Ugh…
Ritsu slowly opens his eyes. He feels a slight soreness in his body as he wakes up.
"You are awake!"
Ishiko gently strokes his forehead.
"Mom, how long did I sleep?" He asks with worry.
"You weren't out for long, only two hours." Ishiko smiles.
"You did a great job in your battle. Mom is proud of you!" Ishiko pats his head.
"Really?" He stares at her with doubt.
"I was struggling against that scorpion the entire time and barely dealt with it after exhausting all my means." He speaks in a gloomy voice.
Pfft…
Ishiko chuckles at his sullen expression and pinches his cheek.
"Why don't you go outside and hear what your Uncle Yugo and others have to say?" She opens the door of the carriage.
"They are probably making fun of me!" Ritsu peeks outside from the open door to hear their conversation.
"Haha… I didn't expect Little Ritsu to be so brave and amazing!" Baru speaks in a prideful tone.
"Haha… of course, he is my student. He ought to be the best!" Yugo has a prideful expression on his face.
The other team members roll their eyes.
"Little Ritsu is no ordinary kid. He is the pride and prodigy of our Senju clan. Soon, he will surpass all of us," Kazetsu adds.
"Haha… that's true!" Another member adds.
The group banter as they slowly approach the end of their desert journey.
Listening to their conversation, a grin appears on Ritsu's face.
'Looks like I am working in the right direction.'
Everyone likes being praised for their effort and he was no different.
'Next, I have to master the Multi-Shadow clone jutsu and I can start the next phases of my training.' He thinks to himself.
Mastering the multi-shadow clone technique will give wings to his already fast progress. He has already absorbed the combat knowledge he gained from his battle with scorpion from all his clones. After analyzing it from the perspective of his different clones, he can already see the flaws in his movements, techniques, and tactics. A single battle has given him the combat experience worth dozens of battles.
'No wonder Naruto transformed from a knucklehead dunce to a battle harden shinobi within just a few years.'
Now, he couldn't imagine the learning possibility with hundreds of shadow clones.
'I better pick my pace and master this advanced version.'
He has enough chakra to easily support hundreds of thousands of shadow clones and, with his training, his chakra reserve will only increase in the future. He just has to drain his chakra vessel every day to expand its size, and shadow clones are the best possible method to do so. The only negative side effect is a slight headache, but that's manageable.
After making up his mind, he joins the conversation with Yugo's group and they shower him with praise and advice.
Ritsu keenly listens to their advice and makes a mental note of it.
'Should I start Rasengan training?' Ritsu ponders.
Rasengan is an A-rank technique and is easily one of the most powerful techniques. Its learning process is a secret but Ritsu already knows the process, having learned it step by step from the anime. Rasengan doesn't need any hand seals and can be used with only one hand.
'If I used the Rasengan during that battle, then that scorpion would have died in a single hit.' Ritsu is absolutely confident of Rasengan's power.
Rasengan has a very high penetrating power, capable of ignoring strong outer defense and injuring the inner body. The scorpion's armored exoskeleton would be useless against the Rasengan.
'But how can I justify learning this technique without any guidance?' Ritsu wonders.
'Currently, there are only two living shinobis, Jiraiya and Kakashi, who know this technique. And it's easy to inquire about me from them.' After some thought, Ritsu still decides to learn the technique.
'It will be my trump card and I won't use this technique unless absolutely necessary.' He makes up his mind.
'As for the training method, I can perfectly disguise it and even hide my shadow clones to secretly practice this technique. Now, all I need are some water balloons and rubber balls. I have enough allowance to buy them from the next city.' His lips curl in his smile at the thought of mastering such a powerful technique.
Yugo and his teammates notice Ritsu's smile and find it a bit funny and cute. They attribute it to their praise for him. After all, which kid won't be happy after being praised by his elders? And Ritsu deserved their praise.
Hehe…
With a sheepish smile, Ritsu turned around to enter the carriage.
Rumble… Rumble… Rumble…
Suddenly, the ground beneath their feet trembled violently. The horse neighs in fear and freeze in a place. The carriages shake violently and some carriage almost topple if not for the timely intervention of the Yugo's group.
"It's the sandworms." The group's expression turns ugly.
Kazetsu closes his eyes to assess the situation and his expression turns grim.
"There is an entire flock of them with the leading sandworm of at least one fifty meters' length."
"WHAT?!" The faces of the merchants and Princess Natsumi's guard turn pale in horror.
"What's going on? The sandworms aren't such a restless creature.?
The sandworms would usually stay quiet, deep within their burrows. Some won't even move for decades. They don't need to eat much as their bodies passively absorb nutrients from the earth. Only when the nutrients of the ground are exhausted would they move to a new spot. But now an entire flock of them is moving aggressively.
RUMBLE… RUMBLE…
The trembling intensifies and shockwaves spread through the nearby sand dunes.
Suddenly, Ishiko's expression changes.
"Everyone, get away from the carriage!" She warns quickly.
RUMBLE… BOOM…
Suddenly, a massive cylindrical head, layered with thick, ridged armor plates, erupts from the ground. The massive behemoth opens its mouth and swallows an entire carriage, including the horses.
"Oh no!" The group's face turns pale with horror as it turns towards them.
Gulp…
Everyone swallows their saliva in fear at the sight of the enormous worm.
Just the small portion protruding from the ground stretches to a length of almost twenty meters and a width of tens of meters. Its massive body is segmented, each part covered in a layer of thick, ridged plates that shift like rows of plated armor. These plates are hardened to the extreme to endure the harsh scorching heat and abrasive minerals present underground. The plates are a pale, sandy color, speckled with several obscure patterns, allowing the ginormous monster to blend seamlessly into the desert environment.
GREEE…
The colossal sandworm opens its monstrous head to release a powerful roar. Its giant head is framed by a circular, gaping maw, filled with rows upon rows of razor-sharp teeth that spiral inward into the dark, abyssal pit of its seemingly infinite body. Around its maws are large, sensory whiskers, thick and sensitive to vibrations.
Neigh… Neigh…
Suddenly, the timid horse neighs with fear and dashes away into the desert, abandoning the carriages.
"Everyone, run!"
A sense of ominous foreboding wells up within everyone's heart.
Whoosh… Whoosh…
Ishiko flickers beside Princess Natsumi and picks her up. Yugo and his teammates also grab the merchants and guards to run away. They even make shadow clones to ensure everyone is secured.
GRAWR…
The sandworm releases another piercing scream. It opens its massive mouth, channeling a huge amount of lightning chakra into it.
Bzzt… Crackle…
Bolts of yellow lightning flicker around its mouth as it charges up a thick, concentrated lightning bolt.
"Damn it!"
The group grits their teeth and increases their speed to the extreme. Ritsu infuses chakra into his feet and increases his speed by another notch.
Rumble… Rumble…
The ground trembles, and several massive circular pits begin to crack open in the ground.
"KAZAAANNN!"
Suddenly, a massive pit filled with razor-sharp teeth opens beneath one of their teammates.
CHOMP…
A massive head erupts from the ground and swallows a Senju clan member alongside two other merchants.
"Uncle Kazan!"
Ritsu's eyes widen in shock and his legs freeze in fear.
"Ritsu!"
Yugo notices Ritsu's abnormality.
Whoosh…
He swiftly scoops him in his arm and rushes forward.
Rumble… Rumble…
Suddenly, another large sandworm head erupts from the ground at Ritsu's previous position.
"WATCH OUT!"
Kazetsu warns, and everyone immediately lunges forward and lies down on the ground.
BZZT… CRACKLE… BOOM…
A powerful, dense beam of yellow lightning shoots over their head and strikes the ground in front of them. The lightning bolts release a bright explosion that almost blinds anyone staring directly at it.
Bzzt…
The lightning beam discharges in front of the group for a few seconds before cutting off. The blinding light dies down to reveal a massive pit in a sand dune. The sand in the middle of the crater emits a bright flash of light, producing popping sounds and smoke. A bright red liquid drips in the center.
On the edges of this plasma-filled center lie bits and chunks of fulgurites, a form of fused glass tubes. And around the extreme edge of the crater lies ionized sand particles emitting intense heat and white smoke.
The group swiftly gets up and runs around the crater. Their legs move incessantly. Stopping means either being eaten or being blasted and vaporized into smoke.
RUMBLE… RUMBLE…
Suddenly, another giant head erupts from the ground, swallowing yet another group of merchants and Yugo's teammate.
"OSHIN!" Yugo releases another pained cry at the loss of yet another friend.
Bzzt… Crackle…
Suddenly, the several sandworms channel large amounts of lightning chakra in their mound. Each of them emits a bright flash of light.
"This is not good! At this rate, we won't make it out alive."
Ishiko's and Yugo's expressions turn ugly. Both of them quickly make a shadow clone and hand over their respective protection target to the clone to rush out of the desert.
"We will buy some time!" The two of them glance at each other and rush towards the sandworms.
"MOM! UNCLE YUGO!"
Ritsu yells in fear as he gets further and further from them.
"We have to stop them from using their lightning release attack," Ishiko mumbles as she summons several kunais with a large red sealing tag on them.
Yugo also rushes amidst the group of sandworms while making multiple hand signs in conjunction.
Swish… Swish… Swish…
Ishiko makes a series of hand signs and infuses a large amount of chakra into the sealing tag of the kunai. The chakra tag emits a bright white light as she throws it toward the mouth of these giant behemoths.
"Earth Release: Multiple Crushing Mountain Boulder,"
HAAH…
Yugo clenches his gums and infuses almost all of his chakra in this jutsu. He slams both his palms on the ground.
Rumble… Rumble…
Suddenly, several massive boulders with a height of at least twenty meters rise from the ground. These massive boulder floats in the air and appear above several sandworms.
HAAH…
Yugo screams, his gums bleeding, as he overexerts his chakra to use every ounce of it.
BANG… BANG… BANG…
The humongous boulder drops on top of the sandworms, crushing their mouth and interrupting their lightning attack.
SHUA… SHUA… SHUA…
Ishiko's kunais also fly beside the mouth of the sandworm. The sealing tags release a blinding white light as the kunais get stuck into the inner flesh inside the sandworm's mouth.
Numerous fuinjutsu runes crawl out of the sealing tag and spread across the surface of the giant sandworm's mouth.
"Uzumaki Secret Art: Chakra Disruption Curse,"
The fuinjutsu runes turn into chakra strips and crawl toward the opening in the sandworm's mouth. These curse seals release a bright light and choke the chakra point of the sandworms.
BOOM… BOOM…
The charging lightning bolt turns unstable and explodes without any flow of chakra to maintain it.
BOOM… BOOM…
Several explosion echoes in succession, and smoke rises from the mouths of several sandworms. Chunks of their flesh and teeth fly everywhere.
Bang… Bang… Bang…
The heads of most of these sandworms crash into the ground, releasing a small sandstorm.
Thump…
Suddenly, a heart-palpitating sensation pulses through Ishiko's senses.
Swish…
She immediately summons and unfurls a massive scroll in front of her.
Bzzt… BOOM…
A thick, yellow lightning beam pierces through the cloud of sand and strikes Ishiko.
Ripple… Ripple…
A large tri-cornered barrier emitting green light appears in front of Ishiko and blocks the powerful beam. Ripples flash across its surface as the beam continues to bombard it.
Ishiko's eyes dilate as a massive behemoth sandworm appears in her vision- the only hundred and fifty meters long sandworms in the group. This sandworm had yet to make an appearance so she and others thought that it had already left. However, who could have known it was waiting for them in ambush?
Suddenly, Ishiko's eyes narrow as she notices a small, cloaked figure perched upon the head of the massive behemoth.
There is a crimson reverse pentagram seal glowing on the back of the figure's palm. A similar but much larger seal appears on the chest of the massive sandworm.
"It's them!" Everything dawns on her as she realizes the abnormal behavior of these creatures.
"It's still not enough!"
The cloaked figure frowns, his purple eye dilating in slight shock.
Weng…
Purple chakra flames burst into his palm and quickly spread across the body of the giant sandworm. The flames burn across its massive body and the color of its lightning change rapidly.
The purple chakra flames add an eerie purple glow to the massive sandworm's body. These flames fuse with the yellow lightning bolt, turning into a long beam of malevolent purple lightning and flames.
Crack… Crack…
Cracks appear on Ishiko's barrier as soon as the enhanced beam makes contact with it.
Ishiko bites her lips and infuses more chakra into the barrier to stabilize and repair it.
Huff… Huff…
Yugo also recovers from his previous overexertion and stands behind Ishiko to support her.
"Lady Ishiko! I will buy us some time. Please leave this place quickly."
"Brother Yugo, there must be another way!" Ishiko mumbles softly.
However, Yugo ignores her pleading gaze and takes out a bright red chakra pill from his pocket. He grits his teeth and swallows the chakra pill.
Shoom… Shoom…
Suddenly, Yugo's chakra flares up. His eyes turn bloodshot and veins appear on his skin.
He clenches his fists and stretches them in front of his body.
"Secret Art: Seven Heavenly Breaths: First Breath,"
-Inhale
Shoom…
A massive tornado blows in front of Yugo as he inhales a large volume of air.
Bang… Bang…
Several popping sounds echo from within his body. A small hurricane of sand swirls around him.