I took to [Riptide Step] quite easily. There were only a few more things Kaizoku was eager to teach me. Among those was the ability to maintain, command and execute precise attacks with a levy of summon animals. Each of their skills, particularly attuned for a certain objective.
Unaimaru was my main attacker, at least for the moment. SlipFang was my infiltrator, though I'd haven't gotten the chance to use him as such. But there were others, and he introduced me.
First was the electric eel. The most obvious and expected of all the summons that Kaizoku could provide me within his vast dominion. The eel named itself Duimon and was as long as I was tall. Its body was lightly charged even in its passive state, so touching it was generally a bad idea. Still, it greeted me gracefully and put itself forward for service.
The second and perhaps more exciting was, of all things, a mantis shrimp. I began to put the pieces together. The mantis shrimp was famous for its ability to punch its enemies and prey to death. The force of its strike alone was enough to boil the air within the water, creating air pockets that were just as strong, if not stronger than what I created with [Kaikyo Ken]. And rather than being a little piece on a plate, the mantle shrimp, named Abnem, was a summon animal as large as a cat and had visible facial expressions when it met me.
I could tell it doubted I was the one to inherit all of Kaizuko's techniques and power as a Sea Sage, that seemed to be a running trend with the denizens of this drowned tower. It didn't speak its mind but it was more reluctant to pledge a service to me than its peers.
Last but not least for now was an archerfish. I hadn't expected to see one at all and certainly not one of this size. It was as huge as Unaimaru, nearly so. And the spouts of water it shut out from its lips were, at base, as strong as what I would produce with a single water bullet. I dare not imagine what more strength it could fathom with its strikes. For now, I was satisfied or at least Kaizuku was.
Introducing me to these three summoned animals was the next step in indoctrinating me in his Sea Sage ways. I was finding it quite versatile, at least more versatile than what other summon paths allowed. The most that came to mind were of course the Sannin, the toad, the snake, and the slug, each of them being the sole summon of the great Sannin. I started to feel some pressure as if I couldn't achieve a similar scale of strength or even stronger than the Sannin with a variety of aquatic summons, then my advantage was wasted.
Of course, that wouldn't be the case. Already, I could calculate a number of battlefield scenarios where each of these summons would be put to great use. Unfortunately, each of them required there to be a substantial amount of water, but what else was new? It was the primary condition of my Sage mode—water had to be present for it to unveil its full potential. And if I didn't want to be dependent on the presence of water, then I would need to do as Kaizoku said; to bring myself closer, to strengthen my affinity with the elements such that wherever I went was equivalent to bringing the seas with me, to being a king of the vast oceans on land. At least that's how he pitched it to me.
For now, I contented myself with getting used to each of them. I signed personal contracts with them, ensuring I would be able to summon them when I wished. The same went for SlipFang. All this time, he'd been the one summoning himself to me as an errand for Kaizoku, watching, stalking, and delivering messages of his incessant need to train me. Now that that was accomplished, Slipfang was fully mine to boss around. I was looking forward to it.
Unaimaru, Slipfang, Duimon, Abnem, and the archerfish, which allowed me to name it rather than give a name itself. I stared up at it, swimming in the vastness of the Drowned tower. Around us, a myriad of sea folk denizens paid rapt attention to the new Sea Sage, with some hope that I would turn my attention to them or bother to learn their names as well. Perhaps I would. But for now, I mused on what to name the rather large archerfish above me.
“Are you sure you wouldn't rather name yourself or tell me what else your friends call you?” I asked. I find it slightly uncomfortable to name a creature that had been in existence surely longer than I had. As large as it was and well spoken, really. It must have been in existence for some time. It was surely no newborn at this size. The archerfish wiggled and bubbled a response to me that I translated as a yes. I hummed, still struggling to come up with a name.
I looked around and for a moment, I was reminded of the fact that I would be in this position once again in about a year's time, god willing. A child to name, a being to mold into my own image, an heir of my own. What would I name him or her? I didn't know. Those questions weren't for now. They were distant hopes that I hadn't even begun to share with Mei.
What would that conversation even look like? Should I even tell her or wait for her to notice and tell me?
Rather than think too hard about it, I decided to just name the archerfish…Archer. “Does that work? Does Archer work?” I asked, and it bubbled in an affirmative. I sighed in relief. It was lazy of me, but I couldn't be bothered at the moment to think of anything truly novel to name the archerfish.
I turned around and set my sights on the rest of my waiting audience. Most of them were sea folk that Kaizoku had trapped within his domain, failed Sea Sages, and other victims of his influence and unfortunate circumstances. I swam around, surprising them with my approach.
“Hello,” I greeted. “I'm Yagura, the Sea Sage, as you may know. What are your names?” I said, introducing myself to a clutch of sea folk and they appeared as mermen with distinct aquatic features, gills, scales, and even fins and horns in some individuals.
Kaizuko seemed partial, especially so to the women as there was a wrapped beauty in each of their appearances that just wasn't present with the men. It seemed he hated men or at least is thought to punish them for their folly. But even then, compared to the beauties beside them, the men were worth looking at without cringing or being repulsed. They all eyed me the same; curious, envious, frightened, worried.
The language was a mix of bubbles and a heavy reliance on gestures, especially underwater. For my sake, it seemed they gestured upwards to the surface and I followed them up as they swam up there. A merman spoke first, one of them anyway. “What do you hope to accomplish here, Yagura?” He demanded. His tone wasn't at at all reassuring, warm or friendly. It didn't seem like there were positive notes at the end of his questioning.
But I answered anyway, “Strength, what else would I come here seeking other than strength?” He seemed especially dissatisfied with that answer, folding his arms and staring at the mermen and mermaids alongside them.
I smiled softly at the group of seafolk. I wasn't sure what they were expecting other than the obvious and so I swam closer even though they retreated ever so slightly at my approach. “Isn't that what all of you were here for as well? In search of strength, power, perhaps riches,” I pointed out, recalling the story Kaizoku had told me of how just so many humans had fallen victim to the promises of and failed to withstand the power when it was gifted to them so blatantly and wickedly by the great sea serpent.
Knowing what receiving Kaizoku’s ‘reward’ was like, I couldn’t fault any one of the seafolk for failing.
The one that spoke before once again drew his breath. “Yes that is true. But like us you've come here in search of power for one reason or the other, yet you are the first Sea Sage to be born in over hundreds of years at least that’s what the elders have told us.” By elders he meant the official summons of Kaizoku those like Unaimaru and SlipFang
"That I am,” I said rather smugly, “I hate to say this so pointedly, but I am the Fourth Mizukage of Kirigakure and my strength is not one of mere humans. I am a shinobi trained in many martial arts and with many ninjutsu techniques. It will be difficult for even Kaizoku to subdue me, even with his blessings.” I said.
The merman seemed to doubt me. He swam about and among his peers, and they all shared the same look, an expectant one that said my own folly would be soon upon me. I found it amusing that they would think such. I wondered if they even knew what a Mizukage was or its significance. After all, they might have been stuck here with Kaizoku and his realm for many more years than any of the hidden villages have existed.
An important facet of my survival I didn't mention to them was the fact that, as a Jinchuriki, Isobu took priority over any sort of transformations my body would ordinarily undergo, even against nature energy. Isobu wouldn't allow me to transform into a toad or fish without putting up a fight, at least that's what it felt like. It felt like he had my back no matter what, no matter the danger; his power, his grace, would be there.
All the same, I followed them as we swam leisurely, and I thought to ask— “If any of you long to feel the thrill of battle once again. I would be happy to serve as your sparring partner.”
It was an idea that came to me suddenly. I had just been introduced to multiple summon animals with special abilities that would help turn the tide of battle if used wisely. To truly understand and appreciate these summons I needed to, first of all, use them.
I wasn't eager to return to the village just yet either. The only sparring partner I had available was Kaizoku, and he was one that didn't understand the difference between a spar and a lesson. He would beat me down and likely even hurt his own children in an attempt to teach me a lesson. I didn't want that.
My suggestion got a lot of interest from the merman, their ears perking up with excitement as we climbed up to the surface of the water. At least twelve of the nearly thirty mermen surrounded me wherever I went in Kaizoku's domain and offered themselves up as sparring partners. It was much, much more than I anticipated, but I was grateful. If these mermen were as weak as I assumed, I would be running through sparring partners quite easily.
“Thank you.” I said, “I think we can begin this way.” I weaved a couple of hand signs, and in a poof of smoke a shadow clone appeared beside me. It immediately walked over to the side and waited while I pointed out at one merman, picking out players for what would be a spar between myself and…myself.
In a few short moments, the mermen were equally divided between me and my clone. “Alright, I'll call us Team A, and you guys be Team B,” I said, pointing at my clone. He shrugged and looked around at his teammates. Should be easy enough.
“What summons are we limited to, or am I limited to?” My clone asked. I thought about it, but I didn't like the idea of imposing limitations, at least not at this moment, not for this exercise.
Instead, I decided, “First come, first serve, but that doesn't mean you get to summon them all at once.” He snorted but agreed. “Alright then, let's have a fair fight. Is everyone ready?”
““Ready!”” They chorussed.