I don't own solo leveling or Naruto
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Life after death was nothing but a deep dark abyss for Kushina. After seeing her newborn, Naruto, one last time with tears streaking down her face and blood gushing from her mouth and the other wounds she accumulated that wonderful and terrible night — she saw only darkness.
It felt like an eternity as the abyss stretched for infinity. The end.
That was until she heard a voice that reverberated and shook her entire being.
"Uh?"
It was a being bathed in golden light with angelic white wings and armor of white and gold — in pristine condition. She was awe-sturck by his alien like yet divine appearance. When she asked who it was it called itself a soldier with no name that needed her help.
"What could one such yourself need my help for?"
[You are a strong soul stuck in limbo, a place before the Sea of the Afterlife. In all my eons as a soldier for the rulers have I ever encountered one who has resisted the tide of the black sea as strongly as you.]
"The Sea of the Afterlife?"
The nameless soldier nodded, beckoning her to look down. When she did she found that the seemingly endless abyss split open to reveal a black sea of nothingness. It evoked feelings of horror and bliss, terror and peace. It was the 'true' death.
[Once you fall into its depths there will be nothing I can do for you. You will be consumed by its current and fade into nothingness.]
Kushina looked up at the nameless soldier and fixed her gaze back to the slowly approaching sea. A question formed in her head.
"Are you also dead?"
The soldier seemed to be solem although it was hard to tell for Kushina when she could only see his white glowing eyes. She thought all her interactions with that cute kid Kakashi Hatake had enabled her to see discern emotions hidden by the mask, but maybe she was still in awe of this divine like being.
[I was a soldier from the skies. A fruit of the World Tree. I didn't listen to the warnings of my commanding officer and threw myself into the tiniest dimensional gap that opened. I was met with vast empty space of the dimensional rift with no way back to my comrades. I've been wandering within the dimensional rift ever since with no power to send myself back. Now that I see the 'black sea' I know that my eagerness has led me to this place. Death.]
Kushina smiled at the being, "I'm sorry that happened to you. I guess I can imagine not having a way back home, Tenken."
[Tenken? I told you that I have no name.]
"I know, but I think you deserve one. It uses the kanji for Ten (天) meaning heaven or sky and Ken (剣) which means sword. Put together you get Tenken or 'heavenly sword' which I think suits you!" She explained clapping her hands with a happy smile.
'Tenken' seemed delighted at receiving a new name.
[Yes, I quite like it. After all, I was but a sword for my masters as all soldiers are. Thank you very much…um?]
"Kushina. Uzumaki Kushina."
[Yes. Thank you, Kushina.]
They remained silent and stared at the 'black sea' pulling them in until Tenken broke the silence.
[Our lives don't have to end here.]
"Are you still trying to prove yourself?"
[Yes. The purpose my masters, The Rulers, had for me and my comrades was to battle against the Monarchs born from primordial darkness. I fear this might be our last chance to stop them.]
"Monarchs?"
Tenken nodded, opening the palm of its hand bathed in golden light. It put its hand forward to offer her a hand.
[I won't have enough time to explain verbally, but if you take my hand you'll understand everything as I see it.]
Kushina looked at Tenken's hand and then to the 'black sea' she was curious about his talk about Monarchs and Rulers but not enough to look at the 'sea' with a sense of longing. She didn't want to exist anymore, not after losing everything. Not after losing Naruto.
[Please Kushina, I know you don't wish to die just like me.]
Her infamous temper flared up and glared daggers at the golden entity. "Don't you dare to presume to know what I feel right now! The despair, the anger, the hate, the shame!" She slapped Tenken's hand to the side and gripped it by the collar of its divine cape and pulled it close. "You know nothing of my failure! I deserve to fade from existence after not being strong enough to stay alive. Not being strong enough to see m-my little Naruto grow up!" Tears streamed down her face like a river, her complex swirl of emotion plain for the angelic being to see.
[I know of failure! I have seen worlds burn for longer than you've drawn breath. I know despair, anger, hate, shame! It may not be your pain, but it's a feeling that is all encompassing! Kushina the fact you lie in limbo resisting the pull of the 'sea' tells me all I need to know.]
"And what's that!" She growled like a wild beast.
[You don't want to die. No one ever truly wants to die.]
"Tch!" Kushina shoved Tenken away and screamed furiously into the void until she lost all her energy. All emotions left her face as she stared into the swirling 'black sea' before looking back at Tenken. An ugly truth she couldn't deny any longer took root in her heart, "You're right, but what would you have me do?"
[Take my hand so we can 'live' once more.]
Kushina stared at Tenken's hand hesitantly. If what it was offering was true then she could return to Earth, she could see her baby again. With a spark of hope in her heart locked hands with the being she named 'Tenken' and was bathed in holy light.
They shot away from the abyss like a shooting star and raced through the vast dimensional rift all the way to another dimension. When they arrived they were no longer separate entities but a divine being formed into one. Kushina's chakra and Tenken's mana twisting and swirling to form a physical body of golden light that further transformed into the familiar form of the Red-Hot Habanero.
When 'she' landed in the new dimension she found herself in a cave filled with what she now knew to be mana stones lighting up the cave. Then people dressed in fancy armour carrying sets of weapons came running towards in what looked like a desperate attempt to flee.
'If Tenken's memories are correct then those beings must be 'hunters'. If that's the case then this must be a fragment of the 'chaos world'. '
In Tenken's memories it had been lost in the dimensional rift for many years because it knew where to go but didn't have the power. That is until it ended up encountering Kushina floating in the abyss and joining hands with her. It was thanks to Kushina chakra merging and melting with its own that they were able generate just enough force to break a barrier into the nearest lock of the chaos world.
Kushina looked at her hands with sadness, 'Tenken… You broke the rule of your divine master's to never fully assimilate with another being. It seems like my ego was too strong for you to overcome and now you're 'dead''
[I'd gamble with my life than lose it doing nothing. Besides, I like you very much Kushina. You are a strong soul.]
She smirked, "Careful now. I'm married, dattebane."
[I know and I'm sorry that this isn't your 'Earth'. It seems in all my knowledge of the cosmos I've never heard of a world quite like you-.]
'It's okay,' She interrupted him with a soft smile. 'I'm glad you motivated me to start living again. It won't be easy but I don't want another person's world to burn like mine did that night, so I'll fight using the strength given to me.'
In the recesses of her mind, Tenken looked to be smiling if his eyes gave any indication to its emotions.
[Thank you, Kushina.]
They were essentially one being now and Tenken couldn't be any happier to have its purpose fulfilled even if it would never be in control ever again. It would fade into nothing but be happy to do so this time.
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3 days later
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"Get up! You're gonna be late, Kushina!" Kanae shouted loudly from the kitchen.
"Uh?" Kushina rose up hazily from her bed and crashed onto the floor. Blankets tangled up and strewn about everywhere.
"Owwww…" She whined rubbing her head.
It had been 3 days since she saved Kanae from the Lich monster and since then Kanae has offered her a place of residence in her penthouse suite which she didn't pass up on. It was a convenient arrangement for her as she had nowhere to live.
When she told Kanae of this when she was getting discharged from hospital she was shocked to find out a S-rank hunter was practically homeless.
"Hehe. I'm not a hunter, I'm afraid." She denied at the time not knowing it was illegal to enter a gate without a license.
"Eh!? I'm sorry! I had no idea! You were just in trouble so I rushed in without thinking!" She defended herself, raising her arms very dramatically. Chewing down at her fingernails very nervously.
That's when she learned that Kanae was part of an organization called the Draw Sword guild, the strongest guild in Japan. As an S-rank hunter she could basically do anything she wanted with almost zero repercussions which was natural for being gifted the power of the strongest.
Kanae informed her that as long as she registered and got her license then the Association couldn't really do anything much to her since she was already so strong. All she would really get would be a slap on the wrist so to speak.
Kanae also suggested that she join her guild since they pay really well which would mean she could afford her own place and clothes.
"I noticed you've been wearing the same clothes for the past 2 days." She pointed out dryly much to her embarrassment.
She also viewed it as a chance to learn more about this world other than the true origins of their whole society of hunters, gates and monsters.
Thanks to Tenken's memories she knew that the Rulers and Monarchs and their armies had been at it since the dawn of time. One side battling to persevere worlds, Rulers, and the other battling to destroy them, Monarchs. Ever since the death of the Absolute Being, the Rulers have been on a manhunt to end the Monarchs but they have avoided their grasp in the rift between dimensions.
Eventually the Monarchs found their way to Earth which the Rulers quickly heard of. It was here that they waged many battles with the Earth being destroyed everytime due to the clashes of their armies. To prevent the Earth from being truly lost, the Rulers were forced to use the tool of God—the Cup of Reincarnation. Setting time back 10 years, many times, to come up with a plan to stop the Monarchs.
That is where the idea to create 'Hunters' came from. Human beings with mana that could survive the fallout of the transcendent war on Earth.
All she could do now was prepare and get stronger for the time to come. She chuckled to herself, 'Another lifetime another war.'
"You're going to meet with my boss, Goto Ryuji, so you better get up." Kanae said, peeking her head into her room. She saw Kushina in nothing but a loose black bra, lacey underwear and the worst case of bed hair known to man.
"Right. I'm up…" She yawned with a bit of drool, dripping down her chin. She got to her feet to make her way over to the bathroom.
Kanae had an amused expression on her face, "It never seizes to amaze me how fucked up your hair gets in the morning. What? Were you fighting a tornado or something?"
"Or something." She yawned again, closing the door behind her.
'It's only been days since she recovered from the Lich's poison and she's already revving to go out there for more action.' Kushina thought amused. Turning the water on and letting the hot water hit her slender body, she chuckled. 'She reminds me of my younger self back in the day when I had the fiery passion to become Hokage so I could rule over everyone who laughed at my red hair.'
After 3 days around her she learned that Kanae was a fiercely determined woman with a very sharp tongue for anyone who told her otherwise. She took no shit from anyone and was extremely confident in her abilities as an S-rank hunter of Japan. She also seemed to hold a lot of respect for Goto Ryuji despite it being masked under a veil of contempt.
"Ahhh… I needed that." She sighed, stretching her arms out wide as she stepped out of the shower.
When she got to her room she found a pair of clothes neatly laid out on the drawer. She wandered over and picked up the long sleeved pink shirt. 'Well, that's awfully nice of her. She must be in a hurry huh.'
She quickly got dressed into form-fitting black jeans that hugged her curves all in the right places and wore dark black shoes. And she looked at herself in the mirror with a bit of a frown. 'I don't know how I feel about this tight clothing… It's not uncomfortable but as a married woman I don't think I like other guys looking at me.'
She paused after the thought. Her shining ray of hope in a world that was so tough entered her mind. The man that had given her the world and didn't ask for anything in return other than to be by her side. She pressed her hands together and held them to her chest.
"Minato…" She whispered his name like a silent prayer. She spared her late husband a small moment to try and recollect her feelings of love and loss. She'd barely had the chance to grieve for him and the thought made feel like a bad wife and very guilty, but a lot has happened in the past few days that she really hasn't had the time.
She looked in the mirror very critically.
Kushina definitely wasn't shy by any means but the way this outfit hugged her body did have her feel a bit self conscious. But like any other feeling she had that made her uncomfortable she pushed it down and went about her day with enthusiasm.
However, she paused just before leaving the room to grab a long trench coat that covered her ass. "Yep, just a little bit of coverage." She muttered.
She walked into the main sitting area which immediately connected to the kitchen where she saw Kanae walking out from.
"Good. Here!" Kanae said, shoving a polystyrene container in her hands.
"What's this?"
"Lunch. Since you woke up late you won't have time for breakfast." She answered, gruffly.
"Okay."
After that they left Kanae's high rise penthouse suite all the way to the Japanese Hunter Agency headquarters where she would meet Goto Ryuji and the Chairman of the Hunters Agency, Shigeo Matsumoto.
The meeting was a formality to receive her S-rank after she had been registered as an unreadable on the magic detector only 2 days ago.
The cries from workers that day were something.
"Woah, her magic power can't be measured."
"Doesn't that mean she's an S-rank?"
"Japan really is blessed with S-ranks huh."
"Yeah, I'm barely keeping up."
The roar was worse online once minor details about the Undefeated Kings guild double dungeon raid were leaked. No one knew who it was but they did know that someone ended up saving the asses of S-rank hunter Kanae Takawa and a raid squad of the Undefeated Kings. Some of the commotion online was speculating from the little the public was given about the incident.
-S-rank hunter Tanaka Kanae was left severely poisoned after encountering the Arch Lich in Undefeated Kings guild double dungeon raid!-
-I heard they were saved by a mysterious hunter-
-I heard that he wasn't even a registered hunter!-
-That's a monster that even destroyed that one guild in China, right?-
Some cast doubt on the rumors.
-No way that happened, right? A single hunter couldn't have taken on an Arch Lich!-
-Yeah! Not unless they were Goto Ryuji!-
-People say anything online nowadays, huh?-
Kushina was oblivious to all of this as she had no concept of social media.
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Kushina wore a picture perfect smile when she met the famous man, Goto Ryuji.
She bowed respectfully in greeting, "Good morning, sir. I've heard quite a bit about you."
The man with a pristine goatee and stern expression smiled, also taking a bow. "The same to you. Even though it's illegal to enter a dungeon solo and without a license I asked my good friend Matsumoto to let it slide for the life of a comrade like Kanae."
The aforementioned Matsumoto chimed in with a happy smile. "Yes, after all, S-rank hunters are a precious commodity in this world. It's important we have as many of them as possible."
Kushina nodded seemingly in agreement to his words, but internally grimacing. She didn't like how the man talked about people like objects, especially Kanae. It rubbed her the wrong way.
"Kanae expressed to me your desire to join my guild, Draw Sword. I must admit I'm flattered. I would think that someone with the power to defeat an S-rank boss, single-handedly, would want to form their own guild." Goto said.
"Maybe, but I feel joining your guild was more convenient. It's so much work and responsibility that I've gotta pass up on."
"It is a lot of work, I'll give you that." He gave a good-natured smile and then turned to Chairman Matsumoto. "Shall we leave for the next room and continue the evaluation?"
"Oh, of course, dear friend."
In the next room was a meek looking man in a black suit and a clipboard in his hands. The room was a vast, pristine looking gymnasium.
"Um, my name is Nakajima Kaoi. I'll be evaluating your capabilities and skills as a hunter, Miss Uzumaki." The meek man introduced himself.
"Kushina works just fine," She gave him a pearly white grin.
"I'm curious to see with my own eyes what you can do." Goto commented.
"What? Didn't you read the report?"
"I did." was his simple answer.
"Alright then, let me show you what I can do!"
She summoned forth her golden chains, spitting out from her back, the spear tips at the end of the chains digging into her ground in front of them.
"These are my adamantine chains. Virtually unbreakable and excellent for sealing a target's movements once binded by them." Kushina explained as Nakajima scribbled down furiously on his clipboard.
"Impressive. These golden chains shine brighter than any gold item I've ever seen."
"Awe sheesh! You're gonna make me blush." Kushina playfully teased.
"What else?"
"I can make a couple of clones and use 'basic' barrier magic." She answered.
That was almost everything that was in the report Goto had received from Kanae, but there was one thing that left him curious about this powerful mage-type hunter.
"You like to fight close quarters." He seemed to be asking a question but phrased it as a matter of fact statement.
"Yeah, I guess. Is that strange?" Kushina tilted her head to the side.
"No, not strange, just not very practical. As someone who has many long-range spells at their disposal, I'd consider you to be a mage-type hunter."
"But?" Kushina asked, already sensing the doubt in his own conclusion.
"But your want to get in close to your opponent as described in Kanae's report puzzles me. She estimated that from your showings that she might struggle against you in close quarters. That's almost unheard of for mage-type. No, rather it is suicide because they aren't meant for close quarters combat. It just puzzled me." He explained.
"Yeah, we'll I'm not a 'go with the flow' typa gal. I'm a bit rebellious." She smirked, hands on her hips.
Goto gave her an intense stare, scanning her up and down. To anyone else it might have seemed as if he was checking her out, but that wasn't the case. His eyes were that of a warrior sizing up his opponent.
"I can see that." He eventually answered, looking down at his watch. "It seems I have to go, but I will tell you this. In a week my guild will be heading to South Korea for a raid on Jeju island. Familiarize yourself with the people who will become your teammates in that time. Good luck and welcome to the Draw Sword guild."
They shook hands and he walked off leaving her with Chairman Matsumoto and Nakajima Kaoi in the gymnasium.
"So, let's make your rank official and announce to the world Draw Swords new S-rank hunter!" Matsumoto clapped happily, his glee being that of a kid in a toy store.
"Yeah."
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In the 76th floor of the demon castle the fires raged on everywhere but the heat barely reached him. Sung Jinwoo smiled at the fact that the items he purchased were working as intended. He glanced to the side at Minato and was reminded to put to action what he was intending the whole time.
"Oooh that's a big one? Got a plan?" Minato questioned smoothly with a raised brow.
He looked ahead and a horde of demons followed by a gigantic demon that towered over many multiple story buildings were headed their way. "As a matter of fact..." His black shadow expanded and his shadow army, more than one hundred strong, materialized behind him. He raised his hand and called over the shadow whose power he wanted to test the most.
"Tusk, come here and use this." He shoveled out the Orb of Avarice from his inventory and handed it to the giant High Orc Shaman. The small orb expanded in the hand of the giant Elite Knight grade shadow soldier. 'The orb seems to change size depending on the user.' Jinwoo noted. He then wasted no time in commanding him to fire at the horde of demons.
A magic circle appeared in front of Tusk with the circle spinning for him to select his desired rune spell.
[Hymn of Giants]
He expanded to a titanic size to match the size of the multi-story tall demon. Minato whistled in amazement, marveling at his giant size, "Have you been hiding him from me?" he joked.
"Nah, I just got 'em."
[Hymn of Fire Dragon]
Tusk opened his mouth wide open and with orb doubling his magic power released a massive beam of fire from his mouth. It annihilated all in its path, leaving nothing but a trench that scarred the earth of the demon castle and stretched on for miles.
[You have defeated a Highest-grade Demon]
[You received 1,700 exp.]
[You have defeated an Ancient Demon]
[You received 2,200 exp.]
[You have defeated a Highest-grade Demon]
[You received 1,700 exp.]
[You have defeated an Ancient Demon]
[You received 2,200 exp.]
Countless system messages flooded in as Jinwoo ignored each one in favor of standing his ground alongside Minato to avoid getting blown away by the shockwaves of Tusk's attack.
"What amazing power. Even though his abilities should have been nerfed after becoming a shadow…" Jinwoo muttered.
"Should we leave it to Tusk?" Minato questioned equally as impressed, but Jinwoo shook his head.
Tusk wasn't the only person he wanted to test. There were still more demons to hunt and he wanted to get a gauge on Minnato's level. He might have to sacrifice a few xp points but this was necessary to know just what he was dealing with.
As he thought this more demons came out of the woodwork in wake of Tusk's blast of fire. He told him to stand down and then turned to Minato, "How about it?" He asked, gesturing towards the approaching demons.
"What? I thought you were gonna let Tusk clear a path for now?" Then the cogs in his head turned and he was able to easily deduce his intentions, "Oh, I see. You wanna know what I can do, huh."
He gave him a confident smile, "Fine then…" He formed a cross hand sign with his hands and the second 'Minato' appeared in a puff of smoke. This took Jinwoo by surprise as he didn't know he could make clones of himself, he wondered what his limit was. Both 'Minatos' reached into their back pockets and pulled out three specially made kunai each, "I'll give you a show! This is my Spiralling Flash Super Round Dance Howl Style Three! A Namikaze Minato classic." Their voices synchronised as six kunai were thrown into the crowd of demons which were more than 50 at a glance.
"Spiralling what?" Jinwoo said dumbfounded by the ridiculous attack name.
He never received an answer as they both vanished in a flash of yellow light. Although not as fast as Tusk, the horde of demons were reduced to nothing in but a matter of moments.
'So fast… No, more like too fast,' Jinwoo thought as all he could really make out were lines of yellow darting through the demons like streaks of light. When he was done Minato teleported right next to him with his arms folded and a mischievous smile plastered on his face. He was standing right on top of the marker he left before launching his attack which was a detail the Jinwoo never picked up on.
Even though his 'speed' was actually just teleportation he struggled to describe it as anything other than 'fast'. He'd mastered teleportation to such a level that he could only aspire to reach if he had such an ability.
"I'm not going to lie, that was impressive." Jinwoo praised Minato, summoning Tusk once more. "But to preserve stamina let's let Tusk handle things." He finished. 'And to preserve my xp points…' He added in the back of his head after witnessing the instantaneous devastation that Minato was capable of.
"Alright…" Minato yawned, stretching his arms into the air and following after Tusk.
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A few days later
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Minato didn't do that much fighting after 50 demons he'd killed instantly and Jinwoo always did his best to come up with an excuse as to why he shouldn't fight. He was beginning to think that Jinwoo found his presence as an annoyance or hindrance. As to why Minato could only speculate.
Regardless, after a few days in the demon castle Jinwoo found it was inefficient to move his shadow army as one big group so he split his army of shadows into 6 groups to cover the floor.
It was through this strategy that Jinwoo and Minato rarely had to do any actual fighting as the spores of shadows would split off and hunt down every single demon, returning whenever one of them would find a floor permit.
Minato also discovered a little more about how Jinwoo's shadow summons functioned. He always knew that they were connected to him somehow, but he just wasn't sure in what way.
Basically, whenever he had them out they wouldn't cost him any mana, but if they were to be damaged then it cost mana for him to regenerate them. It was basically a case of he could have them out indefinitely without zero cost so long as they didn't have to regenerate, which even was mitigate by the fact that the mana had a lot of mana and could restore it with potions.
'Honestly what a terrifying power. Having a summons that exist indefinitely so long as you don't run out of mana to regenerate them is a powerful ability. I know of no shinobi that can use that many summons for so long.'
It's some days at this point and while they rapidly climbed four floors in no time with Jinwoo's strategy, it was put to a halt as the 80th floor permit continued to elude them.
"You're recalling your shadows?" Minato asked as he saw the darkness race to the feet of the young man.
"My mana was dropping at a rapid rate. Someone was strong enough to force my soldiers to continuously regenerate." He explained, an expression of seriousness coming to him.
"Is that so?"
"Uh huh. I think they were attacking Iron's group. I remember them splitting off in that direction."
"Iron? He's pretty tough isn't he? Looks like things are starting to heat up huh?"
Jinwoo side eyed him and smirked slightly, "You seem almost excited about that."
"I'm just bored. All I've been doing is walking around, eating and sleeping for the past few days. I need to get some training in." He answered very coolly.
He closed his eyes briefly before reopening them to reveal that his iris had changed to horizontal slits with orange eye shadow. Using his Sage Mode he expanded his senses out in search of the perpetrator but to no avail.
'Tch, whoever they are, they're good at concealing their presence. Even this sensory mode can't pick them up.' Minato thought as he deactivated the powerful mode.
"What was that all about? Your eyes changed all of a sudden." Jinwoo asked, having taken note of the brief changes in his appearance.
"It's my Sage Mode. I don't use it very often as it takes a while to enter and I can't maintain it for very long."
"What does it do?"
"It helps me become one with nature so that I can sense my surroundings over very long distances. It also improves all aspects of my combat." He explained with a hint of irritation showing on his features at the failure to find anything.
He had been trying to train it as he had basically nothing to do in the demon castle, but getting and maintaining the ratio of nature energy with his own chakra had been much more difficult lately. He didn't really know why but his chakra has been feeling like it had this 'weight' to it.
For the next few hours Jinwoo's shadows scoured the 80th floor in search of demons that had the floor permit. However, due to the continuous ambushes he was forced to recall back the shadows but only the ones that were attacked.
"There seems to be a method to their madness. Divide and conquer." Minato surmised easily enough after looking at the diagrams that Jinwoo scribbled onto the ground with a stick.
"Yeah. High Orc Team B and Igris Team were attacked one after the other. They skipped over the Tusk team even though that would have been next to Igris. They were skipped and the High Orc Team A were attacked instead." He explained, scratching out the teams that he had recalled back into his shadow.
"Is it strange for monsters to have intellect and scout out their enemies?"
"It certainly is and that's what makes them the most dangerous. They must not think they can beat Tusk's team so they skipped over to the High Orc Team. B, which I have now recalled. If that's the case then their next best target would be…"
"Tank's team." Minato finished. He didn't know that much about the strength levels of his Shadow army, but through the process of elimination he was able to deduce that they would be their likely target. Jinwoo concurred and got to his feet.
"I'll go check it out. You should probably stay here and keep their attention occupied if they have any type of sensory abilities." Jinwoo said before turning invisible in front of his very eyes.
'I didn't know he could do that! You just keep surprising me, but I can't help but get the feeling that you just want me out of the way.' Minato thought to himself.
As Jinwoo disappeared to go and hopefully confront the demonic assailant, he focused his attention on the 'weight' he had been feeling deep within.
"I've noticed the changes too. There's this strange blue mist seeping into the openings of my cage. I can't stop it." The Kyuubi's deep, guttural voice echoed in his mind.
'Is that so? What do you think it is? Where'd it come from?'
"When you returned to the demon castle it started to seep through. No, rather when you started to kill these demons once more." He explained and although he couldn't see his face, Minato imagined a thoughtful expression coming across his face.
'It doesn't seem to be much of an issue right now, but I can feel my chakra control slipping… You don't have anything to do with that?' Minato asked suspiciously.
The Kyuubi huffed, "Even if I wanted to mess up your chakra control I wouldn't be able to, because you wound this seal so damn tight."
He smiled at that. Kushina had always commented that the Nine tails always spared a fair few curses about his outstanding sealing abilities. He always took it as a compliment of Kushina's great teachings, but maybe he downplayed his own talent a bit much.
'Well, let's test it out and find some demons to kill. I don't wanna be caught with my pants down.'
He dashed off towards the group of demons he sensed around the corner of a burning building.
He confronted them and watched them scramble towards him in slow motion. Pulling out his kunai he sliced off the arms of the first two that charged him. In a display of supreme agility he jumped onto their shoulders and pierotted over to two at the back.
He didn't really need it to finish off these two but he needed to check how much time it took to manipulate this 'heavy' chakra.
[Rasengan]
It was no time at all and he rammed it into the demon's back. The Rasengan tore through its insides and blasted its entrails out the front of it. He moved on to the next demon and sliced its head clean off and then circled back to the first two.
Using his Flying Thunder God technique he teleported over to the kunai he threw at them and tore them to bits in seconds.
"More blue mist has entered the cage. So I was right." The nine tails commented.
"Hmmm… That's curious. Could this blue mist perhaps be mana?" Minato wondered. It would certainly be the case that this blue mist was indeed mana from what he read.
He heard a rumble and saw more demons nearly three times his size and smirked. He flashed over and sliced through their arms and heads in a single instance.
When he landed on the ground his eyes began to glow a golden yellow. Looking up he could see the purple mana from the demons being absorbed by his body.
"You said the mist was blue, correct?"
"Erhm. Yeah, it's blue."
"Well when I kill demons it's purple before entering my body."
"Maybe your body has some kind of filtration system. That Sung fellow did mention something about the energy of these monsters being contaminated." The Nine tails answered in its gruff tone.
Minato thought about it for a moment. What would be causing contaminated demon energy to filter into blue misty mana. He lifted his shirt up and saw the spiraling tattooed sealing spell on his belly.
"Ah, of course." He said plainly. "I created this sealing spell to turn your demonic chakra into pure chakra, nine tails. It seems that it's having the same effect on this demonic mana."
"It would seem so…" He suddenly let out a yawn. "Don't bother me anymore, fourth Hokage. And get this blue mist sorted, it's ruining the aesthetic of this cage."
"Hmph. You're grumpy." Minato pouted.
He jumped out of the way of a piece of rubble flying at mach speeds. In the same motion of the flip he threw his kunai at the assailant and teleported once it reached their face. Slicing it in half with a single stroke.
"That's not too bad." Jinwoo called from atop a building.
"Have you been watching me this whole time?"
Jinwoo shook his head with a cool smile, "Nope. I just got here and we're going to get the entry permit for this place."
"You know where it is?"
Jinwoo smirked, "Let's just say I know a guy."
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Nearly a month later I've posted a new chapter of Yellow Flash! Kushina is so loyal to Minato! She doesn't like to look sexy for anyone but her man lol.
Tenken is not a Ruler but a soldier of the Rulers. (Army of the Skies). What happened with it (I'm calling them 'it' because they don't really have a gender or but Kushina thinks Tenken's a 'he') is that Tenken was lost in the dimensional gap, he knew where to go but didn't have enough power to tear space. So, them fusing gave them an unstable, exponential boost enough to tear through space before their power settled down.
Minato has also been really sleepy since entering the demon castle. Wonder what that could be all about, hmmmm?
I've just been busy with projects and stuff and that's gotten me occupied so I can't dedicate my time to this work. Things are slowly winding down though so yeah!
Peace out and God bless.