(Power of the Great Glacier)
"When the ten Fangs of Ryuhogo reunite after thousands of years, the Dragon Guardian shall at last fulfill his destiny and rid this world of the Jewel that has caused so much suffering, and begin a new era for all."
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Things were calm in the Modern Era, but at the same time some change was on the horizon.
Sota poked his head out of the house to see Kagome darting around the grounds of the family shrine, practicing with her sword through a series of movement with her feet, something that left him in awe, until he finally found his voice "Uh, hey sis?"
"Yeah?" Kagome screeched to a halt in the middle of a stroke and glanced over at him "What's up, you need something Sota?"
"Yeah actually, mom wanted me to tell you that breakfast was ready. I went upstairs but you weren't in your room, and then I found you out here. With a sword."
"Oh yeah, you mean this don't you?" Kagome let out a nervous chuckle "Yeah sorry if this is kind of freaking you out, I've been doing a lot with this lately, and since I couldn't get back to sleep I figured I'd get some practice in before school. Plus it's a good way to get exercise and take my mind off a few things." the two of them started making their way inside, though her face fell as they did so "Like Tatsu."
"You guys have a fight or something?"
"No he's just in one of his moods, to make a long story short we met a guy that basically claimed me as his woman and he's taking it… well about as well as to be expected from him."
"So now he's brooding over it and he's really blunt whenever he talks?"
"Pretty much yeah. Anyway he dropped me off back at home last night and then he just up and took off, I got a text from him saying he took off with Raidou to get the next Fang."
"Did he say where he was going?"
"I think he said something about the Arctic."
"Good." he pulled out a notepad and started writing stuff down.
"What the heck are you doing?"
"I'm making a note for the kind of powers Tatsu is going to get with the third Fang, and if it's in a place like the Arctic then that probably means he's going to get water and ice powers, so I'll have to focus on that."
"...When the heck did you become so well informed about stuff like this?"
"When I discovered anime."
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Meanwhile, in the Arctic…
A series of strong winds howled across the area.
A lone pilot stood by his helicopter talking on his cell phone "It's not that complicated, I did it because one of them paid me a hell of a lot of money to. I don't know why two Japanese middle school kids wanted me to fly them out to the middle of the Arctic on a Tuesday. Maybe they just wanted to go skiing or something."
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Now for what the two of them were really doing…
"So I go up there and save his ass like a nice guy, even though he's the one that kidnapped her, and then she asks me to let the guy get away!" by this point, Tatsu and Raidou were sliding down the side of the glacier, and Tatsu was taking the time to vent about recent events "And even after all of that, Inuyasha starts barking like he's the victim in this entire fucking mess!"
"Really, right now?" Raidou shot a dull glance over at Tatsu in the middle of ranting, his tone increasingly dry "We're skidding down the side of a glacier, and you're bitching about your lack of a lovelife now of all times?"
"This is how I deal with stress!" he fell flat on his ass and had to summon a blade in one hand and thrust it into the ice to stop himself from falling into the abyss below, and then he quickly grabbed Raidou by the hand to stop the same thing from happening to him "Not too bad for a last minute save huh?" then his blade started sliding "I had to say something."
"If you didn't then chances are I would've." Raidou freed himself from Tatsu's grip and then dropped down onto the surface of the outside of an ice cavern, with Tatsu following his lead a few seconds later "So to summarize your comically long rant just now, along with the one from the ride in the chopper, you just needed someone to bitch to about your lovelife?"
"Pretty much yeah, thanks for listening."
"I've dealt with worse than that."
"Good to know. You know sliding down the glacier like that was fun, I'm kind of thinking of going again once we get the Fangs."
"Let's focus on one task at a time for now." the two of them made their way into the cave and found it covered in ice, and a large doorway sitting on the other side "There it is, the third temple of Ryuhogo."
"Which means we're one step closer." Tatsu whipped around at the sound of crashing and noticed a series of stalactites falling from the roof of the cave, and then the pathway leading to the door beginning to recede, which prompted the two of them to take off running through the cave and jump for it, allowing them to make it across just before the door shut on them "You good?"
"Like I said, I've had worse. So… that happened."
"Yep." the two of them shared a look and burst out laughing for a moment.
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A little bit of time had gone by, and school was about to get underway.
Kagome made her way onto the grounds of the school, her mind drifting 'It seems like it's been ages since the last time I was in school. I mean between losing the shards to Kikyo, learning swordsmanship from my dead father and then everything with Koga, this is a break that I really needed.'
"Kagome?!" it was at this moment that her friends Ayumi, Eri and Yuka suddenly rushed up to her and nearly caught her off guard.
"Oh hey you guys, it's been awhile."
"You can be as cheerful as you want right now, but you won't be once you hear about the big news. You've got a big problem on your hands."
"I do?"
"Yeah you do, there's been a new development while you were stuck out of school because of your inferiority complex."
'...Great, so now I've got psychological disorders. Grandpa must have run out of diseases to use for me. So what sort of problem is it exactly?"
"Take a look and see for yourself." Yuka and the others dragged her into the bushes and pointed at the cause of her supposed problem, which just so happened to be Hojo walking into the building and talking to a younger girl "Check that out, she's only a seventh grader. That Jane Doe has been tagging after Hojo like a lost kitten for weeks now."
"Uh huh."
"It doesn't look like Hojo is complaining too much about it either." Eri pointed out "So what about it Kagome, what are you going to do?"
"What is there to do, if she likes him then I say she should go for it."
"What the heck are you talking about, she's trying to steal him right out from underneath your nose." Yuka pointed out "You're letting yourself be one-upped by a seventh grader, she keeps going on about how Hojo is so cool and making him think he's a real hipster with the chicklets and the like."
"Okay, I'm not exactly sure what you just said, but I'm not going out with Hojo so it doesn't really make a difference to me."
"Come on Kagome, what the heck?" it was at this moment that Eri and Yuka took the chance to round on Kagome "I bet you're seeing somebody else and you never told us!"
"Uh…"
"Yeah that explains it, that has to be the reason! There's no other reason why you would be so easygoing and nonchalant about this. So start talking, who the heck is the guy? It's time for you to fess up!"
"Okay seriously guys, give me some breathing room!" she pushed them back a few feet "There's nothing to tell, I'm not seeing anyone! I already know how he feels about me, but I don't have a clue what to do about it okay?" her outburst left the three of them taken aback.
"So there is someone?" asked Ayumi.
"Oh for crying out loud!" she was met with the sound of a bell chiming "Saved by the bell, took it long enough. We'd better get going, we don't want to be late for class." and so she took off running.
"Kagome wait, who's the guy?"
"Kagome get back here, this so isn't over!" Eri and Yuka chased after her, with Ayumi quickly following their lead.
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Meanwhile, in the Feudal Era…
The sun was shining brightly over the lands of Musashi, and Sango and Shippo made their way over to the Bone Eater's Well "Are you sure this is it? It doesn't look like anything more than an ordinary old well to me, but this is what allows Tatsu and Kagome to return to their world?"
"Yep this is it, but they're the only ones who can go through the well. I should know, I've tried a few times." Shippo told her nonchalantly "Apparently Inuyasha went through once so he might be the only who can go there and get them, but there's no way he ever would."
"Shows how well you know me you little shit." this was when Inuyasha waltzed past them and prepared to jump into the well, only to stop when he noticed the jaw dropped looks he was getting from Shippo and Sango "What?"
"You mean you're actually going after them?"
"It's either go get them and drag their asses back, or stick around here and listen to you whining about wanting them to come back and Miroku groping every ass he touches, and I'm not just talking about women." and he promptly dove into the well, leaving Shippo and Sango behind.
"...I didn't see that coming."
"He's not really wrong either." Sango looked away and frowned "I can just see it now, the monk is probably trying to win over every woman in the village as we speak. I swear, most of the time he acts like a dirty old man."
"I'll have you know that I take offense to that." this was when Miroku made himself known on the scene "I simply offered my humble guidance some of the young ladies of the village and explained to them how denying their destiny could throw them off course for the rest of their lives."
"Whatever you need to tell yourself monk." this comment was ignored.
"Anyway, I understand how the two of you feel. I'm just as eager as you are to continue our quest to gather the Shikon Jewel shards, but there's no use in getting impatient. What we need to do is give Tatsu and Kagome time to sort out their affairs, and until that happens we're stuck here at a standstill. To put it in simple terms, they need two do two things. One, they must sort out their feelings for each other. Two, Tatsu is doing something even more important on their side of the well."
"He said he was getting the next Fang of Ryuhogo."
"Exactly. The more Fangs he has in his possession, the more powerful he becomes, and that is all the better for all of us."
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Meanwhile, in the Modern Era…
"Okay classes are over, it's time for you to start talking." after school was out, Eri and the other girls had ambushed Kagome and dragged her to a nearby McDonald's, their intention being to interrogate her for every last drop of information regarding her current situation "Alright classes are over, it's about time for you to start talking. What kind of guy are you seeing?"
"I'm not seeing anyone, I've been saying that for the last-" Kagome let out a groan and buried her face in her hands "Sorry it's just, this whole thing has been really frustrating for me."
"Well whatever the problem is Kagome, we can help you get through it." Ayumi gripped her hand reassuringly "Go ahead, take your time with this."
"Okay, here's the thing." Kagome breathed a sigh "Awhile back, Tatsu got into another fight with this really tough guy."
"Uh huh, that's to be expected with him."
"Well the guy got really mad, he had a gun with him and… he turned it on me." this was met with a series of gasps "He fired it at me, but Tatsu saved me at the last second. The gunshot was still ringing in my ears, and he knew that, so he didn't think I could hear what he said next."
"What did he say?"
"Well he turned to the guy and said "You tried to kill my friends, you tried to kill the girl I love, that's something you're not gonna live to regret." in those exact words." this caused a few jaws to drop.
"Wait, what?"
"I know, that's exactly what was going through my head when I heard him say that! I mean he's been my best friend for years, now something like this comes up and-"
"No no, what I mean is, you didn't know?"
"You mean you guys did?!"
"Of course we did, pretty much all of us did. In hindsight, it was pretty obvious." Eri told her nonchalantly.
"Oh great, not only do I have a ton of high school drama to deal with, but now feel like a complete idiot."
"Don't be so hard on yourself." Ayumi gently gripped her hand to reassure her "At least you don't have to be concerned about how he feels about you."
"I know that, but that's not the issue."
"Think of it this way, at least he's really passionate and always loyal to you, and he doesn't get crazy jealous or anything like that."
"Yeah, I don't think that's actually the case. I mean recently he got into a fight with this one guy that ended up trying to claim me as his woman, I still have no idea if he was actually serious about that or not, and I could tell that he was pretty mad about it. Well, mad by his standards that is."
"So he's going around being really blunt until he calms down?" Eri asked dryly.
"Pretty much yeah. But that's one of the things I really do admire about him." she gave small fond smile as her cheeks started turning red "Even if he gets super mad about something, he never takes it out on anyone around him. He's so loyal and devoted and never hesitates to help the people he cares about, he works so hard and is so good at almost everything but never flaunts it in my face, he's strong and courageous but he's so gentle and kind at the same time."
"Kagome…" it was at this moment that Ayumi tightened her grip on Kagome's arms and looked her dead in the eye "The way you're saying all of this, you're making it sound like you're head over heels in love with him."
"Wait what? I don't love Tatsu… I mean I like him well enough, and I know how he feels about me, but…'
"I didn't mean that like it's a bad thing, I mean you've got it written all over your face."
'So she sees it just like that, me… in love with Tatsu?'
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Meanwhile, with a certain half demon…
At the same time, Inuyasha was bolting across the rooftops of Tokyo, then he stopped and looked back at the shrine 'I can smell Kagome's scent all over that place, she said something about living in a shrine so that's gotta be it. Then there's Tatsu's scent, I can't find anything that strong and what I can smell is all over the place, but this is definitely the strongest trace of his scent I can find.' he landed on the ground in front of a large dojo building and started manuevering his way around the side of it 'What the hell is this place, it's nothing like any temple I've ever seen before. I can smell Tatsu's scent getting closer too.' he gripped Tessaiga on instinct when he heard one of the doors open.
"You know there are doors in this place for a reason." a certain man poked his head out the door, with black hair and bright blue eyes, clad in a blue kimono and with a sword in hand "The reason being that you're supposed to use them."
'How the hell did this guy know I was here?'
"You can take your hand off your sword, I'm more of a teacher than a fighter so I'm not particularly interested in picking fights." the man studied Inuyasha intently for a moment, then relaxed himself slightly "Well judging by the red kimono, white hair, dog ears and the sword at your side, I take it you're this Inuyasha that I've been hearing so much about."
"You know about me?"
"Tatsu has mentioned you more than a few times when he comes by."
"You a friend of his?" Inuyasha relaxed himself slightly when he heard this.
"Who do you think taught him how to use a sword? The name is Akira by the way." he was met with a simple nod "So what brings you to the dojo?"
"I came tracking Tatsu's scent and it brought me here, so where the hell is he?"
"He's not here right now, and if you came here by tracking his scent then I'm guessing that what you were looking for was this." he led Inuyasha inside and revealed to him the object he was referring to, which just so happened to be Tatsu's sword "The blade was getting dull from all of the battles he's fought with it, so he asked me to do some maintenance on it for him while he took care of a few things." he placed the sword down next to a small wet stone on a table in the corner of the room "I'll do some more work on it later this afternoon, but now comes something more important."
"Which is?"
"Food." he held up a few cups of ramen, which caused Inuyasha to perk up "Care to join me?"
"...Fine fuck it, I'm not gonna refuse free food."
"A point I will never object to from anyone."
"So what's Tatsu doing anyway?"
"He's going after the next one of those dragon fangs he told me about. I don't understand all of the details myself, but if it's something that he has to do then that's enough for me."
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Meanwhile, in the Arctic…
Raidou pulled himself back to his feet, with Tatsu and looked around the temple "It looks identical to what we saw in the Temple of Wisdom."
"With the obvious exceptions being the lack of demonic statues that could come to life and try to kill us, and in their place being the hundreds of sharp and pointy weapons scattered around the place." Tatsu pointed out dryly "Looks like we found ourselves in the temple of cutting and stabbing."
"Ha ha, you're absolutely hilarious." Raidou knelt down in front of the kanji on the floor in the middle of the temple "This character translates to "courage," so I guess that's going to be part of the test." it was then that the Fangs he had hidden inside of his jacket started glowing (which prompted him to cross his arms to hide it), and then a pedestal emerged from within the ground and revealed a single statue of a samurai kneeling in front of them, and at the same time, another door opened in the back of the room to reveal another chamber.
"Well that's not so scary, if this is all the test of courage is going to be then I doubt we have too much to worry about. Looks like it happened just like last time, the door to the chamber with the Fangs opened on its own when we came in. I still have no idea why that is though, is it some kind of chain reaction or something?"
"The chamber opened itself to us, be grateful for that while you can." Raidou glanced over the statue in front of him "This statue is different from the ones that we had to fight in the Temple of Wisdom, but the question is, how do we trigger it to start the test?"
"Or here's another idea, we could not try to trigger the test. I'm thinking that this time we should try to play it safe."
"But the test has to be passed…"
"In order to activate the Fangs, but we don't even really know what that means. What we do know is that we can take the Fangs out of the temple without triggering the test at all, keeping in mind the fact that my dad and his partner Hiyori did. My theory is that if we can take them out of the temple without triggering the test, then maybe we can activate their powers without having to activate the test, and then we won't have to worry about creepy living statues or anything like that coming after us."
"Tatsu everything I read in the Temple of Wisdom said that the Fangs are powerless unless we pass the test, and these Fangs are here in front of us. Don't you want to see what happens when it gets activated, to feel the power of three Fangs coursing through your body? Maybe if we use your sword then…" he paused as he took notice of a certain detail "You didn't bring your sword with you?"
"No the blade has been getting pretty dull, I left it with Akira back at his dojo and asked him to do some work on it while we were here."
"Huh. Well no matter, the point I'm trying to make is that if we use one of these weapons on this statue…" he grabbed a nearby pickaxe and prepared to strike the statue, only to be stopped in his tracks by Tatsu grabbing him by the wrist "What?"
"Don't do it. Weapons and violence never solve a problem, they only create more of them."
"Come again?"
"Oh sorry, that's just something my mom said to me once. She died when I was pretty young so I don't remember her that well, but that's something that's always stuck with me. But in any case, stop and think about this instead of just acting on instinct. The last time we started one of these tests without thinking, we barely made it out alive and my brother ended up on crutches for weeks because of it. I say this time, we look before we leap okay?"
"...Fine, we'll do this one your way. For now."
"That's all I ask, now let's go grab the Fangs and get out of here." so the two of them promptly made their way into the next chamber, where they removed the two Fangs from the pedestal they were resting on "Alright that's one step done, now let's get out of here and head back." he let out a sigh "I can already feel Arashi breathing down my neck over this."
"What would he be pissed about?"
"If I had to guess, the fact that we didn't bring him with us."
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One several hour long flight back to Tokyo later…
"I can't believe you did that!" Arashi didn't waste any time in tearing into Tatsu over recent events once they got back "We were supposed to go after the next set of Fangs together! We found the map together, we figured out the location of the next temple together, hell we even fought those demon statues together!"
"Actually I was fighting them and protecting Kazuma after he got hurt, you got knocked out cold by one of them." Tatsu pointed out dryly.
"This isn't a fucking joke!"
"Dude seriously, I do not have the energy for this."
"What the hell do I have to do man? Me and your brother and the rest of us, we put ourselves out there for you and we're by your side in every way we can be, and then you up and shut us the fuck out!"
"First of all I didn't shut you guys out, my brother is with Moya visiting her parents. Second of all, I get that you're mad but in case you forgot, you guys almost got killed the last time we went to one of those temples and my brother shattered almost every bone in his leg. You can scream at me at the top of your lungs as much as you want, there isn't a chance in hell I'm going to let that happen again."
"You did take Raidou with you, so that doesn't really help your case." Akira pointed out from where he sat in the corner sharpening Tatsu's sword.
"He has a lot of information on the Fangs, and… well he can read kanjis better than I can."
"That's not the fucking point!" Arashi let out a groan of frustration and ran a hand through his hair "So did you even get these Fangs?"
"As a matter of fact…" Tatsu gave a grin and held up the two Fangs in question, both of them blue colored "Check it out. We found the temple in the Arctic so Sota thinks that most of the powers coming from this thing are gonna be water and ice based, and not only that, but having another Fang with me amplifies the powers of the ones I already have. This means that I'm stronger, faster, have more endurance and my attacks have a lot more power going for them."
"Alright alright fine, you got the Fangs so good for you, but this isn't over Tatsu."
"Fine I get it, but at least this way I can study the Fangs and try and find out what it is that makes them tick, and then with any luck I can figure out a way to activate their powers without having to trigger one of the tests that tries to kill us. Speaking of figuring stuff out…" he glanced over to where Inuyasha was sitting in the corner brooding "Why the hell are you here?"
"Why do you think, I came to tell you and Kagome to get your shit together so we can get back to hunting the jewel shards." Inuyasha told him flatly.
"Well I hate to break it to you furball, but that's gonna have to be put on hold until I can figure out the deal with these Fangs. Or give it a few days. Whichever one comes first. But before you start whining, just think about it. Like I said, the more Fangs I have in my possession the more powerful I become overall, and that can only benefit us."
"...Fine, a few days but that's it."
"Whatever you need to tell yourself."
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Meanwhile, with a certain Guardian…
"Don't try to delude yourself, I don't need Tatsu Kamikaze to figure this out! Of course I have plenty of courage, I fear absolutely nothing." by this point, Raidou had resorted to ranting to himself about the day's events "I can pass the test of courage by myself, and then once both of the Fangs have been awakened I'll take one of them from him as the Guardian."
"Spare me the theatrics." a voice snapped him out of his brooding, courtesy of Shin from where he sat in his cell "If you were truly worthy of the title of Guardian, then you would have one of the Fangs already, if not both of them, and then the Kamikaze boy would be grovelling beneath your feet. You understand this as well as I do, don't you nephew?"
"This isn't something I expect you to understand Shin, you're nothing but a blunt instrument and don't know the first thing about being subtle or using strategy. That's why you're rotting in a cell and I'm the Guardian."
"And yet here you are, standing there like a pathetic child looking for the approval of a father figure."
"I don't need anything from you, least of all that." Raidou donned his samurai helmet in order to complete his Guardian persona, and then he disappeared from the scene with a flash of blue energy.
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Post teleportation…
With a surge of blue energy, Raidou materialized within the Temple of Courage and looked down at the samurai statue in front of him 'The temple of courage? I hold the Fangs of Ryuhogo in my possession, and as such I fear nothing.' to that end, he grabbed one of the axes lying near his feet and struck the statue with it.
Upon being hit by the axe, the stone crumbled away to reveal a featureless ogre demon with a helmet covering its face, the only visible features being its eyes, glowing a deep shade of crimson with the sheer energy they contained.
"I don't hold any fear for you demon, now come and test my courage as you see fit."
The demon gave no response, it simply walked past Guardian without even acknowledging his presence.
"What are you doing? Get over here and face me!" Guardian struck the demon with the axe once again, causing it to increase in size by a few inches, but not stop it in its tracks "Stop! I am the Guardian and the master of the Fangs of Ryuhogo, you serve at my will and I will not allow you to ignore me!" he blitzed in front of the demon and hurled forward a blast of energy.
The demon was hit square in the chest by the energy blast and again grew in size, but it kept going and simply swatted Guardian out of its way by backhanding him into a wall, and then it made its way out of the temple.
'Okay, this is not how I imagined this going…' Guardian pulled himself back to his feet and then shook off the disorientation 'I don't get it, why wouldn't it… Dammit I'm such a fool, it must want to get the Fangs back! And that means it's going to… Shit, I didn't think this through anywhere near as much as I thought I did.
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Another day came, and school had since come to an end.
Tatsu made his way out of the school building and began making his way along the sidewalk, his mind drifting as he gazed at the two Fangs attached to his necklace 'Part of me still can't believe that these Fangs had this much going for them. I mean my dad said they would be important to me someday, but now I have to wonder how much he really knew about them.'
"Hey Tatsu, wait up!" it was at this moment that Kagome came running up to him, stopping him in his tracks "Hey."
"Oh hey. Sorry I rushed out like that, I'm heading over to the dojo. Arashi is already there with the Fangs, he had a free period."
"Was he really that mad at you?"
"No more than he usually gets, I'm pretty sure he's cooled off by now."
"Yeah, you're probably right. Speaking of which, are you okay now?"
"Yeah I'm fine, I just needed to cool off a little bit. Sorry about that."
"Don't worry about if, it happens to all of us every now and then. If anything, I think I might owe you an apology."
"For what?"
"I'm probably the one that upset you. I mean you and the others did come all that way to save me from the wolves, and instead of thanking you I basically turned around and let Koga get away, and what's worse is that I sort of made you let him go. I can't blame you for being so upset, or your version of upset anyway."
"I could've said no to that, but despite the fact that our first impression of him pretty much sucked, he showed me that he believed in a fair fight so that means he can't be all bad. I mean truth be told, in a lot of ways he kind of reminds me of Vegeta from Dragon Ball."
"You know that actually makes me wonder. Do you ever stop to think about how much blood, violence and death there is in that world on almost a daily basis?"
"I do, and then I just decide that it doesn't really make sense to judge that sort of thing by the same standards that we have in our own world. I mean keep in mind that in that world, death and gore is pretty commonplace."
"That… actually makes a lot of sense. And you know, Koga really isn't that bad of a guy all things considered. He could have treated me a lot worse than he did, and he only kidnapped me because he wanted me to help him find the jewel shards so that he would be able to protect his pack. He has to should all of this responsibility all on his own after his sister was killed too. I know you probably won't want to hear this but… when you think about it…"
"...He and I aren't that different from each other. God dammit, I hate it when you're right about stuff like that. Anyway, can we talk about something else now? This is getting sort of depressing right now."
"Yeah good point, so is some kind of horrible monster going to come after those Fangs like the statues attacked you and the others in the temple last time?"
"I wouldn't count on that, I took precautions this time and made a point to Raidou about why activating the test is a bad idea." this was followed by a loud stomping noise going off in the distance, and then the featureless demon from the temple rounding a corner, only now it was the size of a skyscraper, and sending people running away screaming at the sight of it.
"What was that you were saying?"
"That thing… definitely put on some weight since I saw it in the temple. But why would it… Oh crap, that thing has to be here for the Fangs!"
"Wait hold on a second, you're saying that that thing walked all the way from Antarctica just to get the Fangs back?"
"The Fangs that Arashi has right now back at the dojo! Dammit!" he slammed his fist into a nearby lamppost, earning a sickening crack as a result "I didn't take him or you to the Arctic with me and Raidou because I didn't want to put you in danger, and now I went and put the entire city in danger, especially Arashi!"
"Yeah I'm thinking we should go ahead and call him, give him a heads up about the fact that there's a giant demon coming to swat him like a fly."
"Good plan, let me just grab my phone."
"Hey guys." it was at this moment that Arashi showed up on the scene "Traffic is going straight to hell all over the place, probably because of this huge construction project if I had to guess. I mean I can still hear this loud booming noise and- What the hell are you looking at?"
"That." Kagome pointed at where the demon was getting closer.
"...Oh, so that's what it is."
"It's after the ring, we have to head back and grab it before-" Tatsu was cut off by Arashi holding up the Fangs in his hand "You brought them with you."
"I didn't want to leave it behind just in case someone came after it."
"Good call." it was at this moment that they witnessed a number of military planes firing a series of missiles at the demon, engulfing it in an explosion, only for it to not take any damage and instead end up growing even bigger, and then set its sights on the trio.
"Okay correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure that thing is looking at me."
"Arashi give me the Fangs, both of you get the hell out of here and get somewhere safe."
"Not a chance, I'm not going to run and hide." Kagome told him firmly "We're in this together, if this thing is after the Fang then Arashi and I will distract it so that you can get your gi and your sword and whatever else you need to fight this thing off."
"Okay guys seriously, points for the bravado but I don't have time to argue with the two of you over this."
"Then don't argue with us, just get moving."
"...Fine, but just know that I do this under protest!" and so he promptly took off in the direction of the dojo.
"Come on, let's get moving!"
"Right!" Arashi didn't waste any time in taking off running in another direction, Kagome rushing by his side as they led the demon away "You know what I'm just gonna say it, this is probably one of the worst times to show off how dedicated we are as friends to the guy."
"Yeah I'm gonna be honest with you, I sort of got caught up in the moment. I mean I don't have my sword or my bow or any arrows with me, at this rate I'd probably just be firing a couple of potshots of spiritual energy and praying for the best."
"Those military jets aren't gonna do much better either, they would only stop because they ran out of missiles so chances are they're gonna be sending more. Come on let's go, we can lead it to the outskirts of the city and then-"
It was at this moment that the demon rounded a corner and started closing in on them.
"Oh crap, this is bad."
"I don't think it is." Kagome was met with a raised eyebrow "No seriously Arashi, just take a closer look. This thing isn't wrecking anything or hurting anyone, I think all it really wants is to get the Fangs back."
"Yeah good for the city and the normal people, bad for us. Come on Kags, we've gotta get the hell out of here!" he grabbed her by the arm and yanked her out of the way right as the demon made a grab for them, and then the two of them took off running for a short distance, until they were met with silence "Wait a second, where the hell did it go?"
"Up there!" Kagome pointed at where the demon was now floating above them, now having apparently sprouted wings "It can fly. Huh."
"Screw being in awe of the thing, just fucking run!" the two of them took off running again, only to find themselves corered against a wall, with the demon looming over them "Okay you're the expert on demons, so what the hell do we do now?"
"Well I think we've only for one option." Kagome held out her hand and began charging a blast of spiritual energy, only for the demon to suddenly be sent flying by another energy blast.
"Huh. Nice work."
"That wasn't me."
"Then who-" he was cut off by a surge of blue energy, and then Guardian appearing before the two of them "I'm guessing that's Guardian."
"Good guess." Guardian dropped to the ground in front of them and held out a hand "We don't have much time, give me the Fangs."
"These things?" Arashi looked down at the Fangs in his hand, then back up at Guardian "Not on your life."
"I don't have time to debate this with you, it's either me or him. What's it going to be?" he soon received his answer, in the form of him being forced to dodge a wave of energy being fired at him, to which he turned and his expression dulled at the sight "Oh great, you again."
As it turns out, Inuyasha was the one standing before him, having dropped into a stance with the Tessaiga, his eyes blazing with rage "I never thought I'd end up running into you again, but now I say it's payback time. I don't get what these stupid fangs are about and frankly I don't care, but I'm not letting you get your hands on them!"
"That's where you're wrong dog man, the Fangs of Ryuhogo are mine by birthright, and I'm going to claim them as my own one way or another."
"Try saying that after you take the full force of my Tessaiga. Alright I can see it around this guy, there's the whirlpool of dark energy. The flow of the dark energy collides, and that is what creates the Wind Scar. All I have to do is thrust the Tessaiga directly at the Wind Scar, then that can awaken the true power of the sword, and that's enough to rip this bastard a new one!' with a mighty roar, he brought down his word and unleashed the Wind Scar.
"Nope." covering his body in metallic dragon scales, Guardian blitzed through the Wind Scar, receiving a number of blows that ripped through the scales and dealt him a small number of burns but did little else to hurt him, and then dealt Inuyasha a swift yet brutal fist to the gut, causing him to cough up blood and hunch over in agony "Believe it or not dog man, there are bigger things to deal with than your own ego."
"Get the hell away from them big guy!" this was when Tatsu suddenly blitzed past him towards the demon and unleashed a barrage of iron spears from his fingertips, only for each impact to make the demon grow even bigger "Okay, really big guy then. Dammit, these tests are really starting to get on my nerves. Wait a second, the test!' he glanced down at Guardian "We don't have a lot of time, grab hold of Inuyasha and meet me up on that rooftop NOW!" he blitzed over towards Arashi and Kagome and pulled them closer to him with a series of iron chains "We don't have much time, so hold on tight!" he then used his iron chains to hoist the three of them onto the roof of a nearby skyscraper "You guys okay?"
"Aside from the chainburn you gave us with that stunt, I've dealt with worse." Arashi told him dryly "Is chainburn even a thing?"
"I'm pretty sure it isn't, but that can wait until later. This is part of the test to get the Fangs. Did you guys see how it got bigger when I attacked it with my Iron Spear Storm? I think that force and power aren't the answer, it has something to do with courage."
"Hey slow down man, we weren't at the temple when you saw it remember?"
"I get it dude, you're mad, you made your point now stop acting like it's your time of the month already."
"No not that, I mean I don't know what the test was."
"I don't get it either, there was the statue on the pedestal and it was surrounded by weapons, swords and axes and the like and hundreds of them."
"I hate to break it to you." this was when Guardian blitzed onto the scene with Inuyasha slung over his shoulder, and he dropped him to the ground next to Kagome "But I think our gigantic demonic friend over there just found out where we are."
"Give me a minute. Anyway Raidou said that it was the Temple of Courage, but I don't know what that means. Look Arashi, I think it's pretty obvious that this thing is after the Fangs, so just give them to me."
"...Fine." Arashi handed him the two Fangs, albeit very reluctantly "So what the hell are you going to do?"
"I can lead this thing away from the city, maybe into the ocean or something, and then we can figure out a way for us to beat it."
"For fuck's sake you idiot, just give it up." this was when Inuyasha picked himself up off the ground, providing Guardian with a certain finger gesture as he did so, and then he promptly turned to Tatsu "These stupid Fangs aren't even worth it, what's the point of getting the power if people have to be slaughtered like animals to get it? If it wants the Fangs then give them the fucking Fangs!"
"First of all, what you just said describes our entire journey to get the Shikon Jewel shards with so much accuracy it's kind of disturbing. Second of all, I can't just give it up. My dad obviously knew what these things were and how important they were going to be. He was on to something with them and I have to know what. And these Fangs… it's like they're the last thing that really connects me to him. Look, this is all part of the test, the test of Courage. I have to do this, I can't afford to give up now."
"Tatsu, there's more than one kind of courage." Arashi put a hand on his shoulder "What if giving back the Fangs is the courageous thing to do right now?"
"...Well it's worth a shot. You guys wait here, I'm gonna give this a try and see if this actually works." so on that note, Tatsu promptly took off across the rooftops.
"There goes one brave mother fucker."
"Do you really think this is going to work?" asked Kagome.
"Hey if you've got another idea, I'm all ears."
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Meanwhile, with the main character…
'Okay here it is, now to put this idea to the test.' Tatsu leapt across one rooftop after another with the Fangs in hand, until he ran into the demon "Hey big guy, are these things what you're looking for? Well fine, you can have them!" he took a breath, then hurled the Fangs forward.
The demon reached out and caught them in its hand, and then seconds later it fired a set of energy beams from its eyes, hitting Tatsu before he was able to react and sending him hurtling into the street in a heap.
"Okay… that hurt." Tatsu spat out some blood and pulled himself back to his feet "Well that's just fucking perfect, now it can shoot lasers from its eyes." it was then that he felt something vibrating in his pants pocket, and he promptly pulled out his phone "Arashi?"
"Hey man listen, I might have been in the wrong when I said you should give the Fangs back to that thing."
"Oh yeah, no fucking shit man! In other obvious news, Dragonball Evolution was a gigantic pile of horseshit!"
"...You good?"
"Yeah sorry, I needed to get that out of my system."
"Good, because we need to try and figure out the test here and now."
"Hold that thought, let me try something. Dragon BURST!" Tatsu held out one hand and unleashed a blue wave of energy that hit the demon square in the chest, only for it to end up growing once again "Dammit that didn't work, just like with all of the other attacks it must be absorbing the energy somehow. You part of me can't resist thinking about how this must be the worst nightmare of a scientist, I mean god only knows where the extra mass is coming from, and don't even get me started on the eye lasers."
"Yeah and hate to break it to you, but I don't think shooting it in the eyes or the mouth is going to do you any good either. Tatsu everything you're doing is making it stronger, I hate to say it but you might not be able to beat this thing."
"Well even if I can't overpower it there has to be some way to stop it, some technique or weapon that can hurt it."
"Maybe that's not the answer."
"Give me that stupid thing!" then came Inuyasha's voice "Look back in this temple or whatever you said there were hundreds of them, just find one that can blow stuff up and then blast the thing straight to hell!"
"Keep your claws off my phone you rabid douche monkey!" then came Arashi again "Okay so hear me out on this Tatsu, do you remember what your mom used to say about weapons?"
"Weapons and violence never solve problems, they only create more of them." Tatsu pulled himself up onto a rooftop using his iron chains "Where are you going with this?"
"Stop and think about it for a second. Every time someone hits this thing, it ends up getting more powerful. But when Kagome and I had the Fangs it never tried attacking us or anything, it just reached for us. What if it only attacks you if you're carrying a weapon of some kind, so if you go into the temple and try to smash it using one of those weapons, then you've already lost."
"But I don't have any weapons on me, all of those swords and axes and the like are back in the temple in the Arctic, and I haven't even drawn my sword yet."
"Tatsu I hate to break it to you, but you have two weapons hanging around your neck even as we speak. The point I'm trying to make is that, what if true courage…"
"...What if true courage is to put down your weapon?" as the realization hit him, Tatsu then descended down to ground level and slowly walked out in front of the demon.
"Wait hold on, on second thought that sounds like a really bad idea. In case you forgot, it was less than 5 minutes ago that I was wrong about telling you to give the Fangs back remember? Oh for the love of god Tatsu, don't do anything stupid."
"I'm out of ideas, I have to try it. I swear to god Arashi, you better be right about this." so with a deep breath, Tatsu removed the necklace with his two Fangs from around his neck and gently placed it on the ground in front of him, and waited for whatever was going to happen next.
The demon reached for Tatsu, but then it started shrinking until it had reverted back to its original size and got down on one knee, in which it held out the two Fangs to him, which were now glowing with the energy they were emitting.
'So I guess that means I passed. Thank you mom.' Tatsu gave a small smile as he slowly made his way forward, picked up his necklace, took one of the Fangs and attached it to his necklace before placing it back on himself 'I can feel it already, now that I have three Fangs I'm so much more powerful than I was before.'
"With this conquest, we come one step closer to our destiny." this was when Guardian blitzed onto the scene in a blue flash and took the other Fang for himself, attaching it to his own necklace as his body began surging with energy "You can feel this too can't you? The sheer power coursing through your veins. This is what I'm talking about, the destiny that awaits us looming ever closer. When the two of us first met, we both wielded the power of one Fang and even then the likes of that canine friend of yours was less than nothing to us."
"The first time I fought him he almost killed me, and he broke the sword I was using at the time, which led to me using the ones that you gave me."
"And yet now I notice you only brought one of them with you. What did you do with the other one I gave you?"
"Oh I gave it to Kagome, she's been learning to use a sword so I figured that she would be able to make good use of it."
"...I had anticipated something along the lines of that, and I prepared for it." he blitzed away from the scene, then came back a moment later with a sword in hand, which he promptly handed to Tatsu "I have at least hald a dozen more if the need should arise."
"Works for me." Tatsu promptly strapped the second sword to his back "Yeah that feels good, I missed the feeling of having a second sword with me."
"I can imagine. Anyway like I was saying, when we first met we wielded the power of one Fang, and even then we stood above the rest. Now we both wield the power of three Fangs, and soon the time will come when we have all five. Do you know what we will be able to do once we have the power of all five Fangs?"
"Well the first thing that comes to mind is scaring the ever loving crap out of four out of five dentists."
"No. Well I mean, maybe. But the point I'm trying to make is that, when we both wield the power of all five Fangs, we will be able to do anything we can imagine. The world itself well be within our grasp."
"Yeah let me stop you right there." Tatsu held up a hand to stop him "I'm going to warn you now that I have no interest in being some kind of conqueror in a bid for world domination, so if that's where you're going with this then you can go ahead and count me out."
"I never said anything about trying to conquer the world, because by no means do I intend to do such a thing. My goal is not to be a conqueror, but a protector. I want to keep the world safe and make it a better place for all of us to live in, but I need your help to do it."
"...If it's really for the sake of protecting people and the world, then you'll have my help. But let me warn you now, if I find out at some point that you're just some psychopath that's using me to try and take over the world, then I won't hesitate to take you down. I will do whatever it takes to make sure that the people I love stay safe."
"Of that, there is no doubt in my mind." with a simple nod, Guardian disappeared in a flash of blue energy.
'He says we're one step closer to destiny, and with any luck, maybe I'm even one step closer to finding out what happened to my dad.' Tatsu looked down at the Fangs around his neck, then over at the statue as he noticed something appear on the demon's helmet 'What is that, some kind of coded writing? Must be some sort of clue to the next Fang.'
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Hours passed, and the sun was setting over the skies of Tokyo.
"Alright pizza's here guys, hurry up and get it while it's hot." Tatsu set down a pizza box on the table in front of the group in one of the rooms of the dojo, and then he spared a quick glance over at Inuyasha before anyone could get a word in "It's as good as ramen, maybe even better, honest to god."
"...I'll be the judge of that." Inuyasha snatched a slice away and took a bite, then promptly downed the rest of it and tried to make a grab for the entire box, only to be stopped by Tatsu holding a sword that was pointed at his throat "What the-"
"Like I said, each time I obtain a new Fang continuously increases the power of the Fangs I already have, so now I'm way stronger, faster and more durable than I used to be. I have to admit it, this really does feel incredible." but then he let out a sad sigh "Still though, part of me can't help but wonder if it was really worth it."
"That sounds pretty glass half empty considering what happened today." Arashi noted "I mean you faced that thing down and you saved the city and everyone in it."
"But that's only after I put them at risk to begin with. This is why I didn't want you to go to the temple with me, you could've been killed. I already lost my dad, if anything happened to you or the others then I'd never be able to forgive myself."
"Dude… you think I don't feel the same way? Tatsu think for a second, every time I see you put on those Fangs, every time you take off on one of these crazy adventures, I know deep in the pit of my gut that there's a chance you might not come back. Every time I see you leave my sight, I know that I might lose my best friend. I know how important these things are to you, but if we're going to get through this then we've got a better shot of doing it together. We'll find the other Fangs, and we'll use them for the right reasons. All it takes is courage." this earned a loud snort from Inuyasha.
"Oh yeah, way to ruin the moment."
"Yeah as heartfelt and sickeningly sweet as that whole epic speech was, you guys are forgetting about one big problem." Inuyasha grabbed another slice "You practically gave away one of those fangs to that bastard Guardian, so what are you gonna tell your friend?"
"...Oh shit, I totally forgot about Raidou."
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Meanwhile, with Raidou…
'True courage means to put down your weapon huh?' Raidou sat on the throne in his chamber, gazing down at the three Fangs attached to his necklace 'As far as courage goes, I meant it when I said I fear nothing, but at the same time, perhaps I do have a few things to learn. You may very well be the one I need to teach them to me Tatsu Kamikaze. With you in my life, I have a very strong feeling that things will get even more interesting.'
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The night was calm over the skies of Tokyo, but not for everyone.
Tatsu opened his eyes and found himself in another void, only this one looked like a a jungle like area complete with a lake and a large river running through it "Okay, so a little bit different from the last time, but considering what this place is supposed to be exactly and based on what I saw last time, I think I have a fair idea of what to expect."
"And so you should, which is why you need to brace yourself."
Tatsu glanced back to see the figure of Ryuhogo materialize before him "I've always wanted to believe that most mistakes are supposed to be learned from, at least when they can be."
"Optimistic yet realistic at the same time, I approve. Now then, with the third Fang you've uncovered the power of Great Glacier, so we're going to start with that, and then we'll move onto something special I've wanted to teach you for some time."
"I look forward to it."
"Excellent. Now then, in order for you to tap into the power of the Great Glacier to its fullest potential, you first need to find the qualities within yourself of the main component of a glacier."
"A glacier is made of snow, and snow comes from water."
"Exactly. Earth is strong and air is fluid, while water is both of those things, This makes it just as formidable, if not moreso. Over time water can become strong enough to carve through solid rock or if one were to use a cup to stop its flow. Water is able to adapt to various different forms, seeing how it's capable and shapeless. You put water into a cup and it becomes the cup, you put water into a pot of tea and it becomes the pot of tea. You have to be the water, now get on that rock in the middle of the pond and get on your hands."
"You got it." Tatsu quickly leapt onto the rock sitting in the middle of the river and did a handstand.
"Good we're getting somewhere, your adaptation to this is going better than I had actually expected. To be honest, you remind me very much of a young me. Calm and confident, but with a bit of hidden insecurities that we keep hidden from those we love the most."
"One thing that I've always believed it's that it's important to remain as optimistic as you can, if not for yourself then for the sake of those around you."
"A commendable trait, but you can't allow it to get the best of you. Now then, one hand." he suddenly whipped out a cup and threw it forward.
Tatsu caught the cup, leaving him with only one hand to stand on "And that be how we do, how's that for optimism?"
"In order for you to complete the first step of you mastering this power, we have to find out what it is that makes you weak, for in your greatest weakness…"
"Lies my greatest source of strength? I don't mean to brag, but in case you haven't noticed I do get most stuff."
"I'm well aware of that Tatsu, your feats and skills don't go unnoticed but this time they won't be enough, I can guarantee you that we're going to find your weakness by the end of the day. I mean granted I know it but I'm not going to tell you what it is, anyway before that has to come the bucket test. On your feet." he threw a bucket forward.
Tatsu quickly got to his feet and placed the cup on a nearby lilypad before catching the bucket with one hand "The bucket test? I don't think I get it."
"The test is a simple one, fill the bucket with water and when it's completely full your training will be complete."
"And just because something is simple doesn't make it easy." he held out the bucket and dropped it in the water, causing it to sink to the bottom of the pond "And this isn't TV, it's real life. Well it's as close to real life as I can get right now. You've gotta think outside the bucket on these things, did you expect that if I was put in a position to fail I would lose my cool in a matter of moments? Or my temper would end up holding me back? Face it, I'm not like those other- Oh. You meant my overconfidence. Yeah I can see how that's a problem."
"Exactly. Anyway that's one stage of training down already, now we'll be moving onto the second stage. You have to concentrate, focus on reversing the flow of the water. You have to become the water Tatsu , you have to embrace it. You have the ability to control it, you have the potential to master water itself, along with many other elements, but we're going to focus on water for the time being."
"Fair enough." Tatsu tried to reverse the flow of the waterfall, but after a few minutes of getting nothing he stopped and let out a sigh "Something about this just doesn't feel right, I mean I know that Naraku could show up again and make his move at anytime while we're in here, and if we're not there then I don't know if there's anyone else that can stop them, no matter how strong the others might be. I mean I'm worried that the girl I'm in love with and all of my friends are in trouble, and I'm not there to help. I know that time passes a lot faster in here so it hasn't been that long outside, but a lot can happen in a few minutes. I mean take a look at Goku vs Frieza, that happened in 5 minutes and from that point it lasted 10 episodes."
"And that's exactly why you need to do this. Remember that there's no such thing as a fight that you can't lose, so if you want to claim victory then you need to be prepared, be it physically or mentally."
"You make a fair point, but mine still stands." he rose his hands for emphasis and unknown to him this caused the water behind him to reverse its flow back up the waterfall.
'So he's beginning to progress and awaken his power, he just doesn't realize it. I have to make a call for work, I'll be back in a day to observe how much progress you've made." and so he then disappeared in a flash, though as he parted his mind began drifting 'I try to teach him how crucial it is to remain patient and composed so that he learns what he needs to learn, and yet I find myself growing restless, forcing myself to wait for the day where this world is finally cleansed of the jewel.
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A full day had come and gone (really less than 10 minutes in the real world).
Tatsu was still trying to reverse the flow of the waterfall "Come on Tatsu, you can do this. It's just like the dragon man told you, you have to reverse the flow and become the water." he kept on trying, but after a few more minutes he gave up "Dammit, this isn't working!"
"It looks to me like this has you really frustrated."
Tatsu glanced back to see Ryuhogo standing behind him again "Oh gee, what the hell gave that away?"
"Maybe the problem is that that you're putting too much strain on yourself, why don't you try to calm yourself and let off some of the strain."
"Yeah no offense, but I'm about as calm and collected as I can get, and it's not like I can do something like this without thinking."
"Perhaps you should you take your attention away from me for the time being."
"What do you-" Tatsu looked back at the waterfall and suddenly found a small portion of the waterfall flowing upwards "Well what do you know, I'm actually doing it."
"Looking back at your progress over time, Tatsu you excel both physically and academically and you have the potential to do great things, not because you crave success."
"But because of my burning desire to protect the ones that I love more than anything else in the world?"
"That is a part of it, but the majority of it is that you fear failure."
"It's what makes me great now."
"As a matter of fact that is precisely what keeps you from greatness, and yet despite this you've always understood the simplest and most important lesson there is to learn. It's not about you."
"It never was, I never cared much about protecting myself when my friends and loved ones needed me."
"And that is why you'll become something truly great, but as for right now the problem is that you're putting way too much strain on yourself. Why don't you try to calm yourself and let off some of the straing."
"Yeah no offense bro but I'm about as calm and collected as I can get, and it's not like I can do something like this without thinking-"
"Perhaps you should you take your attention away from me."
"What do you-" Tatsu looked back at the waterfall and suddenly found a small portion of the waterfall flowing upwards "Well what do you know, I'm actually doing it."
"You're basically guaranteed to fail if you want something so badly you end up tripping over your own feet. Anyway I'll leave you to your training then." and then Ryuhogo promptly took his leave.
'Well I guess it's worth a shot. Come on Tatsu, keep your cool and reverse the flow. You have to become one with the water." with a deep breath he held up his hands and slowly but surely, the waterfall began moving back upwards, the flow beginning to move in reverse, only for it to start falling back down all at once "Dammit!"
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More days continued to pass.
Tatsu finally fell to one knee, panting heavily with sweat dripping down his face 'Dammit, I'm used to working myself to the bone but this is a whole other level.'
"It looks like the exhaustion is beginning to take its toll."
Tatsu looked back and saw Ryuhogo make his way over "You said it was gonna be a day, not 10 days."
"I had to make sure you were getting the hang of it, and for your information I actually did have something to attend to. So how have you been progressing since I left you to your devices earlier?"
"Well who knows, I mean I can move the water to a certain degree but it's not like I can control it in the slightest. But hey, what are you gonna do?"
"I see. It looks like what I said before inspired him to an extent, he's always been putting far too much pressure on himself to succeed. But that being said, if he can at least move the water then that means that it's actually working. I think that's enough for today, we'll start the next phase of your training tomorrow when the sun rises in the morning."
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Nightfall came, and darkness had long since closed in.
Despite what Ryuhogo had told him, Tatsu was still practicing at the waterfall, only now he was forced down onto one knee 'Yes, I'm finally able to get somewhere. Now I can lift the entire waterfall almost right away even if it is kind of taxing, but now I think I'm ready to take the next step.' with a roar full of strain he braced himself and lifted up the entire pond, including the waterfall, and formed a massive wave in the middle of the air 'Yes, finally I did it!'
As it turns out, Ryuhogo was watching from afar with a small smile of pride 'You can feel it can't you? You're the one that's always before his eyes, inspiring and pushing him to keep going further than anyone else thought was possible. It's you who makes him strong, you're the one who pushes him to become a better person, a stronger person. You know that, don't you Kuroga?'
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A full month had passed within the meeting of the minds.
Ryuhogo stood with Tatsu in a grassy field a short distance away from the waterfall they had been using for his training "Alright, you've had a full month to awaken and effectively harness the water properties of the Great Glacier, and since then you've had time to work on honing them and working on the freezing properties. Now is the time for you to show me how much you've progressed."
"You got it." Tatsu took a deep breath and braced himself, and with some effort he lifted all of the water in the lake and the waterfall at once, and after a moment he let it all back down to the ground, and then he proceeded to freeze all of it instantaneously "So how does that work for you?"
"You've progressed this far within just one month, I knew that you were a fast learner but I expected at least three more months."
"Well truth be told I practiced all night every night since we've been in here, I got the hang of controlling and freezing water and I think I can manipulate it from within my body but there's one thing I want to try before we go ahead." he turned around and held out one hand, water beginning to surge within his palm "This is either going to be really cool or turn out to be incredibly painful. In any case, eat your heart out Black Clover! Sea Dragon's Roar!" with a wave of his hand, he manifested the head of a water dragon with razor sharp teeth, and he hurtled it forward, resulting in a powerful explosion "This… has definite possibilities."
Surprising as it might be, Ryuhogo was unfazed "Impressive, I thought it would've taken a week or two before you managed to do that. Enjoy this while you're able to Tatsu, time is not going to stand still for us."
"Oh believe me, I know that damn well. So just of curiosity, do any of the fangs give me the ability to summon my own elemental dragon like in Ninjago?" as he asked this question, stars appeared in his eyes, which earned an eye roll from Ryuhogo.
"I did experiment with something along the lines of that at one point, but no." this wiped the look clean off his face "But before we go any further, I want to pass on some more information to you regarding the manipulation of water and ice. In an area like the glacier in which the third Fang had been hidden, such a place is completely surrounded by snow, ice and the seas, but as I'm sure you've noticed on your travels through time and across these lands, that isn't always the case wherever you go."
"Yeah I know what you mean, take a look at when I fought the Thunder Brothers on their home mountain. There's no water or anything like that, but there is an abundance of earth and rock in the area. If only I had the fang of the Divine Quake back then."
"Exactly. My point is that you have to learn to control water wherever it exists, which is something that you already do with the earth."
"You mean like if I were to use my own sweat or saliva?"
"In a certain sense, though I wouldn't recommend that. If you were to overexert yourself with such a technique, you may end up causing yourself to die of dehydration. One example that comes to mind is that you can even pull water out of thin air." to this end, he materialized some water on the end of his claws "The key to these powers is to be open minded, to be willing to draw inspiration from many different places. If you take it from only one place, then it will become rigid and stale."
"...Did you just-"
"Indeed I did."
"My respect for you just went way up."
"As I thought it would. Now then, since we have that out of the way, it's time for the two of us to get started."
"On what exactly?"
"Now that I know you're going to use the power of the Fangs for the right reasons, I can trust you with two of the most sacred techniques in my arsenal, two I created myself. We'll start with one for the time being. This is one I like to call the Dragon Warp."
"Go on."
"The premise for it is simple in some ways, but it's rather complicated in others. In order for this technique to work, you have to concentrate on and visualize one of two things, either a person you've met before, or a location you've been before, then you lock onto the presence that surrounds them, and after that you immediately transmit to wherever they are. However, there is a certain limitation to it, that being that you can only use it to transmit to a location where you know exactly where you're going."
"So to put it in simple terms, if I were to try and go somewhere I've never been like Mount Fuji, then that wouldn't work, but it would for somewhere like Kaede's village."
"Exactly."
"Huh. Well it makes sense, at least with places you've been there's a much better chance you'd be aware of any potential dangers in that area."
"Which is why I designed the technique in the way that I did. Now then, if you don't have any other questions, I think we should get started with training. You had best be prepared to, training for this technique is going to be much longer and more rigorous than simply learning about energy control or elemental powers. To put in simple terms, you're going to be sleeping for at least a day or two before you can work this out."
"Fair enough. So it can't be used for battle then?"
"That's not something I would recommend, it's more for transportation across great distances and as a last resort escape tactic in case a battle goes awry. Although it could potentially be used for reconnaissance and information gathering, but mastering it to that level will take time. The two days you're going to be spending in here is solely for the sake of learning the basics."
"I'll keep that in mind. So shall we get started?"
"That's the other thing I wanted to warn you of. Due to the extensive energy output required for the Dragon Warp to be done successfully, I couldn't afford to try and teach you this before you had acquired the third Fang. Guardian didn't have this problem because he has a great deal more experience with the true power of the Fangs than you do, and he knows how to control it much more effectively."
"Sounds like kind of a copout."
"On some levels it is, but now that I know for certain how committed you are to ending the curse of the jewel, I won't allow you to undertake anything I don't believe you're ready for." this earned a sigh from Tatsu.
"Fine, I'll take your word for it."
"I expected you to, and once you do master this technique we can work on improving on the abilities that you already possess. After all, like a certain someone you admire once said, there is a great difference between those who aim for the top and those who will settle."
"...You had to quote My Hero Academia on me didn't you?"
"Are you objecting?"
"Far from it, let's do this then."
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The day of departure came, and the sun was rising over the skies of Tokyo.
"Okay then, that should be the last of it." Kagome finished loading some supplies (mainly food) into her bag and made her way down the steps of the Well House, where she quickly discovered that Inuyasha was in there waiting for her "I take it you're ready to go then?"
"You're damn right I am." Inuyasha let out a scoff "We've got jewel shards to track down, not to mention we've gotta find Naraku and slaugher him like the filthy animal that he is. What about you then, what's with the new get up?"
"What do you mean?" Kagome looked down and saw what he was referring to, which included the baggy red hakama, the white top and even the sandals of a traditional priestess kimono, with a bow in one hand, her sword in another, and a quiver of arrows strapped to her back "Oh, you mean this right? Well, let's just say I thought it was about time to make a few changes. The sword was just the first of it."
"Whatever lets you sleep at night, now let's get going."
"We still have to wait for Tatsu to get here."
"You called?"
Kagome jumped at the sight of Tatsu materializing before her "What the heck was that?!"
"Sorry I didn't mean to freak you out, but to make a long story short, I can teleport now, but I can only use it to go to places that I've been before."
"...I'm not even gonna ask."
"You don't need to. Alright you guys let's get moving, we've got work to do." and on that enthusiastic note, Tatsu dove head first into the well, with Kagome and Inuaysha following his lead not long after.
A/N:
And now here we are, about halfway through the second season, probably overdue in my opinion, but now we see Tatsu finally get his hands on the third Fang of Ryuhogo, the fang of the Great Ocean, which grants him the ability to use water and ice manipulation. Next time we'll get to see just what this power is capable of when it's used in battle.
Just throwing this out there, from here on out I'm gonna have Kagome dressed in her priestess attire when she and the others are in the Feudal Era. Don't get me wrong, I'm fully aware of how iconic Kagome is in her school uniform, but I always did like how she looked in her priestess kimono, and since she is taking things more seriously, I figured why not have her go for the wardrobe change to make it more complete.
Now then, before I close this out, I think it's about time for me to address the elephant in the room: Yashahime. I've been following it since the first episode came out, and I've noticed that there's been a pretty sizeable amount of hate for it. I get where the hate is coming from, at least to a certain extent, but I also think it's being blown out of proportion. I think that Yashahime has a lot of really interesting concepts, but the writing isn't that great. But even so, that doesn't mean it's downright horrible, and it especially doesn't make it the worst sequel anime to ever exist (A dishonor that will forever belong to Dragon Ball GT). However, this isn't the first time I can recall people showing a great deal of disdain for anime sequels. For those of you who remember, back when Dragon Ball Super first started airing, it didn't get off to a great start either. Even I admit that the adaptations of Battle of Gods and Resurrection F were pretty much crap. However, after those points the show made a huge leap in quality, which only got better as it went on. Another example is Boruto, a show I'm not particularly into (mainly because of my dislike of the title character rather than the show itself), but I know that it's improved, at least when it focuses on the manga material instead of the endless number of fillers. But getting back to the point I'm trying to make, just because a show doesn't start out very well doesn't mean it won't get better as time goes on. And if shows like Boruto and Dragon Ball Super can get better, then I don't see any reason why Yashahime shouldn't get the same chance they did.