BSNW CH 074 Conclusion and a New Beginning

Jun picked up Hinoki's crumbled to dust and sealed it in a storage scroll. Yakumo came next to him as he did that, along with Jun's Clone. Jun controlled his emotions and put away the scroll.

"How was the plan? All good?" Jun asked Yakumo.

"Everything is prepared. I modified Itachi and Kakashi's memories and implanted the Genjutsu deep into their psyche." Yakumo assured with a grin.

"No matter if they are interrogated or examined by one of the Yamanaka Clan members, all they know is the battle scene I depicted. We all fought against the Spirit Beast and, only Itachi managed to pull Kakashi out. You and I perished along with the Spirit Beast, the Ryudoin Brothers, Hinoki, and Nazuna."

"All knowledge of Divine Crystal Village and its members is no longer present in their minds either. Oh, by the way, I implanted a memory that this whole area of over a few miles was destroyed, so that they will be more accepting of no traces being left."

"Your clone deposited Itachi and Kakashi around half a mile away from the destroyed area. They can find their way back here after they wake up so we need to leave before then." Yakumo concluded her report.

"Good, I assume Chino and Nazuna are safe?" Jun asked, to which Yakumo nodded.

"They are safe, and Kashikoi went back to the Seven Stars," Yakumo said

"She left a message for you: Resshin is going to establish the Five Divine Beasts Island formation in some islands north-east to the Ruined Land of Whirlpool. Each island will be the domain of one Divine Beast each and only those approved by Resshin will be able to enter."

"Ah, Resshin must have done that to protect Divine Crystal Village, in the case were unsuccessful and news about Resshin and the Village got out." Jun mused "It's fine, we will find somewhere else to be for ourselves. It is not good to rely too much on such great beings when we can do something about it ourselves."

"Okay then," Yakumo agreed "Where do we go now then?"

"Tanzaku Town," Jun said "Before we left on the Journey this time, I had made some True Body Shadow Clones perform a certain task for me. They were to meet us in Tanzaku town, hopefully with some of our soon to be friends."

"I look forward to that then," Yakumo said "What about you? You just absorbed the Spirit Beast into the seal, will you be fine?"

"Yup, I am suppressing the Seal and the Beast's chakra completely right now. I will go into a metamorphosis state when I release it, possibly for days or even weeks. After we are in a safe place I will do that, and reform the Spirit Beast into something better, just as Master Hinoki instructed."

"Okay, let's get to it then, before Kakashi or Itachi arrives," Yakumo said.

Jun quickly created Four True Blood Shadow Clones. He then transformed them to mimic the bodies of Nazuna, Chino, and Yakumo, with help of some blood of each target and his Creature Release. He did not need to make another clone for himself, as one was already present next to Yakumo.

He took all knowledge of the clone's activities first to determine the exact coordinates of Nazuna and Chino's location. He had to determine the exact amount of explosive runes needed so that it doesn't reach Kakashi and Itachi at one side, and Nazuna and Chino at the other.

Positioning them all in a certain manner, to depict a fight scene, he then set an enormous amount of Explosion Fuinjutsu with Ink Release, all over the cavern. Activating the Explosion runes, he disappeared from the cavern with Yakumo, using FTG.

An enormous explosion annihilated the entire cavern and its surroundings to micro-dust. A mini dessert was created in the area as the dust fell like rain and got settled in the place previously termed as the valley of evil.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Sometime later,

Itachi woke up and saw Kakashi sitting near him with a small bonfire, roast a few wild beast meat pieces on skewers. They were currently in a man-made cave, clearly made from Kakashi's Jutsu.

"What happened? Where are the others ?" Itachi asked

"We are the only survivors it seems." Kakashi said "I don't remember much after that Spirit Beast controlled me and Jun saved me. How about you?"

"Umm, I remember grabbing you after you fainted." Itachi said "The Beast attacked me during that and I hurt my arms. Jun's clone then protected us while Nazuna and Chino got hit by the Beast."

"Yakumo shouted at the clone to take us away while it could and got into her Alter Ego mode. The last thing I remember is the beginning of an explosion before the Clone sent us away with an unstable Flying Thunder God technique." Itachi concluded.

"Yeah, well that explosion seems to have taken out the entire Valley of Evil." Kakashi said, "I don't think there will be anything left after that, not even the Spirit Beast itself."

"So Jun and the others are gone then?" Itachi asked.

"Yes, it seems so." Kakashi said quietly "Rest up, we will leave for Hidden Leaf as soon as you have recovered. I have many enemies aiming for my bounty in recent times. We also need to report these events of the Valley of Evil to the Hokage."

"Alright," Itachi said as he leaned against the wall of the cave and closed his eyes. With a heavy heart, he made himself get used to the fact that he may never again see one of the only friends he had made ever again.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Forests near Tanzaku town

Near the entrance of the forest, there was a big hunter's lodge that acted as a resting place for the travelers and as a pit stop for restocking supplies. Four figures were having a light dinner to eat as they whispered among themselves.

"You sure about the sign?" Yakumo said as she nibbled on some fried veggies "Currently we are supposed to be dead so you better make sure it is really your clones."

"I am sure it's my clones" Jun assured the three ladies with him "that rune sign was from a personal system I designed. According to its placement and the marks around it, my clones have made a hideout in the hills behind Tanzaku town."

"The problem is not with that" Nazuna interrupted "It is that they have some healer living with them, according to what you deciphered. 'To help some of the younger members', you said."

"Yes," Jun admitted "I had tasked them to help and gather unfortunate kids similar to Chino. I was going to help them find a life in the Hidden Leaf, but now we will have to improvise."

"You and your soft heart" Nazuna sighed in defeat "Just make sure we don't end up getting targeted by the leaf."

Later when it became dark, the four of them sneakily for a secret path indicated by runes Jun's clones had marked. It led them to a certain large false rock between the folds of two hills. Jun went through a series of hand signs before directing the chakra to a certain groove in the rock. A slight shudder went through it and it opened along a faint crack that was unnoticeable earlier.

As Jun and the others entered, Jun once again sealed the rock with the reverse sequence of the hand-signs. Once the rock was closed, the walls around them started glowing dimly, and they found that it was a large tunnel, with phosphorous like material in the walls.

The tunnel went through many curves before emerging into a large hall. A certain tall youth was standing there, seemingly late in his teens. Upon seeing Jun and his company, he deactivated his transformation, revealing himself as a clone of Jun.

"Its good to see you safe and sound Original" the clone greeted Jun

"Ya, you too Primus" Jun agreed with a smile. Nazuna tilted her head before asking "Primus? You gave clones names?"

"Well, my clones are not like your usual" Jun clarified "they have complete flesh and body, and though they don't have complete sentience of regular Shadow Clones, they have a limited sentience based on what I desire from them."

"Hence I gave code-names based on the order I created them, Primus, Secunde, Tertia, Quarto, and Quintin" Jun explained "By the way Primus, I am going to modify you and the other four to True Blood Shadow Clones. That way I will be able to give you five elemental Kekkei Genkai each to help you protect us better. Also, you will be able to grow stronger by training, unlike being stuck like right now."

"Hold on," Yakumo interrupted "True Blood Shadow Clones are just like regular people then?"

"Pretty much" Jun agreed "The only thing differentiating them and us is that True Blood Shadow Clones have lower emotional intelligence and growth potential, apart from the fact that they can't procreate."

Yakumo, Nazuna, and Chino looked at Jun in marvel. He had basically created a technique for a personal army that just needed a big chunk of chakra and some blood of the target they need to emulate.

"That reminds me, Original" Primus interjected "for letting the healer not suspect us, Secunde and Tertia were transformed and emulating adult females instead of males. We figured this way our group would seem more whole, given that we had a bunch of 'young' people in our care. They were wondering if there was some way you could permanently get them to become females, to emulate female instincts better."

"Yes, I can find a way for that" Jun assured him "We will do that at the same time as when we upgrade you all to True Blood Shadow Clones. Now, why don't you tell me about our new companions."

Primus nodded to that and started telling about the children saved by the Pentagon, as Jun's clones had named their group "Secunde was the first to be successful. She went to the civil war filled lands of Hidden Mist village."

"They have currently become very blood-thirsty towards all Kekkei Genkai users in their village. She managed to rescue two kids from there, an older one called Kimimaro and a younger one called Haku. Kimimaro seems to be from the infamous Kaguya Clan, while Haku is the member of the recently fallen Yuki Clan."

"Tertia and I made some gains in the experimental bases of the most infamous of the Sannin, Orochimaru. We had the great fortune to meet a captive there who seems to be a descendant of the Kigen Clan, half descendant at least."

"His name is Jugo and we met him when he was undergoing a rampage in the facility. It seems his Kigen bloodline is impure, so even if he can absorb Nature's energy easily, he has no real control over it and it makes him rampage like a demon-possessed."

"When we showed him that we could help him control it, he came with us eagerly. He is a very sweet kid when not rampaging and has grown to become good friends with Kimimaro."

"On our way back after recruiting Jugo, we passed by Kusagakure, where we rescued a mother-child duo of Uzumaki's. They were being kept in the village as a living chakra healing tools." Primus explained. Nazuna gritted her teeth at that, while Jun and the rest comforted her.

"Quarto and Quintin traveled around various smaller hidden villages, as they are generally victims of the Great Villages. They visited many villages but had limited success. They were entrusted a child by a dying mother they saved from bandits. The child seems to be a budding Kekkei Genkai wielder."

"However, they were incredibly lucky in Takigakure while returning, having managed to save a young Jinchuriki that was being ostracized there. She wanted to make friends and was easily approached by Quintin."

"All in all, we have seven people then that we have managed to save?" Jun asked and Primus nodded "Alright, it is a good beginning. We will get stronger and help more people like this. We will also have to build a better hideout, one which will help us support our growing group. Any suggestion?"

No one spoke for a while until Nazuna interjected with her suggestion "How about the ruins of Uzushiogakure, the home of the Uzumaki?"