Sorry for such a late update, Life and health got me down. This chapter is shorter, only because I wanted to upload sooner and also because it sets subplots that I don't want to be glossed over by changing many so many plot gears in one chapter. Enjoy, and thanks for your reviews and follows. From my (admittedly quite weak) heart :P
EDIT: some sentences cut off where they appeared fine in MS word. As for hitting 64+ follows with this chapter, I've decided to add a (very small) omake at the end.
It was in a place that had long forgotten what it looked like. There was the sea in the west, trees to the east, rocks to the north and the expansive beach to the south. It was an environment to suit every battalion, of every village whose ninja had been present.
What mattered was that now it belonged to Fire Country.
The signs were still visible upon it, as if the elements themselves, the earth, the water, and scorched rocks and broken weapons laying a monument. It did not look like a battle had taken place, but a witness to a calamity; the Wrath of God.
There had been one ninja, and four shadow clones, each displaying a mastery of the elements of which an elite ninja would master two at most, perhaps three, but never attempt all five.
He donned black armour and a symbol of a leaf. He fought with hand and steel in ways known and ways not known. He called forth howling flames, the earth exploded to do his bidding, the waves swept themselves aside at with mere changes in the posture of his hands, unseen winds of blade passed by him and seared through his opposition.
The jutsus stopped and they tried to engage him, all under different banners uniting against the greatest threat on the battlefield and his shadow clones, engaging with hand and steel.
Many recalled the fight to be an army against one man who could rival it. But it had been the case of a more than a dozen jounin of various specialties that had faced off against the Sandaime and his shadow clones – fighting beyond any limit to not receive a single blow up till that point.
There had been kunais, swords, chains and more levelled against him. None managed to prevent him from unsealing his staff.
It wasn't unheard of to be proficient in various taijutsu styles, wield and confront a plethora of weapons. But for the same man who held himself a master of all ninjutsu? One so hard to ensnare in genjutsu, but also capable of returning fire against fi
One who had won against all odds.
And now the very man, called as a god of killers glanced wearily towards the carved faces at the horizon of his village, felt thrice his age.
Iwa had mobilized its borders, forcing Konoha to do likewise. Ambassadors had both villages had managed a compromise, but it was naught when Onoki refused to believe Hiruzen to be plotting something, and that years after he'd earned his title as a deity, the hearsay among the village of him looking for someone to take over as the fourth Hokage was proof of him weakening from the after-effects of a close call (which were far too many to in his life).
That he might be interested in a person less hardened and tutored by war to rule over a village for its better, economic and social prosperity was deemed unbelievable.
It was ridiculous paradox really. He was being considered weak enough to attack, but not weak enough to retire. Hiruzen considered neither to be true, of course. The causes of war had always been there, but its new start must fall upon the heads of Onoki and himself.
The Sandaime thought back to the citizens that actually lived alongside the borders and were neighbours, friends with their so-called enemies.
He sighed.
The longer he lived, the more Fate seemed undefeatable.
The difference between a shadow clone and an elemental clone, widely known, was the chakra cost. Another was that elemental clones obeyed, but shadow clones thought on their own. Lesser known subtleties included that once a shadow clone's high chakra cost had been paid, it consumed no more chakra, but if dispelled returned whatever chakra it hadn't burned through.
What a blessing it was that pain didn't channel back along with memories of the clone. Jiraya nearly winced at the barrage led by Yahiko, scattering kunai and shuriken before Nagato used a wind jutsu to guide the steal with a tornado that took his clones a combination of jumps and substitutions to dodge. Some of the shurikens were of paper but coloured black, along with being oiled.
Hoshi's follow-up fireball didn't come close enough to singe the clone but the flashy embers as Konan's secret shurikens caught fire were a distraction enough for Nagato to use Shinra Tensei (Almighty Push) in the nick of time to batter the Sannin without warning.
Nagato knew that the greatest advantage of this particular technique was not its power or quicker usage as his skill increased, but its stealth. Other elemental jutsus gave auditory warnings, but with Hoshi and Konan using their chakra in widespread combo to mask his own spike when he used his Rinnegan, it could technically be a one-hit kill.
Technically; There was no sign of the clone dispelling.
A fist between his shoulder blades knocked the wind out of the redhead. Not one for melee combat, he immediately switched with Yahiko assaulted the jounin with a water bullet, putting all the power he could behind it. (Once, the Toad Sage had simply swatted away that jutsu; he pitied that his clone didn't dare to anymore).
The clone gave one cursory glance to his opponents, before jumping atop the river nearby. It was pouring, and the flow was turbulent. Jiraya was not surprised when his students followed without hesitation, planting themselves along the flow with confidence.
Except a certain white-haired boy, who ruined the moment by falling beneath the waves.
Jiraya pinched the bridge of his nose.
The clone didn't have time to laugh at such a juvenile failure as the other three rushed him at once, which was a bit strange considering at least one stayed behind for long range attacks...until Hoshi came up.
The jounin from Konoha could not prevent his jaw from falling as his student shot up with a form very familiar to the opening of the Omote Renge (Primary Lotus).
But the kick was weak and slow, unable to dispel the clone and barely causing him to be lifted. The real shock came when the white-haired boy spun mid-air and released a jet of fire from his incoming fist directly onto the clone's torso.
The finishing blow came from lances of water conjured by Yahiko, a smug look on his face as the clone dispelled. Setting aside a level of skill he hadn't seen in the headstrong boy, Jiraya stared only at Hoshi. Whatever speech he had prepared for his bright students vanished from his mind, his mind reeling as if Orochimaru had suddenly proclaimed that toads were his favourite animal.
"H-how? How can you create fire jutsu without using your breath?" The Toad Sage muttered. It was supposed to be impossible. It was unheard of, to create flames without exhaling. (The traveller from another world would call it firebending).
When Hoshi began to comeback with burns on his hands, trying hard to hide them underneath his training bandages, he'd thought he was experimenting, but deemed him sensible enough. He was the most careful with his element, the most destructive, after all.
Biting back any incredulous remarks when he saw the proud smile faltering on the prodigy's face, Jiraya grinned back.
"How'd you do it?"
"You mean...this?" The other orphans sighed as their friend punched upwards and sent a blast of fire towards the sky. Jiraya tsk'ed, but let him have his moment that everyone else had become accustomed to behind his back.
"It was hard," Hoshi nodded cupped his chin, voice switching to a lower register. "It required me to mould chakra externally, which was hard to hold and even harder to maintain for me." He walked closer to his teacher and his team followed, not having heard the mechanics behind his new technique.
"It has three steps after releasing your chakra," the boy spoke normally now, to the relief of his audience. He held out his hand, palm open.
"First, rotate it to make it dense!" Hoshi felt the strain on his tired tenketsu as the chakra became marginally visible, feather-thin tendrils flickering above his palm as drops of rain fell onto his hand. "Notice that the rotation is in just one direction, which will help us in step three."
For the love of cats, please don't let Minato have created the Rasengan already.
If anyone looked closely, they would see that the chakra in Hoshi's hand spun in a loose sphere with the majority of it spinning in a ring at its equator. The ring would pulse than slow down its rotation, in a manner Hoshi self-termed as the blender-effect, since it was very akin to the movement of the blades of a blender when someone turned it on and off, the rotation hovering in-between two speeds.
"The second step requ- requires common sense." Hoshi winced as he brought up his hand to shoulder height. "In order to not get the fire back into your face, it's important to squeeze the chakra so that it ignites as far from your hand as possible."
The sphere in his hand began to unwind from the top while it tightened at the bottom, a few centimetres separating the blue spiritual energy from his flesh. The white-haired boy breathed deeply, a drop of sweat sliding down his nose.
"Ho!" Jiraya exclaimed. "I see that this principle is the same as any other fire technique." Successfully stealing the attention from his student that had just outshone him, the Toad Sage grinned at his charges.
"While many users coat their mouths and throats with chakra to prevent damage in case of making a mistake, an efficient user knows that chakra doesn't turn into fire until leaves the mouth; it takes a while to notice only your face feels hot but your mouth, from you think the fire is coming from, does not." The jounin explained pithily.
"And the last and hardest part," Hoshi gritted his teeth, but continued, "is conversion to nature!"
Fire bloomed from the palm he thrust forward, casting orange shades on his weary but triumphant smile and surroundings.
"What if someone blows that back into your face?" Jiraya rested his knuckles against his chin, seeing the execution of the technique.
"Oh, Nagato tried that," Konan piped up. "Because this fire uses chakra as fuel, once Hoshi cuts his supply off the fire doesn't burn." The girl said with a look of innocence, as if they weren't just writing another branch of fire techniques.
Hoshi would have liked to point out that since external chakra scattered when he wasn't compressing and that the fire went out like a light (which was downright eerie, one moment it's there and then not),so fast that it could have been a dying spark from a firework that wouldn't hurt an ant if it fell on it, but Jiraya had enough suspicion on his face.
Stupid war-torn world that has no primary science education or pet shelters for cats.
"I see." Their teacher pinched the bridge of his nose. Then he smiled. A smile that dismissed the pride they were all feeling and replaced it with a clenching in their chest. "You've all grown up wonderfully, huh?"
"Sensei," Yahiko choked out.
"Don't cry Yahiko, you don't want to be seen as a cry baby now, do you?" spoke the Sannin. Turning, he began to address them all.
"Konan, you're a bound to bloom into a magnificent flower. Let's meet again when you're older, hmm?" A wink; replied with a sad smile.
"Nagato, don't you think you've all matured? Well, not quite all...right Hoshi?" Giving them one look, he turned around.
"Sensei, can I ask one last question before you go?" The boy raised his hand, recovering from the sudden farewell with an air of maturity that surprised Jiraya even in these final moments.
"What is it?" Jiraya masked his worries behind a sigh. What did he want to know? When he'd be back? Where was it that he was going? A last tip about Fuinjutsu? He had run his chakra network to hell and back to increase his reserves for the art.
Hoshi breathed deeply, composing, failing and then retrying, before asking,
"Where do babies come from?"
.
.
.
'Son of A BITCH.'
"You had to insufferable to the last, didn't you?" Yahiko asked as they ran back to their hideout.
"Considering some of the stuff we've been put through, I don't mind it much." Konan replied evenly.
"Why do I feel like you wanted to ask him something else, Niisan?" Nagato mused.
"Well, you know me." Hoshi gave no actual answer. "Let's get something to eat, I'm tired." And I have a feeling lunch will have a sombre atmosphere; better get that out of the way quickly.
It was foolish, to not act upon his ambitions that would eventually lead to the betterment of all shinobi. What was also more foolish was going behind Sarutobi-sensei's back, but Orochimaru knew there was no other way.
He might know what lurked at night in Konoha's shadows, but to claim he was familiar with them would a statement that could lead to his undoing.
The snake summoner stood on the topmost corridor of the Hokage tower, his noiseless steps making their way towards the opposite of the end from the village leader's office.
It is always darkest beneath the lamp, or so they say, thought Orochimaru as he knocked on the door. Not too loudly, nor too softly.
There was no noise besides the creaking hinges when the door opened. He entered.
"Orochimaru." Shimura Danzo spoke, clad in his black and blue uniform from behind his desk, moonlight spilling and homely, potted plants near the window casting interesting silhouettes in an office everyone would hesitate to think belonged to the commander of Konoha's ANBU.
The interior was friendly, but expensive enough to cause one to think twice before poking their nose in. Orochimaru bowed respectfully, before speaking. You had to pitch these delicately, while being blunt.
"I have a request, regarding some research projects. It would benefit Konoha's shinobi immensely."
"Along what lines?" asked Danzo.
"Anywhere, from healing remedies and surgeries which do not require chakra to perform to even psychological aspects; some medical ninja believe that damaged organs can be replaced with healthy ones, but has not attempted."
"Some medical ninja?" Danzo's eyes glinted with interest.
"Ones I consider close." Orochimaru gave a tiny smirk to confirm that he was referring to the person the ANBU commander was thinking of.
"What else are you 'reasonably certain' of, that you're here in my office?"
Orochimaru relaxed a fraction internally. Time to answer the man's another unspoken question, namely, what was is in it for him. "In my last campaigns I came across some substances that soothe the mind, and stopper emotions temporarily without hampering fieldwork. I can perform extensive research on those for our use."
"...I see. And you require human subjects?" Danzo cut straight to the point.
"I will, of course, not deny any probes you would want to conduct or any observers you will want to place during the experiments."
Silence reigned for a while, the ANBU commander giving neither approval nor disproval.
"Anything else?" Danzo asked, signalling the conversation was over. The snake Sannin searched his thoughts for anything else, but it was all far too soon to suggest.
"Nothing else." The sannin waited, for any order or permission to leave, hoping he had garnered enough interest from the man to personally give further instructions.
"Dismissed."
As he left, the sharp jounin noticed the shadows themselves moving to close the door.
Kukuku...I see the so-called lazy ninjas haven't been slacking.
Hoshi went through the day as normally as he could, but failed to realize how much he missed Jiraya until night came and he sat down to practice Fuinjutsu.
Wondering where his teacher had reached, and missing him more than he would ever admit Hoshi replayed his last lessons about the world he had travelled.
Much the ninja villages were well-versed in Japanese, although the nations themselves had many of them. Fuinjutsu worked only with Kanji, and that system had united intellectuals who yearned to be shinobi, although the language originated from the Land of Whirlpools, where legend said sealing began.
"In a country far away, surrounded by water on all sides, the language they spoke came and knit together scattered tribes of shinobi, who settled in what became different nations, looked different from each other, ate different foods, wore different clothes, but spoke the same language.
"Well, it was due to the military threat that small country and its sealing arts posed that drove shinobi to understand or perish, but it united them. Can you imagine a world where leaders of different villages couldn't speak in the same tongue?"
Jiraya had recited to Hoshi his thoughts once, and the boy wanted to say yes, not only a world where leaders could not but where different languages were so deeply entrenched they'd fight over dialects even if they were from the same nation.
If there's one mother tongue, would it make the derivative languages daughter tongues? Hoshi pondered, and for a while he almost felt like he didn't miss a batty, toad-obsessed jounin.
Until he realized what he was thinking of and felt the hollowness inside his chest again. His eyes blurred and his throat tightened, but he kept his painful breathing even.
Instead of practice, the traveller from another dimension drew all night. His little brother grew tired of staring at the hop-in plank of their and soon joined him, saying nothing all night.
Their new leader sharpened the every weapon they had, while the girl keeping him company smoothed out a paper crane, remembering the tale a crafty old sage told her once about making a wish come true by folding ten thousand of them.
Until Hoshi walked back inside, a blank look on his face, Nagato following suite with worry. Ignoring the other occupants of the room, the mentally oldest of them opened the cupboard beneath the sink and took out a scroll none of them had ever seen before.
Spreading it on the table with one fluid stroke (one of the many parlour tricks he acquired, apart from brush-spinning) they discovered its contents were not seals, but some weird Kanji and numbers and some symbols they had never seen before.
"Friends, let me tell you what is in store for Ame." Hoshi announced.
OMAKE:
Those in the know would come to the conclusion that the Shadow Clone was a Forbidden Jutsu because of the Chakra cost or how not many could handle the influx of memories if they used a clone long enough or made multiple ones.
Qualified researchers and medic-nins would tell you that clones took spiritual energy in the form of one's emotions. An ANBU who did not have the will to go one a spying mission himself would make a clone that sapped enough of his will to go from "I don't want a mission today" to "I don't want to train today" if they were not strictly disciplined. A Hokage who did not want to do paperwork in the first place had nary a chance of making his clone do it, the same way a Jounin too lazy to get out of his bed at dawn could create a clone to make him breakfast while he stayed in bed.
Chakra came back and replenished easily, but minds were harder to heal. Impossible even. Unless one had the willpower to attain their goal at all costs or the strictness to make themselves do what they didn't want to regardless (and some people who worked too hard on keeping every emotion and opinion internal failed at doing so when they formed a clone) the technique acquired a level of danger making it off-limit for all ranks below Jounin. And even they required the consent of the Hokage to peruse the Forbidden Scroll.
But Orochimaru would tell you that the thing which made it forbidden was a client who had offered a good deal of money for an alibi to faked in court, and in order to keep whatever semblance of a judicial system from burning to the ground, the technique was put under Lock and Seal. And what Orochimaru would not tell you was not as important as it was hilarious (to him).
What would you expect if, hypothetically of course, pure speculation, if the technique fell into the hands of a ninja nearing the end of puberty, in all his hormone-addled glory, obsessed with a woman who gave him not the time of the day, but with the ability to perform exact Henge's with a keen eye for detail and the ability to create a clone?
And given the team he was on, the Snake Sannin would rather jump down the throat of a toad then tell anyone that.
Reviews? Betas? :P
