Devil Ninja

Chapter 36

"Tatsu. Ne. Mi. Ushi. Tori. Saru. Inu. Saru. Tori. Uma. Tora. I. Hitsuji. Saru. U. Saru. Tatsu..."

"Tatsu. Ne. Mi. Ushi. Tori. Saru. Inu. Saru. Tori. Uma. Tora. I. Hitsuji. Saru. U. Saru. Tatsu..."

Deep within the seal that kept Kurama from escaping into the world, Naruto and his giant, orange-furred partner were sitting together and practicing hand seals. Naruto had crossed his legs while he worked. Kurama couldn't cross his legs. His body was physically incapable of such a feat, so he sat with his legs hunched and used his human-like hands to create the same hand seals Naruto was making.

"Uma. Uma. Saru. Tori. Inu. Tora. I. Hitsuji. I. Uma..."

"Uma. Uma. Saru. Tori. Inu. Tora. I. Hitsuji. I. Uma..."

The goal of this exercise was to practice synchronizing their hand seals so they could perform the new jutsu Naruto had created. It was a long and involved process. The jutsu required them to complete 365 hand seals. This normally wouldn't be a problem. Outside of the fact that making 365 hand seals was impractical during a fight, Naruto could easily do this.

The problem was that he and Kurama had to be in perfect sync. Their hand seals couldn't even be a second off. It couldn't even be .005 seconds off.

"Tatsu. Mi. Tori. Tori. Mi. Saru. Tori. Uma."

"Tatsu. Mi. Tori. Tori. Mi. Saru. Tori. Uma."

This was their sixtieth time practicing these same hand seals, though they were not using chakra to cast any jutsu. The technique they were practicing seals for was dangerous. If they made even a single wrong move, all the chakra inside of their bodies would explode, not only taking out them, but also destroying more than half of Japan.

Time within the seal moved differently than time outside of it. An hour in here was only a minute outside. This meant Naruto and Kurama could practice to their hearts' content.

"I think we've just about got it," Naruto said as they finished all 365 hand seals again.

"Ha..." The loud gust of breath hit Naruto's back, blowing his hair every which way. "This is a lot harder than I thought it would be. I think my fingers are cramping."

"Mine too, which is weird because this isn't even my real body. Maybe I have mental cramps?"

"Enough with the jokes."

Heaving another hefty sigh, Kurama placed his hands in front of himself and used them as a pillow for his chin. Naruto followed his example and used Kurama's paws as a back rest.

"Your fur is so soft and fluffy."

"Hmph. Unlike you hairless monkeys, I have a lustrous coat of well-groomed fur."

"I won't deny that. I feel like I'm sinking into a cloud."

The two of them remained like this for awhile, just trading banter as they relaxed, but all good things eventually came to an end.

"Are you really sure this is going to work, Naruto?"

"I wouldn't have created this jutsu if I didn't think it would work."

Naruto's answer seemed to satisfy Kurama, who offered a single nod.

While he would have liked to stick around, Naruto did have a school trip to attend to, and so he closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and then opened them again.

He was back in the real world.

It was early in the morning, early enough that the sky was just beginning to shine with light from the sun. Naruto was sitting cross-legged by a corner. Behind him was a large fence. Before him was a large, flat roof with only a few power boxes and a door leading to a staircase that would take him back to the lobby.