EPISODE 5; TERRA THE DRAGON SAGE
Gaiden wasted no time in writing a letter to Terra instructing him to come visit the New Fiery Ryu urgently. He also informed Terra that he could not disclose the reason for the invitation just yet however it was urgent that Terra came as soon as possible. Gaiden stamped the letter with the Royal Seal Of The New Fiery Ryu and sent it via Falcon.
TWO DAYS LATER…IN THE EARTH RYU…
Terra was busily honing his Taijutsu (Hand to hand Combat Techniques) when the Messenger Falcon landed before him bearing Gaiden's letter in its beak. Terra opened the letter and read it.
"It's from Gaiden. Apparently it's urgent. Gaiden rarely takes anything seriously. I hope this is not another one of his pranks. Whatever the reason, I can't ignore this. We'll soon find out how urgent this letter actually is. I'll need my Flute as Dragon Sage and my Staff" Terra said as he headed to his home in the Earth Ryu.
He left a note for his parents, Rokkan and Tanya informing them that he needed to visit the New Fiery Ryu for personal reasons. Then he grabbed his Flute and Staff. Terra played his Flute and Terranica, the Dragon Saint Of The Earth Ryu appeared.
"Terranica, to the New Fiery Ryu" Terra instructed.
Terra was a prodigy in Earth Element Jutsu and as such could manipulate any Element that came from the Earth. He could also influence Plant Growth by manipulating the Earth Element. In addition, he was a prodigy in Taijutsu (Hand To Hand Combat Techniques), Kenjutsu (Swordsmanship Techniques) but preferred to use a Staff in Combat. His Staff was not an ordinary Staff but like his mother Tanya's carried many Concealed Weapons which Terra could either wield in Combat or utilize as Projectiles. In addition to that, he was a Dragon Sage imbued with Ancient Wisdom and as such could summon Divine Beasts to aid him in battle, could manipulate Wild Beasts in Combat and had Mastery over many forms of Martial Arts learnt from observing these Wild Beasts. He is what you would call in Meta Terms, an overpowered cheat character. Regardless of his great abilities however, Terra wasn't conceited and had mastery over his emotions. He was very discerning and had the ability to remain calm even in the most dire circumstances. He was also a very shrewd fellow knowing how to identify and exploit the vulnerabilities of his opponents and it was these combination of Traits that made him a very fearful and formidable opponent.
A DAY LATER…
Terra arrived in the New Fiery Ryu. He headed straight to the Castle where he was informed that Gaiden was training in the Courtyard. Terra was led to the Courtyard.
"I have come just as you requested Gaiden. I hope this is not another prank" Terra said.
"No, it's not…it's very serious and it has something to do with Tristran" Gaiden said seriously.
"Say no more. A Clash Of Fists and Elements in Battle will tell me everything you intend to say" Terra said.
"I get it" Gaiden said.
"However, we will not be fighting here in the Courtyard. We'll be fighting in the Forest" Terra said.
"So basically you're saying we should take the battle to the Forest where you have an unfair advantage, can manipulate the Trees and Animals as well as the Earth, a place that hinders sight, complicates movement and amplifies your own Extrasensory Techniques and that's not even the gist of it…" Gaiden said with a smirk.
"Congrats Gaiden, you passed my first test. If you were able to see through that then this might not be a joke after all but we'll still be fighting in the Forest. If you're really serious about this…follow me" Terra said and scaled the Wall Of The Castle with Chakra Control.
Gaiden followed till they eventually found themselves in the Forest.
"It's about time we began" Terra said as he took his battle stance.
Gaiden did the same.
Gaiden charged in first. Terra stood his ground and watched as Gaiden approached with amazing speed. A moment before Gaiden's attack hit, Terra sidestepped and deflected Gaiden's punch with a palm strike. The force of Gaiden's charge carried him past Terra. Terra used that opportunity to initiate a Half-Circle Sidestep also known as the Arc Step moving himself into a blindspot behind Gaiden created by the force of Gaiden's charge.
"Ordinarily, a charge attack creates a blindspot once an opponent deflects the charge and sidesteps into the opponent's rear with a Half Circle/Arc Sidestep. Another flaw in this method of attack is that it forces the opponent's centre of gravity in the direction of his charge increasing the time it takes to recover from the attack" Terra thought as he focused energy into his feet and channeled the force into his arms.
"A double palm-strike to Gaiden's back should throw him off balance" Terra thought just as he struck Gaiden with both palms.
Gaiden lost balance and was propelled forward however just as Gaiden was about to fall to the ground, he focused power into his arms and used the momentum of Terra's palm strike to somersault by placing both arms on the ground. This force was channeled into his feet. Terra who had charged in to deliver his palm strike was now in danger of receiving a double heel kick to the chin.
"Very sly Gaiden, the typical Feline Balance Recovery Technique" Terra thought and leapt into the air performing a reverse somersault in the process and thus evading Gaiden's kicks just as Gaiden aligned his body in reverse and regained his balance. Both boys landed on their feet and faced each other.
"Hmm, I'm vaguely impressed" Terra said nonchalantly. "At least I can tell you've not been slacking off in your Taijutsu training. Let's see how well you fare in Ninjutsu" Terra said as he formed Seals.
"SEAL OF THE SQUIRREL! SEAL OF THE KILLER WHALE!" Terra called as he threw his Staff into the Air.
"RYUUGAN!" Gaiden called in response as his Dragon Sight activated.
Terra leapt into the air and grabbed his Staff. He swung it towards Gaiden firing sharp kunai in the process. The Kunai headed towards Gaiden.
Gaiden observed the directions Terra was swinging his Staff in.
"There's no point in needlessly wasting energy" Gaiden thought as his breathing slowed down.
He felt a boost in his confidence as his power of intuition kicked in.
"The direction of the Kunai can only be manipulated before their release. Once released, their path is linear. All I need to do is observe the direction Terra's Staff is swung in right before the release of the Kunai and note the speed of the kunai. A sidestep just before the release of the Kunai should be enough to evade them with maximum speed and minimal movement" Gaiden thought just as he focused on his agility.
He began to evade Terra's Kunai with impressive speed while minimizing wasted energy through minimal motion.
"Impressive Gaiden…DUAL STAFF WIELDING MODE!" Terra called as his Staff split in two.
Terra hurled one of the Staffs towards the Earth while manipulating the other Staff into continuously firing kunai from the Air.
"POLAR ELEMENT! AERIAL KUNAI BARRAGE PLUS GAEIAN TIDAL WAVE JUTSU!" Terra called as the Staff he had hurled towards the Earth released tremendous vibrations into the Earth that caused a massive Earthquake.
The Quake disrupted Gaiden's balance while the Staff in the Air continuously released Kunai.
"I see, he's trying to throw me off balance by disrupting my footing. Without firm ground beneath my feet, it will be difficult to evade the kunai" Gaiden thought. "In that case…FIRE ELEMENT! FIRE ROCKET!" Gaiden called as he released intense flames from his hands thus causing the air around him to rapidly expand.
This generated a solid force of propulsion pushing him into the air. He evaded Terrra's Aerial Attacks while negating Terra's Ground Attack.
Terra returned the Staff with which he was performing the Aerial Attacks to the Strap on his back and removed his Flute. He placed his Flute to his lips.
Gaiden observed Terra closely without dropping his guard.
"Terra's Staff might be considered one of the most dangerous weapons in his Arsenal but his Flute is actually much worse. By playing specific Tunes, he can imbue himself and his allies with all manner of Stat Buffs and can also inflict all sorts of debilitating status effects upon his adversaries. He can also summon Divine Beasts and manipulate Wild Beasts" Gaiden noted.
"ROAR OF THE LION!" Terra called as he played his Flute.
A loud roar like that of the Roar Of A Lion pierced the Air.
"Roar of the Lion, one of Terra's Techniques. It has two primary applications. The First Application is to release a Roar so intense that any adversaries weaker than Terra are intimidated and lose their fighting spirit. It's second application is to generate a Wave that strikes Terra's enemies and sends feedback of all their abilities to Terra" Gaiden thought to himself.
"ROAR OF THE LION in itself isn't so much of an Offensive Technique as it is an intimidation plus reconnaissance technique. It's the Tunes Terra plays after utilizing this Technique that one needs to be particularly wary of" Gaiden observed as Terra placed the Flute to his lips once more.
"SONG OF THE LEECH!" Terra called.
"OH NO!! I'VE GOT TO ACT QUICKLY!" Gaiden thought in alarm and began to release many minute explosions into the surrounding air around him.
The sound of the explosions muffled the Tune Terra was playing.
"Song Of The Leech. A Terrifying melody that saps both physical and elemental abilities of Terra's adversaries transferring all that energy to Terra. The more powerful an opponent is, the greater its effect. Basically, with this tune, Terra can drain his opponent's energy while amplifying his own. Most of the effects of Terra's tunes can be nullified by producing greater sound in order to muffle his Tunes or by blocking your own hearing but this only applies to tunes that can either inflict Stat Buffs or Debuffs. Those however aren't the only sort of Tunes Terra has in his Arsenal. There are other Tunes…" Gaiden thought as he continued to generate countless minute explosions.
"MODE SHIFT FROM BEAST TO ELEMENTAL!" Terra called as Elements began to surround his Flute.
"RHYTHM OF THUNDER!" Terra called as Dark Clouds quickly spread across the Sky.
"TERRA'S FLUTE; MODE ELEMENTAL. Terra's Elemental Tunes cannot simply be negated by generating even greater sound. His Elemental Tunes have the ability to evoke massive Elemental Alterations to the Terrain through Soundwaves themselves and since the entire Planet is surrounded by Electromagnetic Waves and Energy can transform once certain conditions are met, Terra can basically control climate via the application of Soundwaves. You could say, he has a direct hack to the Planet's Nervous System…a cheat character indeed" Gaiden thought with a wry laugh as he observed the Sky.
Through his Ryuugan, he noticed a rapid rise in the Temperature Of The Surrounding Air and observed as this created variations between Hot and Cold Air.
"CRYSTAL ELEMENT! CRYSTAL LABYRINTH LIGHTNING REDIRECTION JUTSU!" Gaiden called as minute Crystals materialized all around him creating a Chain-Link that flowed all around him but never flowed in his direction.
Whenever the Lightning generated by Terra's Technique attempted to strike Gaiden, the Crystals surrounding him would deflect their energy.
Terra smiled and placed his Flute into his clothes.
"You've got my attention. So tell me…what's really going on?" Terra asked.
"It goes something like this" Gaiden said and told Terra everything the Eternal Brothers had told him.
"I see" Terra seemed to reflect deeply on his words.
"And that's why we've got to enlist Neriah and Sahara's help as well" Gaiden explained.
"Neriah's most likely not going to take you seriously without a convincing proof of strength. Sahara might be the easier one to convince. Well, we have no time to waste. We must head to the Wind Ryu immediately" Terra said and played his Flute.
Terranica appeared. Terra and Gaiden mounted Terranica.
"Hang tight, here we go!" Terra called as Terranica flew as quickly as he could towards the Wind Ryu.