ϟ—Chapter Five — Smokestacks Glowing Blue—ϟ
Waves crashed against Bee's back. The sky above was an expansive azure with not a cloud in sight; it only held the golden sun's rays which beamed heat down on Bee as he sat down on the Hachibi's shoulder.
"I'm worried about Ka'rai and the Nibi," Bee admitted, looking into the sky. "He told me they're working together for now, but the intent I sensed from the Nibi wasn't entirely pure."
The Hachibi huffed. "I agree. I sensed it as well. I'd just leave them be—"
"I let Yugito be with the Nibi, and looked at what happened to her!" Bee argued, clenching his fists. "I need to be there with him; I know I built a relationship with you on my own, but—"
"Then why don't you trust Ka'rai to do the same?" The Hachibi asked, silencing Bee. "Nibi's not stupid enough to kill her own Jinchuriki in a blind rage. She's smart, and she'll be smart enough to know that the best decision is to work with Ka'rai."
Bee sighed. "I don't know yo… After what happened with Yugito, I don't know if I can completely trust the Nibi."
"Then take it from me, Bee, I've known Nibi for the time of your life hundreds of times over, and I trust her to make the right decision," The Hachibi assured, looking into the sky along Bee. "If you can't trust her, then trust me."
Bee took a deep breath "Alright, Eight-o… I'll trust you. But I'll still do everything I can to help Ka'rai."
"You're his sensei, that's your job," The Hachibi said with a chuckle that shook the land.
Bee chuckled as well. "Right…"
"Just do your job, and everything is going to end well," The Hachibi said.
Bee nodded and let out a sigh. "I just hope he doesn't do anything stupid…"
⁑ —ϟ— ⁑
The shrouding fog spiraled around the radiant blue epicenter. Chiseled stones marked with names and dates were decorated with shrines and lit with candle fire of subdued sandstone. A shockwave whirled from the epicenter and the spiral formed into a wave that washed over the graves in a haze. The sandstone candles ignited into a cobalt blue, and giddy giggles echoed over the armada of miniature roaring flames.
This is where I am at my most powerful, The Nibi informed Ka'rai's head. He was laughing to himself. His shirt burned off due to the glowing blue seal on his chest leaking fire like a dam about to burst. His muscles pulsed with power and his eyes shone with ominous yellow and green.
When I am surrounded by death.
"This is fucking cool," Ka'rai beamed with his fangs extending past his curled lips. Black flames danced across his face in the pattern of a feline's features. "I'm not even consciously calling upon your chakra and I still feel so strong!"
You should be quiet, you're trespassing, The Nibi suggested as Ka'rai's chest shook.
"Yeah, yeah, I know," Ka'rai dismissed. "So, you just have to kill a bunch of people, and the stronger I get?"
The stronger I get, not you, The Nibi corrected. All of the Bijuu have certain conditions to meet to access their full power.
"I see, which Bijuu is the strongest?" Ka'rai asked.
All the Bijuu are equal in strength at their full power. However, the Kyuubi's ability is to always be at his full power. So, I would say that the Kyuubi is the strongest Bijuu.
"Wait, so are you the second strongest?"
I said that all Bijuu are equal in strength.
"But death powers have to make you pretty strong, right...?"
I am by no definition of the word weak, Ka'rai; The Nibi said sternly.
"But didn't you say you were weakened?" Ka'rai questioned with a raised brow.
The Nibi sighed and Ka'rai's body vibrated.
"Wait, since all the Bijuu are weakened in some way, other than the Kyuubi, who still has the most strength left?"
Shukaku. Despite being the first Bijuu to be sealed, he never left the desert. The desert is where Shukaku is strongest, so I doubt he lost an ounce of strength.
"So, if we beat him, then we'll prove that you're the second strongest Bijuu!"
No, I will not wage war against my siblings for such frivolous reasons.
"Aw," Ka'rai pouted, "Anyway—"
"HEY!" shouted a deep voice.
"Shit—!" Ka'rai cursed, before pouncing out of the graveyard in a cobalt blue streak. When he looked down, he saw himself over a hundred feet in the air, barely able to see the water below through the haze. He tensed his body and turned into a fireball that plummeted through the fog. He slammed into the water like a meteor and left a bubbling steam stack where he landed.
He climbed out of the water, covered in steam as the blue glow on his seal subdued. "I don't think I would've survived that if I didn't have your chakra. Thank you Nibi, you're the best," he thanked, patting the seal affectionately.
The Nibi sighed, You're welcome… Ka'rai.
⁑ —ϟ— ⁑
It had only been a day after his first day of training… he felt marginally better. Yowui kicked a rock in his path. It was day two, and he hoped that another day of marginal improvement would make him feel marginally better.
After doing that for a while, he should be fine… right?
That was what he hoped, at the bare minimum.
The bare minimum… that perfectly described him. He was barely deemed exceptional. He wouldn't be surprised if he was only allowed to join a squad because there weren't enough people for four sets of three.
Yowui sighed.
Yowui dodged.
His eyes were wide. Another hit from behind. He dodged that too. The kunai he pulled from his pouch blocked another kunai. He leapt. Sparks of lightning flew under him. A weapon stabbed. Yowui grabbed the hand holding it.
A kick to his head. Yowui stumbled. His grip remained. Yowui tossed the weapon holder back. Dual grunts preceded two bodies hitting the floor. Yowui stood fully upright and glared back at his two attackers. "What the hell is wrong with you?!"
Two Genin huffed. "You don't deserve to be on a Genin Team!" one yelled, a girl.
"Yeah!" the disheveled boy on top of her agreed. "You gave up!"
Yowui's fists clenched. "Well, look who's on the floor and who's standing!" he argued. It felt like it was one of his brothers annoying him on a bad day. "I'm stronger than you! Deal with it! Buzz off and go do something productive!"
The Genin huffed and retreated away from him. But not before sticking up four middle fingers at him. Yowui glared again, and they buzzed off. "So, damn annoying…" he muttered, barely registering what he did.
⁑ —ϟ— ⁑
The training was strenuous… and she just so happened to be the only one doing it. Taijutsu training with Etto-sensei, Ninjutsu training with Yama-sensei, and finally, Kenjutsu training with Jay-sensei… which she just so happened to be undertaking right now.
The rock under the snow scratched against her knees, not that she felt it—they were numb.
"Hane…" drawled Jay with a yawn. "Get up. Today's drills end in an hour."
"I know—I know," she huffed before forcing herself to her feet. Hane brandished her Ninjato and bolted toward Jay. She was knocked down as she attempted to block a strike from his nine-foot Katana.
Hane leapt up just as quickly only to duck and dodge yet another strike. Forward she ran, inside of his guard—if only she could get a single hit—
A kick sent her flying.
Fuck… she murmured.
"You're gonna have to try harder than that." Jay yawned again.
She really didn't feel so exceptional right now. The only reason why she was stuck here at this camp was because she was the odd one out, no space on any teams… while also being the worst of the best. A cold, ragged sigh was visible with her breath. With fire in her eyes—she charged.
A dance of dodging and getting hit and getting up dragged for the remaining hour.
She didn't land a single hit on Jay.
A dozen curses poured from her mouth the next time she was alone.
⁑ —ϟ— ⁑
Ka'rai stood in front of his team, grinning shirtless and giving off steam.
"You… You what—?" Yowui asked, his jaw dropped.
Kay simply let out a deep, ragged sigh, with her face hidden behind her palm.
"Ka'rai, you have the brain of a swine! You just committed a crime! Fool ya fool!" Bee scolded.
"But I made it in time for training! Plus! It's not like I was grave robbing, I was just standing there, and I made the candles blue! If anything, I made it look better."
"YOU LEFT EVIDENCE?!" Yowui screamed.
Bee facepalmed. "You're gonna have to serve some time, or more likely pay a fine. Don't expect me to help you out, fool ya fool!"
"Alright, alright," Ka'rai dismissed. "I've gone on missions. I have money."
Kay raised her brow. "What if you get put in prison?"
"I'm too important to be put in prison, Lord Raikage said so," Ka'rai brushed off with a haughty shrug. "Anyway, Bee-sensei; the Nibi told me about the other Bijuu a bit more. Can you tell me about the other Jinchuriki that you know?"
Bee sighed, before placing a hand on his chin to think. "Well, I did fight alongside Han, the Jinchuriki of the Gobi and Roshi, Jinchuriki of Son Goku. Because I helped them out, they had a decent relationship with their Bijuu, less so with Roshi; Son Goku is as stubborn as Eight-o.
"I couldn't tell you about Kiri's or Suna's… even though I have heard rumors that the Sanbi is out of Kiri's control. When it comes to Konoha, I heard that they somehow have two Kyuubi Jinchuriki's…"
Ka'rai furrowed his brow. "How the fuck does that work?"
"Beats me, yo," Bee said, shaking his head. "Now let's get to some training, bro!"
⁑ —ϟ— ⁑
The Chinoike Clan compound was built far below the haze of Kumo. The buildings were like brown, white, and red irises surrounded by the sclera cloudy gray water. Wooden bridges connected the irises like veiny strings of bark, eternally soaked by the liquid sclera beneath.
Clowui walked over the veins concealed by the fog above, her clothes dampened by the waves below. As she walked closer to her destination, the redder the water below became. She trekked deeper into the bloodstained lake as the waves calmed, and at the center stood a stone statue of the Ketsuryugan, the size of a house and the color of blood.
She walked up to the statue and placed a hand on it. The pupil on it glowed a neon purple as Clowui's eyes mirrored that of the monument. It split open, and a pool of pure blood churned with a gory scarlet. Clowui jumped in without hesitation.
Clowui exited the bloody pool underground. She immediately grabbed the ceiling of the blood-dripping cave above. She pulled her feet up to stick to the surface. From her point of view, blood levitated from the floor with the darkness illuminated by gravity-defying pink flames.
There was an entire village sticking to the cave ceiling under the Chinoike Clan compound, unbeknownst to even the Raikage himself. Clowui set her sights on the centerpiece of the Chinoike Clan Village, a pyramid-like building of scarlet stone. She walked to it, entering the building to meet her mother.
"Greetings, Clowui," Machia said, laying her eyes on her daughter. "You followed the instructions as I told you. This is the true dwelling of our clan."
Clowui bowed. "Of course, mother. This place is nothing short of magnificent. How did you manage to hide it for so long?"
"Genjutsu," Machia answered before turning her back. "Follow me. This is not the only thing I have to show you."
Clowui walked behind her mother with a nod. Machia led her to another room, where there were images of eyes painted on the wall. There were two at the top, one purple eye with concentric circles around the pupil, beside it was a cyan eye with a flowerlike pattern of alice blue around a deep blue pupil. Clowui did not recognize those eyes.
Below the purple eye were two other eyes. A scarlet eye with three tomoe on a hatched ring around the pupil. The Sharingan. Beside it was a golden eye with black stars around the pupil, another eye she did not recognize.
Below the cyan eye, there were also two eyes. One eye was a pure white with a barely visible pupil. The Byakugan. Beside the Byakugan was an eye she immediately recognized as the Ketsuryugan.
"These are all the known Dojutsu of the world," Machia informed, before pointing to the purple eye. "This is the Rinnegan, the eye of the Sage of Six Paths, a legendary eye that can even subdue the Bijuu."
She then pointed to the cyan eye. "This is the Tenseigan. Another eye of the Sage of the Six Paths. There are conflicting legends… some say he had the Rinnegan, others say he had the Tenseigan. None say both.
"These two eyes are the legendary Eyes of God. Anyone who possesses them is the strongest there is with no contest. Not even the Kyuubi can hold a candle to them. There are rumors of a man who holds the Tenseigan, but they're flimsy. Other than that, nobody alive possesses a God Eye."
"I see…"
Machia pointed to the Byakugan and the Ketsuryugan. "Both the eyes of the Hyuuga and the eyes of the Chinoike are eyes derived from the Tenseigan. The Byakugan more so, with the Ketsuryugan being a mutation of the Byakugan."
Machia drove her finger to the golden eye. "Do you know of this eye?"
"I do not."
Machia nodded. "This is the Tokeigan. The eye of the Senko Clan, the Clan we kicked out of Kumogakure. Their eye has minor control over space and time, but even that minor control makes them formidable foes. Just like our eyes, the Tokeigan is a mutation of the Sharingan, which is the mortal form of the God Eye, Rinnegan."
"I see… But why are you telling me all of this?"
Machia smiled ever so slightly under the eerie light of the pink flames. "Because you need to know this in order to further the ultimate goal of our clan. To create the Ultimate Dojutsu."
Clowui's eyes widened. "Ultimate… Dojutsu?"
"Yes, daughter. We need to obtain a Rinnegan and a Tenseigan. Mix those eyes with the Ketsuryugan and Tokeigan, respectively. Once we perfect the two bloodlines of God Eyes, we will mix those eyes together… creating the Ultimate Dojutsu, the God Eye of the God Eyes…" Machia explained.
Clowui nodded slowly. "Why set off on such a journey?"
"This has been our clan's purpose for generations. Our ancestors refused to simply live in this world. So we gave ourselves a goal to work toward. I am telling you this because you are now a Shinobi, and as the heiress to the clan, it is your right to know."
Clowui set her head straight, and her gaze hardened. "I understand. How can I help with this?"
"I'm glad that you're eager. I already have a task set for you. There is an upcoming Chunin Exams in Konoha. Five months from now. There, a new ally of ours, Orochimaru of the Sannin, is going to infiltrate it to obtain the Sharingan.
"We have a common goal in the Sharingan. I need you to work alongside him to ensure everything goes smoothly," Machia informed. "Starting today, I will train you in more advanced jutsu of our clan. Are you ready, daughter?"
Clowui bowed, her pale face illuminated a ghostly pink by the surrounding flames. "I will not fail you, mother."
ϟ—Chapter End—ϟ