315 306. Inner Demon Ido
"Hold on a minute!"
Izuna's voice echoes in Yakumo's mindscape.
Huh?!
The demonic figure pauses and slowly turns around. It blankly stares at Izuna's figure with its beady eyes.
"Who are you?! What are you doing in this girl's mindscape?"
Izuna draws his cyan blade and points it towards the demonic figure.
Swoosh…
The demonic figure waves its hand as a giant painting appears in front of her.
Swish… swish…
The figure rapidly makes some strokes with her brush.
Fwoosh…
The surroundings change instantly. A giant purgatory of lava and flames appears around them as the demonic figure floats on a pedestal.
Burble… burble…
Bubbles of hot air rise from the lava and form a gigantic wave.
Swoosh…
The gigantic wave comes crashing down on Izuna and submerges him.
"That's some fancy trick you have got there!"
Izuna slowly walks out unscathed from the pool of flames.
Whoosh…
He waves his hand and throws a light senbon at the painting.
Crackle… crackle…
The senbon pierces the corner of the painting and lights it on fire.
Ah!
The demonic figure flinches at the fire and hastily throws the painting away.
The painting turns into ashes and leaves a small wisp of dark purple chakra behind.
Swoosh…
Izuna stretches his hand and draws the wisp of dark purple chakra towards himself.
"Hmm… A Genjutsu using the dark chakra!"
Fwoosh…
Izuna flicks his finger and dispels the dark purple chakra.
The eyes of the demonic figure narrow at this. The figure immediately summons another painting scroll and scribbles on it.
Swish… swish…
The demonic figure's brush strokes move swiftly and it creates another painting.
Shoom…
Suddenly, the surroundings change again.
Woosh… woosh…
Icy wind blows, and snow slowly falls on the ground. A bone-chilling gust of wind envelops Izuna and encases him in ice.
Swish…
The demonic figure makes a few more brush strokes and many sharp snow lances pierce through the snow encased Izuna.
The demonic figure calmly puts down its brush and prepares to roll the scroll.
Crackle… crackle…
The painting catches fire, and a small burning hole appears near Izuna's drawing. The demonic figure warily turns towards the ice-encased Izuna.
Crack… crack…
Numerous cracks appear on the ice casing.
BAM…
Izuna stretches out his fist and shatters the ice.
"Is this all you have got?"
He raises his head and stares into the eyes of the demonic figure.
A trace of fear appears in the eyes of the demonic figure. It narrows its eyes and flicks its hand.
Whoosh…
A gigantic painting scroll appears in front of it.
Swish… swish…
The demonic figure makes some quick strokes directly with its nail instead of a brush.
Rumble… rumble…
The surrounding trembles slightly, the vast expense of darkness shrouds Izuna, isolating him from the rest of the world.
Bzzt…
Dark purple flames rise in the domain of darkness and form a giant circular ring around Izuna.
BAM… BAM….
Multiple gigantic Tori gates fall from the sky and form a formation around the circular flames.
The flames morph into a gigantic demonic figure and brandish its claws and slam them at Izuna.
Oh!
Izuna raises an eyebrow.
'A reality illusion of Yomi-no-Kuni, the world of darkness or the gateway to the netherworld, to be precise. A polluted land where the gloomy and shadowy existence coagulated from the sins and filth of mortal resides.'
BOOM…
The giant palm of the demonic figure slaps down on Izuna, engulfing his entire body in the process.
The fiery figure of the demon smirks as it stares at the ground beneath its palm.
"Too bad! This is not the real thing. Also, you are not an adjudicator of death."
Rumble…
A beam of golden light rises from the ground and pierces through the fiery purple figure, dispelling it in the process.
Rumble… rumble…
The entire illusory realm trembles.
Crack… crack…
Countless cracks spread through the domain, and it crumbles apart, revealing the mindscape of Yakumo.
"NO! Don't come near me. Leave me alone!"
The demonic figure releases a shrill cry. It hugs its body and shivers in a corner.
Various paintings around the figure are set ablaze with flames. They turn into a small wisp of dark purple chakra and float around the demonic figure.
Izuna takes a step forward and slowly approaches the demonic figure.
"NO! Leave me alone! NO!"
The demonic figure's voice turns feminine as a familiar voice falls in Izuna's ears.
"Yakumo?!"
Izuna's eyes widen in surprise as he blankly stares at the demonic figure for a while.
He approaches the demonic figure and gets on his knees in front of the figure.
"Are you the inner-self of Yakumo?'
Izuna has an incredulous expression on his face as he questions the demon.
Every being, be it an animal or a human, has two aspects. The first aspect is his outer self; his body, which is present in the real world.
The second aspect of a person is his inner self; his spiritual form which is present in the mindscape of a person. The inner self is a reflection of the true form of a person.
A person can alter his outer appearance and looks, but one can't alter their inner self. The inner self is the inherent aspect of a being. It represents their form, personality, character, ambition, and spirituality.
Then there is also a hidden aspect. The aspect of the soul. It's such a complex aspect that not many have been able to delve deeper into it.
Izuna shakes his head as he recalls some of the information he found in the record alongside the sin of lust.
The demonic figure shivers in fear as it hugs its body.
Izuna looks at the pathetic condition of the figure and slowly extends his hand. He pats her head.
"Don't worry! Your Sensei is here."
The demonic figure slowly raises her head and stares at Izuna with beady eyes. Izuna has a warm smile on his face as he waves at the figure.
"Ido! My name is Ido!"
The demon wipes her tears and kneels in front of Izuna.
"I… I… I am sorry, Sensei! I didn't mean to harm you!"
It apologizes to Izuna.
"Oh!"
Izuna is surprised to see her reaction.
"I could have forgiven you if you weren't so hell-bent on wiping me from his existence." He has a serious expression on his face.
"No! No! Sensei! It wasn't my intention. I just don't want you to see my inner self. So, I tried to expel you from my mindscape." Ido has a flustered expression.
Haha…
Izuna chuckles and shakes his head. He pats her head and remarks.
"You are a hundred years too early to even think about facing me."
Shiing…
Izuna's eyes change into Mangekyo Sharingan.
Fwoosh…
The surrounding scenery changes rapidly. Both of them appear in a giant vast patch of grassland. There is a small table with two chairs and a teapot in front of them.
Izuna calmly sits on the table and gestures for Ido to sit. He pours a cup of tea and sips on it.
"The honey tea from the land of Honey is still my favorite." He pours a cup for Ido to calm her down.
"I… I…"
Ido has a flustered look on her face as the sudden change in her mindscape transfixes her.
"Have a cup of tea to calm your nerves." Izuna offers her a cup.
"Y… Yes!"
Ido grabs the cup and sips from it.
"So good!" She meekly closes her eyes and relaxes.
"Alright! Seems like you have relaxed a little. Now tell me about your origin and all of the shenanigans that you did?"
Izuna crosses his arms and stares at her.
"I… I…" Ido bites her lips and hesitates.
"Don't worry about anything. Just speak up! I will take care of the rest." Izuna assures her.
"Sensei! I am the inner self of Yakumo. But… but she hates me. She despises me for my appearance; much to the point that I have become the darkness of her heart. Sensei! I don't know why, but I was born this way.
Yakumo first came to know about me when she was four years old. Back then, she lost control of her powers and set her own house on fire. She immolated our house on fire. Our parents dived into the fire to save us but the flames consumed them."
A tear drops slides down from Ido's face.
Sniff…
She wipes her tears and continues.
"Heart-broken by the loss of our parents, Yakumo fell in deep grief. When she woke up, she was already in her mindscape. There she met me, Ido. I told her that I was her true inner-self.
But Yakumo was terrified of my appearance. She judged me as being responsible for the death of her parents. Thus, she despised my existence and locked away her heart.
This rejection and hatred from my outer self-created an imbalance in our bodies. This is the part of the reason, Yakumo's body is so weak despite her being a shinobi."
Ido recounts her story to Izuna. She turns to Izuna and performs a dogeza.
"Sensei! Please help us or I am afraid Yakumo won't live long with the imbalance between her physical and spiritual self!"
Ido pleads to Izuna.
