see this world's space-age, could I maybe find one of these trees and use its power to go home?"

Home, the thought of it made my heartache, there were so many people and things that I longed for. I missed my culture, my language, my friends and family, but at the same time, I knew that most of the luster of life was lost when Amber died. A memory from years ago came unbidden into my mind "You are chasing something… or someone to be more accurate," I still don't know what that strange old man was talking about and it annoyed me because it feels like I was forgetting something important. I took one last gaze upon the twinkling stars above, one of which momentarily caught my eye as it briefly flickered red before returning to bright starry white.

My head was cocked up towards the sky, on the wind I could hear the sound of something splashing through a nearby river up ahead. "There is something crossing the river northwest of here," I reported from my perch atop a fallen tree.

Shio raised her nose upwards in the direction I indicated, "that's them alright, very good Isamu-chan," She praised.

It was near high noon on the third day of our hunt, this has been the longest I have ever been in an animal form but I was happy to know that I haven't even begun to see the first signs of slipping.

Ietaka was ahead of us with his nose down near the base of a tree, "we should be careful," he spoke, raising his head, he looked towards Shio and I. "Another pack has marked this region as their territory, It's best if we avoid unnecessary confrontation and stay clear of them as best we can."

Shio stepped forward, "they may come for our kill, I think it would be a good learning experience if Isamu defends it from this pack should they show up."

My eyes widened, "what, you want me to take on a whole pack by myself?"

The she-wolf nodded, "you are more than capable of holding your own, the rule of fighting against larger numbers is still the same as it is with one on one battles, fight smarter not harder."

Ietaka grunted, "we should still avoid them, if and only if they come after our kill then it's another story."

Shio nodded, "agreed, no contact with potential enemies until after our hunt."

"Don't I get a say in this?" I asked.

"No," they denied in unison.

I kept my sigh to myself and followed behind the pair further into the valley.

It was late in the afternoon when we caught sight of the herd, there were twenty bison in total, it was a relief to finally find them, but that relief soon turned to dread when Shio spoke. "This is a bachelor herd, do you think taking one of these is worth it darling?"

Ietaka hummed in thought, "Had this been any other hunt I would say no, but as this is meant for Isamu to prove himself then I say we should try."`

I went pale under my fur, an all-male bison herd is one of the most dangerous things in nature, they would kill you just for looking at them wrong. How hard will it be to deal with them when they're actually pissed off and or fighting for their lives? I swallowed my nerves with a gulp, "how are we doing this?" I asked, somehow able to keep my anxiety out of my voice.

"We should wait to scout them out closer when it gets dark, they can't see at night but we can. Isamu I want you to sneak close to them and see if you can't sniff out the weakest one. Your Kaasan and I will stay behind, this is your rite of passage so it's going to be up to you to choose the kill." Said Ietaka.

I took a shaky breath, my heart was pumping through my chest my body practically vibrated with nervous energy. "Okay…I can do that," I looked up at the setting sun both hoping that it would go down faster so we can get this over with but also dreading the coming confrontation.

Shio nuzzled her snout against my cheek, "don't worry Isamu-chan we will be right behind you, a pack hunts together so you won't be alone through all of this." She then gave me a literal wolfish grin, "besides we're hunting like Kaizen, not beasts or humans so that means we can use chakra."

I gave her a confused look, "isn't that like not sporting or something?"

Ietaka chuckled at my question, "since when is life ever about being fair?" He asked rhetorically.

"Point," I had to give him that, nature, after all, is designed to be unfair, the survival of the fittest is the only rule of law that exists out here so far away from civilization.

We sat in silence for the next few hours, finally, an hour after the sunset Shio gave the signal for me to move.

I took the lead and used chakra to muffle my footsteps while using the undergrowth to be concealed along the tree line. The herd had laid to rest in a large clearing a few hundred yards uphill from our position, the further uphill I climbed the less dense the trees and underbrush became, and the grass was beginning to shrink as well. I decided to go ahead and stealthy cut across towards the herd before I walked too far uphill and away from most cover, thankfully the grass was tall enough to hide me for the most part. I looked over my shoulder to see Shio and Ietaka's glowing yellow eyes watching me from the tree line, such a sight would've given me nightmares in my previous life but now it was a comfort to see those eyes and knowing they had my back.

Silently I crept forward, keeping my profile low to the ground, my ears flicked at the slightest noise and my nose was twitching into overdrive. I have learned over the years to block unnecessary information that the new world of smells a canine nose grants me, and so it was not that difficult to know where each member of the herd lay even if the grass obstructed my view. The further I stalked towards the herd the louder their snorts and panting breaths became, soon I was near them, the grass around was trampled flat which allowed me to see their sleeping forms easily.

An all-male herd of bison need not fear anything but man so it was no surprise that they were all asleep, I scanned the sleeping herd for the weakest member, it was hard to tell from sight alone so I used my trusty nose to help find the victim. A sniff at the wind granted me the information I sought, within the middle of the herd was a member with a wound of some sorts, it smelt relatively fresh so hopefully, his meat isn't spoilt.

I had what I came for so I quietly made my way back, had I been a glory hound, pun intended, then I may have tried to rush in there and take my chances. But I'm not an idiot, life is about minimizing danger and effort while maximizing reward, and God knows that if there is a path of least resistance than you'll find me already halfway up.

I arrived back at Shio and Ietaka within the next ten minutes, "there's a wounded one in the middle of the herd, that's the only one I could sniff out." I reported.

Both looked pleased, "that's good, tomorrow we will follow them and see if we can spot the one with the wound," said Ietaka.

My stomach growled the hunger pains were setting in, "I hope we can do this soon, I'm starving."

"All the better incentive not to screw up then," Shio said.

I decided it best to fall asleep to avoid the aching in my stomach, I prayed that we can finally get something to eat tomorrow, hunger won't do me any good if I begin to slip. Well not if but when it's only a matter of time now before I start to slowly lose it.

The herd began to move bright and early the next day and so did we.

It did not take long to spot the wounded bison amongst their ranks, they kept him near the middle and I could see it was a wound that ran across from the shoulder and down the side. The wound was superficial at best and wouldn't impede his escape should we go after him, I clicked my tongue in annoyance, "it's so hard to choose when they all look so strong."

Ietaka nodded, "such is the way of it, like Ninja all bison are strong, but strength and size matters not if one is patient and thinks with their head."

Shio stepped forward, "we won't tell you which you should pick, it's up to you to pick your battles from now on."

I searched harder amongst the herd from my hiding place behind a bush, they had stopped in their trek to drink from a stream. The bison kept their strongest on either end of the line, the weakest was nearest the middle, "wait…the wounded one is only four away from the vary middle. Could there be a sick one, and I just not bother to sniff it out?" My nose raised upwards, I closed my eyes and focus solely on the smells being carried on the wind.

Sickness had a pungent odor, the smell of it alone left a bad taste in my mouth, within three minutes I had found something. The bison second to the middle, his breath smelt different than the others, riper. With my eyes still closed I turned my ear upwards towards the wind and focused on the bison with the strange-smelling breath, with each exhale I could hear a crackle in the lungs, and with each inhale I could hear it wheeze. "The one second most to the middle on the right has some sort of lung disease, if we go for that one than it would tire sooner," I reported, opening my eyes.

"So when should we strike Isamu-chan?" Shio asked.

With narrowed eyes I scanned the area, "the clear space between us and the bison would allow for an unimpeded burst of speed. If we have to retreat and do hit and run tactics than the forest would be our best friend, and since we are Kaizen than one or all of us can make clones to distract the other while we drag the sick one into the stream and drown him." I strategized.

"We should do it now, the wood will help us hide if we need to escape, there is enough open space to pick up a good amount of speed, and we can easily make water clones here to distract the other while we attack the sickly one." Was my assessment.

Ietaka looked towards me with a proud grin, "now you're using all your tools like a true Kaizen."

Shio nodded, "then it's decided we go now."

They looked towards me and I realized that they wanted me to plan the whole thing, "okay," I took a deep breath to calm my nerves, "We will all rush the sick bull at the same time and drag him into the stream, once he's there, Kaasan will use clones to distract the herd, Otosan you will stay with me and assist Kaasan if she needs it, while I will keep the bull down and drown it in the stream."

Both nodded, they didn't give me any indication whether or not this was a good plan, I guess the whole point of a rite of passage is to prove if I can sink or swim on my own after all. I started the count down. "Alright, we attack in five seconds," all three of us got into a ready stance, "four seconds," I strengthened my fangs with chakra and began to build up chakra into my legs, "three seconds." My eyes zoomed in on the sickly bison, "two seconds," my muscles tensed while just barely holding back my killing intent, "one second," I prepared to release all my built-up charka, "now!"

With a growl I rushed forward, my vision and intent focused only on my target, the bull was caught completely off guard as I dug my claws and fangs into its exposed side. My sudden weight made it stumble, Shio was not far behind and her own weight on its rear shoved it into the water, Ietaka came in the same instance we did and clamped down onto its throat.

"Ahhh!" The bison screamed.

"Predators, protect the herd!" Another yelled.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Shio jump off the rear end of the bison and strait at a charging bull, in a blur of grey she swiped at the bull and jumped towards another and pushed them away.

The bull I had bitten into was struggling, he was kicking up a storm and trying to gore Ietaka with his horns. I pumped chakra into my muscles and began to push the prey into the deeper part of the stream.

I could hear more barking and shouts from behind, Shio had summoned dozens of water clones. "Look out!" She shouted.

My eyes widened when one bull charged through the clones and strait towards me! "Fight like a Kaizen," Ietaka's voice resonated in my head, I willed chakra into my tail and attempted something that I have never done before, bring my world with me. With a concentration of will, I transformed my tail into that of an ankylosaurus and swung my new spiked club-like appendage into the head of the charging enemy.

Blood was spat from his mouth as my spikes bashed against the right side of the bull's face, the hard head of one of the strongest creatures to walk land caved in and the beast fell with a loud splash into the stream. All was quiet, the herd and my fellow wolves were stunned at the sudden appearance of this strange happening. For a moment I felt elation until I was dragged down by the weight of my own tail and landed with a splash.

"Charge them!" A bull shouted, breaking the silence.

The bull we had originally targeted started thrashing and kicking with renewed vigor, Shio quickly spammed out as many water clones as she could to fend off the herd. I willed my tail back to its original wolfish state, the bull that I killed was bleeding into the stream, its left eye was splattered across its concave face, he was spasming on the ground, splashing bloody water as it did.

"Change of plans, we take this one!" I shouted, no point in continuing this hunt when we already achieved our goal. After I arrived at the downed bull I raised my paw and pumped chakra into my claws before bringing it down into the already concave skull and stabbed through to the brain, in that instance, the bull stopped its death spasms and finally went still. Strengthening my body with chakra I clamped down on the thick wooly fur, with my mouth on the back of the bull I began to drag it away and out of the fight.

Three Shio clones quickly appeared and began to help drag the kill with me, looking up I saw Shio and Ietaka covering my retreat with clones and their own selves. As fast as my body would allow I dragged the carcass away from the sounds of splashing hooves and barking wolves.

An hour and a half of dragging later found me far away from the scene of the attack, I slumped over the dead bull in exhaustion. My chakra was low from not only dragging the corpse so far away but also from doing that partial major shift for the first time.

Transforming into a dinosaur even if it was only partially was something that came as a spur of the moment decision, I honestly doubted it would ever work but low and behold hours of watching dinosaur documentaries finally come in handy one day. "It's funny, I don't even remember that much from the documentaries, could the bloodline be able to draw from dormant memories?"

My ears twitched at the light sound of paws walking across the grass, I turned my head up to see Shio and Ietaka approaching me. "That was defiantly one of the most…unique things I've ever seen on a hunt,"Ietaka commented with an amused grin.

Shio bounded towards me in adulation, "unique, that was amazing, see Ietaka-kun I told you our baby was smart, ten years old and already creating his own forms, I'm so proud!"

Ietaka chuckled, "yes it is very impressive, most Kaizen don't start trying to create their own forms until their twenties or thirties, and even then the first creation is something small."

I hadn't the heart to tell them that I was pulling from an animal that already existed. I gave them a grin, "can we eat now?"

"Of course, thank you for the dinner Isamu-chan," Shio smiled before gutting the bison with a sharp claw and began to tear at the warm meat inside.

I was too tired and too hungry to care about the potential dangers of raw food and so came round and dived headfirst into the rich meat. The feeling of eating what I killed somehow made it taste all the better, knowing that I was the one that took its life to sustain my own, I felt less guilty knowing that I killed it in battle rather than butchered it on a farm.

As we were eating my ears twitched again, I looked up to see eight other wolves appearing from the tree line and stalking towards us. Ietaka and Shio turned their gazes away from them and kept eating, "shit they really want me to do this on my own don't they?"

I leaped atop the bull, using its large body to position myself at the highest vantage available to me. With as much confidence as I could muster, I shouted, "who goes there!?"

A few of the smaller wolves stopped walking but the three biggest continued forward, "you're trespassing on our territory, that kill is ours." The large male ebon furred wolf stated.

"This prey is my kill go away." The audacity of this guy, thinking he can take what is rightfully mine just because I worked my ass off in the border of his invisible line. What Is he, the government?

"I don't think you understand pup, either leave now or face the consequences," a large snowy furred female ordered.

I barred my fangs, I worked for this kill, exhausted myself for this kill, I lost sleep over this kill. Chakra leaked out of my body, willing my anger into energy and pushing it out towards the pack surrounding us. At that same moment, I coursed as much chakra as I dared through my body and grew to the size of a horse. To add further I changed the sclera of my eyes into a bright red and cast a minor illusion to make it seem as if shadows were rolling off of me like a pyroclastic flow. "Leave," I said with a deep voice.

The now much smaller wolves seemed to get the hint with my killing intent alone, but it was my new form and added effect that sent them all running with their tails between their legs. Shio and Ietaka looked at me in pride, "good job son," Ietaka praised.

I smiled back, "it's like you said, the best engagement is no engagement at all."

"That it is Isamu-chan, that it is," Shio said with a proud smirk.

After eating our fill of the kill, Ietaka had me shift back into my human form in order to skin and dehorn the bison, thankfully Ietaka had remembered to bring some tools because I still was in my sleepwear. Nothing was taken for granted, the bones will be added to the antler throne as is tradition when a Kaizen hunts their first kill, the bladder will be cleaned and cured into a water skin. The hooves would be made into snowshoes to be sold to others that could not do our snow walking trick. The hide will either be sold later or used to make clothing. The eyes would've made a good snack for later but one of them popped and the other was too damaged to be of any use.

After I stored all of the parts of the bison away in a scroll, we made our way back to the temple. Thankfully we shifted into eagles again to make the journey much faster and safer. I hadn't been allowed to shift into any bird at all because it would've made tracking 'too easy' as Ietaka put it. They wanted me to use all of my tools yet also wanted me to handicap me by not allowing me to shift into a bird. I mean yeah it was a trial but still, it felt a tad hypocritical of them. "That's parents for you, they only follow their own rules until it suites them, at least that rule is consistent between lifetimes." I mused.

Whatever tracking via hooves prints and smells was more fun anyway, and it wasn't as if I had a time limit, well I technically did only that I was racing against malnutrition instead of a clock.

It was nearing dusk by the time we finally arrived back at the temple, as soon as she landed Shio shifted back into her human form and sat down on the throne, whilst Ietaka followed her lead and took position to the matriarch's right. "Isamu Kaizen, step forward," Shio addressed me in an authoritative tone, voice echoing loudly through the silent hall of the temple.

stepped forward after I transformed back into my human form, the mountain air nipped at me through my thin sleeping wear, the cool mountain air nipping at my exposed human skin.

"Today I have witnessed you utilizing the skills and abilities that will help you live a free and happy life. I witnessed your persistence when tracking our prey, your bravery in the face of danger, your ingenuity In devising a plan even in the face of unfair odds, and your prestigious talent with our bloodline when you created your first original shift in the heat of battle." She intoned. The Kaizen woman then looked down at me and swallowed back an emotion that I couldn't see. "That is why on this day, I declare you a man in the eyes of our noble house, you may now own lands in your name, wed a lawful bride and sire children to further the bloodline. You may choose to stay with your enclave or spread your wings and explore the world, the choice is yours and yours alone."

I stayed silent for a moment, letting her words sink in. "So what does this mean now?" I asked aloud, my question reverberating in the open temple.

Shio then stood up and stepped off the dais. "Well, the tradition of our clan states that you may explore the world at your leisure. By the laws of our clan, we can't make you stay." She explained with a strained smile.

My eyes looked between Shio and Ietaka, I honestly couldn't believe that they would just let me go to become a wanderer. These two were paranoid like no other, yes they've been giving me a bit more freedom from time to time. But them letting me out the nest and forge a path of my own was out of character for them. "You'll let me just up and leave?"

Ietaka stepped forward, "you have proven you can handle yourself son, but in all honesty, your Kaasan and I don't want you to go. You are mature and skilled for your age but we don't want you to live the life we did. Always running, always looking over your shoulder, always being afraid that you will wake up with a knife in your back." The large man shook his head, "that is not something we want for you."

Shio kneeled down in front of me, "we love you Isamu-chan, we would love nothing more than for you to stay in this home and live with us. But we know you want to explore the world, to spread your horizons and experience all life has to offer." She then ran her fingers through my sweat matted hair, "besides we can't expect you to find a girlfriend if you're stuck in the mountains with us."

I looked up at them in deep contemplation. "They are allowing me to leave if I really want to, they don't like it, they even hate it but they would let me go. I do want to explore and learn, to go off and try to find out just how I can better the world, but do I really want to leave right now?"

Ietaka's voice suddenly brought me out of my own pondering, "you don't need to worry about your decision at this moment. Right now let's rest and we can discuss this in the morning."

Shio nodded in agreement, "that's for the best, come on we can all use a nice dip in the hot springs."

I gave them a tired smile, knowing that they were both right. I could feel my muscles still aching and my chakra was quite a drained. So I followed them back inside, deciding to shove off my problem to future Isamu.

Miles away a light blue-haired woman with a black robe with crimson-colored clouds detailing it stood atop a mountain overlooking a red and white marbled temple.

"I detect the chakra of my old partner in that temple Konan-san. Should we greet our newest member now or in the morning?" Kakuzu asked.

A faint ghost of a smile played on the lips of Konan, her hazel brown eyes never leaving the temple below as she addressed the tall man to her left. "Well Kakuzu-san I wouldn't quite call them new members, but yes let us greet them in the morning."

So there you have it, the final part of the Rite of Passage.

As for the Dino transformation that is a whole can of worms that will lead to some interesting situations in the future, and since Isamu is from our world and a huge nerd there will be some fun new transformations open to him that no one from this world will recognize. Some more fun things could happen too with partial transformations, who knows how powerful someone could be if they have the ability to become a Space Marine?

Also, something strange will happen in the next chapter and will leave a lot of questions as It will be viewed only from the perspective of Isamu who will have a very unclear view of the situation that will befall him.

Lastly thank you all for the reviews and welcomed criticisms, they do help me a lot and let me think of things that I wouldn't have otherwise thought about. I am almost at the hundred review milestone in this story which is a whole lot more than I expected or deserve so thank you all very much for taking the time out of your life to write your thoughts down. The favorites and follows are also most welcome, I know that there are many who like stories but don't think they have anything to say but know that you are appreciated as well.