The Mad Sage Of Uzushio, A Naruto Fan Fiction, Chapter 19: An Invitation To An Exorcism At The Gateway To Kumo
Chapter 19: The Dragon And The Princess And The Day Love Died An Invitation To An Exorcism At The Gateway To Kumo
Chapter 19:
The Dragon And The Princess And The Day Love Died
An Invitation To An Exorcism At The Gateway To Kumo
Under a pink sky, with part of a giant glowing green globe protruding above the horizon and filling nearly a third of the total sky, with a giant set of golden shimmering rings around it, occupying nearly another third, there lies a field of multi-colored origami paper flowers, with a smattering of cherry blossom trees planted randomly throughout the field. Among the origami flowers, there presides a beautiful and pregnant young woman, playing a metallic transverse flute with her eyes closed. The mistress of the flute had white hair with a pair of horns on her head that stuck straight up out of her head at the hairline just above her eyes. The horns then bend sharply to the side and down before bending gently up and back above the side of her head, slightly resembling the antennae of some sort of insect.
Within the field of paper flowers appear two small child size mounds. The two mounds then suddenly burst up from underneath the origami flowers, revealing two small children, a boy toddler and his big sister, both with matching sets of Starlight Rinnegan and vivid red hair, with big sister carrying a katana in it’s scabbard strapped to her back. The children jump up and down, grabbing paper flowers to toss up in the air as they dance about. The music from the flute mistress’s instrument suddenly changes, then all of the paper flowers begin to fly up off the ground, collecting and swirling about the two small children as they continue to dance.
The flute mistress’s eyes then open to reveal her own Starlight Rinnegan, as all the paper flowers refold themselves into origami butterflies, and reorganize themselves into a veritable swarm. The swarm grows and morphs itself into the shape a giant multi-colored dragon, winding it’s way through the pink sky before coming back down and turning into a mass of multi-colored sparkling flames, right before crashing into the children, surrounding them in the dazzling display. The children applaud wildly, as the sparkling colors gradually dissipate over the grassy meadow, now no longer covered in paper flowers.
The flute mistress stops playing after reaching the climax of her performance, and stashes away her flute, tucking it away inside her kimono, stirring the children to voice their displeasure at reaching the end.
Chidren:
Aaaaaaah!…
Mistress:
Now now!… I told you two that I could only play for a bit… Your father is coming to take the two of you to see the sky lanterns… Isn’t that right Yukai?…
Yukai:
Hai!… Mama!… Mama!…
Yukai presses his palms together for a second, then opens them up, palms up, revealing a small origami butterfly that springs up out of his palms and begins to flap it’s wings. Yukai thrusts the origami butterfly up into the air with both hands as it flies away.
Mistress:
That’s great Yukai!… Why don’t you keep practicing… and you can show papa when he gets here… okay?…
Yukai:
Hai!…
Big Sister:
But mama!… I don’t want to see the sky lanterns again!… I’ve seen them hundreds of times!… Papa’s always taking me there… He just wants to show us off… I’m so tired of meeting new people!… I hate new people!… How come we can’t just stay here?… You promised you would teach me some more of the flute!… Ameterasu wanted to hear me play!… Why can’t papa just take Yukai without me?…
Mistress:
Now Karui!… You know how big the Sky Lantern Flotilla has gotten recently… Your father needs you to help with keeping an eye on Yukai…
Karui:
But he has all sorts of toadies to help him look after Yukai… He doesn’t need me there at all!…
Mistress:
You know that it’s not so simple as that!… But if you really can’t be bothered to help your father with your little brother… then here… Go ahead and take my flute… and go play with your friend… And I will explain things to your father when he gets here… If that’s really how you feel…
The mistress reaches into her kimono and pulls out her flute to hand it over to Karui. Karui stands pouting for moment as she hesitates, then she reaches over and takes the flute from her mother’s hand, raises the instrument up to her lips in playing position and begins to play. Karui infuses her wind nature chakra into her lungs, and into her flute, to increase her control and enhance the power of her playing. The sounds of her flute resonate and propagate in a seemingly unnatural way, spreading throughout the nearby cherry blossom trees in the otherwise alien landscape. A slight rumbling and a rustling can be heard in the near distance, as exotic birds, insects, and other less familiar aerial creatures take flight above the cherry blossom trees. Karui uses her wind nature chakra to artificially superimpose her voice onto the sound of her playing.
Karui:
Ameterasu… Come play with me…
Soon, a much larger creature joins the creatures in flight above the cherry blossom trees, a large white scaled snake like serpent with red eyes, and a mane of white hair that continues in a streak along it’s back down to the tuft at the tip of it’s tail. And it had two white horns like that of a gazelle protruding out of the top of it’s head, in between two large white fur covered ears. The dragon seems to swim a serpentine path through the air as it makes it’s way to the source of the music.
Mistress:
Looks like she heard you… You have quite the knack little girl… for the enchanting melodies…
The dragon makes it’s way to where Karui stands and plays, hovering for a moment as it’s tail begins to twitch with titillation, before shrinking down to the size of a small snake as it lands and curls up on Karui’s shoulders, tail still twitching.
Mistress:
Konichiwa… Ameterasu… My daughter seems quite eager to show off today… She is in rare form it seems… Although I think I may be spoiling her…
Ameterasu:
It doesn’t sound like spoilage to me… Kagumeisama…
Kagumei:
Her father thinks I spoil her… Not that he’s one to talk… He’s worse than me!… Although… he’ll probably beg to differ when he gets here… Karui… You might want to take your friend elsewhere for now… or you’re bound to get a talking to when your father gets here… But don’t be surprised if you still get your ears bent later…
At sound of this suggestion, Ameterasu gets off Karui’s shoulders and flies up slightly before enlarging back to her previous size then flying back to Karui, wedging it’s snout underneath her legs to put Karui on top of her head as they fly off together, with Karui still playing her mother’s flute. Yukai sends up another pair of paper butterflies, as if to chase after Karui as they fly away. Kagumei retreats to a small cottage just behind the line of cherry blossom trees, as she continues to watch her youngest child practice his jutsu.
Karui and Ameterasu fly their way over to a nearby canyon as Karui continues to play, and her playing echoes through the canyon. The resonant echo propagates and amplifies itself within the canyon, as Karui and the dragon begin to glow and sparkle under the influence of Karui’s jutsu. Golden at first, resonating with the sparkling golden rings surrounding the green gas giant occupying much of the sky. Then the glow takes on an increasingly electric purple tinge as the make their way through the canyon. By the time they exit the canyon, Karui and Ameterasu are completely bathed and sheathed in an electric purple aura, as they come to a small lake at the end of the canyon.
Ameterasu:
Is that… shadow lightening?…
Karui:
Sparkling new… just for you… Amechan…
As they continue to fly over the surface of the lake, purple lightening repeatedly erupts from the lake and arcs over to connect with the electric purple aura surrounding Karui and Ameterasu, oscillating and vibrating as it does, resonating with the notes of Karui’s flute, amplifying them as she plays, echoing over the lake and throughout the canyon.
They make their way to the center of the lake as they approach the crescendo of Karui’s playing. The wind starts to pick up and surround them in an ever growing, expanding, and intensifying funnel cloud, bathed in electric purple sparks and purple lightening discharges, that strike out from the ever intensifying dynamo of her jutsu. The electric purple sparks emit a bell like wind chime sound, while the purple lightening sounds like a loud gong, acting as both percussion and melodic emphasis. The purple lightening strikes and incinerates several cherry blossom trees lining the shore of the lake, before Karui suddenly stops playing to bask in the glory of her performance with her friend.
Ameterasu:
Wow!… What was that?…
Karui:
I’m calling it Shadow Dynamo Style!… It’s the combination of shadow wind and shadow lightening… Father says that’s impossible… but I’ll show him… That’s all I want to do right now… But father wants me to take another trip to the sky lanterns… I’m sick of the sky lanterns!… I’m sick of all the endless meet and great hobnobbing politics… Just want to show my father what I can do… But he still treats me like a kid… I can do so much more than he gives me credit for… I just wish that he would let me…
Ameterasu:
I often feel that way about my father… But the Dragon King has much bigger concerns than what I may feel or want… like what I need… even if it’s political… The metaverse can be a dangerous place… where no safety can be taken for granted… You may not want to think about it… But you can’t really run from it… or even just ignore it…
Karui:
I know that!… Father is always saying that!…
Ameterasu:
Then perhaps you should heed your father’s words… and cut him a little slack for not being as attentive as you may wish otherwise…
Karui:
I know… But we can’t live under the looming axe of politics all the time… Even father has to take a break sometime… Even he’s gonna crash and burn eventually that way…
Ameterasu:
You are right about that… My own father has said as much… Perhaps we could join forces to convince him…
Karui:
You got it Amechan!… Well show him!…
Ameterasu:
Maybe you should show your mother first… She hasn’t seen your new jutsu either.. has she?…
Karui:
No… I wanted to show them both at the same time!… Mother coddles and underestimates me too…
Ameterasu:
Maybe that’s because you keep waiting to show her what you can do… for just right moment… that doesn’t necessarily come quick enough to satisfy little girls…
Karui:
Who are you calling a little girl Amechan?… Just because your bigger than me doesn’t mean you get to put on airs!… I’m one whole year older than you!…
Ameterasu:
Half a year…
Karui:
That half a year that you spent in an egg doesn’t count!…
Ameterasu:
It does for dragons!…
Karui:
I’m… not a dragon… I’m… a princess… of an evil empire… We just have higher standards is all…
Ameterasu:
Now who’s putting on airs?…
Karui laughs out loud at Ameterasu’s ribbing, as her dragon friend joins her in the laughter. Just then a large gong sounds off in the distance.
Ameterasu:
The demon gong!… We’re under attack!… I have to go!… Can you make it back on your own?…
Karui:
I’m already gone!…
Ameterasu begins to fly off in the direction of the gong sound. Karui’s feet are suddenly bathed in electric purple sparks, before they suddenly discharge their purple lightening, sending Karui flying up and over in the direction of their cottage. Karui ‘lands’ in mid air on a platform made of nothing but electric purple, before explosively discharging again to launch her further. She repeats this a few times till she lands back at their cottage on an electric purple cushion. The she begins to search frantically for her mother and her brother, as they are nowhere to be seen.
Karui:
Mama!… Mama!… Yukai!…
A woman screams in the distance. Karui panics and chases after the sound of the scream, flute still in hand, and with her sword still strapped to her back.
Karui:
Mama!… Mama!… Mama!…
Karui chases down the sound of the screaming, coming from a small clearing with a pond behind their cottage. When she gets there, a large hulking and monstrous looking Otsutsuki clan member holds her mother by her horns with one hand wile wielding a massive battle hammer in the other, with a long five foot long handle, bathed in a familiar electric purple aura. The Otsutsuki monster stands eight feet tall, with long white hair, and white bull horns coming out of the sides of his head. He bears one light blue glowing Tenseigan in the middle of his forehead as a third eye, while he bears a scar slashed across his normal eye sockets, with no eyes in them.
The monster and his victim are surrounded by demon minions. Yukai sits balling uncontrollably on the ground, frantically generating paper butterfly after paper butterfly, and launching them repeatedly, one fist after the other in the direction of the monster, as the monster laughs at the effort.
Karui:
Mama!… Yukai!…
Yukai:
Karui!…
Kagumei:
Karui!… Take Yuakai and run!…
Monster:
Damarei!… Bacachan!… Why should little Karui and Yukai miss our little family reunion?… I owe you so much for the scar that you gave me… when you turned traitor and ran off with some heretic terrorist… I think your children could use a lesson in what happens to traitors… Payments must be made in full I’m afraid… Father will extract his own price when he see you again… But I will take mine now!…
Karui starts to cry hysterically, as she raises her flute to her mouth with trembling hands. In her hysteria, Karui is blubbering with tears, and unable to control her breath and her chakra enough to play anything.
Monster:
Are you going to serenade me little princess?… If you’re as good as your mother… I’m sure father would love to hear it… Perhaps for now… you can play something a little more appropriate for the mood… like a death march…
Kagumei:
Please!… Enriu!… Let my children go!… You have me!… Don’t drag them into this!… just to satisfy your personal vendetta!…
Enriu:
My personal vendetta may be with you sister… but your children belong to father… and to the empire… They were never yours to withhold from him… But they will learn all about that soon enough… I’m sure there will be great deal of nonsense in their heads that will need correction… I’ll start the process my self… by making an demonstration out of you… and extracting my own compensation…
The Tenseigan in Enriu’s forehead begins to glow more intensely and brightly blue, as it’s blue glow grows and extends out from his eye as an energy field made of visible blue chakra that reaches over and connects with Kagumei’s Starlight Rinnegan. The blue chakra then yanks them right out of their sockets, accompanied by another horrific scream of Kagumei’s, and places them into Enriu’s empty eye sockets, where they are quickly assimilated by their new master.
Karui:
Mama!…
Enriu:
This… This is fantastic!… This power was clearly wasted on you sister… It’s probably wasted on the children too… But that will be for father to decide… Grab the royal brats!… And let’s get out of here before the dragons come sniffing back around again!…
Numerous demon minions begin to make a move on the young children. As some of them begin to close in on Yukai, the small child cradles his head in his hands as he puts his head down on the ground. Then Yukai suddenly disappears, shimmering away as the demons close in on him.
Enriu:
What a fantastic power!… Even a small child can use it… I can’t wait to try that… It’s too bad that one got away… Can you do the same little princess?… Perhaps I should just extract those problematic eyes now… as precaution…
Karui puts her flute away inside her dress, and draws her sword, with her hands still trembling.
Enriu:
Oh how brave… Is that my sister’s sword?… I’ll be taking that as well…
Karui:
Over my dead body!…
Enriu:
If you insist…
Kagumei:
Run karui!… Run!… Run for help!…
Enriu:
Urusai!… Damarei!… Traitor!… Now where were we?… Ah yes… Infanticide… Get her!… And bring me her eyes and her sword!…
The demons begin to make their move on Karui, as a purple lightening strike comes out of nowhere, and strikes the ground in front of Karui, materializing Shintaro where it struck, with Yukai being held by Shintaro with one arm. Young Yukai clings to him for dear life with eyes closed and buried in Shintaro’s shoulder.
Enriu:
Get him!…
The demons hesitate momentarily, intimidated by the notorious demon hunter, then they rush him. Shintaro raises his free hand and then snaps his fingers, sending multiple explosive discharges of purple lightening, that strike and incinerate the attacking demons.
Enriu:
You could have at least made it look difficult…
Shintaro:
I’m in no mood for games or banter monster… Unhand my wife.. and I may just let you live… mostly…
Enriu:
A tempting offer heretic… But I have my prize now… And I will not be surrendering anything to you… But it’s been fun… truly enlightening… Kill you later… instigator…
Shintaro:
Enriu!…
Enriu suddenly shimmers away with his new Starlight Rinnegan, with Kagumei still in his grip.
Karui:
Mama!… Papa!… You have to do something!… You have to go get her back!… What are you waiting for?… Damn you!… Where were you?…
Shintaro sets Yukai down on the ground next to Karui, and grabs Karui by the shoulders, as her trembling hands drop her mother’s sword.
Shintaro:
Karui!… Listen to me!… There’s nothing that we can do for your mother now!… She’s gone!… And where she’s going… we cannot follow…
Karui:
But you have to!… You promised we would be safe here!… You promised mama!…
Shintaro:
I was wrong!… This place isn’t safe any more!… if it ever was… But there’s nothing that we can do about that now… We can’t stay here any more… I’m not sure where we can go… But we can’t stay here…
Karui:
But you promised!…
Shintaro:
I know Karui!… But we can’t undo that now!… I need you to be strong now!… for Yukai!…
Karui:
But you promised!…
Karui begins to frantically beat on her father’s chest with her trembling fists, while Shintaro just let’s her.
Shintaro:
I know Karui… I know…
Ameterasu:
The demon attack turned out to be a minor raid… most likely a diversion… What happened here?…
Ameterasu flies down and lowers her head to Karui’s level, with clear concern for her traumatized friend. Karui pushes her father away and rushes to embraces her friend’s snout, as she continues to cry uncontrollably.
Ameterasu:
Shintarosama?…
Shintaro:
I’m afraid that we have to leave here forever… The empire has taken my wife… And there is no safe place for us anywhere now… We’ll have to go into hiding… far away from here… My apologies to the dragon king… But I’m going to have to take some mandatory family leave time… perhaps indefinitely…
Ameterasu:
I understand… Shintarosama…
At the gates outside of Kumo one dark cloud covered evening, a tall dark figure appears in a black set of monk’s robes tied with a red rope about the waste, wearing red rope sandals, and a pair of black shades, with long black hair. He carries a small red headed boy with yellow eyes in one arm, while leading a small red headed girl with yellow eyes by the hand, with a katana strapped to the back of the little girl. Senjutsu markings around the eyes protrude out from under the dark monk’s shades. Hanging over the dark stranger’s shoulder is a brown messenger with the symbol of the Uzumaki clan adorning it’s cover flap. They come up to the guards shack in front of the gate to Kumo, and the dark monk addresses himself to the pair of Kumo shinobi at the front desk of the guards shack.
Dark Man:
Konichiwa… Kumo shinobi… Watashi wa… Fuma Nekomu desu… I would like to request passage into Kumo… with the hopes settling here… to practice medicine… and perhaps to teach as well… to make a home for my family here…
Guard1:
You’re a doctor?…
Guard2:
But… You’re dressed like a monk… Did you study in a monastery?…
Nekomu:
Hai… My parents and the Fuma Clan sent me to Uzushio when I was very young… in order to study medicine at the Monastery of the Refugee Heart… among other things… I returned home many years later a comprehensively trained physician… having even taken a bride of Uzushio home with me to start a family… Unfortunately… my wife died during childbirth… while giving birth to our son…
The young red headed girl with the katana suddenly turns her head up to look at her father somewhat cross eyed at this remark, then lets go of his hand, before turning away to stare at the ground.
Guard1:
My condolences on your loss… We could always use another good physician…
Guard2:
However… We don’t let strangers carry weapons here in Kumo… So… I’m afraid we’ll have to confiscate that katana for now…
As the guard says this, he gets up and makes his way around the table to where the young girl with the katana stands next to her father, and begins to reach for her katana. Then suddenly and without warning, the young girl rapidly draws her sword out of it’s scabbard on her back, and slashes at the guard reaching for her sword in front. She just catches the back of the shinobi’s hand as he pulls it away in response, drawing a little blood that hits the ground just outside of the guard shack.
Guard2:
Ouch!…
Nekomu:
Karui!…
Karui:
But papa!… He wants to take mother’s sword!… You have to tell him that he can’t have it!… I refuse to surrender it!… Oi!… Baca shinobi!… Try that again… and I’ll take the hand… After that… it will be your head!…
Nekomu:
Enough Karui!… Put your sword away!… We did not come here to kill baca shinobi!… Now put your sword away!… before I take it from you!…
Karui:
But father!…
Nekomu:
But nothing!… Imada!…
Karui reluctantly slides her sword back into it’s scabbard strapped to her back, as the Kumo shinobi once again begins to move towards the girl. The dark monk then snaps his figures with right hand, and an electric purple glow enshrouds his right hand.
Guard1:
Black Lightening?!?…
Nekomu:
That is what you call it here… isn’t it?… The Shadow Lightening style?… Make no mistake baca shinobi… My correction of my daughter… does not equal submission… to imposition… No one may disarm my daughter… but me… Step to my daughter carelessly again… and my daughter’s blade… will be the least of your problems…
A guard makes a sudden high whistle, and several more Kumo shinobi appear suddenly on the ground surrounding the refugees. The dark monk hands his young son to his daughter, then closes his still glowing hand into a fist, as the electric purple aura spreads all over his body and down into the ground beneath his feet, then spreads over his children like a protective sheath.
Nekomu:
I may not have come to Kumo to kill anyone… but keep pushing your luck… baca shinobi!… and I will make you wish for death as an abject lesson in the consequences of your stupidity…
Guard1:
I thought you were supposed to be a doctor… How does a doctor master black lightening?…
Nekomu:
I said… that I was a doctor… not a pacifist… nor a push over… I studied many things in Uzushio… and this… isn’t even one of them…
The Kumo shinobi suddenly jump the dark monk, as the dark monk raises both of his hands high in the air. A discharge of electric purple streaks and sparks, explodes up from the ground underneath the surrounding shinobi outside of the guard shack, rapidly launching them high up into the air above the dark monk and Kumo. Enshrouded in a bright purple static, they light up the Kumo night sky for all to see, as they hover suspended high above Kumo.
Nekomu:
It’s to be expected… that the hospitality of baca shinobi… would be somewhat lacking… But I will not submit to this kind of treatment… from anyone… If you wish to bar our entry… then so be it… We do not wish to stay where we are not wanted… If so… my family and I will take our leave of you and Kumo… If you wish to get in our way… then you will just have to learn the hard way… about the limits of shinobi power and authority…
Two more large blonde Kumo shinobi land several meters from the dark monk on opposite sides of him, both glowing with an aura of cool blue lightening nature chakra. One of the two wears a blonde mustache, with a large weight belt, two large forearm guards, and a white haori, embroidered with the symbols for ‘Fourth Raikage’ on the back, over an otherwise shirtless torso. The other wears a blonde goatee, with a pair of shades on his face, and comes strapped with eight different swords of various lengths.
Raikage:
Stand down!… and surrender!… or prepare to die!… Bee!… Get ready!…
Bee starts to shuffle his feat and move his hands rhythmically in front of himself, as he begins to speak in time with the rhythm.
Bee:
Oh yeah!… I came to get down!… I came to get down!… So get off your ass!… And jump around!… Jump around!… Jump around!… Bacayaro!… Konoyaro!…
Nekumu:
Don’t you mean… prepare to kill?… given that I already have several shinobi of yours under my power…
Nekomu raises his right hand again and snaps his fingers. The electric purple glow suspending the shinobi in place high above them suddenly dissipates, and the shinobi begin to free fall.
Raikage:
Bee!…
Bee:
Oh yeah!…
On the raikage’s queue, he and Bee rush at the dark monk at top speed, each with right arm raised to deliver a lariat strike, for a Double Lariat attack. Just before the two shinobi reach the dark monk, the dark monk raises his arms on either side of himself as if to stiff arm the attacking shinobi. Then his electric purple aura suddenly expands outward horizontally and radially from his body in the center, encapsulating and freezing into place the two shinobi attacking him, then expanding beyond them in time to catch the falling shinobi before they fatally hit the ground.
Nekomu:
I told you… I did not come here to kill baca shinobi… But if you keep this up… you just might succeed in changing my mind…
The dark monk snaps the fingers in both his hands, causing the forceful discharge of the electric purple aura, and knocking all of the frozen shinobi outward and away from the dark monk and his children.
Nekomu:
Karui!… We’re leaving!… Icu!…
The dark monk turns to leave followed by his daughter, still carrying her little brother.
Raikage:
Wait… Before you leave… tell me… what monastery did you study at?… That’s the least amount of courtesy you could give us under the circumstances…
Guard1:
He said he was a Fuma… trained in Uzushio!…
Raikage:
Uzushio?!?… Please!… Fumasan!… Tell me… did you study… with the Demon Order of Uzushio?…
The dark monk pauses at the mention of the Demon Order, and Karui stops and turns to look at her father as he replies to the raikage.
Nekomu:
And what exactly would baca shinobi know… or care… about the Demon Order of Uzushio?…
Raikage:
Please!… I must know!… Did you ever train… in exorcism?…
Nekomu:
I did… Why?…
Raikage:
Please!… Fuma sensei!… I… I have a dire need… for an exorcist… My young protege… Darui… seems to have been taken by something… Nobody in Kumo knows of anything that can help… Please!… Fuma sensei!… I’ll grant you whatever you want!… But you must help Darui!…
Nekomu:
Where is the patient now?…
Raikage:
Near here… in a specially secured location… just outside of Kumo…
Nekomu:
Very well then… Take me there… I guess your father has work to do now… eh?… Karui?…
Raikage:
You should know that… Darui had previously mastered the Black Lightening style… before being taken this way… Nobody in Kumo can even get near him… We can barely contain him…
Nekomu:
That is no real concern to me… Take me there now…
Raikage:
Hai!… Fuma sensei… And I’ll pay you whatever you want…
Nekomu:
I require no monies of any kind… from you… only a safe haven for me and my family… free of interference from baca shinobi… The freedom to make an honest living should never require special permission…
Raikage:
Hai!… Hai!… And you will have it!… I swear!…
Nekomu:
Then stop groveling after I’ve already said yes… It’s undignified… This Darui must be something special to you… for you to be so desperate… But I require no monies or groveling… only freedom from interference… of any kind…
Raikage:
Ai… And you will have it… Please… right this way…
Nekomu:
Come along Karui…
The raikage and Bee lead the dark monk and his family along a path leading up to a small fortified lighthouse outpost on top of a nearby cliff overlooking the ocean, just outside of Kumo.
Raikage:
Are you sure you want to bring them with us?… Isn’t this sort of thing too dangerous?… for young children?…
Nekomu:
My children stay with me… or near me… until the demon is properly secured… by me… unless I say otherwise…
Raikage:
I assure you… We have secured the demon as best as can be under the circumstances…
Nekomu:
That does not impress me in the least… I will take no shinobi’s word for anything when it comes to demon hunting… let alone exorcism… No matter how powerful you are as a shinobi… without the specialized knowledge required to even understand the problem… let alone deal with it… you are all hopelessly out of your depth… When the exorcism begins… there must be absolutely no interference with… or deviation from my instruction… I don’t care what baca shinobi think they know about demons and exorcisms… As far as I’m concerned you all know nothing… until I instruct you otherwise…
The group winds their way along a cliff side trail, until the lighthouse comes into proper view, revealing electric scorch marks on the outer wall surrounding the small fortified lighthouse, on either side of what’s left of a large wooden gate in the outer wall that’s been blasted to pieces, with nothing left of the gate but thin strips still attached to the hinges on either side of the opening. As they make their way inside, Kumo shinobi stand guard outside the lighthouse structure, as the raikage leads them inside past the guards. Inside The dark monk pauses and turns to Karui, now leading her brother along by the hand.
Nekomu:
Karui… this is far enough… I don’t want you getting any closer than this… You and Yukai can wait outside… But stay within the outer wall…
Karui:
No!… You said… You said we were to stay with you!…
Nekomu:
I needed you near me so I could keep you safe… But I need you stay out here for the same reason… Past this point I cannot do what I need to do with you two in the room with me… Wakarimasuka?…
Karui:
Hai… Wakarimasu…
Raikage:
Bee… wait outside with the kids and make sure nothing happens to them while we’re inside… And make sure nothing escapes that’s not supposed to…
Nekomu:
Karui… It may interest you to know that Beesan here is what’s known… as a jinchuriki!… You remember what I told you about that?… right?…
At the mention of the word jinchuriki, Bee and the raikage glance at each other, slightly startled.
Karui:
With a tailed beast?… Which one?…
Nekomu:
The eight-tales… So he’s very strong… And judging from all that clanking metal he’s carrying… most likely… he’s also a pretty good swordsman… So don’t worry about a thing… Maybe if you’re good… you can get Beesan here to swing a sword with you… maybe show you some things… help keep little Yukai entertained for a bit… Beesan… a word of caution regarding my daughter and the sword… If your actually considering crossing swords with her… my daughter is highly skilled with the sword… But she lacks the skill and experience necessary to hold back… And she tends to go for the kill instinctively… out of sheer competitiveness alone… So… if your at all careless with my daughter… even for an instant… she’ll make you pay for it… One Kumo shinobi has already gotten a taste of that today… Let’s try not to have a repeat… shall we?… Here Karui… why don’t you look after this for me while I tend to the raikage’s friend…
Karui:
Okay…
The Nekomu hands over his messenger bag to his daughter, then Bee and the kids head outside, as the dark monk and the raikage continue further in and enter a small passage carved into the side of the mountain behind the lighthouse.
Raikage:
How did you know… that Bee was the jinchuriki of the eight-tales?…
Nekomu:
Oh please… As if I can’t sense it when a jinchuriki of the eight-tales is standing right next to me… I’ll try not to feel insulted by the underestimation of my abilities… or that of the Demon Order of Uzushio…
They follow the carved tunnel down into a cavernous cave structure, in the middle of which glows an active box shaped barrier seal, surrounded by several shinobi actively maintaining the barrier. Inside the barrier lies a young teenager curled into the fetal position on the bare ground.
Raikage:
There you see?… Perfectly secure… isn’t that secure enough?…
Nekomu:
Iie… But it doesn’t matter anymore… I’m taking over from here… You lot stand back and stand by…
Raikage:
Do as he says!… all of you!…
The shinobi gathered around the barrier stand up and back away from the barrier as the dark monk approaches. The dark monk is suddenly bathed in an electric purple aura again, as he performs a quick sequence of hand seals, then holds both of his hands out in front of him. Thick handfuls of purple glowing seal paper pop into his hands, before he tosses them up into the air. Then clasps his hands back together, as the various pieces of purple seal paper suddenly are converted into pure purple lightening, arcing over to the surface of the existing barrier seal. Then they reconvert back into seal paper covering the surface of the barrier in various places, shifting the barrier from a pail blue glow, to a new electric purple one.
Darui suddenly shoots up off the ground, as if reacting to some sort of electric shock momentarily running through the ground beneath him. Darui lands on his feet then rushes to the barrier wall and begins a manic pounding against it.
Darui:
Raikagesama!… Raikagesama!… Raikagesama!…
Nekomu:
Silence!… Urusai baca oni!…Damarei!…
The dark monk snaps his fingers and the various seal paper covering the barrier wall shoot out purple lightening, forming into purple lightening chains, wrapping around Darui, binding his arms against his side in the middle of the barrier box, and covering his mouth, silencing him.
Nekomu:
Do not be fooled by the parasite wearing your friend as a skin suit… The demon inside has clearly taken full possession of your friend… And as such… is the only thing speaking through him at the moment… There is no time to waste if we are to save the host…
The dark monk moves toward the barrier before stopping and turning back to point at the raikage.
Nekomu:
You… and you alone… will accompany me inside the barrier… Sometimes these sorts of things demand an extra pair of strong hands… But you must remember… that is not your friend speaking through your protege’s body… And above all else… remember what I said about interference with… or deviation from… any of my instructions… No matter what you see or hear in there… you must remain unmoved and unflinching… The hand can never be allowed to disobey it’s master… And that is what I need you to be in there… my own extra pair of strong obedient hands… Wakarimasuka?…
Raikage:
Hai!… Wakata!…
The dark monk resumes his course towards the barrier box with the raikage following behind.
Nekomu:
Take absolutely nothing for granted in there… not even me… There is no such thing as a perfect seal or barrier… My work is better than most… but still no exception… Be prepared for anything to go wrong and break without warning… This demon seems strong… So it’s a strong possibility… The stronger demons tend to be more ambitious… and go after stronger hosts… even shinobi… tending to get caught and sealed in the process as a result… but not before doing untold damage along the way…
As the dark monk reaches the barrier, he places one hand on the barrier then turns to the raikage and reaches back with his open hand.
Necomu:
Here… Take my hand and follow me in…
The raikage does as instructed and follows the dark monk inside the barrier. The dark monk is engulfed in an electric purple aura similar to that of the barrier, which then spreads to and engulfs the raikage, as they begin to pass through the barrier. Just as they are fully within the barrier, Darui suddenly begins to emit a glowing blue vapor from out of his body, seemingly out of his very pores, then busts out of the purple lightening chains that had seemed to have restrained him, and attacks the exorcist.
The raikage jumps in front to protect the exorcist, but is swatted aside by the possessed teenager, crashing into the inside wall of the barrier. Darui then swings his fist at the exorcist, who catches his fist in the palm of his left hand, then discharges the remaining electric purple aura from around his body, knocking Darui back against the inside back wall of the barrier box.
Raikage:
Darui!… Fuma sensei!… What is the meaning of this?…
Necomu:
Do not presume!… Remember!… No interference!… No deviation!… Pull your punches in here… and you will get yourself and your protege killed!… Now prepare your self!…
Darui:
Raikagesama?… Raikagesama?… Bacasama?… Are you really going to take that… from such a charlatan?… Eh?… Bacasama?…
Necomu:
Do not listen to the parasite!… Don’t let that thing inside your head!… to any extent!… But since the parasite has deemed us worthy… of dropping the pretense of speaking for it’s skin suit… does this parasite at least have a name of it’s own?…
Darui:
I am no parasite!… I am Raja!… I am power!… And I will be your death!… Soothsayer!…
Darui launches himself at the soothsayer again, only to be immediately blasted aside in a flash of cool blue lightening nature in the form of a newly focused and determined raikage.
Raikage:
How is that for not pulling punches?… Eh?… Shintaro sensei?…
Shintaro:
Ugh!… Great!… So much for that plan!…
Raikage:
If wanted that plan to work… you should have come up with a better disguise… better than a greasy dye job and pair of shades!…
Shintaro:
Fine!… Talk later!… Fight now!… But don’t fight too much by yourself directly… Stand by me and prepare to grab and hold Darui’s legs… We’re going to have to do this the hard way!…
Raikage:
Hai!… Ready when you are!… Shintaro sensei!…
Raja:
Soothsayers and charlatans… make for pretty pathetic allies… Don’t you think?… Bacasama?… What would your father say?… How embarrassing for Kumo!… not to mention your poor dead father!…
Raikage:
Take that back parasite!… Or I will make you suffer for it!…
Shintaro:
Don’t let him bait you!… Just be ready!…
Darui launches himself at the pair with a frenzied and panicked fervor.
Shintaro:
Now!… Raikage!…
Raikage:
Hai!…
Darui makes it as far as Shintaro’s throat, where Shintaro catches both of Darui wrists within his own grip, before Darui could grip Shintaro’s throat. The raikage grabs Darui’s legs as instructed for the take down, as Shintaro slams both of Darui arms down on the ground above his head, then places both of Darui’s wrists within the grip of his left hand to free his right. Darui begins to thrash around manically, as if having some sort of seizure, nearly throwing off Shintaro and the raikage.
Shintaro:
Hold on!… And hold him down!… Don’t let go!… And don’t let him up!… no matter what happens!…
Raikage:
Hai!…
Raja:
I will not be bound!… I will not be sealed away!… I am Raja!… I am power!…
Shintaro:
Keep telling yourself that parasite!…
Shintaro raise his free right hand up in the air, as countless bits and pieces of paper peel off of his right hand and forearm, then fly over to the ground next to them, as begin to form something vaguely gourd shaped. The bits and pieces consolidate themselves into a paper mache gourd, which then quickly solidifies and transforms it self into a proper gourd. Once the gourd is solid, Shintaro lowers the same hand back down to hover just over Darui’s chest. It begins to emit a now familiar electric purple aura, with growing intensity, quickly spreading over his entire body again, then spreading further to cover Darui and the raikage. Electric purple chakra strings begin to extend out of each of the fingers of his right hand, and penetrate Darui’s chest, as they begin to pulsate.
Raja:
I am Raja!… I am power!… I am Raja!… I am power!…
Shintaro:
Urusai!… Baca oni!… Damarei!…
Darui suddenly lurches upward slightly and freezes perfectly still except for some minor trembling.
Shintaro:
There you are… I… see… you… And now I have you!…
The electric purple aura surrounding them suddenly converges and concentrates itself into a space on Darui’s chest just to the right of the heart where Shintaro’s chakra strings penetrate it. Then it discharges into a lightening bolt directly into Shintaro’s waiting right hand, where it reconstitutes itself into a small concentrated ball of purple lightening in the palm of Shintaro’s hand, as Darui goes limp and passes out.
Raikage:
Darui!…
Shintaro raises up his left hand and snaps his fingers, triggering the various bits of seal paper affixed to the outside of the barrier to quickly ramp up the amplitude of their purple glow. Then they all discharge themselves, along with the entire barrier seal, into the form of streaks of purple lightening, all striking the gourd sitting on the ground next to Shintaro and the others.
Shintaro snaps the fingers in his left hand again, and the gourd itself converts itself into a streak of purple lightening, hitting the palm of Shintaro’s left hand where it convert’s itself back into a gourd in his left hand. Shintaro then slams the electric purple ball in his right hand against the opening of the gourd in his left, as all remaining traces of electric purple discharge, dissipate, and disappear out of sight entirely.
After all of this, Shintaro calmly sets the gourd down on the ground next to him, and immediately begins to administer medical attention.
Shintaro:
Darui is free… But he will need immediate medical attention if he is to survive… Beyond that… he will need fresh air… sunlight… and more than anything… time… Surviving demonic possession is not simply a matter of having an exorcism performed… It is an extremely traumatic experience… Many who survive the initial possession… often commit suicide later on… Because it may simply be too difficult for them to move on from that… Not everyone can do it…
Raikage:
Darui is stronger than that!… He would never fall prey to that!…
Shintaro:
Brave sounding words will not necessarily help your friend… You cannot afford to take anything for granted… if you genuinely care for your protege…
Raikage:
Ai… Wakata… Shintaro sensei…
Darui:
Raikage… Raikagesama?…
Raikage:
I’m right here Darui!… You are free now!… Everything will be fine!… You have my word as the Fourth Raikage… And you do as well… Shintaro sensei… Anything you want… safe haven… whatever it may be… I’m not sure how I’ll square this with the other five kage if this ever gets out… But you have my word… We’ll just have to work this out somehow…
Shintaro:
That should be enough medical attention for now… We should really get him top side for some fresher air… immediately… You should probably carry him up…
Raikage:
Hai!… Wakata!…
The raikage cradles the weakened Darui in both arms as he begins to carry him up to the lighthouse, following along with Shintaro and the Kumo shinobi who were remaining in attendance for the exorcism, with Shintaro carrying his new trophy in the gourd in his right hand. As they make their way up, they begin to hear the sounds of clashing steel as they get close to the top. As the doorway to the outside comes into view, Karui and Bee are briefly seen coming into and out of view through the open door, as their swords clash.
As they exit the lighthouse, they see that the two gaurds from before have taken positions on either side of the gate opening in the outer wall of the fortified lighthouse. Little Yukai sits on the ground just outside the door to the lighthouse, with Shintaro’s messenger bag resting on his lap, as he claps gently for Karui. A new blonde kunoichi of Kumo sits waiting next to little Yukai on the ground. Karui and Bee continue their clash of swords until they notice the return of Shintaro and the Raikage with Darui.
Karui:
They’re back!… Is that… that Darui guy?…
Shintaro:
Hai Karui… And he should be mostly okay now… But only time will really tell…
Kumo Kunoichi:
And who are you exactly?… to claim any such thing?…
Raikage:
Yugito… This is Uzumaki Shintaro… the one my father spoke of… the one who performed the exorcism on the Second Raikage during the Second Great Ninja War…
Karui:
Papa!… Papa!… They know your name!… does that mean we have to leave now?… I don’t want to leave now!… I like it here!… You said we could stay here!…
Shintaro:
It’s okay Karui… We’re not going anywhere…
Bee:
The real Ghost of Winter?… For real?… That’s too surreal for real!… You feel?… Bacayaro!… Konoyaro!… Of yeah!…
Yugito:
A real exorcist of Uzushio huh?… He doesn’t look like much to me… especially with that getup… Is that supposed to be a disguise?… If he were a shinobi… he would have been laughed out of the service for that level of incompetence…
In response to Yugito’s ribbing, Shintaro holds up the gourd in his right hand and begins to wave his left hand over his own head, drawing out the black ink from his hair into a small but growing ball of ink floating in front of him, revealing his real vivid red hair color beneath the ink. He continues wave his left hand over his clothing in front of himself, similarly drawing out and gathering the ink from all of his cloths, revealing a completely white set of monk’s robes beneath all the ink.
Yugito:
You dyed your whole outfit?…
Shintaro:
It was easier than changing cloths… let alone shopping… I hate shopping…
Shintaro then waves his hand around the floating black ball of accumulated ink in front of him, manipulating the ink into the opening at the top of the gourd. Shintaro goes over and sits down on the ground facing his son and Yugito, and sets the gourd down next to him. Pulling his messenger bag from his son’s lap, he places it back over his left shoulder hanging diagonally to rest at his right side on the ground next to him.
Shintaro holds up his empty left hand in a pose, as if grasping something invisible in his hand, then a sudden small snow flurry springs up in the palm of his hand forming a small ice blade kunai in the palm of his hand before the flurry dissipates. Shintaro uses the ice kunai to slice a deep gash into the palm of his right hand, drawing out the blood and holding his bleeding palm over the top of the gourd, repeatedly squeezing his right hand into a fist to squeeze out more blood into the gourd. Shintaro tosses away his ice kunai to let it melt away, then puts his bloody right hand over the top of the gourd and begins to shake it vigorously with both hands.
Yugito:
That’s one nasty cocktail you seem to be making… I think I’ll pass…
Shintaro blows a small snow flurry into his bloody palm, as it instantly heals from senjutsu, cleaning of the blood in the process, now more obviously showing off for his new audience member. He reaches into his bag and pulls out a small scroll and a brush, and lays out the scroll on the ground in front of him. Shintaro begins to wave his brush over the gourd, and a small amount of the ink inside pops out of the top and floats around, being led about seemingly by his brush, although without making contact with it. Shintaro’s brush manipulates the ink onto the surface of the gourd where it arranges itself into the patterns of symbols on the side of the gourd, with the symbol for demon on top, and with the medical symbol for bio-hazard underneath it, before finishing with single brief flash of purple outlining the symbols on the gourd.
Shintaro continues his manipulation of the ink inside his new gourd, drawing out some more of it, and planting it onto the scroll in front of him. It takes the innocent looking shape of a white snow bunny, surrounded and outlined by seal formula on the surface of the scroll, before likewise briefly flashing a purple outline. Shintaro performs a quick series of hand seals before clasping his hands together in front of himself, where they begin to emit the now familiar electric purple. Shintaro then slams both his palms down onto the scroll surface, before shouting it out.
Shintaro:
Demon Thrall Scroll!…
Purple lightening shoots off the surface of the scroll, leaving nothing behind on it’s surface, then arcs over to strike the ground a few meters away, leaving behind nothing but the figure of a white snow bunny, deposited motionless in the three dimensional flesh where it struck. Shintaro grabs his gourd with his right hand and stands up, turning to the white rabbit, before holding up the gourd in his general direction.
Shintaro:
Raja!…
Purple lightening shoots out of the gourd in Shintaro’s hand, and strikes the white rabbit directly in the center of it’s forehead. It deposits a red vertical oval on it’s forehead, turning it’s eyes red, and bathing the white rabbit in electric purple sparks, bringing it to life. Raja frenetically begins to scurry about in panicked confusion, shooting out random purple sparks and dodging about chaotically, before Shintaro calls out to him.
Shintaro:
Raja!… Heel!…
As Shintaro says this, Raja’s new body converts completely into purple lightening and shoots into the open palm of Shintaro’s waiting left hand. Then it converts back completely into the white rabbit in Shintaro’s hand, with Shintaro’s hand wrapped around Raja’s neck.
Shintaro:
Hello again Raja… Remember me?… I’m sure this is all very new and confusing for you… But it suffices to say… that I… am the power now… And you now belong to me… In time… if you learn to behave yourself… I’ll let you out to play… Until then… back inside you go… Return!…
Raja converts to purple lightening again, shooting himself at the gourd in Shintaro’s right hand, being absorbed completely into it without a trace.
Shintaro:
And that… is how you create a jinn… an enslaved demon… colloquially known as a genie… Any questions?…
Raikage:
Any questions?!?… Why didn’t you kill that thing?!?…
Shintaro:
Baca shinobi!… Demons cannot be killed!… You cannot kill something that is not properly alive!… And demons cannot be destroyed… A demon that is not sealed… is not defeated… Demons can not even be intimidated or deterred… by recourse to the threats of… or even the actual infliction… of pain… For a demon… pain is just another thrilling sensation of existence… validating their existence… reassuring them against their incorrigible and irrational fear… of impossible oblivion… the very same fear that virtually defines their nature as demons… ‘I am Raja!… I am power!’… more like… ‘I am fear’…
Yugito:
Impossible oblivion?… What’s so impossible… about oblivion?…
Shintaro:
The first law of thermodynamics… for starters… In other words… nothing comes from nothing… And something that exists… simply cannot go back to the nothingness… from which it did not… and could not come from… There is absolutely no possibility of this…
Yugito:
The first law of thermodynamics?… Isn’t that… a principle of science?… What exactly would a monk know about science?…
Shintaro:
One can study many things in a monastery… including science… And if you think there is any real or clear distinction… between science and other forms of genuine understanding… then you don’t know the meaning of the word… science… Perhaps that is a question more for idle monks and mindless philosophers… But… ask a monk a silly question… get a dissertation…
Raikage:
Can you teach my shinobi?… how to do that?…
Shintaro:
To some extent… Perhaps… To some extent… such things are to be rightfully forbidden… Perhaps… for my own children some day… But such knowledge and skill is exceedingly dangerous… These sorts of justu were a large part of the cause of the Second Great Ninja War… When things… went wrong for me… in Konoha… I was faced with the burden… of having no other recourse to deal with the demonic infestation… except to take the matter into my own hands… as a lone vigilante… a terrorist!… to purge the feudal aristocracy and bureaucracy… of it’s self inflicted infestation… when a bunch of otherwise useless and incompetent political parasites… thought that enslaved demons would be a more reliable and trustworthy means to power… than their usual baca shinobi… So I set myself on a mission… to purge this influence entirely… Which I succeeded in doing… I spite of all interference to the contrary… even by the five kage themselves… and their attendants… including your father… the future third Raikage… allied together in the middle of the Second Great Ninja War… just to deal with me… even to the point of forcing me to perform an exorcism on the Second Raikage… with the assistance of the remaining kage and their attendants… once the error of their interference was properly understood…. after the truth of his possession was revealed to us all… right in the middle of our fight… Even I did not see that coming… in a manner of speaking… Normally shinobi as powerful as a kage should at least be a little resistant… But absolutely no one is immune…
Raikage:
If you succeeded so well as you claim… then why was Darui possessed?… If you solved the problem as you say… then why?…
Shintaro:
I never said that I… ‘solved the problem’… as you say… There is no such thing… as a permanent solution… to demonism… It is a naturally emergent phenomenon of the metaverse itself… One cannot permanently eliminate demonism… any more than one can permanently eliminate the weather… It is complete and utter nonsense to speak of the matter in such terms… And it can only be done so out of ignorance of the subject… Only constant vigilance can even hope to manage to keep up with it… That is why the Demon Order of Uzushio exists… Existed… that is… Since it is now… no more…
Raikage:
Since the Demon Order of Uzushio is no more… why not start anew here?… in Kumo?…
Shintaro:
I tried something like that before… in Konoha… teaching baca shinobi how to be demon hunters… The skill set was never the problem… so much as the politics… But baca shinobi can never be separated from the politics that they serve… Such is simply the nature of the beast… that is baca shinobi… I do not see how things will be all that different here in Kumo…
Raikage:
You have my word as the raikage!… Things will be different here!… I swear it!…
Shintaro:
We shall see raikagesama… We shall see… in a manner of speaking… To be clear… I will only train demon hunters… to be demon hunters… I will not be embroiled in any political poison of any kind… not here… not by you… nor anywhere else… by anyone at all… And I will never assist you against Konoha… Any problem that you may ever have with Konoha… is strictly your problem… For there to be a real Demon Order of Kumo… there can be absolutely no involvement with politics whatsoever… while serving the order… While serving as a demon hunter… there can be absolutely no consideration of politics of any kind… except as a potential obstacle in the way of duty… The demon hunter must… to the fullest extent humanly possible… block politics from their mind while serving their duty as a demon hunter… until such time as they may conclude that particular duty… and may return to their usual duties as shinobi of Kumo… This strict separation of duty… and the abstinence from politics within the order… must be strictly adhered to and enforced by the demon order itself… with the support of Kumo in doing so… All such shinobi of the demon order must swear an oath to this effect… on pain of death… Only then can there ever be a real Demon Order of Kumo… The true duty of any genuine order of demon hunters… is to human civilization in it’s entirety… not simply any one piece of it… And when it comes to the scourge of demonism… you cannot really protect any piece of it… without at least trying to protect all of it… Or there can be no such order… And I will never be a party to it… Wakarimasuka?…
Raikage:
Wakata!… And I will be the first to swear that oath of yours!… And you have my word as the raikage!… Kumo will enforce it!…
Shintaro:
Very well then… Then you will have my commitment to build that order and to train it’s demon hunters… Speaking of which… Is this facility being used for anything else?… It seems abandoned otherwise… The ocean breeze is quite refreshing… Having been raised on an island… I miss the smell of the ocean… Given my own politically complicated past… it is probably for the best that I not spend too much time in Kumo proper… Neither should the demon order…
Yugito:
This old lighthouse was largely abandoned and superseded a long time ago… I’m the only one who still comes here anymore… to train… I like the ocean breeze too…
As the mad magician continues to lecture and explain the fundamentals demonology, little Karui walks inside the old lighthouse and proceeds up the long winding stairs to the top of the lighthouse, where the old unlit pyre just sits there, cold and covered in cob webs. She steps up on to the railing surrounding the lookout, and sits down on the top railing with her feet hanging down the other side and resting upon a lower rung. Karui takes out her mother’s flute and begins to play as she stairs out at the black night shrouded ocean below. At first she plays to remember. But then she plays to forget.
There Is No Alone!
Forever Never Ending!
There Is No Escape!
There Is No Point In Pretending!
For compilations of previous chapters in paperback hardcopy:
The Mad Sage Of Uzushio, A Naruto Fan Fiction: Volume 1: Chapters 1-17 Paperback On Amazon.com