The Beginning

Ikomiki sighed. It was training time again. Apparently she just wasn’t strong enough, and would have to apply herself even further than she had previously. She had just taught herself all the jutsu that Akihiro had shown her, all those precious exclusive techniques that the villages hoarded to themselves, but now there was more she had to learn. These weren’t anything special mind you- None of them were exclusives like before. These were all standard techniques that anyone could learn if they just applied themselves. That, and they had the correct element. With all five nature transformations Ikomiki was blessed and cursed in that regard. She could learn all sorts of techniques, basically having any element to use. It was a massive tactical advantage to be able to switch it up like that, but at the same time that quintupled the amount of work she had to do. It was a responsibility in the same way, where she now had to learn five times the amount of jutsu that anyone else did, or else she wouldn’t be taking full advantage of her skills. That already gave her an intense amount of work to do, but then there were other things to take into account. First of all that was only ninjutsu, of which represented only one third of the traditional shinobi skills. Taijutsu and Genjutsu were the others. Neither of which she was particularly talented in. Part of this was from simply not having enough time to focus into them, but also a part of it was that she could simply call a summon to do Taijutsu for her, and Genjutsu was inherently so hard to learn that few actually did. She knew deep inside she didn’t really have the potential to make good use of Genjutsu, which required intensely fine chakra control and a huge amount of intelligence to properly use. She had no hopes of being a Genjutsu expert, and no illusions about gaining any skills in that field. She had the chakra, sure, but she knew she was no brainiac. Akihiro could be left to be the Genjutsu master. Her summons would be able to take care of the Taijutsu… Of course, that resulted in her having to train more into her Rinnegan powers. Not only did she have all those excess supplementary abilities purely from being an Otsutsuki, but then there was also her path. The Animal Path had a lot of work that had to go into maintaining it and keeping her skills with it up to par. Maybe others wouldn’t expect it since it seemed almost instinctual, but there was more than went into it than just that. Using summons, or finding new ones, was a process that she couldn’t just immediately do whenever she wanted, or on the fly so easily. That wasn’t the only extra work she had either. Thanks to Akihiro’s help she had Wood Release now, and she had to put as much work into learning and mastering that bloodline in addition to everything else. Then the special powerful exclusive techniques that he had shown here… It seemed there was always work for Ikomiki, no matter what. There was never any escape. She always had more work to do. More techniques to train, more physical training, more mental training, more exercises, more chakra training, more elemental control training, more summon refining, more…

She sighed. She had located herself somewhere in the Konoha training grounds for this purpose, but really she didn’t want to do anything. In the first place she just wasn’t feeling it, but also training in public like this was somewhat risky. If she showed off her Rinnegan or anything along those lines it would be as good as giving away her identity. Showing off Wood Release too would just result in that aspect of her secret identity being given away. Neither were preferable. But at the same time any sensor who happened to come across her would be able to learn the same thing. The only way she could really hide, and really be safe was to hide herself away in a bunker where sensors couldn’t see or notice her and pray.

Or, she could train, get stronger, and not have to be afraid anymore. That was the problem she had been grappling with this entire time. She had spent so long afraid, but she was beginning to grow too big to be afraid anymore. As Akihiro put it, she wasn’t a little kitten anymore. She was strong, ferocious. He had even told her she had done a good job and patted her on the head. It had been a great moment for her, one that she would fondly remember for a long time. It was those sorts of things that she longed for.

For now she had more work to do. She had secluded herself alone in the training fields, a usual thing. Wood sprung from her palms, stretching out into the training field to create a small statue, one that would separate from her body once it was finished. The statue itself was rather Buddha like, a cute little thing about the size of a small dog. It was the replica of what would soon be a larger technique- The Kanzeon Lotus King. Soon. Soon she’d be able to make a huge one, one that could go toe to toe with Bijuu. Then she could help Akihiro with his little problem. All the other techniques that would come from Wood Release would help her as well, but this statue and the related techniques were her starting point.

[Training Kanzeon Lotus King, Top Transformed Buddha, All is Suffering]

A few techniques down, a ton more to go. She had practiced with that Kanzeon Lotus King for a while… It honestly wasn’t that impressive, but for some reason it was much harder to learn and train than she thought. Maybe in part because she was limited to basically only using it within the confines of the Konohagakure training ground while trying to not be too obvious. If word got out that she had the ability to use Wood Release techniques it would still raise questions. Even though it was years later. Even though she shouldn’t have to worry. Those insecurities gnawed at the back of her mind. Even if she was strong now, having other people find out about that all would still be troublesome. More trouble wasn’t necessarily something she was willing to deal with- Or rather, she’d prefer trouble on her own terms. Having other people bring that trouble to her would be annoying at best, and potentially deadly at worst.

Maybe it was all her own fault. She brought this anxiety onto herself. All the carnage she had done in the past… She remembered the Moonspire raid fondly. It was only a few days ago, so the memories were fresh in her mind… From the very beginning she had felt alive in ways that she had never before. Scaling the walls in secrecy, turning invisible as to not get caught. Then the massive amount of clones she had formed… She had made so many, an almost unnecessary amount of clones. Each had killed a good number of people, and then when they all exploded and returned the memories to her… All of that rushing back to her at once was almost too much for her to handle. Luckily the teleportation happening right after shook her out of it, otherwise she would have been weak at the knees and potentially have embarrassed herself in front of Akihiro and Hana. From the ground surrounding her several hundred Wood Clones had risen up. Five hundred to be exact. Given that she had done this in the open, basically just in the center of the small town that surrounded the Moonspire, it was with civilians surrounding her. Those five hundred clones of Ikomiki rose up around the civilians who were just minding their business, and the moment they were created they all rushed out, and....

She ended up lost in thought, reveling in those memories for a second. When she came to Ikomiki had a huge dopey grin on her face. It took her a moment to shake herself back to normal. Those thoughts would be brushed away. She didn’t have the time or energy to be fantasizing about this all.

She had just finished with that Kanzeon Lotus King, and now… Other techniques. Other wood techniques would have to be trained too. Now that her starting point was done she could move on to the next goal of hers. Of course, it had not just been the Kanzeon Lotus King that she had trained. Also the other two supplementary techniques that went with it. The ‘All is Suffering’ technique was also trained, a funny little thing that allowed her to spam all five of her elements out of the face of the Kanzeon Lotus King- Something that would surely be incredibly useful. Maybe she would be able to think up a more powerful version of the technique too? And then there was the Buddha thing, whatever it was- All it did was increase the speed and power of the weird statue. All three would be effective together. Well… Actually, all three of those techniques could be improved upon. Maybe in the future it would be possible. For now, she had to move onto… She already did Multiple Wood Clones, so the first would be that weird technique with a super long name… Hokage-Style Sixty-Year-Old Technique — Kakuan Entering Society with Bliss-Bringing Hands… She couldn’t imagine who named it. Was it really sixty years old? It just seemed unnecessary. Then Wood Release: Hotei Technique, and then Wood Release: Wood Dragon Technique. The first one, the one with the impossibly long name, was perfectly good by itself. Wouldn’t require any tuning up in the future. It was specifically made for putting Bijuu or Jinchuuriki to sleep, and only really needed physical contact to use. Very useful for the upcoming battle with Akihiro’s bijuu. The next, Hotei, was of a similar caliber. A super strong shield. Or… Was that the technique with the hands? Actually, she was pretty sure it was the one that made massive, enormous hands to restrain bijuu with. Also very strong, if situational. Then there was the Wood Dragon Technique. Very interesting and potentially useful. It was great for restraining targets, especially huge one like bijuu. She could already imagine it wrapping around the Two Tailed Cat and biting into it, draining chakra away from the beast… Of course, the amount of chakra it drained honestly wasn’t too much, but it made the technique easy to use and worth using. Since the dragon could fly it was super useful as a means of transportation as well. There were a few ways she could go about trying to beat that Bijuu, but… Did she really have the potential to do it? Bijuu were… Even if Akihiro had said she had gotten strong, was she really that strong? Could they really fight Bijuu together?

Ikomiki would have to find out.

[Training Wood Release: Wood Dragon Technique, Wood Release: Hotei Technique, Hokage-Style Sixty-Year-Old Technique — Kakuan Entering Society with Bliss-Bringing Hands]

The Rinnegan and Animal Path granted many things. Including the amazing ability to summon different sorts of animals, Ikomiki could also implant her Rinnegan in each of the beings she summoned. This was what she had done to these summons as she brought them out. Each were sporting a pair of the same Rinnegan she was, along with the chakra receivers that stuck out of them which allowed her to control them fully rather than allowing them to be simply wild animals with a mind of their own. The Rinnegan in their eyes though granted Ikomiki a shared field of vision. It was an incredibly useful, if lesser ability that the Rinengan granted.

It was because of this, her increased field of vision, that she could spot all sorts of things. Things behind her, things in front of her.The rhinoceros and the ox she had summoned would both stare, watching with their eyes the small movements and the noticing the squeaking of the rodents that scurried around in fear around the three of them. There would be no movements from the girl. She stayed still, unmoving and unflinching. Even now as she knew she could potentially be followed or watched at any moment. It was why these techniques of hers were so convenient, allowing her to watch from all directions. Even with her back turned. Any sudden movements would be inviting a strike. Although she had no proof anyone was watching her or following her, it was mostly just a bout of paranoia...

Another would be brought out now. A giant chameleon that similarly had two Rinnegan in its eye sockets. Its tail was a large snake, similarly having its own pair of Rinnegan. Its body is covered in scales and it has bandages wrapped around the centre of its back. It has two wings on its upper back which are porous and badly ripped. It has two oddly shaped horns coming from the back of its head. The right horn is snapped off and wrapped in bandages while its left horn has four black receivers stuck through it, signalling it as another one of Ikomiki’s summons and under her control. No movements would be necessary to bring it out, and it would be summoned a good distance away from her. Far beyond her behind, bursting out of the ground behind the woman in the tree and quickly assuming invisibility with its natural chameleon powers. It would be sent forward slowly, approaching with as much stealth as it could assume with its size.

Its tongue lashed out, its mouth shooting open as it got close enough. Wrapping around a tree it would stretch out, aiming to hold it tight with its sticky pink fleshy length. It was sufficient for binding, and after a bit of force the entire tree would be snapped in half by the tongue, ripping it off from the stump.

And then another would be brought out. Up in the air, exploding into the skies would be a massive bird. It was unusual, as not only did it demonstrate a prominent and jagged yellow-coloured beak, but it also featured three distinct legs as well as wings. It also has one giant chakra receiver sticking through the right side of its back and another one sticking through the left side of its neck, another clear signal of who controlled it. Rather than any action it would simply be allowed to circle the skies, scanning the area and serving as another precaution.

And then there would be another. Three now had just been popped out, in addition to the first two she just produced. A giant centipede summon that had a number of body piercings, most notable the one sticking straight through its head, and the Rinnegan, implying again that it was being controlled by the Animal Path. Its face and all of its feet were orange, and all writhed as it was summoned to Ikomiki’s back as another form of protection. Just a defensive response.

At this rate more and more popped out. One after another, surrounding her and flooding the arena now with summons. Her new power was getting the better of her, flooding her mind with this power and her body with the surging strength and chakra. Her limits were broken, and now she would flex. A giant panda would appear, resembling a regular panda bear with the exception that it has a number of large piercings all over its body, wears a black sash around its waist and possesses Rinnegan eyes. Its arms and legs are all black in colour while everything else is white. It also has black markings around its eyes. A crustacean would follow, having a number of chakra receivers, one being stuck through the top left side of its back and another in the lower right side of its back also. Around its mouth and all of its underside are colored white while the rest is a reddish colour. It has eight crab-like legs and two big crab-like pincers. It has many large spikes jutting out of its lower back area, most notably the very large spike in the center of its lower back.

Then the final one. The multi headed dog- Arguably one of the stronger summons she had. A large, multi-headed dog with wings, this summon had a number of body piercings and Rinnegan, implying it was being controlled by the Animal Path. Its fur was all brown-coloured and it had a giant black receiver stuck through its head. It also had black colouring around its mouth along with razor sharp teeth and fangs. It couldn’t fly (probably?) but it was still incredibly useful. Of course, it was something of a last resort in a casual situation. Only if it was serious would she summon such a scary looking dog and embody it, putting it under her control and basically living inside it. It made her feel sort of dirty in a way that the others didn’t. They were all the same, all corpses… Although this one was sort of a weird chimera, but that didn’t make anything really different. She honestly didn’t even really know if they were real animals or not, or just constructs created by the Animal Path. Maybe it didn’t really matter. Who knew.

[Training Giant Snake Tailed Chameleon, Giant Multiheaded Dog, and Giant Drill Beaked Bird]
[Exit]