224. Flower of Deceit

Later in Night,

Whoosh…

Izuna jumps on the top of the roof.

"Light Release: Camouflage Cloak"

He hides his presence as he surveys the village.

'There is nothing noteworthy about this village, maybe except that giant-ass tree.'

Izuna turns towards the giant tree in the center of the village.

The tree is lit up with a faint blue hue as shallow moonlight shines on the tree.

Izuna raises his head and stares at the almost round moon visible from the giant crack in the mountain.

Two villagers are continuously pumping their chakra into the tree.

'Earlier, while pumping chakra in this tree, I noticed the unusual flow of chakra. The tree directs only a small percent of the chakra towards the barrier, it directs the rest somewhere else. Either these villagers are scheming something or they are being used by someone else.'

Izuna shakes his head.

Swoosh…

He takes out the intel scroll from his scroll.

"9 o'clock from the tree will lead to a small stream; move along the stream and a small cave will appear in vision.

There is a small pond in the stream filled with glaze snow lilies. Dive in the pond.

There is a small secret passage hidden at the bottom of the pond. Enter the passage and swim for five minutes.

After five minutes, a small exit will appear which will lead you to the other side of the pond. Meet me on the night of the full moon, I will wait for you there."

"It's still three days before the day of the full moon. Maybe till then, I can research this village."

'Sharingan'

He activates his Sharingan and jumps on top of another house.

Whoosh…

In a small house at the other end of the Shangri-La Village,

"I have an odd feeling about this village."

Konan gazes out of the window as she looks at the giant tree in the center of the village.

"Somehow, this giant tree reminds me of the God tree from the Legend of the Sage of Six Paths."

Being a part of Akatsuki. she has paid close attnetion to the history of the shinobi world especially with the emergence of Izuna Uchiha. Akatsuki has been stifled to the point that they dare not make a move after the previous Uchicha Incident. Thus, to seek advantages she had turned to shinobi history to seek some legends and myths.

Scribble… scribble…

Konan manipulates some paper sheets and creates a replica of the giant tree.

Scribble… scribble…

She manipulates more papers and creates another paper origami of a giant tree.

"Madara revealed the details of the plans to Nagato. But… Nagato never mentioned the details to me."

Whoosh…

A gust of wind blows as an enchanting fragrance wafts in the air.

Konan closes her eyes as the image of a young Nagato and Yahiko appears in her memories.

"YAHIKO! You left me all alone in this cruel world."

A teardrop drips from her eyes as her hair flutters in the wind.

"Yahiko! Nagato… I was the support that holds our bridge up. Yet, unknowingly I became the weak link which led to the collapse of that bridge."

She closes her eyes as the memories of Yahiko's death floods her mind.

The enemy captured and held her as a hostage, forcing Nagato and Yahiko in a disadvantageous position.

"At your deathbed… I made a promise to myself!... A promise to never leave Nagato's side; no matter the circumstances."

Swoosh…

Konan takes out a small orange paper flower.

"But… but Yahiko… I failed the promise. Nagato has become an empty husk devoid of emotions."

More tears fall from her eyes as she continues to reminisce about her past.

"With each passing day… Why do I always feel like Nagato is getting farther and farther away from me? Why do we have to shoulder the burden of world peace?"

Sob… sob…

Konan hugs the orange flower to her bosom as she lets out her emotions.

"Yahiko! I miss you. I feel empty without you. There is no such thing as hope in this world, only pain and suffering. If only was not so useless back then."

Haah…

She wipes her tears and returns to her emotionless state.

Swish… swish…

She makes some hand signs and releases a handful of paper butterflies from the window.

The butterflies flutter through the window and disperse in the village.

"I have to gather the intel on this village. There seems to be something suspicious about this village."

She makes a hand sign and controls the movements of the butterflies.

Whoosh…

Izuna jumps on top of another house as he records the true identity of the resident in his memory.

"No matter what technique you use to hide your identity, I can see through it with my eyes."

He turns towards another house as he uses his X-ray vision to peer in the house. He notices a pair of husband and wife in the house.

Fwish…

The wife has a whip in her hand as she whips her half-naked husband.

"WOW! Now that's a rare sight. The wife is an S, and the husband is an M."

He turns towards another house.

Hmm…

"Interesting… now that's something unusual. I can see two different people in this house, but both of them have the same chakra signature but have different physical bodies. Is that a shadow clone?"

"Mangekyo Sharingan"

He activates his Mangekyo Sharingan to see through the clone.

"Oh! So, that's how it is. No wonder he can fool these villagers.

Mud Release!… he possesses the unusual Mud Release Kekkei Genkai. It is a nature transformation of Water Release and Earth release, the same as Wood Release; but the chakra proportion of Mud Release and Wood Releases are different.

Wood Release is so famous and legendary. Courtesy of First Hokage, that the Mud Release is considered a hoax. I never expected to come across it here of all places."

He copies the details of the Mud Releases with his Mangekyo.

'Though, I won't use it. But maybe it might help me in some rainy days.'

Swoosh…

A gust of wind blows as an enchanting fragrance wafts in the air.

Sniff…

The fragrance enters his body as a feeling of sorrow and guilt overcomes him. He tries to resist the feeling.

'What?!… what is this?'

He raises his guard and warily looks around.

'Is it some sort of genjutsu? But I am immune to most types of genjutsu thanks to my Sharingan!'

He continues to look around for the source of the fragrance. His gaze stops on the pond located in the center of the village, near the giant tree.

Swoosh…

The glaze snow lilies flutter in the wind as they release small microscopic pollens in the air.

"I see."

Izuna activates his micro vision as he inspects his body. There are various microscopic white pollens stuck in his lungs and windpipe.

The pollens have a purple hue as they release a strange chakra in his body.

"These glaze snow lilies are the source of all trouble. During the day, these lilies release pollens which induce happiness, and during the night the pollens induce sorrow and remorse."

Swish… swish…

He makes some hand signs as purple lightning flickers in his hand.

Bzzz…

He infuses the purple lightning in his body.

Cough… cough…

He coughs out black smoke from his nose and mouth.

"I hate this method, but at least it gets the job done."

He gets rids of all the pollens from his body.

"I have never heard or read about such kind of flower in any archives. Not even the land of Medicine has any information on them."

Aaah…

"Harder… Harder Daddy Harder!…"

"…"

Loud moans fill his ears as he slowly turns towards the house with the couple.

The Husband whips his wife as she moans loudly.

"My eyes… WHAT DID I SEE?!"

Izuna rubs his eyes as he is flabbergasted by the situation.

"What the heck? This pollen reversed their personality. Now the husband is an S, and the wife is an M.

Scary!!… This flower is scary. I will pick a few samples of this flower to research them."

Whoosh…

He flickers away towards another house.

An hour later,

He returns to his house and dispels the camouflage.

"This village is more interesting than I imagined.

First is this mysterious tree located in the center of the village. Then there is this weird flower of deceit that influences emotions. What other secret does this village hide?"

He muses to himself.

"There are exactly sixty-nine people in this village, including us. Most of them are deserters who fled here in the hope of a better life. Almost all of them are in Bingo Book and have a huge bounty on their head.

But!!… What I never expected was to come across Konan here? I wonder what Akatsuki is up to?"

Sob… sob…

"Angel-san… please relive me from this pathetic life. I am a monster who has killed countless people. Please kill me."

Kimimaro grabs his legs and wails in sorrow.

Sigh…

'I see. So, this flower has a different effect on different people. For some, it brings out their insecurities and manipulates their behaviors.

For others, it manifests their worst fears. Truly, a scary flower.'

Bzzz…

Purple lightning flickers through his right hand as he places it on Kimimaro's chest.

"It might hurt a little, but bear with it."