91-100

As Nozomi moved forward she considered her options. Looking at Yamato's wooden goliath she began making plans as well as discarding some. By the time she was a few meters away from the wooden giant her hands moved. In the meantime the giant moved to punch her downwards.

"Water style: Call of the Drowned"

What followed surprised Yamato. A hand made out of water caught his wooden giant's hand while a second and third caught its legs all of which were trying to sink his golem. Then a fourth punched the giant in the crotch. Even though the giant has nothing down there Yamato felt a shiver crawling up his spine as he closed his leg.

'Seems like Nozomi took my advice to heart. Mental warfare is so fun.' Those were Tomoka's thoughts as she saw Nozomi's attack. She had been the one to teach both girls to go for men's crotch when fighting against them.

Even though Nozomi's attack dealt little to no damage to the giant that was expected. In reality she was buying time for her second jutsu. Seeing Nozomi doing the hand signs for another jutsu made Yamato worry a little. The first one could already be considered a high power jutsu, who knew what she would pull out now.

"Secret style: Nigerundayo!" With that said all three girls fled from the golem that still struggled against the water hands. They wouldn't be able to hold it for long as one had already collapsed but the girls didn't care.

"Good call, that thing is slow so it won't be able to catch up to us!" All three were laughing while running away. Nozomi and Hinata didn't understand why Tomoka had asked them to do that false jutsu when they fled but now they got it. It was simply for fun.

To tell the truth all three of them knew that Nozomi could take care of the golem but there was no need. The golem specializes in defense, its offensive power was rather low and its mobility pretty much nonexistent. All this information had been gathered by Nozomi with her first jutsu. It was logical, the longer they spent fighting the golem the less time they would have to finish their task.

"The clone that was controlling the golem should be following us. We need to set up an ambush or trap to either deal with it or slow it down." As Nozomi said, an explosion happened from the direction they had come from.

"One step ahead of you my dear Nozomi" Tomoka said with her creepy grin. The damaged clone that had been following them had just engaged in its self-destruction to deal with another of Yamato's clones.

The poor clone had been ambushed by the damaged clone that just happens to have a couple paper bombs stored in its chest plus a very nasty jutsu. Tomoka had realized that with a little modification the forbidden kamikaze jutsu could be used to make kamikaze clones. Like that Tomoka's phantom puppet exploded with the force of five paper bombs and all of its chakra combined.

"Hinata, has the wooden fortress entered your byakugan range?"

"Yes, it just did" This meant the three girls were around two hundred meters away from their objective.

"Tomoka, any ideas on how to get in?" Nozomi expected the place to be well protected so walking through the front door wouldn't be an option.

"I could always try and blow a hole to get through or better yet, I could try and blow the whole thing up." Like usual Tomoka's creepy grin made a reappearance.

"You really like explosions, don't you?" Said Hinata with a wry smile. In their training and spars Tomoka would make things explode constantly.

"Didn't you know Hinata?" As she said that the girls came face to face with the walls of the wooden fortress.

"Art is an explosion!" With that Tomoka moved her hands at an amazing speed. She was about to use APER's big brother, APHER.

"Wind style: APHER" After that Tomoka took a deep breath before spitting a solidified piece of air. It quickly flew through the air before impacting the wooden wall. Then the chakra that kept the gas compressed dispersed. What followed was a massive explosion that blew the whole wall to smithereens as it froze whatever remained.

'''What the fuck''' That was the only thought the three spectators of the explosion had. Yamato, Hinata and Nozomi had never seen an explosion freezing stuff, it simply didn't make sense.

"What are the two of you waiting for? Let's go!" Tomoka's words broke the two girls out of their trance. Yes, Tomoka somehow froze stuff with an explosion but the explanation for it was quite simple.

'Tomoka did it so it's fine.' That's right, through years of seeing Tomoka do absurd things the girls had become used to it. As the girls infiltrated the wooden fortress each one activated their respective dojutsu. Now is when things become serious.

"Hinata see anything we should be careful of?" Nozomi continued her role as leader.

"I can't see any traps but this whole place has chakra running through it. Yamato sensei could attack us from anywhere while in here." As if answering her statement, a pillar of wood grew out of the wall in a collision course with Tomoka.

Tomoka had seen this happening with her kinagan and so she was ready. With nimble movements she dodged the pillar easily. However from it a second followed which she dodged too. By now pillars started appearing from the floor and roof too attacking the other girls as well.

"Move forward and dodge as you can. We need to find the totem pole." Once again Nozomi gave her orders and the others followed. The problem was how the whole building could be considered a weapon. The three had a hard time dodging the constant attacks. Not to mention that Yamato would block off their paths from time to time.

"This is too annoying, I am breaking through." By the fifth time their path was blocked off Tomoka had enough. With a thought Tomoka imbued large amounts of lightning chakra in her body causing her lichtenberg scars to light up. The next moment she punched the wooden wall with all her strength causing it to blow up. Seeing this, Nozomi made a new plan.

"Hinata guide Tomoka to the totem in a straight line." Hearing Nozomi's words, Tomoka became excited. It was time for her to cut loose. What followed was a headache for Yamato as Tomoka wrecked his fortress.

A minute or so later the girls found themselves in a large room with the totem pole in the middle. Yamato, for his part, was standing on top of the pole. Seeing the girls reaching here so early he couldn't help but sigh. He hadn't gone easy on them per se but he still had to pull his punches so he wouldn't hurt them too much.

"It's commendable that you three managed to reach here so quickly but I won't be going easy on you." As Yamato said that he created a wooden clone. Then the clone created a dome shaped cage around the pole leaving itself and the real Yamato out.

"If you three want to get to the totem then you will have to take me down." As he said that he jumped in front of them and took a fighting stance.

Seeing this Tomoka made a simple hand sign to which the girls nodded. Following that Tomoka and Hinata ran forwards as Nozomi began running around. Seeing this Yamato engaged in melee with the two girls while the clone went to intercept Nozomi.

As Tomoka and Hinata approached Yamato both of them took out kunai with paper attached to them before throwing them. With no other option Yamato quickly dodged away as a loud explosion occurred where he had been. A moment later he had to dodge a kick from Tomoka followed by blocking a palm strike from Hinata.

Nozomi for her part was constantly throwing kunais and shurikens towards the clone while attaching paper bombs to the pillars of the building. Her job was simple, make the room collapse or at least try. Although the bombs blew up the pillars, they regenerated almost instantly. This was also good as it meant that Yamato was constantly using chakra to repair the place.

Like that the combat continued until Yamato noticed something that gave him chills. The air felt charged and Tomoka's hair was standing up on its own. The longer they fought the scarier Tomokas smile became as her jutsu charged. Finally after more than ten minutes of constant battle Tomoka and Hinata disengaged, then it happened.

"Lightning style: Dance of the Lightning Beasts"

As Tomoka said, lightning started to gather all around as it transformed into different beasts. From tigers to wolves, Bears to falcons, all kinds of beasts made of lightning appeared as they began to assault Yamato relentlessly.

"Hinata, I leave the rest to you." Said Tomoka with a bright smile as her body became unresponsive having used pretty much all of her chakra in that one move.

As soon as Tomoka's body began falling Hinata held her by the waist as she ran towards the wooden cage past Yamato. Yamato on the other hand was having a really bad time. No matter what he tried, the lightning beasts wouldn't leave him alone. Destroy one and two would take their place. Block their attacks and more would follow from another angle.

Seeing Hinata moving with Tomoka towards the cage, Nozomi made her move as well. With quick movements Nozomi began throwing smoke bombs all around. A moment later the place became filled with white smoke. Next Nozomi moved her hands before shooting a wind ball forwards. This removed just enough smoke to make a corridor towards the cage.

Reaching the cage Hinata didn't waste a single second as she struck it with all her strength aided by her earth style. Like a battering ram she broke through before jumping inside. To her left she saw Nozomi entering the cage as well. Victory was right in front of them until Hinata felt something grabbing her legs.

Looking down Hinata saw a pair of wooden hands holding her ankles as a wooden clone began leaving the ground. In a last second decision she threw Tomoka towards Nozomi.

"Win it!" Hearing this, Nozomi felt conflicted. If she touched the Totem and made Tomoka touch it then Hinata would have to go back to the academy. Making her decision Nozomi took Tomoka's hand and made her touch the totem.

"We are going to get through this together!" As soon as Tomoka's hand touched the totem Nozomi left her there as she ran towards Hinata who was currently engaged in a taijutsu battle against Yamato's clone. Unfortunately another adversary appeared.

The clone that had been inside Nozomi's smoke came out of it and intercepted the Uchiha. Now the two girls had to deal with a clone each. To make matters even worse Tomoka's jutsu started to run out. The lightning beasts stopped multiplying and started to diminish in number.

Seeing this Hinata knew that there was no way for the two of them to pass. One would need to be left behind. She hated it, she wanted to be together with the other two but in the end one would need to be left behind. Hinata made her decision then, she would be the one to be left behind.

'Earth style: Earthen Burial' It had been hard for her to find a gap to use her jutsu. Not only that but it had been even harder to find a way to use it on both clones at the same time. She had to move closer to Nozomi's fight and prepare everything.

As she finished her preparations and found the needed gap Hinata planted her palms on both of Yamato's clones. Once she did so earth began covering her arms from the elbow down, then it attached to the clones and buried them under the earth. The only problem is that she couldn't move if she wanted to keep them under her jutsu.

"Go! I don't know for how long I will be able to hold them and Tomoka's jutsu is about to run out!" Hinata turned her head to see an exhausted Nozomi. Hianta's chakra reserves were low now and they were being drained fast by her jutsu. Nozomi wasn't in any better condition.

"No, we will find a w-"

"There is no time. This is my decision. Please just go." Hinata was trying really hard to not cry. She really hated the situation her teacher had placed them in. However, there wasn't anything else she could do.

Seeing Hinata's determination Nozomi didn't argue anymore. She turned around and with a heavy heart touched the Totem. As she did, Yamato's clones that were struggling inside Hinata's jutsu stopped. Seeing that everything was over Hinata stopped her jutsu just in time to see Yamato walking towards them.

"So Tomoka and Nozomi passed. You know what this means, Hinata." Yamato said in a stern voice. Hinata just nodded as she tried to contain her tears. That is until…

"If she is going back to the academy then I am going as well." Hearing this Hinata turned around to see Nozomi with a serious expression.

"If you two are going back then there is no point in me going forward. Guess we are all going back." Hearing this, Nozomi and Hinata's gaze landed on Tomoka who was getting back on her feet.

"Is that your final decision?" Saying this Yamato's stern eyes looked at the three girls.

"""yes."""

"I see."

"In that case you three leave me no other option…" As Yamato said, silence filled the room. Hinata and Nozomi felt sad. All their effort hadn't paid off but at least they would still be together with Tomoka and that is all that matters.

"A friend of mine once told me this: Those that break the rules are trash, but those that abandon a friend are worse than trash. In the world of shinobi our lives are at risk and our decisions can lead to deaths. I am of the firm and believe that orders are a priority. However, I won't follow them if it means sacrificing my friends and those I care for.

You three have shown me your conviction. I respect your decision and so I approve of you all. Congratulations, you have passed my test." As Yamato finished speaking a smile adorned his face. Unlike Kakashi this was the first time he had been assigned as a jounin instructor. He couldn't be happier that his team was this united and strong.

"Really!? We passed!?" Hinata was having a hard time believing Yamato's words. She had been ready to accept her failure and now she was given the best news she could hope for.

"Yup, this is real Hinata" Hearing Tomoka's words Hinata got reminded of their time training together. Nozomi, like Hinata, remembered their time training together and then it clicked.

"You knew about this, didn't you?" At that point Nozomi was glaring at Tomoka. In the past Tomoka had insisted that their survival and that of their team took priority over whatever mission they were assigned. At the time they thought Tomoka was being a worry wart for them.

"Yup, sorry for not telling you directly but as I said, some lessons have to be lived so they can be learned." After hearing that the two girls couldn't stay angry with her.

"Well Yamato-sensei, how about we go and eat out as a team in celebration, My treat."

"Sounds good to me though I would like to be the one treating you girls." After that the group left and Tomoka guided them to Ichiraku. Tomoka had to admit that Ichiraku had perfected the art of cooking ramen. Maybe that was her Uzumaki heritage speaking but she didn't care.

"I still can't believe you can eat so much." Nozomi looked at Tomoka with a wry smile. While she had just finished her first bowl of ramen, Tomoka was at her second at an amazing speed.

"I eat for two" Tomoka had to swallow hard before answering as her mouth had been full of food at the moment.

[Oi! Don't blame your excess eating on me!] Kurama for his part was having none of it. He had heard Tomoka talking about the yin and yang differences and how naruto tended to eat a lot due to yang kurama. He as the yin part had nothing to do with Tomoka's eating habits.

[Go and blame that scary lizard instead of me]

'I can't blame Oditomnia, for starters she is me as well so it would be like blaming myself. Second no-one aside from us knows about her so no can't do.'

"My wallet." Was all that Yamato could whisper as he saw the insatiable girl devouring her food. He couldn't even comprehend where all that food was going.

"Don't worry about it Yamato-sensei. I will pay for the extra bowls." Hearing Tomoka Yamato felt relieved. Although he wanted to be a gentleman and pay, he feared for his wallet. In the end he let it go, he knew Tomoka was loaded with money so there was no problem.

Like that team five spent their time chatting and eating before Yamato had to leave. He still had to report his acceptance of team five and what not. Meanwhile Tomoka, Hinata and Nozomi left to do their own thing.

"Now that I think of it. Tomoka, you said your world had a bunch of technology that doesn't exist in this one. Do you have any plans to make those here?" Hinata hadn't given much thought to Tomoka's origin but this question would pop up in her mind from time to time.

"Hehe, I have lots of plans regarding that but it will be a surprise, no spoilers."

"I will be leaving soon" Those words shocked the two girls as they left Tomoka's lips. Even though they didn't have the full picture, the seriousness depicted in Tomoka's expresion made them worry.

"Leave? Where are you going?" Hinata hoped that it wouldn't be far nor dangerous. Even though out of the three Tomoka is the strongest she couldn't help but worry for her safety.

"Can we go with you?" Nozomi for her part refused to leave Tomoka's side just like that.

"Yes, I am leaving for a while. Where is a bit hard to tell since there is something I need to check out. Finally, no you two can't go with me since I need to keep my departure a secret." After saying that, Tomoka sighed. She knew it would be hard but this was too much for her.

"I will be leaving the village for a while. I need the two of you to help me or rather my clone to keep appearances. I don't know when I will get another chance to do what I am about to do so can I count on you two?" After saying that Tomoka gave the two girls a small smile.

"Always. I would just like to know why or for what you are leaving." No matter how much Nozomi disliked the idea of Tomoka leaving, she would not let her down.

"Mhm, you can count on me as well. It's just that we are worried for you." Hinata felt anxious about all of this but her trust in Tomoka was enough to keep her nerves at bay.

"I guess I could share some of what I am planning to do" After saying that, Tomoka began her explanation. She left some things unsaid so as not to worry about the two gems of her life. By the time she was finished the sun was setting and the girls had made and refined the plan.

All of this was happening due to the fact that a good month has gone by since their team was formed. D-Ranked missions being nothing more than manual labor jobs with little to no risk made it possible. Tomoka had decided to leave so she could finally check up on that blind spot in the map she had made so long ago.

Tomoka knew that her team would need to continue with these boring D-Ranked missions for another month or two. In reality, a genin team would need to continue doing these boring missions for a good half a year or so before they would be given any C-ranked missions. Naruto's case from the anime was an exception.

As for Tomoka, she didn't really care about doing these missions. Her plan was to ask for a C-ranked mission around the same time as Naruto did. This way she could maybe hijack Naruto's first C-ranked mission where she would meet Zabusa and Haku. Either way, all of that is for the future.

As of now Tomoka was more interested in that blank spot in her map as she began to make theories regarding it. For example it could be where Ryuchi cave is located, or it could hold some forgotten relic of the past. It might even be where some Otsutsuki tech from the past is located. Though that last one wasn't too plausible. Either way, Tomoka would finally get to scratch that itch that had been bothering her curious mind for years now.

'If I find nothing there at least it could be a good place to hide my base of operations. In the end I believe I will be able to get something of value from this expedition. It should also help a bit with Hinata's and Nozomi's dependence on me'

[Yeah, those girls need to chill a bit. They have become far too attached to you. That can't be healthy.] Kurama had to agree with Tomoka. Through the past month the two girls had become clingier by the day. Not that Tomoka disliked it but she also knew that the girls needed to tone it down or it could lead to difficulties.

'Well good ol' buddy ol' pal it seems like it will be just the two of us for a while' After saying that Tomoka began preparing what she would need for her little excursion in the wild.

[I won't be playing any games with you… cheater.] Kurama was still salty about Tomoka cheating whenever they played inside the mindscape.

'You aren't trying to win if you aren't cheating.'

The next day came quickly and with it the absence of Tomoka from the village. On her shoulders a rather large backpack with mostly foodstuff bobbed up and down as she ran through the forest.

"Alright, I think we are far enough, Kurama, do it." As Tomoka said that a dense, red chakra cloak began flowing around her. On her back three fox tails made of said chakra swished back and forth.

"Lets goooo!" The scream of an excited girl resounded through the forest as Tomoka began pumping her chakra into the speed force portal. Soon enough red sparks of electricity began crackling around her. Next she used Kurama's chakra on an old jutsu of hers.

"Lightning style: Lightning Rush." Instantly blue sparks of electricity joined the red ones as her speed was boosted forward.

"Gotta go fast!" Tomoka was having a great time zooming through the land at extreme speeds. At this point she was a little scared to add on the shunshin no jutsu on top. By her calculations she should be at her destination in one to two days using her current speed.

"Fuck it! More speed!" Moving her hands just as fast as she was traversing the land she used the shunshin no jutsu using Kurama's chakra. Instantly there was a sonic boom as she accelerated past the sound barrier. That's when she realized she would need to add another jutsu.

"One more!" Once again Tomoka moved her hands, this time she used an old jutsu of hers as well.

"Wind style: Low Wind Resistance." With this Tomoka's ears had some rest as the deafening sound of the broken sound barrier disappeared. Not only that but the uncomfortable feeling of the wind against her eyes and face also disappeared.

[This is using a lot of chakra.] Kurama for his part was feeling a bit uncomfortable… and jealous. He also wanted to experience speed.

"Hah! Not only that but my muscles are strained ass fuck!" It wasn't a lie. Tomoka's whole body was feeling the strain of moving and keeping such high speeds. If it wasn't for her extreme physical training with Lee and Guy she would have dropped with exhaustion already.

"By the by, do you think I should open the first gate for more speed?" As she said that, Tomoka's smile turned into a maniac grin. She hadn't realized her love for speed until she opened the first gate the first time. It was during one of her practices with Guy and Lee.

As she fought with them, then ran laps around Konoha, then fought again and did pushups she felt like there was a wall. It felt like this wall was blocking her path towards more physical power. It bothered and so she pushed and pushed until she smashed said wall. In reality the wall was the first gate. Once she opened it she felt a surge of power like no other.

[I would say no since that technique is dangerous and all that but… you won't listen will you?] Kurama sounded a bit tired. He had lived with this crazy woman for twelve years now, he knows what she is like.

"Nope" Tomoka said while popping the p. Next she began to feel for the gate. Soon after she found it and with a push and shove she opened it.

"Gate of Opening: Open!" Tomoka's body was flooded with chakra which she redirected to her Speed Force portal. Suddenly her speed increased even more. Not only that but she felt like her wind jutsu had become useless as the speed force took over her defense against the wind.

"I! AM! SPEED!" With that shout Tomoka ran at blinding speed as her body heated up from the exertion produced by her physical activity and the opening of the gate. For anyone that had a chance to try and see her all they would see is a blur with blue and red lightning following.

An hour later, Tomoka had reached her destination. It was somewhere near the land of waves. A small country to the south of the land of fire. A normal shinobi would have needed a total of three days to reach this place.

As Tomoka stopped and deactivated all the jutsus and speed force she felt like she tried to kiss a train. Her whole body hurt from the exertion but she didn't care. The rush of moving as fast as a fighter jet was worth it.

Right now Tomoka stood next to one of her phantoms that looked towards a seemingly uninteresting part of the jungle. However, as soon as Tomoka's eyes landed on that same segment of jungle something unexpected happened.

Tomoka's eyes widened as her Kinagan activated by itself. Where a lush seemingly normal forest had been now stood a dark forest filled to the brim with spider webs. Soft fluffy spider webs that looked like snow. Something in her was telling her to just jump and enjoy the springy, soft goodness of all that spider-silk.

"Kurama, are you seeing this as well?" Tomoka was having a hard time believing her eyes so she asked the only person she currently could.

[Taking into account that I can only see the outside world through your eyes, yes. It looks disgusting. You know what? I don't want to deal with any of this, I'm taking a nap.]

"Disgusting!? This looks like heaven!" Without being able to contain her instincts anymore Tomoka launched herself onto the webbing with wild abandon. Her rational mind screaming for her not to.

As her body landed on all that soft and admittedly sticky goodness she realized a few curious things. First, she couldn't move as she had gotten stuck in the sticky webbing. Second, What actually got stuck was her clothes as any part of her that was in direct contact wasn't stuck.

"Well, well, what do we have here? It's rare for us to trap human prey." A strange female voice said as a large spider appeared from somewhere within the spider webbing.

"Hello there, Miss spider. I must say your web is quite comfy." Tomoka for her part didn't feel the least bit threatened. Even though she was currently trapped she could easily cut the webbing with her wind style or try and burn it with lightning style.

"Ara~ you aren't afraid? I might eat you after all." The spider felt amused. This human gave her this strange feeling of familiarity and authority despite being just that, a human.

"You could try, but I promise it won't end well for you." While saying that Tomoka released Kurama's chakra forming a three tailed chakra cloak on herself. Not only that but her pink eyes stared hard towards the spider's eight eyes.

Hearing this the spider wanted to feel offended but those pink eyes held such authority within them she couldn't go against them. They felt like the eyes of her mother, the queen of this entire place.

"Now, if you shall excuse me, for as comfortable as this web is, I would rather not be stuck here much longer." After saying that Tomoka coated her clothes in a thin layer of her own chakra.

Tomoka hadn't been chatting with the spider just for the sake of it. She had also been researching why her body wasn't getting stuck. What she found out is that the sticky factor of the strings was ignoring her due to her chakra wavelength.

"Y-you broke free? just like that?" The spider for her part was surprised to see a human getting unstuck from the webbing she and her sisters had placed all over the place. Only a spider should be able to do that.

"Say, will you introduce yourself and explain things? I am a guest after all." Tomoka, for her part, decided to ask for some information. She was intrigued about the place.

"Eh? Ah! Y-yes, I am Kumokaru. This is my family's nest, miss uhm."

"Tomoka."

"Right! Uhm, W-what might bring a powerful shinobi like yourself to our humble abode." Kumokaru was extremely nervous. She hadn't seen anybody else aside from her mother with such ridiculous power. Not to mention those pink eyes were pressuring her to answer no matter what.

"I see. Would you mind guiding me to your leader?" Tomoka for her part liked the big spider quite a bit. To tell the truth she had always liked spiders but as of now something inside of her was making her feel extra comfortable with them. Not to mention that in her eyes Kumokaru is quite cute.

If any human were to hear Tomoka's inner thoughts they would think she is crazy. A meter tall spider with it's beady black eyes, chelicerae fangs and what not would be terrifying for anybody else.

"Y-You want to meet mother?" Kumokaru felt a bit conflicted. She didn't know what to do and she was scared of the human. However, if she took her to her mother for sure her mother would be able to deal with the human.

"If she is the leader then yes." Tomoka answered nonchalantly.

"In that case follow me." After saying that Kumokaru turned around and began walking on the many threads towards the inner part of the nest.

While following Kumokaru Tomoka noticed many eyes watching her. All of them were shiny beady black eyes hidden in the mess of webs all around. Presumably these are Kumokaru's sisters, that is to say, other giant spiders. Another thing Tomoka notices were the many large cocoons of spider webs here and there. Probably trapped beasts that will act as food.

The walks took a while but soon enough they reached their destination: a large cave's entrance over ten meters tall and wide covered all over in white spider webs. Looking around Tomoka saw small spiders crawling here and there. Then she felt something landing on her left shoulder. Looking at it she saw a palm sized spider standing there looking at her curiously.

"Oh? Aren't you a cute one" With a smile, Tomoka began petting the spider. Its smooth chitin felt nice to the touch. As for the spider she seems to be enjoying the attention. A while later Kumokaru stopped walking.

"Mother, we have a guest" Kumokaru sounded both respectful and fearful. Not long after she spoke a new voice was heard. This one sounded dignified and authoritative.

"A guest? It has been a very long time since the last time we had any. Is it that lazy slug Tsuyu? or perhaps those old toads? If it's one of the snakes I don't want to talk to them unless they have come to apologize." As the voice sounded a huge spider began crawling from deeper within the cave.

"No mother, it's uhm-"

"A human? No, wait! I am deeply sorry ancestor I had no clue someone of your status would be visiting today" At the beginning the giant spider felt disappointed seeing a simple human. However, as soon as she saw the human's eyes she felt an extreme pressure. It was like she was looking at an ancient spider with unlimited power.

"A-ancestor!?" Kumokaru for her part felt puzzled and scared. She had never seen her mother acting so deferential to anybody else!

"Sorry miss…"

"Right! Where are my manners!? I am Kumoki. And there is nothing for the ancestor to be sorry about"

Tomoka felt a little conflicted. It seems that this giant spider named Kumoki had mistaken her for someone else so she wanted to rectify the mistake.

"The thing is Kumoki-san I am no great ancestor or something like that, I am a hundred percent human"

[Bullshit! No human has such a ridiculous body as you! Not to mention that arm and eyes of yours] Kurama had to comment about this. He would never believe that Tomoka is just a simple human. At most he would say around sixty percent or less.

"You say that but those eyes of yours hold the dignity of an ancient and powerful spider. Not to mention that even though your body is mostly human I can still feel some spider factors from you" Kumoki didn't believe Tomoka either.

'Looks like you two are in sync' Tomoka laughed at the notion of the giant fox and spider thinking the same thing.

"Well, I don't know what to say. I was born twelve years ago by two human parents." Tomoka really didn't know what to do. She also felt a bit conflicted about this information. Could it be that the third entity Oditomnia had talked about is some kind of spider?

"Ahem, leaving all of that aside for the moment I would like to ask the reason behind the ancestor's visit."

"Please call me Tomoka. Being called a great ancestor feels a bit weird. Anyway, I came here mainly to investigate this area since my clones couldn't get in. The reason behind that is that I am searching for an adequate place to make my base of operations" Tomoka revealed her reasons without hiding anything.

"I see, in that case it would be an honor if the great ance- ahem, if Tomoka-sama were to make her base here. However, Even if Tomoka-sama is the great ancestor there is a tradition that needs to be upheld." Kumoki felt nervous saying this. She had held this tradition ever since her mother passed the role of matriarch to her. Now she felt like this tradition would be the end of her.

"Alright, What tradition?" Tomoka felt curious.

"It's a simple yet dangerous tradition. You see Tomoka-sama, whenever a human manages to pass through our illusion threads we have to test them. If they pass they will be able to leave with the knowledge we hold of the sage mode. If they don't they die-." After explaining this much Kumoki felt like crying.

"-Tomoka-sama is still pretty much a human despite being some part spider so…"

"So I have to go through this trial as well right?" Tomoka felt a little amused but she wouldn't refuse. After all, despite the danger she would get the sage mode!

"Y-yes"

"Alright! Bring it!" Tomoka's face contorted into a madened grin full of excitement and greed.

"Eh!? You don't have any questions? Doubts?" Kumoki was having a hard time dealing with Tomoka. Her instincts were telling her that she was dealing with an ancient and powerful being while Tomoka acted so nonchalant and carefree. The discrepancy made it hard for her to figure out how to act in front of the girl.

"Not really, I already know what sage mode is though I should ask what this trial is about just to be polite. So, could you tell me about that?" Tomoka gave Kumoki a small smile.

"R-right, the trial is actually part of how you will learn to use sage mode. I should clarify that each one of us beast clans handle sage mode differently, though I guess you already knew about this." As a matter of fact Tomoka didn't know about this tidbit of information.

"I actually don't. I am curious, could you give me some examples?" Tomoka thought that sage mode is always the same. Gather natural energy, mix in the appropriate ratio and bam sage mode. Now she just learned that this might not be the case.

"Do you know about the toad, slug, and snake clans?"

"I do." Tomoka said with a slight nod.

"Alright then this makes things easier to explain. The toad clan uses the simplest, safest and least efficient way of entering sage mode. They meditate to feel the natural energy around them, absorb it and mix it. The problem with this method is-" Suddenly Kumoki got interrupted by the girl in front of her.

"It's duration. One can not meditate while moving therefore the natural energy you gathered beforehand is all you will get. This can be counterbalanced by having a second entity connected to the first. In this way one gathers and mixes natural energy while the other fights. I already know this one, it's the one I knew of beforehand."

"You are correct. I will then talk about the next one being the slug clan. Their method is similar to the toads yet different. In a similar manner they meditate and gather natural energy but instead of mixing it right away they store it in an external container. This method increases the duration but is slightly more dangerous as it becomes possible to mess up the mixing process."

Hearing about this, Tomoka realized a little something. Tsunade's strength of a thousand seals is probably based on this method. Chances are Tsunade couldn't feel the natural energy or simply didn't bother. Instead she applied the storage method to store her own excess chakra.

"The snake clan uses a high risk high reward method. They directly modify the body so it will passively absorb and mix the natural energy. The problem lies with this modification, very few survive the process. However, those that do could be said to be in a permanent sage mode."

This also explained Orochimaru's incomplete sage mode. He must have made his own pseudo sage mode using Yugo's cells. The problem being that his method resulted in low power permanent sage mode.

"Finally our method. It's actually a combination of the snake's method and the slug's method. This is our trial. I will put the person in a cocoon made with a special silk mixed with natural energy. Inside the person will go through a metamorphosis.

Like the snake's method the person's body will be modified and become closer to our own kind. They will also have a set of inscriptions made on their body, these inscriptions work like an external storage unit of the excess natural energy absorbed by the body.

I will go ahead and say that our method is the one with the best and most powerful results when it succeeds. However, the mortality rate is far higher than that of the other three methods combined." At this point Kumoki felt a bit nervous. The last time someone had managed to pull through their trial had been over three hundred years ago.

"I see… Well nothing ventured, nothing gained. Give me a second and I will get ready for the trial" Saying this Tomoka began to take off her clothes. Her instincts were telling her that they would not only get in the way but they would also get destroyed.

Seeing this Kumoki became speechless, she didn't know what to say or even think. Is this girl so confident? Or is she just an idiot? At this point it didn't really matter.

"Alright, are you ready?" This would be Tomoka's last chance to back out.

"Right, I need to do one last thing just in case" After saying this Tomoka closed her eyes for a few seconds. After she opened them she smiled.

"Alright, I'm ready."

Soon enough Tomoka's body got covered in sticky webbing infused with natural energy. This energy began sufusing into her body starting slowly. At the beginning it felt like tingling on her skin, next she felt it grow warm. The warmth sipped into her muscles as it grew more intense. Through all this Tomoka kept track of her body's condition through the use of her chakra.

'Well this looks incredible' Through her chakra sensing Tomoka discovered that her cells were devouring the natural energy greedily causing them to divide at an absurde rate. What was even more impressive was how her cells were fighting and devouring each other.

As the heat grew, pain soon followed. It felt like being bathed in boiling hot acid. Through her chakra Tomoka realized that her body was melting in a sense. Her Skin was peeling off her muscles as it became some kind of goo.

This goo being made up of her still living skin cells that continued to participate in a mad free for all. With each division with each generation she could perceive how her cells changed. Some became more efficient at absorbing the abundant natural energy while others produced ever increasing quantities of chakra.

Soon enough her muscles joined this process, melting into goo as well. Following them her organs melted into goo. At this point the pain was too raw for even Tomoka's fortress of a mind to handle. The pain wasn't only physical as she wondered how she could feel anything at all from her nerves but also spiritual as the natural energy assaulted her mind and soul.

[Oi! What is going on out there!?] Kurama for his part was suddenly woken up by the massive earthquake that assaulted Tomoka's mindscape.

'Hopefully… something… good' Tomoka was having a hard time thinking at this point. She could feel and even understand the will of nature from which came the very energy that assaulted her.

Like whispers the will of the energy she wanted to make her own assaulted her mind with unsesant vigor. However, she wouldn't falter, she had seen and experienced far worse in the confines of her own mind. It had been but a single second, a second of her buried and sealed memories from her time in the chaos of time and space. That second had almost driven her insane.

As Tomoka's consciousness retreated inside her mind and further inside her library the assault continued. Everything was growing darker as her mind was being driven to its limits until she saw no more and felt no more.

In a place of absolute darkness Tomoka realized she was back to the place she had met with Oditomnia. This place could be said to be the deepest place within herself that her mind could access. The place where her conscious and unconscious mind met.

Being in this place felt as if she was inside a dream, the sensation of having her mind being groggy and floaty was disorienting to say the least. As Tomoka tried to organize her thoughts she saw a drop made of light falling from the infinite dark above. Soon enough it collided with the floor.

In an instant the light spread all around the infinite dark, turning it into a place of infinite light. The light was blinding to say the least and yet it did not bother Tomoka's eyes. This whole experience was bizzare to say the least and yet it wasn't over.

As if the waves of the drop of light weren't done yet the rippling continued and grew as a figure clad in white garbs stepped out of the seemingly fluid floor. Her body shape, height and all else resembled Tomoka. However, there were some things that could never be ignored.

The figure moved with an uncanny level of poise. Each movement fluid and refined to the point it caused awe on those that laid their eyes on her. Her loose white robes covered every inch of her figure except for her face, hands and feet. A hood laid on top of her head covering most of her perfectly white hair. For a matter of fact, even her perfect eye lashes and eye brows were of the same perfect white.

"So we finally met…" The voice sounded ethereal, like the whispers of a siren to all those unsuspecting sailors. As she spoke her eyelids trembled softly as they moved to reveal a pair of pink orbs with five pupils each.

"...Myself" A soft almost nonexistent smile adorned her face.

'What the fuck did I just get myself into'