Chapter 20: Land of Whirlpools (6): The Crow.
Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto. Naruto is the work of Masashi Kishimoto.
Yukito rolled the Golden Dragon Scroll close and walked toward the fallen twin wolf. Huge patches of the twin wolf's body were burnt black, letting out a foul, rotten egg stench. Yukito had to cover his nose in chakra to avoid fainting.
If a normal human smelled this stench, they would at most be irritated. But Yukito's nose had been enhanced multiple times in his entire life, so his sense of smell was beyond the imagination of normal humans. In short, this stench that was concocted using the wolf's fur, skin, flesh, blood, other body fluids, and grime was simply unbearable.
"I wonder what I can do with a twin wolf's body," Yukito muttered.
The twin wolf was a chakra beast. Although he wasn't sure if he could eat its flesh, he was sure that he could use its body parts for a variety of sealing techniques.
For example, he could create puppets…
"I better not think about puppets right now."
But that idea could only be shelved for now.
Menma could learn how to use chakra puppets controlled through chakra strings. However, seal puppets, made from sealing techniques, function on a set of different rules. Unlike chakra puppets, which needed the puppeteer, a seal puppet can function independently!
Take a look at Ichiro and the others, they were basically a living human. That was the difference between seal puppets and chakra puppets.
Of course, the caveat is that you needed to be a seal master before you can even think about creating seal puppets.
The idea behind seal puppets was fairly simple. You need a chakra battery for the puppet to use, a system for the puppet to follow instructions and function independently, and a strong enough body that can withstand being infused with chakra for a long time.
However, implementing these ideas was far from simple. Think of it as a man trying to fly. No matter how simple flying looked while you watch a bird fly, a man cannot fly. Why? He has no wings! He first has to create a machine to help him fly.
"But I can at least preserve this twin wolf's body."
You can use any material for the seal puppet's body, but materials from living beings tend to have great compatibility with chakra, and they can withstand the natural erosion and destructive properties of chakra.
Satisfied with the idea, Yukito nodded his head.
Yukito took out a scroll from the storage scroll on his waist, which he now calls "Cloud Scroll," and drew a preservation sealing formula and a storage sealing formula.
It took him ten minutes to finish writing the two seals, after which he stored the twin wolf's body inside.
"Maybe I should collect each chakra beast's body I find…"
Yukito pondered before shaking his head and rejecting the idea. He doesn't have an infinite number of scrolls, he couldn't possibly collect all the bodies of the chakra beasts in the entire land of whirlpools.
He also doesn't want chakra beasts to go extinct, so it was better not to disturb their environment… at least until he has a way to create chakra beasts from scratch.
After sealing away the twin wolf, Yukito made his way deeper into the land of whirlpools. Previously, when he was pressed for time, he only explored the outskirts of this island because he didn't want to get caught up in a fight with the stronger chakra beasts hiding deep on the island.
But now, things were different.
He can spend as much time here as he likes.
"CAW! CAW! CAW!"
Before Yukito could even step into the nearest forest, he heard a murder of crows coming his way. Yukito's smile dimmed a little, and he quickly used his chakra-sensing ability to sense the incoming crows.
"Holy cow!"
Yukito jolted, barely grabbing his soul that tried to jump out of his body, and ran away as fast as he could. When he found a giant boulder near the beach, he lifted it up and hid underneath it, removing his scent using chakra before suppressing his chakra system, trying to become a ghost.
If someone were to look at him now, they would only see a boulder.
'What the hell, there are about a hundred crows there, and each of them has kage-level chakra! This place is mad!'
By "kage-level," Yukito meant the likes of Hiruzen. That's because the only kage he came into contact with was the third hokage. Despite that, even though he was old, Hiruzen still had a good amount of chakra befitting of the title "God of Shinobi", so Yukito didn't make a mistake in his judgment.
"Caw! Caw! Caw!"
Yukito closed his eyes, erasing all of his thoughts in hopes of making his presence even more transparent. The cawing of the crows was faint because they were far away from his hiding spot, but he didn't dare to leave.
Because he sensed a single crow heading in his direction.
"CAW!"
Above the boulder, a crow landed gracefully, gently flapping its massive wings. The crow was five feet tall, with a wingspan of twelve feet. The crow's body was as tall as Yukito, while its wingspan was even longer than the height of the twin wolf!
"CAW!"
The crow tilted its head, its obsidian-black eyes glimmering in a curious light and the scar on the left side of its head became evident.
It remembers this boulder.
This boulder was its favorite place to rest after the crows finish hunting in the forest.
But today, this boulder seemed a bit different.
"CAW!"
The crow flapped its wings and stretched them to the fullest. The crow's jet-black, shining feathers cast a large shadow on the boulder. The shadow of the crow completely engulfed the boulder… except for the tip.
"CAW! CAW!"
The crow jumped, pecking at the boulder with curiosity and doubt.
Did the boulder perhaps… move? Or was there something hiding beneath the boulder?
"CAW!"
No matter what the answer was, it couldn't find it now. The murder of crows was getting further and further away.
"CAW!"
Flap—flap—flap!
The crow jumped and flapped its wings in the air, creating sharp gusts of wind that blew sand into the boulder, covering it in loose grains of white sand.
"CAW! CAW!"
The crow looked back, observing the boulder one last time before being engulfed by the towers of ancient, giant trees.
One hour later, the boulder lifted, shaking off the loose sand on top of it and revealing a panting Yukito. Yukito still had a smile on his face, but it had dimmed considerably. He had to hide underneath that boulder for one damned hour, just to make sure the crow really went away.
Lying on the sand was not a pleasant experience, but having a boulder sitting on top of you was even more uncomfortable. Then, when that crow stood on top of the boulder, he felt as if the boulder had doubled in size, almost making him gasp and breathe in the fine grains of sand.
"I have to leave this place before that crow comes back."
He knew that crows were intelligent, let alone a crow that evolved with the help of chakra. If that crow comes back, it would surely know that the boulder had been moved.
Yukito swiftly ran in the opposite direction where he sensed the crow flew into, so after a day of running, he entered a different area of the forest.
"CAW! CAW!"
A crow with a scar on the left side of its head flapped its wings, jumping around a giant boulder while pecking it from time to time. When it opened its wings, it saw that its shadow covered the entire boulder, making it tilt its head and look at the boulder with suspicion.
Furthermore, the sand on top of the boulder was missing.
"CAW!"
Nevertheless, no matter how much it tried, it couldn't think of a reason why an animal would move the boulder. According to its experience, the other chakra beasts all lived inside the forest.
Rarely do they travel this close to the shore.
The crow looked around, seeing nothing but the endless sea, the fine, white sand, and the towering trees.
While Yukito ran for dear life, he made sure to leave no visible trail.
He was dealing with something far deadlier than humans or ninjas, he best be cautious or he would fall into a deep, spiked pit with no way out.
"That should be enough distance."
As Yukito looked behind him, he saw nothing but the endless sand with the vast ocean on the left, and the tall trees on the right. The sand beach was like a narrow pathway, it could lead to either salvation or damnation.
Regardless, Yukito took out a blank scroll and began drawing a map.
According to his speculations, he had explored around half of the land of whirlpools' shore back then, and currently, he had run about a fifth of that half.
"What to do…"
Yukito was caught in a dilemma. On one hand, he could enter the forest and risk it all. On the other hand, he could keep exploring the outskirts of the land of whirlpools and proceed cautiously.
"I've got nothing to lose nor gain if I'm a little more cautious, I guess I'll…"
"CAW! CAW! CAW!"
Hearing the crow behind him, Yukito jumped in shock, paling in fright as he turned around. Behind him was a crow, flying at high speeds and rapidly approaching him.
"Shit, did it follow me? How?!"
He made sure that he left no trail, but apparently, he was too naïve. Either way, now was not the time to hesitate, Yukito quickly took out the Golden Dragon Scroll.
His foe could fly, so he needed something that could fly as well. And currently, he only had one weapon in his arsenal that could fly.
The golden fire dragon.
"Fūinjutsu: Fire Dragon Guardian!"
ROARRR!
In a split second, a golden, fire dragon rose from the scroll and flew toward the crow, but the crow only threw it a disdainful glance before tilting its body, causing the dragon to fly past it.
"CAW!"
After bypassing the golden dragon, the crow cawed as it stared at Yukito, whose lip was twitching.
"What the hell, that was useless!"
Yukito spat before deactivating the previous golden dragon and channeling more chakra into the scroll.
"Fūinjutsu: Fire Dragon Guardian!"
ROAARRR!
This time, Yukito didn't order the fire dragon to attack the crow. Instead, he ordered it to stay in place and defend him.
"CAW!"
Naturally, the crow wasn't stupid enough to put its head in danger, so it decisively landed on the ground not too far from Yukito and the fire dragon.
Looking at the fire dragon wrapped around him and the giant crow not too far in front of him, Yukito couldn't help but hate how he couldn't summon a few more fire dragons.
If he used his blood, he surely can, but he won't do that unless he was in a desperate situation. Furthermore, the previous fire dragon consumed a fifth of his chakra, and the current fire dragon took another fifth of his chakra and was constantly draining him of charka.
"Maybe I'll be in a desperate situation soon. Should I use my blood now… oh wait, the chakra chains!"
Yukito almost fell to the ground, flat, and face first.
Because he was hiding his true identity, he couldn't use the chakra chains for a long time and had forgotten about them. Now that he was racking his brain for ideas, the technique suddenly came into his mind.
"Fūinjutsu: Adamantine Sealing Chains!"
Yukito yelled as three fiery, red chakra chains emerged from his chest and wrapped around the golden fire dragon.
The chakra chains were thick, as thick as his arms, and they could seal away the chakra of anything it touches as long as Yukito willed it. By wrapping it around the golden fire dragon, the golden fire dragon would gain the abilities of the chakra chains.
"ROAARRR!"
After the chains wrapped around the golden fire dragon's body, it roared in excitement and charged toward the crow.
"CAW!"
Seeing the incoming dragon, the crow cried out and took flight, but the fire dragon was hot on its tail.
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