I do not own Naruto Shippuden or any of the characters.
Ultimate Summoning Animal
Ryuu watched the island growing closer rapidly as he dried himself with chakra. A storm had formed around them out of nowhere, leaving them scrambling to keep the ship from sinking. Then, out of nowhere, a twice the size of a horse had appeared and snatched up Guy before flying away. Thanks to the storm, they had been unable to follow. However, finally, nearly an hour later, the storm was over and they were quickly sailing toward the island the bird had flown toward.
"That bird wasn't normal," Kabuto said.
"Agreed," Ryuu said. "Summoning animal?"
"It's possible," Kabuto said. "We'll know soon enough."
Ryuu nodded and they fell silent. He studied the island. It was surrounded by steep cliffs higher than their mast, then looked to be covered by a forest, except for a volcano near the center. He pointed at it and Yomo cawed, taking off toward it. After a few minutes, he returned, landing on Ryuu's head and cawed before scratching its wing with its beak.
"There's a cove with a beach on the side to our right," Ryuu said. "Yomo says it should be fairly easy to get into."
"I'll never understand how you can understand birds like that," Naruto said.
"You just need to know how to listen," Ryuu said.
Naruto stared at him, deadpan, for a moment before turning and walking away. After a few more minutes, they had left the ship onto the island and the crew was repairing the damage from the storm.
"I'll use Sage Mode and see if I can sense him," Naruto said.
"Wait, Naruto," Yamato said. "We don't know what's on this island. Keep your secret weapons in reserve."
"I think I have some idea what this island is," Ryuu said, looking around. "Yomo said when he was flying over it, all the animals he saw were giants. I think it's a whole island of summoning animals."
"That's...amazing," Yamato said.
"Look!" Aoba said, suddenly, pointing toward the trees.
They all looked, just catching a flash of crimson hair and pink clothes before the person disappeared into the trees.
"It's one of the islanders!" Aoba said. "I'll go talk to them!" He sprinted after the person, and Ryuu and the others all looked around carefully.
"The bird looked like a cross between an Eagle and a hawk," Ryuu said. "The nest will be up high, which for giant animals will mean mountains." He pointed at the second tallest, the tallest being a volcano. "There."
The others all nodded, all of them knowing he knew birds better than anyone, and they all began to head that way. They passed through the trees toward the mountain quickly before coming to a ravine in the base of the mountain range. However, after about fifteen minutes, a stone tumbled down one side and they all turned to look, seeing a blue and orange spider the size of a small house above them. Just as they looked, it began to spray webbing at them, only for Fu to fire Chomei's webbing out of her right hand, sticking it to the spider's before yanking, swinging the spider to the ground. As soon as it crashed to the ground, Yamato impaled it through the head with a wooden spike.
"That is one humungous spider," Naruto said.
"There's more," Yamato said as the ground began to vibrate, a cloud of smoke rising along the path behind them.
"It's a snake," Ryuu said, gripping the spider by a leg. "I'll redirect it."
He swung the spider around and hurled it, sending it flying past the snake. As he'd hoped, it spun, chasing the spider, and they all turned, running along the ravine toward the mountain again. They climbed the mountain quickly, seeing the bird fly down to the peak with a snake. Ryuu sped up, taking the lead and streaking up the mountain, however, when he got to the top of it, the nest wasn't there. He frowned, then felt a breeze blow past from behind him. He walked to the opposite edge and looked down, raising an eyebrow. The nest was on a ledge below him where it was shielded from the rain, which would blow with the prevailing wind. And in it, Guy was teaching four chicks to dance while holding a pair of feathers.
"Found him," Ryuu said as the others joined him.
The others all walked over and looked down, Fu, Hinata, and Hotaru all giggling as Utakata groaned and rested his face in his hand and Yamato and Naruto stared in confusion.
"Bushier Brow Sensei!?" Naruto called down to him.
"Oh, you're here!" Guy called back, all of them making their way down to the nest.
"What exactly is going on here?" Yamato asked as the chicks began to peep rapidly, pressing themselves to him from all sides.
"I think I was brought here to babysit," Guy said.
"That's ridiculous," Utakata said.
"He's right," Ryuu said. "They're asking him to play with them more before their mom gets home and they have to leave."
"But...didn't the mom already fly overhead?" Hinata asked.
"It has to kill the snake somewhere first," Ryuu said. "It'll find a stone big enough to crush its head with. It won't bring a live snake to the nest. Ever."
"That makes sense," Fu said.
"By the way, where are we?" Guy asked.
"No idea," Yamato said.
"We just followed the bird until we found you, Bushier Brow Sensei," Naruto said.
Just then, they heard massive wings flap above themselves and looked up, seeing the huge bird flying down with a chunk of snake meat in its mouth. It landed on the edge of the nest and dropped the meat, the babies swarming it instantly.
"Hey, birdie!" Guy called up to it. "Why in the world did you bring me here? If you want a babysitter, find someone else! I'm in the middle of a mission! I gotta go!"
Just then, the bird turned its head just as Yomo cawed in alarm. Then, the bird spread its wings, shrieking loudly as it flapped them, remaining on the nest.
"What do you mean?" Ryuu frowned, watching it as the bird cocked its head to the side, watching him.
It cried out again and Ryuu jumped onto the edge of the nest and looked over at the volcano.
"In there?" Ryuu asked.
The bird cried out again.
"What is it?" Yamato asked.
"It said something it called...something along the lines of 'The Beast' is waking up," Ryuu said. "It said it's inside the volcano. It wants our help killing it. It brought Guy because it recognized us as powerful and wanted him to protect its children until the rest of us came so it could ask for our help killing it."
"You got all of that from two short noises?" Utakata asked.
"Bird speech is fast," Ryuu said. "We'll help you." He spread his wings, Fu flying up beside him. "Can you give them a ride?"
The bird cried out and leaned forward slightly. Yamato, Naruto, Guy, and Hinata climbed onto the bird, Ryuu forming a clone for Tayuya and Kabuto while Utakata formed a bubble for himself and Hotaru. After a few minutes, they reached the volcano, finding dozens of snakes, insects, and lizards gathered around the top of it. Ryuu flew low, looking down at the lava in the bottom, spotting a path winding around the side of it. He flew down to a cleft in the wall of the volcano like a doorway, finding a massive chamber inside. Fu landed beside him a moment later, and Ryuu's clones brought Kabuto and Tayuya down, but all of the others landed at the top and began down the hill. Ryuu looked around the chamber, seeing that the walls, floor, and ceiling were all metal, and there was a catwalk on the far wall with several windows and a door. On the catwalk stood the girl they'd seen at the beach. Her hair was in a braid, she had a headband over the top of her head, a short kimono dress that looked like it might be purple in a normal light, and there were a pair of strips of translucent cloth hanging behind her. Ryuu's attention was drawn to the center of the room, and the massive, topless pyramid at the center, from which there was a pale green light glowing, and Aoba was kneeling beside it.
"Stay here," Ryuu said before flying up to land beside Aoba, seeing him holding his right hand in the glowing green liquid inside the tank the pyramid was around, Aoba's left hand holding his index finger to his forehead and his eyes closed.
Ryuu narrowed his eyes, staring at the thing inside the liquid. It looked like a giant lima bean, or a deformed fetus. It was fat, had a deformed face, and had a pair of stubby arms and legs. A sort of umbilical cord extended from it and to the opening of a pipe near the bottom of the tank.
"Wait, what is..." Aoba said, then groaned, holding his left hand to his head. "No way! This thing was eating all of the other summoning animals! It was eating everything!" He gasped, recoiling slightly, but not enough to pull his hand out of the fluid.
"What is it?" Ryuu asked. "What is this thing?"
Aoba's response was to shout in effort and pain, falling backward away from the fluid. "This thing ate everything in its sight then went to sleep, and now it's a chrysalis just waiting to metamorphosize!" He glanced up at Ryuu, then around at the girl watching from a distance, the girl now standing by a crater in the floor. "Everything in sight included her."
Ryuu glanced at her. "So she wants us to stop this thing, then."
"Aoba!" Guy called out, jogging over and climbing the stairs leading up to the top of the tank.
"I'm relieved to see you're alright, Guy," Aoba said.
"Nevermind that," Guy said. "What is this?"
"A research facility," Aoba said. "It was geared toward creating the ultimate summoning animal. And the result of that research," he gave the monster inside the tank a disdainful look, "is this."
"Huh!?" Naruto gasped as he, Yamato, Kabuto, and Hinata all joined them at the top of the tank, Fu and Tayuya walking over to the spirit watching them, and Hotaru and Utakata remaining by the door. "What is that!?"
"A monster," Ryuu muttered darkly.
"It's a creature that feeds on other summoning animals and absorbs their abilities," Aoba said.
"You mean, this thing is alive?" Naruto asked.
"It's like a caterpillar in a cocoon," Ryuu said. "It looks gross and lifeless now, but once it wakes up, it'll have a very different form. The difference is, once this thing wakes up, it'll eat everything on the island, then leave the island."
Just then, a spider and centipede both reached the top of the tank. The moment they did, a wave of pink light suddenly spread from what looked like the creature's head, the entire tank shining with a bright pink light.
"W-What's happening!?" Naruto stammered.
"It's starting to emerge!" Aoba said as the spider and centipede retreated.
"Back!" Ryuu ordered, everyone retreating from the tank instantly.
Ryuu flew into the air as the others all landed on the ground. As such, he watched as a crack spread down the center of the creature's stomach, the body crumbling like stone. Then, a half-dozen tentacles burst out of it, lashing out at the two summoning animals and catching them both, dragging them into the fluid and into the creature. Then, the cocoon shattered and the creature rose from the fluid. It had green skin with a pair of insectoid eyes, a clam-shaped head on a lizard-like body with a mouth filled with incisor-like teeth on its abdomen where its stomach should be, two long, humanoid arms, its legs were the hind legs of a lizard, matching its body, a pair of short, stubby wings, and a pair of short, thick antennae. In the front of its head, where its mouth should be, there was a cluster of about a dozen small tentacles around what might be a second mouth. As it roared, the tentacles lifted up, showing some form of opening. However, it turned its attention away from all of them and toward the entrance to the chamber, where more Summoning Animals had arrived. The tentacles shot out, grabbing a centipede and pulled it to his mouth, the mouth biting down and splitting it in half, chewing it for a moment before it ate the second half as well. Ryuu narrowed his eyes, reaching for his tanto, only to stop. It was a bit too short for this fight.
Just then, the creature turned to look at the others, sending out its tentacles, only for them to avoid it. Guy sprinted up one of the tentacles, each of which were as wide as Guy's leg was tall. However, as he moved to kick the creature, one of the antennae bent forward, the end opening and spraying a web netting. Then, it spat it away from itself, Guy breaking out in time to land on his feet, though the webbing was still clinging to him. Ryuu narrowed his eyes. It was able to use the abilities of any creatures it ate. He hated to think what it could do if it ate a Shinobi. His eyes widened and he looked to the cratered ground. It already had eaten them. The creature jumped to the ground and Ryuu shot downward, swinging around in order to slam a punch into the side of its head, hurling it toward the tunnel toward the lava. It began to push itself up and Ryuu narrowed his eyes. It was solid.
"It's hungry!" Aoba called out, one arm extended toward the creature. "Starving! no matter how much it manages to consume, the only thing it knows is its need to devour everything!"
"Not such a great Ultimate Summoning Animal then is it?" Naruto asked.
"We should put it out of its misery, then," Ryuu said.
"Wood Style!" Yamato shouted, beams wrapping around its legs.
"Nice one, Captain Yamato!" Naruto called out.
However, just as he did, the creatures eyes glowed red before the wood began to rot, allowing it to break free.
"It absorbed the chakra," Kabuto said. "I would have loved to study this being, but at this point, we should dispose of it."
"Agreed," Yamato nodded.
"I'll pulverize it in Sage Mode!" Naruto decided, beginning to gather Nature Energy.
"I'll stall for you," Ryuu said.
"Eight Inner Gates, Fifth Gate," Guy shouted, running forward. "Open!"
He sprinted under the creature, then leapt at it from behind. It fired two wads of webbing at him, but he avoided them. Then, suddenly, it turned its head, its eyes shifting into a ribbed one, a black ring in the center that then shone silver inside. Guy spaced out, his face confused and dazed. The light spread outward, Naruto also spacing out, then Tayuya, Hotaru, and Hinata.
"Genjutsu!" Ryuu shouted, activating his Sharingan, then forming hand signs rapidly.
Crows swarmed out of the air behind him, swarming around the creature before releasing their summonings in clouds of smoke, forcing the creature to end its Genjutsu. As soon as the jutsu ended, Yamato caught Guy as Kabuto and Fu quickly roused the others. Ryuu shot forward, swerving around webbing before spinning as he reached the creature and slamming a Leaf Hurricane into its head, hurling it again. As it stood again, small bone-like growths began to form along its back, one growing larger than the others from its forehead like a horn. Then, it lit up with Lightning Style chakra. It roared, unleashing the chakra in a bolt of lightning at the others, only for Ryuu to drop to the ground, slamming his hands down and forming a Mud Wall Jutsu, blocking it, though it obliterated the wall.
"Lightning Style, too?" Yamato asked.
"Assume it can use an chakra natures you can besides Wood Style," Ryuu said. "Let's get it into the lava."
They all nodded and Ryu shot forward, grabbing Guy on the way by before spinning and hurling Guy at the creature. As it tried to use Genjutsu again, Aoba used the same tactic as Ryuu had to counter the Genjutsu using his own Summoning Crows. Guy slammed a Severe Leaf Hurricane into the creature, sending it flying down the tunnel and crashing to the ground just before the drop off into the lava. It stood, but this time, it was unsteady. It staggered backward, then pitched back over the edge as the ground crumbled under its foot. However, a moment later, it flew back up, a pair of ragged, leathery wings extended from its arms. Ryuu shook his head.
"It's trying my patience," Ryuu growled.
As they all headed for it, it flapped hard once, firing a Great Breakthrough at them, stopping them all. Ryuu narrowed his eyes, then vanished, using the Body Flicker Technique to reach the creature, then flipped, slamming a kick into the top of its head. It shrieked, plummeting, only to flip, flapping hard and stopping himself.
"Just die already!" Ryuu shouted. He dropped, punching downward at it, only to use the Body Flicker Technique to avoid a wall of lightning, reappearing beside Fu inside the tunnel. "This thing's a pest."
The creature began to rise, firing another Great Breakthrough at them to cover its escape. However, the giant bird they'd followed to the island suddenly crashed into its back, pecking at it before the creature flipped and kicked it away. Then, creatures began to hurl themselves down onto the creature, keeping it from escaping, but failing to drag it down into the lava, though they all fell off of the creature and fell into the lava instead.
"That's enough," Ryuu growled, forming a clone fore everyone. "I'm using my Susanoo."
Everyone nodded, the clones picking them all up and flying out of the volcano quickly. Before Ryuu could form his Susanoo, however, the girl from before walked past him, turning translucent before flying up toward the creature. it sent out tentacles toward her, but Aoba's crows flew down and exploded into fireballs, forcing it to bull the tentacles back. The girl smiled up at him, then turned back to the creature. She shone for a moment before exploding into strings of shining, gold seal script. Ryuu hummed thoughtfully as he watched the jutsu wrap around both the creature and the bird, both of which began to fall. Then, he jumped, forming his Susanoo's full body, one foot in the tunnel and the other pressed to the wall of the volcano. Then, he drew the Susanoo's tanto and stabbed downward. The blade took off the creature's head while breaking the sealing jutsu, allowing the bird to escape as the creature's body fell into the lava. Ryuu shook his head, sighing, allowing his Susanoo to fade as he flew up into the air, stopping beside Fu.
"How was that thing so much of a headache?" Ryuu asked. "It did literally nothing special."
Fu shook her head. "You didn't want to kill it. So you held back, then made it quick when you ran out of options."
Ryuu sighed. "I suppose that could explain it. Can we go find this magic island we're supposed to be vacationing on now?"
Fu giggled, nodding. "That would be nice."
The others all agreed and Ryuu's clones flew them all back to the ship. After a few more minutes, they were sailing again.
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