Chapter 24
Growth
Wave Country
As he crested the hill, Ji-Hoon cursed the sunlight beating down on his body. The only reason he was able to move in the daylight at all was that he was a half breed. Somewhere along the way his mother had taken a human man and mated with him - devoured him afterward of course – and given birth to Ji-Hoon and four siblings. What had followed was a very short childhood as demons grow faster than human. Within a matter of five years Ji-Hoon had matured and destroyed his siblings for that was the nature of their world.
The Land of Demons looked down upon half breeds, but still encouraged their creation. For that ability to go into the sun allowed them access to the broader world at large. And Demon's needed humans for various reasons. Sometimes food, sometimes slave labor.
Ji-Hoon, however, cursed the sun still. He could walk in it, but it still burned and blistered his skin, albeit more slowly than it would a full demon. Thus he moved wrapped in cloth like a traveler from Wind Country. He stood atop the hill and looked down at the entrance to Wave Country. The land here felt...good. He smiled beneath the cloth draped over the lower half of his face. There was so much death here. He breathed it in, almost feeling the souls of the deceased feeding his power. There it was, the trace of the Kyuubi. Ever so slight.
He vanished in a whisp of black smoke and reappeared on the far side of the destroyed bridge. There were a few people around, but none saw him. One of Ji-Hoon's gifts from his accursed mother was the ability to be masked from the eyes of humans. He walked quietly through the people, glancing at them, but not really registering anyone in particular.
It's stronger on the other side of the village. He told himself.
Gliding along, he passed many buildings being repaired, which was not an uncommon sight after a battle as big as this one looked to be. But what was uncommon were the smiles on the faces of people. He slowed to hear snippets of conversations.
"...Naruto..."
"Did you see when he..."
"Hahah...that giant Toad!"
"Millions and millions of him! Naruto was everywhere!"
Ji-Hoon frowned. He knew Naruto was the name of the vessel of Kyuubi. But if he had generated that many clones of himself, then why wasn't the fingerprint of the Kyuubi greater? There was the barest trace. He frowned and kept walking. Suddenly, he heard a whistling behind him and ducked just as a blade sliced the air where his head had been a second ago.
He turned and saw a diminutive human with a shiny bald head sneering. Two blades extended out from his arms. Ji-Hoon could sense the chakra that was infusing them, allowing them to cut anything. There were very few blades in the world that could cut a demon, but Ji-Hoon was half human. If he got cut, he wouldn't die, but the sun was still blazing down at him overhead. It would hurt very very badly.
"I don't know who you are, and I can't see you. But I can feel your presence." Masahiro said, looking in Ji-Hoon's general direction. "I suggest you leave this village now, or me and my friends will just have to hurt you." He extended his right arm forward, pointing almost directly at the half-demon's face. "You have a foul feel about you."
Ji-Hoon would still have killed the short man for his impudence if he did not feel the arrival of two other people.
A giant thin man with a meat cleaver as big as he was landed next to them, along with an ordinary man who looked extremely bored to be there.
"I say we let him pass on through. It's not worth the hassle." Mizurai said, yawning.
"If you attack Mizurai here will be killed, but you will lose the right side of your torso and Masahiro will take your head in twenty five seconds." The tall one said, cocking his head to the side. The lazy one opened his eyes wide, 'Hey now, what the hell?'
Ji-Hoon did not have time to play with these fools. He vanished in a puff of black smoke, reappearing at the end of the village. He could feel where Naruto had stood, and the scent of the Kyuubi was strongest here. It was old though, weeks old. He was gone. Ji-Hoon cursed loudly. There was no scent leaving the village, which meant he could not track him any further. He had already tracked him halfway around the world, he would not be deterred now. With a final curse to the blazing sun, Ji-Hoon recalled himself back to his home realm.
Takada, Mizurai and Masahiro stood in a loose circle around the puff of smoke.
"Is he gone?" Mizurai asked.
"Yes, thank the stars." Masahiro nodded.
Takada wiped the sweat off his brow. "One hundred percent probability we would have all died."
"I thought you said we'd have gotten him? With just one acceptable loss?" Masahiro responded.
'You're hurting my feelings here guys!' Mizurai raged in the background.
"I lied. We couldn't see him, could barely detect him. We'd all have been killed in under a minute." Takada said in a very flat voice.
Masahiro sighed. "Just when I was getting accustomed to the quiet days."
Tengoku
Naruto inhaled, feeling the air fill his lungs. He blew it out slowly, focusing on the air as it passed through his throat and nose. He repeated the process five more times, then called the natural energy to him. He felt it like a warm wind, buffeting his body, filling him up, except there was no limit. There was just more, and more. He felt like he could pull in the world. He stopped once it was in balance with his own chakra though, heeding the advice of Ma and Pa Toad. To go further would be a risk. No one could handle too much natural energy, not even sages.
"The entire world is energy Naruto, imagine absorbing the world. It's preposterous." Pa had explained.
Naruto, now filled with energy, alone in the field, did something he had not told anyone he was doing. He visited the Kyuubi. In the recesses of his mind, the Kyuubi still snarled at him from behind the cage. The seal firmly in place locking him in. Naruto strode over to the cage and shouted for it's tenant.
"Hey fox! Come out! We need to talk!"
"What do you want baka?" the fox growled at him. The giant form behind the bars glared at him, menace rolling off him in waves.
"You're pure energy right? How did you become self aware? I mean how did you know you existed and think and all that?"
The fox laughed at him. "Even if I explained it you wouldn't understand. But I will tell you. I was once part of a greater demon, the Juubi. The Juubi was all powerful, a child of Gaia herself. One of the three great monsters or Titans of your early history. The first human ninja, a very powerful warrior , the Rikudo Sennin did battle with Juubi. It was an epic battle that lasted a year exactly. On the three hundred and sixty fifth day Rikudo threw down the Juubi and destroyed him. But one cannot destroy a Titan. Juubi split itself into the nine tailed beasts. I myself retain most of the memories and power of Juubi."
Naruto, who was now sitting down listening to the story raised his hand. "But that doesn't add up. If Juubi had ten tails, and he split up, and you have nine tails, doesn't that just leave the one tail left?"
"That's not how it works!" Kyubi barked at Naruto. "Thus the tailed beasts were unleashed upon the world. Some are incredibly stupid, some powerful. None as powerful as I am for I am the first."
Naruto looked thoughtful. "You said Juubi was one of three titans? Where are the other two?"
Kyuubi scoffed. "The old ones care not for the affairs of us demons or humans. Cronus fathered Magnus, the current Lord of Yomi. A foul tempered youth who's time will come. Lucius wanders the world we are told, but he takes many forms. No one or nothing has seen him in centuries."
"And this Gaia you keep speaking of, that's?"
"Nature itself baka. The world, the universe. The chakra you are absorbing even now as you sit there quietly. That is Gaia. If you think demon's are bad, wait till you ask something of Gaia. She is cold, care's nothing for any of her children or children's children. She is eternal and we are all but a blink of an eye to her."
Naruto nodded and stood up, dusting himself off, even though he didn't have to. "That's all very interesting. If the Land of Yomi ever becomes a threat at least I know some of the people involved. Magnus, you Kyuubi, Gaia, the Titans. OK."
"Baka you understand nothing! If Magnus finds us here while you are playing nice and building houses we are finished! I must be let free to battle him! Only I can defeat him, you remember that Naruto!"
Naruto disappeared from his mindscape, leaving the Kyuubi to snarl to himself.
"You remember Naruto. Only I. You remember. I must be the one."
"I must be."
"I must."
"Dark Blade: Twin Strike!" Senjii cried as he charged the training dummy, spinning around and striking with both kodachi at the same moment from two different angles. Once he was past, he straightened, reverently sheathed the blades, and turned to see the damage.
The training dummy was unmarked.
Senjii smirked and confidently walked back around to the front of the wooden post. Then be blew on it.
It blew apart in a shower of splinters. Not an explosion, but rather that the wood had been cut and shattered while still remaining in the exact same position. It was one of his more... potent standard attack styles. It was good to see that his new swords handled his style even better than his original swords had. Of course the Twin Strike was one of his more simplistic moves. It used the concept of resonant impacts, exponentially increasing the energy and thus the damage of the attack. Against wood, it turned a solid log into splinters shaped like a log. Against a human, it caused internal bleeding and broken bones.
He turned to the other training dummies he'd set up earlier and proceeded to go through his entire repertoire of special attacks and even standard kata. His new weapons lived up to every expectation and even surpassed them several times over. Even his most powerful, thus far unstoppable attack was near perfect and even then the imperfection could be lain at his lack of skill using two unfamiliar weapons rather than the swords themselves. He tried it again, just to be sure.
"Dark Blade: Jikan Tsuki!"
Using his quick step, Senjii vanished towards the practice dummy, moving faster than a normal human could follow. Both swords were unsheathed in a single moment, and Senjii thrust so quickly to the heart of the dummy that each hit blended together, sounding like one impact. The two swords struck six times each, moving in a clock wise motion, a full rotation of the clock. He flew past the dummy, swords held at his sides. The result was surgical in its nature. A circular piece of the dummy, right where the heart would be, popped out of the chest, falling to the ground.
Senjii nodded at the expected results. Then he turned his attention to his weapons. With his original swords, there would be some signs of wear, sometimes scuff marks, showing where they were being stressed. With these enchanted/cursed kodachi however, there were no stress marks, no signs of wear, they weren't even scratched!
At that moment, Senjii looked over to where his friend Naruto was training. Apparently he'd surpassed the meditation level of his training and was now sparring topless with the old toad called "Pa". The catch was, they were sparring with a level of strength and endurance that even a Sannin would be hard-pressed to match. Also, he could see that Naruto was modifying the moves Pa Toad was showing him, matching them to his own unpredictable style that made it that much more devastating.
Senjii looked to his unmarked blades and then back to his friend training. He glanced back and forth a few more times before a wicked grin crossed his expression.
"Time to start pushing myself. I need to develop more original moves. Make myself as unpredictable and surprising as Naruto is becoming," he said to the weapons in his hands. "Time to start training for real!"
Nagi cursed, but only in his head. Time had shown that his new sensei had hearing that could pick up the softest whisper at incredible distances, and Nagi had the bruises behind his head to prove it. So for the hundredth time today he stood on top of the thin wooden post, and worked on his balance.
N'huic watched him closely and disdainfully.
"You have the balance of an obese woman," he scoffed. "Oh but if only Lord Tenshikage had thought to give me someone more worthy to train. I could have molded him a mighty warrior."
N'huic came over and slapped the pole, watching Nagi waver on it to maintain his balance.
"Bah, instead he gave me this. Bird droppings is what you are. But I, Master of the Sun Source, will make something of you. I will show the Lord that humble N'huic can change Bird droppings into hard metal."
Nagi wavered again. "Sensei," He had learned that he could not call him N'huic anymore, he had two more bruises to prove THAT particular point. "Sensei, when are you going to start teaching me this Sinanju stuff?"
N'huic looked startled. Then cackled with laughter. "You? I will not be teaching you the arts of my village! Oh no, one must be born of my village to learn the ultimate arts. No, for you and the woman, you will learn something much simpler." He motioned for Nagi to get down from the post.
Calamity was now finishing the laps of Tengoku N'huic had her do every morning. While he harped on about Nagi's balance, he chided Calamity for her lack of stamina and endurance. Although he did make sure to mention every day it was because she was born a woman.
"Sit, both of you. I will explain where we will go from here."
As the two students sat down, N'huic too took a lotus position in front of them. They were in a small field sitting next to the lake. The water was serene as N'huic fixed them with a cold stare.
"Lord Tenshikage has asked me to train you. This I will do."
He pointed to Nagi. "I have seen your skills and they are deplorable. However I am familiar with the techniques you use. It is of course a shadow of my own Martial Arts, having been stolen a millennia ago. However the people who used it were honorable and paid on time. I will instruct you on furthering your deplorable 'skills'."
Nagi tried very hard to hide what he was thinking. He had never met anyone other than the one man who had showed him how to fight, who used the Capoeira. And N'huic knew a whole race of people that did?
He looked over at Calamity. "You have the unfortunate burden of being born a woman. This is not your fault. I can see you are willing to work hard to overcome this." Calamity bit her tongue, knowing better than to talk back. She had been subjected to this for weeks now and she just accepted that the old man had his views, and seemed to be willing to work with her nonetheless.
"This is good," he continued. "It is also good that you have chosen a weapon that will allow you to strike from far. Archery is in itself an art form that can be taken to extreme heights. I will teach you to know where your target is. To know where your target is going to be. To hit your target from miles away, never wavering, never missing. This will be difficult because you are a woman, but despair not, for I am magnificent and can turn even moldy bread into a meal fit for a king."
Calamity flushed, unable to hide her anger much longer. N'huic saw this and smiled.
"I see you are bursting with excitement, ready to begin! That is also good! So let us begin."
Konoha
Hidden bunker, outskirts of Training Ground 7
Shikamaru sat perfectly still in the darkness, sweat beading on his forehead. The abandoned underground bunker that he was currently in had fallen into disrepair decades ago. The far side of the room was collapsed under rubble. In fact the only way in and out was to move a rather large rock, and push it back in place. Fortunately the air vents were still open. He had been here for three weeks already, with most of the time spent either reading or practicing.
It had not been as simple as planned, getting the clan training books to Shino and Kiba. Danzo had instituted a very strict curfew, and his ROOT were on high alert all over Konoha fearing another strike from Naruto. Shikamaru doubted that was the real reason, but he could do nothing about Danzo right now. Not yet. Regardless, they had managed to get the books to both Shino and Kiba, and they had all went their separate ways to train. Shino had gone to the mountains, saying something about a massive colony. Kiba had gone into the wilderness with Akamaru. They all vowed to return in one year, masters of their clan's secrets, and ready to take down Danzo.
Shikamaru sighed, the pounding behind his eyes growing in intensity. He'd read the clan book cover to cover. Not one of the techniques described in the book was easy. Not that he expected they would be. The first thing he had to come to understand was that he had to unlearn some of what he was accustomed to. Normally a Nara at Chunnin level could manipulate his shadow, and there were any number of ways he could do that. But Shikamaru needed to go beyond Chunnin, possibly even surpass Jounin. And the book was very specific about how that could be done. Not many had done it, only two of his ancestors had been able to accomplish it.
Shikamaru needed to become a shadow himself. The book explained that to the normal person, a shadow was just something created by light and an object blocking or absorbing that light. But to a skilled ninja who understood the 'world underneath the world' (or saw 'underneath the underneath'), a shadow was actually a true darkness. An entity all by itself. The Nara clan could force the entity to move a little, by bending it to their will slightly. But to truly control the shadow, one had to bond with it, in essence becoming a shadow himself.
Of course, that's all I need to do, Shikamaru had thought. Become a shadow. Easy right?
Three weeks later he felt not much closer to achieving anything at all. He's gained an appreciation for the dark, it certainly played to his penchant for solitude. The book didn't really go into much detail about HOW he was supposed to become a shadow. So he'd been meditating on it, putting his intellect to the task, barely moving save when necessary.
"Freaking hopeless," he whispered, keeping his eyes closed. He felt it then. Minute. The faintest of stirrings. His eyes shot open. A black shape was barely perceptible, slightly darker than the dim room. Afraid that if he blinked it would disappear, Shikamaru stared at it, turning his head slightly. The shadow figure mirrored his movement. With a start, he realized that this was his mirror image, his very own shadow, as a solid form in front of him. He looked at it quizzically, wondering if it was real or if he had just cracked alone in this bunker. The tension was palpable as the silence dragged on.
His shadow mimicked his slight movements perfectly, but then suddenly stood up and stepped back. Shikamaru let his mouth drop open, looking in disbelief as his shadow waved him to move, and pointed into the pitch black in a corner of the bunker. After a few waves, the shadow seemed to stretch, and – Shikamaru thought he was going crazy at this point – even looked like it was yawning. His shadow then faded away.
Shikamaru blinked and rubbed his eyes. Nothing there. Had he imagined it?
He shook his head and stood up, dusting off his pants. With a sigh he walked over to where his shadow had waved him to. His eyes couldn't even adjust to the darkness in this part of the bunker. No light penetrated this corner. He felt around, then sat. It was different here, slightly colder. He looked around, straining his eyes, but could see nothing. He gave up and closed them, sitting as still as he could, starting his meditation up again.
In the forest, far to the south of Konoha.
The cougar approached the river cautiously. He sniffed the air abruptly. There was that scent again. The cougar didn't recognize the scent, but it did not smell like a predator would. Not that there were many predators a cougar feared save but one; humans. This did not smell human, it was like that pack it had seen a few nights ago crossing the valley. Whatever it was, it wasn't human so it wasn't a threat.
He dipped his head to drink from the river. As he lapped his first gulp, his instincts kicked into gear and the fine coarse hairs on his back bristled. He tensed and leapt to the side, avoiding the animal that landed exactly where he had been. This was a strange animal, it smelled almost like a wolf, but it's face looked like a human. It was on all fours, and it's claws were long, digging into the earth where it – he – landed.
The cougar let out a snarl and lunged, it's lithe body uncoiling like a spring, it's fangs bared, claws reaching for the attacker. The wolf-man sprang backwards to avoid his claws, but the cougar pursued him, not giving him time to recover. It was a frenzy of slashing and biting, most of which missed. The cougar felt the scratches in his side from his attacker, but he felt he would win. This was no animal. This was a man. A man who was fighting as an animal.
With a mighty swipe, he knocked the man into the dust. He leapt for his exposed throat, but a small odd wolf leapt at him out of nowhere and hit him in the side where the man had scratched him. The cougar growled in pain and annoyance. He snapped at the small wolf, but it managed to avoid his teeth. The man had gotten up as well and they advanced on him.
The cougar saw no reason to fight two creatures, so tensed, then fled into the forest.
Kiba fell to his knees, panting. Akamaru came up and put his nose against him. With a grunt, Kiba stood up ignoring the scratch across his face where the cougar had slashed him. He walked straight into the river, washing the dust and blood away with Akamaru watching him from the shore.
"We're not ready yet are we boy?" Kiba said to his friend.
He came back on shore and fetched his traveling bag. He reached in and pulled out the book from his Clan. Unlike Shikamaru and he was sure Shino, Kiba's was not an instructional manual, but a diary. It was very very old, held together by bound leather. Inside was a piece of paper with a note from his mother. He looked at it again, sitting on the grass.
"Kiba, to reach where you need to, there are no techniques or moves we can teach you. If we did you would be as we are, helpless. You must surpass us. This diary belonged to your great grandfather. His path is one no one has ever tried to walk again, but it may be the only way. Good luck my pup."
He stared at the note for a second before stashing it back in the book. He flipped to the last entry in the diary. So far it had been a chronicle of his great grandfather's journey into the wilderness. He read again the line that had given him much to think about.
"Sunday : How can I hope to retain my civilized mindset and be an effective animal fighter? I've been out in the wilderness for weeks now, and I've hit a wall. If you are reading this, you would have as well. How do I progress? How do I get stronger? The animals are getting accustomed to my scent, but they know. Know I am not one of them. Know I am a man. Know I am weaker than them. I attacked a grizzly earlier today. My ribs are broken as well as my nose, but I managed to get away. Men are weak creatures. When did we lose our animal instinct? I will get mine back. Not through weapons or trickery will I conquer the beasts of this wild, but through strength. Not until I've ripped the throat out of that same grizzly will I have passed this wall. Maybe that's it. Maybe I need to stop even the pretense of being a man. Shed everything..."
That was the entry that had led Kiba to attack the Mountain Lion. He needed to test himself. The diary was not an instructional guide, as much as it showed HOW his great grandfather had become the greatest dog-clan ninja ever. Kiba had initially wondered why no one else in his clan followed in his footsteps, but after the first few weeks, he didn't have to wonder any more. He had to abandon all contact with people, leave everything behind. Kiba saw the logic in it.
Kiba had for most of his life been lazy. He admitted that. He'd enjoyed being young, and having no responsibilities. That had all ended when Danzo took over. In the Battle of the Valley against Iwa Kiba had found himself lacking. The brutality of death woke him up. Now here he was, sharing in a solemn pact with his friends to reunite in one year's time. He had to get stronger, but not just stronger. He had to be the strongest.
His great grandfather had stopped writing in the diary after that. He'd disappeared for a long time. When he reemerged from the wilderness, he was more beast than man. Feared by enemies far and wide, he founded their clan in Konoha. Kiba laid down the book and put it in his pack. He stared at the river. He'd come to this spot on purpose. On the other side was the same wilderness his great grandfather had gone into. A jungle older than any Kiba had ever seen. It FELT old.
Kiba felt the sting of the Cougar's scratch over his face. His eyes got hard and he rose. He put the book in the pack, and zipped it up. Looking around a bit, he found a small hollow in a rock, and put the bag in there. He covered it with as many rocks as he could find. He looked across the river to the wilderness.
With a nod towards Akamaru, he leapt from rock to rock, across into the wild. A beat after, the faithful dog companion followed along.
Inside Konoha Proper
Chouji looked across the table at his father. He had been receiving instruction for weeks now. Most of it was careful explanation of anatomy, and the effects their family jutsu would have on each part. Most of it was visualization. He had to imagine each body part growing. But it wasn't as simple as that. There had to be complete awareness of each muscle fiber, each vein, each bone. It was many times more intricate than people were led to believe. Chouji's head was already starting to ache.
"That's enough for today," his father said finally. He looked down at his son proudly. Chouji had been a different person since the brief war with Iwa. And when Asuma and Anko escaped from Danzo, he suspected that his son – who had disappeared that night - was involved in the rescue. In truth Chouji had not returned until much later the day after, exhausted. Chōza had smiled as his son slept off his night time activities.
Now Chōza had never seen his son so determined. He had taken to the Clan's teaching with a fervor he'd not seen in his son before. In truth he had been worried about Chouji taking over as Clan Leader someday, he had always seemed so lazy. But this was a different boy in front of him. No...not a boy, a man.
"Not yet dad." Chouji shook his head. "I didn't understand that part about the tensile strength matching the size of the tendons."
Tengoku
"Run faster!" N'uihc ordered Calamity as she completed her first lap around the floating island that was Tengoku. She was up to three laps in the morning, four laps after lunch and six laps before dinner, which thankfully was always a free meal at N'uihc's restaurant. At least Calamity and Nagi saw it as free. Tenchi always made sure to pay the bill on time each evening after Calamity and Nagi passed out in their beds. "If you have time to day dream, you have time for extra laps!"
Calamity groaned and kept running.
Konoha Hyuuga Compound
Hinata's eyes snapped open, Byakugan active. Her Divination was perfect. Only Neji had ever perfected the same skill to the same degree at such a young age. He had beaten her by a number of months, but he was a prodigy after all. Hinata had something her cousin did not though, and that was something to fight and to be better for. Not a petty concept such as revenge or fighting ones own fate, but some one worth fighting for.
Suddenly shuriken, kunai, and nearly a hundred other weapons flew through the air at the kneeling Hyuuga Heiress. Hinata began to spin, forming her unique signature jutsu, the Hakke Rokujuu Yonsho, which was both a flawless defense with combined with a precision attack at the same time. Her hands spun out and out, faster and faster. The chakra emanated from her palms and body, forming a perfect sphere around her. She deflected every projectile that Ten Ten fired at her. Hinata did not stop there though, she tried to pick up her speed even further. Spinning faster and faster. She used her chakra to not only form a defense, but to push her in the spin.
Ten Ten kept throwing weapons at her, all the while her eyes wide at what she was seeing. Hinata's defense was still perfect, but it now emitted a loud hum, and it looked as if she was not moving but just standing there in a defense stance. She knew it was an illusion caused by the sheer speed of Hinata's movement, but it was rather impressive nonetheless.
The weapons came in small bursts at first, and were blocked just as easily as the first salvo. And then they kept coming without end. The pile of weapons at the ten foot range began to pile higher and higher, but not a single one of them made it inside that range. There was the sound of a scroll unrolling, and then the surge of chakra releasing storage scrolls. She ignored it. She was close to something, so close, she could feel it.
One of the kunai exploded the moment before it hit the invisible barrier, blowing away the weapons around it and scorching the ceiling and floor. Except for the floor and ceiling that were within that ten foot radius. There, the floor and ceiling were clean. Not even dust, let alone any of the explosion, had made it past the unseen barrier in place there.
When she had initially started working on this jutsu, she would get dizzy and expend far too much chakra. Since then, her chakra control had increased to such a degree that she could maintain her Yonsho for up to several minutes in one go if needed. Her extra training with her father and the rest of the clan had been of enormous help in that regards. And yet... and yet she felt that there was something more, something she sensed was just out of her reach. Not another technique, but an evolution of all her techniques, something that would elevate her beyond her current level and allow her to help Naruto when he returned. It was eluding her, and that vexed her greatly. She slowed down gradually, feeling the strain on her body as it screeched and pulled to a halt. Hinata slumped to one knee in exhaustion.
"OK, I give up," Tenten stepped out of the shadows with a sigh, "How are you able to spin that fast? That was pretty awesome the way you blocked the blast Hinata! Can you keep that up for very long?"
"Hm?" Hinata opened her eyes and raised her head to glance at her 'sparring partner' of recent days. She finally looked around, without moving her head a millimeter, and noticed the scorch marks on the floor. "Oh. I hadn't even noticed. I've been trying to increase my Divination range, but this seems to be my limit. I can see things at the maximum range of the Byakugan, and like Neji-nii-san, I'm beginning to see a bit beyond it, but only shadows and vague chakra signatures. My Divination range, however, the range at which I can affect things with my Jyuuken..." Hinata looked around disappointed, her Byakugan deactivated now.
"Are you kidding me?" Tenten exclaimed. "You just blocked everything I threw at you! And you were spinning so fast that it looked like you were standing still! Not even Neji can do that! Heck, even Lee can't dodge everything I throw at him!"
Hinata's eyes went wide. That was it! That's what she was missing! It was so obvious, she felt like Jyuuken-striking herself into oblivion! The problem with all of her techniques, all of her new jutsu was the speed at which she needed to move to make them most effective, her body had to build up to it and then slow down from it. She could push herself that fast, it was just her body was not conditioned to handle it. Her physical form was getting stronger, but her training so far was not equipping her to handle the speed she demanded of it. Speed, she recalled, she had seen only a few times before.
Rock Lee fighting Gaara in the Chuunin Exams. And supposedly his teacher, Gai was much faster, and Kakashi even faster when using his Sharingan. And then the traitor Sasuke had proven that it wasn't impossible to have above-jounin level speed at their age level. That's what she needed to complete her techniques, she knew.
"Excuse me Tenten, I must speak with my father at once," Hinata immediately got to feet and was out the door before Tenten even realized she'd answered.
"Uh, all right, bye?" Tenten called after her teammate's cousin. Well, former teammate, she thought with no small amount of disgust. Promotions should not be handed out like their prizes at a popularity contest. No matter how much they were genuinely deserved, if the reason behind it was flawed, it was as good as useless.
Danzo's Temporary Office
"For your valor in combat and your dedication to your teammates and display of power and ability in the field, Neji Hyuuga, you are hereby promoted to the rank of Jounin, with all the rights, privileges, and responsibilities, enabled therein," the aide recited from the paper in his hands as a pair of ROOT ANBU handed Neji the Jounin vest and rank insignia. Neji put it on and attached the appropriate insignia where it needed to go and bowed low, first to the Emperor, and then to the ROOT that had granted him the status symbols of his new rank.
The ceremony, such as it was, concluded with two other Iwa Chuunin that had also survived the Battle of Wave, attaining the same rank. Thankfully no one but Danzo and the aide knew that Neji had actually been a genin only moments before, so there would be no conflict until later. That there would be conflict, Neji had no doubt. Fate was predictable that way, she loved conflict of all kinds.
The Iwa and ROOT ninja were dismissed, leaving just Neji, the Emperor, and the aide, who immediately handed Neji a sealed scroll. Neji paused to glance at the bandaged Hokage, who merely stared back at him. Neji nodded and unsealed the scroll, but only after checking the room and confirming they were truly alone with his Byakugan, before reading the contents. He was not surprised by what he read.
"When would you like this accomplished, Emperor-sama?" the newly christened Jounin humbly inquired.
"Not for some time now," Danzo answered. "You are just one of many that I am giving this mission to. In the mean time, I expect you to raise your skills to match what this mission will one day ask of you. I do not mean that as a slight against you, Hyuuga-san..."
"My pardon, Emperor-sama, but you have just given me a mission to assassinate the Tenshikage of Tengoku," Neji interrupted in his normal emotionless tone, "Even if he were to trust me after what happened in Wave, I know what he is now capable of, and I know what he was capable of when I faced him in the Chuunin Exam several years ago. I cannot tell the difference between the Tenshikage, and the Tenshikage's clones. He has a level of mastery over the wind element that rivals my mastery of Jyuuken, and he attained that mastery in a short number of years, whereas my own came about slowly throughout my entire lifetime up to this point. He can destroy me at a distance without ever having to face me, while I would have to face a thousand opponents just to be certain that I was truly facing him, provided I survived that long."
"Emperor-sama, there is no offense taken. If I could accomplish this mission at all, I would be greatly honored. I am greatly honored that you would choose me at all. But I am under no illusions that as I am, I stand no chance against Naruto Uzumaki," Neji had to force himself to say his friends name with the same derision he once had during their match at the Chuunin Exam years ago.
Danzo nodded, satisfied. "In the mean time, I'm trading you out with Gai. He's been in Suna, securing our position there long enough. You are to go and take over for him. He may have one week of leave time, showing you how he has done things there and introducing you to his contacts. After that, I expect him and his apprentice back in Konoha before the end of the week."
"Danzo-sama, if I may?" Neji requested, sweating imaginary bullets even as he did so.
"Yes?" Danzo's tone did not show it, but Neji could feel the Killing Intent fill the room. The Emperor was annoyed.
"Perhaps it would be better if I were to... take over, for my former sensei in regards to my former teammates. Hiashi-sama has actually requested that I apprentice Hinata-sama in Jyuuken. If I take her as my replacement and am assigned as Lee and Tenten's Jounin Team Leader..."
Danzo actually smiled. Neji felt like throwing up, but hid his emotions perfectly.
"Yes, that would all but kill the Green Beast of Konoha. Inform your teammate and your cousin. You leave tomorrow. I'll have the orders for Gai written up before you leave. Dismissed."
"Hai!" Neji vanished in a flash of movement.
Tengoku
Nagi fell down in a heap, only to immediately get back to his feet. Unfortunately, it still wasn't fast enough for N'uihc as the man verbally and physically berated him with that damn finger flick of his.
"Pathetic, truly pathetic. You are an idiot of the first class, without doubt. Poor N'uihc has much work to do. Again!"
Nagi didn't hesitate and spun around in an attack, a combination of kicking, punching, blocks, leg sweeps and dancing. That's how N'uihc described it. A dance of the most beautiful and lethal vision of energy and agility. He went on to say that Nagi was like a worm trying to move with coordination and grace, and failing pathetically. He was so clumsy and oafish that there was not even any pity to be had, only misery at N'uihc's poor fate of being the one to teach this worm how to dance, and hopefully change it into a butterfly.
Nagi fell at the same point, where he needed to do a flip-kick before moving into a head spin. He kept getting dizzy and losing his balance right when he started to spin about on his hands. He got back to his feet and didn't need to be told to do it again. He still got flicked though, and grimaced at the pain. N'uihc said something insulting, but Nagi was already focusing on what he needed to do next. He reached the same point in the kata and right as he started to spin, he couldn't keep his balance and he started to fall... except something was different this time. He couldn't even say what it was, but he knew what his body was doing and he knew what to do and how to move to keep himself from falling. His balance was all over the place, he couldn't tell up from down, left from right, but his hands were on the ground, and he knew where every part of his body was at that very moment.
He pushed off from the ground with both hands, keeping only his fingertips against the ground to keep himself oriented in his completely disoriented state, and then he twisted his hips in the opposing direction and bent his knees back until his heels were touching his waist and he arched his back. His fingertips told him he was now parallel to the ground, so he pushed off against it fully with the one hand and then slapped his free hand all the way around, spinning himself mid-air while he was mid-fall and almost to the ground. When his hand slapped the ground, he pushed and folded his body inwards before kicking out with first one leg, and then the other, and the repeating the kicks as he continued to flip over and over from one hand to the other, feeling dizzier with each flip, not even fully aware that he was a spinning and kicking tornado against the ground.
Finally, Nagi's body could handle no more and he knew he had to stop this and get his feet against the ground. So rather than switching hands again, he placed both hands on the ground and kicked out with both legs while he twisted his body perpendicular to the ground. His muscles screamed and pounded as he pushed hard against the ground, his legs straight in front of him, feeling like he was pushing against a ceiling and about to fall away into the open air, but he kept his focus and did a quick double somersault flip with a twist at the end, and the next thing he knew he was crouched with his feet flat against the earth and his head was spinning.
"Good," N'uihc was smiling, "You begin to understand. The worm dreams of becoming the butterfly, and thanks to N'uihc, you shall wrap yourself in a cocoon and emerge as a beautiful creature of enviable grace and agility. Again. And this time do not be so wild with your fluttering."
"Um... can-can I get... some water?" Nagi changed his request at the last moment, knowing that N'uihc wouldn't care or allow him to rest if he said he needed a minute to stop being dizzy and get his head on straight. If only he had realized that N'uihc had chosen those particular moves for the kata because they would make him insufferably disoriented every time, he would also have, eventually, figured out that the Master of Sinanju was actually trying to teach him how to handle being in that disoriented state and still be able to fight no matter what. In the end, it didn't make a lick of difference.
"No," N'uihc answered with a broad and happy smile, "You may drink your own sweat, like the pigs do if you must. Again."
Nagi hesitated only long enough for the awaited finger flick and he was back on the ground, getting dizzier and dizzier and more disoriented with each movement. By the end of the day he felt like he'd always been like that and that being still with the ground being down and the sky being up was the unusual state of being.
"Run faster! Women are good at few things in life, and running away from a fight should be one of them. Women of N'uihc's village were very good runners. They often spent the whole day running for spending the whole night in bed!" N'uihc called after her. She was now up to 10 laps in the morning, 12 after lunch, and 20 before dinner!
Of course any time Calamity dared to speak back or say anything to N'uihc at all, he would berate her that, as a woman, talking was one of the things she was naturally best at, and that if she had breath left to talk, it was breath better used in running even faster. So anytime she had the urge to talk back against her teacher, instead she grit her teeth, bit her tongue, and channeled her anger into making her legs move faster and her lungs keep breathing.
N'uihc pointed out her breathing more than anything else. "You must breathe! Why are you hyperventilating like that? Are you giving birth? Your body has all the air it needs from normal breath. Feel the air in your belly, not in your bosom."
The worst part of it for Calamity was that while she was running flat out, N'uihc was actually keeping pace with her! And he was barely breathing or moving any differently at all. Like he was out for a morning stroll... at Jounin ninja level speeds!
It took a while for Calamity to understand what he meant, but slowly she was starting to feel the difference in her breathing, and how much better running felt when she wasn't blowing hard. It felt almost...easy.
The second N'uihc saw her improvement he clapped his hands. "The wonders of Sinanju will never cease. For I have taught a woman to breathe like a warrior should." He smiled at his own words then snapped at her.
"Finish your laps, then join me by the targets."
Border of Fire and Rock Country
Shino stared up at the mountain. The colony within him was buzzing excitedly. He allowed himself to analyze the feeling inside himself. He knew what his clan's book had told him, and what his own colony was telling him now. The Queen was there. Not the queen of each colony, but the Queen of ALL colonies. The mother of all insects. This creature was beyond centuries old, beyond immortal. Her colony extended out across the whole world. And what Shino was asking of her had never been done before in recorded history.
Every year the clan leader would come here and pay tribute, offering a sacrifice that would appease the Queen. Usually a few cows. But Shino was coming instead, not with an offering, but with a request. This had never been done before, none had dared. But it had been speculated that it would be the one way to surpass anyone the clan had ever produced.
Shino's mind understood, but his fear was palpable. Yes his clan book was full of techniques, which he analyzed and surmised he could master, but as with the others in his small colony – Kiba, Shikamaru, Hinata, Neji, Lee, Ten Ten, Chouji –he knew he must become greater to be of use.
He trekked up the mountain path, feeling the billions of eyes on him, hearing the buzzing grow louder and louder, until he was at the mouth of the cave. It was enormous. Shino entered silently, navigating the winding corridors, following the buzzing guidance of his own colony.
"Whyyy have youuuu commmmmee to the All-Hive?" the voice whispered at him. There was a cacophony of buzzing and screeching overlaid on top of the voice. Shino steeled his nerve and spoke clearly.
"I have come to learn to be a guardian of the All-Hive."
The noise was deafening. Billions of insects all in an uproar. From out of the darkness a shape approached Shino. It was large, definitely insect in shape. Somewhat resembling a Mantis.
"Youuuu wish to protect the All-Hive? The existence of my children around the world?" the Queen asked him again.
"Yes. I wish to have the strength to protect the hive. I will serve the Queen. In exchange I request the strength to defend my own hive." Shino continued.
"Youuu are bargaining with me? I who have seen your kind end one age and begin another?" The Queen laughed. The shape morphed in the shadows and suddenly Shino was faced with a very nude, voluptuous woman who approached him from the shadows.
"It has been centuries since one as bold as you has come to me. The last guardian of the All-hive was killed more than five hundred years ago. He was not much older than you." Her voice still buzzed and screeched, echoing in the dim confines of the cave. Shino realized that the light he was seeing with came from millions of tiny worms glowing in the dark.
"Very well," the Queen said suddenly. "I will make you into a Guardian of the All-hive, Shino Aburame. Your colony speaks highly of you. Of your loyallttyyyy. I know of the danger to your hive to the south. A human named Danzo would destroy your pod. Those who have faithfully served me for centuries. I will give you the strength you desire. But for me..." Her voice seemed to almost hiss at him as she circled him, eyeing him up and down.
"I have other needs than a protector. You will serve them once you have taken care of this problem with your home. Do we have an agreement?"
Shino stood quietly for a minute, thinking. This was what he had come for, and the price, well he looked at her in her human form...
"It would be an honor my Queen."
Tengoku Target Range
N'uihc had set up a target at the end of the long field, on the other side of the 'chambers' the students of the academy were going through, with permission from Tenchi of course. Calamity arrived to see him put a bag down and motion her over.
He pointed down towards the targets. "How many targets do you see?"
She looked, they were a mere one hundred meters away. "Two Master N'uihc."
He smiled slightly. "You have the eyes of a normal woman. That is expected. Seeing what you expect to see. Look beyond the obvious targets and tell me what you see."
Calamity prided herself on her eyesight, and so she strained hard, looking past the two targets into the forest past the field. After a few seconds, she saw... something, was that a sliver of color?
"I see, something. Something red."
N'uihc nodded. "Your eyes are better than a normal woman, I stand corrected. There are two more targets one hundred meters deeper in the woods. There are many trees and even a bamboo patch in the way. When you can hit those targets you will have passed phase one of your training."
Calamity looked incredulous. "But that's impossible!"
N'uihc reached into the bag and withdrew a small arrow. He didn't even look towards the forest before flicking the arrow. It shot across the field and into the woods impossibly fast.
"Go and see what is impossible for the Master of Sinanju," he declared, obviously waiting for her to do just that and return. Reluctantly Calamity made her way across the field and into the forest, at a run. She knew what she would find though before even getting there. Hidden in a thicket, past countless trees and – yes even a bamboo patch - was a small red target. In the exact center was the arrow N'uihc had thrown. Calamity looked at it incredulously. She couldn't even see the field from here. She plucked the arrow and ran back.
"Are you finished doubting the Master now child?" N'uihc asked with what he thought was magnanimity but really came across as condescending.
"Yes Master," Calamity nodded.
N'uihc reached into his bag and withdrew two rubber balls, tossing them to Calamity.
"When you do not have a bow in your hand, you will have these. You will squeeze them until I say you have done enough. Now I have here your longbow and some arrows. Show me how you will hit these two targets in front of your face."
Calamity obliged, drawing her bow, feeling the tension in the string, and releasing. Her arrow flew true, and hit the dead center of the target. N'uihc nodded. "You have passable skill with the bow. However, you rely on what you can see rather than what you know. There is only one way to break you of this habit."
He dumped the rest of the contents of his bag on the ground. At least two hundred arrows fell out.
"You will fire every single arrow here into that target. You will not damage any arrows. When you are finished you will repeat. Tomorrow you will run twenty additional laps of Tengoku then come here and do it again. I will break you of this habit or I will break you. Either way my promise to Lord Tenshikage will be fulfilled as I will have tried to teach you."
Calamity picked up her first arrow and fired at the second target, perfect center. She reached for the next and saw that N'uihc was gone. She resigned herself to her task and fired again, this one had to be slightly off center, so it wouldn't damage the first arrow.
Sakura pulled her fist back and let it go, taking a large chunk out of the boulder that was hurtling towards her. Tsunade didn't give her a break through, sending another one flying immediately. Sakura was dripping in sweat, having been doing nothing but this for the past half an hour. She destroyed the next boulder as well, atomizing it.
Tsunade frowned and stopped. "Sakura, you need to mix it up. You can't keep using just your fists. You must learn how to use the Futae no Kiwami from any part of your body. Also the amount of chakra you're putting into each hit is still slightly off."
Sakura made an exasperated noise. "I've been doing this for half an hour! And that's AFTER a full day of doing our medic nin training."
Tsunade sent another, larger boulder flying. They were practicing at the place that Naruto and Senjii had a long time ago cleared the area for the city and put the boulders they wanted to move. It was a veritable small mountain of large rocks.
Sakura cracked that boulder in half with a kick, each half flying away from either side of her. She panted and fell to one knee, breathing hard.
"See? You're expending far too much chakra. Your reserves will take time to grow. The medic nin techniques you are learning will increase your chakra control to precision, and all our other training will grow your reserves far larger than a normal ninja's. But that's no excuse for wastage. What if you end up in a battle that lasts longer than an hour? "
Sakura nodded and stood back up.
"Again."
She barely glanced at Calamity as she ran past on one of the many laps N'uihc had her doing of Tengoku.
"Run faster, lazy woman!" N'uihc shouted, actually shouted at her as she ran, ducked, dodged, weaved, jumped, and practically flew over the solid cloud terrain, interspersed with solid ground, rocks, trees, bushes, and even Yoshi's ever-changing wall! He kept pace with her, having decided to join her and make her laps even more difficult. After a few more minutes of running he shouted.
"Stop! Fire at the target!"
Calamity had to stop immediately, notch her arrow and fire from wherever she was, to the target back in the field. Wherever she was in Tengoku. She was terrified she'd send a wayward arrow hurtling towards killing someone, but N'uihc shrugged and said simply. "Don't miss."
She had to be constantly aware of where her target was in relation to where she was. It took her a few seconds to get her bearings before she aimed up, and fired. The arrow arced high in the general area of the training field.
"You missed." N'uihc said. "Deplorable. Back to running, maybe next time you can try to get closer than five feet from the target."
Calamity did not bother to ask how he knew that, she just put the bow back on her back and started running again.
Jiraiya held the modified Tengoku armband up to the light. Guerrera watched him inspect his work. Carefully he turned it over, the silver glistening in the midday sun. If someone just glanced at it, it seemed to just be the same as all the other armbands. A simple symbol on metal. But the changes were minute.
It was no longer steel, but silver. That metal adding power to the second change. The Tengoku symbal was made up of no less than fifty special seals, done incredibly close together. It had taken Jiraiya a month to get them perfectly right. Then it had taken Guerrera a week to duplicate just one exactly in the pliable silver. If even one seal was out of place it could be disastrous. It was made all the harder because the final seal made the silver unscratchable. A strike from a sword or chakra blast would not harm the silver in any way. This was to prevent the seals from being tampered with or disfigured in battle.
Yoshi came over, looking at it as well, wearing five pairs of glasses, each one bigger than the last.
"Is that seal there the one that channels the cloud infusion?" he asked Jiraiya, who nodded in response.
Jiraiya pulled out a small vial of blood he had taken from Naruto days ago and put two drops onto the seal. It was quickly absorbed. The black seal glowed white for a few seconds then faded.
"OK it's done. It should work now." Jiraiya said cautiously.
"Well let's test it." Yoshi clapped his hands together in anticipation.
"Not so fast!" Guerrera exclaimed. "What if it doesn't work? Can't we try it on one of Naruto's clones first?"
Jiraiya shook his head. "It won't work on clones. It has to be a real person."
"And it has to be someone who has been in Tengoku for more than three weeks." Yoshi chimed in. "The cloud particles would need to have penetrated the bloodstream."
Guerrera looked at it dubiously. "I'm sure I copied the symbols exactly, but what if..."
"Bah!" Yoshi grabbed the armband and put it on. "What if's get us nowhere! We must be bold in the face of discovery!"
Before they could say anything Yoshi bit his thumb, and slashed it across the seal. In a flash of blinding light he disappeared.
They all looked around. There was no trace of the mad scientist. Jiraiya called out, "Yoshi? Are you dead?"
They all heard a noise coming from the front of the tower, like somebody was sick. They ran outside to see Yoshi standing on the steps of the white tower, right on top of the seals Jiraiya had etched there into the floor. He looked disoriented, his face turning green. He waved to them, put his hand over his mouth then ran to the bushes and threw up his dinner from the night before.
Guerrera laughed and clapped Jiraiya on his back, almost sending the smaller man tumbling. "Well it worked!"
Jiraiya nodded with a grin. "Now we can use the wind streams to go anywhere, and not worry about trekking back home. Our warriors can be home with that modified reverse summoning jutsu. It just needs Naruto's blood to activate each armband."
Guerrera smiled. "That will be good news for everyone. "
Anko threw her Kunai viciously into the target. With a wrench, she pulled the invisible wire on the ends and they came free, with a flick of her fingers they were back in her palms and she let them fly again. She repeated this, picturing certain faces in her mind.
She almost didn't hear the footsteps behind her. She swirled, her face a mask of anger and agony. Iruka put his hands up to show he meant her no harm. She scowled at him, then turned back to her target to continue her practice. She wasn't up to her normal standards, but she was still in recovery from her ordeal.
Iruka watched her for a few minutes, then snapped his fingers, trying to draw her attention. She turned around frustrated.
"What!"
Iruka looked grim. He stepped forward, putting his fingers on her wrist and tapped. Anko knew the basic morse code that all ninja learned so she was able to decipher it.
"Yes I want revenge for all that was done to me. Why the hell wouldn't I?" she asked, practically shouting at him.
He kept tapping furiously.
"You... you what?" she asked, her anger dying down. "Just you and me?"
Iruka nodded and smiled, pointing to his throat and then tapped some more.
"Yes I see what you mean. But do you think you have the skill for that kind of work? You were just a chuunin teacher after all." Anko asked again, looking at Iruka differently than before.
Iruka looked fierce, a steel edge in his eyes.
His fingers tapped out very clearly; 'Yes. Look around you Anko. Anything is possible in this world with hard work and determination. Give me six months, and I will be better than you. Better than anyone.'
Anko nodded. Something about his face made her believe it. "I will also improve in six months Iruka. So don't think you're getting better than ME just yet. You have a plan?"
She watched intently as he tapped out his thoughts. She nodded again. "Yes." She smiled at him grimly, then turned back to her targets.
Iruka walked away to do some training of his own.
In six months they would be ready to return to Konoha. In six months they would be the perfect silent assassination team or die trying. Iruka would protect all his students in Konoha, even if he had to kill every Iwa or ROOT ninja himself to do it.
Kakashi watched Naruto go through the Sage Kata's over the top of his book. He'd long ago memorized the contents of his favorite series, every single word, but it served to its purposed. Most people were reluctant to disturb him while he was reading it, and it gave him time to think.
Naruto had come very far. Kakashi saw a lot of the Fourth in him. Naruto grown physically to look almost like a clone of his father. His hair had gotten longer, and he was getting taller and filling out from all the work he did. It helped that he no longer ate Ramen every day of course. But more than the physical appearance, his attitude reminded him greatly of the Fourth. Naruto had fully embraced the role of protector of Tengoku. His will of fire was what the Third would always talk about as being at the heart of Konoha. Danzo had never understood that.
He heard footsteps come up behind him and without looking he knew who approached.
"He's looking pretty good out there." Jiraiya exclaimed with no small measure of pride.
Kakashi nodded. "Yes. He's able to channel the Natural energy into his moves seamlessly."
Jiraiya watched carefully, noticing Naruto's eyes while he followed the instructions of Pa Toad. There was a dark red shadow around his eyes, and Jiraiya could swear he'd seen his pupils become square. This was the only sign that he'd undergone any transformation of all. Sheepishly Jiraiya recalled that even he could not use Sage Chakra perfectly, his face taking on Toad like characteristics when he did use it, and only if Ma and Pa Toad helped him.
"He's surpassed me now," Jiraiya said to Kakashi, watching the Kata's wistfully.
Kakashi was startled. "How can that be?"
Jiraiya shrugged. "He's got a natural talent for it. It's like, if he doesn't know something is impossible, he can achieve it. I'd say right now he's achieved mastery of the Sage Arts. In less than three months."
They watched in silence for a minute as Naruto started an all out battle with some clones, trying to incorporate the Sage Kata moves. They saw a clone form a Rasengen and try to hit him with it. He dodged it, but the ground exploded with the impact, sending a cloud of dust flying everywhere.
"I've been thinking," Kakashi said casually. "It's time he knew the truth about the Rasengan. That it's an incomplete Jutsu."
"Hmph." Jiraiya looked up to see Naruto flipping in the air, landing on the neck of one of his clones. "I agree. The Fourth would have wanted him to be the one to finish it."
They saw Naruto get some distance from his attackers and slowly pushed his hands out wide, then slapped them together in front of him at arms length. A wave of wind slammed into the clones, dispersing them. The spar was over. His eyes had faded back to normal.
"Hey Naruto, come over here. We want to talk to you about something." Jiraiya called out.
Calamity stood before the targets... over one hundred yards away, holding her body steady in a firing stance. N'uihc stood next to her, criticizing everything about her, from the way she stood, how she held her arms, how she held the bow, how she drew the bow... it was a never ending tirade of negative criticism. And then came the switch. It was just a cattail reed that he would poke at whatever part of her was the slightest bit out of place. The pokes actually hurt, as bad as his finger flicks did, if not worse because the fuzzy end made her itch after it left.
When he wasn't using it to poke at her to point out his criticisms, he tickled her with it. Not in the childish teasing way that could've been amusing, but in the extremely annoying way where he was doing the least he could to distract her out of her stance, which was quite often perfect once he'd stopped poking her.
Not that Calamity thought there was anything wrong with the way she'd stood when shooting her arrows before, but she did have to admit that all the little nuances and subtle changes N'uihc had made to her stance made a bigger difference than she had expected. She could literally feel the strength of force she could put behind her shots now, it was phenomenal. Not to mention, she discovered when shooting in this stance, she actually had better control over her arrows than before.
But the moment she moved the slightest bit out of her stance, the poking came back and the criticism started up worse than ever. The tickling though, was getting really annoying! And she was starting to itch every place the fuzzy end had touched her, and that was pissing her off!
N'uihc stopped the tickling for a brief moment, and Calamity allowed herself a short exhalation of relief, only to see out of the corner of her eye that her sensei was about to start all over again. Her patience snapped and she released the string to block the cattail with the wood of her bow before immediately going back into her stance and re-drawing the string.
N'uihc smiled suddenly and exclaimed, "Oh ho, so it is that you wish poor N'uihc to rid you of your next most glaring weakness then? So eager are you to become a True Archer that you would challenge the Master of Sinanju to teach a woman how to defend and defeat opponents both near and far? Bah! Though the Master of Sinanju can do all things, you ask for much. Much indeed."
Calamity gulped and wished she'd kept her temper in line. Although... it had been a mostly instinctual reaction. Plus, she knew that at close-range, there wasn't a lot she could do. She remembered the battle of the Crescent Moon Kingdom, and how without her teammates, or Kakashi, or the soldiers around, she would have been overrun and taken out of the fight before it was even halfway over. Her small hand-held crossbows were good at mid-range, and up to a few feet from her. But if an opponent ever got as close as N'uihc was to her right now, even with her crossbows, there wasn't much she could do. And she only knew a bit of grappling, and maybe a couple punches and kicks from watching Sakura, Hiroka, and others training and fighting. It would do her little good against a trained opponent.
"Hm, though you are a woman and should not fight, Lord Tenshikage has asked poor N'uihc to teach you and turn you into a Daitenshi worthy of the true Tengoku. It will be an interesting challenge. Yes, and the Master of Sinanju never turns down a worthy challenge. Very well then!" With that said, he started tickling her with the cattail worse than before, and Calamity had a feeling it would only get worse if she didn't try to block or stop him, but the consequences of leaving her stance for longer than the time it took to do so were too terrifying to contemplate.
She managed to ignore it for only a few seconds before trying to block the next tickle attack. She immediately got back into her stance, only to get an earful of N'uihc shouting whole new criticisms at her, this time with the way she had used her bow to block the 'attack' as well as why it took her so long to retaliate in the first place. Interspersed with renewed criticism about her stance as her elbow was slightly lower than it should be, and her fingers were placed too high...
And so her training continued.
"So, it's not complete?" Naruto asked in astonishment. He'd long ago figured his Rasengan as one of his most powerful attacks. Of course he had some wind attacks now that were formidable, but the Rasengan was one of the most effective ones in his arsenal. And besides, it was his dad's special move. It had a certain place in his heart.
"No. The Fourth wanted to take it beyond what it is now. You see Naruto, the Rasengan is pure chakra. It is a shape transformation of one's chakra, forcing it into a ball. But that's only the first stage. That stage took Minato three years to figure out. Unfortunately he died before completing the rest of it." Kakashi said aloud.
Naruto looked puzzled. "What's the next step?"
Jiraiya replied. "Introducing your element into the Rasengan. So far you've just managed to manipulate pure chakra, but you've also simultaneously got to put –in your case- wind chakra into it."
Naruto allowed his mouth to hang slightly open.
"Is that possible? I mean I have some wind techniques that convert my chakra into wind, but the Rasengan already requires so much..."
"Exactly. Neither of us..." Jiraiya pointed to Kakashi, "have been successful in adding elemental chakra into the Rasengan."
"In fact, my attempts to add my lightning element failed, but it did lead me to the creation of the Chidori." Kakashi said.
Naruto nodded, and formed a Rasengan in his hand. With all the guidance from Tenchi and Jiriaya he'd been receiving, along with the advancement of his sage techniques, he'd been able to form a Rasengan in his palm without using a shadow clone. But it required immense concentration. He'd not gotten to the point where it'd be useful in a battle. Most times he'd still need a shadow clone to help him form it. Not that that was a huge problem, he could form an almost unending string of clones.
The very idea that now he had to do something else on top of just forming the Rasengan was daunting, but if it was his father's unfinished Jutsu...
"OK, so where do I start? What's my first step?" he asked looking at the spinning ball of energy in his palm.
Jiraiya and Kakashi looked at each other and shrugged.
"We don't know. I mean we weren't able to do it, so if we give you pointers it may lead you down the wrong path." Kakashi said.
Jiraiya nodded in agreement. "Take your time and think about it. Come at it in your own way. Maybe then you'll be able to complete the jutsu."
Naruto allowed the Rasengen to dissolve and looked at them. He nodded and walked over to the training grounds to continue his Sage training with Pa Toad – who was waiting impatiently.
Nagi collapsed exhausted in his bed. He managed a small grin but even that hurt. He couldn't decide if his new Sensei was a personification of evil itself, or if he transcended evil and made evil look like a fluffy puppy in comparison. Regardless of how he felt towards N'uihc, it was hard to argue with results. Nagi felt a lot more...cohesive...about his Capoeira. It was becoming instinctual. Whereas before he knew how to fight because he practiced and practiced sequenced moves, he was beginning to understand the 'flow' of his martial art.
It really was a deadly dance, and he had to let the rhythm flow out of him.
He sunk into a blissful sleep, dead to the world.
The flames leapt and caught the curtains. In truth the fire seemed to have a mind of it's own.
"Get behind me!" the man said, pushing a woman behind him, taking a defensive position in front of her. The fire jumped from wall to wall, arcing toward them. The man danced in place, his left leg arcing behind him, then the right, then he was spinning in mid air, deflecting the fire with a sweep. The fire regrouped and – incredibly – seemed to stand before them.
"Ahhhh... your Majestyyyy..." The voice in the fire crackled as it spoke. No one present seemed surprised by this. "Your time has come to...bowww. Bow to your new master."
"The day I bow to you has not come yet Shisho. You and your thugs will pay for what you've done!" the man said.
The woman clutched a baby in her arms tightly. The man seemed to coil again, as the fire leapt forward. It was an incredible sight, the man spinning and kicking, sweeping and dodging in the middle of a raging firestorm. But it was to no avail. The fire engulfed him and he fell to his knees, looking back at the woman.
"R...Runnn.."
The woman turned to go, but was struck as well by a lick of flame, catching her clothes on fire incredibly fast. She held the baby away from her clothes and dove out of the castle window, aiming for the immense lake that was a mere fifteen feet away from the back wall. As they approached the water, her skin already smoldering, she whispered quietly.
"Nagi."
They hit the water suddenly, her body taking the force of the fall, cushioning it for the baby.
Nagi woke up in a cold sweat, eyes bulging.
Mabry surveyed the wagon train full of goods. Fifteen wagons in total. This was the first trading shipment Tengoku was sending out. The merchants had been clamoring for it. The town needed to sustain itself and this would be one of the ways. The citizens wanted to be useful in building their city as well. In as much as it was a hidden village, they recognized that this was a fledgling city and needed trade. They needed to earn money. So various merchants had manufactured the very best items they could. Clothes and tapestries of the finest quality Mabry had ever seen. The care taken in making them was evident. There were pots and pans that looked sturdy and useful. A clockmaker had his wares in one wagon as well. A junk dealer had a wagon full of antique items he had carefully restored from the garbage pile in the center of the island. Mabry was sure many of those items were extremely valuable.
The merchants were offering him a percentage of any earnings, but he'd declined, saying instead they'd pay it as tax to the village council. Of course the trip was also serving as a test mission for the first batch of Academy students. While Genosuke, Syren, Mirrun and Inari had taken part in the Wave defense, that had been with help from the Tenshi level warriors, and the council, plus a hefty dose of thousands of Naruto clones.
This was to be their first solo mission. Only Mabry was going along as their supervisor. The team walked over to him, looking excited at the prospect of their first 'D class' mission.
"Team 3 reporting for duty Master Mabry!" Inari said, a little over enthusiastically. Mabry grimaced.
"OK first off," he stood tall, pulling himself to his full height, "I am not Master Mabry, I am the Magnificent Milford Mabry!" he said loudly, two small explosions and a puff of smoke going off in his outstretched hands.
Inari and his team looked at him dumbfounded, a single bead of sweat forming on each of their heads. (except for Gennosuke who was looking in the wrong direction. He did that often, for his own fun, playing up the 'being blind' angle.)
"Umm..." Inari said. "OK. Magnificent Milford Mabry. Team 3 reporting, sir."
Mabry grinned widely. "Excellent! You Tendou acquaint yourself with every merchant in this train. We leave in five minutes! It's going to be a bumpy ride!"
Yomi, Land of the Dead.
"My Lord Magnus." Ji-Hoon groveled before his king. "I have found traces of Kyuubi around the world, but nothing of where his lair is."
The King shifted, his armor grating in the bone throne. The glow of unholy light and smoke escaping from the spaces in his helmet flared up momentarily.
"Fool. I gave you a simple task and again you fail me?"
"I...I have found the lair's of the other Tailed Beasts." Ji-Hoon offered, trying to find some way to save himself.
"What do I care where those weaklings are. Lesser demons too afraid to return to our realm. They are of no consequence." The King stood and walked forward. "Yet...perhaps. Yes," he said thinking aloud.
"It may draw Kyuubi out if the other Tails were captured or killed." Magnus pondered.
Ji-Hoon saw his salvation. "Brilliant my Lord. I can do this for you."
Magnus looked at him with disgust. "You will do no such thing. You have failed me enough. You will guide my generals to these 'Tails'."
With a wave of his hand, three other figures appeared, flanking Ji-Hoon. He stared at them incredulously. Magnus had many Generals, but Ji-Hoon knew these by name, whispered in fear even among the damned. They too were half-breeds, possessing the cursed human blood that would allow them to walk in the sunlight.
"Go now. Kill the Tailed beasts and draw out the Kyuubi!" Magnus ordered thunderously.
OMAKE's by Joshua the Evil Guy!
Monkey Throws Banana
Senjii was walking along the marketplace one morning, on his way to the training grounds, when he saw an unusual sight. A citizen entertaining a group of children too young for the Academy. He was juggling.
"Hmm..." he had an idea!
A few minutes later at the training ground saw Senjii trying to juggle his swords...
That evening, just before sunset, Senjii was practicing his new move;
"Monkey Throws Banana!" he shouted and threw his right kodachi at the target. The blade lit up with energy and spun like a massive saw blade, atomized the target and then looped back around where Senjii caught it with another shout of, "Monkey Grabs Banana!"
Hop Step
Senjii was walking along the marketplace one morning, on his way to the training grounds, when he saw an unusual sight. A group of girls playing some kind of game that made them hop inside numbered squares drawn in the dirt as they balanced on one foot at a time to retrieve a tossed cloth ball before reversing their steps. It was awkward and imprecise, but the muscles being exercised by the game were the same as what he used when using his Flash Step.
"Hmm..." he had an idea!
A few minutes later at the training ground saw Senjii playing hopscotch to improve his Flash Step.
That evening, just before sunset, Senjii was practicing his new move;
"Hop Step!" he called right before there was a series of blurred arches all across the field. It might be a bit slower, not the near-invisible speed of his Flash Step, but it did allow him better maneuvering, which allowed him to attack, defend and dodge while using his high speed move.
Author's note
Greetings patient readers...*insert excuse for long wait here..sigh*. Hopefully the length of this one will make up for it (over 14,000 words!)
1. OMAKE's! Yes my fantastic beta / co-author now, Evil Joshua has given me not only several chunks of this chapter, but Omakes :) So I am now petitioning anyone who is interested, to submit an Omake training montage for any character they like. The best ones will be included in the next installment.
2. No more new characters needed. I've had enough submissions to write a whole other story! LOL. Also quite frankly some of the characters are so original i'd love to see them used in their own stories. You know who you are.
3. Again, not going to be skipping time, but I promise it won't get dull.
Thanks for reading and reviewing guys! I'm almost past 1000 reviews! that's just insane to me. :)
Excelsior!