Saruto | The Bloodline Prophecy (Part 1)

Chapter 48: Celestial Wave

"We aren't gonna make it," Inojou cursed.

We watched as the disciples flooded over the mountains. There wasn't enough time to get across the water and back to the mainland and Sasuke wasn't at full strength to use his Rinnegan. We just don't have enough time.

Looking at Shikadami who held the chakra flower in her pocket of air, she gave me a worried look of defeat.

As I stared back at the ocean looking for a way, from the corner of my eye I could see Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi preparing to face the hordes and hoards of disciples treading down the hill in an inhuman manner.

This can't be it. If only I had more of a handle on my abilities. If only...

"Ten no nami!" Inojou yelled as he enacted foreign hand signals.

I was as he flexed his arms to pull the edge of the shoreline away from another. Soon it stretched deeper towards the horizon. Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi turned to see the sound of rushing water. First I could see the sand bed of the wave break and then coral and seaweed of the deeper depths.

As the rushingwater around me began to pull away like a parted sea, I stared down the gorge of it revealing the ocean floor and all the rocks and plants that lay on the bottom. All of us stood there as the ocean stretched towards the sky to reveal its depths. In its walls were silver fish that luminated in the light of the moon. It was beautiful.

The water created a sort of aurora borealis that reflected into the sky. As I studied the night sky I could see a number of colors. The aurora borealis was green but also red in the shape of curtains, sheets, or a diffuse glow

Then I looked at Inojou once more. But to my surprise his skin was like glassy water but still held its shape. His eyes were like glowing purple diamonds that sparked like the gleaming water around us. It was strange and beautiful. I had never seen anything like it.

My father once told me that every element in this world has a point where it can reach its purest form. Where someone's chakra is so in sync with its affinity that it becomes them entirely. It's the purest form of chakra. For Inojou he was truly the embodiment of water chakra. Inojou embodied its flow, flexibility and freedom of expression to emotions and sensuality. This energy center, when balanced, offers direct access to flow, flexibility, and fun.

"Woah," Naruto spoke out as he looked towards the parted sky, "How is this possible?"

I watched as he shook in his shoes, it was powerful chakra.

"I-I've never seen anything like this," Sasuke said at a loss for words.

"This is pure chakra," Kakashi said in wonderment, "It's rare to the point of being impossible."

Then I looked towards Inojou who stood between us and the chakra corrupted disciples. Inojou began to wince and struggle at holding the walls back from crushing us under all that water pressure. His hands were shaking in their positions as he held his hand signals.

"Ahhhh!" he screamed as his hold on the ocean began to battle back at him, "I can't hold itt! Go!"

Immediately we sprinted on the ocean floor, dodging and leaping over the obstacles the plagued it.

As I ran by Inojou, I told him he was slowing down from his hold on the water.

"Inojou..."

He looked at me and brushed off the concern, "I'm fine! We have to keep going."

From behind us, I heard as the disciples flooded into the gorge and inhumanely gained on us. We weren't going to make it to the other side. We maybe had a few more miles tops to run. We were all just too exhausted from the blows before.

Looking ahead of us, I could see Naruto slow as he dragged his feet. Hitting a coral, I could see it slicing his white blouse.

"Damn!" Naruto said, grabbing as he fell to the sandy ground.

As we caught up to him, we saw him close his eyes and talk to himself.

"C'mon! Kurama! We need your help" he cursed.

Sasuke then reached out his hand to Naruto's and picked him up.

In anger Naruto pulled away and cursed to himself, "What do you mean I have no chakra? You are my chakra!"

I looked at Kakashi who had his eyes glued on Inojou standing a distance behind us. Following his glance I saw Inojou panting, his hands shaking. Inojou then looked back to the disciples who were a little less than half a mile away from us and he frowned, looking back at his hands.

"Naruto!" Kakashi urgently ordered, "We need to hurry! We are running out of time!"

Kakashi then looked back to Inojou where all our gazes turned to. He was weak. And with that queue He looked back up to us. For some reason, my stomach sank. He gave me this look that made me uneasy. No...

I watched in horror as I realized what he was trying to tell me. My eyes glued on him as he looked at me and then back at the mindless disciples who were getting closer and closer.

I couldn't. I wouldn't.

I then looked to Shikadami who began to shed a tear.

"Go!" Inojou yelled out to us.

I watched as Shikadami wiped her tears and Kakashi then gave a nod to Sasuke who's eyes widened. He seemed to give him a look of question and then lowered his eyes, saddened. Looking away from anyone he activates his Rinnegan to create a portal. He winced in a sharp pain as his eye began to bleed.

"Arghh!" Sasuke signaled.

He was way too weak to hold the Rinnegan for long.

Naruto was quick to shoulder Shikadami, guiding her to the portal swiftly.

"Saruto, we must go!" Kakashi yelled for me as he stood by the portal.

I ignored him. All I could do was begin to think that I could fight. I could use my juvenile Amaterasu to take them all out. Then I would deal with the consequences later.

"Saruto, go!" Inojou yelled at me as he began to shiver at the excessive use of his chakra.

I began to run to him, "I am not leaving you! I can-"

"No!" He said, raising one of his shaken hands, "It's not your time yet."

As my feet began to run, suddenly my legs were stuck. Looking down I could see that a stream of seawater had stretched its way to me and wrapped themselves around my legs. As I tried to get myself free, I looked back to Inojou who had one hand sticking out of me. He was doing dual hand signals. One to hold up the rushing ocean and the other holding me back. How? He was using two jutsu at once with each hand.

My eyes locked with his own, he didn't seem sad. I was shocked and my eyes widened. He gave me a look that I knew exactly what he was trying to tell me. I hated it but I understood.

Shedding a tear, I heard Kakashi yelling to me but they were muffled. I closed my eyes to get rid of my tear and then looked back at him, took a deep breath, and looked back to Inojou.

Suddenly it became clear that the integrity of the jutsu holding up the sea was becoming weaker as the ground shook, almost toppling over the coral reefs that gave in under the looming water pressure. The water was collapsing again. Before I could react to save myself, I felt a tentacle-like form of water fly towards me to send me flying back towards the portal to which Sasuke entered before I could reach it. Feeling the water against my skin as it sent me back, my heart sank in shock.

And then before I reached the luminescent purple of the portal, I saw Inojou let go of the jutsu that held the gorge of the sea upon. The disciples were instantly rushed away and consumed by the sea. As I was consumed by the portal, the last thing I could see was Inojou closing his eyes with a smile as the ocean engulfed him. I could feel as Inojou's chakra dissipated away into something that was no more.

He was gone.