Chapter 21: Monster form

Kuzo jumped between the spikes and reached the old man, who was taking his last breaths.

This wasn't supposed to happen.

If he had only read the twin's minds when he killed them on the spot, he would have known, and Kimimaro wouldn't have caught up to them.

"It's not your fault," said En No, in what looked like his last words, "Please, care for my granddaughter. She's my heir."

Kuzo nodded and closed his eyes. He took a deep breath and looked around. A stoic expression took over his face as he turned his eyes.

What was he feeling?

Regret? Anger? Self-blame?

Anger, definitely.

But what he focused on was the chakra of that man.

Behind Kuzo, on a large bony spike, a figure emerged. The figure stabbed. Kuzo jumped to the side and put his hand behind him, entering the body that had just gotten him.

The bony driller hit En No, taking his last breath.

Kimimaro, who had just lost an arm, looked at En No's lifeless body. "It wasn't supposed to happen this way. Well, his granddaughter might still have the forbidden jutsu."

On the other hand, Kuzo was just sharing the body with Kimimaro.

The energy from the dead body was devoured right into his seal.

Kuzo's chakra, which was about to end, was replenished. Sure, it didn't reach its limits because his chakra reserves increased drastically.

A library of Fuinjutsu and ninjutsu entered his soul and muscles.

<<Tsuchigomo Style: Life Technique Release: Creation of Heaven and Earth>> that was a technique to gather nature chakra into his body without having to move.

Actually, there were more techniques. There was even a seal that gathered nature chakra and stored it. Although it didn't allow him to enter sage mode, he would benefit from it.

<<Fury Jutsu>> and that was the jutsu that was said to destroy a whole village.

But Kuzo didn't care about what he earned.

Kimimaro lowered his eyes to see a hand emerging from his chest. That hand settled above the Curse Seal of Earth.

Kimimaro's monstrous look disappeared, getting replaced by a human-like one.

"Shit." Kimimaro held a bone sword and tried to stab himself.

But at that moment, Kuzo jumped out of his body. He flipped and landed on a bone.

En No might have been old. But that didn't erase the fact that he was a fearsome shinobi. Although his physical power declined, it was still very high. He had a monstrous chakra reserve. And Kuzo inherited many ninjutsu and taijutsu styles. Not to mention that the Tsuchigomo clan was specialized in Fuinjutsu, which made him an expert as well.

"How about a round." Kuzo said, looking at Kimimaro with daggers in his eyes.

Kimimaro looked at his own body with shock. The seal of earth had vanished from his body.

Kuzo wrote a character in the air.

"That seal takes a toll on your body. Now that you don't have it, nor your arm, what do you think may happen."

Suddenly, he could sense chakra being pulled from trees, grass, and everything around him to enter around him. He then would use this chakra to use Fury.

"You have a point." Kimimaro replied to Kuzo. "But I still have enough to take on a brat like you. Wait!"

Kimimaro looked at Kuzo with astonishment.

Kuzo looked at his skin, only to find that its color had changed.

The nature chakra that he had been collecting for his jutsu, somehow, entered his body and merged with his chakra on its own.

'Isn't this the power of the curse seal of heaven or earth? I thought it wouldn't work without Orochimaru's soul gathering nature chakra. Well, you learn something new every day.'

Kuzo didn't have time to examine his new look. But he could tell that he had transformed like the people he had killed.

The Creation of Earth and Heaven seal, albeit not sage jutsu, allowed him to act like a vessel for nature chakra. And the DNA he got from these people allowed him to enter what seemed to be an imperfect sage mode. He only needed nature chakra. His body could do the rest on its own.

Kuzo, whose chakra kept increasing, looked at Kimimaro.

Kimimaro realized he was messed up. He turned and started jumping between the bone spikes.

"Where are you going?" Kuzo jumped after him.

There was one thing he noticed.

His chakra, speed, power, increased dramatically. His chakra became way denser than it was before. And with such dense chakra, the ninjutsu he could perform couldn't be called natural.

In no time, he was catching up to Kimimaro, and he was looking at him, face to face.

Kimimaro created a bone spike from his palm and stabbed toward Kuzo.

Kuzo held Kimimaro from the wrist. Applying a great amount of strength, he bent it. He broke it!

"Burn with the fire."

He focused more chakra on his breath as he weaved the Fire Jutsu signs with one hand.

As he opened his mouth, a large stream of fire was released. A fire that he never felt was hot like that before.

When he was done, Kimimaro's body fell on the ground.

The bones were still there.

But most of the flesh was gone. The eyes, ears, and even the heart.

After around ten seconds, a spirit-like figure flew from the body and entered his seal.

Kuzo didn't feel happy or satisfied as usual. He felt stuffed.

He turned and rushed toward En No's body. He knew that there was no hope for the old man, who now was a part of Kuzo.

But he had to see it with his eyes. Kuzo stopped at the body. He stood there, not moving, just looking at En No's sleeping face.

You know. It's different when you kill an enemy, and when an ally gets killed because of your mistake.

A series of memories kept replaying in Kuzo's head. It was about the days he had spent with the nice people here.

He clenched his fist. 'If I only didn't bring the heads of the twin to their place… Hotaru would still have a grandfather, a house.' he thought about the short blonde girl, who had just lost the last of her family.

"AAARGH!"

Unable to resist the heat accumulating in his chest, Kuzo put his hands on his face and screamed.

A reflection was drawn on a near bone. It was of a demon man with gray-red skin, dark eyes that had no white, long gray hair, and scales that created an armor around his chest area. The reflection soon was replaced by his.

'How am I supposed to deliver the bad news.'

Biting his lip, Kuzo pulled En No's wounded body out of the spike, lifted it up, and put it on his shoulder. "Let him get buried at least."

He then jumped back to the residence. A few voices echoed in his head. And he tried to ignore them. But they just kept getting louder.

'I've destroyed something beautiful.' Kuzo thought. But another voice played in his head, 'It's not. You are not omniscient, and you avenged everyone.' Then another thought got him. 'You wouldn't have needed to avenge them if you didn't put them in danger.' 'But it's the hokage's fault for putting you there.'

These thoughts between self-blame and self-compassion kept replaying.

He knew it wasn't his fault. But he couldn't feel he wasn't responsible for this.

For now, what Kuzo desired was to have peace in mind.

But the voices didn't stop.

What did he have to do to make them stop.

'It's all because of that Orochimaru!'

If that snake paid, then he would have his peace back to him again.

-x-X-x-

It was night.

Kuzo was sitting by a bonfire.

Next to him were Tonbee, who was covered in bandages.

On the other hand, there was Hotaru, staring at a body covered in sheets that belonged to her grandpa.

She was still sobbing, even after a half-day passed.

He didn't blame her, her only family had just died.

Kuzo, for the second time in his new life, didn't feel an appetite to eat.

He started thinking about what to do.

Go around and keep hunting missing nins, provoke troubles?

That didn't sound right now.

What sounded right was to get back to the village with the heads of the twins, expose the sound village and Orochimaru's plan, and then destroy his dreams.

It would surely be a good deliver to kill him.

Kuzo looked at his hand. A bone extended from his finger, then it got back.

After killing Kimimaro, his bone's density increased, and so did his chakra reserve. He could manipulate his bones as he wanted.

He looked at his hand.

'Bone's strength, crazy physical strength, ability to merge with people and become Spider-Man, Sage Jutsu, Fuinjutsu, Fury Jutsu and more.' Kuzo clenched his hand into a fist. 'I'm nearer to becoming the ultimate shinobi. I can become a Jonin like I am right now.'

Kuzo lifted his head.

Tonbee came next to Kuzo and sat down. "What are you planning to do?"

Kuzo raised his eyebrows and looked at the fire, "get back to Konoha and report everything to the Hokage."

"You know who did it?" Tonbee said, "Then let's go and screw that man up."

Kuzo said, "Orochimaru."

After hearing that name, Tonbee opened his eyes widely.

Kuzo continued, "Can you screw him?"

Tonbee clenched his healthy hand in defeat, "unfortunately, I can't. And that's not even the problem."

"What's the problem?"

"Since he had an overall idea about our place, Hotaru-sama won't be safe." Tonbee replied, "she has the forbidden jutsu. And with battle marks around, our location is exposed. More rogue shinobis would be after her."

"Guess it can't be helped." Kuzo said, "I'll take her to Konoha."

"What?"

"It's her grandpa's last wish." Kuzo said. For taking all of her grandpa's chakra and jutsu, that was the least he could do.

Tonbee paused for a minute. Then he said. "I'll be grateful. But won't it take a long time to get her in."

"I'm pretty sure that Hokage won't mind. She's the granddaughter of his friend and my student. Besides, I'll say she's my fiancée in case someone minded." Kuzo shrugged. "What about you, what are you going to do?"

"I may not be strong enough to oppose a legendary shinobi. But I can trace his basements and weaken him." Tonbee said. "What about you? What will you do about Orochimaru."

"I won't lie. I'm going to kill him." Kuzo replied, determination filled his eyes. Talking about killing casually. After what he had been through, he became careless about what he had been taught to be right or wrong. In his case, killing Orochimaru felt too right for him.