What a chapter! What a story! People we love, people we're scared of, entities we learn to cherish and those we learn to fear in a primal, perhaps primeval manner. Nerding out, dancing around secrets, falling for cognitohazards, falling for 600 feet, making alliances, marrying monsters... Wow.
I need a cigarette.
"Your brother's bloodline is more interesting than I had at first considered."
Eep.
I would have assumed that during your seal training that loon would have explained the difference between correlation and causation.
Well he never turned into a squash after doing the Don't Let Creatures Turn Me Into A Squash dance. Seems to be working.
I had expected better of you, nephew.
Oh he expects good things of us
yay! Supportive family members!
Hazō count had clearly been a little fast because he was at 63 seconds, three more than the jutsu allowed, before Orochimaru emerged from the stone.
Well he's not Ami. Or Orochimaru's not limited to your puny concept of "seconds".
Orochimaru's eyes narrowed. "Do not berate me, boy," he said. At least he said it quietly.
Dumb stinker. At least he learns. Slowly, but he does.
brushing his chakra against it felt like a burn across his brain
Could we get cool sealing abilities from that? We should try. Looking at a sealing scroll helped a little, sure, but having a direct chakra-to-chakra channel to the Great Seal? Mmmmh. Operation Brainscorch, comrades!
"If it did then it would be passing right next to this channel and causing destabilization."
Orochimaru studied the structures Hazō was pointing at for nearly a minute without speaking. Hazō waited patiently.
"It does, and in the process it reverses the localization," Orochimaru said softly. For a wonder, there was wonder in the Sannin's voice. Hazō stared at him for a moment in disbelief, then shook it off and looked back at the stone.
"That can't..." He looked back at the stone. "That...wow."
Orochimaru nodded, his eyes still locked on the Seal before him. "Fifty years and always new wonders to be found," he whispered.
Ooooh 💜 that is so cute actually. Nerding out, together.
"After it passes through that encounter, the infusion would be reduced by half a step and the flow rate retarded, right in time for it to enter this obstumata."
I have no idea what an obstumata is, yet this is such a good word(™) that I find myself compelled to learn it.
I paid for the privilege by getting married.
Marriage is a transitive property, right? We're officially married to two Summon Bosses, two Summoners, of which four only one is a woman, and then we have two girlfriends, one of which is a Summoner. Also one of our husbands is the Boss Summon of our Hokage.
Look all I'm saying is that this quest is quickly nearing Homestuck levels of shipping chart complexity, and
that story had types of relationships best described as "star-heart-horseshoe". We may beat that level of complexity by acknowledging the crush from the sister by metaphysical extension of our sister by adoption, or make it easier by, you know, having
Project: Omnicule come to fruition.
HELL NARAKA YEAH
"You know when the last time was that a pair of Clan leaders got married?"
"...No?"
"Me neither."
Today's theme is: overpowered characters working with us by marrying a spider and admitting what they don't know. Okay,
two isn't a
trend. But it's significant. I find it cool though, that we're on the bleeding edge of new history. Things just... happen around us now.
He studied the Dragons intently for two long minutes, ignoring the pressure in his eyes and the thumping start of a headache at the back of his skull.
Eep.
That was the fleshy one. That was the darkness-shrouded one. That...
Oh.
Oh, how very beautiful.
Oh, oh no. I was scared of that. We're too young to be dowagers!
"No!" Enma cried. "Stay aloft! Go closer! I need to see her better!"
No one survived seeing it a second time.
Eeeeeep. Eep². Eep to the eepth.
"You will obey," he said, infusing a wisp of Power into his voice. "Bring me closer."
Hmm. So either Power is separate from the land, or it's tied to it but a part resides in the Boss. Or the Boss can tap into it, same difference. I'm scared as balls and this is my coping mechanism, analysis and speculation and PLEASEDON'TDIEMISTERMONKEYSIR
Enma stopped clawing at the harness and wrapped his will around the hornet, crushing down with all his rage. "BRING ME TO THE BEAUTY NOW!"
Do not do not do not do not aaaaaaaaaaaaa
Oh, did we ever call them Clan Lords before? Maybe that's a Monkey Clan thing, same as Cannai is the Alpha? Maybe I'm just being weird about denominations idk
The disorientation and fear was enough to jolt all thought of the Dragon out of Enma's head for just long enough that he could recognize what had happened and shore up the walls around his mind. By the time the image resumed he had firm hold of himself and its seductive power glanced off the diamond-hard shield of his will, of his Self.
Phew. That was- that was scary.
They touched the ground in something that was more a controlled crash than a controlled landing, but it was nonetheless a good landing because nothing was broken on Enma.
Any landing you can walk out from, is a good landing.
Enma couldn't help thinking that she had wanted to be here specifically in case he needed to be restrained.
And how terrifying that could have been.
He looked to the hornets and took a knee in front of them. "As the Leader of the Monkey Clan, I apologize to you. My actions were unprovoked and my attack on your clanbrother was criminal. I stand ready to pay whatever weregild you ask."
Oh he's a
classy one.
It's like reading an unfamiliar language that has a few corrupted loan words from your language; you can pick out a word or possibly even a phrase here and there, perhaps guess at a suffix, but the document as a whole is completely opaque.
Note: sealmasters suck at morphology.
