Chapter Twelve
In Search of the Greatest Power
There's something terribly wrong. And Hinata didn't have to say it twice aloud to her boyfriend, cousin and their friends.
How could she describe what it felt like to fight creatures - creatures which were once human like the five of them? The feeling was far more advanced than anything in her life, maybe more than the time she struck Shion and brought herself to Gaara...only she wished she could lay it on Kaguya herself. It was more than she could ever deserve.
And what they found solidified her declaration.
The crystals - they were very dim, some shattered beyond repair, and when they rushed to the water entrance, it had gotten stronger, so there was a worry that they'd drown if they didn't get through right away. It was as if the chakra from the mountain was being drained. There was no mistake that Kaguya had done this, but HOW? "Damn it, she's collected the power back for herself, so let's hurry and get to him," Neji spat, and the five of them took the big leap, holding their breaths and being awashed by the underground liquid life, winding through without issue and gasping for precious oxygen as predicted. Kaguya had left the entryway as it was, partly, for them to find this horror waiting for them.
"OLD MAN SIX PATHS!" Naru shouted, being the one to rush forward first, Hinata and the boys following.
The mighty being who watched over them, trained them and protected them - and cared about them as though they were his own children - lay there in the middle of the area, but the pool from which he'd resided was half-drained, and he lay atop it, sprawled out as though he'd had the life beaten out of him. "Oh, no, he can't be -" Hinata blurted out, except she was seeing it with her own eyes. "He can't be dying!"
Hagoromo still looked like himself, except...his features appeared more gaunt. His ringed staff was broken in half and meters away from him to the northwest. His eyes were no longer purple and ringed, but pearly white just like her and Neji, and that slit in the middle of his forehead had closed up. He looked so fragile and tragic, and his rasping voice when he saw the five of them punctured her heart to the point of making her eyes burn; Naru's twisting jaw didn't help, either. Nor did Sasuke's tired sadness, Gaara's stoic and Neji's visible grimace.
"Knights," Hagoromo rasped, eyes heavy and lidded, "thank heavens you are all safe. Alas, I feel I don't have much time left; I doubt I will last before tomorrow night ends. My mother was here. She took all the chakra save for very little, so you could become demoralized, and to let me live long enough to see the failure. She now has all nine of the separated tailed beasts to launch the spell on the designated night..."
If they all didn't hate Kaguya enough, the rage was amplified a hundredfold. She came and attacked her own son, taking back what was "rightfully" hers, before fleeing and likely going back to the Divine Tree for the time being. "Lord Sage," Gaara said harshly, expression unchanged, "we are not going to leave you like this, nor are you going to leave us. You've been nothing more or less than a father to all of us ever since we found you. There has to be a way!"
"...there is. But you must find it before tomorrow night."
All five heads whirled around behind them at the source of the voice. "Itachi!" Sasuke gasped, rushing towards his brother and helping him remain standing when the elder stumbled, covering the right side of his face, where blood was coating his fingers and sticking to his throat. Hinata thought she was going to throw up, like she almost did when Hagoromo showed them all how the White Zetsu came to be.
Kaguya took one of his eyes.
"Oh, son of a bitch, what did that Rabbit Granny do to you, Itachi?" Naru demanded furiously, eyes flashing like blue fire. He looked at her with one good eye remaining, grunting.
"She took my eye. She let me live just to give the message; I told her she could steal both of them if she wanted, because the five of you would make her pay no matter what. She attacked Lord Hagoromo, thinking it would make you weak." His voice hardened. "She hasn't won yet. There's still time, but if you don't hurry, she will. There is a great power that will help all of you and Hagoromo, but it's very dangerous as much as Kaguya Oosutsuki..."
~o~
A great power...in this horrible place.
They didn't have much time before tomorrow night. But the sooner they'd left Konoha, the better. And Naru wished she'd said goodbye to Jiraiya and Orochimaru before they'd left. At least she'd left them a note, telling them that she, Hinata and the boys were going to take a trip up to the mountains for the day, and apologizing for not giving them a warning. She even promised that they could choose to be mad at her when she got back - but bottom line, not mentioned, she was an adult and could leave the house if she wanted to now. Weekend, after all. And hell, they might let her off the hook since her birthday was approaching.
This place which they had been sent to via what was left of the chakra transportation was located north, outside Konoha. It was a mountainous region between the waterfall country of Taki and the mostly rocky landscapes of Oto. Consisting of the landmasses here were dense forests, a couple abandoned mines carrying who-knew-what...and a graveyard of many giant bones of long-deceased creatures seen even from aerial and distant foot views.
Seriously, who the hell would come to a place like this? But Naru guessed that this was the idea.
"So, this is the Mountains' Graveyard," Neji noted with his arms folded across his chest. Above their heads, which had the dawn sky rising in bloody red, dark blue as well as light, you could hear birds calling. They'd traveled on foot much of the time, pausing only a few times for rest, and here they were now. "And whatever those things were, they must have died protecting the power. We got a job to do if we don't want to end up like any of them."
If not for the macabre extras, they could have called this gorgeous countryside. If only they knew where to start looking for the power, although before they left, Itachi did tell them there was someone here in these lands who oversaw its entirety, who could help them...
I feel like we're being watched. Kaguya and that Zetsu guy - they shouldn't have followed us here, as promised. She'd rather protect that tree until tonight...
Suddenly, Naru didn't feel like walking and had to pause, turning and sharply gazing at the lake they came across, which was shimmering with the dawn's colors. A weight came crashing down, and next thing she knew, her man was holding her again like he always did. She broke down, worried so much about not only Hagoromo who was dying every second that passed, but Pervy Sage and Orochimaru. And everyone else they knew in Konoha, as well as the other people who didn't expect what was coming.
"OH, LOOK OUT!"
Hinata's sudden shout had all of them looking overhead, at the same time there was a terrible sound without words above their heads. It was just something that stepped right out of their local folklore with this description: red skin as though burned by the sun, a nose long enough to nearly pass off as a beak, complete with bushy eyebrows and a mustache, garbed in the robes and headdresses of the mountain hermit. They flew down from nowhere and landed before the five of them. There was no mistake as to what they were. Gaara seethed. "Tengu!"
"According to legend, they're not only said to either be wicked, plain tricksters, or protectors of the forest! Want to bet what kind they are?!" Sasuke replied heatedly. "They're incredibly strong with martial arts and who knows what else!"
Does that - does that mean these things watch over the woods...or are they HER GOONS? What else and how many more does Kaguya have at her beck and call that we don't know about?!
There were five of them altogether, and the five friends themselves. All of them assumed the position: Hinata, Neji and Gaara with the unison sign as well as a single fist, leaving her and Sasuke to draw the sword and kunai.
The five tengu assumed it themselves, and they produced staffs very similar to Old Man Hagoromo's. They were once used primarily as noisemakers to frighten off animals, but eventually were instruments of monks to swish and emit the ringing throughout cites of sutra chants. If those damned rings even touch your face, you're briefly blinded and a sitting duck. And the very sharp tip of the staff will no doubt strike the most vulnerable points of your body.
Byakugan activated, the Hyuuga cousins went in first, both shouting and unleashing the Gentle Fist towards their rivals which raised their shakujō staffs to come into contact, but they were no match for the powerful blows, except that didn't stop the bird-like creatures from coming at them again, and despite Neji delivering the mighty chakra blasts from his body, he wound up getting the strike to his face which he had fought so hard to dodge, winding up in his panicked cousin's arms. She leaped away from their aggressors to land atop a great rock, him thrown over one shoulder so he could have a little time to recover, but that meant Hinata had to face the two demons herself.
"Get away from them!" Gaara roared from behind them, reaching out with his sand from the formed pedestal to entrap both creatures and hold them in place. They screeched and bellowed back, turning their calm but vicious attentions on him. He glared at them with intent to crush them to pieces, almost making him look like a monster, and for a moment, Naru was worried just like her friend was. But she had her own foe to deal with.
Sasuke really had his work cut out for him as he blocked and parried strikes from the fourth tengu, whilst delivering his own. He would NOT let his face be smacked so that his Sharingan would be temporarily useless, nor would that blade-like tip come into contact with his tender spots. "These damned things are as strong as the legends say!"
"No shit, babe!" Naru spat, ducking when a swipe was directed for her, this time being the end of the staff which primarily would thrust at its opponent and hit anywhere it wanted - and it was going for her face, intending to simply stun her, but he was going to guess again. She took to calling forth a shadow clone to help her with the Rasengan, but before that could happen, a weird noise echoed in their ears, coming from somewhere above, which also attracted the attentions of the bird-men who backed away at the sight of the figure cloaked in green which blended with the trees it leaped from, landing in front of them, carrying a naginata pole-arm as well as two short swords at the waist, exposed when the person threw off HER shroud to reveal her appearance.
There was the most beautiful woman in the world they'd all seen, though if Naru said so herself, she was gorgeous second only to what Tsunade had been, because those breasts had nothing on her "late" mother. They were accentuated by the brass brassiere which was centered with a forest green gem - as are her eyes - and placed throughout with what looked like natural pearls, like the ones freshly pulled from clams. The same metal wrapped around luscious hips, attached to a flowing, slit skirt of shimmering blue like the lake. Her auburn hair was so long it reached her ankles, and there were two pairs of bangs: two short ones ended at the length of her eyes, one covered up. The other longer pair extended enough to criss-cross above her bust. And not only that, but she was deadly in that she whirled with her sword-staff, switching back and forth to block blows, and then deftly slice a couple shakujō in half so that they meant nothing.
Naru and her friends gathered to watch in shock, even when the weird warrior woman separated the pole and blade ends, swirling them on either side of herself to emit a whistling sound that resembled nails on a chalkboard, which seemed to rattle the eardrums of the tengu who threw their hands to their ears, and it also granted a surprising effect: the bird-like creatures took flight, crying out their agony and then relief as they faded away from sight.
And these guys were supposed to be one of the topmost in mythology. Here they fought five young adults only to be frightened off by a half-dressed woman and nothing but a pole-arm.
"I don't know how the hell you did that," Naru said, being the bold one to walk over, "but thanks a lot for that."
And what did she get as a reward? A swipe that would have hit her face, the pole end, had she'd not ducked on instinct. "If you want to 'thank' me," the redhead snapped, eyes blazing emerald fire, "all of you should go back to wherever it is you came from if you know what's good for you."
"You don't have the right to tell us to go back," Hinata said angrily. "We were told there was a great power that can help a friend of ours and the entire world. Is that true?"
"...yes, but you kids ought to know better than to assume it would be a sweet walk. You don't see it, but the ground is buried all about with the bones of those who tried for it and failed miserably." Oh, Sasuke, you're pushing it more than I almost did.
"Woman, you don't even know who we are. We're different than whoever those people were. You don't get to tell us if we'll fai -" And next thing he knew, that pole end swept him off his feet so he lay on his back. Grimacing, he looked up in time to see the blade now pointing right at him as a warning along with the repeated words.
The woman might have had a flash in her eyes again, this time as she took in Sasuke's appearance, making Naru temporarily jealous. "I'm not going to say it again: leave the Mountains' Graveyard before it is too late."
Now was the time to snap, but while all of them were bubbling to near-high, Gaara was the calm initiative. "Listen, we don't want any troubles. Our mentor and leader, Hagoromo Oosutsuki -"
At the mention of the old sage's name, the woman jerked her head in his direction. That meant she did know him, and for that, she decided to take her weapon off Sasuke, letting him stand up and dust himself off. "I'm Mei Terumi. My clan has lived in this area for millennia, going back to the time the Sage of Six Paths was on his deathbed, but there are only a few of us left, including myself. I am the chief guardian of the power you seek." Her brows furrowed. "But just what happened to your master?"
"He was attacked, and so was his brother -" Neji nodded in Sasuke's direction. "- by his own mother."
"Kaguya Oosutsuki is free?!" Mei's face was a slight shade of red in obvious rage. "In that case, we must hurry, for our world is doomed if that demoness isn't sent to hell." Just our luck that we meet someone who not only knows of the Great Power, but she might be the one Itachi and the old man mentioned. She's going to take us there.
And as to what she said about Kaguya-bitch - "Don't need to tell us twice," Neji muttered when they all began walking, following her into the forest.
~o~
"Ohhh, they failed for the first time in millennia. Who would have thought - and by another woman of enormous power, no less?"
"Indeed, and damn it all to HELL!"
With that animalistic curse, she propelled a tree in her path, unleashing the chakra to her fist and projecting it into the great stump, splintering it in half and sending it right in the opposite direction. It made her feel better by only a small amount, but there were greater problems to worry about. Her bird-men warriors were so close to subduing those meddlesome kids and bringing them back, but they had to retreat because of a horrid whistling sound emitting from the split pole-arm of a warrior woman who might be a native of the forest. Kaguya suspected there was so much more than that alone.
No doubt she is protector of a great source of chakra that I never knew about. But damn it all, as I've said. There's not much time left, but I suppose I have no choice but to remain here until tonight. And meanwhile...
"Zetsu, as damnable as this is, I have to remain here and finish the cycle. They will come here too late and either be caught up in the Tsukuyomi, or they will arrive after the light of the moon wanes. I'll get them all then."
"Oh, understood, Princess," White Zetsu said, almost disappointed. "But at least we will get to enjoy the show?" He sounded gleefully excited now. "Just like now?"
What he referred to was the fact she had all of them subjected to paralysis and then the All-Killing Ash Bones, resulting in all of them being nothing but ashes. She felt no emotion towards them, much less pity, for their failure. There were more of them, and this had to remind them that failure was NOT an option.
As she said before, in the meantime: Jiraiya had contacted her - she had a cell phone that he offered to take care of for her even if she didn't live with him and his family - and told her Naru and her friends were gone for perhaps the whole day. He was very upset that she'd taken off without telling him and Orochimaru, never mind a note she'd left them. Not only that, but her birthday was tomorrow. It was a shame Kaguya had to ruin that, in a way.
"Well, what can we do? She's grown up and responsible for her own actions. At least she let us know she was fine and could take care of herself," Jiraiya said with a smile. It was just the two of them while Orochimaru was gone for the day, having been called away because of "reports of disturbances at the old mine". Ants are closer than they think to the truth, but Zetsu will keep them busy and prevent them from finding out.
Gliding over her body was a caftan awashed with a marbled rainbow print resembling abalone, found in seashells. She was with him at the house, where he'd told her he'd gone all out himself and grilled tuna for them both, sprinkling it with a miso and onion mix that made him inhale and sigh heavenly as he had every right to be proud of it.
"No good if you got no one to share it with, right?"
The last time she ever felt this way was long ago, and here it was still happening again. She had never been in such a fickle as she was now, and she loathed how torn in half she was.
The Tengu not only appeared in the Mighty Morphin movie, but I'd just remembered how popular they are in Japanese lore, like the oni (ogre, demon) and kappa (turtle-like river creature). Naturally, here they are as depicted in the lore. :D They generally appear as yamabushi (mountain hermits) and dress like them, along with having their red-skinned, long-nosed appearances as well as avian wings, depending on the variation.
The staff the Tengu use - as does Hagoromo - is known as the shakujō. Once a noisemaker to scare off predatory animals, primarily used by priests and monks during religious services.
Tengu are said to communicate not with their mouths, but telepath through the mind instead. Kinda like alien abduction stories. This is according to a short video I found on YouTube, "Tengu" from The Fear Channel.
The dish Jiraiya cooked for Kaguya and himself is tataki, which is essentially raw or extremely rare tuna or beef steak seared outside before being sliced, or it could be nicely chopped raw fish like Japanese mackerel or Sardine. It's spiced up with chopped onions, garlic or ginger.
REVIEW! :D WE ARE FINALLY ALMOST AT THE END. No rush, as far as I am concerned. I'm ecstatic to see myself as to how it ends. My best friend really loves this with all his heart.