Episode 4.2: Stand Unrivaled
FortePlus
The THRILL from Green Hill
- Location
- Toronto
- Pronouns
- He/Him
You spend a bit more time with Ritsu before Haru comes by to check on you. The four of you eat dinner, where Haru mentions that her meeting with Shisui was uneventful. That sounds like a good thing, considering the potential for chaos. Hannah seems to have a lot on her mind, so you don't bother her too much over your meal. There's a small conversation about what you might have to do at the upcoming meeting, but dinner is quiet for the most part.
Everyone helps clean up before dispersing again to their own activities. Haru keeps watch outside, Hannah goes back to her readings, and Ritsu takes a shot at meditating again. You focus on some chakra control materials and try it out for yourself for the next few hours. After that, sleep.
Tomorrow is a new day.
---
You wake up, stretch, and spend a few minutes doing your routine shadowboxing. Helps keep the mind sharp and your body ready for anything that might come your way. Contrary to popular belief, you actually do follow a set of patterns whenever you take on your invisible "opponent", memorized over a few years and adjustable depending on how you feel when you wake up. On bad days, you upped the intensity a bit in order to clear your head.
Today is Tuesday. Still a fair bit of time before you meet with the leaders of the free world.
You think about training later. Before that, you want to talk with Hannah...but that would be after breakfast. After taking a shower and getting dressed, you head downstairs to the kitchen. Haru and Hikari are already at work, cooking up a traditional meal.
"Sir. Good morning, sir." Hikari turns and salutes as soon as she notices you.
"Morning. Thanks for making us breakfast," you say as you pat her head gently. "I was going to start myself, but I appreciate this."
"Sir. Thank you, sir. It was our honour."
"It was indeed, sir. Good morning," Haru says.
"Morning, Haru." She tilts her head forward slightly and you reach out to stroke her hair. "Good sleep?"
"Yes, sir. Perfectly fine. Do you mind if Hikari and I join you all for breakfast?"
"Not a problem. You guys finish up, I'll have some tea while I wait."
"I'll get you something right away, sir," Haru says. "Hikari, please check if the soup is done."
"Ma'am. Checking soup now."
You hear a yawn as you start to sip at your tea. Hannah glides into the room and seats herself, wearing a flashy looking pink nightgown.
"Morning, princess. Is that silk?" you ask with a smile.
"Indeed it is. Small indulgences must be allowed from time to time...should we completely abandon comfort in favour of professionalism? I think not." She flips her hair and sighs. "A pleasant morning to you, my darling. I trust you slept well."
"Yeah. Easy day yesterday. Ritsu and I had a chat."
"Did you, now. Are things well?"
"Yeah. She's happy, and excited most of all. We're both keeping an eye on her in our own ways, yeah? She's in good hands."
"She is, yes. I sometimes wonder if there are things I miss, and there might be. But with you here, I don't have to worry about a thing. My confidence is far from misplaced," she says with a smile. "Haru, Hikari. Good morning to you both."
"Ma'am. Good morning, ma'am. Breakfast will be ready soon," Hikari says, saluting again.
"Good morning, Lady Kuiper. As my junior has said, breakfast will be ready in a moment's time," Haru says. "Tea while you wait?"
"Yes, please. What Joshua is having, if you would."
"Of course. A moment, please."
"Good morning, everyone."
"Morning, ninja girl. How'd you sleep?" you ask Ritsu as she arrives. She's already dressed for the day.
"Incredibly well. Thank you for staying with me yesterday, sir. I really appreciate it."
"Any time, just ask. Oh, Haru and Hikari are joining us for breakfast."
"The more the merrier," Hannah says. Haru delivers her tea, and she nods her thanks. "You're already dressed, love. Plans for the day?"
"Hikari is going to take me to one of the libraries this morning. I wanted to check into some history from before the Warring States period, specifically on early ninjutsu sects and the proliferation of certain religions, aside from Ninshuu."
"That's the religion the Sage of Six Paths was spreading, yeah?" you ask.
"That's right, sir. Lady Kushina's comments, among other things, really made me think about the possibilities. Many clans that once existed have been wiped out, mainly due to war and genocide. Perhaps looking into their histories might yield some new discoveries we can use to our advantage."
"Sounds good. Hopefully you make a breakthrough, or something similar. If not, we've got time to keep trying."
"Right, sir."
"Sir, ma'ams. Please excuse us. Breakfast is ready now," Hikari announces. She and Haru serve you breakfast. Big bowls of rice, miso soup, and fillets of salmon. There's some sliced sweet melon on the side as well.
You wait for everyone to settle in before saying a quick prayer and eating.
"Good stuff. Thanks again for breakfast," you say to Haru.
"It was no trouble at all, sir. We thought it would be something nice to do for our guests."
"Sir. As senpai said, no trouble at all, sir." Hikari goes back to her rice at that.
"Hannah, you gonna be busy today?" you ask her.
"Not particularly. Did you need something of me, love?"
"Nothing too tiring. Just wanted to check in."
"Of course, it's no trouble at all. I was going to ask you something similar...did you have anything planned for this afternoon?"
"Just training, but I can move it down for you."
"No, no. It's actually perfect. There was something I wanted to show you, and it only makes sense to do it outside in a clear space. Wonderful, I have you to myself for the day."
"Living the dream, eh."
"The sweetest I've ever known," she says with a smile. You chuckle before drinking down some of your tea.
---
After a delicious breakfast, everyone disperses to take care of their own tasks. Hikari heads out on patrol, intending to monitor a few of the exam participants and check for any trouble. The amount of money going around in terms of betting, according to her and Haru, is unprecedented, and as such foul play is a strong possibility. Several of the Leaf agencies including the Military Police are watching things closely. She takes Ritsu to one of the big libraries along her route.
Haru is assigned solely to your area, and barring any other requests, will be on guard for the next few days. She's going to keep watch over you and will check on Ritsu throughout the day.
"Sit, sit."
You do as Hannah says and take a seat on the couch in the living area. As soon as you do so, she leans back and drops her head into your lap, looking at you with a cheeky smile.
"Oi."
"It's fine, isn't it? Hm...about the only thing that could make us closer is you actually seeing me naked," she muses. "But then...that's not much of a jump...we did bathe together already, and that wet towel didn't cover much."
You sigh and roll your eyes. She takes the opportunity to put one of your hands on her warm stomach. The one window to the room is opened, letting in a cool breeze that washes directly over you. It's quiet, with only the sounds of small birds in the distance breaking the silence. You can feel your warmed hand being moved up and down as Hannah breathes softly.
"We should do this more often."
"You mean teasing me?" you ask.
"That much doesn't need a schedule. I mean being like this. Just...really close."
"...we should."
"Does it bother you? That...mm. That we're like this, but not, I suppose, official?"
You shrug. "Nope. It's fine with me. I mean, it is outside what I know for others, but not what I've experienced myself. I have friends back home with different lifestyles."
"You have said as much." She puts a hand over yours, absentmindedly playing with your fingers. "So, was there anything in particular you wanted to talk about?"
"Not really," you say. "Just wanted to know how you've been feeling over the past few days, what you've been thinking."
"Ah, I see. You asked the same of Ritsu last night. I can guess she told you a few things, about our relationship and many things besides. I won't ask you to disclose anything personal, after all, there's no point in an intimate conversation if you talk about it with everyone else. We can be close without having to know every single secret of the other."
"Mm-hm."
"With that in mind, my feelings have been stable over the past few days. Nothing too exciting, nor anything too bad. I am rather intrigued at the prospects before us, not thinking that the Five Kage would involve us so suddenly in their affairs. Actually...perhaps I am excited, in a way. The chance to shift the world like this is something so rare you could only call it providence."
"You think so?"
"I can only say as much based on my experience, but yes. There's quite a lot going on all at once, you know. Being in the middle of all of it is something that only a certain few have experienced. Even Governor-General Mifune, a warrior of the greatest caliber, has yet to impact the world like we are about to. Our words and actions will change the course of history. It makes it sound daunting, and it is. But we can only move forward one step at a time across this fragile, narrow path."
"Any objections? Doubts?"
"Neither," she answers confidently. "I not only believe in myself, but I have you by my side. With that, we can grab hold of the impossible."
"..." You look down at her for a moment. She opens her eyes and nods once before closing them again. As sincere as ever...that was Hannah, and it always would be.
"Ritsu is a bright young woman. She devours information, takes care of herself, and has a firm grasp on her limitations. She is brave, and she is quite strong. Watching her grow is a pleasure second only to being with you."
"Do you think she's doing okay?" you ask.
"More than okay. Actually, I think her growth is beyond the normal curve, even for a trained shinobi. She really might be some sort of genius, though I suspect it has to do with the way we trained her. While we did have her learn the academy standards, there is a...peculiarity with how she took to chakra and training. I wondered if she might have some sort of hidden lineage, but even that wouldn't explain everything. What do you think, Joshua?"
"Hm." You think for a moment, feeling her mesh her fingers with yours in the meantime. "Well, it could be that her experience with chakra is more pure, or something like that. We all have it, but I don't think the original purpose was for techniques per se. Just a feeling, based on people all being born with it, but amounts not being equal. You know?"
"Mm. Perhaps that was one of things that caught her eye. In any case...she does have a different approach to how chakra works and what it is since she's not like us, or anyone we associate with. I wonder briefly if that is one of the keys to changing our world. It very well might be, but we shall see. I am proud of her either way. And of course, our relationship. It's not terribly complicated. We are close...and we do have moments of physical intimacy. But I feel like taking our relationship further, physically speaking, would be wrong, maybe exploitative as it is. It's part of what she wanted, and it does make sense...after all, I led off with kissing her as part of my cover."
"You told me. That was...quite a move, gotta say."
"It felt right at the time. I wanted to give her a measure of comfort, and...it was what my heart told me to do. Granted, I did have other motives, so it wasn't exactly a pure idea, but I thought it would be right. But as of now, I think it's better if we wait before going further. I don't mind it taking a long time. These bonds are more than enough."
"Sometimes when you experience something, you don't want to go back from it," you point out.
"That much is true. It's part of why I want to wait...I don't want us to go down a road that we're unable to turn from. Not before we're both ready. I...I don't want to hurt anyone. Not her, and not you."
"Well...I haven't decided on what type of special relationship I want, if any."
"That's perfectly fine. It doesn't make you any less of a man, or less of a person. Please remember that...after all, greatness does take time."
"Thanks. But I'm guessing you also want to use said time to tie me up."
You hear her laugh gently. "Darling, you know me far, far too well. It's like we're already married!"
"Oh, sheesh."
"I really do adore you, Joshua. I love you so very much, and I'll remind you of that every chance that I get. When you let me into your life, it was a small gesture in the eyes of the world, but something that meant everything to me. Thank you for all of this, and for everything to come."
"Might be messy."
"Surely. But the same sky that gives us the howling wind and pouring rain, also gives us the floating cloud and dazzling sun. For all things work together for good, towards those chosen by heaven. And we are those chosen children."
"Speak truth to power, and power to truth," you mumble.
"Yes."
"Grams said that a long time ago...I guess I understand it better now. We're in position, so you're right. We've been chosen to be great. So let's be great."
"At your pleasure, my love." She smiles from below you and gives your hand a comforting squeeze. "Everything is fine with me, and if there is anything that I can't handle on my own, I will let you know. I promise on my soul."
"Thank you, Hannah. I'll let you know if anything is wrong over here, too. Promise on my soul, too."
"I know you will, darling. Well...I think we're current as of now. How are you doing yourself?" she asks, looking up at you expectantly.
"Keeping my brain going. Potential terrorists are a problem, worse if they're from your hometown and you're about to go into a meeting with the strongest shinobi to tell them that much. No stress other than the usual, though. Haru's been keeping me informed, Hikari's been taking care of you, and both you and Ritsu have been great as always. I don't really have a reason to panic. Not yet, anyways."
"Do you have any plans for what comes next?"
"Nothing predetermined. Feels foolish to do something like that right now, the world might well turn upside down on Thursday morning and we'd be stuck if we committed to any one plan. Even with as much info as we have, we're still playing from behind and have to focus on being reactive as opposed to proactive."
"There is also the chance that things could devolve within the meeting itself."
"That's been in the back of my head all week," you grumble. "Or worse, we have some jackass challenging us in the streets. I wouldn't put it past any of these goons. Right now...they're under the impression that we're arriving or have arrived, which I imagine is part of why Hikari is checking on the kids and Haru is stepping up her patrol efforts."
"Have you given any thought to her?"
"As a new comrade? I'd be lying if I said no, but I'm very sure that Kushina dotes on her for a reason. I have my doubts about us prying her away at all. If you're thinking about someone, Hikari would be good. But I think our group as is works for now. We definitely want to make as many allies as possible, but there's a lot to be gained from a lighter group."
"I see. You don't mind if I personally turn things over, then?"
"Not at all. Use your best judgement."
"Thank you, love."
You nod and pat her stomach gently with your hand. "Right, I was meaning to ask. You've been keeping busy in that reading room lately. Are you working on something?"
"I am. And...it's all intended for you. A time of hard work, dedicated to my darling."
"Is this the thing that you said we needed to be outside for?"
"Mm-hm. Let's talk about that when the time comes. I want to savour this moment with you."
"Heh."
"In a world where we take on deadly work, and every other moment could be our very last...enjoying the finer things in life is a must. From the silk that kisses my skin, to the gentle warmth of your hand...I indulge in all of it, for the appreciation of heaven's gifts is worthy praise."
"You always have a way with words, Hannah."
"Do I..."
"Yeah. Not many people can speak as beautifully as they look," you say with a smile. Her face heats up as she smiles back at you, gripping your hand just a bit tighter. You can feel her heart beating slightly faster.
"And you say that I'm too much."
"I'm not wrong."
"Hm." Her cheeks are still bright and warm as she closes her eyes, relaxing with the smile still on her face. You look out at the fireplace on the far wall, letting your thoughts drift. Memories of your family and friends from the Port filter through your head. There are a lot of things to figure out, a lot of things that you know you now have to change. But home wasn't calling just yet.
Bigger things.
For now...you'll enjoy yourself before the work is set to begin.
---
You stick a kunai into the nearby tree and hang your vest and hat over it. The area near the cabin isn't terribly huge in comparison to other fields, but big enough for proper training sessions. It's out of the way and hidden by the dense tree cover that surrounds the rest of the area.
"Guess we can get started."
Hannah had gone upstairs to get herself properly dressed and to retrieve the scroll she had been writing in for the past week or so. Apparently this was an idea she had in her head for a while, but wasn't sure on how to implement until recently.
"The basics, then. Or shall we get right into the active parts?" she asks you.
"We'll go over everything."
She nods, looking pleased at the answer. "Of course. Then I shall begin." With a flick of her wrist, the lengthy scroll is unfurled on the ground beside you. You look down at it, noting all the formulas used and rejected in the search for the perfect one. A lot of work filters down into one technique, with differing parameters set for use.
"When I said this project was focused on you, I meant it. The day I saw your extraordinary ability, the idea formed in my head. It's a simple enough conclusion...elite shinobi have the ability to go fast, and the legends possess speed. It is something that's a part of them. Quickness, reflexes, agility, acceleration, and so on. All of these together are what makes one the fastest. In the case of the Fourth Hokage and Fourth Raikage, they each have different approaches to their speed and how it is used. Natural talent, as in natural speed, is a given. So what brings these things to a level that nobody else can reach? Chakra."
"Not just chakra boosting, then. Chakra as...a tool, more than simply as a lethal weapon."
"Yes, yes. You understand, as always. Most shinobi use their natural physical ability, combined with chakra boosting, and then add attacks into the mix. But those two use chakra to maximize the use of their supplemental abilities, and then use their speed to exploit those techniques. Natural speed and reflexes make Hiraishin a technique to be feared, not because of the ability to be anywhere at once, but the ability to both be and do anything, anywhere at once. The Lightning Release Chakra Mode is something that provides a high amount of neurostimulation, boosting the user's physical and mental limits. While that is fine enough for most, the addition of peak physical condition and already high natural speed makes this something that replaces the need for most, if not all, techniques. It's all purpose, durable, and reliable. You control your own destiny."
"So you've been working on something that surpasses the two."
She shakes her head. "Not in that manner. These things are not opposed to one another. But I mentioned the chakra mode as an example, not as something you will need to use or consider at this time."
"So, a supplementary technique, but one that allows the user to demonstrate incredible control over their movement," you conclude. "Something like that?"
"Yes."
"Okay." You put your hands on your hips and think. "From what I can see, you want to use the fundamentals derived from Hiraishin, which is the Fourth Hokage's signature technique."
"A technique that he inherited from the Second Hokage. It saw extensive use from him as a jounin. This was the power behind the Miracle at Kannabi. The technique uses a formula, a seal that is placed on a target. This means that one can tag their target or targets with the seal, then teleport - rather, travel through a dimensional void - to the point where the seals are, within three dimensional space. You can move towards or away from targets at any time that you please."
"And Minato applied the technique to kunai, allowing him to also move through three dimensional space at any time that he chose. This cut down on application time and chakra usage. We can also assume, because of the nature built into the name, that Hiraishin allows its users to appear on paths within the vicinity of the seals, and not necessarily on top of them. Meaning you can apply a seal to someone's front, but you're allowed to attack from their back. Some of the edge cases and disadvantageous situations are solved by additional abilities like sensing."
"Very good. That is in line with what I researched. The technique is difficult to pick up and even harder to master. Keep in mind that the two known and most prominent users were both sensor type shinobi of a high caliber," Hannah says. "Many people tend to leave out details like that when they speak about jutsu and ease of use."
"Being able to mark opponents without the need for direct visuals completely changes the scope of the technique. You're totally right, which is why it makes sense that we haven't seen the popularity of the technique explode since the Third War. Chakra based techniques differ from user group to user group, and within those groups, from user to user."
"Chakra in general is a subject that many people have spent their lifetimes on without fully understanding, because of the individualistic nature of it. There is no true universal path or catch-all because of the way that chakra is generated, which is from within. The energies used to make it come from outside and can be manipulated by external forces, yes, but the generated chakra itself is highly specialized and individual. Two persons can learn a fireball technique, but I know for a fact that if there was an observation of their chakra pathways at the same time, there would be significant differences in those persons."
"Chakra is affected by genetic coding, you think?"
"I feel it is a fact. Something so closely tied to physical state must be affected by it."
"Huh. That's...I didn't even think of it like that," you admit. "But it makes sense. Learned something new today!"
"I'm happy to help," she says with a smile.
"We got off topic though, sorry about that. Before, it was...Hiraishin and the movement through three-dimensional space. Unfortunately, I'm not a sensor type so I can't use something like that to its fullest. In that case, a great thing for me would be the chakra mode that the Raikage uses. But...you said not to consider that, and to focus on the fundamentals of Hiraishin. We're headed into space-time manipulation, then?"
"Yes, darling. Correct as always. Let's consider how the given technique works. It is functionally similar to the summoning technique. There, you offer blood, make the appropriate seals, apply your hand to a surface if necessary, the formula is generated, and then the summon is called through a dimensional void to your location. It is the same in that the lightning, which is the summoned object, is called to the rod, which is the technique formula."
"So as far as Hiraishin is concerned...the lightning bolt is the person, and the rod is the formula. What are you proposing, Hannah?"
She steps closer and looks directly at you, violet eyes sparkling.
"I propose that you grab hold of the power of heaven itself."
"How?" you ask, incredibly curious.
"A bolt of light, moved by the strength of a chosen saint, needs not obey the laws of nature. We remove the need for a rod to strike at. We give total control to those who would become the light." She makes a seal with one hand. "The Seal of Confrontation, commonly called the half-tiger seal. Thumb and first two fingers up, the rest down. You know this already. Now, what is the alternative you use?"
"This one. If it's a half seal, it makes sense to have it in combat position...that's what Gramps saw as the ideal." You hold your arm out in front of you and make the same seal as Hannah, then curl your thumb and fingers inwards, making a claw shape.
"Ah...the knuckles. I see," she says as she makes the same shape with her hand, jabbing at the air afterwards. "Noted. Though this is just a guiding action for now, you should be able to focus on your own afterwards and put your hands in whatever position you so choose. Now, remember that you travel through a dimensional void to reach a given position. Do you see the formula I've written near the bottom? Copy that first and get familiar."
"Right." You remember the stories about Tobirama performing the Water Dragon technique with a single seal. It was an example of seal compression, and that required that you had the original sealing method down in the first place, or something like it. Obviously not everyone was capable of doing what Tobirama did, but your grandfather was one of the few. He developed a system of seals that you hadn't gotten all the way into, but it worked by compressing and shortening a lot of things by way of different methods of seals. You wonder briefly if that was what Kushina was talking about on the night of Naruto's birth, or it was something completely different.
You finish copying the formula, then lock it in and have your seal ready. It takes a few minutes to get right, but you get it.
"Good. Now, I've been observing you for reasons other than the obvious," she says with a wink, "so I know how you work and what your strengths are. You have an incredible amount of chakra, and it's extremely potent in ways that I can't replicate. Your strength is amazing as well, you have your speed, naturally, and lastly you have a beautiful, brilliant mind to bring it all together. This is about brute force combined with perception. Your wheelhouse."
"Hold on, I don't quite get it," you say to her. "How is this going to work?"
"We remove the lightning rod. You will make your own way. Focus...and activate the technique. We'll start at perhaps fifty meters. Focus on my general area, that is, where you want to go. Then, accelerate. And I do mean accelerate, put your back into the launch speed required for this first go. Keep your legs moving, please do not stop for any reason, whether it be pain, fear, anything. You have to move until you reach me. Understood?"
"Understood."
"Good. Be careful, my love. I'll be waiting over on the other side."
You nod and start to stretch your limbs. Hannah walks to her spot and stands in place, looking at you hopefully. You wonder why she didn't just do a demonstration, but it's not a big deal. You trust her, after all.
Right. Time to get it done.
You make the seal from before and go into a crouch, pushing energy into your legs and feet as you get ready to take off. At the same time, you focus on the area near Hannah...and that's when your perception starts to change. There's a faint circle in the space beside her, then the faint circle brightens into a dull glow. Smaller circles begin to ripple outwards from the center, and something in your mind clicks before the circle flashes brightly. You launch yourself forward towards the circle and feel the entire world around you change.
A torrent of multicoloured light bursts out from the circle and towards you, surrounding you as you run and creating a moving, shifting tunnel. There's an intense pressure against your body all of a sudden, and you have to grit your teeth and tense your muscles. There's pain, then there's even more pressure and an incredible friction that heats you up to the point where you can see trails of smoke coming from your skin. But you remember Hannah's stern words: do not stop for anything.
You surge more chakra through your body and the pain lessens significantly. A strong force slams into you as you hit the end of the rainbow-lit tunnel, but you keep your legs moving and adjust quickly to blast through it and to the other side. Your momentum carries you back into what you see as the real world, and you slide to a stop several feet past Hannah.
That was an experience and then some.
You relax and hunch over, putting your hands on your knees as you catch your breath. You can see the smoke faintly rising from your arms before it disappears completely.
"Yes...of course you would make it work."
"Hannah..."
She crouches down to meet you, placing her hands on either side of your head.
"You have no idea...just how incredible you are, Joshua West. It will take you a while, because of your nature. But you are everything."
"..." You feel absolutely unworthy of it, the look she's giving you. Her smile is soft and subdued, but her eyes look at you with an amount of pride and admiration that you had never experienced before.
You find yourself blushing as she stares into you, silently.
"I...I'm not..."
"You are. And I love you for it. Do you see why I chose you? This is the strength of heaven itself, and only you are fit to wield it."
She leans forward and kisses you gently on the forehead before standing up.
"This is your strength. Amenozenshin."
"I see...Celestial Advance," you repeat.
"Yes, it is so. Come, my love. You've done enough for one day."
"I haven't," you say firmly. "Not yet."
Hannah stands in place for a moment, surprised. She observes you for about a minute, debating within herself, before nodding and returning to the place where she was before.
"Then...again. Remember my words."
"I will, Hannah." You get into your position, focus, and crouch. Flood your body with chakra. The circle is painted a fraction of a fraction of a second faster, and your resulting increase is so tiny that it probably couldn't be measured with advanced instruments.
But when time and space can be forced open at your will, you notice everything.
You're getting better with it.
You wipe your brow free of sweat and laugh as you get back into your position. Hannah watches you with interest as you take your stance and go again, into and through the rainbow tunnel, past the wall of force and into a shorter skid than before. There's so much you can do with this move, but for now you'll work on getting the basics down. Adjusting the amount of momentum upon your exit from the dimensional lane was one of the first steps.
And after that...the world could very well be yours.
---
You add in a fail-safe with Hannah's help. It means that normally you have to have a certain amount of chakra stocked before the technique will activate, so that you don't get trapped in the middle of your dimensional laneway. While this isn't too much of a concern due to your reserves, you can never be too careful. Much like Hiraishin, the chakra use increases if you're moving extra passengers. As long as you're moving, the other person or people with you are safe from harm within the field.
The acceleration requirements aren't as steep as you assumed, but still will take some getting used to. Your goal is to be able to accelerate into the technique from any stance, but you're fine with starting from a low position and shooting forward for the time being. The best speed based abilities leave zero tells, which is always fun for your opponents who need to guess what you're doing next. All of that will come with time, since you've already gotten a lot done in the space of a day. You try connecting two points without the fail-safe active, which doesn't result in anything other than a failure to launch since you can't lock in right away. You can fix that later.
Hannah tells you that the activation is fast; the time between lock on and arrival isn't bad and you've been getting much quicker with it. With the momentum adjustments coming out of the warp, you can react and attack or make an extra move immediately. You do things like teleport to a distant tree before bouncing off at speed, or going into the air and coming down, or starting in the air and shooting down towards the ground before anyone can react. Hannah says that without extra abilities, she has a hard time reacting to where you end up, since any space within your line of sight is available to move to. High speed visual processing is one of your boons, and this technique makes great use of it. Even with all of that, the technique can still evolve. She says the technique is completed as is, but there are upgrades possible that she wants to work on. You know what she's thinking of, but have no clue on how she'll pull it off for you to use. You'll have to see.
Eventually it hits late afternoon, going into evening. Lunch is long gone, and you're actually tired.
"Rest a while, darling. I'll take care of dinner for us."
"Alright. See you in a bit." You head upstairs and take a soak in the tub, feeling the ache of your muscles fade away in the water. It gets so comfortable that you fall asleep.
"You're going to wrinkle up in there."
"Hm...?" You yawn and rub your eyes briefly. "Sorry, I dozed off."
Hannah smiles and nods. "Not a problem. Ritsu is home now, so we're having dinner together with Haru. Come down when you're ready."
"Yeah. I won't take long."
She gives you another nod and leaves you alone. With a grunt you get out of the tub and drain it properly, then give it a good scrub before getting dressed. You head back downstairs and see the girls sitting around the table.
There's a lot of food on the table. You are very pleased. And hungry.
"I hope you don't mind, sir. We decided on take out today."
"Not at all, not at all," you say, trying not to salivate. "It smells nice."
"The lion's share is meant for you, darling. Go ahead and eat, you've worked very hard today," Hannah says.
"Any other day, I'd object. But I'm starved right now..." Ritsu hands you a full plate and you dig in right away, sticking your fork into a piece of barbeque chicken and biting into it. "Ish goot. Berry lavorf. Srry for manner. Lishis."
"Enjoy, sir. You did well today."
You chew and swallow before answering Ritsu. "Mm. She told you already."
"Yes, sir. But I don't want to interrupt. Please eat."
"Mmph. 'Kay."
The girls start on their own plates while you chow down. Home cooking was the best, but this isn't bad either. At least nobody will have to worry about cleaning the kitchen tonight. You're so focused on eating that you don't pay much attention to the conversations going on, but if they need you they can call for you.
"...is that so."
"Unfortunately, yes. He wants you to..."
"Is that a good idea?"
"It's not particularly...there are...reasons."
"Could we present it as...like that?"
"How fair would that be, though?"
"We can always ask."
"Hrm." You savour your ribs and lick some of the excess sauce from your thumb.
"Joshua, sir? We have something to ask...if you're not too tired from the day," Ritsu says.
"I'm not. Ask away," you say reassuringly as you wipe your mouth.
"Thank you. We're...at an impasse, sir. Lord Jiraiya, along with the Honoured Third, want to meet with Hannah tomorrow night before the Five Kage meeting, if possible. This is according to Haru."
"Lady Kushina...rather reluctantly passed on the message to me earlier today," Haru says. You can't see her face as always, but her voice is bothered. Wait...
Oh. Uh oh.
"You realize it too."
"Ah...him," you mutter. Nekobaa warned you about this very thing. "Why Hannah alone?"
"I received no report as to why, but there may be...certain motives," Haru says, unsubtly.
"It's becoming clear that I shouldn't go alone," Hannah says. "But we may want to hold onto at least some of our cards. I can handle a round of intimidation or two, don't you worry."
"Nekobaa said back in the Sky Ward that it'd be unwise to leave you in close quarters alone with Jiraiya of the Three. I can guess why, and I'm sure Haru knows. Probably has a lot to do with discomfort..."
"To say the least of it," Haru mumbles.
"A couple, then?" Ritsu says.
"A couple! It might work. Throwing them off balance, sussing out their motives. And a convenient excuse to go on a date!" Hannah says happily.
"Couple...date...hmm." You drum your fingers on the table.
"You're allowed to back out, just so you know," Haru says. "But if you do go, I recommend it be together."
"Probably...hm."
---
[] A Wednesday night meeting all of a sudden...well, what will you do about it?
-[] Originally, the call is for Hannah to go alone. You trust her ability, so let it happen.
-[] Nekobaa's words are ringing in your head. You should attend with Hannah, just to be safe. Really safe.
-[] Suggest that Hannah decline. But the invitation is addressed to her, so it's ultimately her call in the end.
-[] Custom option.
---
[] Tuesday night:
-[] Talk to Haru. She's a very sweet person, and you wouldn't mind getting to know her a bit better.
-[] Talk to Hikari. She's a good kid, and you'd like to see her relax a bit. Maybe talking would help.
-[] Hang out with Hannah and Ritsu. It's a good way to relax after a long day.
-[] Sleep. You're bushed after working on that crazy new technique.
-[] Custom option.
---
[] Wednesday:
-[] Talk to Hannah. You feel closer to her after the previous day, and you might have an idea for her on your side.
-[] Talk to Ritsu again. You really like spending time with her, and there's something you wanted to ask her about.
-[] Maybe have a group meeting. You could try talking things through to make sure you're all on the same page. Plus, it's a good way to bond.
-[] Training. There's a safe area not far from the cabin where you can get some stuff done. (Roll d100 to train any stat that is already at 10, with a bonus technique to be added later. 50 is the threshold. Level of success is determined by final total, divided into four sections from rank A-D. S is 100-90, A is 90-80, B is 80-70, C is 70-60, D is 60-50. Voters can choose techniques in the appropriate zones or leave it to QM decision.)
--[] Custom schedule. You have a few hours left in the day (write in).
--[] Training day. Increase your physical stats. Get +1 to any stat of your choosing that is not at 10. Roll d100 to train stats already at 10.
--[] Research day. Improve your current abilities or create new ones.
---[] Improve a non-taijutsu technique by one level, unlock a new form of one non-taijutsu technique, or gain one element level.
---[] Create the basis of a new technique to be finished later.
----[] Train alone.
----[] Train with a friend or two. Your companions will gain at the same rate as you where applicable, and there may be bonuses that come along with them.
-----[] Hannah
-----[] Ritsu
[] Relax until the next event. You don't need to do much right now.
[] Custom (write in).
---
It's currently Tuesday evening at dinner. The new meeting is on Wednesday night, and shouldn't run terribly late since Hiruzen has to be at the Five Kage meeting himself. Wednesday is 24+ hours to the larger event. Haru will give you details in the morning, but it won't interrupt any of your plans as usual. You're free to choose as many options as you want and the time put into each.
Also you can suggest lorejust don't expect me to get to it in a timely manner.
---
You have 1 stat point to distribute.
You've acquired a new technique: Celestial Advance (Amenozenshin) - A space-time migration art, developed and customized by Hannah Kuiper for use by Joshua West.
Everyone helps clean up before dispersing again to their own activities. Haru keeps watch outside, Hannah goes back to her readings, and Ritsu takes a shot at meditating again. You focus on some chakra control materials and try it out for yourself for the next few hours. After that, sleep.
Tomorrow is a new day.
---
You wake up, stretch, and spend a few minutes doing your routine shadowboxing. Helps keep the mind sharp and your body ready for anything that might come your way. Contrary to popular belief, you actually do follow a set of patterns whenever you take on your invisible "opponent", memorized over a few years and adjustable depending on how you feel when you wake up. On bad days, you upped the intensity a bit in order to clear your head.
Today is Tuesday. Still a fair bit of time before you meet with the leaders of the free world.
You think about training later. Before that, you want to talk with Hannah...but that would be after breakfast. After taking a shower and getting dressed, you head downstairs to the kitchen. Haru and Hikari are already at work, cooking up a traditional meal.
"Sir. Good morning, sir." Hikari turns and salutes as soon as she notices you.
"Morning. Thanks for making us breakfast," you say as you pat her head gently. "I was going to start myself, but I appreciate this."
"Sir. Thank you, sir. It was our honour."
"It was indeed, sir. Good morning," Haru says.
"Morning, Haru." She tilts her head forward slightly and you reach out to stroke her hair. "Good sleep?"
"Yes, sir. Perfectly fine. Do you mind if Hikari and I join you all for breakfast?"
"Not a problem. You guys finish up, I'll have some tea while I wait."
"I'll get you something right away, sir," Haru says. "Hikari, please check if the soup is done."
"Ma'am. Checking soup now."
You hear a yawn as you start to sip at your tea. Hannah glides into the room and seats herself, wearing a flashy looking pink nightgown.
"Morning, princess. Is that silk?" you ask with a smile.
"Indeed it is. Small indulgences must be allowed from time to time...should we completely abandon comfort in favour of professionalism? I think not." She flips her hair and sighs. "A pleasant morning to you, my darling. I trust you slept well."
"Yeah. Easy day yesterday. Ritsu and I had a chat."
"Did you, now. Are things well?"
"Yeah. She's happy, and excited most of all. We're both keeping an eye on her in our own ways, yeah? She's in good hands."
"She is, yes. I sometimes wonder if there are things I miss, and there might be. But with you here, I don't have to worry about a thing. My confidence is far from misplaced," she says with a smile. "Haru, Hikari. Good morning to you both."
"Ma'am. Good morning, ma'am. Breakfast will be ready soon," Hikari says, saluting again.
"Good morning, Lady Kuiper. As my junior has said, breakfast will be ready in a moment's time," Haru says. "Tea while you wait?"
"Yes, please. What Joshua is having, if you would."
"Of course. A moment, please."
"Good morning, everyone."
"Morning, ninja girl. How'd you sleep?" you ask Ritsu as she arrives. She's already dressed for the day.
"Incredibly well. Thank you for staying with me yesterday, sir. I really appreciate it."
"Any time, just ask. Oh, Haru and Hikari are joining us for breakfast."
"The more the merrier," Hannah says. Haru delivers her tea, and she nods her thanks. "You're already dressed, love. Plans for the day?"
"Hikari is going to take me to one of the libraries this morning. I wanted to check into some history from before the Warring States period, specifically on early ninjutsu sects and the proliferation of certain religions, aside from Ninshuu."
"That's the religion the Sage of Six Paths was spreading, yeah?" you ask.
"That's right, sir. Lady Kushina's comments, among other things, really made me think about the possibilities. Many clans that once existed have been wiped out, mainly due to war and genocide. Perhaps looking into their histories might yield some new discoveries we can use to our advantage."
"Sounds good. Hopefully you make a breakthrough, or something similar. If not, we've got time to keep trying."
"Right, sir."
"Sir, ma'ams. Please excuse us. Breakfast is ready now," Hikari announces. She and Haru serve you breakfast. Big bowls of rice, miso soup, and fillets of salmon. There's some sliced sweet melon on the side as well.
You wait for everyone to settle in before saying a quick prayer and eating.
"Good stuff. Thanks again for breakfast," you say to Haru.
"It was no trouble at all, sir. We thought it would be something nice to do for our guests."
"Sir. As senpai said, no trouble at all, sir." Hikari goes back to her rice at that.
"Hannah, you gonna be busy today?" you ask her.
"Not particularly. Did you need something of me, love?"
"Nothing too tiring. Just wanted to check in."
"Of course, it's no trouble at all. I was going to ask you something similar...did you have anything planned for this afternoon?"
"Just training, but I can move it down for you."
"No, no. It's actually perfect. There was something I wanted to show you, and it only makes sense to do it outside in a clear space. Wonderful, I have you to myself for the day."
"Living the dream, eh."
"The sweetest I've ever known," she says with a smile. You chuckle before drinking down some of your tea.
---
After a delicious breakfast, everyone disperses to take care of their own tasks. Hikari heads out on patrol, intending to monitor a few of the exam participants and check for any trouble. The amount of money going around in terms of betting, according to her and Haru, is unprecedented, and as such foul play is a strong possibility. Several of the Leaf agencies including the Military Police are watching things closely. She takes Ritsu to one of the big libraries along her route.
Haru is assigned solely to your area, and barring any other requests, will be on guard for the next few days. She's going to keep watch over you and will check on Ritsu throughout the day.
"Sit, sit."
You do as Hannah says and take a seat on the couch in the living area. As soon as you do so, she leans back and drops her head into your lap, looking at you with a cheeky smile.
"Oi."
"It's fine, isn't it? Hm...about the only thing that could make us closer is you actually seeing me naked," she muses. "But then...that's not much of a jump...we did bathe together already, and that wet towel didn't cover much."
You sigh and roll your eyes. She takes the opportunity to put one of your hands on her warm stomach. The one window to the room is opened, letting in a cool breeze that washes directly over you. It's quiet, with only the sounds of small birds in the distance breaking the silence. You can feel your warmed hand being moved up and down as Hannah breathes softly.
"We should do this more often."
"You mean teasing me?" you ask.
"That much doesn't need a schedule. I mean being like this. Just...really close."
"...we should."
"Does it bother you? That...mm. That we're like this, but not, I suppose, official?"
You shrug. "Nope. It's fine with me. I mean, it is outside what I know for others, but not what I've experienced myself. I have friends back home with different lifestyles."
"You have said as much." She puts a hand over yours, absentmindedly playing with your fingers. "So, was there anything in particular you wanted to talk about?"
"Not really," you say. "Just wanted to know how you've been feeling over the past few days, what you've been thinking."
"Ah, I see. You asked the same of Ritsu last night. I can guess she told you a few things, about our relationship and many things besides. I won't ask you to disclose anything personal, after all, there's no point in an intimate conversation if you talk about it with everyone else. We can be close without having to know every single secret of the other."
"Mm-hm."
"With that in mind, my feelings have been stable over the past few days. Nothing too exciting, nor anything too bad. I am rather intrigued at the prospects before us, not thinking that the Five Kage would involve us so suddenly in their affairs. Actually...perhaps I am excited, in a way. The chance to shift the world like this is something so rare you could only call it providence."
"You think so?"
"I can only say as much based on my experience, but yes. There's quite a lot going on all at once, you know. Being in the middle of all of it is something that only a certain few have experienced. Even Governor-General Mifune, a warrior of the greatest caliber, has yet to impact the world like we are about to. Our words and actions will change the course of history. It makes it sound daunting, and it is. But we can only move forward one step at a time across this fragile, narrow path."
"Any objections? Doubts?"
"Neither," she answers confidently. "I not only believe in myself, but I have you by my side. With that, we can grab hold of the impossible."
"..." You look down at her for a moment. She opens her eyes and nods once before closing them again. As sincere as ever...that was Hannah, and it always would be.
"Ritsu is a bright young woman. She devours information, takes care of herself, and has a firm grasp on her limitations. She is brave, and she is quite strong. Watching her grow is a pleasure second only to being with you."
"Do you think she's doing okay?" you ask.
"More than okay. Actually, I think her growth is beyond the normal curve, even for a trained shinobi. She really might be some sort of genius, though I suspect it has to do with the way we trained her. While we did have her learn the academy standards, there is a...peculiarity with how she took to chakra and training. I wondered if she might have some sort of hidden lineage, but even that wouldn't explain everything. What do you think, Joshua?"
"Hm." You think for a moment, feeling her mesh her fingers with yours in the meantime. "Well, it could be that her experience with chakra is more pure, or something like that. We all have it, but I don't think the original purpose was for techniques per se. Just a feeling, based on people all being born with it, but amounts not being equal. You know?"
"Mm. Perhaps that was one of things that caught her eye. In any case...she does have a different approach to how chakra works and what it is since she's not like us, or anyone we associate with. I wonder briefly if that is one of the keys to changing our world. It very well might be, but we shall see. I am proud of her either way. And of course, our relationship. It's not terribly complicated. We are close...and we do have moments of physical intimacy. But I feel like taking our relationship further, physically speaking, would be wrong, maybe exploitative as it is. It's part of what she wanted, and it does make sense...after all, I led off with kissing her as part of my cover."
"You told me. That was...quite a move, gotta say."
"It felt right at the time. I wanted to give her a measure of comfort, and...it was what my heart told me to do. Granted, I did have other motives, so it wasn't exactly a pure idea, but I thought it would be right. But as of now, I think it's better if we wait before going further. I don't mind it taking a long time. These bonds are more than enough."
"Sometimes when you experience something, you don't want to go back from it," you point out.
"That much is true. It's part of why I want to wait...I don't want us to go down a road that we're unable to turn from. Not before we're both ready. I...I don't want to hurt anyone. Not her, and not you."
"Well...I haven't decided on what type of special relationship I want, if any."
"That's perfectly fine. It doesn't make you any less of a man, or less of a person. Please remember that...after all, greatness does take time."
"Thanks. But I'm guessing you also want to use said time to tie me up."
You hear her laugh gently. "Darling, you know me far, far too well. It's like we're already married!"
"Oh, sheesh."
"I really do adore you, Joshua. I love you so very much, and I'll remind you of that every chance that I get. When you let me into your life, it was a small gesture in the eyes of the world, but something that meant everything to me. Thank you for all of this, and for everything to come."
"Might be messy."
"Surely. But the same sky that gives us the howling wind and pouring rain, also gives us the floating cloud and dazzling sun. For all things work together for good, towards those chosen by heaven. And we are those chosen children."
"Speak truth to power, and power to truth," you mumble.
"Yes."
"Grams said that a long time ago...I guess I understand it better now. We're in position, so you're right. We've been chosen to be great. So let's be great."
"At your pleasure, my love." She smiles from below you and gives your hand a comforting squeeze. "Everything is fine with me, and if there is anything that I can't handle on my own, I will let you know. I promise on my soul."
"Thank you, Hannah. I'll let you know if anything is wrong over here, too. Promise on my soul, too."
"I know you will, darling. Well...I think we're current as of now. How are you doing yourself?" she asks, looking up at you expectantly.
"Keeping my brain going. Potential terrorists are a problem, worse if they're from your hometown and you're about to go into a meeting with the strongest shinobi to tell them that much. No stress other than the usual, though. Haru's been keeping me informed, Hikari's been taking care of you, and both you and Ritsu have been great as always. I don't really have a reason to panic. Not yet, anyways."
"Do you have any plans for what comes next?"
"Nothing predetermined. Feels foolish to do something like that right now, the world might well turn upside down on Thursday morning and we'd be stuck if we committed to any one plan. Even with as much info as we have, we're still playing from behind and have to focus on being reactive as opposed to proactive."
"There is also the chance that things could devolve within the meeting itself."
"That's been in the back of my head all week," you grumble. "Or worse, we have some jackass challenging us in the streets. I wouldn't put it past any of these goons. Right now...they're under the impression that we're arriving or have arrived, which I imagine is part of why Hikari is checking on the kids and Haru is stepping up her patrol efforts."
"Have you given any thought to her?"
"As a new comrade? I'd be lying if I said no, but I'm very sure that Kushina dotes on her for a reason. I have my doubts about us prying her away at all. If you're thinking about someone, Hikari would be good. But I think our group as is works for now. We definitely want to make as many allies as possible, but there's a lot to be gained from a lighter group."
"I see. You don't mind if I personally turn things over, then?"
"Not at all. Use your best judgement."
"Thank you, love."
You nod and pat her stomach gently with your hand. "Right, I was meaning to ask. You've been keeping busy in that reading room lately. Are you working on something?"
"I am. And...it's all intended for you. A time of hard work, dedicated to my darling."
"Is this the thing that you said we needed to be outside for?"
"Mm-hm. Let's talk about that when the time comes. I want to savour this moment with you."
"Heh."
"In a world where we take on deadly work, and every other moment could be our very last...enjoying the finer things in life is a must. From the silk that kisses my skin, to the gentle warmth of your hand...I indulge in all of it, for the appreciation of heaven's gifts is worthy praise."
"You always have a way with words, Hannah."
"Do I..."
"Yeah. Not many people can speak as beautifully as they look," you say with a smile. Her face heats up as she smiles back at you, gripping your hand just a bit tighter. You can feel her heart beating slightly faster.
"And you say that I'm too much."
"I'm not wrong."
"Hm." Her cheeks are still bright and warm as she closes her eyes, relaxing with the smile still on her face. You look out at the fireplace on the far wall, letting your thoughts drift. Memories of your family and friends from the Port filter through your head. There are a lot of things to figure out, a lot of things that you know you now have to change. But home wasn't calling just yet.
Bigger things.
For now...you'll enjoy yourself before the work is set to begin.
---
You stick a kunai into the nearby tree and hang your vest and hat over it. The area near the cabin isn't terribly huge in comparison to other fields, but big enough for proper training sessions. It's out of the way and hidden by the dense tree cover that surrounds the rest of the area.
"Guess we can get started."
Hannah had gone upstairs to get herself properly dressed and to retrieve the scroll she had been writing in for the past week or so. Apparently this was an idea she had in her head for a while, but wasn't sure on how to implement until recently.
"The basics, then. Or shall we get right into the active parts?" she asks you.
"We'll go over everything."
She nods, looking pleased at the answer. "Of course. Then I shall begin." With a flick of her wrist, the lengthy scroll is unfurled on the ground beside you. You look down at it, noting all the formulas used and rejected in the search for the perfect one. A lot of work filters down into one technique, with differing parameters set for use.
"When I said this project was focused on you, I meant it. The day I saw your extraordinary ability, the idea formed in my head. It's a simple enough conclusion...elite shinobi have the ability to go fast, and the legends possess speed. It is something that's a part of them. Quickness, reflexes, agility, acceleration, and so on. All of these together are what makes one the fastest. In the case of the Fourth Hokage and Fourth Raikage, they each have different approaches to their speed and how it is used. Natural talent, as in natural speed, is a given. So what brings these things to a level that nobody else can reach? Chakra."
"Not just chakra boosting, then. Chakra as...a tool, more than simply as a lethal weapon."
"Yes, yes. You understand, as always. Most shinobi use their natural physical ability, combined with chakra boosting, and then add attacks into the mix. But those two use chakra to maximize the use of their supplemental abilities, and then use their speed to exploit those techniques. Natural speed and reflexes make Hiraishin a technique to be feared, not because of the ability to be anywhere at once, but the ability to both be and do anything, anywhere at once. The Lightning Release Chakra Mode is something that provides a high amount of neurostimulation, boosting the user's physical and mental limits. While that is fine enough for most, the addition of peak physical condition and already high natural speed makes this something that replaces the need for most, if not all, techniques. It's all purpose, durable, and reliable. You control your own destiny."
"So you've been working on something that surpasses the two."
She shakes her head. "Not in that manner. These things are not opposed to one another. But I mentioned the chakra mode as an example, not as something you will need to use or consider at this time."
"So, a supplementary technique, but one that allows the user to demonstrate incredible control over their movement," you conclude. "Something like that?"
"Yes."
"Okay." You put your hands on your hips and think. "From what I can see, you want to use the fundamentals derived from Hiraishin, which is the Fourth Hokage's signature technique."
"A technique that he inherited from the Second Hokage. It saw extensive use from him as a jounin. This was the power behind the Miracle at Kannabi. The technique uses a formula, a seal that is placed on a target. This means that one can tag their target or targets with the seal, then teleport - rather, travel through a dimensional void - to the point where the seals are, within three dimensional space. You can move towards or away from targets at any time that you please."
"And Minato applied the technique to kunai, allowing him to also move through three dimensional space at any time that he chose. This cut down on application time and chakra usage. We can also assume, because of the nature built into the name, that Hiraishin allows its users to appear on paths within the vicinity of the seals, and not necessarily on top of them. Meaning you can apply a seal to someone's front, but you're allowed to attack from their back. Some of the edge cases and disadvantageous situations are solved by additional abilities like sensing."
"Very good. That is in line with what I researched. The technique is difficult to pick up and even harder to master. Keep in mind that the two known and most prominent users were both sensor type shinobi of a high caliber," Hannah says. "Many people tend to leave out details like that when they speak about jutsu and ease of use."
"Being able to mark opponents without the need for direct visuals completely changes the scope of the technique. You're totally right, which is why it makes sense that we haven't seen the popularity of the technique explode since the Third War. Chakra based techniques differ from user group to user group, and within those groups, from user to user."
"Chakra in general is a subject that many people have spent their lifetimes on without fully understanding, because of the individualistic nature of it. There is no true universal path or catch-all because of the way that chakra is generated, which is from within. The energies used to make it come from outside and can be manipulated by external forces, yes, but the generated chakra itself is highly specialized and individual. Two persons can learn a fireball technique, but I know for a fact that if there was an observation of their chakra pathways at the same time, there would be significant differences in those persons."
"Chakra is affected by genetic coding, you think?"
"I feel it is a fact. Something so closely tied to physical state must be affected by it."
"Huh. That's...I didn't even think of it like that," you admit. "But it makes sense. Learned something new today!"
"I'm happy to help," she says with a smile.
"We got off topic though, sorry about that. Before, it was...Hiraishin and the movement through three-dimensional space. Unfortunately, I'm not a sensor type so I can't use something like that to its fullest. In that case, a great thing for me would be the chakra mode that the Raikage uses. But...you said not to consider that, and to focus on the fundamentals of Hiraishin. We're headed into space-time manipulation, then?"
"Yes, darling. Correct as always. Let's consider how the given technique works. It is functionally similar to the summoning technique. There, you offer blood, make the appropriate seals, apply your hand to a surface if necessary, the formula is generated, and then the summon is called through a dimensional void to your location. It is the same in that the lightning, which is the summoned object, is called to the rod, which is the technique formula."
"So as far as Hiraishin is concerned...the lightning bolt is the person, and the rod is the formula. What are you proposing, Hannah?"
She steps closer and looks directly at you, violet eyes sparkling.
"I propose that you grab hold of the power of heaven itself."
"How?" you ask, incredibly curious.
"A bolt of light, moved by the strength of a chosen saint, needs not obey the laws of nature. We remove the need for a rod to strike at. We give total control to those who would become the light." She makes a seal with one hand. "The Seal of Confrontation, commonly called the half-tiger seal. Thumb and first two fingers up, the rest down. You know this already. Now, what is the alternative you use?"
"This one. If it's a half seal, it makes sense to have it in combat position...that's what Gramps saw as the ideal." You hold your arm out in front of you and make the same seal as Hannah, then curl your thumb and fingers inwards, making a claw shape.
"Ah...the knuckles. I see," she says as she makes the same shape with her hand, jabbing at the air afterwards. "Noted. Though this is just a guiding action for now, you should be able to focus on your own afterwards and put your hands in whatever position you so choose. Now, remember that you travel through a dimensional void to reach a given position. Do you see the formula I've written near the bottom? Copy that first and get familiar."
"Right." You remember the stories about Tobirama performing the Water Dragon technique with a single seal. It was an example of seal compression, and that required that you had the original sealing method down in the first place, or something like it. Obviously not everyone was capable of doing what Tobirama did, but your grandfather was one of the few. He developed a system of seals that you hadn't gotten all the way into, but it worked by compressing and shortening a lot of things by way of different methods of seals. You wonder briefly if that was what Kushina was talking about on the night of Naruto's birth, or it was something completely different.
You finish copying the formula, then lock it in and have your seal ready. It takes a few minutes to get right, but you get it.
"Good. Now, I've been observing you for reasons other than the obvious," she says with a wink, "so I know how you work and what your strengths are. You have an incredible amount of chakra, and it's extremely potent in ways that I can't replicate. Your strength is amazing as well, you have your speed, naturally, and lastly you have a beautiful, brilliant mind to bring it all together. This is about brute force combined with perception. Your wheelhouse."
"Hold on, I don't quite get it," you say to her. "How is this going to work?"
"We remove the lightning rod. You will make your own way. Focus...and activate the technique. We'll start at perhaps fifty meters. Focus on my general area, that is, where you want to go. Then, accelerate. And I do mean accelerate, put your back into the launch speed required for this first go. Keep your legs moving, please do not stop for any reason, whether it be pain, fear, anything. You have to move until you reach me. Understood?"
"Understood."
"Good. Be careful, my love. I'll be waiting over on the other side."
You nod and start to stretch your limbs. Hannah walks to her spot and stands in place, looking at you hopefully. You wonder why she didn't just do a demonstration, but it's not a big deal. You trust her, after all.
Right. Time to get it done.
You make the seal from before and go into a crouch, pushing energy into your legs and feet as you get ready to take off. At the same time, you focus on the area near Hannah...and that's when your perception starts to change. There's a faint circle in the space beside her, then the faint circle brightens into a dull glow. Smaller circles begin to ripple outwards from the center, and something in your mind clicks before the circle flashes brightly. You launch yourself forward towards the circle and feel the entire world around you change.
A torrent of multicoloured light bursts out from the circle and towards you, surrounding you as you run and creating a moving, shifting tunnel. There's an intense pressure against your body all of a sudden, and you have to grit your teeth and tense your muscles. There's pain, then there's even more pressure and an incredible friction that heats you up to the point where you can see trails of smoke coming from your skin. But you remember Hannah's stern words: do not stop for anything.
You surge more chakra through your body and the pain lessens significantly. A strong force slams into you as you hit the end of the rainbow-lit tunnel, but you keep your legs moving and adjust quickly to blast through it and to the other side. Your momentum carries you back into what you see as the real world, and you slide to a stop several feet past Hannah.
That was an experience and then some.
You relax and hunch over, putting your hands on your knees as you catch your breath. You can see the smoke faintly rising from your arms before it disappears completely.
"Yes...of course you would make it work."
"Hannah..."
She crouches down to meet you, placing her hands on either side of your head.
"You have no idea...just how incredible you are, Joshua West. It will take you a while, because of your nature. But you are everything."
"..." You feel absolutely unworthy of it, the look she's giving you. Her smile is soft and subdued, but her eyes look at you with an amount of pride and admiration that you had never experienced before.
You find yourself blushing as she stares into you, silently.
"I...I'm not..."
"You are. And I love you for it. Do you see why I chose you? This is the strength of heaven itself, and only you are fit to wield it."
She leans forward and kisses you gently on the forehead before standing up.
"This is your strength. Amenozenshin."
"I see...Celestial Advance," you repeat.
"Yes, it is so. Come, my love. You've done enough for one day."
"I haven't," you say firmly. "Not yet."
Hannah stands in place for a moment, surprised. She observes you for about a minute, debating within herself, before nodding and returning to the place where she was before.
"Then...again. Remember my words."
"I will, Hannah." You get into your position, focus, and crouch. Flood your body with chakra. The circle is painted a fraction of a fraction of a second faster, and your resulting increase is so tiny that it probably couldn't be measured with advanced instruments.
But when time and space can be forced open at your will, you notice everything.
You're getting better with it.
You wipe your brow free of sweat and laugh as you get back into your position. Hannah watches you with interest as you take your stance and go again, into and through the rainbow tunnel, past the wall of force and into a shorter skid than before. There's so much you can do with this move, but for now you'll work on getting the basics down. Adjusting the amount of momentum upon your exit from the dimensional lane was one of the first steps.
And after that...the world could very well be yours.
---
You add in a fail-safe with Hannah's help. It means that normally you have to have a certain amount of chakra stocked before the technique will activate, so that you don't get trapped in the middle of your dimensional laneway. While this isn't too much of a concern due to your reserves, you can never be too careful. Much like Hiraishin, the chakra use increases if you're moving extra passengers. As long as you're moving, the other person or people with you are safe from harm within the field.
The acceleration requirements aren't as steep as you assumed, but still will take some getting used to. Your goal is to be able to accelerate into the technique from any stance, but you're fine with starting from a low position and shooting forward for the time being. The best speed based abilities leave zero tells, which is always fun for your opponents who need to guess what you're doing next. All of that will come with time, since you've already gotten a lot done in the space of a day. You try connecting two points without the fail-safe active, which doesn't result in anything other than a failure to launch since you can't lock in right away. You can fix that later.
Hannah tells you that the activation is fast; the time between lock on and arrival isn't bad and you've been getting much quicker with it. With the momentum adjustments coming out of the warp, you can react and attack or make an extra move immediately. You do things like teleport to a distant tree before bouncing off at speed, or going into the air and coming down, or starting in the air and shooting down towards the ground before anyone can react. Hannah says that without extra abilities, she has a hard time reacting to where you end up, since any space within your line of sight is available to move to. High speed visual processing is one of your boons, and this technique makes great use of it. Even with all of that, the technique can still evolve. She says the technique is completed as is, but there are upgrades possible that she wants to work on. You know what she's thinking of, but have no clue on how she'll pull it off for you to use. You'll have to see.
Eventually it hits late afternoon, going into evening. Lunch is long gone, and you're actually tired.
"Rest a while, darling. I'll take care of dinner for us."
"Alright. See you in a bit." You head upstairs and take a soak in the tub, feeling the ache of your muscles fade away in the water. It gets so comfortable that you fall asleep.
"You're going to wrinkle up in there."
"Hm...?" You yawn and rub your eyes briefly. "Sorry, I dozed off."
Hannah smiles and nods. "Not a problem. Ritsu is home now, so we're having dinner together with Haru. Come down when you're ready."
"Yeah. I won't take long."
She gives you another nod and leaves you alone. With a grunt you get out of the tub and drain it properly, then give it a good scrub before getting dressed. You head back downstairs and see the girls sitting around the table.
There's a lot of food on the table. You are very pleased. And hungry.
"I hope you don't mind, sir. We decided on take out today."
"Not at all, not at all," you say, trying not to salivate. "It smells nice."
"The lion's share is meant for you, darling. Go ahead and eat, you've worked very hard today," Hannah says.
"Any other day, I'd object. But I'm starved right now..." Ritsu hands you a full plate and you dig in right away, sticking your fork into a piece of barbeque chicken and biting into it. "Ish goot. Berry lavorf. Srry for manner. Lishis."
"Enjoy, sir. You did well today."
You chew and swallow before answering Ritsu. "Mm. She told you already."
"Yes, sir. But I don't want to interrupt. Please eat."
"Mmph. 'Kay."
The girls start on their own plates while you chow down. Home cooking was the best, but this isn't bad either. At least nobody will have to worry about cleaning the kitchen tonight. You're so focused on eating that you don't pay much attention to the conversations going on, but if they need you they can call for you.
"...is that so."
"Unfortunately, yes. He wants you to..."
"Is that a good idea?"
"It's not particularly...there are...reasons."
"Could we present it as...like that?"
"How fair would that be, though?"
"We can always ask."
"Hrm." You savour your ribs and lick some of the excess sauce from your thumb.
"Joshua, sir? We have something to ask...if you're not too tired from the day," Ritsu says.
"I'm not. Ask away," you say reassuringly as you wipe your mouth.
"Thank you. We're...at an impasse, sir. Lord Jiraiya, along with the Honoured Third, want to meet with Hannah tomorrow night before the Five Kage meeting, if possible. This is according to Haru."
"Lady Kushina...rather reluctantly passed on the message to me earlier today," Haru says. You can't see her face as always, but her voice is bothered. Wait...
Oh. Uh oh.
"You realize it too."
"Ah...him," you mutter. Nekobaa warned you about this very thing. "Why Hannah alone?"
"I received no report as to why, but there may be...certain motives," Haru says, unsubtly.
"It's becoming clear that I shouldn't go alone," Hannah says. "But we may want to hold onto at least some of our cards. I can handle a round of intimidation or two, don't you worry."
"Nekobaa said back in the Sky Ward that it'd be unwise to leave you in close quarters alone with Jiraiya of the Three. I can guess why, and I'm sure Haru knows. Probably has a lot to do with discomfort..."
"To say the least of it," Haru mumbles.
"A couple, then?" Ritsu says.
"A couple! It might work. Throwing them off balance, sussing out their motives. And a convenient excuse to go on a date!" Hannah says happily.
"Couple...date...hmm." You drum your fingers on the table.
"You're allowed to back out, just so you know," Haru says. "But if you do go, I recommend it be together."
"Probably...hm."
---
[] A Wednesday night meeting all of a sudden...well, what will you do about it?
-[] Originally, the call is for Hannah to go alone. You trust her ability, so let it happen.
-[] Nekobaa's words are ringing in your head. You should attend with Hannah, just to be safe. Really safe.
-[] Suggest that Hannah decline. But the invitation is addressed to her, so it's ultimately her call in the end.
-[] Custom option.
---
[] Tuesday night:
-[] Talk to Haru. She's a very sweet person, and you wouldn't mind getting to know her a bit better.
-[] Talk to Hikari. She's a good kid, and you'd like to see her relax a bit. Maybe talking would help.
-[] Hang out with Hannah and Ritsu. It's a good way to relax after a long day.
-[] Sleep. You're bushed after working on that crazy new technique.
-[] Custom option.
---
[] Wednesday:
-[] Talk to Hannah. You feel closer to her after the previous day, and you might have an idea for her on your side.
-[] Talk to Ritsu again. You really like spending time with her, and there's something you wanted to ask her about.
-[] Maybe have a group meeting. You could try talking things through to make sure you're all on the same page. Plus, it's a good way to bond.
-[] Training. There's a safe area not far from the cabin where you can get some stuff done. (Roll d100 to train any stat that is already at 10, with a bonus technique to be added later. 50 is the threshold. Level of success is determined by final total, divided into four sections from rank A-D. S is 100-90, A is 90-80, B is 80-70, C is 70-60, D is 60-50. Voters can choose techniques in the appropriate zones or leave it to QM decision.)
--[] Custom schedule. You have a few hours left in the day (write in).
--[] Training day. Increase your physical stats. Get +1 to any stat of your choosing that is not at 10. Roll d100 to train stats already at 10.
--[] Research day. Improve your current abilities or create new ones.
---[] Improve a non-taijutsu technique by one level, unlock a new form of one non-taijutsu technique, or gain one element level.
---[] Create the basis of a new technique to be finished later.
----[] Train alone.
----[] Train with a friend or two. Your companions will gain at the same rate as you where applicable, and there may be bonuses that come along with them.
-----[] Hannah
-----[] Ritsu
[] Relax until the next event. You don't need to do much right now.
[] Custom (write in).
---
It's currently Tuesday evening at dinner. The new meeting is on Wednesday night, and shouldn't run terribly late since Hiruzen has to be at the Five Kage meeting himself. Wednesday is 24+ hours to the larger event. Haru will give you details in the morning, but it won't interrupt any of your plans as usual. You're free to choose as many options as you want and the time put into each.
Also you can suggest lore
---
You have 1 stat point to distribute.
You've acquired a new technique: Celestial Advance (Amenozenshin) - A space-time migration art, developed and customized by Hannah Kuiper for use by Joshua West.