Chapter 9: Tall Tale

To say the situation was dire was an understatement. Calypso. A hulking giant that held a sword twice the size of a normal person. The behemoth stood approximately six feet and seven inches tall, had Kenji measured up to the man in any discernable fashion; it would be the retelling of David and Goliath. Near Calypso, fire flies danced around his body in a hypnotic way, perhaps attracted to the small bulbs of light that dangled from his ear lobes. They glowed periodically.

The brute in front of him was a wild creature, Calypso wore no shoes and his bear-feet hugged the ground. Compared to Kenji, Calypso's neck was cut short. A rugged man who's feet left deep imprints into the ground, as if he were marking his territory. The number five sat bellow the shoulders of his foe, could it be his rank? The Black Mamba troupe was an organization after all, if this was a class five shinobi standing in front of him, then their were three levels that separated him from Calypso. At least this would be the case if Kenji were your average academy student. It was a misconception to believe that Kenji had very little knowledge on jutsu that had anything to with the ninja tool. A false view held by his class-mates and even his own Clan.

This misunderstanding was propped up by Kenji's disinterested nature in the subject, and his sleepy demeanor in class. But, what they had not seen, was his studios nature in all things related to the ninja tool. If he wanted to turn the world upside down, and have traditional methods of performing jutsu recognized, then he needed to understand that which he denounced. And so he did. Calypso carried on his wrist a 4th generation ninja tool. Which meant the device was capable of preserving large amounts of the user's internal chakra. 4th generation ninja tools were loud upon activation, and it required an immense practice to diminish the sound.

It was a prototype, the only shinobi Kenji had seen wearing the darn things were...well...just Rekka. The only way Calypso could have gotten his hands on it, was if he had stolen it.

The ground shifted beneath his feet as Kenji wrestled with his thoughts. The dirt under his shoes were packed full of leaves, sticks and fallen debris from the Weeping Willow trees, that collapsed miles away. The remains must have blew toward this part of forest. Calypso grunted.

"You," Calypso impaled his massive sword into the ground, it stood upright. "Jacket says...you are Uzumaki, no?"

Kenji didn't respond and raised his fist in front of his face. Mimicking his favorite taijutsu master from the Chunin exam competitions.

Calypso pointed at his own wrist "No tool, bare-arms...me no get trophy now." He reached behind his back and pulled out several ninja tools that were half busted, broken and some still had dried blood on them, the tools dangled from a series of black strings. "That ok, I take your head, and your jacket instead." He made a quick cutting motion over his forearm.

Kenji clasped his hands together and quickly performed [Shadow clone jutsu] a cloud of smoke revealed three shadow clones.

"Heretic," said Calypso, as he took a step back. Calypso leaned over, and his arms hung in-front of him like a ape. Had his arms been any longer his knuckles would have dragged across the ground.

The three shadow clones would not be enough to challenge Calypso, now was not the time to be holding back. Kenji clenched his teeth and performed another series of hand motions.

[ Multi shadow clone Jutsu]

A small sea of shadow clones appeared, they were plenty in number, and almost too many to count. He had found this jutsu buried under the ruins of the Hokage mountain. The jutsu was buried deep under several broken pieces of the 7th Hokage's head. Had the 555th Hokage been aware of his ventures into the Hokage ruins, he would have been thrown in jail, and any item he found would have been confiscated. Any manuscripts would have been put into the manufacturing facility and prepped for mass distribution via the ninja scrolls. What he had, was one of a kind.

Calypso smiled ear to ear revealing his jagged teeth. Without saying a word, he leapt forward and landed violently in the sea of shadow clones, the earth beneath his feet uprooted, as dozens of clones vanished due to the shock waves. Those lucky enough to avoid the attack in time maneuvered around him. Calypso's ninja tool roared with and intense squeal, that sounded like a lion attacking a gazelle.

[Water style: Water Possession jutsu]

Large masses of water, that resembled Calypso's visage, peeled off his body. There were at least five of them. The masses jumped towards the clones and began exploding upon contact. Simultaneously, several clones had already approached Calypso and attempted a series of attacks, the first punch that landed hit Calypso square in the face. However, he did not budge, instead, a mass of water absorbed the blow. It wrapped around the clone's arm then entered its' mouth. The clone took a step back and began clawing at its' throat, before throwing up gallons of water onto the floor. In little time did the stream of water turn into a gush of red blood, as the shadow clone turned pale and shriveled up, before finally disappearing.

Any clone that had been hit by the watery explosion met the same fate. Dozens of clones began choking as one after the other vanished. However this didn't stop Kenji, he continued to press the attack. More clones rushed Calypso and began attacking him, some even grabbed his legs in an attempt to keep him anchored to the ground. The brute swung his fist in every direction swatting the clones as they came, with one knee he stomped the ground.

[ Water style: Sprouting Impaler Jutsu]

A series of water spikes protruded from the broken ground and seared through the dozens of clones that held him in place. As if the water had a mind of it's own, it whipped and snapped at the clones, killing them outright. Calypso marched full speed ahead and like a bull, he plowed through the clones in his way.

With every step he took his ninja tool would roar, and these whip like water structures would spawn from the ground underneath his feet. They destroyed every clone nearby.

Kenji could see the hulking frame of Calypso approaching him at great speeds. Time was of the essence, he could not afford to take a punch from this guy. With his hands near his chest he weaved a series of complex hand signs.

[ Wind Style: Rasen cloak Jutsu]

A thick veil of blue energy covered his body. This was one of his favorite techniques, it was an original concoction that found it's roots in the 50th ninja war several decades ago. The Futon techniques that followed the Rasengan family, usually did not require hand seals to perform. Instead only a series of movements were required to stabilize the chakra, called 'Shape Manipulation'.

To by-pass the excess usage of energy required to hold the form of any Futon technique, such as the Rasengan. Kenji developed a seal, that would coat the users body in a layer of fine Futon energy. This allowed him to manipulate the attributes of the energy in a creative way. Usually he would cover just his hands or his feet. The circulating energy would accelerate his speed when applied to his feet, and make his hands as heavy as boulders. This time he would shoot for the moon in this fight and cover his entire body.

Calypso blew past the remaining clones, and reached Kenji's location in seconds. His punch struck Kenjis guard. The barrier he had placed over his body absorbed much of the blow, but the force of the punch sent him barreling backwards.

Calypso grunted.

As Kenji flew backwards, he clawed at the air in three motions. With each pass of his hands, small Rasen shuriken shot out from his finger tips. The shuriken rode the streams of air, to meet it's target. Calypso. He stood confidently prepared to take the attack head on. He should have dodged.

The shuriken blew past his body and ripped clean lines of skin off his flesh, one even lodged into his leg before vanishing.

"What...hell...is this?" Calypso's body was covered in bloody marks. He touched one of his wounds and rubbed the blood between his fingers.

The Rasen techniques, as Kenji called them. Attacked the human body at an anatomical level. The dense chakra broke several bonds that were required in the chakra-creation process. Getting hit with a large enough attack could cause a shinobi to lose the ability to manipulate the scrolls in their ninja tool, as the source of energy required to use it, would be broken. The Rasen techniques were deemed too dangerous for mass production. To this day only one of it's kind has been copied, [The Rasengan] and scrolls of it's type exist only in the hands of the Hokage.

Kenji stretched one of his arms forward, and a dense blade of chakra spiraled from his hand, forming a sword. He jutted the sword into the ground. This slowed his fall backwards, as dirt kicked up all around him. Eventually he stopped just inches away from colliding into a tree behind him. Kenji looked ahead, he had not been knocked too far from his opponent. He needed to come up with a plan. In between each of his thoughts, his chest jumped up and down as he struggled to catch his breath. The giant was distracted with his bloody wounds, it was the perfect moment to strike. There, remained but three shadow clones from the hoard he had summoned. It was evident by the damage Calypso took, that he was not invincible, all he needed to do was pierce his heart, and hope the giant's ego would get in the way of his common sense again.

Recalling the remaining shadow clones went unnoticed. Kenji quickly devised a plan. With shocking speed, he bull-rushed Calypso, ambushing him from a nearby tree. Two clones followed him.One occupied the space to his left, the other, his right. With a complex series of punches and kicks, they put Calypso on the defensive who was still bleeding. The wounds would not heal. Calypso, with each block; would return a few heavy punches to his attackers. The clones dodged, Calypso took a step forward, and a whip of water jutted out the ground and impaled one of them. Another clone landed a kick across Calypso's face, he spit out a little blood. Then grabbed the clone's leg, and threw it towards Kenji.

The clone collided with him. Below them a water whip protruded forward and impaled them both through the stomach. The clone was fixed above him, like a shish-kabab, he occupied the space below. The clone vanished and Kenji screamed out in pain, as blood gushed from his nose, eyes and ears.

"Night...night....Uzumaki" Calypso grabbed one of Kenji's flailing arms and snapped it at the fore-arm. He then ripped the arm from it's elbow. "Trophy...now...your head."

POOF.

The arm Calypso had been holding vanished, and the once screaming Kenji followed suit. Nothing but a thick cloud of smoke covered the giants body. Behind him Kenji sped forward with a sword made of dense chakra aimed directly at Calypso's heart. He was just inches away from meeting his mark, but Calypso reacted instantly, and back handed Kenji with enough force to create a crater in the ground.

There was one other time Kenji remembered getting hit this hard. It was when he fought the monster in the forest. Images of that day flashed through his mind as blood trickled all over his body. His hair was soaked with bloody patches of red, his arms had been broken by the force of the attack. He tried to move his legs, but they would not budge. In front of him he could barely see his hands, his vision was clouded with dust and smoke from the disturbed ground all around him. Calypso loomed over the crater and began laughing.

"Foolish boy...this is not my first fight, you...will...be my trophy" Calypso leaned into the crater and grabbed Kenji by the arm, then tossed him a few feet Infront of him. "I can use you...to...lure Rekka Uzumaki."

Kenji spit up blood. "I don't think she's ... the type to come running." he struggled to speak.

"Perhaps, we shall see" Calypso activated his ninja tool again, the roaring sound beat against Kenji's eardrums.

[ Water style: Embalming Water prison Jutsu]

A large mass of water wrapped around Kenji's entire body, swallowing him whole, the density of chakra stopped him from moving and his bones felt crushed by the immense pressure. His lungs were quickly overwhelmed by the water as it entered from every orifice of his body. His eyes, his ears , his mouth and nose. Kenji tried to scream but no sound could escape the prison, only small bubbles that expressed the futility of his struggle. And with that he lost consciousness.

He was lost in a dream. Floating in a dark room, he wore no clothes, and the darkness all around halted. Stopping at the sight of a pearly white mirror that stood opposite his person. He stared at his reflection. Suddenly a small monkey took over his mirrored form, then began to speak.

"I am a monkey, hiding high in the tree's I dance across Hell's valley, my many tails are my strength."

The creature transformed again "I am a lion, my mane hides my ferocious red fur, as I hide in the Plaines of the Ilex Valley."

Again he transformed "I am a frog, hailing from Mount MyoBoku, I hide in lakes and rivers all across the land of fire."

With one final transformation the creature spoke with a squeaky voice.

"I am a squirrel, indeed , sometimes my fur is brown, sometimes it is red, fluffy and round, I hide directly in front of your eyes."

The squirrel leaned forward and extended its tiny claws as if it wanted to meet with Kenji's eyes. Kenji extended his hand forward and touched the mirror to match the creatures gesture. Suddenly the creature transformed back into Kenji and his eyes burned a bright red.

Kenji awoke to the sound of foot steps approaching him. He could see his reflection in the pool of water that surrounded his head, his eyes no longer resembled a humans, more feline instead. His bones began to snap back into place as his wounds began to rapidly heal. The temperature of the water was nothing short of boiling as steam generated from his body. A thick layer of red energy swallowed his entire body and created a visible aura, the water around him suddenly exploded. Water droplets flew in every direction as thick steam filled the air.

Calypso was just a few inches away from the explosion, he held his hands in the air to cover his face from the boiling water. When it struck his hand he jumped back in pain. Kenji stood upright, directly in the middle of this boiling fog, all of his injuries were gone and wrapped around him protruded a single tail made of thick red chakra.

"What the hell" Calypso readied himself. But before he had time to process the situation, Kenji had closed the distance, behind him only an afterimage could be seen. He smashed a punch directly into Calypso's guard. The force of the punch moved the giant several feet backwards, and ripped the surface of his skin off his flesh. He grunted, but this time it was sustained as he expressed the pain he felt. Kenji did not give him time to rest, above Calypso he appeared, and landed several arial kicks followed by a myriad of punches. Calypso tried to block, but he was too slow, and Kenji was moving too fast. Each punch that landed burned his skin, and caused blood to shoot from his mouth.

Calypso stared at the monster in front of him, then he turned around and tried to run for his sword. While he ran, he tried to activate every jutsu in his arsenal. His ninja tool roared, but Kenji roared back. In comparison it made Calypso's tool sound like a whimper.

[ Water style: Sprouting Impaler Justsu]

[Water style: Water Possession Jutsu]

[Water style: Embalming Water Prison Jutsu]

[Water style: Flying Piranha's Jutsu]

[Water release: King Piranha Wave] Calypso jumped into the air and fired this jutsu at the ground. A large Piranha that could swallow several trees appeared in the reflection on the ground, then instantly closed it's jaws consuming all of the land between Kenji and Calypso. This created a massive gap between them that quickly filled with water.

Rushing forward, Kenji landed on the newly created lake, he ran perfectly on it's surface and continued his hunt. A wide array of water masses came flying towards him, but he dodged. The water whips splashed about and attempted to pierce his body, with ease he slipped passed them. Several flying piranhas made of water honed in on his position, with a quick swipe from his tail he destroyed them instantly. He was closing in on Calypso who had just picked up his sword.

Kenji from the edge of the lake jumped and took a swipe at Calypso with his left hand. Calypso blocked the hit with his massive blade. Then he swiped with his right hand. The giant blocked again. Kenji arms began to move faster and faster, as he continued this pattern of attack. Left to right, right to left. The only-thing Calypso could do was block the strikes. Eventually Kenji paused, then opened with a kick upwards , he struck the bottom of the blade with his foot and caused it to slip from Calypso hands and fly high into the air. He swiped at calypso again, but this time he couldn't block it.

Calypso's right arm fell to the floor, detached from his body. He screamed into the air. Kenji extended his hand and a Rasen blade projected, the blue energy mixed with the red aura that covered his body, and the blade plunged directly into Calypso heart.

"Ugh..." Calypso looked down at his chest as streams of blood poured from his mouth. His expression displayed none-thing but regret as fear washed across his face. His once hulking demeanor resembled a sack of potatoes leaned against the sharp ire of a spear. His clothes were soaking wet, with bits and pieces missing. It was impossible to make out the lettering on his clothing now. Not that Kenji was consciousness enough to do so anyways. The only thing that filled his vision was the enemy, the only thing on his mind was to kill that enemy. Calypso's blinking earrings that hung for his head dimmed as the light faded from his eyes.

Slowly they closed as the the brute fell to both knees. His sword landed perfectly next to him with a metallic thud. The giants body crashed into the ground. David had beaten goliath and Calypso Udanami, was no more.