Terra appeared beside Max and Thena a moment later, Max's clone dismissing itself quietly behind her. She pulled a rock from the sand below, using it as a platform to hover up to their level, then looked Thena over from head to toe.
"You look insane."
"I know, right?" Thena said, looking herself over with quiet satisfaction. "Though it's going to take some getting used to." She nudged the small ridges that had formed on her forehead and glanced at her now pale skin.
Terra's eyes drifted to the orbs hovering slowly behind Thena's back.
"So what's up with the black balls?" she asked, completely offhandedly.
"These?" Thena held out her palm. One of the Truth Seeking Orbs drifted around from behind her and settled into it. "I can erase objects on contact with them and nullify ninjutsu entirely." She paused, a slow grin forming. "Only someone in Sage Mode can counter them,and even then they still can't touch them directly. Which means with these I finally have an edge against dad."
"It still has to hit first," Max said from directly behind her.
Thena froze.
Max yawned. "Anyway. I'm exhausted. I'm going to get some rest." He glanced over at Terra. "You?"
"Same," Terra said, stretching her arms above her head. "As much as I'd love to see what Thena can do now, it's going to have to wait."
"Too bad," Thena said, already turning away from them, "because I'm not resting until I test everything out."
"Have fun," Max said. "And if something goes wrong, summon me."
He placed a hand on Terra's shoulder and they disappeared.
'Now what else can I do,besides being able to fly without the Lightened Boulder Jutsu?'
Thena hovered in place, thinking.
'Oh right. I'm always in Sage Mode now. Which means every jutsu I use from this point forward is automatically a Sage Art. And dad once told me that the Truth Seeking Orbs can be used to mimic different elemental bloodlines by mixing different chakra ratios within them. They briefly lose their original nullification and disintegration properties while transformed tho,but let's see if I can actually do it.'
One of the Truth Seeking Orbs drifted from behind her into her outstretched palm.
' How about Explosion Release first,that's lightning and earth combined, right?*
She began mixing the chakra ratios carefully within it.
Less than a second later, the orb began to glow white.
Thena's eyes went wide.
"Oh shi-"
Two of the remaining Truth Seeking Orbs reacted instantly, morphing and flattening into a shield that snapped into place between her and the glowing orb a fraction of a second before it detonated.
*BOOM.*
The shockwave rolled outward across the desert. Sand blasted in every direction. When the dust settled, Thena lowered the shield and looked around at the massive crater that had formed beneath her, its edges already filling slowly with drifting sand.
She stared at it for a long moment.
"This is so busted!" she exclaimed, eyes lit up with excitement.
She cracked her knuckles.
"And I haven't even tested what I can do with the Rinnegan yet." She paused, then reached up and rubbed the back of her head with a slightly sheepish expression. "Though I have to be careful now. I've become way too strong."
There was beat a beat of silence befoee she grinned.
'Hehe'.
A Few Days Later
Max, Thena and Terra sat together in the kitchen eating breakfast in silence until Terra spoke.
"I really can't get used to seeing you walk around with nine black balls trailing behind you," she said, spooning her cereal.
"I can't turn them off," Thena said. "I can use the Transformation Jutsu to change my appearance and clothes but I can't get rid of them,they're made of chakra and they're bonded to me now." She paused. "But don't worry, they won't erase anything they touch unless I want them to. Watch."
She set her spoon aside, reached out to one of the Truth Seeking Orbs and separated a small portion from it. It morphed in her hand, shifting into a pitch black spoon. She picked up her bowl and continued eating with it.
"See?"
"I find that mildly unsanitary," Max said.
"Agreed," Terra said immediately.
"Actually" Thena pointed the black spoon at them "these are probably the cleanest objects on the planet. They erase everything they touch, remember? I sterilized this before I ate with it."
"It still just..." Terra trailed off, searching for the words. "It just looks wrong."
"Yes," Max agreed. "Please don't do that again."
"You're both just hating," Thena said, and went back to her cereal with the black spoon, chuckling to herself.
"Anyway," Thena said, setting her black spoon down. "When are you going to spar with me, dad? I've been itching to fight you to test my new power. And you've been dodging me for the past three days,going off to play punches with your clones and then meditating, only to do it all over again." She leaned forward with a smirk. "Don't think I haven't noticed."
Terra looked sideways at Max to gauge his reaction.
Max slowly raised his eyes from his food.
"It's not what you think," he said evenly. "It's part of my training strategy. I'm testing my reaction speed and instincts."
"By playing punches though," Thena said, her smirk widening. "I find that kind of hard to believe." She burst out laughing.
"It does sound a little funny," Terra admitted carefully, "but I believe dad has his reasons. Like he said." She turned to Max with a small, diplomatic smile. "Right, dad?"
Max hummed.
"Yeah," Thena said, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye. "He has his reasons alright." She paused for effect. "He's bored. Hahahaha"
Terra pressed her lips together very hard to stifle her laughter.
Thena got her laughter under control and leaned forward, her expression softening.
"Seriously though, dad. You should find some other hobbies to kill time with. Hang out with the League, or mom, or something." She reached out and placed her hand over his. "Or you could just spend the day with us. We wouldn't have any issues with that."
"Yeah," Terra agreed, nodding. "We could show you around. And now that you've cut ties with the League" she tilted her head thoughtfully "we're going to need another way to bring in money. So how about getting a job?"
Every trace of warmth Max had been feeling evaporated instantly at that single word.
'Job'.
He despised working. He had only ever held a job,a mailman, of all things,as a cover to fly under the radar. But now, without the League's resources behind him, he might actually have to get one again.
He turned the thought over for approximately two seconds.
'Nah. He was going back to stealing from criminals'.
"Dad?"
Thena was shaking his hand gently, watching him with concern. "Are you okay? Did we say something wrong?"
"It's nothing," Max said.
Then came a knock at the door.
End of Chapter.
Chapter 41:A promise
Chapter 42:Brainiac depends
Chapter 43:Constantine?