Chapter 27.3- One Thousand Hands

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“No no. Idiot, knead your chakra like this not like that” Jinpei said and then proceeded to do exactly what I’d just been doing with a few extra steps.

“My way is more efficient” I instantly refuted his suggestion. With my eyes I could see the best path to achieving what he wanted done, but for some reason he had no trust in it.

“Your way does not work. You need the steps to make it work, idiot” He said, showing me the technique again.

“No. I’m achieving the same thing,” I said showing him my own version of the technique.

“Did those two things even look remotely similar to you?” He asked in a deadpan.

“You have way more chakra than I do” I pointed out tersely.

“And I used less than you did. Watch me again.” He said, kneading his chakra in a series of motions and contortions before it reached his throat and he spat out a veritable vortex of water that disappeared in no time as it travelled quickly even across the depths of the ocean.

“Your turn. And do what I did. Make those hand signs of yours if you think they will help, but your chakra must move as mine did” He said, and I nodded at the elderly whale. He had truly used less chakra than I’d expected to achieve his goal and while my theory was that the difference in our techniques came from his undoubtedly higher water release affinity and the different forms of chakra we were using, there was nothing to be lost in showing him that fact.

I contorted my chakra just as his as I brought it from my stomach to my throat, and this time instead of breathing a whirlpool that was about the diameter of a needle that died out a few feet from me, this one was easily big enough to dwarf my head and it rushed beyond the range of my vision in no time as well. Fuck.

I looked up at the whale teaching me, and it was clear he was smug. “You were right” I admitted easily.

“Humph” a grunt was all I got in response.

“I’ll call that the Sea Dragon’s Roar” I said.

“Still keen on naming everything and anything?” He teased.

_ “Good to hear your time with my children is being spent so profitably” The Boss Whale summon said. He was easily the largest of his clan. There was a huge gulf between him and the next largest whale, his brother. The fact that the largest whale as named the Boss of the Clan and gave up their name to bear the title of Boss was something that seemed to just suit the large creatures.

“Yes. Now just for you to live up to your end of the deal and cough up sage mode” I replied. Thankfully, unlike with the Frogs and Toads, the Great Sage and the Boss of the Whale clan were one and the same. The reason for that was simple. At their size, there was virtually nothing the whales could eat that would give them any sustenance. That meant they survived by feeding on chakra itself. Not just any form of chakra, but nature chakra. Their unique form of Sage Mode meant that the ability to draw in natural energy would accelerate and sustain their growth until they hit their natural limits.

Therefore, the larger the whale, the more nature chakra they had. And what was a Great Sage if not a fountain of nature chakra. When it came to natural energy, he was the undisputed expert as far as the Whales were concerned.

“Like I’ve told you half a dozen times, you’re not ready.”

“And yet you haven’t explained why not” I pressed.

“You weren’t ready for that either”

“Weren’t?” I pounced on the phrasing immediately.

“Quiet down, Gaki. Let me speak.”

“Kumiko says you’re in the right headspace now so let me explain a few things to you. I’m sure my children have already told you a fair bit of how Whale Sage Mode works. But the first thing I know they haven’t told you is what separates us from the Snakes and the Toads and the Falcons and what have you. We have the power to gather nature energy even as we move.” He said, dropping the revelation like it was a hammer on red hot steel. My eyes widened to comical levels as his words sunk in. The one weakness of sage mode didn’t exist for them?

A/N; Chappy in proggy