The sound of her own unsteady breathing made Mana weakly raise her eyelids to check if her eyes wouldn’t feel like getting stabbed at the mere attempt to glimpse at the immense light. The magician slowly opened her eyes and looked around, there was only an aftereffect of the unimaginable destruction that transpired before. If Kusagoro perfectly transferred the chakra behind his attack into his opponent, then how destructive an attack had to be to still devastate an area so large?
Mana looked around, the shielding that the Box provided to itself still was lighting on, yellow particles of unknown origin or content still floated outside the protective cube shaped field, like a swarm of glow-worms. Only after finishing witnessing these spheres of light that slowly dissipated did Mana notice the aftermath of Kusagoro’s attack. Namely that she couldn’t really see anything, the entire world around her, as far as the horizon stretched and who knew how much farther beyond was nothing but total blackness, not even a single matter was present.
The black as tar clouds thundered on, momentarily illuminating the abyss that covered the entire distance of a portion of the world blown to nothingness. From where the girl was standing it looked like the entire world was either destroyed or dying and about to go off, however from the rather stable eerie quiet of this destroyed landscape she could tell that the destruction must’ve still been contained. After the protective chakra fields dissipated around the Box the magician took a curious peak down the corner. Her eyes could not see what remained of the ground and if there even was a ground beneath her feet. For all she knew there could’ve only been the very exposed core of the planet somewhere deep deep down.
“No way…” Mana heard voices nearby and what she first took as an expression of surprise over this fearsome annihilation soon was found out as what it actually was “ frustration and disbelief. Further away on a sole remaining pillar of dirt that was slowly sinking into the black oblivion below stood Francho, battered, bruised and singed, entire patches of his beard and his hair were missing and what remained of his clothes had also, let alone few exceptions below the waistline burnt to nothingness.
How could a man survive such an attack? Mana was almost certain that anyone would undoubtedly perish in such a blast, well, maybe not the Kage or Tanshu-sensei, these categories of ninja were described as being so far ahead the level of the rest they barely even compared but… Seeing the devastation around her made such statements difficult to believe.
A bright blueish glow caught the magician’s attention “ Kusagoro slowly and carefully descended from the layers of think tar-black clouds. The man was breathing heavily and one side of his body was without a doubt drawn to the ground, the Jugo’s eyes wavered as they examined the destruction and it looked like the man was fighting himself over not collapsing or passing out.
“Even if we survive this, I don’t feel like the Hokage will praise us from blowing up the entire Tako’s Reach, probably even beyond…” Meiko spoke up killing the silence, the usually carefree and eternally hyped genin now sounded worried and almost in grief over the blasted to smithereens world she once lived in.
“Yeah, it’ll take some serious work by the terra-forming ninja to repair this, it’ll have to come out of Fifth’s pocket if her involvement is suspected… Then again, few people venture into the Tako’s Reach it may just be played down to a pirate war gone wrong” Shimo replied. Judging from Meiko’s reaction the blacksmith may not have even known that ninja such as the terra-forming ninja existed. Special squads in each village’s arsenal that possessed large scale Earth Release or Water Release abilities and even Wood Release users from each village, even if those were far and few in between.
“Might take weeks if not months to repair this…” Mana finally spoke up looking in profound sadness at the ruined world and the oblivion above which the Box still floated.
Francho’s grunts ordered that all attention got directed at him. The man shook off a bunch of accumulated ash and dust off of him and stretched out his numbed up muscles, he felt his hands and arms and bent his joints a little to stretch out.
“You look like this blast really drained you… Then again, surviving it drained me as well” Francho felt his significantly shortened hair and beard up letting cindering hair fall off of it and down into the abyss below his feet.
“How did you survive it? I thought I pulled it out right…” Kusagoro finally gathered the strength to ask, Mana knew that Jugo techniques were immensely taxing all by themselves which was why for the larger part of his life Kouta couldn’t even perform the simplest ones. Until he trained and grew stronger both as a warrior and a medical ninja in this trip, at least. Still, the degree to which the Jugo struggled to stay floating in the black nothingness instead of plummeting below surprised Mana, seeing Kouta’s father exhausted was a new and frightening experience.
“I can freely manipulate my mass as well as the areas where it increases. I can compactly fit a great deal of mass into the tiniest of particles you wouldn’t even see with those fancy ninja eyes of yours…” Francho smiled displaying his mostly missing set of teeth, a bloody drool ran down his nose and began tapping at the exposed chest and fat of the man as well as what little remained of his rags.
Kusagoro slowly floated on top of the Box where he sat down and stretched his back out. “I still don’t get it…” he mumbled out so quietly that only the young ninja were most likely to hear him unless Francho still wasted chakra on augmenting his perception.
“What he describes fits the description of a black hole “ a compact enough smaller than an atom particle of excessive mass bending the fabric of time-space, it would’ve funneled most of your technique into it like water spilt into a small and compact hole absorbing most of it” Shimo explained, Mana looked at the young Yuki with surprise. After a while she had forgotten that the swordsman started out as the one of the highest grade students of the Academy.
“A black hole, no matter the size, would’ve went out of control, swallowed the entire planet and that’s if we’re lucky…” Mana tried to argue, it was hard to believe the extent at which Francho’s abilities allegedly extended.
“Well if it’s made from chakra and it’s sufficiently small it is possible that Francho merely contained it and focused the destruction just like skilled ninja do with their attacks…” Kouta shrugged.
“That would require tremendous mastery and chakra to control to pull off, it’d take a jounin level ninja with great training and restraint at the very least” Mana spoke to herself staring at Francho who just confidently stared at the young ones and his worn out opponent, without a doubt the Pirate Lord needed a breather similarly to how Kusagoro did, otherwise he’d have quickly dispatched of his opponent and interrogated the kids.
“Didn’t he say before that the pills simply unlocked the full mastery of his clan’s abilities and the only reason he’s using them is because he’s too bad at it to master them himself?” Meiko brought up a fair point. The only reason Francho was even capable of pulling such a stunt was because of his pills. He couldn’t have known all of the different uses of these abilities, he most likely just wanted to maximize his mass to increase his chances of withstanding the technique when he noticed the effect that saved his life.
“Shit… The pills’ aftereffects didn’t kick in yet” Kusagoro angrily cursed trying to stand up but realizing that his body felt too numb and tired. After the extensive battle he went through it simply was impossible to blame him, the chakra pools both of these ninja had were massive. “I think I may be in no condition to keep going” the man admitted. Looking in his eyes Mana saw the blazing rage and pain that admitting it took but Kusagoro wanted to fulfil his mission objective now most of all so he had to lay it straight.
“In that case, if Francho really did absorb most of the technique, that means you failed to properly control it, father” Kouta angrily looked at his tired father, “I thought a controlled technique was barely supposed to cause destruction and this heavily funneled off jutsu caused too much devastation to be properly controlled, you’d have destroyed everything if Francho didn’t save himself the way he did”
Francho finally finished stretching out and pointed his finger at the young ninja as if taunting them.
“So, I assume you’re ready to tell me how to use the Box now, huh?” the Pirate Lord asked, “I may just let you go after my wish is fulfilled, the kids as a sign of gratitude, the big guy because fighting him was just so much fun and once I get my wish I’ll really want to do this again sometime!”
Kusagoro and the others looked at each other, then their eyes began wandering between Mana and Shimo as the two were usually bickering about every decision each made. Together in a unison the two shook their heads, agreeing and working as a unit just like in the old days.
“He has to be really worn out now, I’m not sure how much juice he still has and when exactly the pills will flip the tables on him, he’s already been buffed by them for a longer period than the other two combined. I’m beginning to suspect his pills aren’t related to time and have more to do with his overall chakra pool, if that is the case he certainly is on his last legs, he can’t have more than a several more tricks” Kusagoro encouraged the kids.
“Stand back, Mana-chan. We’ll do our best to finish Red off!” Kouta declared gently moving the magician behind him while he stepped in front of her.
Francho’s deafening laughter overshadowed the evil lightning cracks going off everywhere at once.
“Finish me off? Just who do you think you’re talking about, brats?” the Pirate Lord raised his arm up as a miniscule black beam of total darkness extended from his palm into infinity. The black beam created from all light in the controlled width and length being absorbed by the bent fabric of space and time “ another microscopic sized black hole created and controlled by the Pirate Lord.
The beam pierced through Shimo’s chest attracting the young man to the pirate faster than Mana’s eyes could comprehend. The magician couldn’t even hear the fateful snapping noise that went out when the young swordsman’s body, already broken by the immense gravitational pull hit Francho’s closed fist at the end. The only gruesome sight the magician’s eyes could even pick up on was Shimo’s lifeless body held up for their sight by the Pirate Lord by the young man’s neck before being flung into the black oblivion below.
“S…Shimo?” Mana’s lips whimpered as she waited for the body to somehow be a mirage of cold air or a clone or… Shimo having survived the blow creating a path of ice that he climbed back up on.
“It looks like the Box doesn’t really protect things that leave its field” Francho coldly stated before lifting his hand up and smiling with a cruel smile of a filthy pirate who had just murdered a young ninja and disposed of a body in a way ensuring that it’ll never be found or get a proper burial.
“W…Why?” Mana’s cold and expressionless face continued to stare at the black unintelligible point in the abyss waiting for her friend to return. It may have taken an eternity to see that moment but at that time the young lady was ready to wait that eternity if it meant her friend coming back to her.
“Why? Well, I had to show I’m serious and clearly it had to be a warning shot, else you pieces of ninja shit would just shut down and stop cooperating accepting your dooms, it had to be someone completely irrelevant. I saw the orange haired brawler freeze before he hit his boy, also I saw the brat protecting you which meant both of you as well as the big man were out of the question. You three have some weird bonds between you, I still want you believing that you can be a little family if you just tell me how to work the Box, after all… It was a fifty-fifty choice between the redhead and this guy and frankly, the redhead was having way too much fun and excitement before for me to snuff her out so I’m happy with my choice” Francho began elaborating on his twisted logics before repeating his request to be taught how to use the Box.
Mana kept on staring at the bottom she could not even see, her slowly slipping away and wandering between a billion different things, still trying to cope with the death of her teammate, mind tried its best to deal with the pain but… Instead it just shut down. The magician could feel a couple of tears running down her cheeks, two or three drops hit the corner of the Box before running down its surface.
“He killed him…” she spoke to herself, completely without a care if the surviving team heard her or understood what she said. Mana’s face then looked up into the thundering black sky. She could feel being shaken rudely and once Meiko’s scared eyes entered Mana’s direct floating line of vision she realized whom she was being shaken by.
“He killed Shimo… We never even made peace with one another, I never told him that I’ve forgiven him for every rude word he’s said to me, that I understood why he did what he did in Takigakure… He died thinking I was mad at him” Mana spoke to herself before slipping down on her knees so hard that the fall busted them open at the sharp edge of the Box.
“Mana-chan, it’s OK, we’ll ask the Box to bring him back, we’ll… We’ll think of something just don’t do this to us!” Kouta began shouting trying to reach Mana’s head but the magician’s mind was so far away from where his yells could reach her that his voice sounded to her like she was deep underwater from where she’s being yelled at. Just a meaningless, muffled babble from the mouth of a young man she loved. She was drowning… Grief’s black rotten hand was pulling her down, firmly holding her ankle.
“Still feeling hopeful then, huh? I wonder if I killed the redhead…” Francho lifted his arm up and pointed it at Meiko. The blacksmith’s watery eyes, similarly shaken by the death of her friend froze open in fear. She knew that she was about to be killed and that the death would hit her faster than she could feel a thing. Meiko wished to say her farewells but couldn’t force herself to do so in time…
Francho’s arm lowered after a strange inner realization hit him. He didn’t execute Meiko for reasons only known to him. Instead his black hand of death reached to scratch his bald patch on top of his head, wandering about something.
“Well… I guess if I killed you all one by one it’d take too long, be too much of a bother. How about we end these games?” Francho frantically screamed out before slapping his hands together. The Pirate Lord’s size began expanding more and more, he expanded from being two or three times a man’s size to the size of a large ship, then further on. In mere seconds his size surpassed a large mountain and soon the Earth itself couldn’t hold him together on its surface anymore.
Kusagoro, Meiko and Kouta trembled looking up well over twenty thousand kilometers up to see their enemy with his hands surrounding the entire Earth sphere. They were far too much awestruck to reply or even comprehend the sheer massiveness of their opponent “ the limit not of his ability but that of his feeble untrained mind of how large he could grow. As the worn out Pirate Lord wheezed he created sandstorms in the deserts and tsunami waves unlike any the planet had ever seen in their history.
Yet even with his massive size in mind, nothing prepared the witnesses, of which there were now the entire planet looking up in the sky or to the north as well as to the south “ where the two hands towered ready to squish the Earth’s ball like a pesky grape, for when Akimichi Francho spoke. His voice echoed in deafening shockwaves only failing to tear everyone’s ear drums apart due to how far away the man’s head was. His breath and yells suggested great difficulty of having his words heard and spoken but the volume would’ve never revealed that.
“Come now! Tell me how to activate the Box of Ultimate Bliss or I will crush this planet with my own bare hands, all centillion of tons behind each hand. Is this Box really worth the entire planet?” Francho’s voice echoed around the world.
“He’s delirious! He must be desperate! He didn’t think this through because if he crushes the planet we’ll survive inside the Box’s field. He’s not bargaining with anything” Kusagoro yelled out angrily wondering if his voice was even heard by the cosmic size opponent.
“That must it, he didn’t kill Meiko because he felt this was the last jutsu he can use “ he bumped into his wall so killing Meiko would’ve left him dry and hitting the negative side effects. That’s why he tries to settle this with as large of a mass and size increase as his mind can muster “ he’s afraid!” Kouta declared what he thought of his opponent’s actions.
“Still, what can we do to him in his current state? Even if our chances to win are the largest now than they’ve ever been, what difference does it make?” Meiko collapsed on her own knees, clutching at her chest and breathing heavily, the girl’s mind had trouble comprehending the size and mass of the Pirate Lord and even beginning to remember how close to dying she just was made her eyes get wet again. The blacksmith just looked at Mana, hoping to find solace in the mad and lifeless eyes of someone who was broken just the way she was…
Mana sat down there with her eyes closed, her feeble knuckles were grinding together in a shaking with anger fist as the sound of her grinding teeth could’ve been heard. Tears burst through Mana’s closed eyes even if the girl tried to stop them. She bypassed the feeling of helplessness and now only felt rage, she felt anger for the man who killed one of her best friends, somehow who was there with her since the beginning. She felt anger at her own weak and pathetic body and her own helplessness in this situation.
A bright light inside Mana’s own mind flared up, a dark blue figure shaped just like Mana appeared in front of her as the inner spacial baby’s eyes opened in the shape of stars. Mana’s own body responded to her and no longer shut itself away. After Mana looked into the entity that occupied her mind, entity that didn’t know what it was exactly making Mana’s hopes of understanding it miniscule, entity Mana herself may have created as a visual construct representing her inner spirituality, her own body, a voice echoed inside Mana’s mind. Strong, loud and dominant, louder than the sound of stars boiling and blowing up visually inside Mana’s mental world.
It was Mana’s own voice: “Just… Maybe one day… When I'm worth it and when someone I love is in danger, consider really hard and if I deserve it at that moment and… Please make me strong again…“
Mana‘s eyes shot wide open, burning with rage as blue flares of spiritual and physical chakra molding together to create something new and amazing, something lost and reborn was burning inside her. As the limiters her own body placed on itself faded, regretting the decision ever being made, the magician’s chakra control returned at long last!
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