Training op (Solo)

Den appeared on the floor to his room. The one in Sanctuary, where he normally slept while residing in the place. His body still felt hurt from his battle with Xyxer, he still couldn’t believe that that he had allowed himself to be cut in half so easily. Dammit, how had he failed so entirely in that battle? Even the Gobi had managed to surface, take control and fight in his stead. Xyxer and Den were the two more powerful Kiri survivors, and Den had failed to challenge Xyxer in any way during their bought.

I would have killed him if the other had not interfered. The Gobi was angered, she had missed her chance to slay the man who had spoken ill of Minorin, who had even stooped so low as to  pair her with Den! The Gobi had meant to burn his head off, but the man possessed some strange explosive gauntlet that had launched the beast away from him before she could finish her strike.

The event after that were confusing for both the Gobi and Den, but now they were back in Sanctuary, and they needed to decide what to do next. Den needed to get back in contact with Naoki, and see if he made it out alright, but he couldn’t simply teleport to Shima and find him as Shima had some strange barrier blocking it. Den would have to find a place in which he could send a message, but what would be the safest place to do that?

The answer was easy enough to find, Den and his father were the only humans that knew of the island, inhabited giant snakes, not far from where Kirigakure had once been. Sitting down on his bed, Den did a mental checklist to make sure he had everything he needed. First he should probably dispose of his old legs, the ones Xyxer had cut off.

Fortunately his lower body had been teleported to Ame as well and he had grabbed it before leaving, he teleported it to an empty space within Sanctuary and then incinerated it, creating incredibly hot flames within that space through his control of Sanctuary. The remains of what was once part of Den were gone, which was good because he didn’t want to deal with someone acquiring his dna and perhaps trying to access his powers in some way. If they ended up being able to access Sanctuary that could be disastrous, as it was Den’s only save haven.  

With the problem now solved, Den figured he was more or less ready. His gear neatly arranged itself in his room as he prepared to teleport to the island of the snakes, he wouldn’t need it on the island, the snakes there were friendly with him and he trusted them more than he did humans, there was no reason for them to ever betray him, at least to his knowledge anyway.

Den appeared on the beach dressed in well fitted pants and a black t-shirt. He had sandals commonly worn by shinobi on his feet as well. He wore 3 pieces of jewelry, a necklace and two rings on his right hand. The stones in these pieces of jewelry possessed great power though, enchanted with Den’s power through Sanctuary. While worn they increased his power considerably, but it had not been enough to defeat Xyxer, and if he couldn’t defeat him how could he hope to defeat those who had killed Minorin?

Two snakes came to greet him, both of large size. They were about as big around as Den’s torso was, and their heads much bigger than his.

“Ah, I see young Den has returned to us. How have your journeys faired?” It was a female snake that had spoken with Den a few times during his visits to the island. She had always been kind to him, and he gave her a smile as a greeting, seeing the kind beast raised his spirits a little.

“Not so well, I managed to gain a few allies but I’ve lost contact with them. And I got into a fight that didn’t end well for me either, over all I’d say it could have gone better.” Den tried to sum up his experience as best he could, the snake nodded after he spoke so he figured his response was sufficient for her. Den began to walk down the beach, heading towards the den in which most of the snakes lived. The two snakes slithered beside him, the other was not one Den had talked to before but had seen once or twice.

“So, you are the one that the elders performed the ritual on? The one who became capable of using the power of the snake, and eventually even developed the demonic powers?” The snake eyed Den oddly, analyzing him as though he was looking for something, what it was exactly Den didn’t know.

Years ago Den’s father had allowed some of the snake elders to perform a ritual on Den that had given him increased healing powers and snake like powers. Eventually they evolved into something he couldn’t fully control, he could transform into a beast whose prowess had rivaled Minorin’s Version 1 cloak. But he had hurt her when he had transformed, he hadn’t wanted to, he just hadn’t been able to control himself.

Eventually he had learned to control the power, and as his body developed new bloodlines this formed changed to become some sort of mix, possessing traits of the Juugo Bloodline and his original snake abilities. He had told the snake sages of this new power and they had helped train him to control the sage energy that he absorbed naturally, but he was still not at the level needed to develop something as powerful as say Sage Mode.

“Yes, that was me.” Den wasn’t sure what else to say about it, the snake seemed somehow in awe of the fact that Den had used this ability, but while it was powerful Den didn’t think it merited such a reaction. The two snakes continued to follow him as he made his way from the beach and onto the grass of the island, headed towards the cave in which Hajime and his family resided, a family of snakes that had worked closely with Den’s father and himself. In fact Katsuro and Denkiteki shared some sort of bond, one that had caused Katsuro to gain strange steam like abilities that seemed to stem from the Gobi sealed within Den.

The two snakes stopped outside of the save, then went their own way as Den entered, apparently they had been his escorts but now their job was done. Den continued on by himself, his footsteps echoing as the save grew darker. The snakes didn’t care about lighting as much as humans did, and even if they did care they didn’t have arms so they had no real way of making artificial light if they wanted too.

Den could hear the sound of multiple voices, and soon came across the family of snakes that Den’s contract was primarily with. Hajime and his son Katsuro were the strongest of the family, with Katsuro being Hajime’s only surviving child. Katsuro’s wife was not a fire, and Katsuro’s children were still young and not experienced fighters, however he did have a son who possessed the unique ability to shoot fireballs from his mouth, an ability Den hoped would become more powerful as the snake grew older.

As the snakes heard him approach they gradually stopped talking, turning their heads to see the young man approach. The 3 youngest snakes; Hiroko, Ichimura, and Natsumi; were the first to slither towards Den, excited by his arrival. Ichimura had been so tiny the firs ttime Den had seen him, but now he was longer than Den was tall, and looked about the size one would expect of a normal snake. Den knelt down on one knee as they approached, stopping just in front of him before all speaking at once, all asking where he had been and what he had been doing. Den smiled, even though they were snakes they still acted like curious children, the intelligent races that were able to give contracts with shinobi seemed to mirror human behavior in many ways. Den had never really found any scientific research on these races, which seemed odd to him as he would have thought scientists would be so curious about giant talking animals, so he had no clue how these animals ended up the way they were.

The adults followed shortly after the children, with Katsuro’s eldest son following the adults. The large white snake and his own father looked down towards Den with friendly looks, he and Katsuro had been friends for years and Hajime had worked with Den’s father for longer than Den had been alive. He trusted these snakes above any beings on the earth, beyond Toma and his family, so he felt comfortable telling them about how he had not fared well in his last battle, and not only needed more training but also needed to extend his contract with the snakes to include Hajime’s father, Shou. Den knew that Hajime and Katsuro were powerful, but the ones he planned on fighting were even more powerful than Xyxer, Den needed the help of the most powerful of the snakes who lived on the island if he wanted to be able to fight his enemies within the villages Minorin had listed.

Den also talked of the Gobi and his sage abilities with the family, discussing how he needed aide in controlling the beast and further increasing his sage powers. Hajime told him that his father was skilled in the Sage arts, and perhaps could help Den better utilize the Nature Chakra he naturally absorbed, and could perhaps set him on the track to learning the powers of Sage Mode. The Snake didn’t know exactly how the form worked, but they themselves utilized Sage Chakra and thus far had managed some success in teaching Den to control his use of it, perhaps with the help of Shou Den could become one step closer to mastering the Sage Arts.

As for the demon, the snakes had little help to give. They were not experienced with the tailed beast, and knew not how to conquer their power. The only advice Hajime and Katsuro could give Den was to not allow himself to succumb to the beasts power again, that he had to always be in control.

Shou lived atop the mountain in the center of the island, normally a great climb for those who wished to visit the ‘Great Dragon’ as the snakes all seemed to call Shou. Den had heard tales of the snake, but never seen it in person. Apparently he was one of the largest of his kind, and yet had somehow attained the ability to fly. Den couldn’t wait to see this ‘Great Dragon’ and see how powerful he truly was, he hoped that he would be able to help him increase his control over his sage abilities.

Den could have flown to the top of the mountain himself, however creating wings had a constant drain on his chakra, and he didn’t want to be left winded by the time he was half way to the top. So Den brought an old friend with him that was willing to give him a ride. Yuudai had grown large over the past few months, and could easily carry Den now, and was fine with Den sitting on his shoulders during flight.

Upon leaving the snake cave, Den teleported to Sanctuar to retrieve the dragon from his home, returning with the dragon at the mouth of the save only moments after disappearing. Already clued in as Den had slowed time in Sanctuary so that he could explain everything, Den hopped on Yuudai’s back and the dragon took off, headed up and towards the mountain at the center of the island.

Tuudai was faster than most airborne creatures, but the ride was slow to Den. He did not complain however, as he was forcing Yuudai to do all the work getting to the top of the mountain. The dragon soared upwards and through the clouds, the temperature dropping as they continued to climb. Yuudai’s scales were soon the only warmth that Den could feel, the dragon immune to the cold due to the massive heat his body produced. Den ignored the stinging pain and endured the cold as they climbed higher and higher. Den didn’t know how long it took them to get to the top of the mountain, but it felt like an eternity, by the time they landed he found it impossible to stop his body from shivering, and activated his Sage Transformation ability to thicken his skin, the ton of it changing to grey as Den’s entire body was transformed. The cold didn’t sting as much after that, and he and Yuudai proceeded on foot towards what at first seemed to be another growth of rock on top of the mountain, however they drew near it sturred, and Den realized the colossal snow covered rocks were actually the snake he had come to meet, just covered in snow during a nap.

The gigantic snakes body simply move doff the ground as Yuudai and Den continued, the Great dragon’s body unfurling itself  as it looked down at the new comers, “Ah, are you the boy my kin have spoken of?” The Dragons voice was deep and resounding, as massive in volume as Shou was in size.

Den nodded, before yelling up to the dragon, “Yes, I believe so.” Den paused a moment before speaking his proposal, he knew the snakes were not ones for idle chatter and preferred when people simply asked for what they wanted, rather than trying to ‘butter them up’ beforehand, “I plan soon to strike out against my enemies, the ones who murdered my friend. I need powerful allies, and I was told there are few on this island near as powerful as you.”

The dragon chuckled, the noise sending shockwaves throughout the top of the mountain, “Fly with me, both of you, and we shall talk of this alliance.”

The dragon then floated up into the air, further and further. Den and Yuudai exchanged looks between each other before den’s form shifted, black marks forming on his body and wings sprouting from his back. The two launched themselves into the air, Den keeping at the same pace as Yuudai easily as the two followed after the colossal dragon Den sought to make a contract with. The two broke through even more clouds, spotting sections of Shou’s colossal body as they flew upwards but unable to find his head.

Then the two noticed that the sections started moving past them, Shou was moving upwards even further, and faster than they were moving. Looking to each other again, Yuudai nodded to Den, letting him know it was okay to continue without him.

As soon as he saw the nod Den’s body would blur out of existence in Yuudai’s eyes, the form Den took had increased his speed and strength greatly, vastly improving his flying skills. Den quickly managed to catch up to Shou due to this, the dragon had been fast but Den was capable of powerful feats a swell, especially when it came to feats of speed.

The dragon stopped in place, staring at Den, “I had not expected you to catch me so quickly.” It was not that the dragon thought itself some extremely swift beast, he just hadn’t expected some boy to manage to easily outclass him when it came to flying. The dragon then reigned in its surprise, and began speaking again.

“It has been long since I’ve ventured form this place, and my family has told me much of your mission.” The dragon’s voice still boomed, resounding throughout the sky, but the creatures who lived below could not hear him, who knew how many miles below, “And you are obviously gifted, I can sense the Nature Chakra coursing through you, even if your control of it is almost non-existent. Yes, perhaps I will fight alongside you, but before that you must be trained. I will not accept a Sage whose power is so wild, I won’t promise to help you master your control of Nature Energy but I can easily see areas in which you need improvement.”

Den had not known his control of Sage Chakra was so terrible, he had thought that by being able to control it to later his body via Sage Transformation showed he was skilled, but he had yet to even reach the tip of the iceberg in terms of what this power could be used for.  Considering it was this power that had helped him defeat the Gobi in single combat, Den wondered what sort of feats he could accomplish if he truly mastered the use of Sage Transformation, honed it into a weapon that perhaps would help him not only defeat his enemies, but perhaps make him a force that could enact real change upon the world. The latter was not something Den truly wanted, but since he had first began going beyond the limits of a normal shinobi he had felt obligated to help people at least occasionally, what was the point in having so much power if one didn’t use it to make things better?

The dragon and the young man flew back down towards the mountain, passing Yuudai who was just about to catch up with them, the two slowed to allow the young Sanctuary dragon to keep up with them, and despite the slow pace they reached the mountain peak fairly quickly. Den and Yuudia landed next to each other, while Shou’s body draped itself around the peak, with his head in front of Den and Yuudai.

“If you wish to have me assist you in fighting in this battle, first I will help you learn to better control your sage powers.” The dragons voice was still booming despite being so close to Den and Yuudai, “Release the form you’ve taken completely, you must learn to harness Sage Energy without the aid of this strange power of yours.”

Den released his Sage Transformation as instructed, feeling the cold against his skin once more as the protective layer disappeared. He felt goosebumps rise up all along his body, but made no complaint and did his best to stop himself from shivering.

“Sit down cross legged, and…. You’re still absorbing Sage Energy.” Shou sounded somewhat annoyed, believing Den had not followed his instructions properly. Den focused and did his best, but his body continued to absorb Sage Energy, and he felt the power of it replenish his slightly depleted reserves. He didn’t know how to stop it, it just happened on its own. Den was able to control what happened to the Sage Chakra once he had absorbed it, but had no clue how to turn off this ability.

“I… I don’t know how to stop.” Den said, somewhat quietly as it was embarrassing. He hoped that Shou would not see this as Den being incompetent, but the dragon instead looked at him, puzzled.

“It seems that your alterations have had strange effects on your body boy. If you wish to master Sage Mode we will have to figure out how to help you better control nature energy, if you cannot control your intake of it you will never be able to unlock the true potential of its power. I’m afraid that I know not how to help you, but you should train on this island and learn from the other elders, perhaps one of us will gve you knowledge that will help you in controlling this power.” Shou looked down from the mountain, towards the opposite side of where most of the snakes lived, “I have 4 brothers, each of us able to control one of the elements. You met us all when we performed the ritual on you, and if I recall correctly you trained under one of us for a short time.”

Den had trained with the earth snake, it had taught him hiding like a mole. He had never learned the elders name, but he had been kind to Denkiteki. He was also large like Shou, but didn’t have arms and lacked the ability to fly.

“So, will you assist me once I learned how to control this power? And what if I do not, will you not help me then?” Den wasn’t sure if he could master sage mode, it seemed a potent skill that he wasn’t sure he could control, and perhaps the power of the juugo clan had rendered him unable to obtain the precise control needed to enter a true Sage Mode.

“If you fail, then I think you will need me even more so. Spend 3 weeks training under the snakes of this island, learning to harness Sage Energy and control you intake of it, while also honing your other skills. After that time has elapsed we can seek out these enemies of yours and destroy them, this I promise to you.”

Satifised with the dragons answer Den bowed to the great beast, “I shall seek out the other elders and learn what I can from them, thank you so much.” Den was hopeful, if he could get shou and the other elders to help him, if he could gain any sort of new power, his odds of success would increase. He also needed to find out the fate of Naoki, but he couldn’t get to shima for some reason and if he returned to Tenga he would most likely be attacked again, perhaps he could send Toma there and he would have better luck learning of Naoki’s fate.

TWC:3648
3648 towards Shou
18 stats for Yuudai
1800 ryo for Den

Also adding
http://naruto-role-play-rpg.forumotion.com/t24611p10-want-to-go-to-the-beach-private- 1.4k left over from this thread and putting it towards shou to finish the training