- Training Ground 67 -
- Kai's POV -
"Alright, this is where we'll do it." Jiraiya said.
What?
"Wait, why? Shouldn't we do it in some strong bunker or something, how can we risk it flying out? Also, isn't this a bit too public?" I asked, eyeing Jiraiya carefully.
I thought the idea was to hide my ability from the world, not to show it to everyone.
"Don't worry about it escaping. I've got it handled." Jiraiya said and then turned and pointed at a marked tree faraway, "See that tree?" He asked.
"Yeah." I nodded.
"That mark on it is a seal." Jiraiya said, and pointed at various other similar marked trees around, forming a circle, "The seals meant to conceal anything happening within its range. This training ground is special, it's only used on rare occasions, and only a few people can active that seal. Everything within the seal will look normal from the outside, and if someone tries to get in, they'll be stopped by the external barrier."
Nice, convenient.
"But how will you stop Nue from flying, it'll be much harder for me to tame it if it's constantly moving." I asked and then looked at Aelira who was standing quietly behind me, "And why have we brought her here?"
"She's already seen your ability, probably can understand it better than most of us, and it's a learning opportunity for her." Jiraiya said and knelt down on the center in the clearing, "And I will keep that chicken stay in one place by being the awesome handsome ninja I am."
His chakra surged and he slammed his hand on the ground.
"Earth Style: Swamp of the Underworld!"
Suddenly, the ground beneath him turned into mud, as he jumped back.
The mud was thick and spread instantly, ending right before me.
It was like a swamp, as the name suggests.
"You'll summon the bird in the middle of that swamp, and since it will be a natural setting by the time you summon it, it won't count as external help, and the bird will stay trapped in it." Jiraiya said, dusting his hands off smugly.
"Anything else?" I asked. Surely, that wasn't all?
"Yes." Jiraiya said and pulled out a scroll and placed it on the ground, "There's more."
Jiraiya opened up the scroll and opened the seal, and over a hundred something explosive tags appeared on it.
Jiraiya held up one of the tags and stood up, "You, kid, will attach these tags to your swarm of rabbits, Rabbit Escape, right? And when that things comes, they will jump it and the tags will explode. But that's not it, you'll have to fill each of these with your chakra first, so it doesn't count as external chakra." He said and then looked at Aelira, "That's also why we brought her."
Smart.
No wonder he managed to figure out the secret of the Pains in such a short time.
I walked around the swamp and over to the stack of tags and picked one up, "What if it's not enough?" I asked.
"Then I burn the thing and cancel the ritual." Jiraiya said, pointing at himself.
"Alright.." I said and formed the rabbit handsign, "Rabbit Escape."
My shadow stretched and a swarm of rabbits appeared from the shadow, around a hundred.
"Nice!" Jiraiya said and then looked at me, "You do know how to active the tags at will, right? You send your chakra and-"
"Form the rat sign. I know." I said, and started picking up tags and sending my chakra into them.
"Good." Jiraiya said.
Aelira walked over, "If you run out of chakra, tell me." She said.
"Running out of chakra filling these tags isn't the thing, it's that when I fill these tags and summon the rabbits, i probably wouldn't have enough chakra to enact the ritual. That's when I'll need to you." I said and looked up at Aelira, "But you can put these on the rabbits while I fill them with chakra.." and handed her a chakra filled tag.
Aelira nodded and took the tag and placed it on a nearby rabbit.
Ahh, almost forgot about that.
I formed the Shadow Clone handsign.
Two identical clones appeared beside me.
"That should make filling these up faster, you should two as well." I said and me and my clones immediately went back to filling the tags up with chakra.
The three of us started pouring chakra into the explosive tags one after another.
Unlike normal chakra control exercises, this needed precision.
Too little chakra and the tag wouldn't respond properly to my signal.
Too much and it'd destabilize.
The first few went by quickly.
Then the strain started.
A dull ache behind my eyes.
My coils heating up.
Not dangerous.
Yet.
Aelira moved between the rabbits silently, attaching tags with careful fingers.
She was fast.
Very fast.
Her movements had almost no wasted motion.
Jiraiya noticed too.
"Hmm." He crossed his arms. "You move like someone trained for war."
Aelira didn't stop.
"...My clan didn't have the luxury of peace."
Jiraiya's expression stilled for a moment.
Then he smiled again.
The usual easy smile.
But his eyes sharpened.
"...Yeah."
Silence followed.
Only interrupted by:
Slap.
A rabbit got a tag attached.
Hop.
Moved away.
Another came.
Slap.
Repeat.
Thirty minutes passed.
Then—
"Done." My clone said.
The pile had shrunk massively.
Around eighty rabbits now had explosive tags attached.
I dispelled the clones.
Poof!
Their exhaustion hit instantly.
"...Urgh."
My knees nearly buckled.
Damn.
That was unpleasant.
Aelira immediately looked over.
"You've already used almost half."
I blinked.
"...You can tell?"
She nodded.
"Your chakra feels thinner."
Jiraiya whistled.
"Interesting sensory ability."
I ignored him.
Half.
And I still needed enough for Nue.
This might be close.
Too close.
Jiraiya stepped forward and clapped his hands once.
"Alright, looks like you are set. Take chakra from her and enact our plan boy."
I nodded and before I could turn around, Aelira's hand was already on shoulder, sending her natural chakra slowly into me.
I looked back at her, "Thanks.." I said, slowly.
Aelira nodded her hand and continued sending her chakra, standing up when she realised my chakra coils had around a comfortable amount of chakra, "There, that should be enough for the ritual without straining your choils."
I nodded and stood up, looking around at the rabbits, all tagged and ready for my call, and then at the swamp, "Alright, I guess we should go back a few feet."
"Few?" Jiraiya said and grabbed my shoulder.
"You summon the thing and I'll immediately take you to the edge." He said, gripping my shoulder firmly. And he looked at Aelira, "You are fast enough on your own, be ready."
Aelira nodded.
I looked up at Jiraiya and then at the swamp.
"Well... Here we go."
I put my hands together and did the winged bird sign, focusing my chakra on the middle of the swamp.
A small circle of darkness appeared in the middle of the swamp.
And then it got big.
Veryyyy big.
And then came Nue.
It's giant wings, bigger than swamp, jotted out first. Nearly covering the entire clearing.
And then came it's face human like face, staring.
And then came a deafening screech.
"SCREEEEEEEEEEE!"
Holy fucking shit.
This was much bigger than Megumi's.
Not as big as Sukuna's though.
And before I could think anymore-
We were at the edge of the seal.
"Do it!" Jiraiya yelled, as Aelira also appeared beside us.
Damn, he was fast.
That was just pure speed, no Shunshin.
"Alright!" I yelled and formed the rat sign, as all the rabbits jumped and held onto the trapped nue.
And I channeled chakra.
BOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMM!
All the explosives went off immediately after the first one.
Most of the forest had been destroyed, almost every single tree within a fifty meter radius of Nue uprooted or cracked.
The ground had cracked.
Maybe I put in a little too much chakra...
And suddenly-
Something inside my chakra changed.
Like a new pathway was created.
The smoke cleared, and in the middle-
Nothing but a twenty meter wide crater.