CHAPTER FIVE
Roshi of the Lava Style!
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A/N: This chapter comes a bit later than usual but that's because I've been dealing with a cold for the last week and a half. Thanks to a fever and multiple headaches, I had insane writer's block and even if I wanted to write, I didn't have the physical energy to actually type anything. But now I'm back to 100% so hopefully, you enjoy the chapter.
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"Kids, come inside," Roshi invited them in. The much older man had a hoarse but welcoming voice, and his little home was just big enough to have a table around which the children could sit and some sleeping mats for them to rest on. Roshi left four bowls of ramen on the table for them to dig into.
"It looks like you've been waiting for us," Han noticed.
"Yeah, well, there's no time for ill-preparation. Plus, I've been waiting for this opportunity for years. The chance to train the next generation of jinchuuriki is not something you let slip away due to lack of planning. I just hope I haven't lost my touch."
"How much time do you think we have before the Hidden Villages come after us?" Han wondered.
"Could be days… weeks… months… I don't care… and it doesn't matter. What matters is that the sun's going down, so I need everyone to be rested up for the training that starts tomorrow morning."
"Training?" Naruto placed his half-empty bowl on the table, "What type of training are we talking about?"
"Jinchuuriki training. I might not be able to turn you all into perfect jinchuuriki by the end of the training, but I'll give you the tools you'll need to survive on your own out there."
"On our own?" Naruto stood up, "But the point of this whole mission was to liberate all nine jinchuuriki, so we could all travel east together… as a team, dattebayo."
"Other than make us a bigger target for Konoha and Suna, what good would all nine jinchuuriki travelling as a unit do?"
"Together we can fight off any shinobi village that comes our way!"
"Either you underestimate the power of Konoha and Suna or overestimate the power of the tailed beasts… you remind me of myself in my youth…" Roshi chuckled before folding his arms, "Training starts tomorrow morning. Be ready to sweat."
XXX
The next morning Roshi led the jinchuuriki out onto the cliff edge. Han's eyes widened as he approached the sheer vertical drop. The sound of waves crashing against the rocks, the feeling of the thin, crisp air brushing against his exposed skin, the aura of the unknown. The memories of this place hit him like a truck.
"I see you still remember the cliff," Roshi chuckled.
Han's shoulders relaxed as he walked closer to the edge and leaned over it to stare at the violent waves down below, "Yes… unfortunately, I remember some aspects of it."
"Good, that means the training worked. The whole point of this jinchuuriki training is to get you to a point where your body understands the capabilities and limitations of becoming a jinchuuriki, even if your mind is switched off to a certain extent."
"Old Man Four-Tails," a groggy Naruto began, "You still haven't told us what the training is. Why are we up here?"
"You're up here… so you can get down there," Roshi pointed to the cliff. All four kids paused for a moment. They looked back at Roshi with four different expressions. Naruto, a mix of concern and excitement. Gaara was unbothered. Fuu looked like she had something to say. Hinata stared at the cliff in disbelief. "The first step to becoming a perfect jinchuuriki is to take the plunge."
"This old man's trying to get us killed," Gaara growled.
Roshi laughed, "You're jinchuuriki. That drop won't kill… or at least, it shouldn't." Roshi turned to Han, "Show them how it's done."
"Fine." Without further hesitation, Han calmly sauntered over to the cliff edge, removed his hat and leapt off the cliff to take the plunge. The splash of him hitting the water was drowned out by the roar of waves.
"Don't look down, don't look down, don't look down," Roshi tried to warn them, but they all stepped forward to check if Han had survived the drop. Vertigo wreaked havoc on their senses, causing Naruto to fall over backwards and hyperventilate.
Fuu shrugged, "You know, I'm already a perfect jinchuuriki… I mean, I've had numerous conversations with Choumei. He and I are tight, so I don't think there's any need for any-," Roshi kicked Fuu off the cliff. The young woman fell.
Gaara, without thinking, dived off the cliff after her. Naruto and Hinata were still stuck wondering what was going on. Roshi's brow furrowed, "Well? Aren't you going to try and save your friends?" he asked.
Regrettably, Naruto took the plunge, leaving Hinata on the cliff with Roshi. The Hyuuga heiress put her hands up and explained, "Uh… I… I'm not a jinchuuriki… so… do I…?"
Roshi put his hand on her shoulder. "Calm down. I know, I know. Han told me last night that you're the Hyuuga princess." The Four-Tails jinchuuriki felt Hinata's shoulder relax in the palm of his hand. He gave her a warm grin before gripping her shoulder and tossing her off the cliff. Her screams echoed as her body went limp. She hit the water.
Roshi landed on the water's surface just behind her. Han walked over to his former mentor. "Why did you throw the Hyuuga heiress over?"
"Tailed beast training is still training. Jinchuuriki or not, it's my job to provide the future generation with the tools they'll need to become powerful shinobi." Just as Roshi finished his statement, Hinata finally came up for air.
"You're a horrible human being," she muttered.
"Oh? Not stuttering now, are we?" Roshi asked. Hinata channelled chakra to her hands and feet in order to stand on the water. Roshi led them all to a cave carved into the side of the cliff.
"Why did you push me?" Fuu asked.
"I thought you were a perfect jinchuuriki? Why didn't you fly?" Roshi asked. Fuu thought about it for a second, but no answer crossed her mind. Why didn't she just fly? It didn't matter now because her wings were wet. "The point of the plunge is to prepare you for what's to come. You say you're a perfect jinchuuriki. Being able to summon one or two of your tailed beasts' tails and knowing their name doesn't make you a perfect jinchuuriki. Being perfect means, you are one with the tailed beast within you. The line between tenant and host must be blurred beyond the point of recognition. If you die, your tailed beast dies. If your tailed beast dies, you die. Your chakra is bonded to the point where you are one-and-the-same. This training will equip you with the tools needed to turn that spiritual bond into a physical and mental bond. Only when you have the utmost trust in the beast that lives within you, can you consider yourself perfect."
"And how does jumping off a cliff prepare us for all that?" Naruto wondered.
"Being a perfect jinchuuriki is not easy. When you transform, your chakra and the tailed beast's chakra intertwine and dance around each other in a manner that can not only cause physical pain but create this small window of opportunity where your tailed beast can eat away at you mentally and physically until they become released from the seal within."
"What do you mean by 'when transforming'?" Naruto asked.
"You didn't know that it's possible to physically become the tailed beast that lies within you?" Roshi asked. Naruto shook his head vigorously. The only person who knew that fact was Gaara, and even then, he needed Play Possum Jutsu to complete the transformation. The old man folded his arms and looked over to Han, "Would you like to be our guinea pig?"
"Do I have a choice?" Han grumbled.
"You always have a choice. As long as that choice is yes." Roshi grinned, before ordering Han to exit the cave and walk for about 100 metres. Han reached the point where he felt like it was safe and turned back to face the team.
"I'm ready!" he yelled.
"See, there are five different types of transformations that a perfect jinchuuriki can perform," Roshi cupped his hands around his mouth, "Start us off with a chakra cloak!"
"Are you kidding me? They know what a chakra cloak is!" Han yelled back.
"I said chakra cloak!" Han sighed before flaring his chakra. His arms folded as a layer of red, wispy chakra surrounded his muscular body. "A chakra cloak is a pretty simple transformation. It occurs whenever you tap into the power of your tailed beast. Don't underestimate it though, the chakra cloak grants you increase strength, speed, and stamina. If you're ever in a close battle and you need a slight edge, the chakra cloak is that edge. Demon Cloak!"
"Yeah! Yeah!" The chakra surrounding Han began to bubble and boil over as five effervescent tails formed behind him. The cloak darkened and the chakra densened until it was nothing more than a translucent red veil hugging his frame.
"The demon cloak represents a jinchuuriki's ultimate offence and defence. Offensively, the tails can be used to grab onto ledges and branches, and the arms can swing out and grab an opponent from outside your range and bring them in. Defensively, it forms a barrier around your body that can absorb most techniques while burning the skin of whoever comes into contact with it. On top of that, it provides you with a greater boost in speed, strength, and stamina than the normal chakra cloak. The only drawback here is that whatever it does to your opponent's skin, it'll do the same to your skin… to a lesser extent, of course," after his little explanation, Roshi returned to Han, "Version Two!"
Han gave his master the thumbs up before closing his eyes in preparation. Without a fuss, he let the Five-Tails consume him. A beam of chakra shot into the heavens, splitting the clouds and forming a dome around the jinchuuriki. Deathly red chakra encompassed him as he let off a bloodcurdling roar. Han's muscle mass almost doubled as horns developed on his head, and the features that could be described as being wispy and translucent in his demon cloak mode were now harsh and clearly defined. He stepped out of the dome on all fours resembling a mini whale-horse.
"The version 2 demon cloak is the closest a jinchuuriki can get to releasing their tailed beast without becoming a version of the beast themselves. The version 2 cloak is the epitome of power with the jinchuuriki wearing its tailed beast as poisonous red armour. The chakra generated with just one transformation is so powerful that had Han been standing on solid ground, the earth would've caved beneath him. If a non-perfect jinchuuriki were to attempt to enter version 2, the influx of toxic tailed beast chakra would be so intense that they'd pass out and lose control, but since Han is a perfect jinchuuriki. He's still with us. Right, Han!" the Five-Tails jinchuuriki gave another thumbs up before reverting to his human form.
"His skin…" Hinata was the first to comment on it. Han's exposed skin had been dyed a light red by the transformation.
"Yup… remember when I spoke about physical pain? Version 2 is pain. The corrosive nature of the transformation not only poisons those who come into contact with it, but it burns away at your skin… that layer of red on his body… that's Han's blood." Roshi returned to Han, "You good for the last two?"
Han grabbed a handful of water to wipe his face clean. He stood up straight before replying, "Yeah."
"Since it requires less chakra, start us off with a controlled transformation," Roshi requested.
Han responded by releasing steam from the furnace on his back. "I wish I'd brought my hat," he muttered before shutting his eyes and bowing his head. This technique required an intense amount of chakra control. The steam turned to clouds, which swirled around his frame until Han was no more. "Kokuo…" he whispered softly as everything dimmed. A pair of pale blue eyes opened to shed some light on the darkness. For a moment, everything was still.
Naruto walked out of the cave to see the creature in its full magnitude.
The clouds cleared to reveal what Han had become. Nearly twenty metres tall, covered in short white fur with hooves, horns, and tails all dipped in a tan colour, four smooth white horns lined the top of its head and five majestic tails swayed behind it, generating waves with every sway. Kokuo, the Five-Tailed Horse-Whale of the Steam Release. The massive beast didn't make a sound, and it didn't have to. All it had to do was stare at the other jinchuuriki and they could feel its power.
"Wonderful!" Roshi laughed, "You've still got it!"
The steam returned as the Five-Tails disappeared, leaving the mortal Han to walk out of the massive clouds the heavenly creature had created. Naruto's eyes were still fixated on where the beast once stood. That was amazing. He'd never seen something breathing and living tower over him with such power and prestige. Talking about tailed beasts didn't do them justice. The idea that he could turn into something like that bewildered him.
"That was what I call tailed beast mode with a controlled transformation."
"Tailed beast mode?"
"Yeah, it's the ultimate sign of unity between a jinchuuriki and their tailed beast. Only when you're able to communicate with your tailed beast in such a manner that you become one, spiritually and mentally, can you physically become a replica of the beast itself. When you become a tailed beast, you unlock its abilities… the most devastating of which being the Tailed Beast Ball. I know I said we wouldn't be able to survive a war between us, nine jinchuuriki and all five great shinobi villages. But if all nine of us were perfect jinchuuriki, able to transform into our tailed beasts… it would be hell on earth."
"You said there was one more transformation… what could possibly be a tier higher than becoming a tailed beast?" Fuu wondered.
"Becoming a tailed beast… and taking out everyone around you in the process." For the last time, Roshi asked his first student, "Are you ready?"
Han nodded. "Yeah!"
"Taking out everyone around you? That just sounds stupid," Fuu replied.
"As stupid as it sounds it's the most raw transformation there is. Everything shy of tailed beast mode is just lending some of the tailed beast's chakra. The controlled transformation requires intense chakra control and concentration to suppress a significant amount of the tailed beast's chakra. Tailed beasts are such destructive masses of chakra that in order to summon it at full strength, everything around you has to become collateral," Roshi explained, "The final transformation is a complete tailed beast mode, where rather than become a replica of the beast, the creature actually forms around you in a violent release of chakra. The transformation is much faster than the controlled transformation and can be done even when moving, but you have to ask yourself… are you willing to handle the pain and chakra loss that comes with it?"
Han needed a moment to steady his breathing in preparation. He looked to the skies as his skin began to peel. How did he get himself into this? A blood-red beam of crimson chakra shot up into the clouds just as a scarlet pillar was coming down from the heavens. They met in the middle. For a moment. Nothing happened.
Naruto threw his hands over his face as light consumed him. Everything burned. It felt like he was on fire. The air was so dense that holding his hands up felt like a days-worth of manual labour. He tried to fill his lungs with air, but it felt like he was swallowing pure chakra. It was deathly. What was he experiencing? Had it not been for Roshi using his chakra to staple them all to the floor, the children would, no doubt, have been launched deeper into the cave against their will by the wave of death.
And then, the sound hit. The chakra released in such a violent explosion that it clogged his ears and shook his bones from within his body. There was no better way to describe the transformation. Han had become a bomb. Naruto finally mustered the strength to drop his arms and stare at the scene with his own eyes.
The Five-Tails, now standing at nearly 100 metres, towered over everything. The last time Naruto had felt this small… was two minutes ago, when Kokuo was only twenty metres tall.
Steam blanketed the area as Han, after exhausting a ton of chakra demonstrating the transformations, finally gave out and fell into the water. Roshi rushed in to pull his body out of the ocean before leading the kids deeper into the cave to where they'd be training.
"I'm just gonna say what we're all thinking," Fuu began, "There's no way you expect us to do all that."
"Yeah, not now, but in order to consider yourselves perfect jinchuuriki you need to be able to master all five of those transformations," Roshi explained.
"There's not enough chakra in my body to cause all that… that…" destruction was the word, but she was so stunned by what she'd just seen that the word never left the tip of her tongue. Roshi and Han had managed to do the impossible, they managed to leave both Naruto and Fuu speechless. "How?" was all Fuu could ask. The red-haired old man burst out laughing at the sight of it before jumping down into a large, open cavern. The children followed him down.
The cavern, dimly lit by blue crystals jutting out from the walls, had a slow-moving stream running through it. The river wound around the thick pillars until it reached a slope and disappeared, falling off into the darkness. Roshi placed Han on the ground, allowing his limp body to rest on a stalagmite, before returning to the kids.
"What is this place?" Hinata wondered as the crystals brightened and dimmed around her.
"It's called the Cavern of Immortality. There are only three places in this world where a jinchuuriki can train to have full control of their tailed beast," Roshi explained, "Here, in this cavern in the Land of Earth. The Falls of Truth, located somewhere in the Land of Lightning. And the Creation Point of All Things, no one knows where that is located, but it's said to be where the Sage of Six Paths created the nine tailed beasts."
"Well then… we don't have much time to waste. Let's get on with it, shall we," Gaara said.
"That's the spirit!" Roshi chuckled. "I'm dividing the tailed beast training into four sessions. Chakra control. Chakra manipulation. Tailed beast communication. And ninjutsu training. So, as to not spread you too thin, we'll be separating into two pairs… One-Tails, you're with the Hyuuga heiress, so the Nine-Tails is with the Seven-Tails."
Hinata turned to Gaara, her new partner, and flashed him an inviting smile as Naruto and Fuu were led further downstream to be given instructions by the Four-Tailed jinchuuriki. Now that she thought about it, she realised that other than the short conversation they had in the Hidden Waterfall Village, the pair had never actually had a proper conversation.
Her staring aroused his suspicions. His pale blue-green eyes darted from looking ahead to looking at her. Their eyes met. "What?" he muttered. She placed one hand behind her back and extended the other. Gaara stared at her in confusion for a second. "What?" he repeated.
"Uh… I never… got to say hello before… so, this is me… greeting you," she bowed her head slightly.
"There's no need to be so formal, Hyuuga heiress."
A faint pink hue appeared across her pale face, "Oh… uh… then, in that case, there's no need to call me Hyuuga heiress… Hinata is fine."
Gaara looked at her, "I call you Hyuuga heiress because I prefer Hyuuga heiress."
"Oh… uh… my bad. I'm sorry," she turned away from him and bit away at the inside of her cheek in anxiety. Everything that could've gone wrong, did go wrong. She cleared her throat and tried to move away from the awkward moment.
The redhead placed a hand on her shoulder. Hinata stared at him through her bangs. The One-Tailed jinchuuriki was extending his hand. "My name's Gaara of the Desert, but you can just call me Gaara… whatever you prefer. And I'll call you Hinata… if that's what you prefer."
A flustered Hinata quickly took the extended hand in her own and shook it. She giggled, "Hyuuga heiress is just fine."
"So, what made someone of royalty like yourself want to join a band of miscreates like us?" Gaara wondered.
"I could ask you the same question," Hinata replied. Gaara's brow furrowed. What was she talking about? "Oh… uh… I thought you said… uh… I heard from someone that you were the son of the Fourth Kazekage… I'm sorry if I heard wrong."
"Don't apologise so much," Gaara began, "… but yes, you're right. I am the last-born son of the Fourth Kazekage, but that doesn't really make me royalty, especially if you consider the fact that my father wanted me dead my whole life."
"Oh… I'm sorry for asking."
"I told you to stop apologising," Gaara warned as Roshi reappeared from the darkness. "I'm guessing you assumed my status as royalty from how the children of your village's Hokage are treated?"
"Yes," Hinata nodded.
"Unfortunately, our village isn't in the same condition as yours. We have neither the vast quantity of natural resources your village has nor the financial ability to trade and arm large numbers of shinobi like Kumo and Iwa. Our own Wind Daimyo favoured hiring Leaf shinobi, who'd have to walk across an unfamiliar arid climate just to complete missions, over shinobi from the Sand, who knew the desert like the back of their hand," noting that Roshi was already standing over the pair, waiting for the redhead to finish speaking, Gaara summarised his point by stating, "Long story short, no family in Suna has the financial might, skill, or reputation to consider itself a royal family."
"Oh… um… I'm sorry for asking," Hinata repeated.
"If you apologise one more time, I'll kill you," Gaara warned as a vein welled up on his temple.
"I'm so… okay," the Hyuuga heiress stumbled backwards. Roshi was about to step in, but Gaara wrapped his arm around her waist to stop her from falling.
He massaged the bridge of his nose before chuckling, "I'm sorry… I was only joking." He wasn't joking.
"Alright, that's enough," Roshi finally entered the conversation. "You two are starting with a bit of chakra control training."
"Chakra control?" Gaara released Hinata from his grip, "What? Are you going to make us climb a tree? Walk on water?"
"Technically, yes and yes."
"You do realise we're already shinobi, right?"
"Of course, which is why I'm not going to bother explaining anything… I'm just going to tell you what to do and, since you're already shinobi, you should be able to do it, right?" Roshi asked to which Gaara assuredly nodded. The old man woke up an exhausted Han before explaining, "I'm going to need you to walk across this little river, walk up the cavern's walls, onto its ceiling, and then jump back down on the same side of the river you started at… make sure to land without breaking anything. Han will be here to catch you if anything goes wrong."
"Sounds easy enough," Gaara said before looking over at Hinata, who nodded. The pair channelled chakra to the soles of their feet and proceeded to walk over the thin river and manoeuvre their way up the cavern walls. Halfway up, Gaara began to think aloud, "This exercise seems way too easy to be tailed beast training… I wonder how Uzumaki and Fuu are getting along?"
"AHHH!" Naruto's sonorous screams echoed through the massive cavern, bouncing off the earthen walls until they reached the climbing pair. What were they up to down there?
Naruto and Fuu were tasked with chakra manipulation training. Both jinchuuriki were ankle-deep in still water with three flags jutting out from behind them. Their goal? To knock over all three of their opponent's flags using nothing but chakra flow and the water surrounding them. This meant without physically touching the flags, without using any ninjutsu, and without changing the element of the chakra they were channelling, Naruto had to try forcing enough chakra through his fingertips that it would knock down all three flags, and when Fuu tried to do the same, Naruto would have to use chakra to dispel the water's momentum and calm the surge before it reached his flags. Unfortunately, this was easier said than done.
Fuu's chakra control and manipulation were tiers above Naruto's, meaning from go, he was on the defensive. Wave after wave, the mint-haired kunoichi thrust her hands into the still water and breathed life into it, sending torrents of water Naruto's way.
"Slow down, dattebayo, you're obviously better than me at this, there's no need to show off!" the Uzumaki cried.
Fuu giggled before plunging her hand into the shallow water. A burst of chakra came Naruto's way again. He dipped his fingers in the water to slow it down, but Fuu manipulated it using chakra strings. The wave turned midway. The Uzumaki threw his body in front of the wave to stop it, wetting his grey jumpsuit.
Fuu continued to giggle as she just channelled more chakra into the wave, lifting it over the younger jinchuuriki and knocking over two of his flags.
Naruto jumped to his feet. Fuu placed her hands on her hips, "Are you getting a little tired, ssu?"
Naruto grinned, "I'm just getting started, dattebayo!"
The Uzumaki dug his fingers into the still water and channelled a wave of chakra through his fingertips. A powerful wave spread outwards, Naruto's fingers its epicentre. Fuu used her chakra to disperse the wave, but what Naruto lacked in precise control, he made up for in raw power. The waves just kept coming, growing stronger with every pulse.
It got to the point where Fuu wasn't even stopping them anymore, she had to parry them, sending them crashing into the rocks surrounding the pair.
"What's wrong? Are you getting a little tired?" Naruto mocked her.
Fuu puffed out her cheeks, "I'm just getting started," she plunged her fingers into the water just as a wave rushed past her feet to take out one of her flags. Instead of sending it crashing into the rock pool, Fuu caught Naruto's current set of waves and sent them crashing back into his next set. The first few ripples cancelled each other out, but as Fuu began infusing her own chakra into them, they doubled in size and came roaring back into the Uzumaki's face.
Naruto lost to his own set of waves as the last flag flew out of the puddle and landed on the rocks.
Roshi began clapping as he slid down the steep descent and landed next to Naruto's scattered flags. He picked them up one by one before pulling out two pieces of paper from his back pouch. The redhead asked Naruto where his seal was located, to which the Uzumaki responded by pointing to his stomach. Roshi lifted his shirt and slapped one of the papers onto the Uzumaki's abdomen. "What are these?" Naruto wondered.
"I'll tell you in a minute… where's your seal?" Roshi asked Fuu. The mint-haired jinchuuriki pointed to the right side of her chest to which the older man suggested it'd probably be better if she put it on herself. "These are Tenketsu Limiter Seals. They function similar to the Eight Inner Gates in that they widen the number of chakra nodes that are written on the seal to allow more chakra to flow through your pathways. In case you didn't know, you have 361 chakra points, I've written 360 on those seals, meaning every chakra point aside from the node of death, limiting your heart is pushing chakra at nearly full capacity right now… take that as a warning," he explained.
"What do we do with that information?" Fuu wondered as Roshi shoved Naruto's three flags into the dirt.
"Simple," he walked over to Fuu and did the same with her single flag, "You try to knock each other's flags over," he said before retreating to a safe distance.
Naruto looked over at Fuu, who placed her left hand on her right breast to feel the seal for a moment before getting into a battle stance and dipping her fingers in the water. "Every chakra point aside from my heart is pumping chakra at maximum capacity, huh? That means Fuu's precise control will count for less now… I can overwhelm her with pure power!" the Uzumaki thought, rising to his feet.
"Begin."
Fuu flinched. A massive wave, towering over both jinchuuriki, roared to life, draining the puddle of 90% of its resources. Naruto slapped what little water was around him to slow the wave down. The mountainous wave dispelled, tossing gallons of water and sand out of the puddle and into the surrounding streams as both Naruto and Fuu hit the floor simultaneously, passing out from chakra deprivation.
Roshi chuckled as he pulled out four tiny pieces of paper from his sleeve. "It gets funnier every time."
He placed one piece on Fuu's shoulder. The paper dampened before splitting in half, "Water and wind," he commented, bending over to peel off the Tenketsu Limiter Seal.
Roshi placed another piece on Naruto's face. The paper tore in half. "Wind," he said lifting the boy's jumpsuit jacket to retrieve his Limiter Seal.
He made his way up the incline to place another piece on Gaara's face. The redhead had passed out with his face against the cavern walls. Three things happened. The piece of paper split in half. One half wrinkled while the other turned to dirt. "So that's wind… lightning and earth," he said peeling the Limiter Seal from the boy's forehead.
Roshi looked around, "Where's the Hyuuga heiress?" Han pointed to a dark corner of the cave where Hinata sat, panting, on a stalagmite that'd been broken in half by the elements. The Hyuuga princess made eye contact with the red-haired jinchuuriki, "How are you still conscious?" without any tailed beast to supply her with an extra dose of chakra, Hinata should have been the first to fall.
"Tenketsu Limiter training is a regular part of Hyuuga Byakugan training," she explained, "We need to know how to fight with the majority of our chakra points both sealed and completely opened."
Roshi looked over to Han, who shrugged. "Hold this then," he said handing her a piece of litmus paper. He removed the Limiter Seal attached to the back of her hand as she was grabbing the paper. Hinata's paper wrinkled before catching fire. "Lightning and fire. So we've got wind; wind and water; wind and lightning and earth; lightning and fire… looks like the gang's all here." Roshi deduced. "Carry everyone up to the hut. I'm heading into town to grab some ninjutsu scrolls."
"Sure thing," Han replied before placing all four children on his shoulders and making his way out the cave and up the trail.
Later that afternoon, Roshi came back with four different ninjutsu scrolls for his new students.
For Gaara, Roshi picked out the Lightning Style: False Darkness, a destructive lightning spear so powerful that it could cut clean through shields of earth. B-rank.
For Fuu, he picked out Wind Style: Pressure Damage, a high-density wind attack that had the range and destructive force of a compressed tornado. B-rank.
For Hinata, he brought her Fire Style: Searing Migraine, a dangerous fireball attack that upon contact would spread and spread in a vicious firestorm until there was nothing left to burn. B-rank.
And for Naruto, Roshi gave him a scroll that contained three simple instructions. Rotation. Power. Containment. The Rasengan, a spinning ball of chakra held in the user's palm that upon contact, grinds into the opponent's flesh before exploding, causing severe damage. A-rank. Naruto placed his head in his hands.
"You gave the hardest jutsu to your… weakest student?" Han whispered.
Roshi scratched the side of his mouth before whispering back, "That's what I thought at first… but someone really special wanted me to give him that scroll, so who am I to think otherwise?"