4 The Brilliant One and The Red Puppy

A bolt of crimson flashed through the forest in a heartbeat.

Kokuo extended its chakra, trying to find a route without people around. Even though they had gotten quite far from Iwagakure, there was still a possibility that a hunting squad was still trailing them. They couldn't stop just yet.

Instead of going in a straight line, they took a winding pattern, zig-zagging around the trees. Whenever they encountered a trace of civilization, they would move around and find another path.

"Trees. Trees everywhere… This land is so fertile."

No matter where they go, the forest kept spreading as far as his eyes could see.

"Is it not normal for the Land of Fire to be fertile?"

Kokuo replied half-heartedly.

"Land of Fire?"

Was that another nickname? The spirit beast did call the U-Tsang's northern mountain as 'Land of Earth'. Perhaps this Land of Fire thing was just a fancy way in the future era to call the place that he knew.

Dusk descended into night, night gave way to dawn. A new day had arrived with the sun taking its rightful throne up above the clouds.

They had managed to cover a large distance thanks to Kokuo's inexhaustible chakra. There hadn't been any sign of Iwagakure pursuers as well. It should be relatively safe after coming this far.

But… this density of trees… not even the Nanman region could compare. They hadn't gone that far south as well.

'Hmm, whatever, I'll just figure it out later.'

They finally stopped near a small creek. The red chakra cloak covering his body dissipated into thin air alongside the white steam produced by Boil Release. The overwhelming heat that ravaged his body was replaced by the gentle morning breeze, which made him feel a bit ticklish.

"...Huh?"

The comfortable sensation didn't last long as his knees involuntarily gave out. His muscles, which were completely fine mere seconds ago, suddenly ached all over. Moreover, he felt his body devoid of energy as if he hadn't eaten anything for months on end.

"Your stamina is drained from extensive use of This One's chakra. Take some rest."

Kokuo calmly explained, looking like everything was perfectly normal.

"..."

No wonder it had abruptly stopped in this random spot...

Oh well.

Yao Huang laid on his back, controlling his breath to enter a meditative state that would hasten his recovery. The onslaught of pain and fatigue was actually a bit nostalgic.

Just like other immortals, Yao Huang had a spiritual body made entirely out of qi. He no longer had any need to rest or eat, only requiring qi to rejuvenate himself.

But now, he once again had a mortal body, along with all the shortcomings that came with it. He didn't know whether he wanted to laugh or cry.

"So this is what it feels to be 'alive'..."

While he was busy stabilizing his strength, Kokuo was growing restless within his psyche, looking left and right with sparkles in its eyes.

"Well? I did keep my promise, didn't I?"

Kokuo harrumphed, refusing to reply. However, it was clear that the white beast had eased up around his presence.

It wasn't as if their problem had been solved just yet. The spirit beast was still embedded in his soul, and the threat of him dying upon extraction didn't seem to be a lie. It should be possible if he could use mystic arts, but that would require a higher cultivation base, something that would take quite a while to achieve.

Yao Huang could only hope that Kokuo would be satisfied with this arrangement for the time being.

Stepping closer toward the kid, Kokuo lowered its head.

"Your name."

"Hmm?"

"Tell This One your name," Kokuo repeated. "Do you prefer This One to call you 'kid' all the time?"

"Ah. Right."

Yao Huang pointed at himself with a thumb.

"My name is Yao Huang."

...

His words before the name were normal, but when he reached the most important part, his pronunciation returned to his old memory's language.

Kokuo couldn't understand.

"...Pray repeat it again."

"Yao. Huang."

"..."

Kokuo was in a dilemma.

It was proud of its intelligence, capable of besting humans in all fields, let alone simple linguistic comprehension. However, it felt like its figurative tongue would get tangled up if it tried to imitate those words.

"How... to write that?"

In the end, it went for the easier route. As long as it knew the kanji, it should be possible to find the correct pronunciation.

Yao Huang proceeded to write his name on the dirt with his finger.

"..."

Ah, heck, was that even kanji?

"Kid, how do you read these characters? What do they mean?"

Yao Huang pointed at the first character.

"This is my surname, 'Yao'. "

He then moved to the second character.

"This is my given name, Huang. It means 'brilliant'. The one who had given me this name wished for me to become a strong person, strong enough to protect those dear to me."

He avoided the spirit beast's gaze at that last second.

Kokuo had been paying attention to the kid's explanation. Aside from the two words, everything was said in normal language, so it could finally see the reasoning behind the name.

"This One understands."

It proceeded to write another character with its hoof.

"Light (Guang)?"

"From now on, This One shall use this name and call you, 'Hikari'."

Yao Huang felt something weird with the way Kokuo said it, but he shook it off. Perhaps it was because of cultural shock. After all, this era's language had changed so much from his time.

"Then, please take care of This One."

"Likewise."

The tailed beast lifted its hoof, which Yao Huang grabbed in response to imitate a handshake.

Suddenly, Yao Huang jumped back to his feet.

"..."

"What is it? Iwagakure pursuers?"

Kokuo went alert at once, but Yao Huang just looked at him strangely.

"...No. I just need to answer nature's call."

"..."

Oh.

Oh…

Yao Huang felt irked by Kokuo's thousand-yard stare. He was also surprised, alright? It had been thousands of years since the last time he had to do business in a loo. He had almost forgotten how it actually feels like.

They were in the middle of a forest, so there was no need to be polite. Yao Huang dived into a nearby tall bush and started to pull his pants down.

"..."

Wait, the feeling was a bit… different...

Meanwhile, his hand instinctively grabbed at a certain place, only to find that he had failed to grasp anything.

As a last resort to keep his sanity, Yao Huang commanded his body to exhume the liquid waste right then and there, just to see where it would come out from. The experiment concluded with his behind getting wet all over due to letting it out while standing.

Owh…

"Venerable One. Are you there?"

"...This One is right here."

"Give it to me straight. Am I a eunuch?"

"...What is a eunuch?"

Yao Huang was quickly losing his composure. His hands were maniacally grabbing, scratching, even slapping that place, but what was lost wouldn't magically appear just because he did so.

"It's gone!"

"What is?"

"My little sword is gone, damn it!"

"Little..."

The white beast's eyes turned into swirls.

"Venerable One, please tell me! Does sealing a spirit beast into one's body turn you into a eunuch? Is that the price to pay?! What kind of backward demonic technique is this!?! If I see the person responsible for this, I'll smack his head so hard his skull will come out of his ass-"

"Calm! Down!"

Kokuo manifested a tail out of Yao Huang's body, and then used it to smack his head.

Alright, now that the kid had sufficiently calmed down, they could finally have a proper conversation.

"Answer This One first. What is a eunuch?"

"Obviously, it's men whose 'thing' had been cut..."

Yao Huang replied flatly.

"..."

Kokuo regretted ever asking.

"So... you're saying that your... 'thing'... has gone? As in, you lost it?"

Yao Huang nodded furiously.

Kokuo felt his head pounding.

"But... kid, logically, it's easier to think that you didn't have one to begin with."

Yao Huang felt his heart pierced by a sharp needle.

Of course.

It is a distinct possibility.

It was also the possibility that Yao Huang had tried to reject the most. He was born male. When he created his spiritual body, he had also been a male. He had been a male for so long that he just couldn't entertain the thought that his reincarnation could be... could be...

While the kid was still standing like an idiot, Kokuo smacked him once again with his tail, throwing the kid into the creek.

As he lifted his head off the water, a reflection slowly formed on the surface.

Staring back at him was a pair of large, round eyes. The shoulder-length brown hair clung to his neck, still dripping water down his shoulders.

Ah, wrong. It wasn't 'him' anymore, but 'her', right?

After all, what looked back at Yao Huang was clearly a young girl's face...

She blinked a few times, then turned back to Kokuo. The beast just gave her a slow nod.

A bright smile blossomed on her face.

And then, she promptly fainted.

The creek produced a huge splash as she sank into the shallow water like a rock.

"..."

Kokuo manifested all of its five tails from the girl's back to push her out of the creek. And then, the beast dragged her motionless body into a thick bush. It could just wake her up by force, but she still needed to recover from her fatigue nonetheless. It couldn't understand why the girl suddenly fainted like that, but the timing was just right. Taking a few hours to sleep should be fine before resuming their journey.

"..."

"..."

"...?"

The beast's slumber was cut short when it sensed a presence rapidly coming closer.

Without a warning, the bushes parted ways. However, what popped out was different from Kokuo's expectations.

*Bark!*

It was a puppy.

Covered in white fur and decorated with a pair of drooping ears, the little creature strut closer toward the fainted kid, sniffing and nudging with its nose, tail wagging all the way.

Kokuo froze momentarily, not knowing what to do. If it was an enemy ninja or a pursuing nin-dog, it could just blow it away with Tailed Beast ball, but it would be absurd to do so against a little puppy.

"...Lesser beast, go away."

Kokuo spread out its presence, creating an illusion of its real form in order to scare the puppy away.

The little puppy noticed it immediately. Its fur stood up on its end as it stared at the shadow of a horse-like monster. It wanted to feign bravery with barks, but what came out were mere whines. It retreated one step, two steps... Finally, it couldn't take it anymore and leaped toward the fainted kid, hiding under her body.

"..."

Why did it have the opposite effect… maybe it should just manifest the tails once again and throw the puppy away. That might be faster.

While Kokuo was pondering over what to do, a loud voice suddenly boomed through the forest.

A human's voice.

"Akamaru! Where did you go!"

There was a sound of hurried footsteps, and then the bushes parted once again.

Kokuo quickly erased its presence, taking refugee once again inside the kid's soul.

As for the puppy, it let out a happy bark as if it had found its salvation.

"There you are! Why did you suddenly run away... huh?"

That day, a boy who had initially wanted to walk his dog... had ended up finding a human instead.