Chapter 14
Teaching Sarada And Chocho
The Dynamic Duo Plus Special Guests
A fresher morning is greeted with a biwa serenade from the deck of the Uchiha Clan main residence, emanating from the biwa in the hands of Sarada, seated on the edge of the deck. A whooshing sound accompanies the sound of a second biwa, accompanying the first, as Shintaro flies up from just below the deck, revealing himself with dueling whirlwinds about his feet and an electric purple aura about the biwa in his hands, and all over Raja, riding on his shoulder.
Shintaro:
Chocho told me that you played the biwa… for a long time supposedly… But resonating is believing… And talking is just talking… I also recognize some of my own style… as well as technique… I would caution you against copying me too closely… As you sound more talented than me!… with the biwa at least… to my ears… Copying me too closely might just cramp your style!… But if your going to copy… I have a few more tunes that I would like you to learn… now that I know you can…
Shintaro lowers himself down onto the deck, landing on a thin dense cushion of air just between the soles of his feet and the deck. Shintaro spins around on a cushion of air briefly before cutting off his wind style and landing with his now bare feet, with dried mud covering the bottoms of his feet. Shintaro continues to play and the electric purple aura surrounding the biwa in his hands begins to spread to cover his entire body, as well as Raja on his shoulder. Raja jumps off of Shintaro’s shoulder and lands right between Shintaro and Sarada on the deck, as Shintaro moves to plop his but down on the deck before being suspended on a cushion of static electric purple right before hitting the deck, as Sarada loses her concentration and stops her playing.
Sarada:
Cute rabbit!… What it’s name?…
Shintaro:
Oh… Raja isn’t cute… He’s just drawn that way… Raja is a Jinn… an enslaved demon… sometimes referred to as a genie… That’s a bit a long story though… Suffice to say I like to let him out more when he’s been good… And I’ve been neglecting him anyway… He likes to be outside when I play… But never mind him… He’s just an appreciative audience member that has no voice to complain when he changes his mind… But if you stop playing like that… he might just get upset with you… And demons… especially enslaved ones… are quick to fierce temper… and can act and react with impossible swiftness and fierceness… before one has time to react and recall the fierce creature… But no pressure!…
Sarada:
Fierce creature?… a fluffy white rabbit?…
Shintaro:
That is just how I drew his vessel… to make him less conspicuous and intimidating… Some day I might just show you how it’s done… But first things first… I want you to copy me again… But this time copy everything you can… And try to replicate it and join in… accompanying me… This jutsu is similar the to shadow lightening style ancestor clone shikigami technique from before… in that it utilizes shadow style lightening… One that can be used with the other in fact… If you can master this… your resurrections will become stronger and more sustainable… For it is a technique of ninshu… and senjutsu!… even medical senjutsu!… the Shadow Lightening Chakra Resonance Justu… But you must learn to maintain your playing!… along with your concentration!… for they are unavoidably interdependent with this jutsu… This may be the only form of senjutsu you can actually copy with a sharingan… But only because you have the underlying talent for it… Try following me… And remember to maintain your playing and your concentration… as continuously as possible… And grandson… I will understand… if want to maintain your trade-mark aloofness… But you’ll have a much better seat out here…
Sasuke slides into sight just inside an open window.
Sasuke:
That’s fine… I can see and hear just fine from here… I don’t really have any musical talent to speak of… Wherever Sarada got the talent for that… she didn’t get it from me… But I do like to listen…
Shintaro:
My Phoenix Flower played the biwa… Although she mostly used it for amplifying genjutsu… and her fire style… But there are more than just one way… for an artist… to be an artist… And I suspect that your more of a painter… Master swordsmen are often expert painters and calligraphers… they skills have a similar sort of approach… requiring an unwavering commitment to each and every stroke for sake of proper execution… not to mention excellent hand eye coordination… You should really try your hand at the Super Beast Scroll… and other scroll arts… For now though you’ll just have to be an attentive audience member… for Sarada’s recital!…
Shintaro continues to play as his electric purple aura spreads and engulfs Sarada, Sasuke, and the entire tree-house is bathed in a harmless protective sheath of electric purple aura, as Sarada begins to play again, joining and adjusting to Shintaro on the fly as he plays. Shintaro begins to speak as he plays, with Raja’s ears twitching and arcing as they play.
Shintaro:
Chakra itself… is a feature… and a function… of resonance… Nature energy… so-called… is also a function of resonance within the external environment… It is a resonance that is not created by senjutsu… but is only tapped into by it… by virtue of resonance with it… And music is the most powerful form of resonance within human nature… There are many different jutsu that do this with the biwa alone… But I mostly know the shadow lightening senjutsu on the biwa… I learned the shadow lightening style primarily for it’s ultimate speed… as it is the fastest there is… But I also wanted to augment my biwa playing with it… for jutsu just like this… justu that use resonance to generate… convert… and share sage mode chakra…
Sarada:
I’m not yet ready!… for all of that already!…
Shintaro:
You’re already doing it… But I’ve distributed the effect… Can’t you feel the difference though?… The more you share… the less you feel of the effect yourself… But too much all at once can be dangerous… In the sage tradition of Mount Myoboku… a common danger in the beginning… is turning to stone!… The primary danger early on for the Uzumaki tradition… is spontaneous combustion!…
Sarada:
Nani!!!… Spontaneous combustion!!!… Sarada stops playing suddenly for fear of bursting into flames.
Shintaro:
Oh you needn’t be too concerned about that Sarada!… This jutsu is meant to deal with that problem by simultaneously providing a source of resonance… while also moderating that resonance on the fly… If anything is going to be destabilizing… it’s stopping your playing so suddenly!… Even if nothing more than a courtesy to your fellow musicians… the least you can do is play yourself out!… Consider your artistry!.. and presentation!… and that of those around you!… Now!… Moichido!… Imada!…
Sarada resumes her playing, regaining her previous resonance.
Shintaro:
There… now… as you gain more mastery with practice… you can direct shape and control… the field of the effect… or even channel the energy into some other jutsu entirely… like the Shadow Lightening Ancestor Summoning Shikigami that I’ve already showed you… or even gardening!… Would you like to learn some gardening?…
Sarada:
Gardening?!?… What about the ancestors?!?…
Shintaro:
Using this jutsu with the ancestors might be a bit too much all at once… But it can also be used in a generalized sort of regeneration field… it even works on plants as well as humans… I wasn’t kidding about you helping out with the garden to earn your own space in the garden house… I think we may even be able to reach the entirety of Uchiha Quarter from here… if we can maximize the resonance in the field between us… The key to this jutsu… is having a conduit for the energy ready to go… It must be shared… and distributed… in order to be controlled… and to avoid combustion… But focus and playing must be maintained continuously… So you must learn other justu that do not require the use of your hands… now occupied with playing your instrument… Ideally you should learn jutsu that use the shadow lightening nature… But you can combine and convert the chakra generated at will… once you learn how… even in ways that are normally only possible with a kekeigenkai… an evolved bloodline trait… Senjutsu… has the power to open up those other possibilities… And this is exactly that… So?… How do you like your first taste?…
Sarada:
A taste?… I think… I feel warm… Are you sure I don’t have to worry about… combustion?…
Shintaro:
If your still worried about that… try and follow these set of changes… But try to reach deeper… Don’t just make a superficial copy… Try activating your Mangekyo Sharingan… But keep your eyes perfectly closed… And peer into the darkness… See what you can see… while the normally obvious insights are eliminated… as you try and copy me and follow my changes… This training is similar to the training techniques I’m using with my nephew… Naruto… traditional Uzumaki training techniques not normally attempted with an Uchiha… or anyone else with special visual prowess of any kind… Often… gifts of special insight may be taken for granted… or even go unnoticed entirely… overshadowed by more obvious advantages…
As Shintaro says this, Sasuke slides back out of sight in the window while he closes his own eyes. Shintaro changes his playing in style and tone as Sarada copies his changes, then the electric purple aura covering everything gradually begins to dissipate, being steadily replaced by a dark steamy vapor, building into a dark fog turning everything in sight into an image of a foggy night with zero visibility, rather than bright summer morning from before.
Shintaro:
The shadow mist style has considerable natural resistance to flame… in all it’s forms… even the shadow flame of the ameterasu… Water does not burn easily… But it can be boiled… And it cannot be electrocuted… But it can be ionized… It is far from a perfect precaution… But it should be enough to put your mind at ease… Especially since it also has considerable healing powers… But for ideal protection… full elemental transformation… into any elemental sage form… confers complete protection for the sages… from the basic human vulnerabilities to senjutsu itself… But that is not so easy…
Shintaro begins to steam harder, emitting more and more black vapor, as his physical form holding the biwa begins to transform and transmute itself into some form of water yokai, like some phantom of the shadow realm, made of black shimmering vapor in the form of an octopuse’s inky silhouette, with tentacles holding the biwa and plactrum, continuing to play.
Shintaro:
Of course you can’t just copy a sage element form… as it is unique to the individual sages themselves… who develop them for themselves to begin with… No one can do this for you… And no one else cares too… But you probably should avoid attempting full elemental transformations… with any element that you don’t have a strong natural affinity for… either a primary or a secondary natural affinity…
Sarada:
But I don’t have any affinity for water at all!… I can’t do water style!…
Shintaro:
You’ve been doing it right with me all along!… everything but that last transformation… This jutsu can open up all sorts of pathways to power not normally open… For example… This is my only proper fire style jutsu… And I can only do it with my biwa… or my ocarina… My Phoenix Flower taught me this one…
Shintaro changes his playing again, and gradually transforms back into his normal physical form, as all of the black vapor is replaced by a thin aura of red and orange flame. Shintaro begins to levitate as he plays, and Sarada begins to levitate as well, with a similar aura of flame, somewhat startled at the result in the process, having just gone along with Shintaro’s performance, but continuing to play along.
Shintaro:
Dragon Song Fire Storm!…
Shintaro points his head towards the far edge of the garden down below and opens his mouth to spew a raging torrent of a swirling red and orange flaming whirlwind, streaming and whirling down to burn a significant area of trees and brush next to one edge of the garden.
Sasuke:
Oi!… Baca Sennin!… Watch where your practicing with that!…
Shintaro:
Sumimasen grandson… But Sakura and I discussed the expansion of the garden earlier…
The voice of Sakura pipes up from down below by the garden house.
Sakura:
Sumimasen!… Sasukekun!… I forgot to mention it!… But I could still use some more clearance… and some more rain…
Sasuke:
Well in that case… Never mind then… Burn away… But I could have done that… except for the rain part…
Shintaro:
Now I’ll show you why I am known among the sages… as the Storm Sage!…
Shintaro’s playing shifts again as Sarada follows suit. The flames around them are all doused, with a wet and whirling funnel cloud of sideways blowing rain, at first surrounding just Shintaro and Sarada as they are lifted further up and away over the burning part of the garden, then dousing all the flaming wreckage, as the torrent expands and intensifies. The torrent plows and churns a swath of destruction, expending on the devastation from before but leaving behind soggy churned debris covered ground.
Sakura:
Alright!… That’ll do!… Domo!… Shintaro sensei!…
The torrent then makes it’s way back over to the garden house with Shintaro and Sarada still playing, suspended high up in the storm. The storm lowers them down gently next to the garden house, as Shintaro stops playing, then Sarada follows suit but suddenly collapses unconscious from all the effort of keeping up with a musical mad magician. Sarada wakes up, bathed in an electric purple aura, on a part of the wrap-around deck of the garden house, having been placed there on a sleeping pad with a small foam brick pillow, her instrument lying next to her on the pad. A familiar tune with different instrumentation propagates through the air, emanating from Chocho and Ishitara, with Ishitara playing her koto, and Chocho, with her eyes closed, playing what appears to be her grandfather’s red heart-shaped triple-chambered ocarina. Both seated on cushions just above her head on the deck.
Immediately below her on the deck lies unfolded a large scroll with Shintaro’s demon ink gourd resting on the deck next to the scroll, with Shintaro on the side of the scroll closest to her, with Raja perched on top of Shintaro’s right shoulder, and her father Sasuke, with brush in hand, sitting on the opposite side of the scroll from her. Sakura sits on a cushion on the corner of the deck just behind Sasuke, next to small table with tea and dumplings, overlooking the newly cleared section of garden area, as she watches numerous medical smock covered underlings go about the process of planting the expanded garden. Sasuke goes about practicing the basics of the Super Beast Scroll jutsu under Shintaro’s supervision, as the large scroll and everyone on the deck is bathed in the same electric purple aura.
Sarada:
Chocho?… What are you doing here?…
As Sarada says this Chocho is slightly startled and opens her eyes suddenly and blips away along with Ishitara and her koto, taking the electric purple aura with them in the process.
Shintaro:
Oi!… She blipped away again!… Give her a minute… She’ll be back…
Just as Shintaro says this Chocho and Ishitara suddenly reappear, along with the electric purple aura that returns like a protective sheath over the large scroll and the inhabitants of the garden house deck.
Shintaro:
Focus Chocho!… Focus!… You need to learn proper focus and control!… Chocho’s Starlight Rinnegan doesn’t have the capacity to copy things the way the Sharingan can… But I’ve been teaching her the same jutsu that I taught to you for years… but with my mother’s ocarina… She could never really do it all that well before… in spite of her talent for the instrument… because of the interference from the seal on her eyes… Now she can manage much better without seal… But she has to learn how to control the transportation technique of the Starlight Gaze as well… I’ve been having her train with Ishitara… who has much more experience and control with it… as well as music… Why don’t you practice with them for a while… You should practice the jutsu with other musicians using instruments different than your own… So you can learn to adjust to other peoples playing without simply copying it exactly with your Sharingan… I’m having Chocho and Ishitara focus on providing resonant chakra support for Sasuke and me while I train his brush… In fact… I think I’ll join you…
Shintaro says all of this without looking in Sarada’s direction, as if watching Sasuke’s scroll practice with eyes that don’t see. Shintaro then raises both hands up in the air slightly, as a biwa and plectrum suddenly go poof and materialize right into Shintaro’s hands, as he begins to play along with Chocho and Ishitara, and Sarada begins to play along as well.
Sasuke:
Does that mean that you’ve already given up on me?… I thought you were suppose to be training my brush…
Shintaro:
I still am… You don’t need to copy my brush strokes so much as practice your own… You need to focus on developing your own artistry… You’ve already copied the basics… From here on it’s all a question of the power of artistry…
Sasuke:
The power of… artistry?…
Shintaro:
Chakra is a feature and function… of the resonance of existence itself… and of life within it… Art that expresses the human spirit… resonates with that very same human spirit… The greater the artistry… the greater the resonance… the greater the power that results from it… Artistry leads to mastery!… Mastery leads to resonance!… And resonance leads to power!… In time… once you master senjustu under the tutelage of the White Snake Sage… you will be able to empower your creations… as much if not more than I can… depending on the level of your artistry… and the power of the resonance that comes with it… With the chakra support from Sarada and the others… you have effectively the same amount of chakra to work with… Try being bolder with your designs… Take full advantage of the extra support and explore the possibilities… Use the shadow ink technique that I showed you…
Sasuke:
Ai… Ai… That I will…
Sarada:
Chocho?… Can you really play his ocarina that well?… I’ve never even seen or heard you with it before…
Chocho uses her wind nature chakra to superimpose her voice onto the sound of her playing.
Chocho:
Well enough it seems… But I’ve been practicing forever it seems… Mama never liked granpa training me that much… So I only ever practiced in secret… because it was a bit of a sensitive issue…
Sarada:
Wow!… You are really good at that!…
Chocho:
We could totally start a band!… We should start a band!… Aunty Ishitara?… Do you want to start a band with us?… Ishitara nods in approval.
Shintaro:
My son Yukai can perform this jutsu on the Shamisen… as well as the biwa… Bigger Sasuke!… Bigger!… Ai… That’s it… with more fangs… and claws… Fangs and claws are always good… Mutiple heads are a nice touch… But in general… that only works if they do something special… breathing the black flames of the Ameterasu…. for example… Any jutsu you can perform can be inherited and performed by your creations with the right seal formula attached… You can even add things that you can’t even perform yourself… as they may be physically impossible for a human… like having multiple heads… usually…
Sasuke begins to infuse his own chakra into his latest creation, along with the chakra from the resonance of the others. Then, before the creation can leave the large scroll, Chocho loses her concentration again, causing her to blip away again. This time taking Sarada and Shintaro with her, as well as Ishitara. The group is instantly transported to the top floor of the Uzumaki Pagoda, in Shintaro’s Valley of Exile.
Shintaro:
Focus Chocho!… Focus!… Now shift us back…
Chocho in a hurried panic frantically tries to return them to the garden house, then blips them all away to reappear outside a fortified lighthouse on a cliff overlooking the ocean below, to the startled surprise of a number of Kumo shinobi training together by the lighthouse. Chocho frantically tries again, this time transporting the group to a valley with a large lake that empties into a canyon via a waterfall, flanked by two giant heavily damaged stone statues.
Sarada:
The Final Valley?…
Chocho stops playing and drops her head in frustration.
Chocho:
Aggh!!!… I can’t do this!… It’s just too much to do all at once!… And I barely know what I’m doing!…
Shintaro:
Try not to overthink it too much… The power of resonance is more about feeling… than thinking… The thinking may harness and direct the feeling… But the feeling does most of the work… Focus on the feeling of being at home… in the garden house… in your target location… which you should be able to see with your mind’s eye… the mind’s eye of the Starlight Gaze…
Chocho resumes her playing and tries again. This time the group lands back where they were on the deck as before, with the electric purple aura returning to cover the large scroll and everyone on the deck as well.
Sasuke:
You know… You could just put some sort of barrier around this place… temporarily… just to stop that…
Shintaro:
The power of the Starlight Gaze cannot be sealed… except at the source… The Starlight Rinnegan itself must be sealed… which would defeat part of the purpose of Chocho training this way… She must learn control… And that can only be done by practice…
Sasuke:
Well… If that’s the case… then why don’t you just practice that for a while… I have plenty of chakra of my own… I can practice on my own just fine… Besides… Relying upon that justu just seems like cheating to me… I can’t rely upon that when I’m on my own anyway… I need to be able to rely upon my own power alone…
Shintaro:
Perhaps grandson… But resonant jutsu are ideally meant to be applied in a team effort… The Super Beast Scroll is no exception… And the Chakra Resonance Jutsu… was explicitly made for it… Allow me to illustrate… Raja!… Fly!…
Raja converts himself into a pure bolt of purple lightening and shoots up into the sky to appear as nothing but a distant electric purple sparkle in the sky as Raja coverts himself back into a white rabbit bathed and suspended in electric purple sparks.
Shintaro:
Now… do the same as before… But focus all of your energies on empowering Raja…
Sarada:
But you said Raja was a demon… You want us to empower a demon?…
Shintaro:
I said Raja is an enslaved demon… known as a jinn… A jinn only has the power given to it by it’s master… They have no real life of their own… as they are spiritual parasites… And an enslaved demon poses no real danger to a competent master… as whatever power is given to a jinn… can then be taken away by their master… Now play!… Moichido!… Imada!…
Shintaro and the others begin to play again and Raja starts to ramp up the amplitude of his electric purple sparks, as they turn into full fledged purple lightening flashes, cracking and booming across the sky.
Shintaro:
Raja!… Expand!…
In response, Raja rapidly grows and expands to the height of a sky scraper, still emanating purple lightening flashes and bathed completely in the usual electric purple aura of the shadow lightening nature chakra.
Shintaro:
Would you like to do a little sparring with Raja?… Eh?… Grandson?… perhaps you can try your Susanoo against Raja?… I think it might make for an interesting demonstration… There’s plenty of room in the Valley of Exile… We can all tag along with you inside Susanoo… if I’m not mistaken…
Sasuke:
Ai… That would be interesting… How much more chakra can can you deliver with that justu?… I think I would rather try my scroll and brush… If you don’t mind…
Shintaro:
Ai… that is a good idea… let’s do that… Omoshiroi!…
Shintaro ramps up his playing and redirects half of the chakra produced by their playing to Sasuke’s scroll, bathing it in an electric purple glow, as Sasuke goes about frantically waving his brush over the scroll, hovering centimeters above the surface of the scroll without touching it. Ink flows out of the demon ink gourd next to Sasuke and flows over the surface of the scroll, directed by his brush, but without being touched by it. The ink rapidly takes on the image of a classical black ink painting of a black dragon.
Shintaro stops playing with the others for a moment and waves his plectrum over the scroll, using it like Sasuke used his brush without touching the scroll or the ink, directing a bit of the ink to take the form of certain seal formulas along the side of the scroll. Sasuke nods in agreement with Shintaro’s handiwork, then presses his palm down on the scroll to infuse some of his own chakra in to it. Then the image of the black dragon leaps up off the scroll into three dimensions above the scroll and begins to fly a serpentine path through the sky, as Shintaro resumes his playing along with the others.
Sasuke makes a few quick hand seals and clasps his hands together in front of him, then the black dragon rapidly grows in size until it’s as big as Raja, then snaps at Raja’s head as Raja grabs it by the throat, preventing it from reaching his face. The black dragon wraps it’s snake like body around Raja like a boa constrictor, then unleashes a torrent of the black flames of the Ameterasu into Raja’s face. The black dragon unleashes Raja as the black flames continue to engulf him.
Shintaro:
Raja!… Divide and conquer!…
Raja sudeenly divides and splits into thousands of normal rabbit size Rajas, dispersing the black flames, then ganging up on the black dragon with hundreds of small purple lightening attacks launched against the dragon. Sasuke begins to create another monster on his scroll.
Shintaro:
Raja!… Jonah’s whale!…
All of the little Rajas then begin a full concentrated assault on the dragon mouth, forcing their way in and down it’s gullet, filling up the dragon to the point of bursting. Then a single giant Raja bursts out of the dragon from the inside, with massive flashes of purple lightening, destroying and dispersing the giant black dragon. Sasuke finishes his new creation on his scroll, then Shintaro waves his plectrum directing ink to form different seal formula along the side of Sasuke’s monster.
This time a large black gorilla emrge from the scroll, immediately emitting the same electric purple aura as Raja often does, then Sasuke performs the same set of hand seal and clasps his hands in front of himself as before. The gorilla then rapidly shoots up in size as it runs after Raja, until he reaches the same height as Raja, just before swinging and landing a purple lightening enhanced punch, knocking Raja back. The force of the impact, causes Chocho to lose her concentration again, causing her to transport everyone on the deck including Sakura, to the top of Raja’s giant head, just in between the ears.
Shintaro:
Chocho!…
Chocho:
Sumimasen!…
The gorilla continues it’s attack and winds up for another swing.
Sakura:
Get us out of here!…
Sasuke:
Wait!…
As the gorilla swings it’s purple lightening fist, a massive sheath of chakra forms around Raja’s giant form, then taking the shape of an avatar of an armored sword weilding warrior, known as the Susanoo, the ultimate defense of the Mangekyo Sharingan, also apparently of Sasuke’s Rinne Sharingan. The giant gorilla’s fist hits just as the Susanoo fully forms, rattling the group within the armored figure, but leaving them unharmed.
Naruto:
Giant Rasengan!…
The blind folded, masked, and cloaked hokage, leaps into the fray from out of nowhere and completely destroys the black ink gorilla with his Giant Rasengan jutsu, dispersing it entirely.
Sasuke:
Naruto?!?…
Naruto:
Sasuke?… What’s going on here?… Who’s attacking?…
Shintaro:
Sasuke was attacking… You just destroyed his monster nephew… We were just having a little sparring match… for training purposes…
Naruto:
Training purposes?… Well could you do that somewhere out of site of Konoha?… Giant monster rabbits and giant monster battles in the sky… tend to make normal people a bit… worried… to say the least… ya know…
Shintaro:
That’s all right… We’re done with this training for now… I think Chocho needs to practice with her teleport ability more… to gain more control before she can manage other training at this point…
Sakura:
Sarada!!!… Your eyes!… How did you get the Starlight Rinnegan?…
The group turn in astonishment to Sarada as they all take notice of her eyes now turned into the Starlight Rinnegan. Chocho startled again causes the entire group to return to the deck of the garden house in an instant, as everyone stops playing, causing Raja to return to normal size as the Susanoo disperses, before he suddenly appears back on Shintaro’s shoulder, in a flash of purple lightening.
Chocho:
Sumimasen!…
After everyone stops playing, and the Chakra Resonance Jutsu stops providing extra chakra support, Sarada’s eyes return to their normal inactivated state, just before she passes out again. She wakes up again on the sleeping pad on the deck, this time alone, as she hears the sound of a lone ocarina playing in the near distance, but periodically being briefly silenced for a moment before returning, but seemingly at a slightly different distance. Sarada gets up and looks around and sees Chocho playing her grandfather’s ocarina off in the distance, before blipping away to reappear right next to her.
Chocho:
Sarada!… You’re wake!… I think I’m getting the hang of this Starlight Gaze thing… But I cant’ control it with more people… I can just barely do it by my self with grandpa’s ocarina… with more people… it’s just too much!… Grandpa!… Grandpa!… Sarada’s awake!…
Shintaro:
Good!… Bring her in here!…
Shintaro’s voice calls out from within the garden house, beckoning them in. They proceed to go inside through an open sliding panel door to find that Sai, his son Inojin, and Naruto’s daughter Himawari have joined Shintaro, Ishitara, and her father in practicing the finer points of the Super Beast Scroll jutsu by candlelight, as Sakura and Ino compare notes with an unmasked but still blindfolded Naruto over tea and dumplings. Chocho and Sarada come in and sit down next to Shintaro and Sasuke.
Chocho:
Grandpa!… Grandpa!… Does Sarada have the Starlight Rinnegan too?…
Shintaro:
Iie… That was not a real Starlight Rinnegan… Just a perfect temporary mimicry of it… Among the Mangekyo Sharingan of the Otsutsuki… each set is known to have their own unique individual abilities… with tendencies that repeat… but are rare… only appearing every few generations or so… One such tendency… is known as the Chameleon Eye… the master mimic of the visual prowess… The Chameleon Eye can completely… but temporarily… mimic any visual prowess to which it is exposed… even copying unique individual characteristics of other Mangekyo Sharingan… But it comes at a very high cost in terms of chakra… probably not practically usable without the power of senjutsu… and/or… the Chakra Resnonance Jutsu… With the support of the Chakra Resonance Jutsu… she had enough chakra to finally do it… and without realizing it… copied the Starlight Rinnegan inadvertently… no doubt in sympathetic resonance with Chocho and Ishitara…
Chocho:
You hear that Sarada?… We’re like… super sympatico!…
Shintaro:
Sympathetically resonant Chocho… But yes… You two do make a good team with Ishitara… You really should start a band… Perhaps the three of you should start again… Use the Chakra Resonance Jutsu and try to help Chocho practice using her Starlight Gaze and get used to transporting people with her… hopefully with more control… By helping her practice using her Starlight Rinnegan… you may add to your own ability to use the copied version… But pay close attention to the feeling in your eyes… take note of every change from the normal feeling… and see if you can copy the Starlight Rinnegan again… But be sure to maintain your playing continuously while doing so… or the burden will overwhelm you… And don’t worry about getting lost… if Chocho loses her way… Ishitara can always get you back home… Here…
Shintaro materializes a scroll into the palm of his right hand and hands it to Sarada.
Shintaro:
I made a study guide for you and Chocho… But I’m giving it to you since… according to Shino sensei… you were the top of your class in fuinjutsu… Shino sensei said that Chocho was skilled… how did he say it?… ‘skilled in execution… but limited in breadth of knowledge’… She’s more intuitive… and with more robust execution… But your the one with more depth of knowledge… I’m expecting you to help me teach her… especially when it comes to the basics of the Uzumaki tradition… and legacy… of trickery… and slight-of-hand… via the Uzumaki specialty of fuinjutsu… It’s just like this!…
Shintaro materializes his biwa and plectrum into his hands again as a demonstration.
Naruto:
The Uzumaki had a tradition of trickery?… and… slight-of-hand?…
Shintaro:
Ai Naurto… Partially out of convenience… partially out of necessity… But powered by the clan specialty of fuinjutsu… greater acts of slight-of-hand… are enabled by powerful fuinjutsu… and powerful funijutsu is made more practically useful… by better slight-of-hand… in order to deliver it on target… It was often like putting on a magic show… in the middle of a theater of battle… with a performance of real devastation… In Uzushio… they held an annual no-limits stage magic competition… Which I won three years in row!… until my father banned me competing ever again… shortly before coming to Konoha… My Phoenix Flower was also really good at it… Even though the Uchiha have no real tradition of it… normally preferring to rely on powerful genjutsu… because of their talent for it… But she worked hard on her own to develop her own special tricks… And she was quite the performer herself… Did you ever get the rest of her notes and belongings… from Yukai?… I know she made copious notes on all her tricks…
Sarada:
Hai… I’m still going over everything…
Shintaro:
The Uzumaki have always been fairly weak at genjutsu… So they really had now choice but to rely on other forms of trickery… Hence the establishment of the annual no-limits magic competition of Uzushio in the first place…
Naruto:
Can I have one of those study guides?… I’m sure that big scroll you gave us has everything in it… But it’s a lot to go through… ya know…
Shintaro disappears his biwa and plectrum back to where they came from, then materializes another identical scroll in the palm of his hand, and tosses it over to Naruto. Then he materializes another scroll in his hand, this time bearing the symbols for ‘Space-Time’ on the outside of the rolled up scroll.
Shintaro:
Chocho… I want you to have your own copy of the Space-Time Scroll… to study on your own… It would help you greatly in your mastery of the teleportation technique of the Starlight Gaze… if you understood a little more about how these sorts of things work…
Shintaro tosses the Space-Time scroll over to Chocho.
Shintaro:
But… as far as the immediate practical importance of the Uzumaki trickery and slight-of-hand is concerned… If you are going to rely upon resonant musical jutsu… you’re going to need to properly secure your weapons… and lets face it… musical instruments aren’t necessarily all that practical to carry… And they’re prone to break… as they are not designed for combat to begin with… You’ll need to be able to seal them away somewhere handy and accessible… Allow me to demonstrate by giving you something that I want you to have… I want you to keep my mother’s ocarina… No more need for that paper mache copy that I had you practice with…
Shintaro snaps his fingers, and the apparent clay ocarina in Chocho’s hands denatures itself and turns to paper, which then peels away to nothing in her hands. Shintaro then performs a number of hand seals, then proceeds to reach into his own chest with his right hand, just next to the heart, where his chest glows around the edges of where his hand penetrates it. He pulls out the original red heart-shaped ocarina and gets up and walks over to Chocho with it in his hand, then kneels down before her.
Shintaro:
This is what’s known… as the Heart Shadow Pocket Seal… It is one of many such seals… that belong to a class of forbidden fuinjutsu… known as human alchemy fuinjutsu… where seals are placed upon human flesh… temporarily… or permanently… altering the characteristics of the body in question… The seal on Naruto’s abdomen that made him a jinchuriki… is also of that same forbidden class…
Shintaro hands the ocarina to Chocho, then performs another quick series of hand seals. He then grabs the ocarina back with his right hand as it begins to glow slightly, then places his left hand upon Chocho’s right shoulder and begins to slowly insert the glowing ocarina into Chocho’s chest with his right hand, just next to the heart. As Chocho’s chest glows around the edges of where Shintaro is inserting the ocarina, she looks down at her own chest with a look of slight dismay, before looking over at Sarada, visibly transfixed by the spectacle of what is being done to her best friend.
Chocho:
This… is… so… weird…
Shintaro proceeds as far as wrist deep into Chocho’s chest before slowing removing his hand, with all signs of the previous glow vanished from her chest.
Shintaro:
Now place your right hand over your heart… and infuse chakra into the seal…
Chocho does as instructed, then a red heart-shaped ocarina materializes into the palm of her left hand.
Chocho:
Wow!… It worked!…
Shintaro:
Of course it worked… In time you won’t even need to put your hand over your heart to infuse chakra into the seal… and you’ll be able to summon the ocarina into either hand… as naturally as any reflex… But remember Chocho… that ocarina that you now hold in your hand is still not the real one… The real one remains in your pocket seal… perfectly protected… until you extract it… the same as you saw me do it when I removed it from my own pocket seal… When you summon it forth the way you just did… you are simply making a shadow clone copy of the instrument… And you can summon forth as many copies as you have the chakra to make…
Sarada:
Can I do that?… with my biwa?…
Shintaro:
Ai… But for larger objects… or groups of objects… an intermediary step may be required… as a practical matter… And remember… the more objects that you store away this way… the clearer that you have to be in your own mind… in order to retrieve them… And you might want to double check the tuning… since we have been playing for a while… And trust me… Repeatedly unsealing an instrument that is out of tune is beyond maddening… enough to start over from scratch… Which you don’t want to have to do with this jutsu… Chocho!… Give her a reference note!…
Chocho plays her some reference note and Sarada carefully tunes her biwa, as Shintaro materializes a small blank scroll directly into his hand, then unfolds it on the floor in front of Sarada. Shintaro reaches into his messenger bag and grabs his brush, then he raises up his hand to summon his demon ink gourd into his hand from across the room. Shintaro waves his brush about the gourd then directs some of the ink from out of the gourd and onto the scroll, where it forms various seal formula on the surface of the scroll, before he puts his brush back into his bag.
Shintaro:
Here… place your biwa and your plectrum here on this scroll…
Sarada does as he instructs, then Shntaro performs a quick series of hand seals, and the biwa and plectrum suddenly disappear, sealed away into the scroll. Shintaro rolls up the scroll, then uses his hair manipulation technique to animate and extend part of his hair to create red twine made from his own hair, and uses it to tie the scroll closed.
Sarada:
Wait… Not that I need one necessarily… But I don’t suppose you have any heirlooms you want to pass on to me?… before we seal that one into my chest?…
Shintaro:
I’m afraid my mother’s ocarina… is the only instrument I have of any sentimental value… And even that is only slightly better than an ordinary ocarina otherwise… My biwa is really nothing special at all… And yours sounds better anyway… You can always replace it later… You just don’t want to have to start over with a lose plectrum floating around somewhere in your chest…
Shintaro then performs another quick series of hand seals, then places his left hand on Sarada’s right shoulder as before with Chocho, and proceeds to insert the now glowing scroll into Sarada’s chest, just next to the heart, with everything glowing as before with Chocho.
Sarada:
Wow!… That is weird!…
Chocho:
I know!… right?…
Himawari:
Can I put something in my heart too?!?…
Naruto:
No!…
Shintaro:
Now see if you can summon them… the shadow clone copies… you may have to hold both hands over your heart at first… Remember… You have two distinct objects to retrieve…
Sarada raises both her hands up in the air above her instead, and then suddenly snaps her fingers in both hands, as if for showmanship purposes, materializing her biwa in her left hand, and her plectrum in her right. Sarada then lowers her biwa down into place and strums across all four strings, as if to test the tuning in dramatic fashion.
Sarada:
I did it!… Thank you Konoha!…
Shintaro:
Wow!… You picked that up pretty quick!…
Sarada:
Well… I have been watching you fairly closely this whole time… But now that I know how it’s done…
Shintaro:
Good… Then I can count on you to help me teach Chocho… I wasn’t kidding about that… The two of you make an excellent team… a true pair of complimentary opposites… each gifted… where the other is slightly weaker… But with enough talent in common for you two to resonate with each other… Ishiatara makes for an excellent addition musically… But she is no shionobi… and cannot possibly accompany you in the field…
Upon hearing this Ishitara becomes very cross and strums her koto defiantly. Suddenly, characters appear in the air in front of everyone.
Chocho:
‘Why not?’… Ai… Why not?… She has lots of powerful skills…
Shintara:
Ishitara knows why not!… I don’t know why she wants to be shinobi all of a sudden… But this simply cannot be allowed!… And she knows why!…
Ishitara strums her koto and shimmers away by herself.
Shintaro:
And that!… is part of the reason why!… The two of you should practice as a duet… without Ishitara as a safety net… Let’s go outside… just you Chocho and me… I know I said that you can’t copy a sage transformation elemental form… But you may be able to copy the process… with a little help…
Shintaro leads them back out to a clearing just below the deck outside, with the others following them out as far as the deck in order to observe. Shintaro raises his hands and materializes his biwa and plectrum back into his hands again, then begins to play a familiar tune before beginning to take on a shadowy misty sort of shimmer. Sarada begins to play along with Shintaro, as he converts back to his shadow mist octopus form. The three of them now become surrounded by a thick dark mist.
Shintaro:
Play along Chocho… You know the tune… Don’t worry to much about getting it perfect… Just do your best to resonate with Sarada… And support her with your ocarina…
Chocho begins to play along with her ocarina as before, using her wind style at first to augment her playing of her instrument, then using the power of resonance to transmute it into, and augment, Sarada’s shadow mist nature chakra. Sarada begins to emit a steady stream of dark steaming mist.
Sarada:
Is… Is this okay?…
Shintaro:
Ai… But you must find your own way… the rest of the way… in a manner of speaking…
Sarada:
How do I do that?!?… This doesn’t feel right?… Am I even doing this right?!?…
Shintaro:
Your doing fine… But you need to provide a conduit for the power… Try your Mangekyo Sharingan… for starters… But don’t use the outer eye… activate your Mangekyo Sharingan… But keep your eyes closed as before… Try to copy the deeper part… the part you can’t normally see with ordinary eyes… Find the form in your mind… that resonates with the shadow mist nature chakra… And resonate with it… Then transform into it…
Sarada activates her Mangekyo Sharingan then closes her eyes and performs as instructed. After a few moments, the dark steam emanating from Sarada picks up steam and begins to completely obscure the figure of Sarada holding and playing her biwa, then the sound of her biwa disappears. Chocho stops playing in a panic, while Shintaro continues to play.
Chocho:
Sarada!!!…
The dark streaming mist continues to completely engulf and whirl about where Sarada used to be. Then a giant long white serpentine figure emerges from the dark mist, frantically swimming a serpentine path through the air. The large dragon appears with white scales and spiked fins, and two red Mangekyo Sharingan eyes, matching the pattern of Sarada’s, then swims back around to Shintaro as he stops playing.
White Dragon:
Shintaro sensei!!!… Shintaro sensei!!!… What did I do wrong?!?… How do I get back?!?…
Shintaro:
Relax Sarada… Nothing went wrong… You surpassed my wildest expectations… You’ve actually managed to transform yourself into a full fledged shadow mist dragon!… a type of elemental yokai… very powerful…
Sarada:
Never mind all that!!!… How do I get back?!?…
Shintaro:
Now Sarada… It may interest you to know… that dragons in general… And shadow mist dragons in particular… are renown shape-shifters… You could probably resume an outwardly mostly human form… without too much effort… or even transforming back to human form…
Sarada:
But I’m trying to get back to human form!!!…
Shintaro:
Calm down Sarada!… First try shape-shifting… as I described…
Sarada begins to transform in a swirl of a dark shadowy shimmering mist. The dark mist dissipates suddenly to reveal a more human looking Sarada with mostly the same cloths, and the same long black hair as before, but now her entire skin is replaced with sparkling translucent white scales, with all her fingernails and toenails replaced with sharp white talons, on the tips of now webbed digits. Large spiked fins protrude out from her forearms, from the tip of her pinkies to her elbows, and out from the back of the calves of her legs, from just beneath the knee, all the way down to her ankles. Sarada’s Mangekyo Sharingan eyes peer out from the now sparkling scale covered face, as she stares down at the talons on her now scaled and webbed hands.
Shintaro:
In time… the transformation powers… of the shadow mist dragon form… will become second nature… You should eventually be able to hide the appearance of your dragon form entirely…
Sarada:
Hide?!?… I don’t want to learn how to hide being a dragon!!!… I want to be human again!!!…
Shintaro:
And you will be!… But I don’t think you understand what you’ve achieved… Dragon forms can be extremely powerful… Pause a moment… to take note of how you feel… as you are now… what can you sense?…
Sarada:
What can I sense?… Everything!… It’s all too much!… How can I make sense of it?…
Shintaro:
In time… you’ll simply get used to it… That… plus the shape-shifting abilities of dragon forms in general… is just the beginning… In addition to flying through the air like a sea snake swims through the water… they can just as easily swim through the sea of space… and you can probably travel from planet to planet as they do… You’ll have to discover for yourself… with practice… and exploration… what this new form of yours can really do… For now… try summoning your instrument again…
Sarada:
My instrument?!?…
Shintaro:
Don’t argue with me!… It’s an important detail if you ever want to be human again!… Summon it now!… Moichido!… Imada!…
Sarada raises her hands up in the air and materializes her biwa in her left hand and her plectrum in her right.
Shintaro:
Now play again as before… Eventually you will be able to transform without the music… as it becomes more natural with practice… But for now you must find your own way back… the same way you found yourself here… Chocho!… Play along again!… Help Sarada and your granpa out!… It will be good practice for you too!…
Octopus Shintaro begins to play his biwa again with his various tentacles, as Chocho begins to play along as before. The dark shadowy mist begins to stream and swirl more vigorously than before, and dragon-lady Sarada is once again completely engulfed in a swirling shadowy mist. The shadowy mist begins to clear to reveal a still steaming but completely human looking Sarada, as she stops playing out of relief, and then collapses to her knees. Chocho stops playing too and rushes over to her friend.
Sarada:
I did it!!!… I’m back!!!…
Shintaro:
I never doubted it for a second!… Why did you?… Or… Perhaps it’s just me you doubt…
Octopus Shintaro stops playing and transforms back into human form.
Shintaro:
You should have more confidence in yourself… if nothing else… By all means… don’t trust me… But you might want to trust yourself to some extent… Your are stuck with yourself!… no matter what!… So you might want to learn to trust yourself… at least that much… Are you up to attempting another transformation?… I can show you my elemental wind sage transformation… Here Chocho… Play along and help Sarada steal the wind from beneath my wings… in a manner of speaking…
Shintaro dematerializes his biwa and plectrum, then conjures up a paper mache shikigami shadow clone version of his mother’s ocarina, folding and molding itself within the palm of Shintaro’s hand, taking on at first only the shape of his ocarina, then transmuting itself into a proper clay ocarina. Shintaro begins to play and Chocho immediately begins to play along as if she’s been playing the tune from birth, then Sarada begins to intuitively play along, harmonize, and resonate with Chocho and Shintaro’s playing.
Shintaro begins to transform as he plays, until his playing is carried on by a now seemingly disembodied ocarina, replaced by the white feathers of a giant snow owl, with cataract covered eyes. The sound of Shintaro’s ocarina carries on from somewhere inside the giant snow owl, as if the giant bird had swallowed it and the player whole, still playing somewhere deep inside giant bird. Shintaro’s voice carries on likewise.
Shintaro:
This is my shadow wind nature form… my first ever… Wind nature forms… often take the form of some sort of flying creature… by primary archetypal resonance within the imaginations of the practitioners involved…
Sarada activates her Mangekyo Sharingan and closes her eyes as before, while she plays herself into a fervor, going for broke for another transformation, as a dark whirling wind surrounds her. Chocho picks up the intensity of her playing in response to her best friend’s vigorous musical rapture. Black feathers begin to grow out of the exposed parts of Sarada’s skin, except for her mouth and nose that begin to morph into a black crow’s beak, as she completely transforms into a crow spirit, a giant form of crow yokai, about the size of a full grown human. Sarada’s playing is halted entirely as she temporarily loses the use of her arms and hands. Chocho and Shintaro cease their playing to wonder at what has happened to the Sarada.
Chocho:
Sarada?… That’s still you in there?… Right?… Daijoubu desuka?…
Sarada Crow:
I… feel fine… I feel… excellent!…
The giant Sarada crow begins to transform back to a humanoid shape while still covered in black feathers except for her human face and her human hands, but without her usual red oval-framed glasses. Sarada conjures up her biwa and plectrum into her hands and begins to play again as Chocho and Shintaro resume playing as well. Gradually all the black feathers fall away being displaced by Sarada’s original clothing as she returns to completely human form.
Sarada:
Two down!… Three to go!…
Shintaro:
Don’t get cocky kid!… But since you’re so ambitious… Why not try… for a shadow lightening form?…
Shintaro’s playing radically changes to resemble his earlier electric purple duet with Sarada, but now played on his still disembodied ocarina. The giant snow owl begins to take on an electric purple glow, as Chocho and Sarada alter their playing to harmonize and follow suit, also then taking on the same electric purple aura. The Sarada and Chocho both close their eyes as their playing and the aura surrounding the trio rapidly intensify.
Shintaro:
Keep in mind Sarada… I don’t even have a shadow lightening form myself… I wish I did!… Of all the elements… lightening is the fastest… But shadow element styles tend to be even faster… Of course… Of the shadow element styles… shadow lightening is the fastest of them all… But I still have yet to manage a transformation for it…
Chocho begins to give off massive arcs of purple lightening, arcing and connecting electrically with the others in the electric purple trio.
Shintaro:
Chocho!… Take it easy!… Dial it back a bit!… You’ll overheat!…
Chocho:
I can do this!!!… I won’t let Sarada down!…
Sarada:
Chocho!… Daijoubudesuka?…
Chocho:
I won’t let you down!!!…
Chocho begins to emit more violent arcs hitting some of the surrounding trees, as Sarada begins to follow suit.
Shintaro:
That’s too much energy!… the both of you!… You both need to find some safe conduit right now!… Chocho!… Try channeling the energy into the expansion jutsu!… Sarada!… Try the Susanoo!… You must displace the energy now!… or it will destroy you!…
Lost in the fervor of the musical moment, Chocho and Sarada barely hear Shintaro’s warning and instruction. Chocho goes first, channeling all her shadow lightening nature chakra in to her Akimichi Clan’s Expansion Jutsu, along with the normal channeling of her stored up caloric energy, from her normally plump form, and turning that into fuel for expansion. Chocho grows two electric purple lightening butterfly wings, made of the excess energy from her shadow lightening resonance. Chocho’s body rapidly expands as she channels her shadow lightening into her expanding form, transforming it all at once into a pure shadow lightening nature chakra form, as her ocarina disappears from her giant new form, resembling a proportionally much simer version of Chocho’s normally plump figure, but massively expanded vertically, with giant purple lightening butterfly wings, hovering electrostatically several meters above the ground.
Sarada:
Cha Na Ra!!!…
Sarada’s shadow lightening shoots out from her and arcs over to the surrounding trees. Sarada suddenly completely disappears in a flash of purple lightening, as purple lightening arcs and flows over Chocho’s giant electric purple butterfly winged form, rapidly forming an electric purple form of Susanoo, surrounding Chocho, but with holes in the back of the Susanoo chakra armor to accommodate Chocho’s purple lightening wings, and with a giant electric purple biwa and plectrum in it’s hands, and an electric purple armored helmet with a likeness of Sarada’s face appearing within it’s opening, complete with Sarada’s oval framed glasses, but with electric purple frames. The likeness of Sarada’s face within the helmet speaks.
Sarada Susanoo:
I… I think I got this!…
The electric purple Sarada Susanoo suddenly discharges and disappears, as Sarada simultaneously reappears in a flash of purple lightening, several meters below the chin of Chocho’s giant purple lightening form, as Chocho swings her arm around and safely catches Sarada in the palm of her giant electric purple hand, then sets her gently down on the ground next to Shintaro’s giant snow owl form.
Chocho:
Is she okay?… Am I okay?…
Shintaro:
She’ll be fine Chocho… She just over did it is all… You’ll be fine too… as soon as you figure out how to change back… Try summoning your ocarina again…
Chocho presses her lightening form hand to her lightening form chest, and tries to infuse chakra into her heart’s pocket seal to summon forth her ocarina, but fails to summon forth anything.
Chocho:
I can’t!!!… I can’t get it to work!… What am I supposed to do now?!?…
Shintaro:
Try changing back without the music… The music isn’t strictly required for transformation… Try remembering the music and how it made you feel… Resonate with that feeling… Resonate with the memory of who you used to be… Then transform into it… If it will help… try discharging your excess energy into the sky… You could try just going through the normal process of ending the expansion jutsu… and see what happens…
Giant electric Chocho clasps both hands in front of herself and begins to concentrate. Massive arcs of purple lightening explode out of Chocho’s wings into the surrounding clouds, lighting up the entire sky with electric purple flashes, as she begins to shrink in size. Chocho gets closer to normal size, and closer to the ground, then turns into a large orb of purple ball lightening. The electric purple ball lightening travels around frantically for a few seconds, before bursting into a dark black funnel cloud, that rapidly disperses leaving behind a newly transformed Chocho.
Now normal height, but retaining her slimmer proportions, Chocho now has two large orange and yellow physical butterfly wings protruding out of her back, through two tears in the back of her kimono top where they formed during the transformation. Chocho also now sports two small green antenna on the top of her head, at the top corners of her hairline. Chocho hovers before everyone now emanating sparkling green and gold pollen-dust like particles from her large butterfly wings and small green antenna, as Sarada regains consciousness.
Sarada:
Chocho?!?… What happened to you?!?…
Chocho:
I’m stuck!…
Shintaro:
You’re not stuck!… You’re just… still working the problem!… Try summoning your instrument again… You may have better luck in this form…
Chocho puts her right hand over her heart and infuses chakra into her pocket seal again. This time her ocarina is successfully materialized into her left hand. Chocho begins to play the wind style Chakra Resonance Jutsu again and superimposes her voice over her playing as before. Shintaro begins to play along as Sarada just sits exhausted beside them.
Chocho:
I got it!… Now to be human again!… Don’t get me wrong… I love having wings!… But I need to able to be human again!… Just so I don’t forget what that’s like!…
Shintaro:
Remember Chocho… Play… Resonate… Visualize… Transform!…
Chocho suddenly becomes completely surrounded in a whirling black funnel cloud for a moment, before the black funnel cloud disappears, revealing a completely human Chocho, feet on the ground, still playing her ocarina, but now with her normally plump proportions, as if the mass from her wings were simply reabsorbed back into her normal body. Chocho realizes her attempt at returning to normal has succeeded and she stops playing along with Shintaro.
Chocho:
I did it!!!… I’m me again!!!… That was actually kinda scary for second… I thought for a second… that I might not ever be human again!…
Shintaro:
That’s not necessarily any great loss… But you needn’t have worried Chocho… You’re clearly a natural when it comes to transformation… I should have known really… Between the Starlight Rinnegan… and the Akimichi Clan’s Expansion Jutsu… I really should have known… Now… In addition to all your practice with the teleportation technique of the Starlight Gaze… you’ll need to practice your transformations!… as much as possible…
Shintaro transforms back to human form in a momentary swirl of a snow flurry, that surrounds the giant snow owl briefly before dissipating, revealing Shintaro’s normal human form holding his ocarina.
Shintaro:
I don’t think you realize how talented you are at this… Without direct or specific coaching… you managed to create your own pure shadow lightening form… Then you proceeded to create your own shadow wind form… accidentally!… by simply making a wrong turn on your way out!… You must practice more… both of you!… Sage transformation… especially elemental sage transformation… is extremely powerful… You should both practice the transformations themselves as much as possible… until they become natural reflexes… without the need for the music… But you should also explore the forms themselves… and find out what hidden powers they may have for you… Both with and without the music…
Sarada:
So… Chocho’s… that much better than me?… So much for my biwa…
Shintaro:
So much indeed!… Don’t foolishly compare yourself to Chocho as a standard just because she has a talent that you don’t… The only reason you’re having such a hard time is that I just dumped a whole lot of stuff on you all at once today… So don’t you start pouting over that!… If you’re still keeping score… you have three elemental forms… and Chocho and I only have two… The only reasons why you now have three… are largely because you are that good on the biwa… and you have a Mangekyo Sharingan… to bring you the rest of the way… with my help of course… But your normal human body needs to be made stronger… more resilient to the rigors of the transformations… Chocho again has a natural advantage here… in that the traditional training of the Akimichi Clan’s Expansion Jutsu… naturally prepares her for transformation… For you… there is mostly only practice… You must become natural with the form… and the transition to and from it… otherwise… it will never be anything but a really fancy parlor trick…
Sarada:
I think you miscounted on the score… I have only two… the same as you and Chocho… And I failed at the Susanoo on top of that!…
Shintaro:
Nonsense!… You succeeded brilliantly!… You not only succeeded at the Susanoo… You instinctively used it as a template… for a shadow lightening form Susanoo… of pure energy… which you transformed yourself into!… if only briefly… You even enclosed Chocho with it briefly… You just need practice… lots and lots… of practice… condition… and habituate yourself to it… And there are some things you should know… about those forms of yours… I believe… that your dragon form may be a form of shadow mist dragon… known as a steam dragon… known for having powers of water and fire… and being able to combine them… for the effect of you might know… as Boil Style… It seems that I tried to get you to grab a water power… and your fire affinity demanded balance… Something similar must have been at work in your selection of the crow form… The crow spirits are known for their powers of the wind… but also fire as well… and their ability to combine them… for what you may know… as Scorch Style… They simply call it… Ultimate Cremation… And just like the dragons can swim unaided through the infinite sea of space… the crow spirits can fly to and from the shadow realm… and live and thrive indefinitely on either side… of the great divide… This is part of why crows have always been known as messengers of the underworld… and harbingers of death itself…
Chocho:
Ooh!… Ooh!… What about me?… What am I?… What did I become?…
Shintaro:
You created your own custom forms completely from scratch Chocho… I’m afraid only time will tell… I suspect however that both you and Sarada should be able to control the size of your shadow lightening forms better… making much smaller versions… eventually… For now… be sure to practice that one outside only…
Naruto:
Can I learn how to do that?… elemental sage… stuff?…
Shintaro:
Ai Naruto… That you can do… although probably not in the same way…
There Is No Alone!
There Is No Escape!
There Is No Point In Pretending!
Ozymandias The Mad 