chapter 32

Three long years had passed by for Fuyōna as he trained to master sage mode. He was now eighteen years old and no longer a boy. Not that he ever considered himself a child.

His body had grown and matured over the last three years, now standing at six foot one. His muscles had also filled out a little more, adding more meat to his frame.

Fuyōna's hair had also grown and was now quite long, still with two bangs on each side of his face. All in all, he was now a man.

Today was the last day of his training with Hyōketsu. It wasn't so much training anymore but a test to see the fruits of his labour.

Fuyōna was sat meditating on top of a large ice spike. Atop, he perfectly balanced on another slab of ice, even the slightest movement would cause him to fall, yet he remained perfectly balanced.

Hyōketsu stood on the ground below as he sensed the natural energy flow all around Fuyōna's body, mixing in with his chakra before he opened his eyes.

Fuyōna took on little physical traits when he entered sage mode, indicating he was a perfect sage. His eyes turned crystal blue with a black fang slit for an iris.

His entering sage mode's main trait was that his hair turned white, and two large horns grew from his head the same the horns Yeti possessed.

Hyōketsu had quickly found out through Fuyōnas training that he could absorb a massive amount of natural energy with next to little consequence. Something he had not seen since his early days.

He was convinced it was due to his Kaguya bloodline and Hyōketsu shuddered at the memory of the evil princess.

Fuyōna opened his eyes and dropped to the floor, greeting the old Yeti as he allowed the natural energy to flow out of his body. Hyōketsu smiled as he let the thought exit his mind.

"Today is your last day of training, little Yuki." the old Yeti said.

Fuyōna had never gotten used to being called little Yuki, but he knew it would never change.

"Yes, lord Hyōketsu. I am ready," he said, his voice much deeper now.

"Follow me to the ice lake, there I will give you your final test," Hyōketsu said.

Fuyōna smiled as he created an ice mirror without any hand signs.

"Race you there," he said as he slipped into it, instantly falling out of another one onto the frozen lake.

Hyōketsu sighed and jumped into the mirror himself, also slipping out onto the frozen lake.

"I will never get used to that." He said as he tossed his walking stick to the side.

"So what have you got planned for me today, lord Hyōketsu? Hiking up the mountain on my hands? or maybe today we will build a snowman?" Fuyōna said jokingly.

Hyōketsu laughed a little at the joke before getting serious again.

"As good as that sounds, I'm afraid we won't be doing that. No, today, I want you to fight with me." The old Yeti said, cracking his knuckles.

Fuyōna smiled as he took a fighting position. "I thought you would never ask."

Hyōketsu also smiled as he entered his fighting pose, getting ready to battle. "Don't hold back." He said as he concentrated chakra into his small fist.

"Haaa!" Hyōketsu shouted as he punched forwards, unleashing a blast of concentrated wind with the force of his fist.

Fuyōna instantly jumped into the air to avoid the blow, watching as it hit the side of the surrounding mountains ripping through the hard ice that surrounded it.

He didn't have time to react as Hyōketsu was on him, attacking with full force. Fuyōna didn't seem pressed, though, and was quickly able to block each attack as the two of them fell back down to the frozen lake.

It was the same lake that Fuyōna had first had to cross three years ago, and the ice was still just as unstable. However, each of them was so skilled that they could move freely across the ice without so much as a crack. Something that had taken Fuyōna a long time to learn during his training.

"Is that all you have, old man!" Fuyōna shouted as he pushed the old Yeti away before flipping back into a handspring landing back in a fighting pose.

Hyōketsu was impressed and simply smiled as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Did you really think I was out of tricks?" The old Yeti said as he whistled.

Fuyōna gave a small smile as he watched Fuyu, Kōri, and Mō Fubuki all land on the frozen lake, acting as Hyōketsu's reinforcements.

Fuyu roared, letting his icy breath freeze the entire lake to reinforce the ice allowing the three large Yeti to put all their weight on it.

"You're going down this time, Fuyōna!" Kōri shouted as he spun his Sasumata around before pointing it at him.

Mō Fubuki smashed his Kanabō into the ground, resting his large hand on it. "You may have bested me last time, but it won't happen again!" He said snarling.

Fuyu started cracking his knuckles as he smiled, looking Fuyōna dead in the eye.

"I hope to give you a better challenge than last time. I won't hold back." He said, a large smile coming to his face.

Fuyōna had battled each of the large Yeti in one-on-one combat during the past three years of his training. Eventually, he had bested each of them, overcoming every challenge they set.

"I guess I can't afford to hold back then," Fuyōna said as he lowered his arms, seeming to concentrate for a moment.

"Attack!!!" Mō Fubuki shouted as he moved first.

The others quickly joining him, each of them attacking at full force, slamming their attacks and weapons down upon Fuyōna.

The attacks' force caused the thick layer of ice to crack under the weight and kick up powdered snow blinding everyone to what had happened.

Suddenly Kōri and Fuyu were sent flying, slamming into the side of the mountain with tremendous force. Mō Fubuki had been able to block Fuyōnas counter-attack at the last moment with his kanabō. Though the power of the blow had sent him sliding across the ice.

Mō Fubuki looked down, shocked to see that his kanabō had cracked from the force of Fuyōnas attack.

"Blast it. We were too late..." He said, watching as the smoke settled.

Fuyōna had entered sage mode, seeming to do it almost instantly. His eyes had turned crystal blue now and his hair white as bone, two horns atop his head as his powerful aura radiated around him.

"What's the matter Mō Fubuki? too much for you to handle?" Fuyōna said his very voice amitting power.

The large armoured Yeti wasn't happy but refused to surrender.

"Don't get cocky!" Mō Fubuki said as he tossed his large kanabō to the side.

Fuyōna smiled in confidence as he extended his hand, pointing his index finger at the large Yeti like a good.

"Sorry about this."

Mō Fubuki's eyes went wide as he quickly crossed his arms across his body, trying to defend against the oncoming attack.

"Sage art. Ice bullet barrage." Fuyōna said as he fired multiple ice bullets at the large Yeti.

Each hit its mark, ripping through Mō Fubuki's armour and causing massive damage to his body. He winced in pain and tried to fight through it, but his body just wasn't strong enough; lowering his arms, he was breathing heavily now as he smiled at Fuyōna.

"Is that all you got..." he said slowly before he toppled over, slamming into the floor with a crashing thud.

"Sorry big guy, believe it or not, I did hold back," Fuyōna said as he lowered his arm.

Suddenly a massive blast of fire consumed him like a giant flame thrower. Kōri was breathing fire intensely as he tried to catch Fuyōna off guard.

However, the flames did nothing, not even tough his as he had created an ice shield in the air that was blocking the fire.

"Not a bad idea Fuyu," Fuyōna said, startling the giant Yeti that had tried to use the distraction to attack him from behind. He never stood a chance, though, with Fuyōnas enhanced sensory abilities in sage mode; he could sense everything happening around him with ease.

Fuyu quickly attacked, trying anyway as he swiped with his huge claws aiming to slash Fuyōna in half.

Fuyōna quickly blocked the attack with an equal-sized hand made of bone that he had created around the outside of his arm.

It was attached to his body by on large bone and then took the form of a large exoskeleton like a giant. Fuyu was stunned and watched in horror as more and more bones started to grow until a large horned Yeti skeleton stood in equal height next to Fuyu with Fuyōna encased inside the skull where he seamlessly controlled the entire thing.

"Sage art. Gashadokuro!" Fuyōna shouted as the massive skeleton grabbed ahold of Fuyus shoulders.

"What in the!" Fuyu shouted in shock as he had never seen this ability before.

The massive skeleton picked Fuyu up off the ground with incredible strength and suddenly slammed him into the ice with tremendous force.

The slam knocked the wind out of Fuyu and took him out of the battle. The skeleton then turned around to face Kōri, who was the last one standing.

Kōri didn't waste any time and used his Sasumata to trap the giant skeleton's neck as he tried to smash it into the ground. However, the skeleton wouldn't budge.

"What in the?" Kōri shouted as he could see that more bone had shot out of its back to stop it from being slammed into the ground.

Quickly the large Yeti dived back as the skeleton tried to grab his body. Kōri had seen it coming and shot a couple of large fireballs at the joints of the skeleton to try to weaken it.

They hit their targets and dropped the skeleton to the ground leaving the back of its neck exposed.

"Now is my chance!" Kōri shouted as he jumped into the air spinning his Sasumata around with great skill before slamming it into the back of its neck, taking the head clean off.

"I did it! Now for the." Kōri thought. His attention was taken away from the skeleton for a moment as he could hear a clapping sound.

The large Yeti turned to look and to his surprise; he saw Fuyōna stood to the side, simply clapping.

"When did you!" He shouted, confused as to how he had gotten there.

Fuyōna smiled as he formed a few hand signs brining the skeleton to life.

"Sorry about this, Kōri," he said.

The massive skeleton suddenly broke apart as all the bones attacked the large Yeti at once. It was as if they had become flexible, and they wrapped around him, trapping his entire body, leaving him unable to move.

"Looks like that's the last of you taken out," Fuyōna said as he turned to face Hyōketsu, who had been watching from the sidelines.

"I take it you have no more challenges for me, lord Hyōketsu?" Fuyōna said with a slight bow, mocking him.

Hyōketsu smiled as he extended his arms before pulling them down to his hips. Fuyōna could sense the massive amount of natural energy that he was absorbing and smiled at what was coming.

"No... You have passed all of the tests, little Yuki. Exceeding my expectations. The only thing I have left to offer you is my full power!" Hyōketsu shouted as he started to grow in size, his form becoming powerful just as it had done the last time they had done battle.

Fuyu and the others had moved over to the sidelines now, where it was safe. It had been a long time since they had seen their elder use his full power, and they were excited to see how Fuyōna would fair.

Hyōketsu launched forward at Fuyōna using his full might from the get-go. Fuyōna also moved on and exchanged blow for blow with the large Yeti. The force coming off of their attacks was so great that the ice beneath them was starting to break and finally spilt as Fuyōna avoided an axe kick from Hyōketsu.

The Yetis kick cracked the ice on the lake in half, letting the water from under it burst out with a vengeance.

Fuyōna used this to his advantage as he took control of the water, moulding it with his chakra, and with the added effect of material energy, the attack was even more potent.

Fuyōna launched the water forwards, allowing it to travel at high pressure slicing through anything it touched.

Hyōketsu jumped high into the air avoiding the high-pressure water. He was impressed but had a few tricks up his own sleeve.

"Yeti water style. water-binding jutsu!" Hyōketsu shouted as he made the hand signs.

Water suddenly burst through the ice which Fuyōna was stood, wrapping around his entire body before it encased him in a perfect sphere.

Fuyōna was surprised by the jutsu, and it looked like an ordinary water prison. But he soon found that it was much stronger.

He punched and kicked as he tried to break free. However, every time he touched the water, he could feel it drain away his chakra.

"Sneaky old man..." He said to himself.

Hyōketsu landed back onto a sturdy piece of ice that was floating on the lake.

"Haha. That is only the beginning." He said as he sat down, crossing his legs.

Fuyōna watched as he continued to form hand signs before slapping his hands together. A large smile forming on his lips as he looked at Fuyōna.

"What will you do now, little Yuki?"

Water started to fill the sphere Fuyōna was trapped inside of. The more water that flowed in, the more his chakra drained away.

"When the water reaches the top, you will have no chakra left, and you will die, little Yuki. Better do so something quickly." Hyōketsu said in victory.

Fuyōna was impressed, to say th least. He had never seen this jutsu and was convinced he kept this as an ace in the hole.

All Fuyōnas natural energy had been absorbed by the water first, and now it was starting to drain his chakra.

But Fuyōna simply smiled.

"I didn't think I would need to resort to this so soon." He said as he closed his eyes for a moment.

A considerable amount of red chakra suddenly burst from his body as he entered stage two of tailed beast mode. His body was now covered in a black and red chakra as all six tails became visible.

Fuyōna opened his mouth and started to expel a tremendous amount of acid, letting it mix in with the water. The acid began to do its job, and before Hyōketsu knew what hit him, Fuyōna burst free from his water prison jutsu.

Hyōketsu watched a Fuyōna flew through the air, and he wasn't surprised by his counter attack. Mini tailed beast bombs suddenly scattered from Fuyōna as he fired concentrated chakra balls at Hyōketsu.

The Yeti was able to jump and flip, avoiding them as they exploded against anything they touched. Water from the frozen lake was blown into the air from the explosions giving the battle a raining effect, soaking Hyōketsu.

"Now is my chance!" Fuyōna thought as he stripped away his chakra cloak and started to form hand signs.

The water had soaked Hyōketsu's fur, and he had to wonder if Fuyōna had made those shots almost too easy to avoid.

"You are crafty little Yuki but not as crafty as this old geezer!" Hyōketsu said as he made a few hand signs.

"Lightning style!"

"Sage art, wind style! Each of them shouted at the same time as they unleashed their jutsu.

Hyōketsu let loose a massive tornado of wind that covered his entire body like a shield. His thinking was if Fuyōna was going to try and zap him, then he would counter it with a wind style.

Fuyōna had already thought this through and was now a step ahead of the old Yeti. His jutsu was a dud that he used to bait Hyōketsu into using a wind style.

"You have played right into my hands!" He shouted as he made a few more hand signs changing his jutsu completely.

"water style water vortex jutsu!" Fuyōna shouted as he finished the hand signs.

A large amount of water shot up from the frozen lake and mixed into Hyōketsu's wind vortex, creating a massive water tornado trapping him inside.

Hyōketsu was very surprised but then started to bellow in laughter.

"Not bad little Yuki, not bad! But you must know that this cannot hold me!" He shouted as he lowered his stance, getting ready to focus his chakra.

Fuyōna suddenly appeared from an ice mirror above Hyōketsu. The Yeti was surprised and attacked him with a quick swipe of his claws.

Fuyōna blocked the attack with bones that took the impact, the force of it sent him flying back into the water tornado where he suddenly started to glide along the water as if he was surfing it.

"Don't think I will let you off so easy!" Hyōketsu shouted as he started forming hand signs again.

Fuyōna smiled also and dived headfirst straight at him. Hyōketsu was once again forced to stop his hand signs and deal with Fuyōna, who was quickly becoming a thorn in his side.

"It's over!" Hyōketsu shouted as he launched his first forwards with serious intent to kill. Hitting Fuyōna head-on.

Hyōketsu's massive fist hit Fuyōna head-on, but instead of his body crumbling against the force, he turned into pure lightning.

the sudden jolt of electricity from the clone hit

Hyōketsu hard, the added effect from the water tornado made things worse, and it suddenly crashed down onto him, mixing with the lighting and frying him, doing a lot of damage.

If not for the large amount of natural energy within the old Yeti, he knew he would have been done for. It seems his luck had run out, though, as his body started to shrink as his own sage mode was fading.

It would seem that the massive combined jutsu had done enough damage to stop Hyōketsu from taking in any more natural energy, leaving him vulnerable.

Fuyōna slowly appeared out of an ice mirror behind the old Yeti with a bone blade drawn.

"Give it up, lord Hyōketsu." He said, pointing the blade at him.

The old Yeti breathed a heavy sign and raised his hands in defeat.

"It would seem I have nothing left to teach you, little Yuki." He said, turning to face him.

Fuyōna put his blade down, giving the old Yeti a big smile. "You trained me well, lord Hyōketsu."

The old Yeti nodded as he lowered his head.

"Not well enough, it would seem!" He shouted as he suddenly launched forward, striking Fuyōna hard in the stomach with a powerful blast. It was the same attack he had used the first time they had met.

"Or perhaps I trained you better than I thought..." Hyōketsu said as he smiled.

The Fuyōna in front of him turned to ice and shattered into pieces as the real Fuyōna once again stepped out of an ice mirror that formed behind the old Yeti.

"You did," Fuyōna said as he handed the old Yeti his walking stick.

"Well, that settles it. Fuyōna Yuki, I hereby declare you a Sage of the horned Yeti clan!" He said proudly.

Fuyōna smiled as he nodded his head.

"Thank you for everything, lord Hyōketsu."

Fuyu and the others all walked over to him, congratulating him as they did.

"Fuyōna, I always knew you were important since the moment I met you," Fuyu said proudly.

Kōri also chipped in squatting down.

"You're the first since the old man to master sage mode! I still can't believe it!"

Mō Fubuki crossed his arms over his large chest, still sore about his loss.

"Don't get too cocky now that you're a sage kid. It doesn't mean you can tell me what to do, got it!" He said.

The others laughed at him, and Fuyōna joined them. Hyōketsu cleared his throat, getting everyone's attention before he spoke.

"It's time for one last feast before little Yuki here leaves us. He has endured three long years of hellish training to master his new abilities..." The old Yeti said in a serious manner.

"So let's celebrate!" He suddenly said, breaking the serious atmosphere.

Everyone agreed, and all laughed it off, Fuyu picked Fuyōna up, placing him on his shoulder, and they all marched off to the village to prepare the party.

-Sometime later-

It was dark now, yet the Yeti village was full of life. Fires lit the sky, and song and dance took place throughout as the entire town had gathered to give Fuyōna his farewell.

There was plenty of food, huge fish and slabs of meat could be seen roasting on the large fires. The Yetis even had their own alcohol, some kind of Yeti mead that was very strong.

Fuyu was drinking it like water as he wiped the remains off his chops.

"Have some Fuyōna! This stuff will put hairs on your chest!" He said, laughing hard.

Fuyōna did have some, and he had to say Fuyu wasn't kidding, the mead was seriously strong. So strong he spat it everywhere, getting a huge laugh from everyone watching.

Fuyōna decided not to have anymore and laughed it off, deciding that stuff wasn't for him. Not long after, the food was ready, and Hyōketsu stood up, getting the entire village's attention.

"Here marks the end of little Yuki's time with us..." He started everyone remaining quiet as they waited for him to continue.

"Never has a human being able to learn our sage arts that were passed to us so long ago. With great honour, I have passed the teachings down to a Yuki clan member that you all know we have had a good relationship with for many, many years. I can only hope that with Fuyōnas rise to sagehood. He will once again bring greatness to our clan and his own. To Fuyōna Yuki. The sage!" He shouted as he raised his mug of mead.

The entire village joined him as they, too, lifted their horns and mugs, repeating the words. "FUYŌNA YUKI!!!" They cheered.

The party quickly continued, and the drinking and eating began, lasting well into the early hours of the morning.

Fuyōna couldn't help think about his past three years here, and he had to admit he would miss this place. Even though it had been the most challenging thing he had ever done, he really had enjoyed himself.

He only hoped that when he returned to the village, he could change things for the better.

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