For the folks living in East Sea County, today was destined to be a day they'd never forget.
From early morning, the sea was shrouded in dark, heavy clouds. The sky looked like it had been ripped open, with fierce winds howling down from above and countless hailstones—each the size of a human head—crashing down amid flashes of lightning and booming thunder. The whole world was painted in a gloomy, gray haze.
It felt like the end of the world was coming.
At the peak of the chaos, people within a few hundred kilometers saw a massive, dark cyan beam of light appear on the horizon. It was like a divine weapon splitting the heavens and earth, cleaving the vast sea of clouds and the ocean below in two. The sheer power was overwhelming.
Several mountain peaks were flattened by that beam.
Afterward, the sea roared with waves hundreds of meters high, smashing coastal barriers to pieces.
These once-in-a-century spectacles lasted a full day.
It wasn't until the next morning that things started to calm down.
Sporadic lightning still cracked across the sky, and the rain kept falling—drops tinged with a faint red, almost like they were mixed with blood. It was unsettling to look at.
A few brave souls began opening their windows, cautiously peeking up at the sky.
"I heard from the elders that an ancient dragon god lives above the clouds of the East Sea…"
"Could this storm mean the dragon god's angry?"
…
Above the clouds.
Uchiha Hikari stood on a mountaintop, leaning on her dragonbone sword, catching her breath. Nearby, Esdeath stood with her hands at her sides, also breathing heavily.
Across from them, the East Sea Cloud Dragon lay sprawled across the peak, its massive body—stretching thousands of meters—covered in countless wounds. Scars from flames, frost, and lightning marked its scales, and thick blood stained half the mountain red. The air was thick with the metallic scent of blood.
"…This thing's strength is that terrifying?"
Even Hikari hadn't expected the battle to drag on for a whole day.
She was already on her third dose of stamina after popping a Senzu Bean, while Esdeath was on her second.
If she hadn't kept up the Amaterasu flames for a full day, turning them into a blazing inferno that stretched for kilometers and burned half the dragon's body to a critical state, this fight might've gone on even longer.
Of course… Hikari had plenty of Senzu Beans.
Thanks to the Cat Sage, she had a whole jar—hundreds of them. She could fight for ten days and nights and still have enough. But defeating the East Sea Cloud Dragon by slowly grinding down its health bar like that? That'd be a bit too pathetic.
"…It might not be the most honorable win, but I came out on top."
Hikari took a few slow steps forward, stopping in front of the dragon's massive head and crouching down. "So, you gonna submit? Or do you want to heal up and go for round two?"
As a super dangerous species that had lived for over a thousand years, the East Sea Cloud Dragon had some intelligence—about the level of a human preteen. It wasn't exactly pondering deep philosophical questions, but it could understand Hikari's words well enough.
For a moment, its eyes flickered with human-like emotions: confusion, anger, shock, fear…
It was clearly wrestling with itself.
"Don't worry," Hikari said. "If you submit, I'll heal your wounds right away. If you don't… I'll still heal you, and we'll keep fighting until you do. Your choice."
She sat cross-legged in front of the dragon.
Without activating her Susanoo, Hikari was tiny compared to the beast—smaller than the gaps between its teeth. It could swallow her whole in one bite. But after the agony of her "Fire-Thunder God" and Amaterasu attacks, the dragon didn't dare move recklessly.
After a long pause, Esdeath grew impatient. She stepped forward, gripping her sword and pointing it at the dragon's eye, her gaze cold with killing intent. "It's just a beast. Why waste words? Submit or die."
"…You're too extreme, Esdeath," Hikari said, gently pushing the sword tip aside.
If possible, she wanted to subdue the dragon through sheer strength.
But if that didn't work… well, she wasn't above using a little trick, like her Sharingan.
In its prime, the East Sea Cloud Dragon was stronger than the Nine-Tails from the Naruto world, and controlling it might've been tough. But now, after their tag-team beatdown, it was critically weakened. This was her chance.
She also wanted to test a certain eye technique she'd never used before…
Meanwhile, the dragon seemed startled by Esdeath's move, as if it thought she was about to blind it. It quickly shut its eyes, then opened them again, its bony, fearsome face twitching before it slowly lowered its head.
"Hm?" Hikari tilted her head. "That's… surrender, right?"
She reached out tentatively and touched the dragon's snout. Its body trembled slightly but didn't resist.
Of course, with its size, even a "slight" tremor shook the entire mountain like an earthquake.
"Good boy," Hikari said.
Her right Mangekyou Sharingan spun, pulling the lingering Amaterasu flames back into her eye. Then she pulled out a Senzu Bean and tossed it into the dragon's mouth.
To a creature of its size, the bean was like a grain of sand.
But in mere moments, its wounds began to heal rapidly. Broken bones reconnected, fresh flesh sprouted, and even the burns from Amaterasu and Esdeath's ice healed at a visible pace.
"?" Esdeath's eyes widened, genuinely shocked. "You gave it a Senzu Bean too? It can heal a super dangerous species of that size so quickly?"
"Yup," Hikari nodded.
Honestly, she found it pretty absurd too.
Senzu Beans worked almost like a concept: one bean could fully heal and restore anyone, from a Super Saiyan who could destroy a solar system to a baby who could barely walk. So, the dragon's massive size didn't matter—it was no different from a wounded rabbit. One bean did the trick.
To someone unfamiliar with the Dragon Ball world, though, it looked downright unscientific.
Moments later, the dragon's wounds were mostly healed. It let out a surprised roar and soared back into the vast sea of clouds with a graceful twist.
Hikari covered her ears to avoid being deafened by the roar, then looked up at the sky.
She wasn't worried about the dragon going back on its word after healing. If it did, she'd just fight it again. She had plenty of beans. It'd just be… a bit of a hassle. She could use a break after such a long fight.
Luckily, the dragon didn't seem to have any tricks up its sleeve.
After soaring through the sky for a bit, it returned to the mountain, its massive eyes staring at Hikari before lowering its head again.
"Good boy," Hikari said, patting its snout.
Using her Sky Dance technique, she floated up and landed on its forehead. From there, looking down at the mountain was like standing on top of her Susanoo. Gazing out at the surrounding peaks gave her a sense of standing at the top of the world.
"From today on, you're my mount," she declared. "Let's give you a name… how about Rayquaza?"
The dragon didn't respond, either because it liked the name or didn't understand.
Didn't matter.
Hikari pulled a camera from her Universal Capsule, waved Esdeath over, and explained how to use it. Then she flashed a peace sign with a grin, signaling Esdeath to snap some pics of her and the dragon.
"Photos?" Esdeath frowned, not quite getting it, but she stepped onto a floating ice platform and moved around to find good angles.
Click, click—
The camera captured shot after shot.
Hikari struck a few poses on the dragon's head, while Esdeath figured out the camera, her expression turning curious.
"…Done?" Esdeath asked.
"Hang on." Hikari floated over, took the camera, and checked the photos. "Not bad, pretty cool… Wanna take a few yourself?"
Esdeath scoffed. "Hmph, boring."
Hikari shrugged. Being a dragon rider was awesome in her book, but if Esdeath wasn't into it, she wouldn't push. She'd just develop these photos later and show off to Bulma, Eriri, and the others.
Maybe she'd let them try riding Rayquaza too.
Next, Hikari spent some time collecting the dragon's shed fur and scales. These were rare materials—Lubbock's Teigu, Cross Tail, was made from stuff like this. While the crafting technique was lost, she could probably make something else with them.
Like… a sweater?
A sweater woven from Cross Tail threads would probably outshine armor made from dragonbone scales. It'd be lightweight, soft, and comfy.
She also bottled up the dragon's blood and packed away the scales. Maybe the Revolutionary Army or Totosai from the Inuyasha world could do something with them. Worst case, she could trade them for resources.
After all that, a problem hit her.
"So…" she muttered. "How do I take Rayquaza with me?"
Hikari hadn't gone through all this trouble just to ride the dragon around in the Akame ga Kill world. She wanted to bring it to other worlds.
But the chat group's teleportation function had limits on how much you could carry.
Something small like the Nimbus Cloud? No problem.
But something as massive as Rayquaza? She'd need to seal it first to bypass the restrictions.
Problem was, neither a sealing scroll nor a Universal Capsule had enough space for a creature nearly ten kilometers long. It'd be like trying to stuff a dozen mountains into a single scroll—impossible.
"Maybe…" Hikari mused, "I could ask Minato-sensei about Jinchuriki sealing techniques and seal it inside me, like a 'Cloud Dragon Jinchuriki'?"
She glanced at Rayquaza's endless body, swallowed hard, and shook her head. "Nope, too big. I'd burst."
Size aside, Rayquaza was a flesh-and-blood creature, unlike the chakra-based Tailed Beasts in Naruto. Even if it was on the same scale as the Ten-Tails, sealing it like a Jinchuriki might not work. If she forced it, she might actually explode.
"Guess I'll have to ask Bulma," she sighed. "Wonder how big the largest Universal Capsule can get… or if she could make a mini-ring that works on Rayquaza. Then I could keep it as a pet."
The original mini-ring was for human wrists. On Rayquaza, it wouldn't even fit over a toenail.
For now, Hikari decided to let Rayquaza roam free here while she figured things out.
"Let's go, Esdeath. Time to find a place to rest."
"…Don't call me that," Esdeath said, lips pursed in annoyance.
"Hm? Don't like it?" Hikari stretched, raising an eyebrow. "Thought it'd sound friendlier. Oh well, let's not sweat the small stuff. I'm exhausted—let's find somewhere to crash."
With Rayquaza watching, Hikari and Esdeath flew down from the mountain, landing in a nearby city. They checked into a random inn.
First thing Hikari did? Take a bath.
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