Welcome to Chapter 4!
First of all… by all rights, this thing should not have been published nearly as early, but I got on a writing spree, and this is the result.
As for the unusual update date, I figured Monday, Thursday, who cares? The chapter was finished, it was a boring Monday evening, so why not put it out? I figured it might just make other peoples' day less boring. :)
This chapter is more Ranma-centric as opposed to the last - as I had planned from the start - and mainly focusses on developments pertaining to our favourite dimensionally stranded martial artist. It also contains the first real fight of the story, which will be followed up by the even more combat-intensive Chapter 5 which will focus on Ranma and Naruto to equal parts.
Other than that, not much more to say as an intro. More of my comments can be found at the end of the chapter and at my yahoo group.
As always, reviews are welcome and appreciated. In fact, they are what sustains me, at least when it comes to writing, and trust me, I read them all. Please enjoy!
Chapter 4: A demonesses' gift
Ranma Saotome, stranger in a strange dimension and by a twist of fate Konoha's newest Special Jounin, slowly opened her eyes due to a sensory stimulus that had roused her from her sleep, her blue orbs taking in her surroundings instantly as they assessed the threat value of that what had disturbed her rest. The campfire had long since burned down and couldn’t be the source of disturbance; with only a few glimmering remnants sparking up every now and then. Likewise, everything else seemed to be in order, as evidenced by a quick scan of the cave.
An attacking enemy force would have had to overcome the seals Jiraiya had set up for their protection first anyway, and added to that they'd have to find the cave even before that. Sans ruckus that would have caused the explanation seemed to be far simpler, as Ranma noticed upon glancing at the sole entrance of the cave. Morning light was streaming in through said sole entrance, that apparently being what had aroused her from her slumber.
Ranma raised a scarlet brow, her incredulity growing. The cave was supposed to be sealed at all times except for when one or more of them went out to hunt or train, as had been agreed upon as standard procedure for the duration of their stay, which would be until they decided it was time to move on to Sunagakure.
For the boulder to have been moved to the side was highly unusual, and after propping herself up on her elbows Ranma swivelled her head to look at Jiraiya, who had taken the second watch from three to seven.
Said Toad Sannin had long since noticed her being awake and greeted her with a nod and a small smile that reached his eyes, and seeing her questioning look the toad hermit pointed to his nose, which translated therein that he had wanted to aerate the cave.
Konoha’s newest shinobi couldn’t help but smile as she gave the man an understanding nod. The cave had really smelled worse than a puma cage after their latest barbeque session, and considering Jiraiya’s prowess at detecting hostiles his action was nigh riskless and very much appreciated.
Her focus turned inward as she stretched on her futon, and Ranma ignored Jiraiya's dilated eyes and perverted giggles since it had become second nature to her, and the redhead’s eyes glinted briefly with happiness as she indulged herself in memories of the last four weeks. They had really come far as a team, and the relationship that had developed between her and Naruto had, much to her relief, indeed solidified into something akin to a brother-sister relationship. It hopefully would, in time and provided she was able to change back, develop into an older brother-younger brother relationship as well, but those were thoughts for another time.
Her small smile developed into a smirk as she considered the relationship Jiraiya and she shared. At first he had repeatedly tried to convince her to be his muse for his 'unsurpassed book series', but she, well knowing just what his book series featured, had declined. Forcefully.
Eventually, she had forced him to acknowledge that she was more than eye-candy and deadweight, and at the latest when she had driven Naruto to top-performances in his Taijutsu drills and upon Jiraiya witnessing her dedication to learn everything shinobi related the man's respect for her had gradually increased over the previous four weeks. Her attitude, personality and how she had interacted with Naruto having finally convinced him that she was 'okay'.
She was now getting along quite well with him, especially ever since she had really lost it on one occasion and had proceeded to disabuse him of the notion to use her as 'research material' once and for all. Well, almost, anyway. It was surprising just how professional the Toad Sannin could be after a few bouts of Kachuu Tenshin Amaguriken and a taste of the sealed techniques as demonstration why she was off-limits.
Her little displays of martial arts prowess had also prompted Naruto to make the suggestion she offer Lee, who was almost entirely unable to use chakra, training in how to use his ki. If the suggestion hadn't come from Naruto she would have discarded it, but due to the fact that her 'little brother' could be trusted that this Lee was worth it she was seriously considering it.
"Morning," she muttered after having finished her stretches, getting to her feet. "I see sleeping beauty's still that, sleeping," she added jovially after having glanced at the soundly snoring Naruto.
Jiraiya shook himself out of his perverted thoughts, filed away some of Ranma's more interesting poses for later review, and pitched his weight away from the rocky wall he had been leaning against. The Sannin then turned briefly around, made a few hand seals that caused the boulder to slide back into place and nodded as he walked over to her. "Yeah, and that's really no surprise after what he's been through," he said, a hint of pride audible in his voice. "I still think it was a snap decision and a damned gamble, but I admit that the terms the gaki negotiated are acceptable."
"That they are. More than that, in fact," Ranma agreed, nodding. "But it's not like we could change anything anyway. The contract's been made and is binding; the terms are set in stone. While I agree that the effects could possibly be drastic the pros outweigh the cons by far, and him gaining the Sharingan will go a long way in giving him the power he needs to overcome the challenges he will be facing," she concluded sagely.
"True enough. Him gaining the admittedly most powerful known Doujutsu is something I didn't expect, though, but it will aid him greatly as well, especially now that we know that it's the real thing," Jiraiya remarked, a hint of wonder visible in his eyes. "I'd never have thought that he'd have such an easy time copying and mastering Kokuangyou no Jutsu, considering his previous skills pertaining Genjutsu, or rather the lack thereof."
"That was surely a sight to behold, yeah," Ranma agreed, still feeling a bit uneasy after having witnessed a Genjutsu first hand. "To see a so-called doujutsu that's able to copy almost any jutsu is something I didn't expect to see in my wildest dreams," she mused, a pensive expression appearing on her face. "I think I remember something similar from Raiju's memories, though, but I ain't too clear on that."
Jiraiya nodded and walked over to his futon and made himself at home, Ranma mirroring him as she plopped down onto her own futon, facing the Sannin, "Even though I don't have a bloodline limit I know how they came into being. Naruto's 'history lesson' only confirmed it. Your demon, even though not native to this dimension, might have had a bloodline limit or her dimension's equivalent herself, and who knows, maybe it'll manifest once you are able to mould chakra properly," Jiraiya opined thoughtfully.
"That would be cool," Ranma admitted with a pleased grin.
"Well, returning to your problem of moulding chakra… To be honest, I have the suspicion that the demons of your dimension are able to use chakra as well, and that it is just the humans of your realm that have, for some odd reason I can not discern, had their chi and ki separated. You said that your demon could create elemental attacks using fire and lightning, didn't you?" Jiraiya queried, curiosity shining in his brown eyes.
"Yeah. I know from her memories that she could use elemental attacks…" Ranma said, suddenly trailing off. "Wait! You mean…"
"Right on the money. You can't create elemental effects with just your ki, you have proven that to me by using your ki attacks. Even your Hiryu Shoten Ha is nothing more than a tornado consisting of life energy and not a true elemental attack. It is only by mixing ki and chi that you create chakra, and only that can be used to form elemental attacks, as is daily business around here," the Sannin concluded.
"Damn," Ranma breathed and shook her head in wonder, her mind reeling at the implications.
"You can say that again," Jiraiya mused consentaneously. "Would you be able to properly mould chakra I'm certain you would be a force to be reckoned with.
"More so than you already are." he added with a rueful grin.
Ranma rubbed her chin as she mulled this over, and finally nodded, "That would be damn cool. Finally being able to properly mould chakra and maintain that damn chakra-flow would be great, as would having a Kekkei Genkai. Now that would be useful to no end, and I can certainly use any advantage I can get in this world, much like Naruto," she mused.
"True, true. Well, if I were to venture a guess I'd say you have a good chance of manifesting a doujutsu what with your eyes changing colour," Jiraiya remarked. "After all, most demons are known to have special abilities. Take the Shukaku, the one-tailed Biju, for example, he has the ability to control sand and has a damn high affinity to wind. It's not too improbable that the demons of your realm have special abilities of their own, and the probability is raised by you seeming to remember something to that effect."
"That'd be cool. To have an in-built advantage is something I'd hardly say no to," Ranma remarked with a grin.
"Who would? I always had to make up for my lack of bloodline by pushing myself harder than everyone else, and I succeeded in the end, but it was a path fraught with peril," Jiraiya admitted unusually seriously, the comment prompting Ranma to smile for reasons only known to herself. "It's good to see that the gaki will have all the advantages he needs to pull through."
"Yeah. You know, he has something about him that makes one care about him, and knowing that he'll have what he needs to come out on top is comforting," Ranma mused, affection for the blonde briefly sparkling in her eyes. "You know, he's something of the little brother I never had. He's loud, often annoying and a braggart, but I like him nevertheless."
Jiraiya nodded, outwardly unmoved while inwardly smiling a megawatt smile. "I know exactly what you mean. He can cause you to want to pull out your hair in frustration, only to make it all up with a silly grin. He's really something else," the Sannin muttered quietly. "But it'll be a long way despite the Sharingan. I think he will need the whole three years worth of training to close the gap to the Akatsuki, and even then it might not be enough. Not to mention that he needs to upgrade his Sharingan to stand a chance against Itachi," he concluded, worry plainly showing on his face.
"Yeah. Then there's the fact that it'll be some time until he will have gotten the hang of the fox's power as well. He will be vulnerable during that stretch of time," Ranma said quietly, worry and discomfort briefly showing in her eyes as well.
The toad Sannin nodded in acquiescence, a serious expression on his face. "That's why I'll continue to drill as many jutsu into your heads as you can stomach," he exclaimed in a humorous tone that was an obvious attempt to lighten the mood. "It can't be more than another week, probably even less, before you'll be able to maintain a steady chakra-flow, and then you'll be able to use jutsu as well. Given the spadework I rendered, what can go wrong?" he asked, his teeth showing in the semi-darkness as he gave a big smile.
"Che, we'll see, Ero-Sennin," Ranma retorted with a smirk, his reflexive shout of "Don't call me that!" only furthering her amusement. "And if your jutsu really work as advertised I'll be able to kick your perverted ass so much easier when you're out of line again," she added with a grin.
"Kami-sama, what have I done to deserve this? Where did I go wrong?" the Sannin muttered theatrically, yet upon seeing Ranma's completely unamused look he stopped his fake tears. "Ahem, moving on to a more important topic," he then exclaimed with an air of professionalism that communicated he was serious again, "How is your seal array set up?"
"Huh? Whatcha mean?" the redhead queried, a scarlet brow raised in confusion.
"Someone must have set up seals that allow for the gradual absorption of Raiju's power," Jiraiya explained, trying hard to keep his exasperation from being noticeable. "Which seals were used?"
Understanding dawned on Ranma. "To be honest, I have no idea, really," she admitted with a shrug. "Raiju did something to my body the moment we fused, her last words being that I was worthy wielding her power, but I have no idea what she did. And I really had neither the time nor the leisure to look into a mirror and conduct a full body inspection," she concluded dryly.
"I'd be more than happy to help you," Jiraiya suggested with a lecherous grin, only to receive a blow to the side of his head that caused him to pout indignantly. "All joking aside, you should really subject your body to a thorough check. If Raiju placed a seal, or rather seals, on you, and she has to have done it, then we must ensure they work properly. I admit to not having thought to check on your seal or seals due to all that stress with the gaki."
Ranma inclined her head, inwardly smiling at the Sannin's affectionate tone. "If you swear that you are not going to use descriptions of my body this seal inspection will provide you with in your stories than I am willing to agree. But should I find out that you went back on your word, and find out I will, then I will find ways to make your life as hellish as possible. And I’m sure Tsunade-sama would love to help. Do you understand?" the redhead asked fake-sweetly, the expression in her glowing, yellow eyes hard as diamond.
Jiraiya found himself involuntarily sweating, and the Sannin nodded his head slowly. "Of course. You have my word of honour on that," he said quickly, muttering, "Damn, mune-chan prepared her too well, but I'll find other ways to capitalise on the presence of such a beautiful woman."
"While it's flattering that you think of me as beautiful, which implies you do at least possess a modicum sense of taste, you are dead wrong to even entertain the thought that I'll let myself be used in any way or form I'm not content with," Ranma warned, fixing the Sannin with a steely glare, her eyes gradually lighting up with unholy glee. "I'd be more than happy to refresh your memory why I'm off limits, Jiraiya-san," she said sibilantly, an evil grin forming on her face.
"Damn, I always forget about that freakishly good hearing of hers," Jiraiya complained softly to himself, eliciting a malevolent nod from Ranma. "But I can't help it, when I see a beautiful woman I just have to use her as inspiration for my work. Just think about it, you might be the one to have inspired my next great opus!"
"Still not interested," Ranma flat out replied, casually waving her right hand in dismissal. "And now I believe we have business to attend to." she added, ignoring the Sannin's pout.
"Hmm, the seal can't be on my torso, legs or arms, I'd have noticed that," the redhead mused after calling up the memories of having undressed. "That means it's gotta be on my back. Meh, I so know I'm gonna regret this, but here goes nothing," she muttered as she got to her feet, and then proceeded to remove her black top.
Jiraiya's eyes predictably widened in perverse glee upon getting the chance to see naked female flesh, yet the look thrown his way by a malevolently glaring redhead who was gazing at him over her shoulder with vicious yellow eyes prompted him to clear his throat. Pasting a professional look on his face in hopes not to get clobbered the Sannin got to his feet and planted himself behind Ranma to study the redhead's backside, and a low whistle immediately escaped him upon first glance.
"Damn, that demon sure did a number on you!" the old man exclaimed as he glanced intently at Ranma's back as if it were a particularly hot woman, the look of deep concentration on his face belying that his mind had kicked into overdrive.
"In a good or bad way?" Ranma demanded and put her hands on her hips as she kept her head craned to look at the Sannin, her now once more blue eyes showing a hint of worry.
"Nah, nothing to worry about. That demon sure knew what she was doing," Jiraiya muttered to himself as he traced something on Ranma's back with a finger, not having registered her tentative question. "And I admit I could learn a thing or two from her.
"It's just too bad that you can't access her knowledge at will, Ranma," he sighed, meeting the redhead's gaze.
"So there is a seal on my back then?" the redhead queried, curiosity warring with relief and caution.
"Oh yes," the Sannin affirmed, giving a firm nod as he took notes in his notebook in form of sketches, the redhead realising that he was drawing seals. "And not just one seal. What you have on your back is a whole array of seals, just as I surmised, and it's the best damn work I've ever seen."
"WHAT?"
-.-
Jiraiya stashed his notebook and chuckled, his mirthful gaze meeting the redhead's annoyed one who took the Sannin’s action as cue to put on her top, and once finished she turned around to the Gama Sennin with an expectant gaze. "Your back looks more like a map or the result of a tattoo session gone awry than what one would expect of such a beautiful back."
"AHEM," Ranma remarked with a low growl, prompting Jiraiya to get back on track.
"But damn, that Raiju sure knew her onions," he continued without missing a beat, "It's absolutely amazing she managed to set up such an intricate and effective array of seals in the… how many minutes did you say?"
"Round about ten," Ranma replied after a moments' thought. "And you say what she did is any good?"
"Any good?" Jiraiya erupted, indignation showing clearly on his face as he stared at her with his hands planted on his hips. "It's a damn masterpiece. You can count yourself very lucky that your Fuin seal was as strong as it was at the time, or you, Ranma Saotome, would have ceased to exist long ago. Considering the knowledge this Raiju possessed regarding seals it's a miracle you came out on top," the Sannin opined, respect audible in his voice.
"Story of my life, Jiraiya-san. Ranma Saotome doesn't lose," she replied, showing a more mature version of her trademark cocky grin. "Now what about those seals? What do they do, what purpose do they serve?"
The Sannin plopped down onto the ground where he stood, folding his legs underneath his body Indian style, clearly waiting for Ranma to do the same. "The seal you had at the base of your neck is gone," he began his explanation after Ranma had mirrored his example. "Theoretically your chakra, irregardless of the fact you couldn't use it, and that of the demon you hosted would have completely mixed the instant you fused, yet your body would not have survived that."
"WHAT?" Ranma exclaimed loudly, repeating her incredulous shout from a few moments ago, but oddly enough, one Naruto Uzumaki continued to sleep the sleep of the just.
"A mortal body, regardless of how well trained and strong, is just not meant to hold the amount of power a greater demon or demoness has at his or her disposal. Think of it this way: a glass of water can only hold a specific amount of liquid before the excess liquid spills over, yet in your case the glass, your body, would have gone BOOM! due to the pressure of Raiju's power invading your chakra system. The contents wouldn’t have just spilled over, the container would have cracked under the pressure."
"Huh," was all a wide-eyed Ranma could say as images of herself detonating due to a chain reaction from within went through her mind.
"Hadn't the demon set up the array of seals I can't help but admire you'd have exploded in a rather gory shower of body parts," Jiraiya explained gravely, a smile gracing his face moments later. "And that happening to such a cutie like you would have been a waste."
"Gee, thanks," Ranma groused, fixing the old man with a glare, "I learn of how close I really came to dying and you say it would have been a waste for such a cute redhead to blow herself up. Che."
"Nah, you only ever were in danger of death by drowning, if I remember your story correctly. What with the seals the Raiju used the danger of you exploding was minimal," Jiraiya remarked, his voice reassuring.
"Now that really eases my mind," Ranma remarked sarcastically and expelled a sigh. "Anyway, that's water under the bridge. So, what kinda seals do I have on my back, what do they do, how do they work?" she then queried, her intent gaze boring into the Gama Sennin.
Jiraiya visibly thought this over for a few minutes. "Well, it's an intricate masterpiece that's really hard to describe to someone with little to no knowledge in the seal department, but I'll try anyway. Heh, I'm a little bit outta practise at explaining things, so it might just be better you let me talk and ask questions once I've finished, alright?"
"Sure, I can live with that," Ranma readily agreed and forced herself into a state of utmost concentration.
"Good. You see, Raiju set up an over-seal, or master-seal, that contains all of her chakra, knowledge and essence. Connected to this master-seal are at least two of what I'd call 'infuser seals'," Jiraiya explained, brown eyes beginning to glow as the Sannin's ardour grew.
"As the name suggests, they constantly infuse minute amounts of the Raiju's chakra into your body so that it grows invariably strong enough to handle her full power. Even though you are as of yet unable to properly maintain a steady chakra flow, your chakra coils are in a steady process of augmentation, all with the goal in mind to make your body strong enough to wield the full might Raiju possessed. Quite ingenious in my opinion," Jiraiya opined, the look on conveying that he was indeed impressed.
"Whatever you say, oh great seal master," Ranma commented in a sardonic voice.
"Che, it's the same everywhere really, no appreciation for my genius," Jiraiya complained, twin streams of tears leaking down his cheeks; he wiped away his faked tears quickly though at seeing Ranma's completely unamused face and picked up where he had left off. "Anyway, I have seen at least five seals of the same kind that serve the purpose of making the demon's chakra more compatible with your own, and that's good, trust me.
"We know from Naruto that prolonged usage of a pure-blooded demon's chakra decreases its vessel's lifespan, and these seals are something akin to purification, or rather purging seals in a sense that they liken the demon's youkai to your chakra. I think their purpose is to ultimately create maximum compatibility between your chakra and Raiju's until that point in time where it'll be completely intermixed, maybe even creating a halfway mix of your chakra and the demon's youkai. Quite an ingenious way to circumvent the drawbacks a human faces who draws on pure youkai," Jiraiya explained, his expression almost reverent.
"Err, cool," Ranma remarked, only having understood half of what Jiraiya had said despite her increased knowledge.
"Yeah, cool," the Sannin remarked amusedly. "And last but not least, your demon interwove a seal into the array that should make you jump for joy. It's what I'd call a seal repellent seal, and that little piece of art makes it virtually impossible to place any kind of seal on you or make modifications to the existing ones. If I understand the design correctly the results of anyone unwittingly chancing his or her luck should prove… explosive. It's really surprising that there seem to be universal laws governing the application of seals seeing that your seals work with a one-hundred percent efficiency around here, and I'm almost certain your seals would do their job just fine in any other dimension there is. Very ingenious design," Jiraiya commented appreciatively.
"You sound like a man who's found the Holy Grail," Ranma commented amusedly.
"The holy what?" Jiraiya queried with a raised brow, quite obviously having no idea what the redhead was talking about.
"Che, I forgot about the differences between the dimensions… Anyway, it ain't important, what I meant to convey is that you're starting to sound like a worshipper," Ranma clarified.
"As I said at the start, the array of seals is the work of a genius, and there's no shame in acknowledging another's genius," Jiraiya replied seriously, Ranma acknowledging the point through an inclination of her head. "But for this Raiju to have finished setting up the seals in round about ten minutes makes me very worried as to the threat the other demons of your dimensions' version of hell pose. But that's a worry for another day, my own dimension gives me enough of a headache as it is."
"You can say that again. At least it never seems to get boring around here," Ranma opined, a half-grin showing on her face.
Jiraiya snorted amusedly. "True, true. Anyway, I noticed that your over-seal has an interesting little feature. It constantly scans your body's status and determines if it's ready for more of the demon's power, knowledge and chakra.
"Take chakra for example, depending on if you have grown stronger or not it determines the amount of the Raiju's chakra that can be purified and infused into your being. The more you improve on your physical fitness, the more of the demon's chakra you get, and-"
"The more powerful I become," Ranma interrupted, drawing this satisfying conclusion with a glint in her eyes.
"Exactly," Jiraiya confirmed, his posture getting thoughtful. "I assume you will start to get what I'd call memory dumps as well once you have gotten the hang of using chakra like it's second nature."
Ranma winced, a frown appearing on her face. "Meh, that sounds painful. But as the saying goes, no pain, no gain," she mused, reciting the saying in unison with the Gama Sennin. "And I'm damned used to pain."
"Can't contest you on that," Jiraiya remarked wryly. "I have seldom seen someone with your level of disregard for pain outside of Naruto, and while it's a good ability for a ninja to have, I don't want to dwell on how you acquired it, you being a hanyou aside."
"That's ancient history to me now, Jiraiya," Ranma said with a dismissive shrug. "Returning to what you just assumed, I already noticed something when I upped my physical training regime courtesy of your weight seals, yet I attributed that to an increase in my chi. To know that it was an influx of Raiju's chakra, and that I can get more by getting physically stronger is… delectable."
"Delectable, eh? You come to know that you will turn into a right powerhouse with enough training and dedication, and a competent sensei, of course," Jiraiya struck a pose, which left Ranma singularly unimpressed, much to the Sannin's mock-dismay, "and all you say is 'delectable'?"
"Yes, because that's what it is, plain and simple. I'm glad that I'll be able to push my limits further than I ever anticipated even in my wildest dreams, and it simply delights me that I'll have to work as hard as ever to reach my goals.
"For nothing is more dissatisfying than to get power handed on a silver platter," the redhead said with conviction. "I had no choice in the matter seeing as it was a matter of life or death, but I can live with the consequences of my decision. Very well, in fact," she concluded, crossing her arms under her chest which involuntarily emphasised her healthy bust.
Jiraiya's eyes dilated for a moment as his gaze seemed to be glued on a certain spot of Ranma's anatomy that stood out even more prominently than usually, yet a flare up of the redhead's killing intent shook him from his drooling spell. "Ahem, yeah, if I had the choice of dying or becoming a hanyou I'd choose the latter as well. Provided I'd be able to negotiate terms as favourable as Naruto and you," he added with a slight grin. "Speaking of the gaki, we should wake him up now so that we can begin preparations."
"For breakfast, training or your… ‘studies’?" Ranma asked with a grin upon hearing the rumbling of Jiraiya's stomach.
"You were saying?" Jiraiya retorted smugly a few seconds later when the redhead's own stomach seemed to give an answer.
"That we should get this show on the road," Ranma retorted as she pushed herself to her feet. "We've spent more than enough time talking, now it's time for some action."
"Well spoken," Jiraiya commented with a chuckle and stood himself. "Think we should rope the gaki into preparing breakfast?"
"Nah. He prepared dinner yesterday, it's only fair we return the favour," Ranma replied, a slow grin creeping on her face. "Besides, I really wanna go out and hunt again. Cat-demon instincts and all that, ya know? So let 'ruto-nii-san sleep it off."
"Okay by me, as long as you running free results in massive amounts of food," the Sannin answered with a grin that showed he was just teasing.
"Oh, and what does the great Jiraiya-sama's bill of fare allow for today?" Ranma queried while performing an exaggerated bow.
"Fish, some berries and some of the local animals would be fine," the Sannin replied mock-haughtily after snorting amusedly.
Ranma nodded with a grin and stretched languorously, ignoring Jiraiya's hanging tongue and the perverted look on his face as he furiously scribbled notes into a notebook while giggling perversely, "I dearly hope for your continued good health that you're making sketches for the seals and that you're not writing about me," she growled icily, causing the Sannin to stash his notebook and wildly shake his head with a look of innocence so completely fake a five year old would have seen right through it, "Anyway, I'm out hunting now. I suggest you do something worthwhile for a change and tax your brain with what jutsu you wanna teach us," she commented over her shoulder as she walked to her cot, grabbed her Jounin vest and forehead protector which she then donned in precise, swift movements before making a beeline for the exit.
"Hey! I am the most holy hermit sage of the Mt. Myoboku Toads Jiraiya, I'm always doing something worthwhile!" the old man protested indignantly as he unsealed the cave, allowing Ranma to exit.
"Yeah, yeah, I so believe that. Not," Ranma retorted and waved at him as she left the cave, "Hasta manana, Ero-sennin."
"Damn it, don't call me that!" Jiraiya's indignant shout rang out from the cave.
"Che,’s your own fault for being a pervert in the first place," Ranma muttered to herself with an amused look on her face as she hiked into the forest surrounding the cave, "Wonder what a certain tomboy would have done to him? Heh, he'd likely have gotten bonus miles, 'n' lots of them. 'Thank you for travelling with Air Akane, uber hentai no baka. We hope you had a pleasant flight and a satisfying crash-landing,'" she mused with a grin, small chuckles escaping her as she travelled deeper into the thick woods surrounding the cave.
Shaking her head in amusement Ranma Saotome concentrated on her impressive set of senses, and upon picking up on the scent of what she assumed to be a deer she let her instincts take over, the thrill of the hunt filling her as she gave chase.
-.-
Ranma grinned ferally as she ran through the thick under-woods the country separating Fire and Wind country consisted of. She had already slain a deer and deposited it at a safe place, but the sheer high of giving into her new instincts urged her to continue the hunt. Her current prey, a red deer, was about half a mile ahead of her, but that didn't matter to the Heiress of Raiju seeing as it cost little to no effort to increase her speed and catch up.
The redhead really loved the forested and rocky landscape that was River country, its countless rivers and mountains reminding her strongly of the many training trips she had undertaken in her day with her father. She chuckled lightly to herself as she closed in on the deer, readying herself for the killing blow, when something made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. 'Someone's here!' Ranma managed to think and threw herself to the side and out of the way of something that would have hit her in the back of the head, the redhead coming up in a low crouch, blue eyes narrowed to slits.
Her benefactors had given her a comprehensive overview of the facts of life in and around Konohagakure no Sato, amongst that the identifying symbols of foreign nin, and the albeit scratched forehead protectors of the two men standing not twenty metres away tagged them as nukenins from Amegakure.
Both men were twenty to twenty-five by Ranma's estimation, and both wore breathers, matching wetsuits, and a cloth over their eyes, with each member having a different number of eyeholes in their respective cloth, yet them being masked did nothing to veil the twin glints of lust and brutality in their eyes.
"So the Konoha nymph did notice us after all, Hikaru," the burly nukenin to the left spoke up, malevolent amusement shining in his brown eyes as he twirled the twin umbrellas he was carrying.
"Not that it's gonna help her any 'gainst us, Kenzo," the other man retorted, his lithe body poised to strike.
"What the hell are you fuckers interrupting my hunt for?" Ranma growled out in an attempt to appear not alarmed, yet the ki-, or rather chakra-signatures of the two ninja in front of her identified them as at least high Chuunin, low Jounin level shinobi.
And worst of all, ever since her training to mould chakra had begun it had become increasingly harder for her to use her ki as a weapon or just to enhance her physical attributes, which could, according to Jiraiya, be ascribed to the fact that her formerly separated ki and chi pools had begun to mix. Which meant no Moko Takabishas, Hiryu Shoten Has or just plain increasing her speed or strength.
Well, she had her heightened demonic strength, endurance, speed and self-healing capabilities which were very impressive in their own right as an offset to her diminished abilities, and by having trained with the weight seals Jiraiya's had provided both Naruto and her with she had long since surpassed her old ki-enhanced level. The only big problem consisted thereof that she had absolutely no ranged attacks at her disposal for the time being, and that put her at a severe disadvantage that was hard to negate.
These thoughts had sped through the redhead's mind in the span of mere nano-seconds, and a hard expression appeared on her face as she glared at the two men, her eyes conveying the message that she was determined to take them down. Her conviction reaffirmed that she'd come out on top despite the obstacles weighing her down Ranma increased the intensity of her glare towards the leering enemy shinobi.
-.-
The sun was barely able to penetrate the natural baldaquin the tops of the huge trees formed, yet the diffuse twilight didn't bother the three nins currently residing in an unnamed grove in River Country. Hostile actions had not yet been taken aside from very clear-cut verbal threats that made the attackers' intentions clear as crystal, but from the postures of the participants it was easy to gauge that it was only a matter of time.
The defending party, a boy-turned-girl-turned-hanyou by the name of Ranma Saotome was well aware of this, yet she had to try her hand at de-escalating the situation at least once.
"You clearly picked the wrong shinobi ta mess with. Get lost and I'll forget about this," she said in a low voice that seemed to cut straight through the nukenins like a blast of cold air.
The effect only lasted for a few moments and the looks of apprehension and uneasiness on the men's faces were soon replaced by malicious amusement.
"Appearin' ta be brave ain't gonna help ya either, bitch," the taller shinobi to the right spat out. "Imagine our luck, Kenzo, here we were on our way to some brothel ta have our fun, and then this cute wench stumbles in our midst. Isn't it good when fortune smiles down on you? Saved us the money, the cutie."
"Right, Hikaru. Che, nobody's gonna miss some peace-loving li'l girl from that sucker village anyway, so let's have some fun. Kirigakure no Jutsu!" he bellowed after speeding through a set of seals, enveloping the surrounding area in a dense mist that reduced the visibility within a kilometre in diameter to almost nil.
Ranma, who had surmised that things would turn ugly, had already computed her chances to make a break for it and get reinforcements, yet she had come to the conclusion that her chances to outrun two high-Chuunin level shinobi—or worse—were almost zero.
She had several advantages on her side in the upcoming fight, though. The Jounin vest she was wearing nicely concealed her Kage level Taijutsu, then there were her demon-enhanced capabilities. The misty shroud created by the nukenin's jutsu was rendered irrelevant due to said capabilities as all she had to do was rely on her senses, and a set of senses better than hers didn't exist, Naruto notwithstanding.
It stood to reason that the two nukenins weren't handicapped by the jutsu either, yet they had no idea that she'd be able to sense them despite the concealing mist. And she'd capitalise on their ignorance, hard, fast and deadly. Besides, as long as they didn't use Genjutsu she'd be fine.
'There!' the redhead thought as she sensed the first incoming attack of the battle, that being a fast and downright cowardly attempt to attack her from behind via a chop to the neck. Ranma was prepared, though, caught the man's right hand easily and him completely by surprise, brutally twisting the appendage she held in a crushing grip.
Impassively registering the enemy shinobi's yell of pain as the man's hand broke in several places she used his momentary pain-induced distraction that prevented him from raising a defence or executing something as basic as Kawarimi and lashed out lightning fast, brutally hammering away at all of the man's weak spots she could reach, that being solar plexus, stomach, lungs, jugular vein and carotid artery, last but not least axe-kicking the man at close range with so much force that it sent him flying into a tree where he impacted with force, uncaring that her Taijutsu attack was overkill. Due to her acute hearing the redhead could hear the man's neck snap like a twig due to the collision, which suggested he had already been unconscious or worse as he would have used chakra to cushion the blow otherwise.
The man's apparent death didn't bother Ranma in the slightest, for the first lesson she had learned from Jiraiya was that mercy was neither granted nor received on the battlefield outside of very special circumstances, and everything and anything outside Konoha and Suna territory was a battlefield, a few exceptions aside. Besides, men like these two were, much like the other nukenins and mercenaries in this dimension, incurable killers and sadists who deserved no mercy.
It didn't bother her either that she used her Art, something that had originally been meant to protect life, to do the apparent opposite. For her code of honour had experienced several modifications due to her becoming a Hanyou, and by doing away with people like them she ensured that they'd never be able to harm another person, which was in turn compatible with her goal to protect.
"One lowlife less," Ranma growled out dispassionately, shaking her head at having Shizune's story of this dimension confirmed. "Che, can't believe assholes like 'em really see kunoichi as nothing more than fucktoys to be used at their leisure. There's something seriously wrong with this place."
The screen of fog dissipated as soon as Hikaru's heart stopped going seeing that the jutsu wasn't tied to his chakra any more, and Ranma was once again able to add her eyes to the set of senses she could use. What she hadn't seen though was the surprised and then utterly angry expression on the nukenin Kenzo's face as he felt the chakra-signature of his comrade fade into nothingness, and even though he hadn't really cared for Hikaru he felt more than compelled to own the redhead.
Snarling angrily the nukenin threw his umbrellas into the air, and with a cry of Jouro Senbon no Jutsu the needles kept within the umbrellas were released. Their descent to the ground coincided with the dissipation of the fog, making it easy for Kenzo to turn the sharp needles into homing weapons which he fired at Ranma with great speed and accuracy.
"You bitch may have surprised that idiot with your Taijutsu, but now try that one for size!" the man snarled as he directed all of the needles at the momentarily surprised redhead.
Shaking herself out of her brief stupor the hailstorm of senbon heading her way had evoked in her, Ranma snarled and jumped straight up into the closest' tree's canopy, noticing with consternation that the majority of the needles—save for a negligible amount that peppered the unfortunate tree's bark—kept on following her every move.
A shout of Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu rang out from the ground, and the Heiress of Raiju knew that she was in deep shit when twenty clones of Kenzo appeared in the vicinity. 'Damn, he's a clone user like 'ruto-nii-san, even if likely not on the same scale. But his Mizu Bunshin are nearly as dangerous as nii-san's Kage Bunshin. They're corporeal, and he uses them to keep me away from him and to keep track of me, amongst things,' she thought as she jumped from tree to tree, the deadly swarm of needles following her every move.
The missing nin remained rooted to the spot from which he had launched the senbon attack, a sick and twisted grin on his face as he moved his hands from time to time to change the course of his needles, absolutely certain that the redhead who had killed his idiot of a comrade would never get close enough to do the same to him.
-.-
Ranma was literally caught between a rock and a hard place, and she knew it. A deep frown of anger marred her face as she twisted and turned out of the way of incoming Mizu Bunshin that tried to land a blow on her, never mind the damned senbon needles that were following her every move. Her superior martial arts made evading the Bunshin's attacks easy, yet all her prowess in Taijutsu wasn't going to help her any if she couldn't effectively use it against the creator of the clones.
Her opponent seemed to be more of a fighter who preferred to rely on ranged attacks supplemented by the use of clones, and worst of all, he didn't underestimate her like that idiot who had rushed her like an overconfident rookie. No, this Kenzo seemed to be clever enough to keep her at a safe distance, and it irritated the hell out of her. Add to it that the chakra-based senbon needles would easily pierce her ki-shield—provided she'd get it to work in the first place, and she was not nearly suicidal enough to chance her luck, especially with her current difficulties—and it really made her day. Not.
A sudden shout of Kasumi Jūsha no Jutsu rang through the area, and a literal army of Kenzo clones emerged from the surrounding forest, a fact that made Ranma's jaw drop. Growling angrily she regained her composure and sliced at the nearest clone, only to have it dissolve into a blackish, oil-like substance. The redhead barely had the time to notice that the clone regenerated from the substance much like the T-1000 Terminator she had once seen on TV as she ducked punches, kicks and kunai, ever in motion, her dance deadly as ever.
The Heiress of Raiju dealt out vicious and deadly blows that hit with unmatched precision, be it kicks, punches or anything else the Anything Goes had to offer, yet all her prowess proved ineffective as the clones kept on regenerating, and Ranma's frustration at not being able to finish off the second nukenin grew.
Grins that were all too smug and malicious suddenly appearing on the faces of the many ninja surrounding her didn't raise Ranma's spirits any either, "I figured out your weakness, bitch," they exclaimed sadistically and each and everyone sped through a series of hand seals. "Magen: Nijū Kokoni Arazu no Jutsu!" they whispered very quietly, yet Ranma heard them anyway.
The seals for Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu followed, and the second the Kenzo's had finished performing their jutsu even more clones and needles appeared out of nowhere, multiplying by insane amounts, making Ranma's jaw nearly drop yet again.
Her surprise only lasted for a second as she was forced to redouble her evasive efforts, yet something in the back of her mind latched onto what the Nukenin had whispered. 'Magen… Magen… what have I learned about Magen type jutsu? And what did he mean when he said he had figured out my weakness?' the redhead asked herself with a frown as she dodged a clone's punch, yet received a cut from a kunai thrown by another clone on her right arm.
This pattern continued with the redhead receiving progressively more nicks and cuts due to the presence of a vastly greater number of clones, yet the injuries she received didn't bother her much as they healed within the blink of an eye, but the insane amount of clones was slowly beginning to tip the scales in Kenzo's favour. 'Damn these blasted needles and those fuckin' shitheads of clones… If that keeps up one of 'em is gonna land a lucky blow soon, not even I am able to dodge like this for an infinite amount of time!' the redhead thought tensely as she dodged and weaved her way over the battlefield, the many trees peppered with needles testament to her efforts. Yet as many needles as she avoided and clones as she dispatched, they were almost instantly replaced by new ones, limiting her to defence only.
Ranma was beginning to feel not unlike Sisyphus, the Corinthian king who had been sentenced to roll a huge boulder up a hill throughout eternity as his punishment for trying to deceive the gods as she continued in an ever repeating pattern, destroy clones here, dodge senbon needles there, repeat.
Yet what Ranma had been afraid of happened after a few minutes and futile attempts to close in on the real Kenzo, and her concentration slipped for a brief moment when she struck a clone only to have it dissolve, which allowed another clone to blindside her with several kunai and shuriken which she had to dodge frantically, enabling yet another Mizu Bunshin to kick her in the back with force which sent her careening into a tree.
'Fuck!' Ranma cursed as she hastened to extract herself from the indention she had made. 'I completely forgot that Mizu Bunshin can deal out hits like regular shinobi and use jutsu! And considering that there're so fuckin' many rivers around here they have a huge advantage!'
A frantic leap catapulted the redhead up- and forward into the canopy of a huge tree ten metres from her old position, yet a sudden flare of pain from her left back side and shoulder told her that she had taken damage. Another clone appearing in her path shouting Sensatsu Suisho gave her no time to inspect the extent of the damage dealt and prompted her to leap away frantically.
'Shit! If he keeps that up I'm gonna freakin' die here! But I cannot, must not die here! I have sworn to extract my revenge, and I'll never break my vow!' Ranma thought furiously as she continued to evade incoming attacks, her self-healing abilities nearly stressed to the limit to keep up with the damage that was being inflicted upon her body. 'Think, Saotome, there's something very wrong here. That guy can't have enough chakra to create thousands of clones, his ki didn't feel strong enough for that. It was impressive, yeah, but not that impressive. No, something else is going on here. It is as if… Magen! Fuck, I remember! And now I understand what that asshole meant, he knew he could trap me in Genjutsu when I failed to dispel it!' she concluded and nearly slapped herself for not having realised it sooner, a hard expression appearing on her face as she leapt from branch to branch.
'Fools die a fool's death, and I almost was the epitome of a fool for not realising sooner that this asshole was fooling my senses. But how do I break free, I need chakra to dispel the fuckin' Genjutsu, damn it!' she thought furiously.
Grumbling angrily and being well aware of the fact that she needed to buy herself some more time she jumped up high into a huge tree's canopy, from which she then jumped upwards and cleanly above the tree line, catapulting herself a good fifty metres forward.
Fleeing never once entered her mind seeing as A) the Ame nukenin might have layered another Genjutsu into his setup that would make her run around in circles, for example, and B) she just wanted nothing more than to off the bastard for his actions against her.
Ranma grinned bloodthirstily as she landed smoothly on a thick branch and jumped forward again, repeating the manoeuvre two times. Thus having brought a sufficient amount of distance between herself and the incoming hostiles gave her time to sort her thoughts.
'Crap, there ain't no other way, I gotta chance my luck and mould my ki and chi into chakra if I wanna stand a chance at dispelling that fuckers' Genjutsu. Even if I'm gonna blow myself up, I ain't got a choice. Well, here goes nothing,' the redhead thought sardonically and let her chi and ki intermix as Jiraiya had taught her and as she had practised over the last four weeks on a small scale, all the while trying to keep ahead of the attacking hordes and senbon.
Her eyes briefly lit up as she finally, for the first time, succeeded in creating and—much more importantly—maintaining a safe mix, and Ranma grinned to herself in unbridled glee. She was indeed at her best when put under pressure, and it seemed that she'd be able to pull it off yet again.
-.-
Wind was gently blowing through the canopies of a remote and normally peaceful grove in River country, yet its current occupants couldn't have paid the serene setting any less heed. One of these inhabitants and incidentally the aggressor in the fight that was currently laying waste to the scenic grove, a nukenin from Amegakure by the name of Kenzo, had planted himself on the ground and wore a smirk that conveyed he was certain of victory. Taking into account that he was surrounded by seemingly thousands of copies of himself and that he and his clones were controlling staggering amounts of senbon and water needles that were homing in on his target it was an understandable notion.
The other party of the conflict, unwitting inter-dimensional traveller, martial artist extraordinaire and newest Konoha Jounin by the name of Ranma Saotome, was quite obviously limited to defensive manoeuvres and had just recently brought some distance between herself and the hostiles. Her seemingly pathetic attempt to escape had caused the nukenin to erupt in roaring laughter instead of redoubling his efforts to finish her off, his only actions being to redirect his senbon to home in on the apparently fleeing redhead.
Said Konoha kunoichi, currently balancing on a thick branch round about twenty-five metres above ground and about one-hundred-sixty metres away from Kenzo's position, was slowly opening her eyes, a malicious glint shining in her blue orbs. Bringing forth her chakra she shouted "KAI!", confident that the cancellation command would work, but much to her consternation, the situation remained the same.
"HAH HAH HAH!" rang from the ground as Kenzo erupted in malicious laughter, "So the wench can use chakra, but aww, her control sucks! Isn't that just too bad! HAH HAH HAH!"
"Fuck!" Ranma spat in anger as she realised that the man was right, and she had to make a mad dash for it as thousands of senbon and clones closed in on her location, the redhead using trees as springboards to get to ground-level. Speeding through hand seals she used the first defensive jutsu that Jiraiya had drilled into Naruto's and her head and which's hand seals she had practically branded into her memory, that being "Doton: Doryuuheki!"
Using her enormous chakra reserves—now that they were available to her—Ranma performed a full spin, surrounding herself with a hard, earthen wall, ecstatic that she had been able to successfully perform the jutsu on first try. Grinning wildly she mused that she'd have to thank Jiraiya for all the hand seal drills and his accurate descriptions of the chakra flow involved in each jutsu. Pervert he may be, Ranma thought with a wry grin, but he knew his stuff.
She felt impact a few seconds later, but due to the extreme durability of the wall not a single senbon needle was able to penetrate. The redhead exhaled a sigh of relief, but knew all too well that she was still knee-deep in shit. She had to find a way to dispel the illusion Kenzo had cast on her, or she'd never be able to get to the nukenin, and seeing that she hadn't specified when she'd return and that Jiraiya was likely busy with preparations for the seal drawing procedure she couldn't expect any outside help.
"Yesss… Maybe I can use my full power to just blast this fuckin' Genjutsu to pieces or something," Ranma mused, a vicious grin appearing on her face, and a few seconds and several impacts later the redhead shrugged. "Can't hurt any."
Still surrounded by the protective earthen wall Ranma closed her eyes, immersing herself fully into her core. Slowly, carefully, she brought out the power currently available to her, and a visible yellow aura gradually began to expand around her body, steadily growing in size. Then, in a sudden, enormous flare-up of power the protective earthen wall was blown to smithereens, and Ranma, feeling more power than ever coursing through her veins and every part of her being, opened her eyes.
Eyes, that had an odd prickling feeling to them, and the redhead could not help but feel that something had changed in her; it was as if her body had remembered something it had long forgotten, and now that it had remembered she was finally complete again.
Had she had a mirror available to her, a gasp would likely have escaped Ranma. Instead of the plain, yellow eyes of before the channelling of chakra to her formerly blue orbs had indeed brought about what Jiraiya had predicted. A doujutsu had been awakened, yet one never seen before in the elemental world.
Chuckling lightly to herself Ranma shook her head, "Okay, that definitely seems to fall into the 'or something' category..."
"Hah! That little display o' power ain't gonna help ya any, bitch!" Kenzo spat angrily from his position a good one-hundred metres away, yet the redhead thought she had detected a hint of fear in the man's voice.
"We'll see about that, shithead," she muttered, chuckling darkly. "Oh yes, we'll see."
-.-
Twin yellow orbs stared at their surroundings, focused solely on the motionless Kenzo who was apparently waiting for the clones and senbon to do their job, yet the owner of said yellow eyes didn't seem to care as she was more than a bit surprised at the sudden detail and clarity with which she perceived things. It was as if the cat-like eyes she had gained from Raiju and that emerged whenever she was angry or irritated had been upgraded several notches, and the improved visual acuteness was breathtaking. It seemed that her sight had been increased to that of a hawk, or rather that of a demonic cat, as she was able to make out incredibly fine details such as nicks and cuts on trees over a hundred metres away.
These new eyes that were staring at the world with an eerie glow to them were vastly different from the plain yellow and pupil-less eyes they had been before, a large black vertical slit running through each eye surrounded by three circles of numerous tiny slits gave these eyes a truly demonic look.
A quiet chuckle escaped the Heiress of Raiju, and renewed confidence shone in her eyes, "Remember these words when you arrive in hell, Ranma Saotome doesn't lose," she remarked just loud enough to be heard by the enemy nin before she casually evaded a swarm of senbon by executing a backwards somersault followed by a leap into the canopy of a tall tree from which she then jumped to the ground, using several tree trunks as springboards to get into the position she wanted.
'There seems to be more to my eyes than just the increase in visual acureness. This odd prickling feeling in them after I powered up... It reminds me of what 'ruto-nii-san said after he gained the Sharingan. Could it... Could it really be that I activated a doujutsu? Could I be that lucky?' Ranma pondered as she waited for the real clones to get into position, only to realise just what she had just observed.
Her already wide eyes widened even more when all of a sudden a surge of knowledge trickled into her mind. 'Bloody hell, so that’s what’s up with those eyes of mine! A doujutsu it is alright, but who’d have pegged the Raiju to be a Mistress of Illusions? Damn, that’s why I can see which clones are real and which ain’t. My eyes allow to see through and create illusions by doing nothing more than making eye contact with my enemies! Gotta test that one out later, though. This ain't no time for experiments.'
Finally being able to see that none of the thousands of clones bar a few were real was an unexpected treat and most likely the decisive factor that'd allow her to turn the battle in her favour, and still chuckling maliciously Ranma sped through the hand seals for the first fire jutsu she had memorised courtesy of Jiraiya, and called out, "Katon: Ryuuka no Jutsu!"
Instantly a stream of fire was spit forth from Ranma's mouth, an amused grin playing on her face as the broad stream of super-hot flames did away with the incoming needles and the three Mizu Bunshin who had unwittingly jumped directly in front of her, just as she had planned.
Exhaling a cloud of smoke from her nostrils after the jutsu had done its job the redhead nodded appreciatively, absently noting that fire jutsu came easily to her, "Not bad. Who woulda thought that all these dry runs of hand seal drills would amount to anything? Hafta work on the power-output, though," she mused, taking in the charred, smoking and still partially burning trees behind the spot the Mizu Bunshin had occupied not ten seconds ago.
"Aww looky, she can use jutsu," Ranma taunted the nukenin, who looked at her with a visibly surprised and angry expression. "And she's so gonna enjoy roasting your fat arse, dickhead."
A yell of anger from Kenzo was her answer, and Ranma dodged almost absently to the side and casually avoided the renewed hailstorm of water needles courtesy of a Sensatsu Suisho Kenzo had sent her way, and grinning madly the redhead raced forward, ignoring the attacks originating from the clones that had been generated by the Mist clone technique. "I just love 'em angry," the redhead remarked with a cocky grin and casually struck one of the water clones that had begun to close in on her in the head, causing it to dissolve into a puddle of water.
A diabolic grin appeared on her face as Ranma phased in and out, doing away with water clones left, right and centre until only one was left. Her Taijutsu was as effective as ever now that she could distinguish the real clones from the fake ones, and ridding herself of the water clones was almost too easy.
Performing a backwards somersault Ranma leapt out of harms way in form of a round of kunaiand shuriken, and when Ranma caught the last Mizu Bunshin—or Kenzo, she couldn't be sure—speeding through a set of hand seals belonging to Sensatsu Suisho something astonishing happened: she could see the hand seals her enemy was speeding through with perfect clarity, and somehow the said hand seals were being performed much slower, just so as if time had slowed down!
'Oh my Kami-sama shoot me badly,' the redhead thought giddily, barely managing to keep in the insane laughter that was welling up inside of her. 'I really have to thank Jiraiya-san for branding all of 'em hand seals into my brain. This is perfect! All I have to do is commit 'em hand seals I observe to memory, the rest is practising. Not as good as the Sharingan seeing that I can't copy jutsu, but hey, that's nothing to sneeze at.'
Suppressing the manic cackling that wanted to escape her Ranma watched the water clone—or Kenzo—finish his jutsu, and now being the proud owner of yet another jutsu the Konoha Jounin decided to milk the situation for all it was worth. Besides, this new talent of hers had to be put to the test to eliminate the possibility that it had been an isolated incident that couldn't be repeated, and how better to test this than under enemy fire?
Deciding to counter the incoming deadly water needles with an offensive jutsu of her own Ranma sped through a set of seals, calling out Katon: Ryuuka no Jutsu, and the resulting jet of flames the Heiress of Raiju spewed forth from her mouth intercepted the water needles effortlessly, causing Kenzo to drop his umbrellas and hastily speed through the hands seals for Suiton: Suijinheki, which caused a blast of water to be emitted from the nukenin's mouth, negating the fiery stream that was headed his way.
Ranma kept her outward expression carefully neutral as her Kekkei Genkai had just observed yet another jutsu due to seeing the hand seals in slow motion, yet inwardly she was grinning like a Cheshire cat. One, she had just proven—if only to herself—that her eyes could track the hand seals of jutsu, and two, the longer the fight lasted the more evidence cumulated that this Kenzo was indeed a long range fighter as was evidenced by him having stayed in the background since the start of the fight and having Mizu Bunshin and Genjutsu, as well as several long range jutsu, do the dirty work for him. Seeing as he showed no inclination to join the fight except for performing aforementioned actions it was more than justifiable to have some fun while learning new jutsu.
A satisfied grin slowly crawled on her face as she sped through another set of hand seals, the grin growing only wider as Ranma thought of all the fun she could have with a few Suiton jutsu when she managed to get back to her own dimension, especially what with most of her 'friends' being literal water magnets. Finishing her jutsu she casually called out "Sensatsu Suisho!" in the same second as the water clone, yet she was clever enough to follow this jutsu up by using Doton: Doryuuheki, in contrast to the clone, who was skewered by the deadly water needles and dissolved into a puddle of water.
Ranma let the earthen barrier dissolve into mud the second the needle assault ceased, and not being able to contain the mocking laughter welling up inside her any longer the redhead cackled manically. "Who has the last laugh now, eh, asshole?"
A frustrated shout of Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu rang out from Kenzo's position and a new wave of ten water clones appeared, much to Ranma's amusement. She had to work hard to keep a gleeful grin from showing, for either that idiot didn't learn well, or he hadn't seen her doujutsu yet. Regardless, his ignorance and fighting style were placing her in the favourable situation of learning and practising a few new jutsu, and this Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu complimented her growing arsenal nicely.
Kenzo's newly created Mizu Bunshin all sped through the same hand seals, yet instead of returning fire with a Sensatsu Suisho of her own Ranma countered with her defensive Doton: Doryuuheki and created the hard earthen wall she had used before set up in a full circle yet again, the dome-like barrier easily absorbing the incoming water needles.
Changing tactics and jumping out of the opening she had left in the earthen dome instead of letting it dissolve, the airborne redhead sped through the hand seals of yet another fire jutsu she had learned, that being Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu. The powerful jet of flames rocketed towards the group of five Mizu Bunshin to her immediate right like a freight train of death, much too fast to be avoided, engulfing them in its fiery embrace and reducing their 'bodies' to steam.
Ranma grinned due to a job well done and almost casually phased in and out to keep ahead of the remaining water clones and ranged attacks Kenzo sent her way, and within the next few minutes the redhead managed to rid herself of all remaining clones. Yet as much fun as this fight had turned into since her bloodline limit had activated, slowly but surely it was starting to become boring.
Kenzo kept on using the same old attacks, attacks that had admittedly been very troublesome before, but now they were downright boring and unimaginative. And due to the fact that she hadn't learned any new jutsu in the last few minutes while fighting the clones and watching out for what Kenzo was up to Ranma came to the decision that the time to wrap this fight up had come.
Still ignoring the albeit annoying illusions the Kasumi Jūsha no Jutsu and Magen: Nijū Kokoni Arazuno Jutsu had called forth, Ranma grinned at Kenzo who was still standing rooted to the same-self spot he had taken up at the beginning of the fight, her head tilted cockily to the side. "I admit you offered me a good fight, shithead, but I have places to be. And seeing that you have nothing new to teach me your usefulness has expired. Goodbye."
That exclamation made the redhead began to run straight at the enemy shinobi, who, after experiencing brief surprise at the kunoichi's declaration, threw several shuriken and growled out, "Magen: Jigoku Kōka no Jutsu!"
Ranma had little problem in avoiding the projectiles and seemed to literally flow out of their way, her doujutsu easily tracking the hand seals of the Genjutsu technique, and as before since awakening her bloodline limit, the Genjutsu didn't affect her in the slightest. Her opponent had just enough time to widen his eyes in fear before Ranma was on him, striking him like a demonic fury.
The man's pathetic attempts at raising a defence confirmed Ranma's earlier assumptions of the nukenin being a long-range fighter, and being all too aware of the fact that his scheme would likely have succeeded had fortune not smiled down on her once again only raised her ire to even greater heights as she systematically struck the man's weak points, not giving him a single chance to either retrieve his umbrellas or to strike back. Finally striking his jugular vein and carotid artery with force Ranma ended the man's life instantly, and his already dead body slumped to the soft forest soil like a puppet whose strings had been cut in a paradigm of anticlimaticism.
With the fight finally being over the Heiress of Raiju allowed herself to come down from the rush the battle had brought and rested her hands on her thighs, the breath of relief she allowed to escape her as the exertion slowly drained from her being coinciding with her eyes regaining their normal blue colour.
Sighing to herself she exclaimed, "Damn, what a bout," and slumped to the ground herself, pulling her knees to her chest as she began to digest the happenings of the last half an hour.
-.-
After gathering her bearings for a few minutes the redhead got back to her feet and dusted herself off, noticing the rips and tears her clothes had received with a frown. Grumbling to herself that she'd have to purchase new clothes—again—she then checked on the body of the man she had killed in the early stages of the fight, confirming that he had indeed been offed either by her vicious Taijutsu onslaught or by breaking his neck courtesy of the tree he had involuntarily chosen as his landing spot.
Recovering the body and slinging it over her shoulder she carried the dead nukenin over to the equally dead other nukenin and piled them up, and after briefly closing her eyes to murmur a silent prayer she began a set of hand seals.
"Ah, there you are," exclaimed a well-known voice from behind her, startling her briefly due to the fact that she hadn't been able to sense him, causing her to interrupt the sequence. "I do all the hard work in coming up with brilliant jutsu to teach you runts, and you play around with boys. Tsk, tsk," Jiraiya admonished teasingly.
Ranma whirled around, her expression belying that she was completely unamused. "Playing around? Hardly. I survived this bout with these idiots who wanted to have their 'fun' with me by the skin of my teeth, and I'm really not in the mood for your sense of humour, Jiraiya," she said sibilantly, her eyes flashing. "If at all I'd be in the mood for a hot bath, alone, but seeing that we're out in the wilderness I don't really have that option, do I?"
Jiraiya, for once not having a witty comeback, could only nod. "I see. You can tell me everything else later, now let us perform the standard procedure before we return to base," he replied in a for once serious tone a few moments later, and extracted his bingo book from his gi after taking a brief glance at the men's slashed forehead protectors.
"Amegakure… Ame…" the Sannin muttered as he paged through the book, his eyes lighting up moments later. "Hikaru Tanaka, missing nin, low A rank, well versed in Taijutsu. Hmm, Kenzo Sharaka, low A rank as well, long range fighter and Genjutsu specialist. Neat bounty on their heads too," he nodded, and whistled lowly. "Not bad for your first kills, kid, not bad."
Without waiting for Ranma to reply Jiraiya extracted a scroll from his gi, his face a neutral mask. After speeding through a set of seals the said scroll opened up in a puff of smoke, revealing two special duffel bags and a sharp looking katana. The Sannin picked up the latter, and Ranma had the time to raise a scarlet brow in confusion before the Sannin had already beheaded her two first kills, and she watched in fascination as the old man cleaned his sword on one of the nukenin's clothes, placed the heads in separate duffel bags which he then sealed up in the storage scroll alongside the sword, finally putting the storage scroll back in his gi.
"This is something I failed to mention seeing as I didn't anticipate you getting into a fight of your own this early on, but it's established practice to behead missing nin as evidence that you were their killer. It's the requirement for cashing in on the bounty," he explained, having noticed her confused expression.
"I see," Ranma replied with a nod, her expression slowly darkening. "And I assume we loot the bodies and rid ourselves of them with, say, a Katon jutsu, maybe?" she asked, sarcasm obvious in her voice.
Jiraiya sighed, having noticed what his student was getting at. "Sorry, kid, that's the way this world works. Survival of the fittest and all that," he apologised with a shrug. "Hey, I don't like it any more than you do, and I mean that, but that is how it has been for the longest time. That's how the game is played. As for why we loot their bodies, they could have scrolls with techniques valuable to Konoha on them or other pertinent knowledge, and we'd be fools not to capitalise on the opportunity."
Now it was Ranma's turn to sigh, yet a small smile played in the corners of her mouth. "I ain't having a problem with my being forced to kill them, this is how this world works after all as I have come to know, and taking my nature into account killing those I deem wanting comes to me naturally, but I admit I'd just have incinerated their bodies as is custom and would have paid my respects, but if you put it that way it makes senses, Jiraiya-san."
"Glad to hear that, kid. You take the left one, and I'll take on the one to the right, okay?"
"Agreed. And afterwards it's breakfast time. All that jutsu throwing made me hungry as a mountain lion," the redhead commented with a grin as she knelt down in front of the body the Sannin had allotted to her.
The toad Sannin's chuckling answered her, yet he made no verbal comment as he was visibly focussed on finding anything of interest on the body of Hikaru Tanaka, and Ranma followed his example as she focussed all of her considerable concentration on looting the body of the nin that had made her life so difficult in the past thirty-something minutes, absently noting with amusement that Jiraiya seemed to have allotted the body of Kenzo Sharaka by happenstance to her. Life was funny like that.
-.-
The looting of the bodies had brought nothing overly worthwhile to light, just a moderate amount of Ryu that'd indeed have been sufficient to spend a pleasurable night at a brothel, a few scrolls that'd have to be examined later and a comprehensive map of the area which was admittedly useful as its contents exceeded even Jiraiya's knowledge of the locale.
After completing their search for valuables Jiraiya and Ranma had then quickly incinerated the nukenins' bodies with aforementioned Katon jutsu, and now that they had retrieved the deer the redhead had slain earlier teacher and student were on their way back to the cave.
Ranma had—under great difficulty—screwed the promise out of Jiraiya to hold his questions until they had arrived back at the cave as she didn't feel like explaining the same things twice, and the Sannin had reluctantly agreed.
Now that Ranma was able to use chakra as any other shinobi it was child's play for her to increase her speed by channelling chakra to her legs, and due to that newfound speed the return to the cave didn't take more than ten minutes.
Upon arriving at the cave Jiraiya repeated the same unsealing technique he had used back then when they had initially arrived weeks before, allowing them entry.
The Sannin had barely resealed the entrance, though, when a very worried looking Naruto came literally storming at them, "What took ya so long, Ero-sennin, and what the hell happened to your clothes, Ranma-nee-san?" the blonde demanded, worry and curiosity shining in his eyes.
A wary sigh escaped her lips, and Ranma managed a weak smile. "I promise I'll tell you everything in a bit, 'ruto, but food or at least drink first, talking later," she replied and walked over to her futon onto which she plopped down unceremoniously, grabbed the canteen filled with water that was standing at her bedside and began guzzling down the precious liquid.
The blonde threw a worried and questioning glance at the Sannin, yet said Gama Sennin just gave Naruto a reassuring look that told him everything was okay before depositing the dead stag on the ground next to the fireplace. "It's her story to tell, gaki, and trust me when I say that I'm as curious as you are. Enough said, now help me prepare the food."
"Che, why's it always gotta be me?" the jinchuuriki exclaimed and rolled his eyes at the heavens, his antics causing Ranma to put down the canteen due to the chuckles escaping her harbouring the danger that she might choke on her drink.
"That's something I've always questioned myself as well," she commented after having wiped her mouth clean, a small grin playing on her face. "Say, Ero-sennin, do you know of a technique that'd allow us to dissect the stag easier? Something like the glowing finger thingie Tsunade-sama performed on Naruto's jumpsuit in the hospital? I'm reaaaaly hungry."
"Don't call me that!" the Gama Sennin replied indignantly, before assuming a thinking pose.
Naruto had meanwhile muttered, "So that is what happened to my precious jumpsuit," his comment causing Ranma's left brow to conduct a perfect Spock manoeuvre, the Heiress of Raiju then muttering for the umpteenth time about the blonde having a horrid fashion sense.
"Hmm, there is a technique, the Chakra no Mesu, but if Tsunade ever learned that I know it she'd likely trash me like never before seeing that it should only be known to medic nins," the Sannin muttered to himself, his gaze alternating between Ranma and Naruto. "But why do you want to know that in the first place, Ranma? It's not like you could learn it in a snap. It takes time and a lot of practise to learn the Chakra no Mesu."
"And that's where you are wrong, Jiraiya," she replied with a grin, and channelled chakra into her eyes.
The result was exactly as she had expected.
-.-
"What the hell is that?" the Gama Sennin queried after he had overcome his surprise, and with a few, smooth steps he crossed the distance separating them and knelt down in front of the redhead to study her changed eyes.
Naruto had followed his sensei's example, yet he had planted himself behind Jiraiya while gazing just as intently at Ranma's eyes as the Gama Sennin. "Wicked," was his comment after a brief moment of study, his next question being, "What can it do, Ranma-neechan?"
"And here I thought you liked me for my character, 'ruto, but what must I learn? You're only interested in my eyes," the redhead commented with a fake-sigh, causing the blonde to sputter, much to the two older shinobi's amusement. "All joking aside, my Kekkei Genkai gives me incredible visual clarity and allows me to see things in slow motion, nii-san. That's why I asked, Jiraiya. I acquired quite a few jutsu during my bout with those Ame nukenins simply by observing the hand seals they used for their jutsus in slow motion.
"It has one other remarkable feature that will be most useful. Right when I had managed to activate my bloodline limit knowledge trickled into my mind courtesy of the Raiju. It seems she was able to see through and create illusions by using just her eyes or making eye contact with her enemies! Ain't that cool?"
"I see," Jiraiya commented with an understanding nod. "That opens up a lot of interesting possibilities."
"Ame nukenins?" Naruto had exclaimed at the same time, worry once more shining in his eyes. "They didn't do something bad to you, did they, nee-san? I mean, what with you not being able to use chakra…"
Ranma grinned slyly. "Oh, but I am able to use chakra, now."
"That she sure as hell is. The condition of the forest a few kilometres to the south-east is testament to it," Jiraiya piped up wryly.
Ranma shrugged, a serious expression adorning her face as she looked at the Sannin. "Collateral damage happens, especially when you engage enemy shinobi, you know that as well as I do," she retorted sagely, prompting Jiraiya to nod acquiescently. "And no, they had no chance to do anything of that kind and regretted they ever tried to mess with me, nii-san," she added after turning her head to look at Naruto.
"That's a relief," the blonde exclaimed with a smile and heaved a relieved sigh. "But what happened exactly? How did your doujutsu activate, what cool jutsu did you learn and did you kill the nukenins?" he queried, his questions coming forth in quick succession.
"In the words of Tsunade-sama, slow down there or your mouth might catch fire," Ranma remarked with a teasing grin that caused Naruto to look sheepish. "You see, it happened like this," she began, and gave her two friends and comrades a recap of what had happened during her fight with the nukenins.
"So cool!" Naruto enthused, a big grin on his face. "Now that we both have a Doujutsu we'll be able to protect our precious people so much better!"
"Yeah, that we will," Ranma replied, a smile playing on her face at the jinchuuriki's enthusiasm.
"So your…" Jiraiya trailed off, pointing at her yellow eyes.
"Raijugan," Ranma supplied after having given the trivial matter of naming her doujutsu brief thought.
"So your Raijugan activated when you channelled chakra into your eyes," the toad hermit mused with a nod, a grin slowly spreading on his face. "Hah! I still have it in me!" he exclaimed with a shout, a full-blown grin now adorning his face as he jumped to his feet and performed an impromptu happy dance.
Naruto and Ranma exchanged a brief glance that silently communicated their joint assumption that the Gama Sennin must have lost—at least some of—his marbles, and the blonde youth grinned at the redhead after they had mutually agreed to ignore the old man for now. "So, you learned some cool jutsu, eh? What kind?" he queried, his attempt to keep his voice level obvious.
Ranma smiled, not for the first time being glad to have found someone who was as keen as she was when it came to learning new techniques. "Mostly Suiton and a few Magen techniques. Some of 'em are dead useful, and of course I'm gonna show you, nii-san. Why even the question? You know I'll help you with almost anything," she chided gently.
The blonde jinchuuriki smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of his head. "It's just… I'm not used to anyone being friendly or kind to me. It's something I have to get used to first," he said with a shrug.
"As said before, I understand, nii-san. I never really had anyone either who cared for me bar a scarce few, so I know exactly how it is. Just be careful in whom you place your trust, and everything should be fine," Ranma replied with a gentle smile.
"She's right, gaki. Trust should not be placed lightly," Jiraiya commented sagely, shaking his head in reminiscence, a jovial expression returning to his face a few moments later. "But now enough of this depressing stuff."
"Yeah. Less talk and more food! I'm damn hungry 'cause you took so long!" Naruto teased, yet the grumbling of his stomach was not fake.
"That depends on our esteemed pervert here," Ranma commented after giving the blonde a mock-glare. "So how about it, Jiraiya? You up to showing us this technique Tsunade is gonna flatten you for?"
"Oh sure, why should you lot care about my continued good health?" the toad hermit lamented, fake tears streaming down his cheeks. "I so know I'm going to regret this, but anyway, this technique might be damn useful for you two in the future. And as we all know, we-"
"Need all the advantages we can get, yeah, yeah," Ranma and Naruto chorused in a bored tone.
"Exactly," Jiraiya confirmed with a nod, completely ignoring the youths' tone. "Now activate your doujutsus so we can get it over with, I admit to being hungry myself."
The teens exchanged an amused look and complied, both never taking their eyes off the other as they channelled chakra to their eyes respectively. In Naruto's case his red Sharingan with two tomoe in each eye flared into life, his inquisitive crimson gaze being met by an equally curious yellow gaze of Ranma's Raijugan. The similarities in the design of the doujutsu's were apparent on first look, as were the differences.
Whereas Naruto's Sharingan eyes looked like something one would attribute to a camera with the circles surrounding the pupil resembling something akin to an optical zoom with the 'tears' being the actuators, Ranma's Raijugan belied her demon's influence seeing that her eyes looked very cat-like in this form with the various slits dominating in them.
"Cool," both teens said in stereo, and grinned at each other. "Now on with the technique, Ero-Sennin!" Naruto added, impatient as ever, which caused Ranma and Jiraiya to share a smile.
"Okay, eyes on me, brats," the Gama Sennin intoned seriously, and went through the hand seals for Chakra no Mesu at normal speed, his fascination growing that Naruto copied him exactly, and his chakra scalpel formed just milliseconds prior to the blondes. Ranma whereas had a contemplative expression on her face as she went over the hand seals needed in her mind, then, moments later the redhead nodded to herself and performed the hand seals as well.
"So cool!" Naruto enthused, and walked over to the deer. "Okay, let's do this," he said, and knelt down in front of the stag.
"Naruto, you must-" Jiraiya began.
"I know, Ero-Sennin, I hafta bring my 'charged hand' to the body of the target so that I can extend the chakra internally into the targets body to cut and slice the muscles and blood vessels without harming the surface skin," Naruto replied without looking at the older man, his face a mask of concentration. "With the Sharingan I understood the purpose of this technique so much easier."
"Here I try to teach him the theory behind the jutsu I hammer into that knucklehead of his, and what for?" Jiraiya lamented, raising him arms to the heavens in a gesture of despair. "He gains the Sharingan, and poof! 'Ero-sennin, I have seen the light!'. Meh, my life is-"
"Fraught with peril?" a grinning Ranma suggested, who let her own chakra scalpel slowly dissipate as she watched an enthusiastic Naruto neatly dissect the stag.
"Yeah, something to that effect," the old man agreed with a deep sigh. "But seeing you two succeed and admiring the work of art that is the female body help make it bearable. Would you consider doing a strip to ease this old man's pains, eh, Ranma?" he asked hopefully.
"You just had to say something like that, didn't you?" Ranma sighed in a tone that conveyed she couldn't be bothered to send the pervert into orbit this time, limiting herself to a dismayed shake of her head. "Count yourself lucky I'm in such a good mood, or I'd have tested the newest Genjutsus in my arsenal on you."
"Eheh heh, forget I said anything, m'dear, and let's just concentrate on breakfast. Gaki, what's taking you so long?" Jiraiya demanded loudly, mostly to divert attention from his person, as Ranma surmised.
A string of curses was Naruto's answer followed by the reply that he could do it himself if he thought he could do it faster, and Ranma smiled as the two men descended into a verbal brawl. Life with them never grew boring, that much was for sure. And it stood to reason that it would get even more interesting soon.
to be continued…
Phew. Long chapter that saw a lot of developments. Not much to say really, other than see Chapter 1 for the Disclaimer, legal guys, so on to the comment section.
- Ranma’s Raijugan: I had planned to introduce it from the start, and had intended to do so as tactfully as possible, but I'm not quite sure if I managed to pull it off. Moving on, the Raijugan was an idea that has been floating around in my head for a while now, and I considered it impossible to introduce Ranma's demonic abilities without making it a bloodline.
But introduce it I wanted to, especially in face of the odds - and other Kekkei Genkei users such as Pein (who has an as of yet to be revealed bloodline limit) - they will be facing. And said odds do not just refer to Akatsuki. Things are going to take a twist that will go from bad to worse in future chapters.
Despite all that, I hope the Raijugan is not an uber doujutsu, but I am fairly certain it isn't due to the limitations it has. Limitations Ranma will find out about.
- abilities the Raijugan grants so as long as it's active:
A) the user is able to perceive things with incredible visual clarity, and the Kekkei Genkei also slows down time for the user enabling him/her to track hand seals easily (Gotta admit, I played Max Payne 2 – again - and thought to myself "Now that would be a cool ability in a doujutsu, slowing down time,"). Yet in contrast to the Sharingan it does not copy jutsu, meaning the Raijugan wielder will have to try out the jutsu in a haphazard way. This issue will become important at the latest when it comes to performing very chakra intensive jutsu, seeing as Ranma will have to determine the optimal chakra input by trial and error.
B) the user is able to see through any and all Genjutsu and can create illusions by using just his/her eyes or making eye contact with his/her enemies, and that without the usage of hand seals.
- Ranma’s and Naruto’s chakra natures:
A) Naruto: will obviously have
wind, just like in canon. I’ll likely add fire as an equally strong affinity to
it as well due to the Kyuubi’s influence and most likely leave it at that. Maybe
earth as a tertiary affinity…
B) Ranma: obviously fire as the primary affinity. Not sure about the other. Water is pretty much out due to the fire affinity. Damn, that would have been so fitting what with the water-based curse, but meh.
- Naruto and Ranma complimenting each other well: some of you will have a hunch of what I have planned. For all of you who haven't, here are some pointers: Naruto with his Sharingan and freakish stamina covers Ninjutsu and eventually Taijutsu, Ranma with his/her bloodline and martial arts prowess covers Gen- and Taijutsu. The third, yet to be revealed member of the team - excepting Jiraiya, who's quite obviously the sensei - will cover.. nah, that'd be telling. None of them will be uber as in that he/she will be able to defeat Akatsuki single-handedly while blind-folded, but together they'll be a damn hard force to beat.
- Raiju, the 'Mistress of Illusions': the description of the Raiju gave me
quite some leeway in that regard, and my making this particular Raiju a Cat
demoness allows for some tactful use of artistic license. Cats are sly,
incredibly so, and if you have ever owned a cat you'll swear 'em furballs can
hypnothise you to do their bidding. :)
Heh, I know I'm stretching it a bit,
but hey, why shouldn't a Biju be a master/mistress of illusions?
More of my notes can be found at my group. Peace out.