Chapter 33: Chapter 33 Fractured Bond

Riku stood at the edge of the chasm, obsidian-like ground torn below his feet and etched by flickering flames of white. The expanse was overwhelming, threatening to strangle him as it swallowed the tenebrous depths, where in the middle, sat Kokuenryū.

The stunning dragon was a towering monolith of power and grace, his 335-foot frame a marvel of scales, claws, and wings. Each scale glittered with a checkered pattern of black and white; the contrast created a mesmerizing ripple as he moved. His four colossal wings-these scarred, yet regal-folded loosely against his back, and his glowing white eyes fixed on Riku with an intensity that could crush a man.

Riku stood his ground, staring up at Kokuenryū with a bored and dissatisfied expression crossing his arms despite the oppressive heat radiating from the dragon's body. After three years of this, the feeling of standing before Kokuenryū was no longer terrifying-it was just exhausting.

*"You're here again, kid,"* Kokuenryū rumbled, his voice deep and resonant, vibrating through the void. *"What is it this time? Another complaint about my 'uncooperative nature,' I suppose?"*

Riku let out a sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose. "You dragged me into this place, remember? I was meditating, trying to recover from that fight with that weirdo from before. You're the one who decided we needed to chat."

The dragon tilted his head slightly, his massive horns casting sharp shadows across the space. *"Recovering? Ah, yes. Because you burned through your chakra without my power or almost endless reserves of chakra, right?"*

Riku's jaw was clenched, yet he struggled hard to hold himself calm. "I burned through my chakra because your power is as stable as a one legged stool. One day, I'm unstoppable-slaughtering everything in sight-and then again in another moment, I can't even create a monoflame without getting burnt." So he spoke, the bitterness etched on his lips with this sharp movement. "Do you know how infuriating it is to rely on something that works half the time and disappears the other half? You make me immortal one day, and then you're gone for months. Do you even realize what that's like?"

The wings of Kokuenryū shifted ever so slightly, and the faint sound it gave off was like that of thunder from far away. His gleaming eyes narrowed down on Riku, though his tone remained controlled. *"And you think it is any easier for me, child? My flames, my power—they are not yours for ordering. They are a part of me, tied with my very essence. I drained all of my power protecting YOU from that group of people since YOU were vulnerable enough to fall into such a simple illusion. You think I withhold them out of spite?"*

"Don't you?" Riku shot back, his white eyes ablaze. "Sometimes it feels like you're testing me, holding out just to see if I'll break. You wait until I'm backed into a corner before you show up, and even then, I never know how long you'll stick around. Do you know how many times I've nearly died because of you?"

The dragon let a low growl, his tail curling behind him. *"And yet you are still alive, are you not? Perhaps that is thanks to my power, unstable though it may be."*

Riku threw up his hands. "That's not the point! I can't keep living like this—half a fighter, relying on something I can't control. If we're going to survive, we need to figure out how to stabilize your power. Otherwise, we're just waiting for the day it fails me at the wrong moment."

The cavern fell silent for a moment, the weight of Riku's words hanging heavy in the air. Kokuenryū stared down at him, his expression unreadable. Finally, the dragon's massive tail thumped against the ground, sending a tremor through the void.

*"You think I enjoy this weakness?"* The voice of Kokuenryū rumbled like distant thunder, sharp and biting. *"You think I wish to flicker in and out of existence, my flames reduced to embers? I am Kokuenryū, the Dragon of Black and White Flame!—one of the last of the legendary ancient dragons. To be reduced to this. fragile, transient state is a humiliation beyond your comprehension."*

For a moment, Riku faltered. He hadn't considered how Kokuenryū might feel about his own instability. The dragon's voice, though strong still, held an underlying tinge of bitterness, of frustration barely held below the surface.

Riku let out a sigh; his tone came out a little softer. "So we're both stuck with something we hate. Great. But that doesn't change the fact that we need to fix this. I cannot just keep getting used to your power for it to suddenly disappear for months on end, or am I going to have to stick to the sword that I can actually be able to depend on?" He paused and looked up into Kokuenryū's colossal figure. "You also cannot continue life like this-being held at my chains with no substantial means to access your very power. There has to be some method to regularize things: To make your flames consistent."

Kokuenryū regarded him for a long moment, his white eyes narrowing as if to weigh the sincerity of Riku's words. When he finally spoke, his voice was quieter, yet no less commanding. *"You speak as though you understand the complexity of my flames, Riku. They are not a tool to be controlled-they are a living force, born of my essence. To stabilize them and have them burn as bright as mine were back in the day would require a bond far stronger than the fragile truce we share now."*

"A bond?" Riku echoed, crossing his arms. "What, like trust? You're saying we need to trust each other for your power to work properly?" Riku resisted the urge to face palm, 'I should've known it would've been like this.'

The dragon's lips arced into a wry-like smile, showing jagged teeth amidst the dim light. *"Trust, cooperation, respect—call it as you will. It is in the nature of such bonds to strengthen over time or break absolutely. Tell me, Riku Kuroshiro, do you believe yourself capable of building such a bond with me?"*

Riku's mouth opened and then closed as he hesitated. The truth was, he did not know. Three years they had been together, bound with mutual frustration and scarcely masked hostility. Yet, at the same time, they had survived, together. And if there was any kind of hope for stabilizing Kokuenryū's power, become stronger, then maybe.

"I don't know," Riku finally admitted. "But I think we owe it to ourselves to try."

As Riku left, Kokuenryū stood back up with some struggle and muttered, *Why was he here for so long… My power had increased by 30% in the time he spent here, does time move slower in here for him? I'm now at 39% power, this should be enough for Riku to recover faster.*

…

Riku's eyes snapped open, and for a moment, the world was a blur. His body felt heavy, and his head pounded with the faint echoes of Kokuenryū's voice still ringing in his mind.

It took him a few seconds to realize he wasn't where he had been.

Instead of the thick forests or rocky trails he had remembered, a surreal alien landscape confronted him: gigantic trees with jade-green leaves high into a gold sky, their trunks wide enough to shelter whole villages. Distant pools of water glimmered like shattered glass in the morning light. Mushrooms towered nearby, their caps glowing faintly with some sort of ethereal bioluminescence.

Riku sat up slowly, his limbs protesting with a dull ache. As his watery vision cleared, he yawned, then spotted Raiden standing close by. The Kumarai's black-and-white fur was as sleek and imposing as ever, but his white eye was sharper than usual, scrutinizing Riku carefully.

"How..." Riku's voice was rough, hardly more than a whisper; he coughed, then tried again. "How did we get here?"

Raiden huffed; his claws flexed slightly, with faint tendrils of white lightning dancing between them. "You've been unconscious for about a month kid, what the hell did you do in that fight?"

"A month?!" Riku shot to his feet, ignoring the way his legs wobbled beneath him. His gaze darted around wildly, taking in the unfamiliar sights. "What the hell happened? The last thing I remember is—" He stopped, his mind flashing back to the battle. The clash of steel and the wrath of Karyū's strange molten blood technique.

"You pushed yourself too far," Raiden said bluntly, his voice as steady as ever.

Riku's stomach sank, he could've sworn he was fine after the fight? 'Was it just adrenaline..?' Then he clenched his fists. "And no one thought to wake me up sooner?"

"Wake you up?" A deep gruff voice rumbled nearby. "Kid, you were practically dead."

Riku turned to the voice and froze. The huge chief toad-Gamabunta- was sitting near him, the big body haphazardly sprawled beside a small pool of water. There was a wooden pipe clamped in his teeth, and on his face he wore an irksome expression.

"Gamabunta?" Riku blinked, his shock only deepening. "Wait—why are you here? Where are we?"

Behind Gamabunta, Jiraiya's familiar laugh echoed through the air as Riku turned to see the Toad Sage leaning casually against the side of a giant mushroom. "Mount Myōboku, it's the place where I learnt how to become so strong!" Jiraiya said, his teeth widely apart in a grin as he made a sweeping gesture toward the surreally strange landscape around them. "Gamabunta here wanted to teach Raiden a thing or two about something called Senjutsu."

Riku took a quick, shaking breath as he tried to catch up. 'Raiden? Senjutsu… no way..?' "You mean to tell me I've been unconscious for a month and you just... carried me here?"

"Not me," Jiraiya said, nodding toward Raiden. "Your summon did most of the heavy lifting. But it seems you're familiar with Mount Myōboku? Well you two can rest here while Raiden trains-and maybe learn a thing or two while you're here."

Raiden snorted, his claws crackling faintly with lightning. "You owe me, kid. Carrying you for a month while these two yammered about 'destiny' wasn't exactly my idea of fun."

Riku shot Raiden a sharp look. "Oh, come on. You're practically indestructible."

"That doesn't make you any lighter," Raiden retorted, his golden eyes narrowing slightly.

Gamabunta laughed loudly, his pipe blowing out a ring of smoke. "The kid's got fire, I'll give him that. Even after a month of sleep, he's already back to mouthing off. Even the other kid woke up before him, and she hasn't even spoke yet!"

Riku ignored the jab, his attention falling back on Jiraiya and Chiyo, who was currently sleeping on Raiden's back, her face heavily bandaged. "So what now? You brought me to Mount Myōboku to… what, sit around and wait? I feel fine."

"You feel fine now," Jiraiya said, his grin fading into a more serious expression. "That kind of recklessness isn't going to cut it, kid."

Riku's jaw clenched, the words striking a little closer to home than he'd care to admit.

Jiraiya continued. "We brought you here to rest while yer summon attempts to learn Senjutsu, after all, if anyone can teach him Senjutsu, it's the Great Toad Sage."

The mention of the Great Toad Sage made Riku's stomach twist. He'd watched the show, read the manga. He knew damn well about this toad, the ancient seer who could glimpse fragments of the future, and if anyone could tell him how to stabilize Kokuenryū's power, it would be him.

Riku let his breath out slowly, his eyes drifting to the horizon. The sun was rising, casting the strange landscape of Mount Myōboku in warm, golden light. For all its beauty, the place still felt. strange. Alien.

As they started walking, Raiden fell into step beside Riku, his massive form casting a long shadow over the ground. The Kumarai's white eye flicked down to him. "You okay, kid? You got hit with something pretty nasty in that fight, I personally wouldn't want to get hit by that either."

Riku glanced up at Raiden, a faint smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. "When aren't I okay?"

Raiden let out a low rumble but didn't reply. In single file, they followed Jiraiya and Gamabunta deeper into the surreal landscape of Mount Myōboku.

However, Jiraiya quickly turned to Riku and asked, "Come meet me in a bit, I think you owe me an explanation." Jiraiya spoke with a nonchalant tone, his happy expression now stained with a serious gaze.