Chapter 10 - The Weight of Inheritance
Morning in the Kaminari estate did not begin with warmth.
It began with repetition.
The same yard stretched beneath an open sky, its packed earth worn smooth from years of impact. Cracks spread through stone platforms, each one a reminder that this was not a place meant for comfort.
It was a place meant for refinement.
Antares stood barefoot near the edge of the training ground, his eyes fixed on the small object placed before him.
A glass bulb.
Simple.
Fragile.
Unforgiving.
Fragments from his previous attempts still littered the ground. Misaki had not removed them.
Failure was part of the lesson.
"…Again."
Her voice was calm.
It always was.
Antares exhaled slowly, placing two fingers against the thin metal frame connected to the bulb.
"…Just make it glow," he muttered under his breath.
"That is the goal," Misaki replied. "Not the method."
He closed his eyes.
And immediately
Felt it.
The warmth.
Deep within his chest.
It didn't rise slowly.
It surged.
Like it had been waiting.
Antares frowned.
"…Too fast."
"You're already late," Misaki said.
That irritated him.
He focused harder.
Trying to slow it.
Trying to catch it
But the moment he noticed it
It moved.
Rushed forward
The bulb flared
Then exploded.
Glass scattered across the dirt.
Antares opened his eyes.
"…That was slower."
"It was not controlled," Misaki said.
She replaced the bulb.
Same position.
Same expectation.
No break.
"…I'm not pushing that hard."
"You are."
Her tone didn't change.
"You simply lack the reference to understand how much you are using."
Antares stared at his hand.
"…It moves on its own."
"Yes."
"…Then how do I stop it?"
"You don't."
That answer again.
Antares frowned.
"…Then what am I even doing?"
Misaki stepped closer.
"You are learning when not to interfere."
He didn't like that answer.
"…That doesn't help."
"It does."
She crouched slightly, bringing her gaze level with his.
"You feel the chakra and immediately try to control it."
"…Isn't that what I'm supposed to do?"
"No."
A pause.
"You observe first. Then guide."
Antares looked down at the bulb.
"…So I'm skipping something."
"Yes."
Silence.
"…That's stupid."
"It is reality."
A heavy impact echoed across the yard.
Antares turned.
Unruly Ay hung upside down from a stone ceiling platform, iron weights strapped to each limb. His body trembled under the strain as chakra flickered beneath his feet and hands.
"Lower."
The Third Raikage's voice carried easily.
Unruly Ay bent his knees further, his arms shaking as the weights dragged him down.
His chakra flickered
Then surged.
Then stabilized.
Barely.
"…That's insane," Antares muttered.
"its efficient," Misaki corrected.
Antares watched more closely this time.
"…He's not gathering chakra."
"No."
"…He's already using it."
"Yes."
Another rep.
Slower.
Strained.
"Chakra is not something you summon only when needed," Misaki said. "It must exist in a usable state at all times."
Antares frowned.
"…So he's maintaining it."
"Yes."
"…And I'm…"
"Interrupting yours."
That stung.
Unruly Ay slipped slightly.
"…I've got it," he muttered.
"You don't," Ay replied.
Another rep.
"…Control."
Unruly Ay forced his chakra outward again, stabilizing himself.
Antares watched in silence.
"…He's not fighting it," he said.
"No," Misaki replied. "He's sustaining it."
That word stuck with him.
Sustaining.
Antares looked back at the bulb.
Then at his hand.
"…I'm trying to force it into one place."
"Yes."
"…And he's letting it exist everywhere."
"Yes."
Something clicked.
Not fully.
But enough.
"Watch."
Ay's voice cut through the yard.
Antares turned.
And for the first time
He really paid attention.
There was no buildup.
No visible gathering.
Then
Chakra snapped into place.
Lightning erupted around Ay's body instantly, bright blue arcs wrapping across his skin in a perfectly stable cloak.
'Its beautiful, just like i've seen before in the anime but so much cooler'
The air cracked.
The ground beneath him fractured.
Antares' breath caught.
"…It's not leaking."
"No," Misaki said. "It's contained."
Ay stood still.
The lightning did not flicker.
Did not surge.
It remained exactly where it was.
Controlled.
Perfect.
"This is the first stage," Ay said.
"Lightning Release Chakra Mode."
Unruly Ay dropped from the ceiling, breathing hard.
"I just started learning it," he muttered.
"You started using it," Ay corrected.
A difference.
A sharp one.
Ay's gaze shifted to Antares.
"What you have is power."
The lightning intensified slightly.
"But no control."
Antares didn't argue.
"…Then what's the difference?"
Ay raised his hand.
The lightning shifted.
Not outward.
Inward.
Compressed.
Tighter.
Denser.
The air distorted slightly.
"Compression."
Antares blinked.
"…So you're using more chakra."
"No."
Ay's voice hardened slightly.
"I'm wasting less."
Silence.
Then
The lightning changed.
Subtly.
The blue deepened.
Darkened.
Heavier.
Misaki's eyes narrowed.
"…That's different," Antares said.
"It's incomplete," Ay replied.
"Lightning can be refined further."
"Stripped of excess."
"Focused beyond destruction."
A pause.
"Blue lightning destroys."
Another.
"…Black lightning deletes."
Silence.
"It doesn't exist yet."
The lightning vanished instantly.
Then
Ay moved.
Gone.
Antares didn't see it.
Didn't hear it
Until
Ay stood behind him.
"…That looked like teleportation jutsu."
"It isn't."
"Then what"
"Movement without delay, my brain and my body are in complete synchronicity at the moment."
"…How long can you do that?"
"Once."
A small pause.
"Per day."
...
"…And after that?"
"My body will need a break due to the strain on my chakra coils."
That landed hard.
"Try."
Antares blinked.
"…What?"
"Try to compress it."
Unruly Ay snorted.
"He just learned how to not explode a bulb"
"Silence."
Antares stepped forward.
Closed his eyes.
The warmth surged instantly.
He tried to compress it
It resisted.
Like trying to hold back a flood with his hands.
"…It won't stay," he muttered.
"Because you're forcing it," Misaki said.
"Observe first."
Antares exhaled slowly.
Watched it.
Felt it.
Then
Tried again.
Compressed
For a moment
It worked.
The pressure built sharply in his chest.
Too much.
Too unstable.
"Stop," Misaki said.
Antares released it immediately.
The pressure vanished.
"…That felt wrong."
"It was."
Ay crossed his arms.
"You're skipping steps."
"…So I'm not even close."
"No."
A pause.
"Not yet."
Antares turned back to the bulb.
Closed his eyes.
This time
He waited.
The warmth rose.
He didn't interfere.
Didn't push.
Then
At the last moment
He guided it.
Lightly.
The bulb flickered.
Dim.
Stable.
It held.
For a moment longer than before.
"…It stayed."
"Again."
Far beyond the estate
Blue B exhaled slowly.
"…It's earlier today."
The training ground around him was empty.
Reinforced.
Layered with seals.
Containment.
"…Report."
He didn't turn.
"…Fluctuating."
Ay stepped closer.
"Define it."
"It's not leaking."
A pause.
"…It's pushing."
Silence.
Blue B closed his eyes.
Chakra gathered.
Controlled.
Refined.
For a moment
Everything held.
Then
Something moved.
Heavy.
Ancient.
The Eight-Tails shifted.
Blue B's brow furrowed.
"…There."
Chakra pressed outward.
Testing.
Searching.
He forced it down.
Compressed it.
Locked it.
The ground cracked.
"…You're forcing suppression," Ay said.
Blue B didn't respond.
Another pulse.
Stronger.
"…It's getting worse."
"…How long?"
"…I don't know."
Silence.
Another pulse.
This time
The seals flickered.
"…That's new," Blue B muttered.
The pressure surged.
Violent.
The ground fractured.
Ay turned.
"Containment team!"
Shadows moved instantly.
Code name Kuuhaku (Sky Void) Squad 9 - Response and Reinforcement team.
"…If it breaks"
"You hold it."
A brief pause.
"And I end it."
Across Kumogakure
The air shifted.
Subtle.
But wrong.
Birds scattered.
Dogs and cats started growling.
Step
Step...
Shinobi paused mid step.
"…You feel that?"
"…Yeah."
Inside the sensory division
"…Chakra spike detected."
"…Location?"
"…Outer containment zone, east side."
a pause of realization.
"…That's not normal."
"…It's pulsing."
Silence.
"…Jinchūriki."
No one argued and got to work.
Back in the yard
The bulb shattered again.
Antares froze.
"…What was that?"
His chest tightened.
The warmth inside him
Reacted.
Misaki's head turned sharply.
"…That's not normal."
Ay was already moving.
Lightning snapped into place
And he vanished.
Gone.
The ground cracked where he stood.
"…Inside," Misaki said.
"Now."
Antares didn't argue.
But as he turned
The pressure hit again.
Something vast.
Something alive.
And for a brief moment
His chakra responded.
Not with fear.
But with recognition.
Far beyond the Kaminari estate
The ground trembled.
Not enough to shake buildings.
Not enough to alert civilians.
But enough
For those who knew what to look for.
Blue B stood at the center of the containment field.
His breathing had changed.
Not uncontrolled.
But heavier.
More deliberate.
"…Again," he muttered.
Chakra gathered.
Compressed.
Forced inward.
For a moment
It held.
Then
It pushed back.
Harder.
Stronger.
Faster than before.
Blue B's eyes snapped open.
"…Fuck"
The pressure surged.
Violent.
The seals beneath his feet flared, lines of ink glowing briefly as they attempted to stabilize the surge.
They held.
Barely.
Blue B forced the chakra down again.
Grinding against it.
"…Stay down," he muttered.
The response
Was immediate.
A pulse.
Not random.
Not chaotic.
Directed.
Blue B's expression tightened with horror written over it.
"…You're waking up."
That was the first time he said it out loud.
And saying it made it real.
Inside the sensory division
"…It spiked again."
"…Stronger?"
"…Yes."
....
"…Frequency?"
"…Increasing."
That answer made the room go still.
"…That's not fluctuation."
"…No."
"…its escalating."
Silence.
"…Alert command, Kuuhaku (Sky Void) Squad 9 - Response and Reinforcement team.."
Back at the estate
Antares froze.
Mid-breath.
The warmth inside him surged suddenly
Not outward
Inward.
Tight.
Compressed.
Like something was pulling it.
"…What—"
The bulb in front of him cracked.
Not from force.
From pressure.
Misaki moved instantly.
Her hand caught his wrist.
"Stop."
Antares cut the flow immediately.
The pressure vanished.
He inhaled sharply.
"…That wasn't me."
"I know."
Her grip tightened slightly.
"…That was external influence."
Antares' eyes widened.
"…Something else?"
"Yes."
brief pause.
"Something large maybe one of the Jinchuriki lost control."
Across the yard
Unruly Ay stopped moving.
"…..You feel that?" one shinobi asked.
He didn't need to specify.
Everyone did.
The air had changed.
Subtly.
But undeniably.
Heavier.
Like the entire village had shifted slightly out of place.
Far away
The ground cracked again.
This time
It didn't stop.
A line spread outward from Blue B's feet, splitting the reinforced stone.
The seals flared violently.
Then dimmed.
"…That's enough," Ay said.
Blue B didn't respond.
He couldn't.
Because for the first time
He wasn't suppressing it.
He was reacting to it.
The pressure surged again.
Stronger.
Closer.
His vision blurred slightly.
"…Raikage…"
Ay stepped forward.
"…Speak."
Blue B's jaw tightened.
"…It's not resisting anymore."
A pause.
"…It's responding and it wants out."
Silence.
That was worse.
Much worse.
Ay's eyes narrowed.
"…Then it's already begun."