Okimi

Okimi said, "So, you said time has always flowed differently for you. What did you mean by that?"

"I can't really say," Yuuki said, sticking out her tongue and pointing to the seal on it.

"A cursed seal, meant to keep you silent?" Okimi said.

Yuki didn't reply but her silence told Okimi all she needed to know.

"That's a real dick move," Okimi said.

Kurotenshi looked like he was about to say something, but then he just shrugged. "Well at least Okimi's cursed seal is useful. Does yours do anything else, Yuki?"

Yuki again pointed to the seal.

"Oh yeah, you can't tell us," Kurotenshi said.

"What can you tell us about yourself?" Okimi asked.

"Not a lot. The whole way I grew up is a secret. There's a lot I don't know about the world that I want to find out… I had a team who grew up the same way as me. I wonder where they are now."

Okimi said, "probably dead."

"Okimi!" Miu said.

"Oh, I could show you some of my moves," Yuki said.

"Sure," Kurotenshi said.

Yuki showed them a few ice style moves. Yuki was actually quite skilled. Okimi's team had only gotten stronger by surviving the Corruption and she still wasn't sure she could beat Yuki. The way she moved so fast between ice mirrors alone was terrifying.

But even so, Okimi was more interested in her style of hand-signs. "I've never seen someone use jutsu with only one hand before."

"Oh well, I like to hold a weapon in the other hand."

That didn't really explain anything. Okimi thought she'd be unable to access most of her techniques until she got back to Konoha, got a new arm. But this changed things.

She made hand-signs for a simple transformation technique. Nothing happened.

"Oh no, you can't just make one half of the signs. You need to visualize the other half, and visualize it very strongly too." Yuki said.

Okimi tried again with no better results. She let out a small growl of frustration which made Kurotenshi giggle. "Shut up, you."

"Sorry, sorry," Kurotenshi said. He looked down at his legs with enough shame to make Okimi almost feel bad for lashing out at him… almost.

"We're getting near the Monochrome Mountains," Miu said. "Should we change course?"

"No," Okimi said. They'd been through all of the easier areas nearby. She'd poured over the map and calculated earlier. They'd lose over a week if they went some other way and even then, they'd just have to go through a different dangerous zone. "This may be the most dangerous area we've been through, so I'll be counting on the two of you."

The Monochrome Mountains. They'd named them that because, well, there was no color anywhere in that zone. Even the sky was a dull gray, always. But they had never been up close. None of their scouting techniques had worked. They'd all just pittered out. She wasn't even sure that ninjutsu worked in these mountains.

"Hold on," Kurotenshi said. "I want to be useful too. You said you could fix my legs?"

"I was wondering when you'd ask. Yes, I can."

"Do it," Kurotenshi said.

"Hold on," Okimi said. "Your legs will never be as they were, nor will your soul. But I can make them useful. I can turn the Corruption into… something less twisted. Is that what you want?"

Kurotenshi looked down at his legs. "I'll trust you."

"Surprising choice of words." She pulled up her eyepatch and placed a hand on Kurotenshi's leg. She could see his soul legs, warped, black and mangled. She let her own chakra flow into them until they were bathed in a white glow. She watches as the flesh intermingled with soul and the legs returned to their original shape.

"Huh, more normal than I expected." His legs were a mostly transparent white now but otherwise normal.

Kurotenshi stood up and jumped up and down laughing. "Ghost legs, wow, neat!"

"Don't get too excited. We're about to go straight into Hell. See that the rest of you doesn't also become a ghost as well."

Soon enough, they reached the foot of the mountains. The barrier between zones was a clear line where the dirt went from brown to gray.

They stepped over that line, all of them. Okimi had her Kusanagi in hand. The other three encircled her. It was Kurotenshi's turn to protect her now. It would be good for him to be depended on. He'd been so down since he'd lost his legs.

There made their way up the spiraling mountain path.

"Do you see that?" Miu asked.

Okimi squinted at the thing in the sky she was pointing at, but it was too far away to make out the details. Some kind of giant bird it seemed.

"Let's try not to draw its attention," Okimi said.

They continued, taking the path with the most cover. It took them longer but it was safer.

Miu was the first one who tested her jutsu, just in case they had to fight the thing. It was possible to form ninjutsu here, but they fell apart after only a second.

Kurotenshi found that genjutsu still worked and Yuki found that techniques that targeted the user were unaffected by this zone as well. This was perhaps workable if they had to fight that thing. Though she still didn't want to find out how they'd fare.

Eventually, they made it over one mountain and… down below stretched untainted sands, clear blue skies and the Sun. The Sun! She hadn't realized how much she'd missed it til now.

But between her team and the exit there was no cover and the creature hung low in the sky. She could see what it was now.

It began with an array of innumerable, writhing tentacles, each pulsating with a life of its own, emerging from a mass that seemed to both exist and not exist at once. As her eyes traveled upwards, she saw scales that shimmered with an unnatural iridescence, reflecting colors that should not have been possible in this zone. These scales covered a body that twisted and contorted, defying the laws of physics and biology, as if reality itself was being bent around its form.

Further up, vast wings unfurled, oozing a thick, black substance that evaporated before it hit the ground, leaving a faint, acrid smell in the air. The wings held a terrifying majesty, hinting at the immense power the creature weilded. As she continued to look, Okimi noticed eyes - too many to count - that blinked open and shut at irregular intervals, each eye a window into a different nightmare.

At the head of this abomination, a maw lined with countless rows of razor-sharp teeth opened, releasing a sound that was part roar, part scream, a sound that resonated with her deepest fears, bringing up the face of that terrifying man she'd seen only in a painting, bringing up her deepest hatred, the girl with the bubblegum hair, the one who murdered her parents.

And in that moment, as she stared into the abyss of that mouth, Okimi realized with a shiver of dread that this creature was no mere monster. It was a dragon, a being of legend, but twisted and corrupted, a nightmarish perversion of what a dragon should be. It was a nigh invincible beast of legend, a master of both the skies and the horrors that lurk in the unseen corners of the world.

As they prepared to dash across the open expanse under the shadow of the corrupted dragon, Okimi felt a gentle tug on her sleeve. She turned, finding Yuki close beside her. There was a softness in Yuki's eyes, a stark contrast to the harsh, gray world around them.

"Okimi," Yuki said, her voice barely above a whisper, "I need to tell you something. Just in case... just in case we don't make it."

Okimi's heart skipped a beat. The danger of their situation faded into the background for a moment. "What is it?" she asked, her voice steadier than she felt.

Yuki seemed to hesitate, her eyes searching Okimi's. Then, with a slight shift in her expression, she continued, "The information you've gathered, that map alone even, is invaluable to defeating the Corruption. We need to guarantee that at least one of us returns."

"Right, of course," Okimi responded, trying to mask her brief moment of fluster. "So you're suggesting we split up?"

Yuki nodded, seemingly unaware of the brief turmoil she had stirred in Okimi.

"No. Not yet at least. We will stay together. That will give all of us the best chance for survival. And if the creature proves too much… well, you know I won't hesitate to make the call."

"So, everyone ready? Shall we make a run for it?" Okimi asked.

Okimi looked at her team and saw determination on Miu and Kurotenshi's faces. They'd been trapped in the Corruption for far too long. They weren't going to let an invincible dragon stop them now. They were going for the exit.

"Everyone, on three," Okmi said. "Three!"

And they took off.