Chapter 23: The Iburi

It wasn't hard to assume where the Iburi were living.

The entrance of the cave was covered by leaves in bushes and some old and tattered cloths.

Considering how the Iburi weren't capable of controlling their Kekkei Genkai they probably did this to prevent an updraft or wind from entering and killing them if they accidently activated their Kekkei Genkai.

There were three entrances, covered the same way.

They chose to enter the entrance at the base of the mountain.

It was dark, cold, and damp.

Ritsu had no choice but to activate his storm release allowing it to build up in his hand allowing a form of light to shed upon the darkness.

He saw longs at the sides of the caves, each of those logs seem to have some sort of mushroom on them.

Just above those logs was moss covering the sides of the cave.

It wasn't long before they came across the sounds of whispers and sounds of movement.

Ritsu calmly made his way forward, the shadows of figures fleeing deeper into the cave as they continued forward.

Eventually the cave began to open up more and more as they entered a cavern.

From an estimate Ritsu guessed there were a little over two hundred people.

Taking a closer look, he realized they were skinny to the point that there was barely any meat on their body, their bones threatening to break through.

Their skin was pale as it had never seen the light of day.

Ritsu has only seen such a scene in photos, he never felt much seeing such things but seeing it in person makes him feel pitiful for this group.

Seeing how they shivered at the sight of him, showed they were scared of him.

'Considering how easily I walked into here, I reckon any type of bandits could easily come in here and just slaughter these people. I wonder how they even survived this long.'

As Ritsu channeled more chakra intending to light up more of the surrounding, the more they cowered and shivered.

'Ah they are not used to the light,' so he toned down the light just enough that he could see in front of himself.

Some time has passed as the group in front me starts to adjust.

An elderly man made his way to the front of the crowd, "Oh honorable shinobi, what brings you to our dwelling," said the old man as he prostrated himself despite clearly not being able to bend his knees.

Ritsu didn't rush to stop the old man as they were probably scared and confused as to why a shinobi would be here.

"Old man, tell me your name, and what you know about the outside."

"My name is Ainosuke Iburi, and I know that we reside in the Land of Fire, but exactly where at I am not too sure."

"And how do you know this?" 

The old man paused trying to remember, "I… when I was young a merchant had entered the cave where we lived.

He was taking refuge from a nasty storm that lasted the whole day. He saw the branches and leaves blocking entrances so he took his chances and had his group clear the entrance so they entered.

They followed the cave until they met us. He was a nice man, an even nicer man when he learnt of our condition.

He had sympathy for my people's condition, giving us clothes, and rags for the entrance.

He later came back with an expert doctor, and a person knowledgeable on crops that grew in caves.

Though we benefited from the farmer, the doctor couldn't solve our problem. That was the last I saw of them, and that was a long time ago."

Ritsu was contemplating whether to proceed with his plan, in the anime the clan didn't look malnourished like he was seeing in front of him.

But this could play to his advantage. 'I'm already here, it wouldn't look good if I left without trying.'

"Well Mr. Ainosuke I came here for one purpose." 

"What might that be that purpose?" seeing that Ritsu didn't elaborate, Ainosuke became worried, there was nothing of value here. 

"Well considering how you guys don't have much of value that leaves only one thing, I am here for you." said Ritsu as he pointed his spare hand to every single person in the room.

"I'm sorry, but I don't quite understand?" Ainosuke shared the sentiment with the group in the cave.

They were just people who were cursed to turn into fog and if they weren't careful wind could easily dismember them. 

'How could they be of any use to the shinobi in front of them?'

"I am quite aware of the ability you and your people have. I heard rumors of it possibly from the merchant himself." I paused as I stared Ainosuke directly into his eyes, "And I want it for myself."

The people in the cave were stunned; they didn't expect that a shinobi wanted their curse.

Because of this curse they couldn't see the light of day.

Since the day they were born they worried everyday if a storm or windy day would come.

Those days some were bound to disappear. 

Ainosuke raised himself, "Master shinobi, —-" 

"Let me clarify although I want your ability I know you can't give it away. What I want is you, your children, your descendants. 

I want your loyalty, to never question me, to follow my every command.

In exchange I will allow your descendants to see the sunlight, I will show you the ways to master your ability, and you too can become powerful shinobis."

Ainosuke was stunned by Ritsu's declaration, he recalled how the doctor couldn't figure out how to cure them from this curse, his expression showed doubt.

Nevertheless, not wishing to anger the shinobi in front of him he responded, "If you can get rid of this curse of ours, we will forever be indebted to you."

Ritsu questioned, "A curse?" Ritsu chuckled, "I think you misunderstand, what you have is a blessing."

'A blessing?'

'He called our curse a blessing.'

Those thoughts were coursing through the head of the people in the cave, as they always thought of their ability as a curse.

"Though I say I will grant you the ability to see the sun freely, there will be sacrifices, some of you will not survive. Are you still willing to accept my help?"

Ainosuke faced Ritsu once more, his expression showing a multitude of emotion, doubt, sincerity, but the most prominent was the hope shining in his eyes.

"I am sure you've noticed but I am the only elderly person amongst us, most people don't make it past their fifties with our curse, so if I have to die so that our children and their children can see the sky, the sun without any worry I will gladly do so!!"

"I'm willing!" yelled an older man from the crowd.

"So am I!!"

"If I'm going to die in the future I would rather die now in hopes that I could see the sky!!" yelled another

Despite meeting a strange shinobi for the first time and believing his word, many volunteered to be the subjects.

After all, they were way past their lifetime. They had their life of darkness, coldness, and the fear of disappearing into nothingness.

It was time to let go, hoping that the shinobi in front of them could get rid of their curse.

"There won't be any immediate results but let's get started."

For the first two weeks Ritsu unlocked all their chakra, though most of them already had it naturally unlocked since they had potential, they had to since they had a Kekkei Genkai.

'Whose ever heard of Kekkei Genkai that one could use without needing any form of chakra?'

He had them practice harnessing chakra, in doing so many had accidently activated their fog form, so Ritsu had to be very careful not to make much movement that would kill them.

They would form a condensed foggy body rather than a loose fog or mist.

There were few times where he was close to an individual that had turned into fog to which he would carefully place his hand through their foggy body before quickly taking his hand out with no major disturbance to their body.

However there were always accidents such as he had placed his hand to an individual who had just turned into his fog form, he had turned back to his solid body which resulted in his death as it left a perfectly formed hole through his chest.

Though it caused some panic, everyone still heeded Ritsu's words and continued hoping for the man's sacrifice to not go in vain.

Three weeks of carefully sending his chakra through the Iburi Clan's fog form he learned that when in their state of fog form their chakra flared in all directions causing their fog form to slightly spread.

Since the Iburi never practiced controlling chakra they couldn't control their fog form or at least condense it so they wouldn't be blown away.

Yet even after having them spend a month or so in chakra control only one had managed to slightly condense their allowing Ritsu to see a foggy form in the figure of a person.

This person was Sota, a young teen, he was the most talented in chakra control amongst the entire group.

Although Sota was capable of condensing his form slightly, he couldn't move in the fog form.

Quite distressing to Ritsu's future plan.

'They need to be able to move in their fog form.'

Chakra control wasn't going to cut it, Sota's talent in it was a B and he was the only one with talent for it in the Iburi Clan so it was clear Chakra control wasn't the answer.

It's been three months since Sota has been able to slightly condense form into resembling a human fog now he could produce a clear human fog form. 

Capable of taking a step forward.

He was even capable of sometimes turning on and off his fog form, which allowed Ritsu to gather more data without much difficulty or worry.

Studying how his chakra sent signals in the fog form hoping to replicate the same effect in seals that he plans to draw onto their bodies.

Effectively suppressing their chakra thus preventing them from turning into their fog form, which Ritsu is more than capable of doing so.

But in doing so they wouldn't be able to use their chakra hence making them useless.

So Ritsu thought of putting off and on switch with Fuinjutsu so that unless they placed their chakra in said seal they wouldn't turn into fog.

Unfortunately all ideas had to be theoretical as he couldn't kidnap anyone who was in a similar situation as the Iburi Clan. 

Ritsu spent a month designing the seals. His first test subject was Ainosuke the old man volunteered although knowing that the survival and success rate is less than one in a hundred tries.

It succeeded in the way that Ritsu wanted it too, but it failed.

Ritsu had placed a total of eleven seals on the feet, legs, lower and upper torso, arm, hands, and the head.

Ainosuke was capable of directing his chakra into his right palm effectively turning his hand into smoke before quickly cutting off the supply returning back to normal.

The problem came when Ainosuke tried to turn his torso into smoke, his limbs simply fell off.

It was a bloody mess as his body didn't form back up.

With that assumption in mind, it meant that the hands and feet would fall off if the arms or legs were turned to smoke.

Sad were the Iburi as they witnessed the oldest person in their clan at a miraculous age of fifty had died, but they kept a determined look as Ainosuke showed he was capable of choosing which part of his body to turn into smoke.

It gave them hope.

The seals must have made the body believe that the end points and start points weren't part of the body hence they fell.

It would make no sense that their Kekkei Genkai would kill them after all the Hozuki were capable of turning select parts into just water. 

Two and a half months of testing were conducted and a total of fifteen have died, while seventeen were crippled.

The atmosphere in the cave was bleak, it seemed that this curse was incurable.

Yet they chose to follow Ritsu's words even as their hope kept diminishing after every failed attempt.

Another reason for their hope was because of Sota who was able to control the foggy form more and more with every instruction from Ritsu.

He was even capable of walking in that form with no mishaps. 

He was capable yet Ritsu never chose him to conduct the test, they knew it was because he showed talent meant that he couldn't die in the early testing.

They couldn't feel jealous after all Sota was their hope.

-----------------------

It's been two months since the last test.

It's been months since the Iburi Clan had met Ritsu, they were no longer skinny.

At the same time Ritsu had them training in Chakra control he made Kaz hunt animals.

Introducing meat to the Iburi's diet little by little, allowing them to gain weight.

Of course the meat was cooked outside of the cavern.

All eyes were at the entrance of the cavern, the sound of familiar footsteps rang through the cavern., Ritsu was here which meant another test.

Although they were all willing, they were still apprehensive at being chosen, after all they hoped to see the sky outside, they still didn't want to die.

"Sota, come here."

Everyone was shocked Ritsu had just called the individual with the most control of their curse.

Sota gripped his fist before heading his way to Ritsu. The look of his face showed no sadness, fear, instead it showed determination.

This time Ritsu applied a total of one hundred and eight seals, all throughout Sota's body.

The seals used were connectors, gates, alerts, holders, and recognizers which allowed the body to understand that only this part of the body was to turn into smoke and that it was still part of it.

Connectors prevented the body from isolating a body part making it fall off.

Gate controlled the flow of chakra to the user's intent.

Alerts were theoretical what would cause the body to instantly turn to smoke when danger was presented. 

I was supposed to communicate the feeling of danger whenever someone felt something incoming to them.

Holder seals were to keep the fog intact, acting as a magnet of sorts so any sudden penetration, slice, or wind wouldn't carry them away or leave them crippled.

After hours of engraving seals onto the young boy's body, it was time for the test.

Ritsu had Sota stand from a distance with everyone else standing against the wall.

Without any warning Ritsu threw three kunai knives, not giving anyone time to react.

Tck

Tck

Tck

Three audible thuds were heard as they turned their heads to see three kunai's embed into the walls of the cavern.

Their mouths were agape, as they watched the holes on Sota's body fill themselves back in with smoke before solidifying.

'It worked!'

They then watched as Ritsu pulled out a sword and proceeded to attack Sota seriously using only strength and no chakra.

His body formed into smoke as the sword penetrated his body, the smoke was shoved and dispersed yet his body filled back in before solidifying.

Sota was unharmed.

Punches and kicks were ineffective, however, a slap resounded as Ritsu slapped the boy with a palm filled with chakra.

Ritsu turned as all eyes were on him, expectant gazes.

Ritsu simply smiles, "It's a success."

Silence was prevalent, they were too shocked, they couldn't believe it.

However within seconds the Clansmen shedded tears of joy at the prospect of finally being able to live.

For the next five days without a single break Ritsu placed the seals on every remaining Iburi Clansmen.

They had all promised each other to go out together at the same time to watch the sunrise together.

It was the sixth day when the Iburi Clan for the first time left the cave an hour before sunrise as they made their way to the top of the mountain.

While doing so they helped those that had made sacrifices and could no longer move as before.

They all stood or sat watching the direction that Kaz told them where the sun would rise.

They watched as the horizon glowed a bright orange, as the first rays of sunlight warmed their skin.

It wasn't till the sun had fully exposed itself till it finally settled in that the Iburi Clan cheered, some cried in joy.

They felt the morning breeze yet they felt no fear.

They didn't panic when they accidentally activated their fog form.

Their curse would no longer bother them, they were free.

They were FREE. 

One by one as if they had all read each other's minds they all headed back to the cave, running with no fear only to find that Ritsu had already woken up and was sitting by the entrance.

The dark bags under his eyes showed that he had not rested for the past five days.

They all prostrated themselves towards the person who spared no effort in placing these seals onto them.

The oldest among them spoke "In accordance with the old man's words we will give you our loyalty!

Yet our words can't express our gratitude so please accept this oath of unwavering loyalty.

We always saw our ability as a curse.

Yet you, a stranger, have called our curse a blessing and have given us the ability to see the sunrise and feel the warmth of the sun. 

You allowed us to stand in the wind fearlessly knowing that we no longer have to fear the wind dispersing us.

Our descendants will no longer experience the hunger, the darkness, or the suffering we experienced in that cave.

We and our descendants are yours to command. You say to run west we will run west, you tell us to die we will die with a smile knowing we could see the sky."

Ding!

Ding!

Ritsu stood up and ignored the notification and walked towards them before turning around facing the cave that was the home of the Iburi for centuries.

He condensed chakra onto his hand effectively turning it into Storm Chakra as he started to pump Ryumyaku'ss chakra into it till firing a beam that collapsed the caves onto itself.

A simple way of using Storm Release just gather it and let it explode forward. Only possible since Ritsu was capable of feeding it so much chakra.

Everyone gulped at the display of power, "I accept your oath. From now on you belong to me.

I told you that you were given a blessing, a shinobi trains in their physical skill like no other, yet your ability negates physical contact completely. 

Taijutsu, Kenjustsu, and Bukijutsu are useless against you.

However, ninjutsu and items covered in chakra are still effective so do not forget that.

Your blessing was never a curse to begin with, eventually the world will hear and fear the name of the Iburi Clan.

Now take my blessing for swearing loyalty to me!!"

'System I Accept'

The Iburi clan started to glow, effectively enhancing them in their bloodline, even if their bloodline was high since they only ever knew each other.

However, Ritsu was stunned. 

On the bodies of the Iburi Clan, their seals started to change, they twisted, de-sealed, and formed what looked to be tattoos in place of the seals.

[A mutation has occurred and the Iburi Clansmen will not need you to place seals onto their newborn as their children born from now on will be born with these tattoos.]

Seeing the seals on their skin transformed everyone grew worried as they all looked to Ritsu for an explanation.

Their panic settled down as they saw Ritsu's calm face, "These markings are proof of my blessing. From now on children born from you will be born with these markings. Now let's go home."

Said Ritsu as he threw kunai forming a circle.

They all teleported one after another and moments after they were teleported the Kunai with the seal started to disappear one after the other.