This is… a lot harder than I expected.
The air burned like fire in my lungs as I submerged myself back into the currents of the coursing river.
My natural arms were joined by two additional limbs that cut the surrounding water like a knife through butter. My eyes narrowed as a tiny flame of chakra alerted me to the incoming obstacle.
While maintaining the same movement speed that ensured I would not be washed away downriver, I barreled to the side and avoided the fish that shot past me by a hair's breadth. With another roll, I returned back to my initial position.
I continued my fight against the crushing flow of water for another half hour.
With a heave of exhortation, I kicked my legs behind me and shot out of the river to landed on top of the water.
A moment later, the water clinging to me burst away, leaving my skin dry.
I inhaled deeply and gulped for the air I had denied myself during the last few minutes spent swimming. I sat down on the water in the lotus position and crossed my four arms in front of my upper body. After a few minutes spent meditating and centering myself, I exhaled and opened my eyes.
I am getting better at controlling the Asura Path.
My second set of arms unfurled from my flanks and stretched out before me. My gaze followed the silver lines streaking down the metallic limbs. They were the only defect that differentiated them from my organic arms.
A smile grew on my face as a familiar chakra signature enter my field of awareness. Moving faster than anything that small had any right to, Inu barreled towards my position.
I cut my connection to the Asura Path and straightened upwards. With an unhurried gait, I sauntered towards the riverbank. A few minutes later, a small dog ran towards me with a metal pipe swinging in his tightly closed mouth. Safely secured onto his back was a plastic container.
I crouched down and swiftly patted the panting dog behind the ears when he came to an abrupt halt in front of me. With ease born of repetition, I pulled the pipe out of his mouth and unfastened the container from his back.
"You've gotten faster, Inu. Well done." A bark answered my compliment as the dog's tongue rolled out of his newly emptied mouth.
With a groan, I seated myself on the rocky ground and opened the container Inu had brought me.
Inside, I found the usual. A box filled with steamed vegetables and rice. Next to the box was a flat stone. Inu perked up when I removed the stone from the container and placed it on the ground next to us.
"We will play with that later. First, I need to eat." I shot Inu a glance. "Say… who was it that cooked this? I want to say Konan… but Yahiko has been beside himself ever since we acquired that rice cooker." The small dog barked when he heard Yahiko's name.
"Yahiko then? That guy…. He better be careful not to use up all of our batteries."
I sighed and leaned my upper body over the plastic box. It was all I could do to keep it from being filled with rainwater. Just as I was about to dig in, a whimper sounded from behind me. I turned my head to the side and was confronted with two big eyes staring up at me. The cluster of gold spreading from their center was growing by the day.
"Don't look at me like that, Inu. You don't even need to eat anymore!…. Literally all you do every day is sleep and devour my chakra. This is mine." I shoved his snout to the side when the dog whined at me in response.
I am probably spoiling him too much.
After the meal was finished, I washed out the empty box with water from the river and secured it back into the container. Inu observed my movements with attentive eyes and perked up when he saw me retrieve the flat stone he had carried with him.
"Alright, let's play. I did say we would after I'm done eating, didn't I?"
The small dog barked and jumped up quickly. He fetched the metal pipe, and watched as I positioned the smooth stone on the ground and situated one of the numerous spherical rocks surrounding us on it. I turned around and gave Inu a look.
"You want to go first, I take it?"
The dog nodded rapidly and approached the makeshift golf setup. He leaned his head all the way back to the right and then abruptly snapped it forward.
The metal pipe hit the rock with perfect accuracy.
It exploded forwards as if shot out of a cannon. My eyes followed its trajectory as it flew across the river and landed on the other side with a thud. I smiled and looked at the proud dog. His tail was wagging wildly.
"That was a good shot. More accurate than yesterday, well done… It's my turn now."
I placed another rock on the stone and picked up the pipe. After making sure that my body was not reinforced by any chakra, I hit the rock with my full strength. It exploded into the distance and landed just a few feet away from the other side of the riverbank.
Inu barked happily at his victory and jumped up in place. I put the pipe back down and smiled as he picked it up.
I am definitely spoiling him.
My mood fell slightly when my eyes fell on something I had avoided until now. I lowered myself down to his level and looked the dog straight in the eyes.
"You… know your fur is turning silver in some places, right?" Inu paused his celebration and peered up at me with intelligent eyes. He averted his gaze and nodded slowly.
"Are you not worried about that? It is likely a consequence of me sharing my chakra with you."
I hesitated for a moment.
"I can't guarantee that everything will turn out alright. I told you that I am still a… novice when it comes to using the Rinnegan."
Inu dropped the pipe he was carrying and crossed the distance between us. He rubbed his head on my legs and then stared up at me. The look in his eyes was so clear that I understood his meaning as clearly as if he had spoken directly into my mind.
"Alright then." My lips curved upward. "Thank you for trusting me, Inu." I leaned back and breathed out. "Now… how about you give me another shot at this? My hands slipped the last time!"
A smirk pulled at my lips when Inu agreed and pushed the pipe into my grasp. I picked up the closest rock and tapped into the Deva Path. With an exertion of chakra, I removed the gravitational pull keeping it to the ground.
My eyes gleamed purple as I placed the weightless rock on the flat stone and quickly hit it with a casual strike.
When Inu's angry barks had finally ended, the rock was still flying into the far distance.
———————
The sound of heavy grunting and cursing was the first thing that reached my ears when I arrived back home. I turned the corner to the well-lit cave just in time to see Yahiko almost flip Konan over. The back of her right hand smashed flat against the surface of the closed crate.
They're arm wrestling?
"And Yahiko wins… again. He just can't stop winning!" The ginger haired boy hollered and threw his hands up into the air.
"Yeah… you won this time, Yahiko. No need to be so mean about it!"
I halted my approach at the cave entrance and watched quietly as my friends quarrelled over the boys' victory.
I'm glad they're feeling better. After what happened at the village… I was worried.
Despite my best efforts, for days after, their usual temperament had not returned. Just when I was about to do something drastic, they suddenly snapped back to normal.
From one day to the next.
I had no idea what happened that night, but since then, they had been more motivated to improve than ever.
"Your talent when it comes to body reinforcement really is something else, Yahiko." I stepped inside the cave and passed them by on my way to the kitchen area.
"Nagato! You're finally back… say. Do you want to go for a round with me as well? It could be a…teaching moment."
A snort escaped me at the boy throwing those words back at me. "Konan is right. You really are getting too cocky, Yahiko. I am afraid I will have to decline. Unlike you, the rest of us are not working on just body reinforcement all day every day."
"Hehe. Is that so?… So you think you would lose?"
"Probably."
I turned my eyes downwards to the wet dog waddling behind me and observed as he trotted right over to his small bed and fell asleep instantly.
His chest rose and fell steadily.
With a flex of my Rinnegan, his ever-expanding chakra system was revealed to me. The chakra was still flowing at an accelerated rate. I sighed and continued putting the dishes out to dry.
"How have you guys been doing today? You usually start playing around like this only after you're too tired to keep going."
I turned around and regarded the duo with a raised brow.
"The same as usual. Training, training, and then…some more training." Yahiko shrugged and gave the still pouting girl next to him a smirk. "Though…Konan here has something she really wants to show you."
"Is that so?" I inclined my head and gave the blue-haired girl a curious glance. "What is it? Wait… is it the mysterious technique you've been working on all this time? Are you finally going to spill the beans?"
The girl's pout shifted into a small smile as she averted her eyes to the side. "No… that one will stay a secret for now. It's not ready yet! This is…something else."
My head tilted slightly.
"It is something else alright. She has been working on this for days." Yahiko threw the bluenette a glance. "That is probably the reason why you're falling behind when it comes to body reinforcement, you know?"
Konan huffed at the boys' words and crossed her arms before her chest. "We talked about that already, Yahiko! I am not falling behind. You're just…very selectively talented. Anyways…" She stared at me with slightly widened eyes. "Come outside. I need more… space to show you properly."
I glanced at Yahiko as we kept pace with the girl marching outside. "What's this about?"
The boy grinned. "Just watch."
Following Yahiko's example, I came to a stop at the cave entrance. Konan did not break her stride and continued walking out into the pouring rain.
Her advance ceased when she was about a dozen meters away from us. She turned around and smiled softly. The rain slid off her body without leaving any wetness behind.
Oh… so that's it? She finally mastered that tech–
Suddenly, the girl's spine straightened, and the back of her feet rose up so that her entire weight was supported only by her toes. Her focused eyes closed as she slid her right foot backward in a straight line. Her left foot crossed in front of her as it followed the right one, drawing an unfinished circle on the ground. Her arms stretched out to her sides, unbent.
She is… dancing?
Then, the rain changed. Instead of sliding off her, it clung closely to her moving body. She lifted her hands up into the air and brought them together in a movement that resembled two swans embracing each other. She carefully guided her right foot to the side and turned motionless. Her chest rose visibly as she took a deep breath.
With an audible sound, her extended foot snapped inwards to her left knee. The water that had clung to her burst away.
Her body rotated in a pirouette.
She circled twice on her axis and then came to an abrupt halt in her original position. The rain stuck close to her again. She exhaled deeply and lowered her arms until they were level with her chest.
Then, she brought them together in front of her until they formed a circle, the back of her right hand grazing the palm of her left.
The water burst away again.
Was that…nature transformation?...No. It is pure chakra control.
Her left leg lifted up until it formed a right angle with the rest of her body. Her whole weight balanced on the tip of her right foot. The rain continued to land on her and then burst away in a cycle that made it look as if she was the epicenter of a dancing explosion.
She rotated in a circle so quickly that, for a moment, her blue hair resembled an azure halo crowning her head.
My mouth fell open silently. Yahiko threw me a glance and chuckled.
Meanwhile, Konan had jumped high into the air and then jumped again as she bounced backwards off the falling rain and rotated her entire body sideways.
Before touching the ground again, she bent her spine and angled her legs. Her feet touched down flat on the ground, arms spreading out to the sides. Without pause, she transitioned into the next set of flowing movements.
Her dance continued on for a period of time that stretched forever, and ended much too soon.
When the performance finished, Konan's breath was slightly haggard, her face flushed. She opened her amber eyes and looked at us with a broad smile on her lips.
I... I… what?
A few hurried steps saw her cross the distance between us and come to a stop a breath away from Yahiko and me. Her eyes were wide and intense.
"So? Did you like it? My mother used to dance with me when I was little! I did not think that I would ever get the chance to do it again. But… you know…now that we're safe here, I thought… why not?"
My breath hitched.
She is dancing…because she feels safe here?
My chest tightened as I searched for the right words.
"That was… beautiful, Konan. Thank you for showing me." My eyes alternated between looking at the smiling girl at my front and the grinning boy to my side.
"I… I also need to show you something. I am sure you already… suspected, but there are… things that I have been keeping from you thi-"
"You don't have to tell us, Nagato," Yahiko interrupted me. His voice was as serious as I had ever heard it.
Konan nodded and closed the remaining space between us. She put her hand on my bare arm and conveyed her feelings to me.
For the first time since we met… I did not reciprocate her bonding attempt.
Instead, I retreated a step and shook my head. "I… no. I have to tell you. You both deserve to hear the truth. I asked you to trust me, and you do... you really do. It is about time I do the same."
I turned my gaze back to the duo and stared into their eyes. "Follow me. I will show you where I disappear to every day… and what I do when I get there."
I received no more arguments.
——————
The trek towards one of my designated training spots was quiet. The air between us filled with tension.
I came to a halt in a muddy field littered with gravel. Circular pits of varying depths scarred the surrounding earth.
"I told you where the Rinnegan originates from. I told you what would happen if it was revealed to the world before I am ready… but I did not tell you what it can do."
I turned around and fixed the duo with determined eyes.
"Watch."
With an exertion of will, my chakra levels dropped and the gravity around us disappeared. The sound of rain pelting the ground vanished as the heavy drops of water froze mid-fall.
"Whooaahhh" My gaze shifted towards Yahiko. He had leaped backwards in surprise and was now drifting away from us. His arms swung wildly as he tried to reposition himself in the air. I smirked and pulled the orange-haired boy towards me with a beckoning motion.
Konan's amber eyes were wide and sparkling. "This… this is… what is this?"
My lips pursed.
How do I even explain this? Do they understand what gravity is? They're ten-year-old orphans in a world without universal education.
I kicked off the ground and allowed myself to be lifted upwards. Once satisfied with the altitude, I stopped my ascent and crossed my legs in the lotus position. "This is just one of the Rinnegan's many abilities. One out of six. That was how the Sage of Six Paths got his name. This..."
I gestured towards the surrounding space with an all-encompassing motion.
"Is the Deva Path. It grants me complete control over the force of gravity.
My eyes searched their own and found no confusion in them.
Huh… maybe I am underestimating them.
Yahiko chewed on his bottom lip, and Konan stared at me with wide eyes.
Still, they kept quiet and did not interrupt me.
"The other Paths are somewhat harder to demonstrate… But I promise that I will show you each of them." A smile grew on my face. "I bet you have been wondering what is happening with Inu. There is a path called the Animal Path, and Inu was willing to let me test it with him."
My eyes lost some of their intensity. "I… think I should have told you sooner. Keeping such secrets from you was… unfair."
"There is no need to apologize, Nagato…You're telling us now, aren't you?" My gaze linked with Yahiko's brown eyes. A weight lifted off my chest.
"Yahiko is right," Konan said. "I would never be angry at you over something like this."
I blinked rapidly and averted my eyes from her earnest expression.
"There is something else I need to say. It might even be more important than the Rinnegan." I shook my head. "No. It is more important."
I flew backwards a few meters and fixed them both with a piercing stare.
"I am ambitious. Even more so than you likely already suspect… I want to change this world. I want to make it so that people like you never lose their families. Where women like the one we saw at that village do not have to fear that their children will be stolen from them in the dead of night."
My eyes shone with purple light.
"I don't know how I will achieve that goal yet. But what I do know with certainty… is that there will be war. To change the world and the systems in place that allow shinobi to do whatever they want with the rest of us without any consequences just because they're stronger."
My gaze hardened. "A war even bigger than the one currently being fought is inevitable. It is that war I have been preparing myself for all this time, and… I want you both with me when it arrives. I want you to stand by my side as we face down the world. Together."
I lowered myself downwards until I was face-to-face with them.
"What do you say?"