Adventures of the Orange Flash
Chapter 17: Training Montage and Hearing a Cry
Two and a half weeks after the discovery of the Yakan clan, we find Naruto standing in the center of the outdoor arena which appears to be refurbished with his eyes closed as his hands are stretched out with a crystalline star ball hovering in between his hands. A current of wind swirled around the crystal ball then it changed into fire before chunks of earth rose from the ground and revolved around it.
Close by was Tetsuo who was watching and nodding in approval of the fox's training "Well done Naruto-san, you're getting more proficient with the Kitsune aspects that you've unlocked so far as well as manipulating your star ball to for even offensive strategy,"
Naruto opens his eyes with a foxy grin then he faces the straw dummies and performs a roundhouse kick to launch the star ball at them with the stones still swirling around it as the sphere drew close and stopped sharply in midair, it spun wildly to launch the stones everywhere and pierce through the dummies before returning to Naruto and was reabsorbed into his body.
"Well that's what Pervy Sage once taught me, to use anything and everything to its full potential," said Naruto with a smirk.
Tetsuo nodded in agreement "Indeed, now let's see how far you've gone with the Kitsune fighting style," he pointed at another straw dummy at the other side of the arena,"
Naruto nodded then faced the dummy with his legs apart and slightly crouched with his claws bared, a blue aura of Kurama appeared overheard "Fox Fang Fist!" he rushed forwards at high-speed then unleashed a barrage of punches, clawing and kicks before finishing with a double palm strike, leaving the dummy battered and shredded to pieces.
"I shouldn't be surprised, his ability to learn and master techniques so quickly by merely practicing them is quite frightening and the use of his shadow clones make him a prodigy in his own right. It saddens me that his first teacher had initially overlooked such a diamond in the rough until returning from his training trip," thought Tetsuo with a small frown in disappointment of the silver haired ninja from Naruto's former world. He snapped back into attention upon seeing Naruto approach him.
"I've been wanting to ask, you said that each Kitsune has a tie to a particular, I can guess that a nine tailed Kitsune can control all elements since so far I can control air, fire, earth, and I'm still trying to get a hang of the celestial element. So are there any others?" asked Naruto curiously.
"Patience my friend, you're correct about nine tailed Kitsune are capable of wielding all elements. Thirteen to be exact," said Tetsuo.
Naruto went wide-eyed at hearing that "Thirteen!?"
"Indeed, air, earth, fire, life, celestial, lightning, metal, void, spirit, time, plant, water and creativity. So far you have unlocked four of them with creativity already active beforehand but certain conditions need to be met in order to unlock the others,"
"Creativity is an element?"
"Of course it is, it is an element which revolves around the influence of art forms such as dance, music, writing, music, painting, etc. it's what enables one to formulate original ideas and strategies even in the midst of a battle," Tetsuo explained.
"Sounds like an element which you and your friend Shikamaru already possess but yours is much more on instinct than his," said Kurama, having watched the endeavors from his partners Genin days till date.
"I think I get what you mean," Naruto then felt memories of his shadow clones flow into his mind "My clones have repaired a majority of the Yakan Palace," said Naruto.
"It fills me with joy to hear, soon the Yakan palace will be back to the way it was before," said Tetsuo with a smile.
"Yup, anyways I gotta go now to see Tails. Hopefully he and Rotor would be done with the upgrade and the recreation of what I requested,"
"Very well then, I hope to see you soon,"
Naruto nodded in affirmation then dashed out of the front gate and leapt high above the staircase and called out "Dragoon!" a loud boom sounded then said air glider appeared underneath for him to land on top of it "Let's head over to Emerald Town," Dragoon increased its power output for higher acceleration as it took off for the marked destination. After about twenty-six minutes, Naruto was soon flying above the town "Thanks for the ride, I'll be dropping off from here," he flipped off the air glider into a free-fall towards the ground below. As he drew close, Naruto started spinning rapidly as the wind swirled around him to form a tornado "Wind Spinjitzu!" he hovered a few feet over the ground before he stopped spinning and landed on the ground. This is another one of the Kitsune martial arts known as Spinjitzu where it involves the user tapping into their individual aspects while spinning rapidly to create a tornado-like vortex of energy around themselves, it was one of the first techniques which Naruto learnt on his first week along with training on four of his unlocked Kitsune aspects and was able to master it rather quickly thanks to his past training on the Rasengan and the spin dash.
After making sure that Hazy-Moon and Masamune were properly strapped to his back but he needn't bother for a holster as they latched onto his back rather firmly, Naruto strode towards Tails' Lab and knocked on the door, then it opened to reveal that it was Rotor behind the door.
"Yo Rotor, fancy meeting you here," said Naruto with a smile. Naruto had introduced Rotor to Tails and the two hit it off well due to their love for inventions. Later on he had handed over his gloves for an upgrade and the worn hidden blade with its schematics so they can recreate a pair for him as well.
Rotor smiled back "Same here, I guess you're to check with that pet project of ours along with the E.C.G gloves,"
"Pretty much yeah," Naruto looked at his hands, noting the absence of said gloves, then went inside as they walked towards where Tails was.
"I gotta tell ya though, that clan of yours definitely has created some sophisticated designs for their weaponry among other items,"
"You're telling me, but it bums me out a bit that they got wiped out all to take down a crazy monster you know?"
"Let's just be grateful for them, since it won't appear in Mobius," said Rotor.
They soon reached Tails fiddling with something at the worktable when he heard them coming and turned to greet "Hi there Naruto, I bet you're here to check up of the stuff you gave us?"
Naruto nodded in confirmation "You're right, I was hoping that you and Rotor would be done with them,"
"We're just about done with some finishing touches," Tails went back into fiddling with the gear with Rotor joining him to assist for a few more minutes before speaking up again "There, all done. Allow us to introduce to you the new and improved Energy Convert Gloves X which can be shortened to E.C.G-X!" Tails and Rotor turned to present a pair of red gloves with white tribal markings that would cover his hands up to the elbow, the blue crystal with white glowing circuits has an orange cross on top of it reading 'Blazing Fox', on the forearms has an image of an orange swirl held in the mouth of a howling fox middle (Refer to Tsuna's Cambio Forma Version Vongola Gear from Kateyoshi Hitman Reborn).
Naruto happily took the gloves and put them on, he flexed his fingers to feel the comfort of the gloves "Cool, and they don't restrict any movements when I move my hands nor feel any kind of weight. Anything thing I should know about it?"
"After informing us of your foxfire, Rotor and I remodified the gloves with nylon, tantalum carbide and hafnium carbide with plating to withstand the heat," said Tails.
Rotor then spoke up "We also combined the mechanics of the Hidden Blade but much more modern, it will link to your nervous system in order to extend and retract the blades," Naruto tried it out by slightly flicking his wrists for a narrow blade to sharply shoot out from each then retract when he flicks them again. He did this a few more times with punches and palm strikes to get more attuned to the gloves' new features before stopping with a feeling of satisfaction.
"Thanks for doing this for me guys, I owe you one," said Naruto happily.
"It's no problem Naruto, besides not every day we get a chance to study ancient technology and upgrade it to our era," said Tails.
"Thanks anyways, I gotta head for Central City to get something too,"
"I'll be returning as well, but I'll remain here a while longer," said Rotor.
"Ok, catch you guys later," Naruto waved his friends goodbye and left the lab, he was about to call out to Dragoon for a ride when he heard someone call out to him and turned to see that it was Nicole flying towards with her data wings active while Kou and Yoru were following her and happily landed on his shoulders "Oh Nicole-chan, what's up?"
"Well I was practicing a bit with my abilities when I detected your gloves coming back online and decided to come over to see you, and I can see that they've undergone an upgrade," said Nicole before taking a glance at the E.C.G-X worn on Naruto's hands "So where are you going?"
"I'm going to Central City to collect a package that I requested from Honey-chan," Naruto answered.
"Oh can I come along too?" asked Nicole bashfully.
"Sure, there's no problem," said Naruto with a smile, Nicole handed over the S.A.C to Naruto to strap to his waist "Dragoon!" the air glider swooped in from above for Naruto to flip onto it while Nicole went inside the device before taking flight towards the city.
The duo and Chao reached their destination and jumped off Dragoon to land in front of the Honey Clothing building, they walked inside and approached the reception desk where a female Mobian cat sat behind it to serve as the desk clerk.
"Hello, how may I help you?" asked the secretary.
"My name is Naruto Uzumaki, and this is my friend Nicole-chan. I have an appointment with Honey the cat today," said Naruto.
The secretary scrolled through her computer until setting eyes on a particular text and looked back at them with a nod of affirmation "Indeed you do, please take the elevator to the fifth and go straight into the studio. That's where Miss Honey is currently located,"
"Thanks, we'll be heading there," said Naruto, they took the elevator to said floor and passed through the marked door. Inside they found many clothing materials, sketches strewn about, Mannequins bearing incomplete clothing, and finally Honey currently sitting at a worktable with a sketch "Hey Honey-chan!"
Said cat turned around and smiled happily upon seeing Naruto and Nicole waving at her as she approached them "Hi Naruto, Nicole! Great to see you again!"
"Same here Honey-chan, I came to check if the requests I made were ready," said Naruto.
"They're more than ready, those drawings were a great inspiration for my works. I created a few more based on them and they were a hit!" said Honey with excitement, then she went to a nearby closet and reached in to take out a parcel before returning to them and giving it to Naruto "Here you go, and inside is something for Nicole too,"
"Thank you Honey, that's really generous of you," said Nicole happily.
"It's no biggie, anything for a friend," Honey replied.
"Still we owe you a lot, be sure to let me know when you need something," said Naruto with a foxy grin, causing Nicole and Honey to blush.
"O-okay, I'll call you when I do,"
Naruto digitized the parcel into the S.A.C before bidding Honey farewell and leaving the building with Nicole and the Chao. Along the way, the duo were having a conversation for what they plan to do next before heading to Emerald Town when they heard someone calling out to them.
"Naruto!" they turned around to see someone very familiar running towards them happily.
"Mina-chan?" asked Naruto in surprise.
Mina stopped before them with a wide grin "Long time no see Naruto, and who's this with you?"
"You're right that it has been a while, you should know her as she's Nicole," said Naruto.
Mina stared wide-eyed at said Holo-lynx "You're Nicole?"
"Yes, one of Tails' inventions enabled be to create a body for myself," Nicole replied.
"That's good to hear," then Mina turned to Naruto "So what's been going on since the last time we met?"
"Well I was able to get myself a new home with a few new stuff, aside from that there's nothing much," said Naruto, intending to keep the Yakan clan a secret unless it's absolutely necessary to tell her "What about you though?"
"I just came back from performing in a music concert over at Westopolis," said Mina.
"Oh yeah, you're a songstress. I saw one of your albums online while I was downloading some music to copy into my headphones, they're pretty great,"
Mina looked away bashfully from his cheery compliment "T-thanks, by the way…could you give me your contact and address? I would like to visit your place so we could hang out,"
"Sure, it's no biggie," Naruto sent his contact and address to Mina's phone.
"Great, so are you keeping the Chaos Emerald well?" asked Mina.
You see, after the rescue of Cream's mom from Dr. Eggman, Mina decided to leave the red Chaos Emerald in Naruto's possession as she felt that it was much more secured with him instead. Naruto had been examining the emerald itself during his free, recalling how it was used by Shadow and Sonic during their time at Soleanna.
"No need to worry about it Mina-chan, it's safe with me," Naruto assured her.
Mina was about to say more when her phone started beeping in her hand, she looked at the message and frowned a bit before turning towards Naruto and Nicole "I just got a message from my manager to come to the studio, so I'll have to get going now,"
Naruto was a little disappointed "Oh I see…maybe when you got some free time, you can give us a call or drop by for a visit,"
"We would be happy if you do," said Nicole.
Mina smiled at that "Sure, I'll do that. See you guys later then," she walked away while waving at them with Naruto and Nicole doing the same thing.
"Guess we better head home now, it's getting late now," said Naruto.
"Ok Naruto," said Nicole, Naruto crouched slightly before taking off at high-speed and with the Holo-lynx activating her data wings then flying after him.
Several minutes later after dashing down the highway and through the landscape, Naruto and Nicole had finally arrived back at Emerald town and entered the duplex. Naruto made his way to the kitchen to prepare some food for himself and the Chao, afterwards he took to playing a few video games on the 4K TV with Kou and Yoru cheering him on. Soon it got late and they all went to bed with Nicole going into the S.A.C and the Chao falling asleep, but Naruto was currently sitting in a meditative state with his eyes closed as he dived into his mindscape. Naruto stood on top of the grassy hill then white orbs appeared in midair and floated around him, he held one of the orbs for it to be absorbed into his body which glowed faintly before receding.
"Hmmm, it seems like my clone has learnt a few moves for my fire aspect," said Naruto with memories of the clone training flowing through his mind, he absorbed several more of the orbs to acquire the memories of the clones in training of the other elemental aspects, also the research on his initial arsenal of jutsu is only halfway developed. He heard a grumble and turned around to see Kurama sitting under a tree and looking at him.
"I see you're making progress with your new powers, but be sure not to forget about your original techniques kit," said Kurama.
"No need for worry Kurama, I'm even thinking of creating new techniques with the aspects aside from the clan's scrolls while I'm training and already came up with a few. Just need some scapegoats for testing," said Naruto with a smirk for Kurama to mirror him.
"Namely a certain egghead, eh?"
"Bingo…it seems like the Yakan Palace is fully renovated now,"
"Now the next step would be acquiring members, but we can talk about that with Tetsuo later,"
"Gotcha, I'll see you in the morning then," said Naruto, Kurama simply nodded before going back to sleep. Naruto exited from his mindscape and went to sleep with Kou and Yoru cuddling up to him.
…
…
…
"Where am I?" Naruto opened his eyes to find himself standing in the middle of a forest much to his confusion "This is some weird dream I'm having right now, better see where this goes," he took to leaping through the branches of the trees in a chosen direction, he took a while until jumping into a clearing where he saw very familiar to him "This place is…the Altar of the Emeralds, then I must be on Angel Island! Why am I here?"
Naruto noted a green pulsing glow coming from the top of the altar and climbed up the stairs to see that the glow was emitting from the Master Emerald. He cautiously approached it and saw a silhouette appear within the Master Emerald which started to walk towards him as a feminine voice spoke out to him.
"I hear it…a land cries out for help…it saddens me at the desperation in its voice…won't someone answer its call?"
Naruto was confused at what the voice was saying, what does she mean by a land asking for help? Why does it need help, and more importantly…who does voice belong to and what does she want?
"Who are you and what's this about a land calling for?" asked Naruto.
The silhouette emerged from the emerald and transformed into a bright pink orb of light which hovered in the air before floating close to Naruto who backed away a bit in wariness.
"I am a spirit who was a member of a lost clan, I was peacefully watching over Mobius with a dear friend when I started hearing the voice of an unknown land desperately calling for help against something that intends to harm its denizens in its ambition for power. I wanted to seek out for someone to respond to it, then I heard the voices of other spirits telling me to turn to you," said the voice.
Naruto was confused at that "Me? But I haven't met any spirits except for one,"
"They said that you're their new legacy of the Yakan clan and would respond to the land's call, I can even see for myself that your heart is just as pure,"
"New legacy? You must be talking about the soul of the deceased members of the Yakan clan," said Naruto in realization.
"Indeed, so will you answer to the land's call?" Naruto could sense the worry and hope in the voice and so responded as such.
"Of course I will, I never run and never go back on my word for that is my nindo, my Ninja way!" said Naruto with determination.
The orb seemed to glow with happiness as it floated around him a few times before hovering in front of him again "Thank you very much, this must be why both the Hero Chao and Dark Chao like you very much,"
Naruto rubbed the back his head sheepishly "It's nothing much, so how do I find this place?"
"I can send you there, but I'll need the power of a Chaos Emerald to do so," said the voice.
"I got that covered, a friend gave one to me after a skirmish with Eggman,"
"Very well then, come to Angel Island once you're ready but please hurry, I can feel the land's fear growing," Naruto nodded in affirmation then he slowly faded away from the dreamscape, leaving the orb behind to her thoughts "I can only pray that he would be able to help them,"
Naruto opened his eyes and sat up from the bed as the rays of the rising sun shone through the windows in his bedroom. He took a moment to recall what he experienced in the dream last night, then a certain feeling arose from within and he smirked as he recognized it…the excitement of setting out to carry out a high ranked mission, something he thought he would never feel since arriving in this new world. Naruto jumped from the bed, waking Kou and Yoru and called out to Nicole.
"Nicole-chan, wake up and get ready! We got ourselves a mission!" said Naruto as he ran into the bathroom.
Nicole materialized from the S.A.C with a confused look on her face "What do you mean by that?" she heard him reply as the water ran in the shower.
"I received a request from a spirit when I dreamt that I was on Angel Island, asking me to go help out a land and people on it against some sort of bad guy, reminds me of my first C-rank mission,"
"Isn't it rather farfetched?"
"Maybe so, but we get to see a new place all the same though," Naruto stepped out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist, causing Nicole to look away with a blush on her cheeks. He went into the closet and changed into his regular gear "Alright then, our next stop is Angel Island!" Kou and Yoru excitedly hopped onto his shoulders before he and Nicole went out of the house "Come on Dragoon!" Naruto called out for the air glider to appear before them then he hopped on with Nicole returning to the S.A.C as they took to the skies.
It took a couple of minutes but the floating island was finally in their sights, the group followed along their planned route till arriving at the Altar of the Emeralds and landed on the ground. They heard footsteps and turned to see Knuckles approaching them.
"Hey guys, what brings you over here?" asked Knuckles confusedly, Naruto proceeded to tell him of the dream which he had last night "A spirit? That sounds like…but I thought she left with Chaos,"
"Do you know who she is?" asked Naruto.
"Pretty much, but let's go to the Master Emerald and confirm it," said Knuckles.
They went up to the Altar and stood before the large green emerald, then Naruto stepped forward and called out "I'm here now and ready with the Chaos Emerald," the emerald glowed brightly for a moment then the familiar pink orb of light emerged from it before transforming into another form.
She is an orange-furred echidna with cobalt eyes, she wears a tank top-like garment which exposed her midriff and a traditional tribal dress with beige, green, and red rectangular patterns, she also wears a gold necklace and tiara-like band atop her forehead which both are decorated with a blue jewel in the center. She sports a pair of white gloves adorned with thick, cobalt-blue bracelets around her wrists, white-strapped sandals, and her dreadlocks were also wrapped with similar white bandages.
"So it is you…Tikal," said Knuckles with a smile.
"It's good to see you again Knuckles," Tikal responded with a smile of her own.
"You know her Knuckles?" asked Naruto confusedly.
"Yeah, she was a member of the echidna clan before its demise by Chaos the original guardian of the Chaos Emeralds and was sealed into the Master Emerald along with Tikal. Years later, Eggman released Chaos in a plot to conquer the world but it absorbed the negative energy from the Chaos Emeralds and went on a rampage which resulted in the major destruction of Station Square. Sonic used the positive energy from the emeralds to become Super Sonic and was able to stop it. That was when Chaos and Tikal disappeared to who knows where," Knuckles explained.
"I've heard of such news on the internet, I also read that Station Square is slowly being rebuilt," said Nicole.
"The truth was that we had returned to watching over the Chao and the Chao Gardens to make sure that no harm comes to them again," said Tikal.
"That's good to know, but what's this about Naruto traveling to a new land against an unknown evil?" asked Knuckles.
"I had been hearing the land's plea for several days and tried to call out but you didn't hear it, that was when the spirits of the Yakan clan directed me to Naruto to asked for his help which he affirmed to do so,"
"I'm pretty sure that You, Sonic and Tails got things handled while we're gone. We won't take too long though," said Naruto.
"If you say so Naruto, you and Nicole better come back here in one piece," Naruto smirked and held out his fist, getting Knuckles to smirk back and bump it with his.
"We will and that's a promise," Naruto turned towards Naruto and reached into the ninja pouch to take out the red Chaos Emerald "Okay we're ready, Tikal-chan,"
Tikal nodded in affirmation then placed her hands over his with the emerald beginning to glow brightly "Very well, please hold on tight as we begin teleportation…Chaos Control!" a red dome of energy surrounded them before disappearing in a flash of red light.
"…be sure to give those baddies heck Naruto," said Knuckles before returning to his previous position of guarding the Master Emerald.
In an unknown part of a forest, there was a bright flash of light before Naruto, the Chao and Nicole appeared standing in the middle of a small clearing. Naruto looked around the forest for a few minutes before turning towards Nicole.
"I guess we're here…wherever 'here' is," said Naruto.
"I suggest that we find a place of settlement to acquire information as well as learn of any major issues bothering the land," said Nicole.
"I was thinking the same thing Nicole-chan,"
The group then chose a random direction and took to the forest, moments after a bush rustled a bit before someone stepped out. She is a young anthropomorphic white furred hound with pumpkin orange hair and two green markings on each of her ears, she wears a grey dress reaching up to her knees, and green and orange bracelets on her wrists and legs. The young hound stared after the unknown strangers with eyes of curiosity and sniffed air to catch a rather strange scent for it smelt nice and comfortable and it seems to be coming from the fox with the nine fluffy tails.
"I wonder if they're nice? I hope they could play with me," thought the young hound before scampering after them.
This is Hussbek online with the latest chapter, Naruto is currently undergoing training with Tetsuo and is also having his clones repair the old home of the Yakan clan, and he later receives an upgraded pair of gloves courtesy of Tails and Rotor then a new outfit from Honey (which will be revealed in later chapters). Naruto also bumps into Mina whom he had found out is a singer before parting ways. Later that night, Naruto encounters a spirit in his dream whom was later revealed to be Tikal, requesting his help upon recommendation from the spirits of the Yakan Clan to protect the land from a forthcoming evil. Naruto being who he is accepted the request and with Nicole and the Chao gets transported to the land where he has a curious canine following him upon their arrival. What's up next for the orange Kitsune at the beginning of his newest adventure.
For the more curious readers, I've currently ignited the beginning of the game Freedom Planet which is a fan made game inspired from Sonic the hedgehog and soon struck out on its own successfully. Stay tuned to read more.
This is Hussbek from Ghana
Signing out.