What were the implications of chakra?
This substance that seemingly takes on the very nature of whatever it's formed a bond with.
Seriously.
Did chakra form around itself?
Like whatever this stuff actually is, did it conform to the concept of chakra?
If so, did it do so as a to… bond with lifeforms?
We do generate the stuff.
In one single individual lifetime, they would provide far more chakra then they could ever hope to hold themselves.
Are we a necessary part of the cycle?
Or just a useful one.
Did Yin & Yang, require life?
What was the purpose of these energies?
Presumably all our chakra eventually just became a part of the world itself, ensuring this prosperous cycle continues.
Now hopefully this was just a means to ensure its continued existence.
Completely understandable.
Existing is pog.
Of course chakra could very well be a parasite, maybe not to humans, but to the world at large.
Even if unintentional.
Not all that uncommon.
All the same.
This could be how things were always meant to be.
Meaning my previous existence was one near the next beginning, when the cycle had long been forgotten, the very idea of this energy gone.
Something which would have an impact on chakra.
Correct?
From my understanding, our intent, thoughts, feelings, all of these had an impact on chakra.
Would not the very eradication of the very idea of chakra, not have significant effects on the stuff?
Ensuring its own eraser.
Or would it just embody nothingness.
Maybe it was just harvested.
Hard to say which of these are least likely.
Whatever the reason may be for it's absence matters not.
I mean.
Humans were still human.
While the lack of chakra may have stifled the potential, those humans still did rather well all things considered.
So much so I was unwilling to spread such influence.
All this and so much more, drifted to the forefront of my mind, as I practiced… well maybe, not entirely sure what my end goal was at the moment.
Feels right though.
This felt, different to how I usually did things… more natural?
Hmmm..?
Ninjutsu wasn't the right word.
Sitting crossed legged on a rock in the middle of a hot spring the surrounding area was dense with my chakra.
I'd been out here all night, releasing chakra.
While simultaneously, with assistance from some fuinjutsu, focusing on keeping the majority in the vicinity of the hot spring.
Slowly I brought my hands to my mouth before a flame floated to my hands, going in size as it absorbed chakra.
Not by much, little more than a candle, before I released the flame.
The flame drifted up to take place with a number of other flames In my vicinity
Each floating about, occasionally needing adjustments to keep them from colliding with one another.
Swishing my arm out horizontally air currents picked up for a moment increasing the intensity of each flame.
The chakra in the air was draining at an accelerating rate.
Unsustainable.
For a moment the flames grew dangerously before the majority of my chakra in the vicinity had been drained.
immediately the flames began to burn through themselves, some drifting close enough to another to cannibalize it, offering a brief reprieve before consuming itself anyway.
The surrounding area had heated up.
It was actually quite pleasant.
Making the most of the temperature, I made use of the natural hot spring I'd located after happening upon information of its existence.
Still took a bit to locate, the trail so old, nature's almost completely erased it.
Apparently this spot used to be popular with the villagers, but the Forest of Death had since gotten quite close.
Even more so now.
Kinda hard to miss those trees
Along with the hostile vines creeping about, that seem to be attracted to my presence, slowly seeking me out.
Probably just attracted to life in general.
Freaky… ok so maybe I do understand.
Still, a nice spot.
Sinking into the water I was content to forget the passage of time.
Only just as I was just really getting comfortable..
I felt an odd sensation.
A pull of… familiarity?
Getting out of the hot spring.
I was incredibly on edge as I put all my things back on.
"The hell's going-," my words fell short as recognition hit him.
Immediately I summoned Gray.
in a plume of smoke, Gray appeared, always bigger every time I see him.
"Hey pal-."
The head of a larger snake was in his maw, torn from wherever the rest of their body was.
"Woah."
letting the head fall, Gray loomed over me, looking quite rough, yet certainly the victor.
Before he collapsed, exposing more injuries I didn't see before, far more bloody ones.
"Shit."
Quickly grabbing a scroll from my back I rolled it out, unsealing it, three clones appeared, each one dressed like an over-exaggerated doctor.
Something that was a lot more funny when I was setting up this scroll, now it just seemed inappropriate.
"Good lord what happened to our snake!"
"Don't say it like that," the lead clone, decided way back when, smacked him on the back of the head.
We got to work.
Tending to the worse of his wounds, we had to get creative securing makeshift
bandages.
But the worst of it was tended to, just had to wait for him to wake up.
Walking along his body, I located the closest point to his heart, placing a hand on the cracked scale. I got a better sense of how he was doing.
Gray's chakra was severely drained.
Glancing over at the head of the massive white snake, my clones were removing their scales.
Unique material, never know when you're gonna come across some.
It didn't take much coaxing to convince Gray's system to accept my chakra, he'd been feeding on it for years.
Once I was done I let the clones keep an eye on things.
Guess I'm spending a few nights out here.
"Oi, torns off!" a clone yelled, cutting away at some vines that had managed to start curling around Gray.
Should I send the village a message?
or rather should I send Sarutobi a message, I'm sure he's well aware I just left the village, hmm.. I'm sure it won't be an issue.
Sitting atop Gray's head I run my hands along some damaged scales, soothing iryo-jutsu hopefully elevating some of the discomfort.
Hmmm…
Gray used our contract to pull on me, so I'd summon him out of danger.
How did he do that?
Could I pull on him?
While Gray did fall under the snake contract, we had since drawn up a more personal one.
Something that shouldn't be needed, but you never know.
I wasn't the keeper on the snake scroll.
Yet.
Glancing over at the dead snake my mood shifts watching as my clones sacrificed what was left of the white snake's head in a manner akin to a ritual.
Was this bastard acting alone?
Watching as the vines ensnared & consumed the head over a few days was fascinating.
But once the big guy was up, the opportunist observation was over.
Gray's form shifted as he rose up, certainly big, but he didn't seem so with the Forest of Death looming in the distance.
"I can't return, too dangerous… power, I need more chakra, potent chakra.. your chakra, your stockpile, give it to me."
I took a moment.
"On one condition."
"Name.. it."
"I need more snakes, ones that won't extort me at every opportunity, useful ones, not just big-boys, so you start making some friends."
"Understood."
Returning to his taciturn ways Gray began to move in the direction of the leaf, his movements telling me he wasn't doing as well as he let on.
Grabbing my things I moved to catch up.
laying along his scales I start mulling over the known problems, the first coming to mind being the difficulty of transferring the amount of chakra I intend to use in this… experime- no, ritual.
Let's call this a ritual.
Somehow that actually has a bit of a pleasant ring to it, least more than experimentation.
We made good time.
"Coming through! enormous snake, make way he's grumpy!" I yelled to the village folk as Gray maneuvered through the streets as we made our way home.
Oh, Kakashi's home, yay.
hmm… he's interacting with another, someone I can't sense.
Wonder who?
Before I could find out Gray's housing had to be arranged.
And by that I mean, he knocked down our backyard gate, returning our backyard to the wild. Behind our place were mostly trees and large rock formations.
I've heard of plans to expand in this direction, but that wasn't anytime soon.
Probably.
I did spend a lot of time underground in the Land of Wind.
I have no idea how long it's been.
I liked it, losing track of time, freed up some burden on the mind.
At least it did for me.
I could see how a losing sense of the passage of time could mess with the mind.
We're getting off topic.
His condition catching up with him, Gray slumped long-ways, with his head in the backyard, while his body disappeared into the trees & foliage of a slice of forest we had within the walls.
This was actually one of the smaller ones,
I rue the day these trees are gone
The backdoor opened as Kakashi & Lord Third walked out.
Social call, or something more?
"Sozo," Kakashi glanced at Gray, his gase lingering on the broken fence, "Welcome back." He said rather unenthusiastic.
"Don't worry about the fence, I'll handle it," I smiled, approaching Kakashi, throwing an arm around his neck, something that while he didn't return, he certainly didn't fight it beyond enforcing a time-limit.
About five seconds if you were curious.
"The Professor," I acknowledged Lord Third.
"Sozo, or would you prefer, little snake."
I didn't respond beyond a "Hmph," of acknowledgment at my nickname.
"Well, that's, big snake, he's gonna be here, hmm.. until he's not."
"I see you've already handled his accommodation," Lord Third took Gray's form in more detail.
"Were you attacked," Kakashi asked.
"Me, no, afraid not all is well back in snake caves, Gray's been getting picked on apparently, I'm probably gonna have to have a stern talk with them soon."
"Tread carefully, Sozo, the affairs of Ryūchi Cave are not to be taken lightly."
"I understand, it is a place of power, where hierarchy is determined by one's own abilities, they won't hesitate to kill me if I overstep, contract be damned."
Just how things were, not much use complaining.
"But also know this, I'm going to rip the scales off of those who did this to Gray, plus it's about time I paid a visit to the White Sage, I've been incredibly rude given just who she is."
"Who's the, White Sage," Kakashi spoke up,
"The undisputed top dog of the Ryūchi Caves, Sensei spoke of her on occasion, one of the few I am to never defy, he's not even on that list."
"Remember Sozo, it would not be amiss to consult Orochimaru regarding this matter, he may even be able to resolve it entirely."
Maybe.
"I know, though not much will be happening soon, Gray must recover before we do anything."
Along with some other preparations.
"It's a nice day boys, take the day for my sake would you both."
"Yes, Sir"
"Sir, Yes."
Kakashi slapped the back of my head once Lord Third was gone.
"He likes me," I retorted, "Man's surrounded by reverence at all times. Tell me, during your conversation, at any point did you… be yourself? hmmm? Or did you stand a bit taller, speak a bit clearer, ponder over your words a bit longer. I bet that's most of his day.. every day."
"He's still the Hokage," Kakashi grumbled.
"And human." I replied, "Anyways, I'm gonna go check on Gray,"
Kakashi's hand on my shoulder stopped me.
"What happened to him?"
"I'm not sure, he wasn't exactly in a talkative mood, but he had the head of another massive snake with him, it seemed like there was some kind of conflict in the Ryūchi Cave."
Kakashi's gaze returned to the unconscious Gray.
"I unfortunately have lots to tend to, so I hope to see you tonight for dinner, been awhile sense we've had a chance to just talk Kakashi," I said.
"Yes, I'll be sure to make the time."
"Cool," I smiled, before heading out.
Gray's circumstance took priority at the moment, but before I could focus on him, other matters I've put off for too long needed to at the very least be addressed.
Fugaku had gotten word I was in town
And wanted to speak with me, so I was currently on my way to meet him.
I've been putting this off for a while.
But it was now time I presented my creations.
Fugaku had me meet him at a secure location, something I was fine with, but the moment I arrived, I understood that this place was far more important than I'd anticipated
This was one of the clan's most important locations, a place of worship, history, and spiritual significance.
It also happened to be quite secure, there were rather intense Uchiha all about here, a few I couldn't pick up on as well.
"Thank you for having me, Fugaku-sama." I greeted him upon seeing him.
"It's good to see you Sozo, I was beginning to wonder if you'd forgotten about us."
"No, sir, I've been hard at work."
"So I see, you've brought much more than I anticipated."
"I've been rather productive."
Recently that is.
"Well, let's have a look."
I was told not to bother with a seal, so I just rolled the scroll out and began to lay out the contents, a bit of a mess, but it worked.
"This is for you, to ensure we're on the same page, I've written down everything you need to know to properly use each of these," I said, handing him a scroll, he opened it, glancing over his eyes shifting to that of the sharingan, before he laid out the scroll before him.
"Before I begin the nitty-gritty, I must ask, did you already have the Uchiha in mind who will be wielding my lovely creations?"
"No, I'm afraid the prior candidate has passed, I've been meaning to ask you to meet with me in regards to that matter as well."
"I'm sorry to hear that, but I'm sure you're up to the task of picking another, and to make things easier, I'll be willing to adjust my creations to better suit their wielder."
"Of course," he said, looking over the various weapons, tools, and other devices, "I'd like to know what you intend for these, their purpose in combat, short-comings, anything you believe I should know."
"Of course, well then," I held up the first of the items I'd modified, "Now I know our original agreement was only in regard to a lightning blade, but I've since learned this things, kinda sucks."
"It sucks," he deadpanned.
"Yeah, at least against any opponent of real worth, now as long as you're punching down, you're fine, but anyone worth fighting, is going to know a thing or two about avoiding attacks, and while the lightning blade is a nice way to keep them at bay, once they get a read on you, or Tobirama forbid the balde, you're going to be in some trouble."
"I see, so what do you suggest?"
"Options my friend, I'm talking options," I said, holding out a scroll, upon which a seal was drawn, I released the seal, causing a blade to fall into Fugaku's hand.
"A Tanto?"
"Mmm, yes, a tanto, a weapon that isn't going to be your go-to, hell most just use these as utility knives, but with just a little application of my know-how," Taking the blade back I activated the Fuinjutsu within the blade.
Causing lighting release to flow from it.
"Now this little knife can rend through most materials, even solid earth is vulnerable to such a blade. And the best part, I bought this tanto an hour ago, the modifications took me about twenty minutes, and the cost is a fraction of the original blade, seriously, while the lightning blade may technically put out more power, the durability problem means you can't really use it that way anyways, least more than once. BUT! with this, the blade holds the shape, while the lightning release dose the hard work."
"I'll see, have you modified all of these?"
"Oh yeah, we're all about variety," I grinned, laying out the weapons & gear before Fugaku.
"Now I still intend to deliver the original lightning blade, just know, whomever you choose, they best not have any issue listening to a child. I know how stubborn your clan is. But if I say the blade needs maintenance, or it's too soon to use it again, or there's some other advice in the matter, they had best listen to me."
"I'll ensure they don't give you trouble," he smiled.
"Right then, well, in regarding that original contract of the lightning blade, I've completed my side of our original deal. Do you concur Fugaku-sama."
"I believe I do."
"Great! Now with that out of the way, let us talk about the future," I said, sealing away the gear I'd brought with me today.
The next few days had been spent working with an Uchiha craftsman, a rather old one, whose curiosity I peeked at after we started tossing around ideas.
Tamaha Uchiha was his name, and boy did the old bastard have a lot of questions I did even begin to have the answer to, but in my defense, I haven't a clue how swords are made, traditional ones at least.
What constitutes as a "sword" in the shinobi world has been stretched to the point of absurdity, but for this task I'd taken inspiration for my prior existence, I didn't think he'd give me so much grief about the shape of the blade.
Like my god man, you have all manner of blades around here, even more shinobi tools in progress, many of those were far less conventional in their design.
All i asked for was something double balded, straight, with more weight to it then less, and it's like I kicked his dog or something!
Still, we worked it out, eventually we came up with a nice thick sword, meant to handle the power I intended it to have, along with the stresses it's material will introduce to the design, though i intended to use a little fuinjutsu to further enhance it, mostly just ensuring the integrity of the structure, ideally the weapon will only have to rely on the actual sword part of when clashing with something comparable to the blade's own power, or if it was just really durable i guess.
But with this sword I should be able to hit something hard and not worry about my own sword breaking apart.
With Tamaha's help I was now able to properly focus on my plans, while he got started with the blade itself, we'd also laid out the design for the seal-work intended to channel and conduct the lightning release.
All in all, the Uchiha have been good friends to me so far, while their pride makes them a little prickly to deal with sometimes.
Still.
Good people.
Now back to Gray's predicament, he needed more than to just recover, he also needed more power.
I believe Gray's a good opportunity to learn how my chakra can impact another being's physiology.
My clones had been busy, Orochimaru had a lab with a large enough vat for Gray, inside was a solution we always used for snakes, it was tailored for their health and wellbeing.
Gray hadn't complained, he actually had taken to the stuff pretty quickly.
But that was just the start.
Now that Gray was secured, resting, healing, it was time to go all mad scientist.
I've been storing chakra for the purposes of powering something chakra intensive in the future.
At least to the best of my abilities, I'm afraid it wasn't until last year I had the know-how to begin storing my chakra in seals meant for long-term storage.
Before my best option was, Tobirama's, barrier I originally copied, as those seals were already meant to interface with other seals.
It was just a matter of making them over-an-over, storing them away and hoping the next time I access them, most of the chakra was still present.
My newer options were far superior in every regard.
Now I just had to set up a means to transfer the chakra into the solution.
It should work.
"Good Morning," Gray's large eyes met mine as I arrived in my lab, the following day.
"So how was your first night in my humble home?"
"It'll do," he replied.
"I'll take that as a complement," I smiled.
Now to replace the solution with the batch saturated with my chakra.
After completing the seal work necessary, the chakra began to filter into the fluid.
"How long will this take?" Gray asked.
"Hmm," I began, thinking about my answer.
"That is an excellent question," I admitted to Gray.
"My chakra is different from others, so it's difficult to say just how well it'll hold out in an environment outside my own body," I admitted to him.
He didn't seem pleased with my uncertainty, reseeding into the depths of the solution, absorbing my chakra greedily.
Leaving a set of three clones to keep this going I left to check the progress of my sword.
I was eager to create a power sword.