hey, hope you'ree havin' a good summer, I sure am, anyway, time for more insanity, or as teachers say, "creative writing", NEXT CHAPTER!
The Fox, The Raven, and The Cat raise hell
ch. 11 - The Promotion
1/2 mile from the gates of konoha
"so, what was that thing you said before calling zansatsu's name?" Naruto asked, noticing, once again, the one thing that has the least importance out of everything happening around him. Kisame answered him.
"most swords have a specific phrase that must be said before the name when bankai has not yet been reached. swords like samehada, kubikiri houcho, and zansatsu only need the name to be called once and remain in their shikai form permanently. other blades, blades that revert to their original state after being used, can be released without calling the name of the sword once bankai has been achieved. these swords usually have either bankais resembling an animal, a specific element used in shikai and bankai, or both. according to a branch of the soul reaper legend, there was a soul reaper that once fought another soul reaper, the second soul reaper the commanding officer of the squad the first was in. the were rumored to have been a man named Renji, and a man named Byakuya. Renji was the first soul reaper I mentioned, and he had been fighting to try and save Byakuya's sister who was roughly one hour away from being executed. Byakuya stood before Renji, keeping him from moving along the path he needed to in order to save Byakuya's sister. before that day, Byakuya had believed that Renji was still inferior to him in every way, Renji having only achieved shikai, Byakuya having achieved bankai. Byakuya's zanpaku-to, senbonsakura, recquires the phrase 'scatter, senbonsakura' to be said in order to release his shikai, regardless of having achieved bankai. as Byakuya began to speak the phrase, Renji released his zanpaku-to, Zabimaru, attacking Byakuya without calling the name of his sword. Byakuya was initially surprised by this, and realized that Renji was now his inferior only in the sense that he had yet to master his bankai. Renji had forgotten that he had only just released his bankai, and called the full name of his zanpaku-to, Hihio Zabimaru, which translates into 'Bamboo King Zabimaru'. the form of Hihio Zabimaru was a giant skeletal snake, pink energy binding the bones to one another. in the end, Renji's inexperience with bankai was his downfall, and he couldn't maintain it long enough to finish Byakuya. he had unknowingly uncovered the easiest way to defeat Byakuya, be certain that he never gets the chance to release senbonsakura, and if that fails, make sure he doesn't release his bankai, senbonsakura kageyoshi." Kisame explained as they reached the gates of konoha. Rikou, Anko and Kakashi walked forward to address the guards.
"teams 7 and 8 returning from a mission to wave country. we have 4 missing nins here ready to join konoha under the restrictions of a deal. Zabuza and Haku lost a bet to one of the genin, and Itachi and Kisame are here to be placed under a memory jutsu to make them believe that they are completely and totally loyal to the Hokage." Kakashi explained, earning nods from the guards allowing the large group of ninja entry to the village. they headed straight for the hokage tower, getting many strange looks along the way.
hokage tower 10 mintues later
"Lord Hokage, you have... visitors." the receptionist said, refraining from using the word 'demon'. the large group of ninja entered the room with Rikou, Naruto, and Hinata walking ahead of everyone else.
"well, this is certainly a large group, what's more, four of you are missing ninjas. Rikou, I take it this is your doing?" Sarutobi asked, Rikou beginning to grin.
"yeah, somehow Itachi was brought back to life, he and Kisame were scared into agreeing to be placed under a memory jutsu to make them believe that they are loyal to you, otherwise they will remain themselves, and Haku and Zabuza are here because I won a bet, so now they have to be konoha ninja, or else I get to make them into target practice for Naruto and his rusty kunai set." Rikou said with a smirk as Naruto began to grin, Hinata smiling sweetly. you would never guess that she was wishing she was the one that would get to do target practice.
"very well, I will send for inoichi yamanaka, in the mean time, can I ask why squad 7 is wielding new weaponry?" Sarutobi asked, staring at zansatsu.
"I'll tell you later, where's my mom right now?" Rikou asked as Sarutobi took a long drag of his pipe.
"right now she's probably at your house, but you are forbidden from going there until I say otherwise. for now, I need to speak with you three, everyone except for Naruto, Rikou, and Hinata, you are dismissed. Haku and Zabuza, you Kakashi and Anko are to escort Itachi and Kisame to the yamanaka flower shop and explain the situation to inoichi. and at all costs, keep Itachi's identity a secret, if the uchiha realize that their most powerful member is alive and about to be put under a memory jutsu, they may try and manipulate inoichi so that Itachi is loyal to them rather than to myself and future Hokages." the six ninjas nodded and left, covering Itachi's face in bandages. everyone else left to go about their business, apart from Naruto, Hinata and Rikou. "okay, now, tell me, how many tails have you two unlocked, and you, wings, I have a plan, and it will only work if you're as powerful as I believe you are."
"I've got six wings, they've each got 6 tails." Rikou said, enjoying the look on sarutobi's face once that was said.
"well, that's certainly enough to authorize my decision. Rikou, I need a detailed report on what the few non-ninja witnesses are calling the 'white blur massacre', I've been waiting for days to get some kind of clarification." Sarutobi said, Rikou grinning sheepishly.
"I'll only tell you if you promise not to get angry." Rikou said as Sarutobi took another drag of his pipe.
"fine, I promise." Sarutobi said, exhaling the smoke. Rikou drew zansatsu, the cloth unraveling, revealing it's form. Sarutobi nearly choked on his pipe.
"This is my sword, Zansatsu, I bought it as a normal zanbatou about two weeks ago, but a couple days ago before we left wave, I added a soul engraving. the witnesses probably called it the white blur massacre because of the blur left behind while I hacked through thugs working for a billionaire that had been depriving wave country of its funds, along with the billionaire himself." Rikou said, returning Zansatsu to his back as the cloth rewrapped itself.
"okay, so, do you know what your sword's abilities are yet?" Sarutobi asked.
"I only know of one. when blood touches Zansatsu, the blood seeps into the metal, and the blade becomes sharper and lighter, without ever actually gaining or losing mass. I think that it takes the small bit of life energy found in blood cells and merges it all together making a powerful reserve of energy. I'm almost certain that another ability of Zansatsu is to harness that energy somehow, in some kind of long-range blast or close-range power surge, something along those lines." Rikou explained, getting a nod from Sarutobi.
"before you first released Zansatsu, did you have to pass a test or anything? something to prove yourself worthy of its name?" Sarutobi asked.
"I don't think he did," Hinata began, "one second he was talking to us about trying to figure out the name of his sword, the next he calls on Zansatsu, literally, a ten second interval between the two events."
"yes, I did." Rikou said, confusing Naruto and Hinata. "after I brought my sword up to challenge gato's men, time seemed to stop. absolutely everything was still, except for the sound of footsteps, there was no sound at all. Zansatsu, as in, its soul, looks like a white spiky-haired samurai carrying the blade form of Zansatsu on his back. we fought. my wings and jutsu didn't work, I had to beat him using nothing but the un-released form of Zansatsu, while he used the blade on my back. I didn't earn the knowledge of the name of the blade until I dealt a killing blow, which he survived as if it were a scratch on the shoulder, rather than, in that situation, a sword through the stomach."
"I see, well, perhaps you can add a soul engraving to each of the swords that Naruto and Hinata are now carrying. but for now, I need to inform the council of the events that have transpired. I believe it will be best if we have the full group that you brought back from wave, but first, I need to inform you of your promotion." Sarutobi said, catching all of them off-guard. "as of now, you are part a squad of special jounin that will specialize in kenjutsu. please inform Rika that she has also been promoted. I highly recommend that you become skilled in the use of the sword alone, rather than relying upon your demonic powers. against a warrior of superior strength, you need to be able to fall back on skill. all the strength in the world is useless if you can never hit your enemy. the meeting shall take place in an hour."