One month later
It's been a month since Izuku started his training trip and within that time, the nine Biju were impressed with the progress their vessel had made so far. He had mastered the Tree Walking exercise within a few days and had mastered Water Walking the following week after many hours of drying his clothing, and then with mastering the basics for the Shadow Clone Jutsu, being able to summon fifty clones with half of his chakra.
As for releasing chakra from his tenketsu, he was only able to release a hundred and eighty out of three hundred and sixty one. Following the taijutsu that needed him to release all three hundred and sixty one, he had gotten the moves down but not the grace or flow that was needed to execute it properly. The one thing that had surprised the chakra beasts was his physical performance, surpassing Naruto's at his age.
With a month and a half left, Izuku was busy with his advanced afternoon physical training, finishing up his last twenty kilometer run. Stretching, he was interrupted with news from the Chakra beasts sealed within him. "Izuku, we need you to enter your mindscape, we have something important to tell you."
The fact that Kurama was the one speaking for the group, the seriousness in his voice and the fact that they needed him to enter the seal told him this was of the utmost importance. Finishing his last stretch he cleared a small area before sitting in a lotus position and appeared in front of the power chakra beasts.
The Kyuubi no Kitsune, Kurama, sat in the middle with Shukaku the One Tailed Sand Tanuki; Matatabi the Two Tailed Fire Cat; Isobu the Three Tailed Turtle; and Son Goku the Four Tailed Ape on his right. On his left sat Kokuō the Five Tailed Horse Dolphin; Rokubi the Six Tailed Slug; Chōmei the Seven Tailed Kabutomushi; and Hachibi the Eight Tailed Octopus Bull Ox. They posed a very threatening appearance if you first see them, but Izuku saw them as Aunts and Uncle or his sensei's when he was training.
"We were going to wait until you were older but we think you're ready if the rapid progress you've been making says anything." Kurama said before Matatabi spoke.
"We all believe and trust you, and we know you do also, Kitten. That is why we think it's time we become part of you." Izuku didn't understand that part, but before he could say anything Son Goku spoke.
"What Matatabi means is that we want to merge part of all of our souls with yours, this will help stabilize our chakra in your body as well as improve your overall abilities." The greenette nodded, watching Kurama's nine tails swirl behind him. He only did that when he was anxious or excited about something, and this sounded like a very big deal.
"The process would only take at most two days for our souls to match and link onto your souls wavelength, another day or so for our chakra to stabilize with your coils. This entire process all depends on your will power, but we all know you will succeed." The greenette nodded his head, this was definitely a big deal. This would no doubt help him become stronger if another one of those Otsutsuki people came and he had a feeling they would one day.
"Would this do anything to my body or mind, like will I have part of you'll personalities or something like that?" Chōmei shook her no, her wings giving off a low buzzing. "Nothing in the shorts. This will help us communicate if we are ever separated from each other and track us if anything happens. You will also be able to use our personal abilities but we don't know to what degree."
"What do you mean if we're separated? I thought you'll we're unable to escape if the seal was up." While he knew they wouldn't be with him forever, the thought of them leaving him alone wasn't something he practically loved. As if sensing his worry, Kurama explained.
"That was never the case and while we do see you as our grandchild, we also like to feel the sun on our skin, wind blow against our body and feel the water wash over us. When Naruto transferred us over to you, we willingly went knowing you needed us and that you were his legacy. You and Inko were his most prized people, and even though he saw us as family, we weren't human and never will.
"We were not only given to you so that we may trian you but to also protect both of you two incase anything happened. What did you think would happen when you started to go to U.A, we would still stay with you but we would also help your mother here at the same time." Izuku knew that made absolute sense and it did lift the worry he had of his mother, and he also came to his decision to the merage.
"I want to do the merage, if it means I'm able to protect people and those precious to me, I need to become stronger!"
They discussed that it would take a few days, so they needed to find a secluded place if possible. No need for any hikers or anyone stumbling upon them.
She didn't know why her family had to do this, but all Kendō Itsuka knew was that it was tradition for all of those coming of age to go on a journey of discovery. This was to sharpen their mind and skills, to show them the reality of what the world was like. Kendo had long orange hair that was put up in a ponytail, teal eyes, fair skin and stood a hundred and sixty-six centimeters. She wore a black skin tight, carbon fiber tank top under a turquoise gi that was polyester. She finishes it off with the black Allbird shoes, white bandage tape around her thighs and upper arms.
She had been wandering the woods for the last week, preparing for what may happen in the practical exam portion at U.A High school. So far, she had only met two bears that were brarly a warmup for her and her quirk, and had been doing basic conditioning in the morning and evening.
Itsuka also wasn't allowed to have any technology on her and had to use the sun to tell the time, which she was glad she paid attention to when her grandfather explained it to her. 'It'll be about ten in a few minutes, I better find a place to set up camp or I'll be sleeping in another tree.' Adjusting her backpack, she made her way through trees and hopped to find a nice cave or tree hole to sleep the night in.
After a few minutes of walking she noticed how eerily quiet the area was, not even the wind blowing or animal breathing. She remembered what her grandfather said to her before entering the forest, "Listen to the animals, their senses are the sharpest. When you hear the crickets and the birds, even the snore of a bear, you know it is safe. But when not even the sound of the wind makes a sound, beware the beast that causes that."
"Should I even try and venture further this way, but it's getting really late and it looks like it'll rain soon." Noticing how the cloud covered sky looked ready to downpour at any second, she quickly made her way forward and hoped nothing would go wrong. It wasn't long before she noticed a cave in the distance with a flicking of light, not knowing who it was made her second guess if it was safe, but feeling the start of rain rushed those thoughts away.
Quickly and as quietly as she could, Kendo made her way to the edge of the cave and peeked inside. A fire was lit in front of another person, but the shadow of the cave made it hard for her to see his face. "It's not going to stop anytime soon…" she heard him speak, surprised he had noticed her. "... and unless you have a quirk that can protect you from the rain I would recommend coming inside." His voice was a little deep and rough but had a nice sweetness and serenity that it made the orangennette believe him.
Carefully making her way inside in case anything warned her to escape, Itsuka sat in front of the fire and the person on the other side. "I understand that you are cautious, but I can promise you I will not do anything." He paused to let her think it over, and he smiled when she put her back down beside her. "You hungry?"
"No, I'm-" But the embarrassing sound of her stomach growling stopped her and caused him to let out a low chuckle. 'That's embarrassing!' She thought, head down and blushing.
"Don't be embarrassed, I myself haven't eaten yet. I have plenty of food to spare, just give it a few minutes to warm." He said placing a metal pot onto the fire and pouring what looked to be soup with meat and vegetables, just the sight of it had her drooling a bit.
~~~~~
It was silent for a while before Itsuka decided to break it, not like she could go out in the rain. She still had another week before anything else and she still hasn't made any progress in her skills or discovery. "I don't mean to pry, but can I ask what you are doing all the way out here? Not many people come this far out unless they have a pretty good reason."
"I'm on a training trip, how about you?" Short and simple she thought, knowing it more than what he was saying. "I'm on a journey of discovery, a tradition in my family for everyone coming of age. I'm supposed to spend two weeks out in the forest to sharpen my mind and skills, but I haven't had any opponents other than two bears." Why was she telling him all this, a simple answer like his would have worked.
"In this day and age, not many keep to old traditions like that. May I ask why your family still does this Journey of discovery?" It was quiet as Kendo thought about his question, it's not like it was important or anything. "Back during the early days of the second or third emperor, my family fought in battle. It was normally men who had their Journey of Discovery and it normally lasted a full year, if they returned and shown to have made progress, they would be able to fight. But over the years it dwindled down and with this day and age, people can't just up and leave a whole year for some tradition."
She saw him nod and realized they had yet to introduce themselves, but even though they were strangers she had a strange feeling that she could trust him with just about anything. "We have yet to introduce each other. I'm Kendō Itsuka, a second year in Jr.high."
"Nice to meet you Kendō Itsuka, my name is Uzumaki Izuku and a second year in Jr.high as well." Then the shadows that once covered his form disappeared and she lost her breath.
FlashBack
It's been three days and Izuku found a cave that wasn't really deep but wide enough for a group of at least ten people max. "This place should do, deep inside the forest and secluded, with enough space for training." Setting down his pack, he cleared a wide space at the back of the cave and went to work.
For the process of soul merging, a special seal is needed to help stabilize the body. While the Bijū's didn't make him study Fūinjutsu, they didn't stop him from practicing and reciting formulas either. They were glad that Izuku was interested in the Uzumaki legacy, even giving him pointers of how certain formulas work and what they do. Now they were grateful that he did, it made this so much easier.
The seal was a combination of a Barrier seal on the outside, surrounding a Chakra Suppression Seal, which were both Beginners seals. The Barrier seal was a Mid sub-level Beginner seal while the Chakra Suppression Seal was a High sub-level Beginner seal; Izuku was close to starting Intermediate Fūinjutsu once he passed Kurama's test.
"OK, It's done." Izuku didn't think it was too hard to make, he was careful when drawing it in his blood- no need to be in the center of an explosion. Sitting down inside and entering his Mindscape, he appeared in that same position with a tail of all nine Bijū's touching him.
"You ready, young blood?!" Shikaku and her blood thirsty love slipping into her speech, a chuckling escape from the small greenette human. "Let's do this."
With that said, they began to slowly insert part of their Yin and Yang soul and chakra into his own. The pain wasn't instantaneous, it started at a slow burn and then erupted into an active volcano, like Mount. Vesuvius in seconds.
How he wanted to scream till he lost his voice and still scream till his lungs gave out, but with gritted teeth Izuku held on and concentrated on the foreign energy in his body. He could feel this body go under a slight transformation, but forced more on overcomeing the overflowing pain that felt like years when it's only been a day.
After the second day, the flaring, boiling heat subsided greatly to where he was able to calm his breathing and actually begin to form a thought of any sorts. Cracking open his eyes, he saw nine of them look smaller than when he remembered. Like chibi Bijū, it was both adorable and confusing.
"It's been awhile since we've been like this." Said an embarrassed Isobu in a very quiet voice, Izuku thought, noticing her tails curled around each other. 'So cute!'
Focusing on what was happening, he asked them why they were so chibi like. They explained that it was because One, low on Chakra and Two, because this was the only way they could leave the seal without causing permanent damage to the surroundings area.
Izuku sweat dropped at an image of them destroying hundreds of acres of land for just sitting or standing, not to mention the absolute huge size."Don't get too comfortable yet, Izuku. We still need to get our wavelengths connected." Rokubi said, getting the young Uzumaki to sync his and their souls together. The nine chibi beasts closed eyes as well, but were able to notice his new looks that appeared due to the process.
Flashback
His hair was as green as emeralds with white stands, and eyes like fresh cut grass, though upon closer look, one was lighter than the other. He had such a healthy glow to his skin and the way his freaks highlighted his eyes, and don't get her started on how well fit he was.
Muscles that seemed to be a bit tight under his clothes, his hard and what she could see, chiseled chest as well. He had a black shirt that hugged his chest and black baggy pants, finishing with red flates. What really made her heart best was his smile, a smile that put butterflies in her stomach. 'He's the handsomest man I have ever seen!'
"Food is done." Kendo heard him say, realizing she must have spaced out while looking at him. 'Great, can't get anymore embarrassing' She thought, grabbing the bowl that was being handed to her, and forgetting to wait and blow it down. "HOT!!" She said, dropping the bowl and spilling it over her hands, 'I stand corrected!'
She didn't know when Izuku got to her side or why he was cupping hands, only that the burning pain was slowly receding and was now only a slight numbing feeling. "This is all I can do for this kind of injury, but you won't have any burn marks or blemish."
Itsuka was at a loss for words. In just a few seconds she was in pain and now there was only a slight tingle in her hands but was quickly getting better. "Thanks for that, Uzumaki-san." Izuku just gave her a smile, picking up her bowl and handing her his. "Take this."
"I-I can't take yours!" He just took her hands and placed them on the bowl, before placing her dropped bowl away and taking out another one. "Don't worry, I cooled that one so it's ready." It was quiet once again as they ate the meat and vegetable soup, and Itsuka Knew this for sure; he was nothing but trustful.
She grew up with people trying to use her and her family, and had learned to tell from how people's eyes looked or how they smiled… but this person in front of her was just generally kind and trustful. This Uzumaki Izuku person kept his distance and didn't make any awkward conversations, but was always listening and talked with a sense of respect, the orangennette couldn't find it in herself to keep her guard up around him.
"It doesn't look like it'll stop anytime soon." Her cave partner said, snapping her out of her thoughts and causing her to look towards the entrance to see it rain even harder than before. "I doubt you would find another place to have shelter in, and even if you do, I can almost guarantee you'll get sick."
Yeah, Itsuka knew he was right as she watched the rain a while longer. Her only option was to sleep here for the night or wait for it to stop, which she was sure wasn't going to until morning if she was lucky. When she heard rumbling behind her, Itsuka saw an earth wall, splitting the cave in half. "I have a spare sleeping bag if you need one, and if any of your clothes are wet, set them by the fire to help dry."
Itsuka Kendo never met a person that was so genuinely kind, especially in this kind of situation, he was helping her without a second thought. "Oh, and call me Izuku."
When she woke up the next day, she noticed that the rain had stopped and a steaming bowl of the meat and vegetable soup beside her things from last night. Taking it and eating, she made her way out and saw that the sun was high in the sky, signaling it was at least mid-day. "Morning, Kendō-san. Hope the food was still warm when you woke up."
"It was, and thank… you…" she said turning around and saw the muscles on his back, his magnificent back before he put his shirt back on. "I didn't want to wake you so I put it beside your stuff, just wanted to get warmed up before training." She perked up after that. Itsuka Kendo loved to exercise and Train, and was curious on what he did to obtain a body like that. "Do you mind if I join you?"
Shaking his head, Itsuka asked him to wait so she could get changed. After exiting out of the cave, Izuku cheeks gave off a slight blush at her outfit. It was another carbon fiber tank top but was orange, with black joggers and black running shoes. Clearing his thoughts, he signaled for her to follow him and they began.
~~~~~
'Never...again…' she thought, lying on her back, exhausted and body so sore that she couldn't move a muscle. "You're a beast, Izuku-san. How… how do you… do this…"
Izuku just sweat dropped at that, before hovering his hands above her.
"This'll help your muscles that may have torn heal and give you some energy back, but you'll have to recover most of your energy back yourself." she watched as his hands turn green and hover above her, realizing that he did something like that last night. "Do you mind if I ask about your quirk? You don't have to say anything if you don't want to, I was just curious."
It was silent after that and Itsuka took that as a no, before he started talking. "I have the ability to control the energy of my body and others to help heal, fastening the process, and can give my body a temporary boost in power and speed." He could practically see stars in the girl's eyes, causing him to let out a chuckle.
Slowly sitting up, Kendo extended her hand forward and expanded it. "My ability allows me to expand certain parts of my body, but my hands are the easiest to do." While it did help improve some forms in martial arts, she still hasn't found one that she actually felt comfortable and compatible with.
"That's so cool! Does it also increase your power when you activate it!? If so, to what degree!? How much can you expand it and does it hurt or off balance you if it's too big?! What type of Martial arts do you practice?!" Izuku said before blushing, his excitement over quirks never truly left him. Itsuka was surprised by his questions, since people just told her that it suited her family traditions and great things were sure to happen, but here he was trying to find out what her quirk could do.
"It does increase my power by five percent, and it does make me unbalanced sometimes but I haven't done it to where it hurts. I practice all types of Martial arts, mainly those that are hand to hand combat." She watched as he pulled out a notebook and started writing what she said, but she was curious on where the book came from.
"Do you mind if we spar for a while, I would love to write down what I can about your quirk if you don't mind."
"Sure, I don't mind. Just let me stretch a minute and recover my energy."
After a thirty minute break, Izuku and Kendo stood on opposite ends of a small clearing that was in front of the cave. "Ready when you are."
Itsuka narrowed her eyes and rushed towards her opponent, her hands still normal sized and into a fist. When she was close enough she threw her fist and expanded it to ten times its original size, hitting Izuku and causing a bit of wind to blow past him. Her eyes widened when she heard a chuckle on the other end of her fist and once the smoke cleared she saw why.
Izuku stood there with his palm to her fist, uninjured and unmoved. "Now that is some power, do you plan on entering a hero school?" He said tightening his hand around her huge fist and causing her to wince at the amount of strength in his grip. "U.A" She said watching the greenette nod before being shoved back.
"You definitely have a shot, but if that's all you got I doubt you'll make it. Now show me what you got, don't hold back and show me your true strength!" Catching her balance, she kicked off her shoes and took a deep breath in and out before her eyes showed determination and a hint of anger. At what, probably for the fact that he had insulted her.
Izuku's eyes widened when he saw her go faster, noticing that she expanded her feet to get more speed in each step. He was brought out of thought as a gigantic open palm thrust, step siding it and ducking under another palm thrust, which put him inside her guard. Itsuka's eyes widened and jumped back a few feet, readying herself for an attack.
Noticing that he didn't attack, even after getting into her space, made her mad. "Why aren't you attacking, you asked for this!" Izuku just shrugged his shoulders, before really insulting her and her pride. "Thought you were going to be a challenge, but it seems your quirk is all you have going for you."
"I'll show you." Bending low, she slowly expanded her feet and hands before shooting off, her low center gravity gave her an added boost in speed and appeared before Izuku with a rapid fire of open palm thrust. Dodging left, right and under each duck made her push more speed and power into her blows, causing wind pressure to appear after every thrust she made.
Jumping over her, he dodged a back kick from her foot and nodded his head. 'She has pride, and does have the power to enter U.A no doubt, but…' he thought, dodging two left jabs aimed for his face and a right to his chest, he jumped over her sweep kick and landed a few feet in front of her.
Dodging her high knee kick, Kendo threw a high kick which he ducked down to avoid but was surprised to see her instantly transition it into a low kick. She knew he was only dodging her attacks so she had to put him in a corner, and she knew she had him this time. But before her very eyes did she see him disappear, her attack missing him and her out of breath. "You're very proficient in boxing, sumo, and muay thai but you won't be able to unleash your full power if you don't understand each move."
Kendo turned around to see him behind her, watching as he entered a boxing stance. She quickly put up her guard but was shocked when his fist appeared inches away from her face before she had her guard fully up. "The speed…" she took a step back and watched as he vanished from her line of sight, feeling her feet leave the ground. "The timing and movement…" her back hit the ground with a thud and closed her as seeing his foot come crashing down toward her, feeling the ground beside her head crumble under the force of his foot. "The power…"
Opening her eyes, she saw his hand held out and slowly grabbed it before being yanked up. "When you can understand all that with one punch or one kick, or in any one attack you throw, then you have mastered that move. But while you may have practiced these martial art techniques for years, it is useless if it does not syn with your body."
Itsuka knew what he said was true, as she too felt that none of those martial arts were a fit for her. But when she saw the other members of her family show such mastery in them, she trained harder than anyone else, only to come up short every time. She felt tears well up in her eyes before Izuku told her what he thought, and what would eventually change how she saw the martial art world forever.
One Week Later
"Thank you Izuku." Itsuka said bowing, her hands gripping the straps of her bag. It's been a week and she had to make her way back so she may show her family the fruits of her labor. And it was all thanks to the person in front of her, who not only helped show her her future, but came to be a close friend. "It was all you, Kendō-san." Izuku said, scratching the back of his neck, a sheepish smile of his face.
"How many times do I have to remind you to call me Itsuka, we're already past being strangers." Itsuka scolded, her face inches away from his own blushing one. Something she found out was that it was fun to watch him blush and be flustered, even though he was a super need and a superman, he didn't have much experience with the art of flirting.
"H-Hai, Itsuka...chan." She shot her head back at seeing his sly smile, face blushing. 'Like the sound of that. But two can play at this.'
"Exactly, Izuku-kun."
With all the playing done they had to go their separate ways for now, promising to meet when they passed U.A High school entrance exam. "Take care, Itsuka for real."
"You too. Don't you go getting lost now, I still need a rematch for all the times I've lost." Having finished what they needed to say, they gave one last quick and tight hug before separating and going their own way.
One Month later
"You ready, Izuku?" Izuku stood staring at the area in front of him, hearing what the strongest of all nine Bijū said. It's been a month since Kendo left and it left him just one week before the entrance exam, one week to make his way back home and rest. "Yeah, I'm ready…. Let's go home, guys."
Turning around, he jumped into the nearest tree and sped away, away from what looked like a war zone. Craters and broken tree's littered the area he was once facing, the area he just finished training in was destroyed…
Thank you so very much Firem78910 for catching my rookie mistake, and I've got it fixed. I will make sure that doesn't happen again everyone, for those who don't know what I'm talking about I mixed up Kendō Itsuka name and put Itsuka Kendo. That is wrong and I apologize. Next up is the entrance exam, and the reunion of the big three, Toshinori and Inko, so expect that. Oh and a bit of Bakugo as well, and a little confrontation with them maybe.
Sorry for the very late chapter, work and writers block had me as well as new stories for 2022. I'll be trying to get as many chapters out for Izuku's Shinobi Life and Changing the Past, as for Twisted Mind, I may get another two or three before the new year.
Introduced Kendo Itsuka and a fight between them, may be able to show a bit of the fighting style she learned from Izuku, one that matches her quirk. I did a slight change with her quirk, able to grow both hands and feet.
The merage doesn't mean he is part biju, it's just to help him stabilize the chakra of his and the nine as well as connect them so that they would be able to communicate after they are out of the seal.
Spoilers here so skip if you want.
.
.
.
Mei Hatsume will also have chakra as her body is compatible like Izuku, and their chakra is different than in the Naruto-verse because it's a mixture of the academia and Naruto energies. It is also why Izuku couldn't control the chakra of the Bijū's, even after having a good bond with them. It was their chakra repelling each other, since it is different from Izuku's.
Spoilers are done.
That's it for now, Till Next Time
