17.Zekram Bael

Their shock is justifiable. It takes a monstrous amount of demonic power to be able to mutate even a single evil piece. And here I am... holding a box with four of them. 

I am happy that I got four mutated pieces but now it is also quite troublesome to find potential peerage candidates. There is no way I am wasting my mutated pieces for someone with blade blacksmith or twice critical with almost no potential.

I don't mind using my mutated pieces for people with high potential and weak sacred gears. Even if they have a common gear like twice critical but their potential is high, using the mutated piece will be worth it. Otherwise, there is no way I am going to waste them.

"We should probably discuss the formalities." My mother said to Ajuka, who nodded in return.

Some might think that the procedure of receiving Evil Pieces is easy. But that is definitely not the case… One needs to go through a lot of paperwork to be considered 'eligible' to receive the pieces.

"lt shouldn't take very long, you just need to sign a few papers." Ajuka said while taking out an entire stash of papers. 

He thinks that the entire stash can be signed within a few minutes? Unless mother blindly signs them… which she definitely won't. It will at least take 2 hours. This guy is a madlad.

"I would like to discuss a few things with you, young lad. That is… if you don't mind listening to an old man's rambling." Zekram said, laughing at the last part.

"Of course not, Lord Zekram." I instantly replied.

"Very well then. We should probably go somewhere quiet. This place is filled with lab rats." This made Ajuka's eyebrows twitch but Zekram ignored it.

"Alright then." He said and a teleportation circle with the Bael crest appeared below the two of us, before engulfing us in a pillar of light.

.

.

.

.

"Not very efficient like your bloodline ability, but it still gets the job done."

 He said as the light died down revealing a beautifully decorated room. It was bigger than any of our rooms… Hell! It was big enough to fit a dragon inside it. But it was to be expected, after all, Bael is the highest-ranked pillar within the devil community and if they didn't live in such luxury… Who would?

"Make yourself comfortable. This place may look like this but it is old… It was made when both your grandfather and I just turned 30. So you can consider this place to be ancient."

This surprised me because if what he just told was true, then this place is indeed several millennia old. 

"Take a seat." He said politely.

I nodded and sat on the sofa. It looks nice… wait… Is that dragon skin? Did he really make a sofa out of dragon skin?!?

"So, Shisui." He said with a bit of seriousness. "Tell me honestly, who taught you Chakra?" 

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

What?!?

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. I know there must be a reason for you to cloak your Chakra. But as far as I know, there is no chakra user in your family. Only your mother knows a little bit about it, but not enough to teach others. So tell me little Shisui, who taught you about Chakra?" He asked with a calm, grandfatherly smile. 

That smile doesn't help at all! But there is no point in hiding it. I was going to reveal about my chakra abilities soon anyways.

"I was born with it." This made him raise an eyebrow. "I tapped into chakra for the first time when I was barely a year old… No it was even before that. But I didn't know how to use it. It was instinctual. When I used it for the first time, my father was ecstatic. He almost went outside shouting that his son was a genius."

He nodded, indicating for me to continue.

"But I was afraid… I was afraid that what if my progress stagnated and my father found it disappointing. I was scared of disappointing my parents. And also scared of people calling me a monster for being born with such high amounts of Chakra and demonic power. So I started cloaking it."

I was bullsh*tting… I was just unsure of how to explain it to my parents… The various chakra abilities that I possess. Being born with chakra was understandable but how was I going to explain about my chakra nature and abilities? I wasn't sure. So I decided to keep my abilities secret for a while

"I see. Something like this is not unheard of. But are you sure it's a good idea?" He asked.

"Both my parents already know about my Chakra cloak. But they don't know the extent of my Chakra abilities." 

"I can understand that. After all, they know about Chakra but they don't train in it. So it is understandable that they can't measure your chakra reserves. But let me be honest with you. Your reserves are massive. Even the leader of the Yōkai faction doesn't have that much Chakra. And she is a nine-tailed fox." He said with a surprised expression.

Yes, there is a nine-tailed fox in this world as well. But from what I know… She is pathetic. Calling her a nine-tailed fox is an insult to the Kyuubi of my previous world. The Kyuubi's chakra reserves are massive. But the nine-tailed fox is very weak in this world. Raw power-wise, she is strong. But Chakra wise… her reserves don't even compare to the one-tailed beast.

"But… Your chakra is totally different from the one I use." He shook his head. "No, it's different from the Chakra used by everyone I know. Your Chakra feels more… pure." 

I noticed that as well, the chakra users in this world are totally different from the one of my previous world. The chakra in this world is quite chaotic, unbalanced, and impure. 

"But it is not the reason I brought you here." He said before going towards one of his bookshelves and pulling out a book.

"When we were young, your grandfather and I made a promise." He sighed before putting the book on the table and opening it to reveal a photo of him and my grandfather.

"Centuries ago… When we were on the battlefield, your grandfather and I saw countless devils die. We realized how weak and fragile our lives were… We used to believe that humans were the most fragile beings but us devils… are no different. We learned that during the Great War. That day… We made a promise, the promise was to make our pillars the strongest. But *sigh*… your grandfather died on the battlefield before he could achieve that dream. He died saving my wife's life. And as a dying wish… he made me promise to help the Seere heir reach the top… the same height as the Bael." He sighed.

"And you... Shisui are that heir… And as promised I want to help you and your pillar reach the top. To keep my promise to my dead friend." He finished with a sad smile.

Shisui sighed before asking. "I see, but why are you telling me this? And as for being the heir…My father was one. So why me and not him?" I asked, quite curious.

He let his headrest on the padding of the sofa before letting out a sad sigh. "The promise was to help the "heir" not the "Lord." He shook his head. "Your father became the Lord of Seere after your grandfather's death and so he lost the right. So that makes you, Shisui Seere, the current heir of Seere the next choice."

Zekram Bael, one of the oldest living devils who is known for his manipulative nature, is going to help me just to keep his promise with my grandfather? It doesn't feel right.

"Don't worry, I do have my own motives for helping you if that's what you are thinking." He said with a smile. "But it's true that I am mostly doing it to keep my promise with your grandfather."

I need people to help me to increase the rank of my pillar but it won't be easy. Zekram is an authoritative figure even within the council, getting his help will increase the pace of my plans by quite a large margin. But… can I trust him?

"Tell me Shisui… You being born with innate chakra makes sense. But the pace at which it increased doesn't. So… how did you do it?" He asked still keeping his smiling face.

Increase in my Chakra reserves… huh?

.

.

.

.

[Flashback: 5 years]

Unknown to his parents, Shisui was meditating in the middle of the night. It was a necessary practice he did once every full moon to stabilize his Chakra. But this time it was different. Unlike every other month, when his body is surrounded by a calm pure blue chakra… his current self was surrounded by a deep orange chakra cloak. It was chaotic… almost demonic. 

If not for the countless seals he put around his room, his parents would have already barged into his room after sensing such chaotic chakra.

"Urrgh… What the hell!!! It hurts!!" He said placing his hand over the tattoo at the back of his neck. Unlike the usual black color of tattoo, it was currently red. And it was rapidly changing the pattern.

"It burns… aggh.." The blazing tattoo soon started changing its design. The previous almond like tattoo with a pupil design on it changed into a single tomoe'd pattern. Yet that was not the only change the tattoo went through. The seed started turning into an even deeper shade of red before it cracked a bit at the bottom and a thin line sprouted from it, similar to a normal sprouted seed.

Once the process was over and the seed went back to its usual shade of black, Shisui felt a massive chakra boost. His previously average jōnin level chakra increased multi-folds. It was now at least comparable to 4-5 kages.

"*Huff* *Huff* W-What just happened?" Shisui went towards his dresser's mirror to check if anything was wrong with his body but found none. But then he decided to check his back and he was surprised to find the change in his tattoo.

"W-Wait, What? How?" He was clearly confused but then it clicked. He remembered that the Primordial said that Hashirama's bloodline was not the only thing the chakra provided... There was more. But it was up to him to discover it. And there he found it… The massive increase in his chakra.

"But why did the pattern change into a single tomoe Sharingan and what is this root?" He let out a tired sigh. "I will think about it later. Too tired to think straight now." He crashed in his bed after that.

[Flashbacks: 4 years 6 months]

Inside a dense forest, Shisui was practicing his chakra abilities and his newfound chakra release…

[Sand Style: Sand Dome]

This caused the ground below him to change into sand forming a dome around him.

[Release]

The dome fell apart.

Changing his stance he tried another Jutsu. 

[Sand release: Sandstorm]

This Jutsu caused the wind around him to change and the sand to rise in the air forming a cyclone of sand. The force of the sandstorm was enough to destroy half of the forest around him.

"This Kekkai Genkai turned out to be more dangerous than I thought." He said before letting out a weird chuckle.

Sand release was another ability he received after the first root appeared.

[Timeskip: 4 years]

[Wood style: Hell's flora]

This Jutsu allowed a humongous forest to appear with countless monster-sized venus flytraps. 

"Not bad for my first S-Ranked Wood Jutsu." Shisui said with a satisfied smile. 

[Release]

He released the wood clones and the rock clones he was using to repair the damage.

[Timeskip: 3 years]

Within the last two years, Shisui's demonic power increased a lot while he felt it got purified by over 1/10th. 

As for his chakra, another tail sprouted from the seed which also increased the destructive power of his fire style along with increasing his chakra reserves, making it comparable to 9-10 kages.

[Fire style: Yama's Flames]

Blue flames of pure demonic chakra engulfed the entire area which started melting even the rocks around him.

This was one of Shisui's new S+ ranked jutsus. 

His current fire release was strong enough to burn dragon scales with ease.

[Timeskip: 2 years]

Shisui broke through multiple levels as now he was able to sense up to 5 kilometers with his enhanced senses.

His demonic powers increased quite a bit and he made multiple advancements with his chakra.

[Timeskip: 1 year]

Another root sprouted from the seed bringing his reserves close to the reserves of 15 kages. As for his abilities, his water jutsus were now stronger than his previous strongest chakra release, which was lightning by over ten folds. 

His demonic powers didn't increase much but the purity increased quite a bit.

He also *nearly* perfected the Jutsu that he used against his father during their spar 4 years ago. He named it [Sky Rebellion.]

[Water Style: Leviathan of the 13 seas]

This Jutsu allowed Shisui to change the geography of the area around him. The land vanished as it got submerged in water while a huge Chinese dragon made of water appeared from it.

"Not bad."

Shisui was covered by black lightning before he vanished from the ground and appeared above the water leviathan.

[Sky Rebellion]

Using this technique, Shisui shot towards the leviathan like a black lightning bolt. The impact caused the leviathan to splatter into countless droplets of water.

But he didn't stop there. He used the technique multiple times in rapid successions. The rapid use of the technique caused the space around him to crack and black clouds to appear around the area. Seeing this he stopped his technique.

"This… turned out to he more dangerous than I thought." He mumbled before releasing the [Leviathan of the 13 seas].

Even after the leviathan is destroyed the user can resummon it countless times as long as he has enough chakra.

.

.

.

. 

And chakra is not an issue for Shisui.

[Flashback end]

"If I were to be perfectly honest… I have no idea. It was like my Chakra increased by quite a large margin in the last 5 years. This first time the increase took place when I was 5. And it just kept on increasing since then." Zekram raised an eyebrow at my answer but didn't say anything else.

"I realized that my Chakra is different from the chakra of others when I turned 6 and saw a yōkai using Chakra." It was true. My father took me to Japan when I turned 6, and there I saw a yōkai using Chakra. 

"I see." He sighed.

"Tell me Lord Zekram, what will you gain from this… other than being able to fulfill the promise made to my grandfather?" I saw his calm smile turning into a grin.

"My grandson died years ago…" he stopped before looking into my eyes. "And since only my descendants are left… The closest heir is you. The heir of Seere. So I want you to fulfill another promise that your grandfather and I made all those years ago."

"To train the heir?" He shook his head.

"To make him a Devil King."

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

"Pardon?" I must have heard wrong.

"I said that we promised to make one of our heirs a Devil King."

These guys must have been drunk to make a promise like that… Devil King, seriously? The current devil kings are at a league of their own. And to be able to be a Devil King, one of the current kings needs to give up their seat… which I don't see them doing. Or the person needs the support of both the public and the council. And even if he/she does get the position, Satan save them from the wrath of the other kings.

"You are not joking now are you?" I ask just to confirm one more time.

He shook his head with a smile. "No, I am not. It wasn't a joke." When he felt my face morphing into a scowl he laughed. "Do you really think I spent all these centuries lazing around? Obviously not! I have ways to make it happen."

I didn't say anything. I know that if there is any devil capable of dethroning the current kings using his tactics… it is this guy. And if I become a devil king, it will also profit him a lot. It will increase his authority over the council even more… if he can use me. Heh… not happening old man. But I won't reject his offer.

"But it won't be possible unless you grow stronger. Chakra is not enough to qualify for the position of a Devil King… You will have to increase your demonic power... To Peak-Ultimate class at least." He said in a serious tone.

I kept quiet for a while before replying. "It is possible."  

He let out another laugh. "Very well then! I will provide every possible resource that you might need… If you promise me to reach Ultimate class within a century."

A century, he says… It is almost impossible. A pipe dream for most devils. But for me? Not really. I can.. No, I must grow stronger than the current Devil Kings to be able to prevent the apocalypse.

"You know that you are talking to a 10-year-old right?" I ask him.

"Are you a 10-year-old though?" His smile made me grow a smile of my own.

"Very well then… It's a promise." I said extending my hand.

"Yes." he shook my hand. "It is a promise."

[A/N: Thank you, Geir.

Now,

Zekram's personality is heavily modified in my fic. He is still extremely manipulative, but I will explain his relationship with Shisui's gramps in the next chap.

As for the advancements Shisui made in Charka usage... I just gave an overview... Each ability will be explained in detail as the story progresses.]