Travel is Never Simple

(Continuing my Bijuu training)

Making his way into the mountains, Kirito would activate his Version two cloak. The pure energy expelled during its activation was enough to create a crater under him from the pure pressure of his chakra. It was a frightening sight, the small twelve year old child suddenly turning into a monstrous chakra beast. Its tail swinging behind it slowly. He would dash forwards, leaping over large rocks and climbing the side of the mountain some. He was in no rush to get to his destination, he merely wanted to enjoy the journey. 

He focused hard and he was able to form clawed hands from his chakra cloak to pick up the large rocks that he came across and even to throw them a great distance. It was a truly amazing feeling to have such a boost to ones power like the Bijuu gave to him. 

6/15

As the young wanderer finally found the bottom of the mountain, he realized that he was in some form of tundra area. It was a long trek, but he had faith that he could make it. Even in his chakra form, he felt like he could eventually get tired, though he had yet to ever experience such a feeling.  As he ran, he thought back to the times when he would train with his old sensei. They would fight constantly. His sensei was stubborn, but he was also loyal to those he considered precious. Allowing his transformation to fade Kirito would continue on his regular feet. As he had seen numerous carts that had no people or merchandise on them. Which to him, screamed highway men.

So, he kept running along the path that seemed to go towards the Land of Earth side of the Great desert. It wouldn’t take long before he heard a sound. It wasn’t a normal sound. It was like a whistle, and it was moving fast in his direction.

7/15

Kirito almost didn’t react in time to dodge the arrow that flew past his head. It wasn’t over yet though as he saw the explosive tag on the arrow. Leaping into a roll away from the blast area, he would narrowly avoid being blown to bits. Looking to the direction of the archer, he would roll out of the way of three more arrows. This was going to be a long fight if he wasn’t able to take out that ranged fighter. So, he channeled chakra to his feet and would appear to vanish from the view of the archer, only to appear next to him slamming a closed fist into his temple. He was now out cold. 

Another moment later, Kirito had another bandit to worry about as he dodged sloppy strikes thrown by a man wielding a sword. If it was a different situation, Kirito would reprimand the man for wielding a blade so casually, but now was not the time. 

8/15

Catching the blade between two fingers, he would push the man backwards with an open palm strike to his chest. It was a simple maneuver that proved to be effective as the man was pushed away easily enough. Taking the sword in his hand, he would break it. Looking to the man, he was suddenly overtaken by a burst of rage and aggression the likes of which he had never known before. Red chakra boiled up around him with three tails boiling up behind him. He was then encased in a sphere of black and red condensed chakra that exploded to reveal he was in his version two cloak. It was obvious this time however, that he had little control over his actions. A second tail formed behind him and he let loose a bestial roar. 

Moving forwards at a speed the man had never seen coming, the beast would thrust its clawed hand through his chest. He was dead in mere seconds. Letting loose a roar of triumph, he would then feel chakra coming from farther east. Rushing in that direction, he would spot the bandit camp that seemed to be swarming with activity. 

9/15

Blasting the doors to the small, but well fortified bandit fort, the beast would let loose a roar. The archers were running out of arrows trying to harm the creature that was surrounded by corrosive chakra. It ate up any arrows or swords they attacked him with. He had already killed nearly half a dozen of the bandits that called that fort home. It wasn't until the bandit leader came out, trapping the beast in a multi-layered dome of mud and stone. 

All became quiet as the leader continued to pump chakra into the dome to repair the damage the beast was doing to attempt to escape. Most of his men were standing to aid him should the beast escape, but many had fled for their lives, who could blame them. Everyone present knew that it was only a matter of time before the beast managed to escape.

10/15

After around two minutes, everything became silent. Some of the men present seemed to relax and others tensed even further. The leader had sweat pouring from his brow as he pumped chakra into the only thing seemingly keeping the beast at bay. They all thought the beast had calmed, but none of them were ready when the dome exploded outward with a blast of black and red energy. The blast carved a path through the ground and completely vaporized the bandit leader and a few of the men who were nearest to him. 

The beast opened its mouth and charged another blast, but this one came out in volleys. It was obvious that all it craved was destruction. It had already laid waste to the fort and all but four of the men inside of it. Three managed to escape as the beast grabbed one by his torso and pulled him back to be torn asunder.

11/15

Seeing the men running into the distance, the beast didn't even give chase. Instead, it raised its head and formed another ball of highly pressurized chakra. The ball came to about the diameter of two meters before suddenly it shrunk to a diameter of about an inch. The ball was then deftly swallowed by the monster before it fired a wave of the black chakra at the men. When the wave hit there was an explosion so massive it might could have been seen from the nearest village which was four miles away. The blast most definitely killed all three men and left nothing, not even dust in their place. 

The beast took off yet again towards the village in the distance. This was not looking like their lucky day if the destruction the beast caused in the bandit camp was anything to go by. The beast had just entered in to the Land just between the Land of Earth and the Land of Wind. It wouldn't be long before he was upon the village of Ishigakure where he would be able to cause untold damage.

12/15

It was lucky for the Village Hidden in the Stones that they had a lot of powerful sensors that were able to alert the council of the threat headed their way. So, they dispatched a team of three Jounin to slow the beast down while they erected a multi-layer barrier around their village to conceal it from the beast and to protect them should it continue on its path. None in the village were skilled in Fuuinjutsu, but they were highly adept in earth release and some fire release jutsu. So, they sent flaming boulders flying at the monstrosity that was speeding towards them. It was equal in speed to all of them, so they wouldn't be at as much of a disadvantage as the bandits who had come against it before. 

They formed a wall and a pit filled with wet concrete from a jutsu that would swallow the beast whole if it fell in. They would then be free to trap him with fire jutsu. They noticed that the air around them became cold as the beast came closer and closer, but they shrugged it off and chalked it up to nerves.

13/15

The beast finally made it to the men. It was then that they felt true fear, but they managed to swallow that fear for the protection of their village. One of them sunk into the ground while the other two sent fireballs hurdling towards the angry Jin. The fireballs managed to push it back some, but did no real damage. The man who went underground attempted to grab the beast and pull it down to its neck in earth, and he was successful. At the cost of his hands being severely burned. It was clear he would be forming no more hand signs for a while. 

Now, all three men were standing a ways away from the buried beast feeling rather accomplished and slightly foolish for being afraid of it. But, alas, they were celebrating too soon. Clawed hands popped up from the ground attempting to grab them and tails came in attempts to stab them. It was only due to their experience that they managed to survive the ordeal. They made space between them and the beast who was now climbing out of the ground. They had slowed it down some, but also pissed it off too. The air by now was absolutely frigid. They did not know what they would do to kill this beast.

14/15

The three men then decided they would perform their most powerful and devastating combo attack. The first man was aided to rush his damaged hands through the required seals. He then rushed towards the beast, dodging its clawed strikes. Slamming his already damaged palm into the beasts head, he would apply the jutsu before jumping away. The only reason he got away is because the beast was suddenly feeling much heavier than it had before, as such it was struggling to move too much. 

The second man ran through hand signs and slammed his hands on the ground creating a miniature swamp that dragged the beast under. It sank all the way down to its neck in the water and was still struggling just to keep its head from going under. The water around it was boiling from the intense heat the chakra on the beast was giving off. It was now time for the third and final part of the combo attack.

The third man performed hand seals and when his hands touched the ground, two massive sections of the earth folded up to clap together around the swamp and the beast both. They slammed together with enough force to cause a similar feeling to an earthquake. They watched the massive slab of rock with baited breath, waiting to see what would happen.

15/15 (Claiming V2 tail 2)

It took a few moments, but the three Jounin calmed down some and were about to turn to head back for their village when they felt a rumbling. It started small, but after a moment it felt massive. That's when they saw the slab of earth blow apart with an enormous amount of force. The explosion created a shock wave powerful enough that the Jounin had to use chakra to remain on the ground. The beast was clearly now more outraged than anything. It dashed forwards so fiercely that it tore the ground that was under it up. It was on top of the Jounin before they could formulate a real counter. It sent a punch that created a shock wave that blew them away from each other. 

It then set it's sights on a specific jounin. The one who had his hands burned earlier. He was on his back and the beast came onto him hard. It appeared as if it was about to slam its tail down through his heart like a spear, when suddenly, it paused. It appeared as though it was fighting against itself. against its own nature. This ended however as a barrage of kunai and shuriken hit its back as the remaining jounin attempted to "save" their friend.

1/15

With the beast focused on his two friends, the wounded jounin slid back to gain some distance. The beast seemed to be forming some form of orb above his head. Knowing that the orb seemed to be made of highly pressurized and destructive chakra, the man knew what he had to do. He rushed through hand signs and formed a dome around himself and the bijuu. The dome was a supercharged version of the technique that absorbed chakra and self repaired. It allowed for him to get the beast in a tight grip throwing off its focus. This caused the technique to collapse in on itself, creating a massive explosion. This killed the jounin of course, but also did a lot of damage to the beast. All that remained of the dome was a very large crater in the ground.

It took a minute before the beast made its way out of the crater. It was obvious that it was mad. It let loose a roar that shook the very ground around it. Lunging towards the two remaining jounin, the beast would keep trying to grab them with its tails or claws. Luckily, they were just as quick as it was and were able to dodge it continuously, but they were running on fumes by now. 

2/15

The beast managed to grab one jounin as he leapt away to gain space. It was over in a matter of seconds. The Jounin was ripped apart and the beast was after its final obstacle. He was running hard and fast to attempt to get back into the village, when the beast caught him. Its jaws clamping shut on his jugular and its clawed hands ripping into his body. He was dead before he hit the ground. Once it was through with all of the ninja who had been in its path, it turned its attention to the village that was now surrounded by three thick walls of earth. This would prove as nothing but an inconvenience for the beast as it would charge up another tailed beast ball. This one much larger than the other two. This large size would then be compressed into an orb the size of a quarter. 

After ingesting this ball, the beast would fire a beam of pure chakra out of its mouth that would shatter the walls that were erected to protect the village. It took a few seconds, but it finally broke through the walls. This was all the beast had needed to do as it allowed the technique to end.

3/15

Dashing forwards, the beast would tear into the ranks of shinobi who had set up to stop it. Genin to Jounin, they all charged with Kunai or swords in hand. There were a few dozen of them coming at it from all sides. It was handling them with lethal efficiency. It was one of the world's greatest predators after all, a Jinchuuriki. With multiple chakra arms and two tail, it was able to tear the foreign shinobi apart. It had made it into the heart of the village and by now no one was rushing to meet it with weapons drawn, they were running to cower in fear hoping the beast would pass them by. 

The only thing standing in the way of the beasts rampage, was the Jounin commander in charge of the village. He formed a few hand signs and would form a massive spear of lightning that would be thrown through the creatures shoulder. It caused the beast to pause and roar in pain. It stopped for a moment as the lightning chakra faded away. A third tail started to form behind it.

4/15

The Commander realized that things had started to progress farther than he felt he could handle alone, but he knew he was the last line of defense for the civilians who were still escaping. He would send two more spears to attempt to hold the beast down, but it was ready this time. It dodged the bolts, charging straight for the man. He managed to form seals just fast enough to cause a bright flash of light to blind the beast. This brought him a moment to prepare. He formed seals for his most powerful jutsu, it would probably cost him his life, as he was now low on chakra. 

He was never able to finish the jutsu though as a tail pierced his heart. The beast that was Kirito would roar and then pause. Seeing a young child cowering in a corner. It would approach slowly, seeming to be calming down. 

5/15

It was at this moment, some form of life sprung into being as the creature backed away. It would then run far away from the village. It was here that Kirito would fully regain consciousness within the beast. He realized that he had three tails behind him now, but he was still fighting back these animalistic urges. He took a moment to calm himself and focus. It wouldn't take too long to get his body back under control. The Sanbi was a gentle giant and Kirito couldn't think of a reason for the beasts chakra to have given him such a fit. It wouldn't be too dificult to control this form if he didn't feel the need to destroy things. But, he knew that by exercising control, he would be able to master this power soon enough.

He recalled the jutsu his body used when it was in that feral state. It had an immense amount of power, nothing like he had ever seen. But, it would take a lot of training to master it for combat use.

6/15

Kirito would raise his head, the tips of his tails forming a semi-circle above him. Focusing hard, he would begin to draw in negative and positive energy. It wouldn't get far before it lost control and exploded in his face, literally. It was rather annoying to have to deal with that, but he knew that if he kept working at it, he would be able to achieve his goal. It would seem that there was a certain recipe for creating this jutsu correctly. He would just have to think back and let his instincts guide him. It was a grueling process, but in the end he knew it would pay off. His next attempt almost actually started to form into a ball before it collapsed in on itself resulting in a similar explosion. 

It would seem that there was a certain ratio of the positive and negative energy required for the ball to form properly. It would take him a long time to figure this out, but he wouldn't let that get him down. 

7/15

Forming the the ball in another attempt, this time going for way more of the black than the white. The ball formed and then held its shape. He allowed the ball to enter his mouth and it shrunk down and did so. The ball was so dense that it increased his mass exponentially, causing him to sink in the ground some. He would release the ball as a beam that would drill into the side of a nearby hill. It wasn't as strong because he didn't put as much chakra into it. But, now he had figured out the ratio that was required for it to form. 

He would then practice causing shock waves with his punches, kicks and tail slashes. He realized he could also cause them with a roar. It was amazing just how much power he was afforded in this form. He would have to make sure to save it for a last resort, and train his base self up so as to not become reliant on it as a crutch,

8/15

It was obvious now that he was beginning to get a better grasp on this form. He could practically taste victory within himself. He was about to deactivate it when suddenly, he found himself in front of the Sanbi. It looked at him with its normal expression and finally spoke. "So, you have mastered all of my power. What will you do with it?" Kirito was taken aback by the question, he had no idea what he would do with the abilities he now had, but he knew that he would use it to protect those he cared about. "I will use it to protect what is precious to me. I will use it to find my place in this world, a place we can both call home." It was a simple, yet heartfelt answer. 

the Sanbi nodded and made a humming sound. It finally spoke with a much more cheery voice. "You have gained my respect through your tenacity through training and your resolve. I grant you the honor of knowing my name, Isobu. When the time comes and you are ready to take full control of all of my power, you must come here and face me in combat." With that said, Kirito was expelled from his own mindscape.

9/15

So, it would seem that for him to fully master the beast inside of him, he would need to battle it head on, by himself. This would not be an easy task, as this was a beast of legends. He could only guess and assume at the beasts real power. He knew that he needed to grow in strength by himself in order to be able to face this great challenge. This invigorated him and pushed him to train even more as he wandered through the desert. It wouldn't be long and he would find himself in the village of Sunagakure. He wandered what the village would be like. Would it be lively like Konoha? Would it be calm and tranquil like Iwa? He had no idea, but he was very excited to find out. And he couldn't wait to meet new people to train with! Perhaps he would meet another like himself? He knew it was unlikely, but nothing was impossible.

10/15

It was a strange thing, to have been raised in the Land of Iron. That land was so cold and frozen that it is what he had come to expect from around the world. This however, was not the case. Here he was, walking through a desert after having just left the mountains. Before that he was in lush forests and grassy plains. It was amazing what one could find within the world if they would just stop to appreciate it. He was also amazed that he was able to have such thoughts while running through a desert on all fours looking like a deranged wild monster.

He had yet to spot the village, but he supposed that was the reason they referred to them as Hidden Villages. You either had to know where you were going or get lucky. He was hoping for a mixture of the two as he had a general idea of the villages location, but he couldnt be absolutely sure, thus was relying on luck.

11/15

As he swiftly made his way through the desert he would reflect on how much training he had done in the last few weeks, only to master his Bijuu. He realized that he hadn't learned any other jutsu or skills and that worried him, or maybe it just upset him that he felt he wasn't living up to the potential that Sanb...Isobu saw in him. He had someone now who was woth him always and who was looking for him to do great things, so he couldn't let him down! 

The beastly wanderer was still running ghrough the dunes at a great pace, his tails swishing behind him as he ran. This was amazing practice time as he worked on stopping and going as efficiently as he could. He also worjed on using his ability to manifest chajra arms to aid in his agility and acrobatics. This form was full of surprises as it was more useful than just as a war machine.

12/15

Kirito noticed that it was beginning to get dark again, he had wasted more time than he realized when he lost control. Now would be a good time to find shelter and build a fire as he heard that the desert could get cold at night. As he ran a bit farther, he would grab a few of the desert plants to use as fuel. Finally finding andecent sized dune, he would pause, forming a very controlled Bijuudama. Firing it with precision into the side of the dune, what sand wasnt destroyed was solidified into glass. He now had a makeshift cave to hide in. He would then place his sticks in a formation and would form a smaller bijuu ball the size of a golfball. Swallowing it, he fired a slight stream just long enough to set the twigs alight.

Allowing his form to receed, he would take the rest of the night to rest his body and prepare for the final leg of his journey that would happen in the morning.

13/15

Kirito noticed that it was beginning to get dark again, he had wasted more time than he realized when he lost control. Now would be a good time to find shelter and build a fire as he heard that the desert could get cold at night. As he ran a bit farther, he would grab a few of the desert plants to use as fuel. Finally finding andecent sized dune, he would pause, forming a very controlled Bijuudama. Firing it with precision into the side of the dune, what sand wasnt destroyed was solidified into glass. He now had a makeshift cave to hide in. He would then place his sticks in a formation and would form a smaller bijuu ball the size of a golfball. Swallowing it, he fired a slight stream just long enough to set the twigs alight.

Allowing his form to receed, he would take the rest of the night to rest his body and prepare for the final leg of his journey that would happen in the morning.

13/15

He awoke to the sounds of desert birds chirping. His fire had gone out, but luckily he had sealed away some of his salmon ramen that he bought while in Iwagakure. Unsealing the delicious treat, that was still steaming as though freshly cooked.

After eating, Kirito would allow the orange chajra to flow around him. After a moment it began to bubble as a tail would form, then another and another. After a second, the bubbling would become violent as the ground cratered beneath him and he entered version two with each tail forming slowly. It was time to get into the Village Hidden in the Sand! He took off towards where he could sense rhe highest concentration of chakra at break neck speeds. 

14/15