Chapter 8: Rider on the Storm 1/2
Are you ready for the next chapter?
"No, No, No, No!"
Ah...well, alright then.
This intro is going to be a bit longer because I'm gonna talk about one or two things. For starters, the chapters after this chapter...Jojo is going to fight his first actual enemy Stand User in an Arc, then it'll be the Land of Waves (because of course he's gonna be there). The next few chapters for the Stand User Arc however..I'm gonna have to change the Story to an M-rating. I know, sounds shocking, but it's because of how I wrote the Stand「Sweet Dreams」. My original design involved blood, which really would have pushed the T-Rating...then I reread Jojolion, and I realized "Wait a second, blood isn't going to be disturbing enough for this one!". So I scrapped that part of the original concept and did everything I could to give myself an "Araki-esque" mindset, and it's not that easy to think like an immortal, perfectly symmetrical artist who enjoys drawing skin getting peeled off. But I figured out what I thought would be the most "Araki" concept for what I was planning, and I'm happy with how it's gonna turn out. You'll see it in a few months.
Speaking of which, for the next couple of months, I'm going to be focusing my time on my first fic, Fudō no Ryū, since the anniversary for the first chapter is coming up in a bit. I wanna be able to get chapter 20 out by the same day I uploaded it, since the fic itself is still pretty important to me, in that I'm glad people enjoy it, but I write that specific fic because I want to write it out in it's completion no matter what.
Aside from that, I was troping around TV Tropes forums and if you've been there, you know I have an Animorphs/Jurassic Park Xover in the works, but it's a long way out if I'm being honest with myself, mainly due to events in my personal life I won't get into. I am putting out one other chapter of Dragon Dance first before anything else, as a special Halloween episode (no, the ghosts in chapter 3 do no count) so keep an eye out for that.
Now then...Thank you to followers and favoriters: dannyrockon122, darkkingmaster, SuperPowerPunk, nicolazenoni10, Skyl3lue, Javik, JackEvans01, Reikon67, Creus, August D. Hellsing, avert 1523, mafo. 9350, BigBoss0694x, jaycebanks3608, zellat451, reven228, dukemonx, Dusk666, void1200, Blackseal84, DasChinButton, Skullcrush1234, Mathjakt, the legendary motherfucker, Ryo551, Xalve, TheThunderingMoth, walter. krewer, raphaelpanambitan15, zeldawolffang, DAFUNKATRON, Zackmon, KingAs1e, def3nstrator, Scholar of the Dream, Kirito2015, dandyrr0403, Phantom0408, BreakAwayDrag0nt59, DaChubbyChicken, Eternal Infernape, Prime Beyonder, azickwolf, Arahex CEO, jamestine, EternlDusk, ShrimpKnight67, DangerJacky972, immortal333, Lovnag, LuckySolace, Huntergx60, DoctorSurgeon, Alban Zeqiraj, Draegeoon, Will713Man, paladinofcrabs, Spartan3909, Hazy Red Cloud, JokesterKing, OpticData, bignub243, maxiusldavis, Creepy Uncle Luke, Memento Mori - The Truth, Beastarc, franck49, PerseusFreedom, and John Smith 117 117.
Sorry to whoever I miss, my email may not notify me of everybody who follows or favorites, or the document editor won't allow me to input certain names due to formatting for whatever reasons.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto, Jojo's is the property of Hirohiko Araki, and both are published by Shueisha.
"Would you guys relax? I was making my way there after all."
"Bullshit!" Naruto growled to his sensei. "You were wandering around the whole village aimlessly, and you were on the other side of it too."
"I was lost on the-"
"Road to life! You've said that 15 times now!" Sasuke and Sakura finished.
"Yeah, big excuse you have there," the Uchiha grumbled. "Why can't you be on time like all the other Jōnin sensei?"
"It's not my fault, honest," Kakashi said cheerfully. "Besides, it probably keeps you on your toes, waiting for so long and not having any idea what's in store for you."
"Funny, didn't I say that a week ago?" the blonde smirked at the silver-haired man's flinch. "Yeah, that was after I made a seal which dumped that whole spandex outfit on you. That was great huh?!"
"Hehe, yeah was really funny! Hey, how 'bout we go get our mission for the day?" Kakashi smirked when the other three groaned.
"If I have to weed an entire garden again, I am gonna be so freakin' nettled…" Sasuke growled.
"EEEEEEEPPP!"
"ORA!"
"Hmmm?" Kakashi watched as Anko came from around the corner of a nearby building, pale as a ghost and clearly short on breath. "I'm guessing you broke one of his windows again, huh?"
"He's going nuts over a WINDOW!" the purple-haired woman cried out. "What is his damn problem? Windows were made to be broken into, that's why the glass makes all the cracking noises."
"WRRRRYYYYYAAAHH!"
Anko jumped back just as her sole Genin appeared out of thin air, aiming a Hamon-infused kick downwards and slamming into the ground where she had just been seconds before. The kunoichi shivered when she saw large chunks of rock and earth flying straight past her. Joushirou stood to his full height and glared at the purple-haired Jōnin, pupils narrowed to almost demonic slits.
"You better fucking pay for my window you bitch!"
"Calm the fuck down! Can't we just talk about this?!"
"ZOOM PUNCH!"
"Eeep!" Anko rolled back as the boy's elongated arm jabbed forward, his fist just barely missing her by a hairwidth. "How the hell do you even do that thing with your arms?!"
"Pay for my damn window!"
"AIIIIYEEEEEE!"
Kakashi flinched as the purple-haired Jōnin fled once more, the Stand-using Genin still on her heels.
'I honestly have no idea what the Hokage was thinking by putting those two together…'
Training Ground 44
"Hmmm," I put a hand to my chin in thought. "I guess it's good that the old man broke that up...I was really about to kill you there."
Anko let out a long and drawn out groan.
"Would you be quiet, if you don't like paying for my broken windows then quit breaking them," the sound of a branch snapping in the nearby bushes caused my head to turn. "Don't even think about it Sota. If you try anything, you're getting a cracked jaw."
The theropod jumped from the bushes and ran as far away from us as he could. I had gotten wise to the creature's ambush tactics since the first few days my deranged sensei brought me here for "training". Hopefully it'd figure out not to mess with me by the Ninja SATs.
"Alright, so how's training supposed to work anyway?"
"Well, I remember Iruka chewing me out and telling me that I "better not Kakashi it up" or something like that…" the purple-haired woman chuckled. "It was actually kinda sexy to have him taking charge like that-"
"Gee, sounds pretty nice, let's not talk about that ever," I growled.
"Alright, Alright!" the woman shook her head and pinned her gaze onto me. "For starters, I think working on your taijutsu would help. I saw your fighting style against the snakes, and it was atrocious."
"It's the fighting style I've always used…"
"It's just a street thug style with maybe some movements from the basic academy taijutsu style mixed in," my sensei deadpanned. "You did better with your swords than with an actual physical fighting. It might look good in appearance, but it's not really something that would help you with stronger shinobi. It's like you plan on using your weird punchy soul thing to fight all of your battles."
That instantly shut down any further protests from me. "Alright, what do you suggest then?"
"You have that sun energy that isn't chakra right?"
"Hamon, yeah. I make it when I breathe," I sighed at her questioning head tilt. "Yes, every breath I take juices me up with sun energy."
"Alright, there's gotta be a style based on that, right?"
"Yeah…" I grimaced, remembering that the fighting style, Sendo, included a lot of posing. "I don't know if there's any way to learn it though. My parents were the only ones that knew it, and...well…"
"Don't go on about that. The Uchiha and Uzumaki clans are almost gone, but your friends still have all their clan techniques...Ah, friend singular," the purple-haired Jōnin grimaced. "The Uzumaki don't have a lot of their clan techniques in Konoha, just a few that are all public and not really worth that much."
"So what, my parents left me an audiotape or something?"
"I'm guessing a scroll that shows you the correct stances," Anko put a hand to her chin in thought. "You ever check your house to see if your parents left you any scrolls like that?"
I stared at her dumbly for several seconds.
"...You never-"
"Yeah, I never looked alright," I clicked my teeth angrily. "The only things I have are the old weapons they used with Hamon...like my dad's balls."
"Oh yeah, Iruka told me about those," the purple-haired woman sniggered. "Really threw him for a loop with that one."
"Ok, aside from improving my taijutsu, what else is there?"
"Well, I'll see if I can't help you out with...ah, hang on," Anko began digging around in her coat pockets and muttering angrily. "Alright, here it is! Chakra paper," the woman held up a bundle of papers that were all about the same size as a sticky note.
"Chakra paper?"
"Well, it's actually called Chakra Induction paper," the woman held up a piece towards me. "If you put your chakra through it, the paper will react based on your affinity. Observe!"
With that, she forced her chakra through it. Immediately, fire spawned on the edges and ate towards the center, burning out only when the paper finally crumbled to ash.
"Ah, I see…" I looked up from the ash pile and set a blank stare at the woman. "So, your element is fire then?"
"Yup! Now then…" Anko shoved a piece of paper into my hand. "Go on and check your affinity, then I can give you some jutsu," the woman chuckled. "I've got jutsu coming out of my ears! I've got fire jutsu, lightning jutsu, earth jutsu…"
I ignored my sensei as I pushed chakra through the paper. When I finally got the results, I had to admire the irony of the situation.
"...there was this one time I used lava jutsu, but that was through combining jutsu with Kurenai so-hey, wait a minute," Anko grabbed the now damp paper from my hands. "What is this?"
"I believe it's the Chakra paper you gave me…"
"I know that! Why is it damp?!"
I let out an annoyed grunt. "I don't fuckin' know, why don't you tell me?"
"If it's damp, then that means…" the purple-haired woman growled, before pulling out another piece of paper and shoving it into my hands. "Try again!"
I did so, and once again the paper turned into a damp, mushy mess in my hands. I could practically see a vein popping on Anko's forehead.
"Yare Yare Daze...what's the damn problem?"
"You have water affinity," the woman groaned. "I only know a handful of water jutsu…"
"Water…" I deadpanned, still looking at the damp paper. "I have water as my main affinity…"
The irony wasn't lost on me, considering how I had died before...wait, were there dolphin summons? Or starfish summons? If either of those existed, I could actually complete the meme.
"So, how am I gonna train with water release?"
"I'll need to get the equipment, although we could start by the river...but," the purple-haired Jōnin gave me a mad smirk. "We'll have to deal with that later, considering we have missions today."
"You mean chores?"
"D-Rank missions are important, they help with improving our relationship with the civilians we're meant to protect," the woman wagged a finger at me as she continued to lecture. "And of course, it helps you improve your relationship with your teammates."
My face formed into a frown as I tried to pin the woman with a glare. "Really? My teammates?"
"Yeah, your teammates," Anko said in faux cheerfulness. "That's why we do these so called "chores" to start everybody off. It lets the three of you bond over how much you hate them."
"That'd be really nice...if I had a damn team!"
"What, you've got that feathered lizard thing, right?"
I turned towards the bushes with a wild glare. "Sota, what did I just fucking say?!"
"SCREEEEEEE!" the dinosaur once again fled from his spot in the bushes.
"I think he likes you~" Anko teased.
"None of that!"
1st D-Rank mission of the day: Weed garden
"Oh goodness, you only have one young ninja with you?"
"Yeah, it was just an oversight by the academy this year," Anko told the old woman sheepishly.
"Oh, so he'll be by himself for his entire run as a shinobi then?"
Anko the elderly lady an incredibly strained smile. "The Hokage assured me that I might be able to fill out my team from the genin reserves one of these days…" the purple-haired Jōnin gave the old woman a cheerful grin. "But I'm sure Jojo can handle this mission himself, it is a cake job after all."
"Oh yes…" the old woman stared at me with hungry eyes. "He's certainly quite the...strapping young lad, I'm sure he could finish this easily."
I had to fight hard to keep myself from turning green at that. "Hrrk…"
"Don't worry, he'll handle it," Anko turned to me with a smug grin. "Get to weeding punk!"
"Yare Yare, whatever…" I quickly moved over to the old woman's garden and began pulling up most of the weeds, much like I had done several dozen times since becoming a full genin.
Fortunately, I had come with a new trick up my sleeve to make it go faster, courtesy of a certain prank-loving blonde who luckily had my back after a complaint.
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" I called out as quietly as I could, forming my hand into the clone seal and kneading the necessary chakra for up to two clones.
Just as my clones and I were about finished with weeding the plants, I heard my sensei charging over to us. Just as I had pulled up the last weed, the woman threw two kunai straight into my doubles, dispelling them in puffs of smoke. I grunted at the phantom sensations of two blades piercing into my back and glared at the Anko.
"The hell is wrong with you?!"
"I don't wanna know how you learned to make shadow clones, but you're not using them again!" the purple-haired Jōnin growled while pointing at me. "It's cheating! You have to do this with your teammates Joushirou!"
"...Are you fucking serious?!"
"Dead serious!"
"I'll stop using shadow clones for chores when I have one extra teammate," I said angrily. "Until then, I'll cheat all the fuck I want!"
"Tch, let's just see how long that lasts when I tell the Hokage," Anko said as a dark grin spread across her face. "Considering that you just used a B-Rank technique, when you are a simple genin, he might not be very forgiving…"
Hokage's Office
"What do you mean it's not illegal?!"
"I mean that it isn't illegal for him to use shadow clones to complete tasks...hell, I'm using shadow clones right now," the Hokage motioned to several nearby copies of himself, one of which waved to us before resuming a portion of his paperwork. "Goodness, I can't believe I never figured this out before…"
"Lemme guess, Naruto told you?" the old man gave me a kind smirk. "I don't think he was the one who discovered it...considering how the Yondaime wasn't said to have had a lot of paperwork."
Hiruzen's eyes widened as he took that in. "So it's genetic...Minato you lying-Ah, sorry!" the aged Kage held up a hand sheepishly, much to Anko's confusion.
"Hokage-sama, he knows a B-Rank jutsu, and he's only a genin. I know one kid can be made an exception because of...well, the obvious, but Jojo is-"
"Very intelligent for memorizing the seals for the Kage Bunshin," the Hokage gave me a knowing smirk. "After all, there's no possible way for him to have learned it."
"I retain plausible deniability on how I learned the Kage Bunshin," I said, fighting back a smirk before it could spread across my lips. "I mean, it is possible to figure out how to reverse engineer jutsu if you can remember the seals that were used for them."
"Correct Jojo. Besides, it doesn't matter if you know a B-Rank jutsu," the old man chuckled. "As long as you only learned it by proxy, you remain safe even if the original party learned it illegally...and that is an emphasis on the "if" there."
"Unbelievable…" Anko grumbled. "So, what's our next mission, Hokage-sama?"
"Hmm, let me see here…" Hiruzen grabbed several pieces of paper and sifted through them, then looked up to us for a split second before staring at a particular page hard. "Hmm, it seems that Madam Shijimi's cat has run away. She'd like him returned as soon as possible," the Hokage handed Anko the mission file. "The details are all there, aside from that you could interview the woman herself-"
"Nah, this is pretty standard," the purple-haired Jōnin said quickly. "I remember every cat retrieval mission I had as a genin, the new cat can't be that different from the old one."
I opened this mission file and looked at the description. "So, a cat with lines on its forehead, and a red bow tied around one ear?" I looked back to the old man. "Doesn't sound too hard actually."
"Be wary Joushirou...many in the past century had that same thought," the Hokage's face turned grim. "They were proven quite wrong."
"It's a cat! What's so terrifying about it?"
"That's your first mistake," Anko chided. "You think it's just a cat...but every cat Shijimi has had was all the same. A sneaky, conniving, monster that has a knack for escaping your every plan, all while making you look like a fool," the purple-haired woman gave me a wild look. "Then, to add insult to injury, you only get D-rank pay. It's the worst experience of your life!"
I stared at the two blankly, gritting my teeth as Hiruzen nodded along with my sensei's piece. "It's a fucking cat! You're both intimidated by a fucking cat?!"
2nd D-Rank Mission of the day: Recapture Tora the cat
"So...there he is," Anko said lowly, lifting her head from the binoculars as glared at the tree nearby. "Now we've got to figure out a plan."
I pulled the binoculars from her hands and took a look for myself. "Couldn't we just...y'know, walk up the tree and grab the cat?" I lowered the binoculars and glanced at the woman. "It doesn't seem like it'd be that hard," I said slowly, still unsure about the mission.
Something just felt...off...
"Don't underestimate it," Anko grabbed me by the shoulders and shook me. "That thing isn't your everyday cat. It's a far greater demon than even the Kyuubi no Kitsune…"
"Can you please get your hands off me?"
"If you wanna climb up the tree to grab it, be my guest," my sensei said lowly. "But just remember, that cat is a monster…" the purple-haired Jōnin shivered. "I fear no man...but that thing...it scares me."
"Yare yare Daze...whatever," I ignored my sensei's protests as I stormed over to the tree. Once I was right beneath the cat, I let out a whistle. "Oi, cat! Time's up, now get down here!"
Tora regarded me with an offhand glance, before going back to licking his paw.
"I mean it cat! You get down here now!"
The cat simply rolled over onto his back and stretched, still not paying attention to me.
"Alright, guess I gotta bring out my secret weapon," I dug into my coat, and pulled out a small sealing scroll. The cat ignored me right until I unsealed the contents, immediately jolting upright and staring at me.
"That's right! A can of tuna...and it can be yours, if you come with-"
*FWOOSH*
"AGGGGH! SONUDA BEETCH!"
I jumped back a few feet as a sudden gust of wind surrounded my arm, before turning into literal blades of wind that sliced into my hand. When I was halfway through healing my hand with Hamon, I realized that I had dropped the tuna can. I looked around, hoping that I hadn't just ruined a good can of fish, when I spotted exactly where it was.
"That damn cat...how the hell did he do that?!" I growled, glaring at the feline as it completely finished off the can of fish, while somehow still remaining in the tree.
"Did you see that?! That thing just lifted your bait into the air with his dark powers!" Anko cried out. "I told you it wouldn't be easy! He's too tricky."
"Fuck this!" I decided the best course of action would be to charge the tree, using a nearby rock as a launch point so that I could latch onto a higher point on the trunk. "If you aren't coming down, then I'm coming to you cat!"
Once I was on the branch where Tora sat, the cat stood up and glared at me. I walked forward slowly, aiming to catch the furry beast off guard with a sudden lunge. At least, that was the plan before Tora jumped onto another tree nearby.
"OH, you wanna play that game, huh?!" I called out, meeting the cat's angry glare with my own.
With a chakra-enhanced kick, I jumped forward and righted myself in midair so that I could land on the nearby branch correctly. Tora's gaze followed me the entire time, and it almost felt like some strange energy was emanating from him.
"Ah, Joushirou, maybe you should be careful?!" Anko called up to me. "I mean, I know we gotta catch the cat, but not all of these trees are stable."
"Sensei, if you're not going to help me grab the cat in the trees, maybe just be ready when I either throw him down," I grimaced at the cliche thought that went through my head. "Or if I end up breaking the tree we're in just as I finally get him."
"So far, so good," the purple-haired Jōnin called up. "To be honest, maybe this one is tamer than the other ones. No sneaky tricks so far...except for that thing with the tuna," Anko put a hand to her chin in thought. "Maybe he can use chakra?! Watch out for some sneaky cat style jutsu!"
"I doubt he can use chakra!" I called down to the woman as I inched closer to the cat.
Tora immediately jumped onto another nearby tree.
"Dammit cat! You know I can't knock these down one purpose!" I yelled, once again jumping forward till I was adjacent to the cat. "Seriously, if you jump to another tree, I am gonna be so nettled."
I slowly inched towards the cat...and wouldn't you know it, the damn furball jumped onto yet another treebranch!
"Motherfucker!" I swore I could hear Kakyoin laughing at me from his angel world. "Cat, I swear to Kami, you better stand still or else."
"Alright, you know what!" Anko cried out. "This is getting annoying, ending it right now!"
*SHINK*
"MREEEOOOOWWWW!"
I walked down the tree just as Tora landed on the ground in the most unceremonious manner possible. Apparently, not all cats landed on their feet, but at least he was fine. Aside from some grass stains and dust caught in his fur, there wasn't anything wrong with the poor thing.
"HAHAHAHA! Oh man, guess I was wrong about this one," my sensei said cheerfully. "No really, the most he could do was jump from trees and maybe use a chakra technique," the purple-haired Jōnin walked over to the downed feline. "What a joke, guess he's not as bad as the last 15 cats the Daimyō owned."
ゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴ
I froze suddenly when I felt a wave of energy wash over me. I could practically feel the pure, unadulterated rage pulsing in the air, and it was almost suffocating. I didn't even need to look to see it's source…
"What the?! The cat's fucking glowing?!" Anko gasped.
I charged forward and tackled the woman to the ground.
"What the fu-"
"Hang on," I said lowly. "This is gonna be bad…"
*FWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH*
*CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK*
*THWOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMM*
"NEEEEEEEIIIIIIIGGGGHHHHHHH!"
When I looked back at the cat, he was stalking towards us slowly, an icy blue glow completely surrounding him. His formerly amber colored eyes were now glowing an electric blue, and it almost seemed as though thunder was dancing around in them. Despite the electric current in the air, his fur still remained perfectly neat, and with his apparently calm demeanor, it seemed like he wasn't going to hurt us.
That was kind of jossed by the freaky horse floating above him. If I had to pick out the breed, I'd say it was a sabino Clydesdale...if you made a Clydesdale 10 feet tall and juiced it up on steroids. It's body was entirely black, and it took me a moment to realize it was actually made up of storm clouds, lightning flashing within its "skin" every few seconds. Where there would be a luxurious mane, tail, and furred feet, were instead a wild mane and tail made of water, and feet covered with snow similar to the frosty covering of a high mountain. The horse's eyes, made of blue lightning, glared down at us coldly.
"Stand User…" I said lowly. "The cat...is a fucking Stand User."
"You mean animals can have these things?!"
"Apparently, yeah," I flinched as the cat moved into an aggressive stance, with its tail whipping back and forth. "Shit, I think I sensed it. How could I be so stupid?!"
"Sense it? You can sense other users?"
"Yeah, apparently every occult book I've read says that all Stand Users are drawn to one another, and that they're fated to meet," I jumped to my feet and stared the Stand-Using feline down. "Guess I should have realized we can just sense each other."
"Ok, so we have a cat that apparently makes lightning with its...horse," Anko tilted her head at Tora's stand. "A horse? His Stand looks like a giant storm horse?"
"I don't care what it looks like...so that thing with wind was part of his Stand's ability huh?" I gritted my teeth as the horse stamped at the ground and let out a frosty breath, following its master's aggressive stance.
'Damn it! I'm not against defending myself against a wild animal, and I knew I'd have to go up against other Stand-Users one of these days, but...how the hell am I supposed to fight this thing?!'
Stand: ?
User: Tora the cat
Destructive Power: ?
Speed: ?
Range: ?
Durability/Persistence: ?
Precision: ?
Developmental Potential: ?
Powers: ?
*CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK*
*THWOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMM*
"Woah…" Naruto looked to where the lightning flashed beforehand, noticing the growing storm clouds. "Damn, guess it's gonna start raining soon."
"Maybe somebody is training with Raiton jutsu," Kakashi said offhandedly. "Although, you're probably right. It's just started over there, so it must be moving slow."
Sasuke turned his attention from his target practice to look at the seemingly approaching storm. "Hn...isn't that where Jojo went?"
"Yeah, I think he got saddled with that cat job," Sakura called out as she passed them. "Apparently nobody likes that job."
"Nice that you can do laps while talking," Kakashi said. "Maybe you can go a bit faster, huh?"
"Hai, Sensei!"
"Hey, how are your clones doing?" the masked ninja looked to the blonde. "Any of them dispel yet?"
"Just one, and he was working on sealing," Naruto huffed as he neared his 100th pushup. "Man, Kage Bunshin is sweet."
"Too bad you're the only one who can make that many," Sasuke called out, only to flinch at the sudden droplet of water that fell onto his forehead. "And it's already started…"
"Sensei! I finished my laps, what now?!"
"Well Sakura, it's starting to rain. Maybe we could go to one of the indoor training centers," the silver-haired Jōnin looked over to his most unpredictable student as the blonde finished his pushups. "Naruto, have your clones dispel. One at a time too, I don't want you to pass out on us again. Mine will go once all of yours have."
"Alright," Naruto rose to his feet, flinching at the creaking of his bones. "Man, no wonder Jojo got so jacked up at our age."
*CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK*
"WOAH!" the blonde jumped back as a few more bolts of lightning flashed through the sky, striking around the exact same area as before. "I thought that wasn't supposed to happen…"
Kakashi tilted his head and narrowed his single eye at where the lightning was striking. "I wonder what's going on there…"
*SHINK**SHINK**SHINK**SHINK**SHINK**SHINK*
"AGHHH! FUCK!"
"SONUDA BEEETCH!"
Tora snorted as the wind around us whipped into us, cutting small nicks in our skin and blowing our blood into the air.
The blood loss was annoying enough...but this fucking cat just ruined my pants.
"Alright, you're the Stand-User here!" Anko cried out over the roaring winds. "What the fuck do we do?!"
"Alright, full disclosure...Tora is the first Stand-user I've met that wasn't me," I cringed at the woman's owlish look. "Give me a break, I don't even know who the other Stand-User in Konoha is."
"Teuchi! It's Teuchi!" She growled.
"Wait, the guy who runs my favorite ramen stand is a-How the hell did you know?!"
"The old man told me! Look, it's not important now, we need to deal with this!" my sensei thrust her arm towards the angry, Stand-using cat.
Unfortunately, Tora saw that as an act of aggression.
"AGGGHH!" the purple-haired Jōnin pulled her slightly mangled arm back. "Shit, gonna need a medic for this...why don't you just-"
"NEEEEEEEEEEIIIIIIIIIIIIGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!"
*CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK*
*VRRRRRRRRRMMMMM*
I froze as the air around me distorted in a flash of colors. Once time had stopped , I blinked at the bolt of lightning just an inch from my face, following the source to the enemy Stand-User himself, or rather, his tail specifically.
"Jesus Stand-Using Christ…" I grumbled.
I slowly walked around the lightning, noting the now frozen wind gales he had sent our way, as well as the bolts of lightning spearing down at the area from the heavens. I shook my head and playfully poked one of the raindrops that had been frozen in time.
Ichi-byō keika
"Alright, Alright! I'll get to fighting the damn cat," I grumbled as I began stalking towards the cat. "Felt like I took longer than a second there thought…"
Ni-byō keika
I took my place behind Tora and leaned back just a bit while hooking my thumb into my pocket. I huffed lowly and sent that cat a glare as I tipped my visor to cover my face.
"Alright then...Toki wa ugokidasu!"
*VRRRRRRRRRmmmmmmm*
Tora grinned from ear to ear as the ground exploded before him. Anko gaped in shock, obviously thinking that I had been vaporized. Just as the cat sent her a wild glare, I cleared my throat, which caused the feline to jump up with raised hackles.
"Alright, listen kitty, I don't know how long you've had that thing," I motioned to the giant storm-horse that floated over him. "But the jig is up. You're going to put that away and stop causing trouble...otherwise, I'm gonna have to stop playing nice."
Tora glared at me as he formed a sphere of wind around himself, while also forming sharp, levitating rings of water around his makeshift shield. I snarled in annoyance when I realized that his powers looked really familiar. He was manipulating wind and water, and even producing lightning, like the benders from the Last Airbender series.
"Yare Yare Daze, this is gonna be annoying…" I tilted my head to my sensei. "Hey, unless you can break through his shield without getting torn to shreds, do you think you could put up some earth barriers or something? This is probably gonna cause a lot of collateral."
"I'll put up the earth shields, but I could get to him if I got an opening," the purple-haired Jōnin pointed to the water blades. "I'm thinking those could be gotten rid of. I might be able to teach you a jutsu for it on the fly."
"After the shields, maybe?"
"Right, gotcha," the woman immediately set to forming shields of stone around the soon to be battlefield.
Tora ignored Anko in favor of charging at me with unsheathed claws, his Stand following his movements with stamping hooves. I jumped back as the cat slashed at me with blades of wind that he had formed on his paws, while dodging his water blades. I flinched when a loud winnie sounded out from behind me, and I turned to face the cat's Stand as it reared up at me and kicked with its forelegs.
"NEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEIIIIIIIIIGGGHHHHH!"
"ORA!"
Tora gaped as his Stand's hooves were caught by gloved fists. Star Platinum stared at the giant storm-horse impassively, though I could feel that he was struggling somewhat to hold the enemy Stand back. That told me that Tora's Stand was as strong as SP, which meant it was gonna be a real bitch to deal with.
I smirked at the stupefied feline. "What?! You think you're the only one with a power like that? I've had Star Platinum since I was six," I grunted as I willed SP to shove the horse back. "Don't make me laugh, cat! You have no idea who you're dealing with!"
With that, my Stand directed a kick straight at the face of Tora's. While the storm-horse was able to barely dodge the attack, the cat had witnessed everything. The displacement of air and rain as SPs fists moved, the shockwave of my Stand's foot pummeling at the air, and the obviously lightspeed movement.
I don't think I've ever seen something take the high ground faster in my life...aside from Obi Wan, but I never saw that happen again. The funny thing about Tora being so far away, hiding in a tree once again, was that his stand was several meters away from him. A strong Stand, with a wide range…at least he had dropped his elemental shields.
"Yare Yare...ok, so what I know so far…" I grumbled, looking at the storm-horse as it stared me and my Stand down. "It has a long range, in proportion to the cat's size, and it's strong enough to match Star Platinum...and fast enough to dodge a punch from him at practically point blank range," I flinched as several bolts of lightning speared down from the sky. "And then there's all that…"
"Hey! I finished putting up all the rock shields," Anko called out as she rejoined me. She brought out a kunai as she faced the equine stand. "Alright, what's the situation?"
"Well...his stand is fast enough to dodge an attack from mine, strong enough to grapple with it, and it has a longer range than I expected," a gust of sharpened wind slashed into my arm, and I took a deep breath to heal the wound quicker. "And it controls the weather. I can't believe a cat is doing this…"
"Yeah, I changed my mind, he's way worse than the last 15," the purple-haired Jōnin rubbed the back of her head. "He let his shields down, but there's no way we're gonna get to him. Not when he's taken cover while keeping that thing out to block us-Agh, son of a…" the woman growled as she nursed her own set of newly made cuts. "Look at the fuckin' furball, it's like he's making an elemental rodeo. Why's his Stand staying so far away?"
"He might think that he can push us back with enough wind and lightning...I doubt he knows that Star Platinum can only move 2 meters away from me."
"What?!" Anko cried out. "2 meters?! Hold on, you can even have him move far enough to get an enemy?"
"I have a very close range Stand ok. If he moved any further, he wouldn't punch hard enough to break giant diamonds or move at the speed of light," I glanced at the woman from the corner of my eye. "You said you could show me a jutsu that could help, right?"
"I can give you two, actually. Watch this one closely," Anko winced as she brought her bloody arm up, but was able to push through the pain, forming her hands into the dragon seal, then the tiger seal, all while chakra flashed around her fingers.
"Suiton: Inryokuken!"
At this, the water around us began drifting towards her, forming into a large ball of liquid that floated in front of her. Even the still falling raindrops were pulled straight into the ball, much to the apparent chagrin of the Stand-Using cat several meters away.
"Well...that's definitely interesting," I said slowly.
"Yeah, water's not my best element, on account of me always having trouble making it from scratch," the purple-haired Jōnin shook her head. "This is like a training instrument for it though. Kneading chakra to make water can take a lot of work if you're untrained...so instead, you just bring water to you. Go one, try it!"
I went through the two handseals while pushing chakra into my hands. "Suiton: Inryokuken!" I took a deep breath as I felt the small pull on my chakra reserves. In under a minute, there was a beach ball sized orb of water floating in front of me.
"Not bad, yours is smaller than mine though. Hope you don't feel inadequate," my sensei sneered at me for a few seconds before staring forward. "Honestly...they say the gravitational pull is B-Rank, but really, everybody should learn it first if they have water. Seriously, it doesn't take as much chakra to use as most other B-Rank jutsu, and it's kinda necessary to have if you wanna train the water release."
"So, you taught me a B-Rank jutsu? Even after all that shit you gave me a few hours ago?"
"Don't judge me!"
"Yare Yare...so what now?"
"Well, I'll give you one C-Rank jutsu to use on our friend there," Anko motioned to the storm-horse. "Then, once you've taken your opening, I'll keep it distracted while you deal with the cat."
"Ok, what jutsu is it?"
"Ok, repeat after me," the woman formed her hands into the correct seals, this time without using chakra. "Tatsu, Tora, U. Suiton: Mizurappa!"
I made the handseals while adding chakra. "Suiton: Mizurappa!" at this, a thick stream of water shot out from the orb of water before me. The equine Stand winnied at the sight of it and reared back, doing it's best to keep a greater distance from us.
"Thanks for the jutsu, but how does this help?" I turned to Anko with a skeptical gaze. "Sure, Stand Users don't do too well in water for very long, but Stands don't have any limits in water. Star Platinum would still be just as fast in water as it is out."
"Yeah, you and I both know that...but the cat doesn't," the woman sneered at the feline in question. "Besides, he's a fucking cat! Even if his Stand is a horse that controls the weather and stuff, he's not gonna be very interested in getting submerged."
"...I'm an idiot for not realizing that," I gritted my teeth as I made the seals for the gravitational pull. "I have an idea, just make sure that horse has its attention on you when I do it."
"Alright kid, go for it then."
"Alright! Suiton: Mizurappa!" my refreshed orb of water transformed into a large wave that washed over the giant horse. "Here we go! Suiton: Inryokuken!" I held my right arm out and willed the remains of the water orb to surround my outstretched limb.
With that, I charged forward, jumping over the "drowning" horse while using my stand to throw me towards the cat. Tora arched his back and hissed at me, ready to strike me with blades of wind. Already I could see tendrils of water snaking towards me from below.
"KOOOOOOOHHHHHH!" I met the cat's fierce hissing with my own growl as I mustered the ripple within me. "TURQUOISE BLUE OVERDRIVE!"