3 YEARS LATER
"Suiton: Mizurappa!" A wave of water crashed against pillars of stone and sliced them apart, the top of the pillars falling to the ground and smashing into pieces before oily substances covered the rocks and a circle of fire burned the stone into ash. "Katon: Hidoko no Jutsu!" A figure then jumped over the lines of fire and then sent a sphere of water down to the floor. "Suiton: Suidan no Jutsu!" Smoke then rose from the area as Rizuma stood up from the assault, a smile on his face as he cracked his knuckles before stretching his body out. He was now standing a decent amount taller than he was when he was 6 and also having more lean muscle on his body due to the amount of training he had put himself under during the last 4 years, He also was wearing those same glasses he woke up with, as well as a new black sheath on his back that was empty. He looked behind him, at the now cleaned up Uzushio, some broken down buildings still up, but all the skulls cleared out as he had taken it upon himself to scour through the bones of the enemy to look for supplies that could help him in the long run, but only came up with ninja tools. "It's been 3 years, and I still don't know how long I was asleep, I need to find out soon…" He looked off to the horizon, thinking about the whirlpools that kept the island safe for so long and knowing those whirlpools had now become an obstacle instead of a protector. "It may be time to check some smaller villages, they have the information and supplies, I just need to get past those whirlpools." He then began to think of the aftermath of the war. "Who even knows, maybe Konoha has fallen, I do not know what's going on in the world right now, I need to get going and catch myself up, I need to be ready for the next wave of enemies that I need to overcome."
Rizuma got onto the water and started walking, feeling the ripples of the water pass underneath his sandals as he controlled his chakra level and made sure his large chakra capacity didn't affect his chakra control. The first thing he made sure to train after he woke up was his chakra control; Making sure he could water walk, climb up trees even on his hands, and walk up a waterfall before using it as water release training, trying to stop the flow of the waterfall but still unable to do it. "I can do this, I just need to watch out, it's those whirlpools…" He looked back at the clan tower, looking more taken care of as there were earth pillars holding it straight up, as if they had come up straight up from the ground. He smiled at the thought of fixing the tower himself. He then looked at one of the buildings and saw it was about to collapse due to some seagulls landing on the walls before he immediately acted and performed multiple hand seals. "Doton: Ganchuso!" Four earth spikes on each side of the building kept the walls and place and made sure the walls didn't collapse before he released a relieved breath as he fell to his knees before looking at the other buildings. "I'm glad, if I didn't have this Earth affinity, these buildings would've collapsed years ago, and even then, it still took a while to even get this C-Rank jutsu down." He looked up and sighed before making his way to the edge of the main island and starting to walk to Kairen Island.
"I still have a lot of work to do, with all the basics." As he walked on the water, he put one hand on his left arm as seals came into existence and Jinami came into existence, still as sharp as ever with the red edge shining before he clasped it inside of the sheath on his back and pulled out a scroll from the seal on his other arm before hopping onto the island, navigating through some trees before coming across a large clearing in which lay a single training ground that he cleared out after the vegetation had covered the former training grounds that stood in the area before the massacre. Rizuma laid the scroll out as the kanji '召喚' showed up and instructions were shown below the kanji. He whispered aloud, "Kuchiyose No Jutsu" and let his hands feel over the scroll. "I said to myself, I'd find a way past that wall. This might be my only chance to move past, otherwise the whirlpools will swallow me whole, and even if I get past, I'll be too tired to even move. My seal knowledge can't fit a damn boat within storage seals, and even then I wouldn't be able to get back here. I need partners…" Rizuma smiled as used the edge of his sword to cut himself on the thumb, before starting the hand seal process. "And I will make sure they see my efforts with this."
"Bird, Boar, Dog…" "Please…" "Dragon, Hare, Horse…" "I need to know what's happened in the years I've been gone. I've tried to go by boat and failed, I need a way past. I need something, anything to get me past. I'll do anything, just to have something to have my back in my upcoming years. If I have a summon, this could be the break I desperately needed." "Rat, Serpent, Tiger…"
Rizuma raised his hand high in the air, clenching his teeth tightly as blood flowed down his hand. "I will do this, I will find a way past this first obstacle in my quest to revive my home. I WILL FIND MY WAY THROUGH THIS!" His hand fell closer to the floor, and he closed his eyes, the words coming to him naturally as his hand hit the floor.
"KUCHIYOSE NO JUTSU!"
xXx
"To understand chakra is to feel it course through your veins, to understand one's own element is to feel it coursing through your body, the elements all converging into the Gate of Opening. When you feel your chakra coils start to converge while meditating, open your thoughts and get the feeling of the chakra coursing through you." A younger Rizuma, 6 months removed from when he first woke up, read aloud as he read further and further into the scroll. He felt the passive winds pass through Kairen's trees as he felt it was time he took a leap in his abilities. He knew he had a fire and water affinity, that much was for certain after he tested the waters with the Katon: Housenka no Jutsu when he found out his mother was a fire affinity from Tsurosen. He had learned the basics of water walking to even find his way over to the island, as it was a lot more practical than trying to swim with his tiny arms. And after making sure he kept practicing with his kunai throwing after setting up new targets, making sure he could throw the kunai with complete accuracy of at least 20/20. After that, he began practicing with other weapons like many types of shuriken and more thin throwing knives, and learning new jutsu like the Kunai Kage Bunshin no Jutsu and perfecting the Kawarimi and Henge so that he could do it without hand seals, and now he understood it was time to test the waters with his elements.
"Deep meditation, one track mind, focus on the gate of opening, and let your chakra itself show you what elements you connect with." Rizuma looked at his hands before walking towards the beach, looking at the horizon and finding a flat rock to sit on, staring at the infinite ocean ahead of him. He crossed his legs, and looked up, noticing it was near dusk, the sun was approaching the horizon and soon the moon would be up. "Alright, oji-sama, let's hope your words are right. I know you wouldn't lie to me."
He closed his eyes, only listening to the sound of the waves that crashed against the rock he was on. No animals to distract him, no noises making themselves known, just him and the waves as his chakra burned through. "Oba-san always said my chakra was special, she said if I wasn't hiding it, she could feel it from the other islands and she told me it was a different color source compared to the other people of Uzushio. A deep red, just like us, the red devils." Rizuma smiled as his chakra began to seep through his skin and forming a shroud around him as the fish underwater swam away and the wind around him began to shimmer, the red chakra seeping into the wind itself as Rizuma felt the gate opening in his mind. "A wave, I feel it. A large wave, it's as big as Uzushio and the four islands combined. And right next to it, a burning forest, the trees falling, balls of fire all around and burning the whole forest to the ground, the smoke that rises being as big as the wave. And at the start of the wave, rumbling, an earthquake, subtle but noticeable, making the wave in the first place. The wave and the fire, they meet in the middle, the two surrounding each other fiercely." Rizuma took a deep breath after this, feeling his chakra go into disarray as he got on his knees and panted. "Water, Fire, and Earth. But there's something there, something I'm still missing." Rizuma smiled though, three elemental affinities, if only Vizane and Tsurosen could see him now. There was plenty of work to be done. "Three natures, I guess that's more work, I have to go through the jutsu library and see what the clan left for me, let's hope there's more than enough for the future."
xXx
The feeling of liquid running down his arms allowed him to fight off his unconsciousness, as Rizuma kept his eyes closed and began to sit up, hearing waves crashing against a sort of beach as the feeling of dread began to creep into his soul. "Did it not work? Am I really destined to fight this whirlpool for years to come?" Rizuma tightened his fists as he stood up and finally opened his eyes, finally noticing the new surroundings around him with a sense of amazement. He rubbed his eyes, trying to fight off the incurring dream as he looked all around at the area he was in.
"This… This is not Kairen Island. Where am I?" He looked at the area around him, many colors of coral spreading out of the water and connecting to form massive barriers to house different lifeforms. He could see turtles on the beach beside him laying their eggs, seagulls flying high above him, and fish going throughout the many pathways. Rizuma could also smell the scent of salt and freshwater, with many divides as he could see the coral dividing up the waterways, keeping the freshwater and saltwater apart, with an estuary being formed in the middle as salt and freshwater animals swam across. The coral connected to form many archways around the island, with Rizuma seeing the highest archway in the middle of the sea, peaking much higher than the clan tower, almost to where the coral was touching the clouds from his perspective as they twisted and turned to create a rainbow.
"Beautiful…" Was the only word he could muster as he began to walk toward the main archway, water walking his way above the water as he looked down below to see many figures swimming away to their heart's content before a flying fish came springing out of the water as it splashed some waves onto him, with Rizuma dodging with an amazed look on his face as he watched the species here. Before long, as he made his way ever closer to the point, he saw many figures he couldn't quite make out below the depths, almost stalking him in a way. He stopped walking and looked straight down as the creatures below the depths also stopped their swimming, almost as if testing his presence and seeing if he would attack before he hopped over the coral barrier and into the estuary portion. "Whatever those were, if they wanted to follow me, they'd either need to go underneath the large coral barrier or jump along with me."
He didn't have to wait long to see what they were going to do, as he heard a big splash of water behind him and turned around before feeling multiple things in front of him splash into the water below as a large wave formed, threatening to go over the barrier into the seawater portion as Rizuma prepared hand signs on instinct to block the wave and unsheathed his sword. "Suiton: Suiren no Jutsu!" Water covered Rizuma's sword as he cut the wave in two, him getting wet all over, but the wave not threatening the barrier as he dried off some of his scrolls with a warming fire jutsu. "What were those things?" Rizuma said as he looked back down to see the figures still below him, looking up as more of them began to come towards him, some of them much bigger than the others.
"Some of them, they're huge…" He panted while continuing to walk, feeling the presences of many of the figures beneath him continuing to follow his pathway to the arch as the coral reef now seemed to grow even brighter as the coral begin to light up with electricity, Rizuma widening his eyes before jumping as the electricity began to go to him before he unsheathed his sword once again and this time spun it with fire. "I've been meaning to try this move for a while now, Torento: Bureizudanzu!" Cinders rolled off of Jinami as Rizuma spun in the air and sent the cinders at the lightning, clashing as he fell back to the water while panting. "Not enough control on it, but good for the first time." He looked back down at the figures below, seeing many big figures beneath him as he smiled lightly. "I won't be stopped, not when I'm so close." He jumped back into his formation and this time began to run through the estuary toward the main arch, which was now in sight as he jumped over another barrier as a coral path led his way to a sort of shrine.
"Halt…" Rizuma heard the female voice as a large splash engulfed the path way before Rizuma came face to face with a large animal that he recognized, around 10 meters in length with a black "crescent" shaped stripe that extended shoulder to shoulder that formed a sort of 'V' shape, flaps that extended somewhat like wings and two spiked stingers on the end of its body that exuded chakra. "A Ray, wow!"
"You have done well to get past those tests, child. My name is Kashipta, a proud member of the Rays of Kosuitei Reef. You showed up using the Kuchiyose no Jutsu, and when you showed up to this place, we got alerted as a human being tied to our clan hasn't happened for decades, and we've been looking at your progression through this very reef. You noticed how the saltwater biome would be in danger if this specific water got into the system and so you get it in half, then you stopped the electricity with your cinders. You seem wise beyond your years young one, and most of us are very impressed and elated. But unfortunately, I can't let you pass this point, not yet, not until you've truly proven yourself worthy of summoning us to the ones that need to see more." The creature said to him as Rizuma stared it down with a smile before bowing, "Thank you, but I don't need the kind words. Not until I've finished proving myself to you all." The ray seemed pleased with his answer, and dove back into the depths below as a much bigger splash erupted out of the water as a giant shadow loomed over him.
"Child… Your final test to prove yourself to us Rays, specifically…" The shadow blocked out the sun and a sense of dread crawled up Rizuma's spine before the shadow spit out a large blast of water that shot toward Rizuma, who barely had time to react as the blast clipped his left arm, the water tearing through his skin and creating a large gash as he screamed out in pain before grabbing his sword, bloodlust now permeating the air as the shadow was now becoming more clear, winged flaps covered in a sleek black, two white lines forming a black 'T' with the symbols 'ボス' below it as the three spiked stingers produced an almost sinister feeling.
"Me. Your final test child, is to fight as hard as you can against me, Kyinosen, the chief of the Ray clan. We haven't had a human in so long, so with one of your arms out of the picture, I want you to show me what you can do against an opponent you can not win against. You fight your hardest against me with one arm, or you give up and never contact us Rays again. Do you understand me?" Kyinosen's voice boomed across the reef, the animals that the Rays protected all looking toward the boss of their land as Rizuma started holding his arm in massive pain before he thought about his future before looking up at Kyinosen with a savage smile.
"Loud and clear." Kyinosen shot another water blast at Rizuma who grabbed his sword and dodged slightly to the left, barely avoiding the blast as he held his sword up and cinders flared up again. "Torento: Bureizudanzu!" Kyinosen spit out small water blasts that cancelled out the cinders as Rizuma grabbed his left hand and forcefully pulled off the hand seals while his arms was down and whispered, "Katon: Yojin Bunshin no Jutsu." Rizuma formed a clone that stood beside him as both rushed ahead and dodged multiple blasts of water before Rizuma threw his clone up to where Kyinosen was in the air as the Ray then said, "Raiton: Ikari Kosen!" The stinger released a massive blast of lightning as Rizuma's eyes widened before the clone smirked as it was destroyed before it burst into embers and caught onto Kyinosen's wings who felt the burns and looking down at the human who was just standing there before he readied his stingers. "Suiton: Doiru Suiyari no Jutsu." Water spears emanated from the stingers and launched towards Rizuma before it hit him dead on as Kyinosen felt some sort of brush on his back and sparked with lightning before he then said, "A water clone, not bad. For a child, you do sure know how to use the elements to your advantage. Using fire and water against a being that specializes in water jutsu, such a brave boy. I wonder, how a child such as you can be so adept when other human children your age don't even have knowledge of their elemental affinities yet." Rizuma's voice echoed behind him, "It's my family, they left everything for me , and I get stronger so I can rebuild my home and make sure the same thing doesn't happen twice!" Kyinosen flapped around and saw Rizuma standing on a spire of coral, holding his sword in one hand with the gash unknowingly getting better as he held his sword up with his right hand and pointed it at Kyinosen before he dropped his arm and instead put his left hand up before putting a single finger in front of himself in massive pain.. "And now, you will see just how my family got people to fall to their knees. NIJU OMORI, FUIN!" Suddenly, a seal on Kyinosen's back glowed as Rizuma's chakra flared, trying his hardest to keep the seal intact as Kyinosen lost control and fell back into the water below.
"You are a lot stronger than I am, a lot wiser, a lot more knowledgeable, but that doesn't matter right now, the Uzumaki could use a seal on anything, and anything can be affected. I won't stop until my home is rebuilt from being torn down by the world. I will bring Uzushio back from the brink, even if it costs me my body, my mind, my soul, and my pride! Oji-san, Oba-san, Oji-sama, they all put their faith in me to protect our legacies and make sure the name Uzumaki will survive. I am Rizuma Uzumaki, and Kyinosen, I'm here to earn your trust. I'm here to prove myself worthy of summoning the clan I have been bound to, and no matter the cost, I will gain your respect and I will help you with anything you want until the day I drop dead! The world found my family to be too strong and massacred them, and I will make sure that their spirits continue to burn even if their bodies no longer move." Rizuma's body started glowing red as he panted, now holding Jinami high with pride as his sword also began to glow with a red streak before Rizuma's eyes widened as Kyinosen launched out of the water, Rizuma seeing his seal was destroyed and clenched his right fist to prepare for what was coming next as Kyinosen simply stared at him.
"Admirable, Rizuma Uzumaki. It seems what Kashipta had said about you was true. We Rays have seen your trek through here and the things you have done for our reef. The Uzumaki were humans we heard about and scouted, the clan hid by the whirling tides. To find out that a child survived from the massacre 10 years ago…" Rizuma's eyes widened massively and his breath shortened. "The world should've figured the Uzumaki, the sealing masters themselves would have a failsafe. Your goals are admirable, young one, and I figure you came to us for help because it was your only way to get past the massive whirlpools that kept the enemies out, but have now trapped you inside without access to the Elemental nations. I will say this: the more you spoke, the more respect I earned for you, child." Lightning sparked around Kyinosen's stingers as Rizuma's eyes darkened, still reeling from the information that he just learned as his chakra shifted, the red becoming a more deep crimson as Kyinosen slightly marveled at the much different color of chakra.
"Try to counter this attack with all your might, then you will have fully proved yourself to me. Survive this blast and earn your place in Kosuitei Reef alongside us. Raiton: Ikari Kosen!" Once again, a blast of lightning erupted from Kyinosen's stringer as Rizuma channeled all of his chakra into Jinami. "Torento: Uzuendo!" Rizuma spun and sent a crimson slash of chakra at the approaching lightning with the remaining chakra he had and watched as the lightning clashed with the slash before it tore through the slash with relative ease and bounded into Rizuma, who tried his hardest to brace himself with his still bad left arm as the blast of lightning destroyed the top of the coral spire, Kyinosen sensing Rizuma's chakra still burning brightly as Rizuma's unconscious body fell from the coral tower, bloody all over as Rays all come out of the water to witness their new summoner, bloody and burnt but still breathing. Kashipta flew and grabbed Rizuma's with her stingers before softly putting him on her back and looking at Kyinosen, feeling Rizuma's short breaths as a green light surrounded him.
"Thank you Kashipta, watch over the boy and heal him to the best of your abilities, we have much to discuss once he wakes up." Kashipta nodded and flew away to the beaches, with another ray slowly following behind her. "He got Tou-san's respect? That's insane!"
"Kyinosen-sama, how do you know he's not paralyzed or in a coma? You did a lot of damage." One of the rays below him said as he looked at the destroyed body of the boy and stared. "Because during his trial, I saw something that even he wasn't aware of. Something that he will find out on his own after we discuss how a child of the Uzumaki even survived the fall of Uzushiogakure when he didn't even look much over 9."
xXx
"Kashipta-san, is he gonna be okay? After he fought tou-san like that, I need to see him. I want to know how someone that age can be as strong as he is!" A different voice on the beach yelled as Kashipta looked at the body of Rizuma, still unconscious after a couple of hours, laying down in a sort of fluid. "Now I know you are Kyinosen's daughter, but you can't interrupt my work, Kyinare-san." Kyinare looked at the head medic of the Rays and flapped expressively. "Come on Kashipta-san, tou-san messed him up pretty good. It's gonna take a while for him to wake up after a beating like that, you could at least let me be here when he wakes up. I want to ask him some questions, humans interest me a lot." Kashipta sighed and looked at her patient, the child that had so brazenly told her that he would gain the trust of the Rays, reduced to a heap. She wanted Kyinosen to hold back a bit as the chieftain compared to a child, but found her respect for the human much more strengthened than before as he stood against their chief, no hope of winning but still somehow fighting with a sense of want and need. She saw his desire, and as described by Kyinosen himself, the child himself knew that this was the only way he was going to move forward.
"Kashipta-san, may I ask you a question?" Kyinare looked at the boy as Kashipta looked at her with a sigh, "You may, Kyinare-san."
"I heard him mention a place, his home I think it was, called Uzushio. Do you know what it looked like and why he is even here in the first place?" Kyinare looked at her with genuine curiosity as Kashipta herself wanted to know why Rizuma had come to them.
"Let me give you an impromptu history lesson, Kyinare. His home, as you heard was Uzushio, more specifically Uzushiogakure, the village hidden by the whirling tides. As the name suggests, his human village was a mass of islands surrounded by the biggest whirlpools in the Elemental Nations. The village was founded by the Uzumaki, his people. And as Kyinosen said, the Uzumaki were massacred 10 years ago, 1 year before you yourself were even born. I don't know how they were massacred, or even know what the village looked like before the extinction of their clan, but I know the Uzumaki were strong, some of the strongest people known to the Elemental Nations. So whatever happened, they didn't go down without a fight. And Rizuma right here is living proof of that."
"But he looks so young Kashipta-san, how did he survive if when they got massacred, he was an infant?" Kyinare looked at Rizuma who was slowly breathing in and out now, his consciousness slowly coming back to him.
"I truly don't know, Kyinare." Kyinare looked at her upper Ray, feeling shocked as she dropped the honorifics as she looked at Rizuma below, who seemed to be slowly awakening as he clenched his teeth in pain and started mumbling to himself as Kashipta and Kyinare looked down at him.
"10 years, 10 years, 10 years." He muttered again and again as the two rays continued to stare, hearing the panic in his voice as he sat up suddenly and held his head, taking deep breaths so he could stop the incoming panic attack that was coming. "It… it really has been that long, huh. To think that you had saved up enough chakra from that battle to last 7 years, it truly shows your skills oji-sama. To think that I was in that seal for 7 years and didn't feel the time pass for a second." The two rays grew shocked as he spoke to himself, feeling his face and noticing the lack of his glasses before looking around, feeling the strain on his body and hissed before moving his head around, seeing Jinami and his glasses a few meters away, lying in the sunlight as he sighed and looked above him, finding the two rays in his line of sight. "Ah, hello Kashipta." He tried to give a broken smile to the two, but it only resulted in pain, feeling the burns on his face as a fluid covered him, slowly feeling the burns going away.
"Don't worry Rizuma Uzumaki, return to your rest and return to your thoughts. You must rest for your injuries to heal fully and to not scar over, our chief will be here when you awaken next, so rest well for now child." Rizuma simply nodded, tired and mind in disarray as he simply closed his eyes, returning to his slumber as the two rays looked back at each other before going to look for Kyinosen, Kyinare thinking to herself, "He's way too interesting, I have to know more about him!"
xXx
Rizuma once again began to shudder, this time the feeling of water more pronounced than before as he moved, seeing if he still felt the strain and burn of his previous fight. He felt the strain of his chakra coils, having been pushed when he tried to keep Kyinosen in Niju Omura Fuin. He moved his arms, legs and cracked a few knuckles before sitting up and touched his face, this time not feeling the burn marks that seemed to scar him for the rest of his life before sitting up, seeing he was by himself and going towards the water, seeing his face, exactly as it was before the lightning blast before looking at his left arm, seeing the scar of the gash and moving it around, not feeling the massive pain that was once there. "My first battle scar, I guess that isn't what I had in mind." He saw Jinami and his glasses on the floor before noticing that he still had his pants and sandals, but his shirt almost completely torn apart as only the straps remained before he unsealed another shirt from his right arm and replaced his tatters before grabbing his glasses and sheathing Jinami.
"Rizuma Uzumaki, now that you are finally awake, we have much to discuss." He turned around and saw a whole armada of rays floating in the air and water in front of him, each looking at him as if he was a different beast entirely. Whispers of "Our New Summoner…" and "He has Kyinosen-sama's respect…" filled the air as he smiled before nodding back and getting on one knee.
"Rise from your bow. After your performance, you shall not bow to me. I said before you were knocked out, if you survived that blast, you will earn your place in Kosuietei Reef along with us, so stand and take up arms with us. After all, you shall be our new summoner." Rizuma stood up straight, raising his arm in the air and unsheathing Jinami and holding it and his scar high as the Ray all lept into the sky and floated in front of him.
"RAYS OF KOSUITEI REEF, MEET OUR NEW PARTNER AND THE NEW SUMMONER OF US, RIZUMA UZUMAKI!"
"I've finally done it, I finally got my own summons. I can finally get to the Elemental Nations and see what the world has left me to work with." Rizuma thought, letting his chakra seep through the air and to his sword as Jinami glowed with a red hue, the Rays all letting their chakra flow as the chakras all connected, mixing and creating almost a sizzling presence.
"This child, I sense great things to come from you. May you not let me down Rizuma-kun." Kashipta thought as she and Kyinosen also joined in and let their chakras flow, the whole of Kosuitei Reef feeling the effects as beneath the coral archway on a shrine, an old ray, opened its eyes to reveal bright blue whirlpools and whispered, "A new summoner, a crimson presence, shrouded by death. May your chakra burn brighter than Ashina's, young one."
xXx
Suiton: Mizurappa - Water Release: Wild Water Wave
Katon: Hidoko no Jutsu - Fire Release: Bed of Fire Technique
Suiton: Suidan no Jutsu - Water Release: Water Bullet Technique
Doton: Ganchuso - Earth Release: Rock Pillar Spears
Kuchiyose no Jutsu - Summoning Technique
Kunai Kage Bunshin no Jutsu - Kunai Shadow Clone Technique
Kawarimi - Replacement
Henge - Transformation
Suiton: Suiren no Jutsu - Water Release: Water Forge
Torento: Bureizudanzu - Torrent Style: Blaze Dance
Katon: Yojin Bunshin no Jutsu - Fire Release: Ember Clone Technique
Raiton: Ikari Kosen - Lightning Release: Wrath of the Rays
Suiton: Doiru Suiyari no Jutsu - Water Release: Drilling Water Spears
Niju Omori Fuin - Double Weight Seal
Torento: Uzuendo - Torrent Style: Spiral Shift
