After reaching the open ocean once again, Retsu had some breathing room. He was free to take a closer look at the Eight Gates Technique, and the Mystic Palm. In the depths of the Monday Typhoon, Retsu had sequestered himself in a dimly lit corner where he would be left alone.
In his hand was a scroll detailing the Eight Gates Technique. The scroll came along with a diagram detailing each of the "gates" a.k.a. tenketsu, that Retsu had to open. Each gate required a specific sequence to open in a specific order.
The theory behind the technique stated that the body unconsciously limited each person to using 20% of their own chakra at once. This was believed to be the case, because the extra flow of chakra would damage the body. The Eight Gates Technique sought to remove said limiter.
The technique went like so: the 1st gate releases 25% usable chakra, 2nd gate 35%, 3rd gate 45%, 4th gate 55%, 5th gate 70%, 6th gate 80%, 7th gate 90% and the 8th is 100%.
Looking at the Eight Gates Technique, it was a bit of a kinjutsu, since it sacrificed the users health for power. However, as demonstrated by Might Guy, or his father, Might Duy, as long as the fight was finished quickly, than the Eight Gates were a truly demonic technique worth the punishment.
The fifth gate was where the power spike was extreme. Both in the amount of chakra available, and the damage to the body. This was the stage in which bones would crack. Fortunately for Retsu, he could reform his bones at any time. Reaching the 5th gate was his current goal.
As powerful as Guy, Duy and Lee were, they were limited to taijutsu. Retsu determined that to lock himself into such a mindset was foolish. The skill allowed full control of the chakra in the user's body. Full stop.
Just because Guy or Lee couldn't use ninjutsu, didn't mean Retsu had to restrict himself! He could use that chakra to create a bone forest, or other phenomenal feats of jutsu requiring large quantities of chakra! This may be the ability that could even allow him to step up to Hashirama's level one day!
Powerful replaceable bones, a yang chakra attribute that encouraged physicality, and a bloodline on par with the Senju or Uzumaki. Retsu was confident in his eventual rise.
Only…It had been a week since he had acquired the technique, yet he had made little progress on the second gate! In all fairness, he approached this tenketsu with a metaphorical pair of kid gloves. The second gate was located in his right hemisphere. A.k.a, his brain! One mishap, and he'd blow up his head. Or turn himself simple.
All this chakra control he'd spent his time on led him to believe that opening the gates would be a walk in the park. Now he understood Kakashi's surprise when he saw Lee open the 5th gate at the age of 13. Rock Lee was undeniably a practitioner of hard work. But he was also a genius of another sort. Unlocking the Eight Gates wasn't easy.
It was at this time that Retsu was focusing his chakra on his left and right hemispheres to open the gates, that he made a discovery. He noticed two additional tenketsu that did not belong on the average human. The two dots on his forehead were not tattoos, or there for mere aesthetics apparently.
Curious, Retsu created wolverine claws made of bone. While he did this, he focused his attention on the two tenketsu on his forehead. Unsurprisingly, the chakra surged from those two points when he activated his kekkei genkai.
"Remarkable." Retsu muttered to himself.
"Am heeere too!" Chubs II lay curled in Retsu's lap.
"And you're a good girl." Retsu patted the top of her head, then began to scratch under her chin.
Chubs II lifted her chin, and cooed under Retsu's attention.
Retsu figured he had spent enough time on the issue, and that his Eight Gates would open sooner than later. He may be skilled in many areas, but that didn't mean he would instantly grasp every skill he came across. As for experimentation on his two red dots, he would leave that for another day. He still had Mystic Palm practice to get to.
Fortunately, this was an area of expertise he had greater success in.
Opening a barrel filled with water, and live fish, Retsu reached in, and grabbed one.
Pinning the flopping thing to the ship's floorboard with a few bone toothpicks, Retsu began his practice.
Retsu sliced a thin line across the fish's belly, then concentrated on his hands.
A green glow revealed a small smile on Retsu's lips.
By focusing his chakra in such a way, Retsu could seal any wound with ease.
Pressing down on the fish's side, Retsu healed the cut.
The entire process was somewhat similar to welding a door shut, but with chakra as the medium instead of fire. To finish off the job, Retsu pumped a gentle stream of chakra into the affected sight to revitalize the damaged cells.
If taken to an extreme level, Retsu figured that this "welding" effect could be something deadly on the battlefield. It took an extreme level of concentration to pull off. However, Retsu determined someone with monstrous chakra control, and lots of practice could use this skill like Kakashi used Chidori, or Naruto the Rasengan.
Thinking back on it, Tsunade should be much more powerful than she was portrayed in the show. Given how disastrous medical ninjutsu could be, she should be a top 5 powerhouse. To judge her by her incredible strength alone would be to underestimate her completely. She already could paralyze a person with just a touch. Given her talents, Tsunade could probably give someone super cancer!
Shaking his head at his lapse in concentration, Retsu focused back on his results.
The slice wasn't too deep, so Retsu completed the task in less than thirty seconds. Ideally, he would be able to close a shallow wound like this in one to three seconds someday.
"Two seconds faster than last time, wouldn't you say, Chubs II?" Retsu patted Chubs II, and stroked her whiskers.
"Fishh tasty, yes-yes." Chubs II curled her long pink tail around Retsu's thumb, and blinked her eyes closed in pseudo sleep.
Nodding his head in satisfaction at a job well done, Retsu picked up the fish, and placed it back in the barrel. It was a cruel punishment for the fish, but if it could survive the day, Retsu figured he'd let the fish in the barrel go.
Over the next three hours, Retsu repeated this process with a different fish. Sometimes he would pierce an organ or an eye to see if he could fix it. More often than not, the fish would die if it lost a critical organ, and Retsu would feed the dead fish to Chubs II.
"Hahahaha, I've done it!" Retsu held up Chubs II, and cheered.
He had successfully healed a heart! Retsu took the surviving fish, and placed it in its own, separate barrel. He would have to monitor it, and see how long it would live.
Reinvigorated, Retsu spent another hour practicing on the fish. Much to his dismay, he never replicated his success.
"Failure is but a roadblock on the path to success." Retsu stroked Chubs II's fur while he consoled himself.
Chubs II let out a loud burp, and held onto her expanded stomach.
"Almost been a month since we set out, and we've only raided one measly ship! Ao, find us a village to pillage!" Iguru flung the maps at Ao.
"No need for the maps, Captain. There's a village up ahead. You know, the one with the cotton candy?" Ao flung the maps back at Iguru.
"That was some good cotton candy. Ao, set sail!" Iguru rubbed his chin, and let the maps slap off his face.
"We're already here." Ao uttered tonelessly.
"You, how did you…Ao, you're a miracle worker!" Iguru shook Ao by the shoulders.
Ao's blue spiky hair was flopping around. Iguru was like a kid hopped up on mountain dew and pizza.
"Yes Captain, I've only been sailing with you for the last ten years." Ao's face was locked in a deadpan as he stared up at a cloud until Iguru got his excitement out of his system.
"Alright lads! And one lady, let's get us some cotton candy!" Iguru raised a fist and cheered.
The rest of the crew remained silent in the face of his jubilation.
Seeing the look on Iguru's face, Retsu and Mangetsu shared a look.
"Oh-ohhh!" Retsu and Mangetsu unwillingly let loose with a subdued cheer.
"I SAID, WHO WANTS SOME COTTON CANDY?!" Iguru drew his sword, and manifested a chakra saber.
"OHHH!" Everyone, including Ao and even Mei joined in to cheer.
"Advance!" Iguru commanded, before jumping off the boat to lead the way.
When Retsu jumped off the boat, he noticed Ao had remained on the boat. Likewise, Mei stood back next to him.
Ao merely smiled in response, and gave a shallow wave.
Mei snorted, and looked out to the other side of the river that they were docked at.
Retsu stalled for a second, maybe now would be a good time to remain on guard duty?
"Going somewhere, Retsu?" Iguru called from up front.
"Yes Captain, to raid that village for their cotton candy, sir!" Retsu raised his voice, and made his intentions clear.
"Good shinobi follow orders. Forward ho!" Iguru dashed forward once again.
After a short run across muddy ground, shallow streams, and tall bushy reeds, the crew came across a walled village. The wall was made of bamboo, and was around 14ft. tall.
"All together now. Water Style: Hidden Mist Jutsu!" Iguru led the group into a mass casting of Kiri's signature jutsu.
Using the water from the nearby streams and muddy water as a medium, a dense mist was soon created. The mist blanketed the walls, and crested over into the village.
In front of the village was a gate. A pair of guards in straw hats, and wielding bamboo spears stood watch.
"Oi, something seems off. The mist is so thick, I can't even see my hand." This is just like two years ago when we got our cotton candy stolen!" One guard nervously shouted to the guy next to him.
"I'll go warn the others!" The other guard ran toward the gate.
Iguru didn't give them a chance. In one swift motion, he sliced the spears in half, kicked the guards to the ground, and then destroyed the gate.
Iguru kept moving forward without stopping in his tracks.
Glancing at the fallen guards, Retsu decided it wasn't worth his time to end them, and followed Iguru into the village.
"Woah." Retsu couldn't help but let the word slip out.
Before the mist completely enveloped the fields within the village, Retsu took in a surprising sight.
Chakra bullshit could make wonderous, life saving fruits. But under the tender care of man's breeding regime, plants such as the cotton candy tree sprang into existence.
Against all science and logic, there were fields upon fields of cotton candy bearing trees. Some trees were blue, pink, or green in color, signifying their different flavors. One tree stood alone, and produced rainbow colored cotton candy.
Farmers in sandals, and straw hats were busily picking the fluffy candy, and placing it into baskets. They stood on ladders, and used giant nets on long poles, to collect the silky smooth candy.
"Huh, isn't this fog…familiar?" One farmer muttered to his coworker.
"I don't know, we get fog here all the time. It will pass by tomorrow." His fellow answered back.
However, at the sound of the gate exploding, the farmers all turned their heads, then took on a look of panic. A bell began to ring, resounding throughout the fields and village.
Within a minute, all the farmers had dropped what they were doing, and started to run away in the opposite direction. Children were crying, men were shouting, and women were desperately gripping the arms of their kids as they ran.
"Ninja from the Hidden Mist?! You've got balls coming back here after what you did two years ago! I was absent during that little escapade of yours, but no longer! This time, we're ready for you!" An old, bald man in a luxurious brown-grey robes yelled at them from the foot of the rainbow cotton candy tree.
Flanking the old man, a trio of Hidden River shinobi stood with their arms crossed. Emerging from nearby homes, more than a dozen chakra enhanced men armed with an array of weapons, and various pieces of mishmash armor made their appearance.
"Pick them off at my signal." Iguru whispered.
Hearing Iguru's order, the crew began to circle the formation of Hidden River shinobi, and other mercenaries.
"Gentleman. I am Captain Iguru, one of the Seven Swordsman of the Mist. Drop your weapons, and you will be spared. We are here for the cotton candy. Not your lives." Iguru projected his voice through the mist.
At the mention of the Seven Swordsman of the Mist title, many of the mercenaries gulped. One even turned to run away, but was stabbed through the throat by the old man.
"Do not be fooled by this loudmouth pirate. Any Kenji, Aokiji, or Hiroshi could claim to be a legendary swordsman! A true swordsman speaks with his blade, not his mouth!" The bald elder eliminated a defector, and inspired some courage in his men.
"That's right, Higoro was a Jonin of Tanigakure before retiring. Trust in his judgement. If that's not enough, believe in his power. A man does not reach his age, and remain a shinobi for so long." One of the Hidden River shinobi spoke up in the old man's defense.
The message was clear to the mercenaries. Face certain death from the old man, or face the braggart Hidden Mist shinobi.
"I take offense to the term pirate, sir! We are entrepreneurs! This seizure of goods is nothing more than a fee! A transaction between men free from the burden of the State. This company does not unjustly murder, rape, or torture! For you see…Higoro, it is Higoro? For you see! We are professionals! And as a magnanimous business magnate bent on fulfilling my company's vision, I submit unto you a proposition. Be warned, this is the final ultimatum. Lay down your arms, and hand over the cotton candy, or I'll murder every last one of you." Iguru calmly explained his stance in a carefree, and gentile manner. At the end however, he exploded with a dense, murderous air.
"You made one mistake boy. This is my home village. I'm about to teach you the true meaning behind the words "stretchy" and "melts in your mouth!" The old man radiated killing intent to match Iguru.
"Candy Style: Cotton Puffer Jutsu!" Higoro performed a series of hand signs, and exploded several of the cotton candy trees.
Small senbon sized missiles made of cotton candy, and strengthened by chakra spread out blindly into the mist.
"Explode: Hiramekarei!" Iguru swiped his sword, and created a large concussive blast, swiping the senbon away.
The force behind the blast also took away a large chunk of the mist. The area was less dense, and people could now vaguely see one another.
As the mist cleared, each member of Team Iguru took the opportunity to assassinate a target. In one fell swoop, over half of the chakra empowered mercenaries were slain.
Mangetsu sliced his targets to shreds, three men fell into a pile of limbs in three seconds. However, he was quickly set upon by one of the Hidden River shinobi, and was forced to defend himself. Letting the enemy shinobi pierce his water body, Mangetsu took advantage of that one second of surprise. He shoved one sword into the enemy shinobi's heart, and the other sliced behind him, decapitating a man attempting to sneak up on him.
Gengo pitted three of the mercenaries together with his genjutsu, and smirked while they killed themselves. Looking at the remaining men, Gengo drew a single kunai. A mad smile splayed across his face as a drop of blood landed on his cheek.
Gozu and Meizu each killed a mercenary by surprise. They then went on to tag team, and kill another person together. Gozu took a kunai to the shoulder, and Meizu broke his left hand, yet they were still holding their own.
Kajika drowned two, then got caught up in a duel with a Hidden River shinobi. He was punched by a taijutsu expert, and caved in the ground. Staggering to his feet, Kajika did his best to force the enemy shinobi away with his water ninjutsu.
Retsu took this opportunity to cleave two of the mercenaries in half. He then raised his hand, and shot off six bone bullets at three more.
One bullet caught a mercenary in the thigh. He went down to the ground with a bloodcurdling scream.
Two bullets caught a mercenary in the chest, killing him instantly.
The last four bullets were all blocked by a muscular man. He wielded a pair of oversized gauntlets that would only appear in an anime or videogame. Each bullet pinged off his gauntlets, at the same time, he rushed toward Retsu.
Raising his sword, Retsu moved to meet the man with the gauntlets. His chakra bone blade easily sliced through the gauntlet, and cut deeply into the man's arm.
"Rah!" Uncaring about the wound to his left arm, the man raised a gauntlet, and punched Retsu square in the jaw.
Retsu lifted up slightly from the ground, but otherwise, nothing changed.
"That's impossible!" The gauntleted man staggered back.
Shoving his sword forward, and deeper Retsu pierced the chin and roof of his enemy's head. Blood began to pour down the gauntlet man's throat onto the sword.
"Not this time!" Retsu withdrew his sword with precision. Not a single drop of blood had been spilt on his pristine white kimono.
It was at that moment, the third and final Hidden River shinobi made his appearance. Dressed in a rebreather mask, and dark brown cloak, the man's hands burst out of the ground. He pulled Retsu down a foot.
In response, Retsu's foot stomped down. Forming boney cleats, Retsu ground his foot into the other shinobi's arm, causing him massive damage.
Without saying a word, the shinobi slapped three explosive tags to Retsu's ankle, then dipped back underground.
Before the Hidden River shinobi could escape, Retsu shoved his leg down once more, and ejected a bone spear deep into the dirt.
However, it was at this moment that the all to familiar sizzle of an explosive tag rang in the field. In that split second, Retsu shattered his bone armor into a million tiny flechettes. The paper was torn to shreds before it could release its payload. Retsu had successfully destroyed the seal before it could detonate on him.
Pulling up his foot, Retsu detatched the bone spear, and saw blood on the tip. He knew he lived in an anime world, in all likelihood, that guy had gotten away. Despite the fact that he had poisoned his blood stream before leaving the ship, Retsu had his misgivings. Anime shenanigans dictated that the dude would probably live till he delivered info on this attack. Then he'd probably fall over and die or something. Yep, it was a classic. He'd have some younger sibling gunning for his head too.
Retsu then shot a dozen more bone spears into the ground for good measure. It was a longshot, but hopefully he could murder this guy here and now. Unfortunately, however, when he retracted the spears, they were bloodless.
It was at that moment that a long strand of cotton candy wrapped itself around Retu's arm. Retsu tried to rip his arm free, but the candy held firm. The bendy, and seemingly soft material then began to heat up to an insane degree. It instantly began to melt, and bubble all over Retsu's arm!
Retsu desperately attempted to hack away at the cotton candy wrap, however, it would sway with each swipe. It could not be cut! Even the small strength boost from the first gate did nothing to help.
All the while that the candy melted, Retsu kept reforming bone armor over and over again to preserve his arm.
It soon became clear to him that reforming his bone armor to outlast the jutsu wasn't going to work. The rate of melting exceeded his regeneration. If that guy was truly a Jonin, than this was likely an A-rank jutsu!
Desperate to come up with an idea, Retsu formed a pair of scissors with his bones.
"Come on. Work!" Retsu snipped at the cotton candy.
A small tuft came off. Seeing that the scissors were more effective than his sword, Retsu started snipping away like a mad man. In seconds, all the cotton candy had been removed from his arm.
The pieces he removed started to boil, and eat away at the muddy ground, turning it black.
Taking a deep breath, Retsu finally got a good look at the source of his calamity.
Sitting atop a cocoon made of cotton candy, the old bald man sent wave after wave of the stuff at Iguru. His jutsu took the cotton candy from the trees, and gave them form. Errant strands, and streams of the sugary confection of death found its way here and there across the field.
Iguru in response would destroy the cotton candy as it came at him. However, he could neither advance or retreat.
"Retsu, let's aid Sensei! Follow my lead!" Mangetsu drew Retsu's attention with a shout. He then ran at the cotton trees, and started to slice them, up.
"Yes, let's continue from where we left off last time. 1,000!" Retsu was quick to catch on, and started to destroy the source of Higoro's power.
"Stop! I will not allow you to destroy my village's foundation!" Higoro sent streams of hot death at the boys.
"Good work lads! Five more minutes of this, and he'll be out of juice!" Iguru blocked Higoro's attacks, and drew aggro.
"NO! You forced me to do this! Taste the thousand years growth of my people! Cotton Candy Style: Rainbow Redux Medley!" Higoro took cotton candy from the rainbow tree behind him for his attack. The stream of confectionary death took on the shape of a vortex. It exploded with lightning, ice, fire, and wind.
The entire field of cotton trees was sucked into its vortex. Team Iguru barely kept ahold of the ground with the tree sticking technique.
"Hohhh." Iguru closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and mobilized every last drop of chakra in his body.
Holding the blade out in a straight line, Iguru pointed the tip of the sword at the oncoming vortex.
"Hiramekarei." Iguru slowly intoned the name of his sword.
A thin blue beam shot out of the tip. It passed through the vortex, through Higoro, and out into the horizon before fading away.
"A genjutsu is your ultimate technique? To think I wasted all this progress on the likes of you!" Higoro laughed mirthlessly to himself.
Shoving his sword into the ground, Iguru braced himself.
"Groveling won't save yo-"
It was then the thin blue line which had all but disappeared from sight reemerged. It expanded to the size of a bus, to the size of a skyscraper, to the size of a mega skyscraper!
The beam attack destroyed the giant elemental vortex, turned Higoro to dust, and blew dust and debris into the sky. An unimaginably large straight line of dirt went forward for five miles. Where once there were houses, rivers, trees, and hills, there was now only destruction.
Retsu's eyes widened in surprise. The entirety of Team Iguru held their breaths at the sheer magnitude of destruction.
Taking a piece of rainbow colored cotton candy off his standard looking Hidden Mist purple-grey flak jacket, Iguru placed it in his mouth.
"Ahh, it was worth stopping for this. See you all back on the ship. Seize what loot you can carry; we're setting sail in half an hour." Iguru sheathed his sword, then casually walked back to the Monday Typhoon.
After some time had passed, Retsu finally opened his mouth.
"You remember what count you were on?"
Mangetsu shook his head left and right, still shocked at the display of utter destruction wrought by his sensei.
"Yeah, me either." Retsu soullessly sat down, and focused on healing his slightly cooked arm.
"Uh guys? Still fighting over here!" Kajika desperately shouted from the sideline.
Back on the ship, Iguru was subject to an inquisitive look from Mei and Ao.
"Did you get it?" Ao questioned.
"Yeah, I have the proof right here. The kid wasn't lying." Iguru showed Ao and Mei a scroll.
"Reinforcements arrived during your battle. We took care of them." Mei nodded her head at a dozen Hidden River shinobi corpses floating in the water. Most of their remains were charred, or melted.
Ao took a look at Mei, gulped, then turned his attention back to Iguru. "It's confirmed then. He is planning to rebel."
AN: Who is planning to rebel? I dropped a tiny~ hint in a previous chapter. We are still on course to keep up the adventure into Kusagakure, Iron, etc atm.