Celestial dragon ninja

chapter 4

The Stalking Lion

I know that Loke is a close range fighter, but there is a reason why Loke was chosen.

Deidara was flying away on his bird. Making sure to fly at a relatively high distance so he could evade most attacks without losing visual of the enemy. He turned and was disappointed to see that the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki didn't follow him. He was surprised to see someone he hasn't seen before. The male seemed so out of place among the ninja with his crisp suit, yet he seemed to be able to keep up with the ninja. Deidara decided to dispose of them so he threw some clay birds in their direction. He was about to detonate them when the new male jumped towards them. His hands started to glow yellow and he smashed the birds. What surprised Deidara was that the bombs did not detonate from the impact.

'How did he do that? Wait! Could he be one of the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki's summons! Then he was able to dispel the chakra in my clay birds! I got to be careful with that one.'

Deidara continued to lead them away from Sasori, Gaara still in his clay bird.

/On the ground/

Kakashi stared at the spirit that was easily keeping up with them. From what he just witnessed, this Loke was also a close range fighter. Meaning, they were at a disadvantage.

He glanced at Sakura, before turning back towards their flying enemy. All three of them are close ranged ninja, meaning Deidara, with his long range bombs, will have the advantage. Given Naruto's new abilities, perhaps it would have been better to take him with them.

Kakashi shook his head. Sakura was right. For all they knew, they are being led towards a trap.

'Still,' He turned back to Loke. 'why did Naruto give us a short range fighter?'

Loke, feeling Kakashi's stare, glanced in his direction. "I can tell you are wondering why Naruto sent me with you."

Kakashi looked startled before he consented.

Loke sighed. "Naruto does have long ranged spirits at his command, some that would actually be much more efficient in this battle than others," Loke said, thinking of Sagittarius, "However, we spirits have one large weakness that makes it difficult for us to be in long battles."

"What is it?" Sakura asked softly from Kakashi's other side.

"We can't remain long in this world. The energy of this world is toxic for us and remaining here for longer than five minutes can kill us."

Both Kakashi and Sakura's eyes widened at that.

"Then why did Naruto…?" Sakura started, not wanting to believe that Naruto would willingly force his spirits to remain out for longer than five minutes.

"That is the reason why he sent me." Loke smiled reassuringly at them. "I have trained my body to remain in this world for extended periods of time. Only one other spirit besides me can remain out for long periods of time."

Kakashi thought about it. If the spirits had such a weakness, than they were next to useless in long battles.

Loke saw Kakashi thinking and could already deduce what he was thinking. "The strength of a spirit is determined by the strength of the wielder. A spirit can last up to 2 hours in the outside world if their summoner is that strong. However, prolonged exposure is fatal." Loke gave a light laugh as he thought about Naruto. "Although, Naruto's healing abilities have allowed many of my comrades to remain in the outside world for over 24 hours."