She soon changed her clothes, grabbed her things and went out. Nothing of note happened when she exited the village. Using the mark Uehara left on her as a guide, she managed to find him about five-kilometres away west from the border of the town.
He was already in his dragon form and was curled up on a relatively thick branch. He was already thirty-centimetres long with his tail accounting for half the length. He had two small horns on his head as well as several smaller horns running along his spine all the way to the tip of his tail. His wings had slightly grown as well, reaching a span of forty-centimetres when spread out. They aren't fully capable of free-flight on their own but when chakra is run through them, they can support Uehara's body weight with ease.
Seeing how his dark skin contrasted well with the brown colour of the branches and the green leaves surrounding him, Chizuki had an urge to hug him but she held herself back. She couldn't forget how Sakura had her arms broken in an instant when she abruptly picked him up.
"Let's sit here for a while. I can sense a great number of humans a few dozen kilometres from us."
"Yes master."
As they relaxed under the morning sun, Chizuki began to ask some questions that have always confused her.
"Master. Do you also have sage mode?"
He didn't open his eyes as he answered.
"I am a being of chakra. I can be considered to be in a state of sage mode constantly. But…"
He didn't finish. Instead, he got up and stretched in a cat-like manner. Then he jumped down. In the process of jumping down, a black mist covered him and when he landed, he was in his humanoid form.
As he walked towards Chizuki, nature chakra suddenly circulated much faster in his body. Soon, his eyes turned red like normal while black tear-marks extended from his eyes all the way to his jawline. Two short horns emerged from his hand while canines grew in his mouth.
When he reached her, he held her cheek. His voice came lower than usual.
"This could be considered my enhanced sage transformation. If my previous state was of rest, then this is my state for battle."
He reverted back to normal. Chizuki was astounded because she felt the huge amount of power he had through his hand. It severely trumped her own power in her elemental sage transformation.
She gulped.
"Then master? What about your elemental sage mode?"
Uehara yawned a bit before he talked.
"Mine is of the earth attribute. I'm still in the process of learning water sage mode as well."
Chizuki's eyes shot open.
"You can learn more than one type of sage transformation?"
He gave her a scrutinising look before flicking her forehead.
"Stop limiting your thoughts. And yes, you can learn different types of sage transformations and then combine them to form new elements. For example. I'm learning the water sage transformation so that I can use it in tandem with my earth sage transformation to create the wood element. After that, I'll learn wind and then fire."
Chizuki listened on with wonder.
[Master already has everything planned out.]
She smiled.
"I'm sure you'll succeed master."
He looked at her for a while. After seeing that her praise was genuine, he also gave off a smile.
"I will. Once I learn all four elements, I'll finally be able to learn the origin sage transformation."
His eyes glowed yellow.
"By then, I'll even be able to walk backwards on the battlefield."
…
After Chizuki was satisfied with her questions, Uehara reverted back into his dragon form and went to sleep. Time went by and soon it was night. Uehara opened his eyes and stretched his body while shaking off the dead leaves that landed on his body.
"Let's go. That annoying human army is now gone."
Chizuki stood up from the boulder she was sitting on.
"Yes master."
Uehara landed on top of her head and curled himself up.
"Take your time. Some of their scouts are still straggling behind."
"Yes master."
Chizuki already understood. The two of them, especially Chizuki, would no doubt bring trouble to themselves, Uehara because of his lack of patience and Chizuki because of her special identity. Although they could force their way through, attention would be brought onto them and Uehara had made it clear that until he undergoes his first evolution after opening all eight paths and unlocking the 1st Gate, he won't cause unnecessary mass slaughters.
Under the moonlight, they began walking towards the capital of Heiankyo. Along the way, no animals caused trouble for them because their instincts warned them not to provoke them. As such, even when Chizuki walked upon certain areas where highly territorial beasts lived, they didn't cause trouble.
Uehara had already fallen asleep on top of Chizuki's head. With how soft her hair was and how gentle the night breeze was, he had already fallen into a comfortable sleep. As such, a little bit of chakra that he always restrained seeped out and was absorbed by Chizuki, strengthening her even further.
As she walked, she chose to deviate slightly off course so that she could rest up on a small lake twenty kilometres from the capital. Finding a fallen tree trunk, she sat down and gently grabbed Uehara from her head and placed him on her lap.
With how attuned Uehara was to her presence, he would never be roused as long as he was within two metres of her and no obstacle seperating them in between. Once an obstacle is placed or Chizuki leaves the range, he'll feel her scent weaken and so begin to awaken to a semi-asleep state.
Right now, he was still deep asleep. Although his body could feel Chizuki caressing him, it didn't send any alerts since it's accustomed to her. Chizuki ran her hands through the smooth scaleless skin of Uehara, gently rubbing and scratching him all over.
She hummed a gentle tune in sync with the wind. If anyone were to see her now, they could only describe her as an ethereal beauty unmatched below the heavens.
"You're always working so hard master. Sometimes it makes me worry as to when you'll ever get a proper rest."
She continued caressing him while her thumb lingered on his horn.
"Although you act so mature master, you're still very young. I don't know what threats you're planning to go up against and I can't tell you to rest. So I can only support you to the best of my abilities as your attendant."
Looking at how peaceful he was sleeping, she chuckled lightly.
"I can already imagine the face you'd make if I told you to take a week off from training. You'd probably make my morning training sessions hell."
As she lightly scratched the area between the horn on his head, she was also absorbing the nature energy in the air. Slowly, her hair began turning blue while her eyes became pupil-less. Her skin became more pale than before, just a tone away from snow-white in colour.
She looked at Uehara, her eyes swarming with multitudes of complex emotions.
"Look master."
The weather within the vicinity began to snow.
"This is the power you gave me."
She ran her hand through his body, gently going over the spikes on his back.
"Did you know master? On that night that you saved me, I had almost chosen to kill myself in my room?"
The winds tussled, as if shocked by the revelation.
"All I needed to do was slit my wrists and it would all be over. But I didn't."
She stopped caressing him and gazed gently at his sleeping figure.
"If I didn't feel the need to leave the house and you didn't feel the need for clothes, perhaps I would've never met you."
She leaned closer.
"Maybe it was fate that we met in that forest right?"
The breeze slowly caressed the strands of her hair, causing them to flutter about. The collars of her cloak were pushed back a bit, revealing the triskele symbol on her chest. She held her hand to the symbol.
"I'm very fortunate to have met you master and I'm also very fortunate that you took the time to help me gain strength."
She shook her head.
"Although you've never told me, I'm well aware that I've held you back immensely master. If I wasn't here, I'm sure you would've become much stronger than you currently are. The goals that you wish to fulfill could've been completed much earlier."
Tears began to cloud her eyes.
"But you chose the time to nurture me."
She wiped them, causing a few to splash on the greenery next to them, causing the grass there to instantly become revitalised.
"So I'm very thankful master. You have done so much for me that I have no hope of repaying you in this life."
She looked up into the sky, a look of determination in her eyes.
"I ask the earth and the heavens to be my witness today. I, Minamoto Chizuki, loyal attendant of my master, Aoki Uehara, swear to always be by his side for all time to come. Even if I were to die, I wish to reincarnate wherever his presence shall be and always remain by his side so that I may hope to repay this insurmountable debt that I owe to this man who has changed my life."