Blue

Chapter III

He had gathered information for years, traveling from one country after another. It was his life's goal to be able to make a written documentary on the demonic creatures that were only known through word of mouth. It was every scholar's dream to make a difference and to preserve as much detail of the past and present for the future. Thus far, he had met with other scholars who shared his interest of immortalizing oral legends through written tradition.

Scholars like him constantly were constantly on the move, roaming the world and twice a year, meeting up to record what they had found. If and when a close encounter was possible, they never travel alone. In this field, dedication meant sacrifices.

It was hard to know anything of this demon because the stories he had heard differed with one another. And concerning myths or legends, it was always best to talk with the old people. He had heard of the great battle between the fox demon and the Hidden Leaf but he had always met a wall. The fox demon was defeated by a man acknowledged as the Fourth Hokage, who managed to seal the Kyubi. It was only a few years ago that he had found out about the vessel when the word of quarreling hidden villages had spread.

Unstable times made tongues loose and he greatly took advantage of that. And finally, after years of more research and specialized training to break the seals, he now had this rare opportunity of witnessing this transformation.

Despite the burning pain caused by the tongues of fire that lapped his body, he wore an ecstatic smile on his face. He would die by this scorching heat of the Kyubi's chakra. The only sadness he currently felt was that he would not be able to see the demon fight the Anbu from the Stone Village he and his companion had hired.

Somewhere off in a safer place was an old man with binoculars in hand. He was watching it all and writing everything down. Even at this great distance, he could feel the Kyubi. He could only imagine the furnace that had become of that clearing.

Adjusting the zoom of his binoculars, he focused on the belly where the five seals had been. He had studied with his colleague about the seals and knew of only five that caged the demon in this human body. There were a few more left and he could not make out the remaining seals. This was the closest they could get to free the fox demon and thought that it would be enough for the Kyubi to regain its strength and claim total freedom. The assumption was wrong, as was obvious with the glowing symbols.

He looked at the Anbu beside him, "Can you take that man down?"

The nin didn't reply but judging by the silence and the blank mask that faced him, the scholar knew that that was such a ridiculous question. "Well…try, because you have three of your people out there holding three children… if they hadn't managed to get away yet."

That did the trick. He felt the shift of the air around him and heard the briefest rustle of grasses and leaves, indicating that the Anbu with him had left to help their comrades escape.

He should leave before things get bad and he should head straight for the council to let them know of his partner's death. Tardiness might cause some confusion with the Hidden Leaf contract.

Turning back to the direction of the noise, he couldn't help but feel sorry for his fellow scholar. The least he could do was bury what would remain of the old man when the battle moved away from the area. Instead of leaving, he moved closer and kept watch with his binoculars to aid his eyes.

Swirls of blazing fire seemed to envelope the whole clearing. Each tongue of fire lashed out like wagging tails, burning everything it touched. One Anbu was barely able to jump away from the tail and it passed through his leg. He then realized that the fox demon hadn't taken a solid form just yet. What looked like its nine tails was just the chakra, and yet its strength already burned his leg.

Naruto crouched on all four, looking straight at nothing in particular with gritted teeth. He was surrounded with the fiery nine tailed chakra and it felt good. The fire was warm, and the fox could almost taste freedom. The human skin he had grazed smelled of burning flesh and it fed his hunger for more.

This was it; he could feel the swirling chakra tails taking solid form albeit slow in development. It was this human body that was too small. The remaining seals were hindering the process to completely break the body and take his original form. Nonetheless, he could do with minor changes.

Releasing a growl of frustration, a fresh release of chakra exploded from where Naruto crouched. The impact had thrown all the present nins and the scholar against broken and burning trees. One of Naruto's students had hit a trunk with a protruding branch. The young girl's battered body slammed against the sharp edge and it went through her torso effortlessly.

A shower of kunai flew from two directions, followed closely by a barrage of shuriken and chains. Two large fuuma shuriken headed Naruto's direction without a pause from the previous attack. The four curved blades circled and blurred as one because of the speed and force of the thrower. All of which did no damage. Instead, Naruto caught six small shuriken between his fingers. Baring his fangs as he smirked, he disappeared from the boulder that he was on as soon as three large axes smashed the rock into pieces.

Not a sound was heard from the Hidden Stone Anbu as Naruto sliced through their bodies from behind one after another. Blood splattered everywhere from the attack. He licked the blood that dripped from his hand and stopped when he felt movement.

Looking up, he saw two more nins and threw the six shuriken at them. Each metal was laced with chakra, embedding deep through each of the ninja's throats, chests and abdomens.

He could still feel a breathing creature within the vicinity and found the culprit. It was the old man that had caused this little freedom. He should show some gratitude. Naruto tilted his head and leaped from where he was to stand before the old scholar. With a surge of gathered chakra, the whirlpool of flames wrapped around his body, beating and throbbing with life. The red chakra molded and took the shape of the Kyubi around Naruto's body.

The old man gasped in awe, reaching out to touch the apparition despite the searing heat. Parts of his skin had already melted because of being lapped around by the agitated phantom tails of the fox demon while it fought, but he was glad to have seen it. He only wished that his companion was able to record every detail of this event so that others might be able to read it, too.

The Kyubi chakra allowed to be patted, while Naruto's crouching form watched the old man in the heart of the glowing chakra. He licked his lips and smiled when the old man touched the snout of the kyubi formed chakra.

Naruto's soft hiss was the only sound the old man heard before being eaten by the chakra. Just as it did with Naruto's human body, it wrapped around the old man like second skin and enkindled the withering flesh without mercy.

Meanwhile, the old scholar's companion, who watched alone from a great distance, grew cold upon feeling something brush past him. Turning, he saw the mask of an Anbu, its emotionless face glowered at him accusingly. From behind the mask, the voice came, "A whole village was almost wiped out because of that. And a man had to sacrifice his life to seal that monster."



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