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Shino's POV (Eastern Forest of Irminsul - Terra)
"Let us aid our new allies, Sakura," Shino spoke as the two raced off after Number 17.
The cave was impressive but hastily constructed. At several points, the two had to stoop over and even crawl to make it through, but eventually, they arrived at the surface. When they did, they saw the attacker.
The creature was near the main entrance of the cave and had already wracked a bloody toll. Various torn-about and partially consumed carcasses of ants lay around the entrance. Two smaller and two more giant ants fought in tandem to push the creature back, but it was clear the beast before them was too much.
The cave entrance was massive and usually writhing with layers of ants of various sizes. It had been somewhat hidden in the middle of a thick patch of trees. But a battle had knocked most away. But now it had partially collapsed, burying half of it. The ants normally infesting it were now scarce. It seemed most had retreated within, deciding it safer to fight within their own turf. The beast nearby was nothing short of monstrous. It looked almost human-like in shape but was easily eight feet tall. It bulged with muscles further enlarged by a thick, seamless, hard substance coating its entire body. It had two large orange glowing compound eyes and massive mandibles around its mouth. It seemed to hiss as it marched closer to the entrance.
The remaining defenders reacted; the two smaller ants pointed their behinds at the beast and sprayed something that sizzled through the air. The blast of liquid nailed the beast. However, the burning liquid fell off its armor onto the ground below. The two larger ones surged forward with shocking speed. Their mandibles were primed to tear the threat apart. However, it merely did an odd mix of a hiss and laugh; within an instant, an unseen tail lashed out and stabbed into the skull of one ant, killing it an instant and stopping it in its tracks. The second was caught by its hands and, with a lurch, lifted into the air. The beast spun before it slammed the second into the first in a burst of gore and limbs. It seemed to relish its victory before the two tiny ants appeared and latched onto a leg each. They seemed to swell before both burst into flames, covering the man in an explosion.
Shino and Sakura positioned themselves before the entrance as they steeled their nerves.
They were proven right to be cautious as the beast marched from the flames, seemingly unharmed.
"We play this safe, look for openings, and stall until the others arrive," Shino ordered as the two prepared for more combat.
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Muri's POV (Northern Mountains of Irminsul - Terra)
Muri slept incredibly poorly through the night. The tanuki supposed it had known the horrors of combat and war; his training was supposed to prepare him for such. But feeling the boiling fury, the desperate agony, the blooming fear of Spleen Feaster had stayed with him. The cold indifference of Sasuke merely increased the bad vibes that poured through Muri's body. The tremors of negative emotions affected certain members of the Okama Clan. Though as they grew in expertise, they would grow resistant to it, Muri had yet to do so himself.
In fact, out of all of them, Okama Muri seemed especially vulnerable to waves of negative emotions. For the young tanuki, the feelings caused physical fatigue, migraines, and even fainting fits. So with that, Muri had spent the night writhing in pain. This led to Muri being awake in the early dawn of the day. Sasuke had already been awake and had fetched them some fruit for the morning. The Uchiha explained he had memorized the look of the berries last night and, upon waking up, fetched them a fair bit for extra food. Such made Muri feel guilty, but the dark glimpse of the Uchiha had seen had left him fully unnerved.
Muri had never liked humans in his short life. Unlike most animals, humans tended to have complex emotions, most shockingly negative. Thus, being around any one human for an extended period of time was draining for him—at least until the tanuki met Naruto.
When Muri first heard of the Okama Clan gaining a new summoner for the first time in a while, he was shocked. With what most humans projected and their stern values regarding character, the idea of any human meeting seemed laughable. But upon meeting the blonde for their first training exercise, it became clear to Muri why. Naruto had darkness like all humans; he had resentment, envy, and wrath, yet he felt different. It was as if the blonde ignored his inner darkness as if he refused to let it surface.
In fact, the blonde held a light within him that dwarfed most beings Muri had met. And he wasn't an arrogant jerk! If only all humans were like him, maybe his family wouldn't have spent all these years hiding. Even now, the thought of the blonde brought him comfort. Muri wished to have him here; his new friend had a way of making him confident.
With that in mind, Muri had been reaching out to Naruto since he and Sasuke had arrived in the north. The tanuki had been shocked to discover, however, that he could not sense the blonde. It was odd, considering he normally could track members of the Okama Clan throughout Terra. But now there seemed to be some sort of interference, a static that made narrowing down the blonde difficult. Muri had not given up, however.
And with Muri's lack of sleep, the tanuki spent the night trying to find his summoner. His efforts had not been in vain, though! Muri had managed to feel a rough estimation of where the blonde was. He could even think that he was near another female human. Somewhere in more southward than them. If only he could lower the amount of interference… Feeling stumped and even more despondent as they ate. Muri informed Sasuke of his recent findings.
"Hmm, so you can somewhat tell where Naruto is, but there is some sort of interference with your detection; originally, I hadn't intended to seek Uzumaki out. He is strong enough to care for himself… but a female could be Yuno…" Sasuke reasoned. Muri felt dread but wasn't surprised by such. Sasuke seemed like the type not to leave loose ends. With them not thoroughly ensuring the peaks did not hold the others, he was unlikely to feel comfortable going.
"Yes, but wouldn't we have heard something previously if one of the others were here? The bears had heard word of our scraps with the weasels. While you're likely stronger than most others, surely they would not have been overwhelmed without a fight." Muri reasoned. "But it seems Naruto had already found one of them; it would be reasonable to assume he has a lead that we don't!"
"A reasonable point…" Sasuke said to himself. "So you're suffering from interference as if there is some sort of "static" mixing up your signal… Describe this process to me a bit."
"Well, using our natural connection to Terra and the residual chakra around us, we can send out a wave of emotionally charged chakra. Once we interact with someone we connect to, this chakra reacts in a way I can sense. This gives me a nearly precise location of that being." Muri explained.
"It doesn't sound dissimilar to radio waves… So does height increase its range?" Sasuke asked.
"Um, well… Well, the thought has never occurred to me. I am kinda new to this all after all."
"Tsk." Sasuke critiqued as he gently lifted Muri and placed him on his left shoulder. "Let's find out…" Sasuke then suddenly leaped straight up into the air; he kicked off the throne of the bears and quickly reached the top of the large ice walls. Sasuke seemed to scan the horizon for a second once they landed before nodding to himself and jumping off onto the snow. Racing through it with pure speed, the two quickly reached the top. "Try it here."
Muri did as Sasuke asked. Closing his eyes and sending out his emotional wave with some effort. It took a few seconds to reach Irminsul and longer for Muri to ignore some of the responses. But soon… there! He felt much better than before; he could feel where he was! "The Southern Swamps of Irminsul! He's there!"
"So you found him… but that is problematic. Naruto is pretty far out; there's no telling how far we are from him. That also assumes that we won't be interrupted on our journey…" Sasuke mused.
"I can fix that! I can transform into a large bird. Flying us there will save us tons of time!" Muri was assured with a rush of inspiration; the idea of reuniting with his summoner soothed him. "I'll be exhausted after, but with the two of you together, nothing could stand in our way!"
"I suppose so," Sasuke concluded. "Let's leave then, I feel no love for these bears…"