The wind was blowing hard. The surrounding trees were shaking like twigs.
Mikoto remained glued to the ground as she avoided the powerful blast of Kyubi’s burning chakra. Her eyes shone bright red.
“You again!” Kyubi yelled.
"You could at least pretend to be happy to see me," Mikoto muttered. “Reminds me of our first meeting. How long ago was that, Kushina?”
“Several years ago,” Kushina murmured, counting on her fingers. Naruto is already seven years old.”
“Time flies by so fast! Sasuke is turning eight!”
A roar interrupted them.
“Ah, I forgot about you for a moment,” Mikoto muttered.
“I will kill you, Uchiha woman.” The Nine-Tails growled.
Mikoto laughed.
“It will be difficult in your position. All you can do is bark.”
Kushina’s seal completely immobilized Kyubi. Mikoto jumped on his muzzle. She looked like an insect next to the Nine-Tails. She looked at Kyubi in the eyes, a wicked smile forming on her lips.
“You're just a monster.”
Kushina, whom Mikoto had been entertaining so far, lost her smile.
“Cut it out, Mikoto.”
Mikoto turned to her.
“Come on Kushina. It's true that it's only a monster!”
“I told you to stop!” Kushina got angry.
Her own reaction surprised Kushina. The Uzumaki couldn’t explain why it bothered her that the Nine-Tails was called a monster. Moreover, she could have sworn that Kyubi gave her a quick look.
“I'll make you pay!” Kyubi said to the Uchiha.
Mikoto, who had briefly calmed down, turned back to Kyubi.
“Really? Sharingan!”
“Kushina, are you ready?” Mikoto asked.
“Go ahead!” Kushina answered, concentrating again.
In the outside world, the burning chakra escaping from Kushina gathered around her body, taking on the shape of a miniature Kyubi. It then began to condense and solidify. Pure chakra escaped from her, forming small bright and dark spheres.
The chakra around her suddenly vanished, revealing a seemingly weakened Kushina, her skin flushed with the power that had covered her.
Kushina collapsed to the ground. Mikoto was nearby; she wasn’t faring much better.
“Sorry, Kushina,” she said breathlessly. “My control is very far from perfect despite my talent for Genjutsu.”
“I also have a hard time adapting to its power. It’s really strong…”
“But you were almost there, Kushina. You progress every time.”
“You too, Mikoto. By improving your Genjutsu a little bit more…”
“You know that won't be enough,” Mikoto cut her off. “I have to awaken the next stage. My control of Kyubi can never be perfect without it.”
Kushina patted her on the back.
“Come on, don't worry! We will continue, and I will help you. Friends help each other,” she added with a wink.
Mikoto smiled at her.
“In any case, we will become the best duo in history the day my eyes allow me to fully control Kyubi’s power.”
“We’ll be unstoppable.”
“Kushina, one day my eyes will allow you to become Kyubi's first perfect Jinchuriki! I promise.”
“And I will have finally surpassed Minato! I want to protect them both so badly…”
Mikoto gave her a friendly wink in return.
“But for that, my eyes must evolve. My Sharingan is not powerful enough.”
“It's normal,” Kushina replied. “It's already a miracle that you manage to control the liquid form…”
“The liquid form?” Mikoto wondered.
“Chakra is also a specialty of my clan…”
Mikoto sat down in front of Kushina, attentive. Her friend always possessed special knowledge. And when she started talking about her clan, what followed was usually interesting and unique.
“My mother told me a lot about it. I remember she used to tell me stories before I went to bed,” Kushina added wistfully.
You are reading story Konoha’s Yondaime at novel35.com
Mikoto smiled at her and remained silent, waiting for the Uzumaki to continue.
“There are three states of chakra. The gaseous state corresponds to the one that certain powerful ninjas can use directly. This is the case of young Kakashi, with his Chidori technique that you are trying to reproduce with black lightning."
“He uses gaseous chakra?”
“Yes. To make a Chidori, you must first bring out pure chakra whose nature you will modify. This pure chakra is in gaseous form. It is the least potent state of chakra, and the best known.
Kushina opened her hand. Pure chakra in gaseous form escaped from it.
“The liquid chakra is another state of chakra, more powerful because it is more condensed. It's the one that appears when I begin my transformation with Kyubi’s power. Only Jinchurikis and some Uzumakis have been able to use the liquid state to my knowledge.”
She opened her hand again, which was now moist with chakra… A chakra similar to Kyubi’s bubbling energy.
“Finally, the third state is the solid state. It is the most powerful. The Bijus are themselves made up of solid chakra. And it is at this state that you do not yet have the ability to control Kyubi’s chakra.
"Because I'm weak..." Mikoto muttered.
“You’re strong, Mikoto. Succeeding in controlling the liquid state of the Biju is already a great feat, even for an Uchiha.”
Mikoto smiled at her.
“You're being nice.”
“I’m sincere. Mastering the solid state is extremely rare. Only a few Uzumakis were capable of it... as well as the Jinchuriki of Kumo since the Sandaime Raikage stole some information from us…”
“Kumo…How dare they defile the Uzumaki clan?” Mikoto said angrily.
Kushina remained silent, but a small smile appeared on her face. She was happy to see her friend defend her clan.
“And you? Mikoto asked.
“What about me?”
“Have you mastered the solid state?”
In response, Kushina conjured chakra chains that wrapped around Mikoto.
“I dare you to say that they are not solid,” Kushina said, looking falsely annoyed but with mischief in her eyes.
Mikoto smirked as Kushina let her chains fall.
“My mastery isn’t perfect. I can only use chakra chains.”
“You are... impressive, Kushina.“ Her friend praised.
.
“Stop it, you’ll make me blush… I may be using certain properties of the chakra well, but when it comes to transforming nature for Ninjutsu, I suck!”
“Don’t be modest; you’ve mastered the most powerful state of the chakra!”
“No really…”
Mikoto chuckled unconvincedly.
“Some Uzumakis believe that one can go even further. Research on the properties of the Bijudama demonstrates that chakra can be further compressed until it reaches the most complete form that can exist. But it requires, in addition to the skills to control solid chakra, extremely large quantities for it to be useful.”
Kushina lay down in the grass, staring up at the sky, looking lost in thought.
“In her stories, mom told me that such a chakra was used to create the Moon.”
“Create the Moon, just that?” Mikoto laughed.
“You may be skeptical, but it's possible in theory, with the necessary amount of chakra.”
“I love your mother's story, it's captivating!”
“Me too... I would have liked you to be my sister, and we both fell asleep listening to these stories.”
“In the meantime, we'll have to improve quickly. We may be running out of time.”
“I know,” Kushina replied, sealing the few black flames that consumed the ground in a parchment. “It's not easy to train quietly. Between Minato and our children, sneaking out frequently will become increasingly difficult…”
“By the way,” Mikoto interjected. “What is Minato doing? I know Naruto and Sasuke followed Itachi to deal with a giant boar. But Minato? You told me he'd be away today…”
“He's training with Jiraiya.”
“Jiraiya-sensei? Did he come back?” Mikoto wondered.
“Yes, last night! And Minato managed to take time off to train with him.
“Jiraiya-sensei... He could have come to see me... “
Kushina put a hand on her shoulder.
“Minato has always been his favorite…” Mikoto whispered.
“You know that you and Hiashi belong to fairly closed clans. Coming to see you isn’t always easy… even for me.”
“You’re not a good liar,” Mikoto smiled. “But I appreciate your efforts and besides... I'm curious to know what their training is like…”