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The link is also in the synopsis
A/N - Thank you, Daniel Newman, for becoming Azure Awakening Patrón!
<<<>>>
With Kaoru gone, Maki buried herself in training. As Suikage, she already had more than enough on her plate, but now that she was constantly worried about her brother, she was actively looking for distractions. Unfortunately, the endless paperwork every Kage had to deal with wasn't cutting it.
"Did she send a clone again?" Ao asked, rubbing his temples.
"Yes. And when I asked where her main body was, she just smiled," Akura practically barked.
'What's the difference between being a Kage and babysitting this spoiled, smug brat?' he thought, annoyed and fed up.
Akura had been overjoyed when he was removed from his temporary position as acting leader. He'd hoped to finally relax, get some peace of mind. But instead, he was stuck as the Takime clan's head, and Maki had dumped the role of her advisor on him too.
"These are good problems, Akura," Ao said with a grin, clearly in a good mood. He was more than happy that his biggest headache these days was sorting out trivial decisions, not fending off assassinations, rebellions, or shady politics.
But his cheer only made things worse.
Akura groaned, facepalmed, and turned away, deciding to just get back to work without responding.
<<<>>>
"Like this?" Akane asked, showing her footwork.
"Yes. Your stance is perfect," Maki nodded, then started stretching. "When are you leaving?"
"In a week. Mizuki will go first, then me. I wanted to go first, but she practically begged..." Akane chuckled and wiped the sweat off her face with a towel.
"Akane, don't answer if you don't want to," Maki said, pausing mid-stretch. Her gaze sharpened, studying Akane's face. "But weren't you and Ru... close in a different way before?"
"Maybe at first I liked him differently," Akane responded with a small shrug. "But I'm pretty sure Ru always saw me like a sister." She laughed, flashing a wide grin. "Now he's just that annoying brother I always wanted."
"What about Mizuki?" Maki had already activated the big sister mode, leaning into the conversation a little more than usual. "They clearly like each other, but they're both so bad at expressing it."
"Yeah, they're both weird, but I think they know. They just suck at showing it." Akane grinned. "And speaking of love lives, aren't you one to talk?"
She stepped closer and jabbed Maki in the stomach with her thumb.
"You and Shin-sensei are way worse than Ru and Mizuki. At least they're kids."
Maki smirked. Then, without warning, she tackled Akane, slammed her down, and pinned her with one arm like it was nothing.
"Now I get why Ru calls you gorilla hands!" Akane howled, bursting into uncontrollable laughter.
<<<>>>
The training ground Mizuki was heading to sat at the edge of the village, quiet and tucked away beneath tall, crooked trees that formed a natural curtain. It wasn't officially marked, but everyone in Takimura knew it as Ao and Shin's preferred spot. Isolated. Hidden. Peaceful.
'So he'll be meeting that creature today... Can't wait to hear more,' Mizuki thought, slipping the small notebook into her storage seal. Yko had made it for her and Kaoru - two matching ones, etched with thin seals. It allowed them to write messages back and forth, even at great distances.
But it wasn't good for a flowing conversation. Sometimes it took tens of minutes for words to appear, depending on the range, but it worked well enough. Just knowing he could reply eased her nerves.
She brushed some leaves out of her hair, then looked down at the summoning scroll Yko gave her.
"I hope Sensei doesn't ask me to wait again," she muttered, hopping lightly over the wooden fence that circled the training ground.
The moment her feet touched the ground, she heard sharp, rhythmic crackles of lightning cutting through the silence like distant thunder. A second later, she smelled a scent of smoke too.
'Sensei's still trying to develop a new technique,' Mizuki smiled, a spark of curiosity lighting up her face. 'Guess I'll watch a bit before interrupting. Don't want to break his focus.'
She leapt up, landing silently on a thick branch high enough to give her a clear view but not close enough to alert him.
Shin stood at the center of the clearing, surrounded by tall trees and four damaged wooden dummies. But it wasn't just the cracks or splinters that stood out. Parts of the dummies were blackened, scorched in a way that only fire could manage.
Mizuki narrowed her eyes, confused.
'So Sensei's second element is fire... Why has he never used it before?'
Before she could think further, Shin moved.
His right hand lit up with lightning. His left ignited with fire.
Then he closed his eyes, probably trying to focus on the feeling.
For a few moments, he stood completely still. Only the flicker of fire and the hum of lightning disturbed the quiet. He breathed slowly, steadily. Then, gradually, he brought his hands closer together, almost touching. But his eyes remained shut.
'Is Sensei trying to combine fire and lightning?' Mizuki wondered, watching closely, holding her breath without even realizing it.
Shin looked completely absorbed in the process. Otherwise, he'd have easily noticed Mizuki crouching on the branch of the tree.
Mizuki kept watching from the tree, eyes fixed on her sensei. His hands were trembling, the skin along his palms and fingers already showing signs of burns and blisters. Yet Shin didn't flinch. His eyes stayed closed, his breathing steady, as if the pain wasn't even real.
'He's hurting... but he's still pushing through,' she thought, clenching her fists involuntarily.
Fire and lightning weren't meant to mix. Their natures were too different. One was too explosive and wild, the other fast and piercing.
'He'll succeed.' She smiled faintly.
<<<>>>
Kaoru kept glancing around, still in awe at what he was seeing. Normally, it would've been pitch-black so deep into the sea, but the Suijingan didn't care about that. He could see not only the water flow but the sea creatures, swimming around him, as well.
But despite that, he couldn't relax completely. Something about diving this deep left him tense, like his body still hadn't accepted this was safe.
"Elder Ogashi… is this really okay?" Kaoru asked, checking his chakra levels again. He was holding up the water bubble just fine, but the pressure was starting to feel heavier.
"You're safe. As long as I'm around, nothing will touch you," Ogashi answered calmly. His massive body was glowing faintly now. Small cyan dots lit up along his scales like tiny lanterns.
Kaoru blinked. He hadn't noticed that before.
"But… why didn't we just use reverse summoning?" he asked after a pause. "If you've got a way to help me grow my chakra, why'd I have to wait until I was strong enough to survive this dive?"
The only reason he wasn't being crushed right now was because of the water bubble he was maintaining. The chakra needed for it was draining, but he could easily last for a few more hours.
"I'm surprised you even know about that technique," Ogashi said, revealing how low his opinion about humans truly was. "But this isn't like summoning a bird or a toad or one of those land beasts you humans like to sign contracts with. We're not the same." His voice was still deep and calm, but there was an undeniable trace of pride in it.
"You see, Kira," Ogashi continued, forgetting his name again. "There's a reason no deep-sea creature has ever signed a summoning contract with humans. None of you have the chakra to summon us. And the ones who do… they are already carrying monsters inside them. So, signing a contract with them is not beneficial for us."
Kaoru's shoulders sank a little.
'So what's the point then? If I can't summon them like normal creatures, what am I even doing here?'
"So I'll never be able to sign a contract with you?" he asked, suspecting there was some kind of catch.
"You won't. But that's not how it works with us," Ogashi said. "As a Suijingan bearer, you can form a different kind of connection with my kind. I'll explain more later… it's gonna take you years before you're ready anyway..."
'Years?!'
"What?!" Kaoru nearly shouted, but then lowered his voice when Ogashi turned to look at him. "You're saying I have to stay here for years?"
"No, of course not," the leviathan replied, his deep voice easing Kaoru's growing worry. "I asked… Marvin… to visit us every month, remember? But eventually, if you want to learn our technique, you'll have to stay here for at least a year of intense training. We'll talk about that later."
Ogashi, aside from constantly butchering names, had this infuriating tendency. He'd spark Kaoru's curiosity with something big, only to wave it off like it wasn't the right time to talk about it.
"Now then," Ogashi continued, shifting the topic again. "Don't you want to make a good first impression on the others? Tell me what you know about your eyes, Kora, and I'll teach you more about the Suijingan."
Kaoru sighed, already resigning himself to the fact that from now on he'd be Kira, Kora, Kura and basically whatever name happened to float through Ogashi's mind.
"I can control water… like shape, density, I can even create ice. I can extract water from almost anything, and I can see water particles," Kaoru muttered, scratching the back of his head as he tried to recall anything else worth mentioning.
"That's more than I expected," Ogashi replied. "I noticed that you can already see water particles, that's the first ability of Suijingan. Connection and absolute control over them is the second. Water extraction is the third. Liquifying yourself is the fourth. And the fifth one is chakra extraction. But you can't learn that yet, because your eyes are still sealed."
The way he said it, like it was no big deal, almost made Kaoru think it wasn't.
"What do you mean they're sealed?" he asked, brow furrowing in confusion.
"I'll explain everything," Ogashi said. One of his massive tentacles moved, swatting away another uninvited guest. But this time, he didn't stop at just slapping it. The thing was ripped clean in half, vanishing into the darkness.
Kaoru had tensed the first few times sea creatures showed up. Those giant things were easily the size of a ship, and yet they still looked like regular fish compared to Ogashi. But now he didn't even flinch. He got used to them and trusted Ogashi's ability to protect him.
"Let's start with the basics," Ogashi continued. "There can be many Suijingan bearers at the same time, but only one can unlock all five abilities. The rest will have one, maybe two, but none can ever have more than that."
His voice carried a hint of excitement. He was clearly enjoying teaching Kaoru.
"If a Suijingan bearer is born with water extraction, the mother usually dies at birth. Unless her chakra is vast enough to withstand the pull of the Suijingan."
Ogashi paused, observing Kaoru's reaction, no doubt trying to confirm whether Kaoru's mother had also died that way.
But Kaoru gave no reaction because he already knew. He'd figured it out long ago. After testing water extraction on various lifeforms, he realized just how few could survive it and what that meant for his mother.
"So if I ever get married… my wife won't survive childbirth?" Kaoru finally asked the question that had haunted him since discovering how his mother died.
"What do you mean if you get married? You're the Suijingan bearer, you must have many children!" For the first time since they met, Ogashi actually sounded emotional.
'Why does he care?' Kaoru's gaze narrowed slightly. Getting this information, the promise of training, all of it was amazing. But the more Ogashi said, the more questions piled up in Kaoru's head. 'Why me? What's his goal?'
Ogashi seemed to pick up on it, looking at Kaoru from the side as he continued, "If I train you, your mate won't die. There's a way to suppress another person's Suijingan… well, you can…"
He stopped midsentence as the two of them passed through a massive crevice, diving into a long, dark tunnel that ran deep into the cliffside.
When they reached the end, the sea opened into a massive cavern, glowing faintly with light that seemed to come from nowhere.
"Welcome home,"
**
A/N -
I might've dropped a bit too much lore in this chapter xD
So, what do you think the place Ogashi brought Kaoru looks like? Something ancient? Straight-up terrifying? I'm all ears ^^
And the big question: what's the real connection between the Suijingan and the Leviathans?
Character Notes:
Akura – Takimura's version of Shikaku – "Was supposed to retire. Now I'm stuck acting as a clan head and doing all the work Kage should do."
Shin – Lightning-Fire Fusion Addict – "My hands are melting but look at this synergy."
Elder Ogashi – Leviathan Exposition Machine – "Names are for land creatures. I call you 'Kira' now. Accept it."
Reminder - Break Tomorrow
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The link is also in the synopsis