Makura

Naruto: Tales of Ashihara

Kakumei – Arc 5: Fear of the Dark

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Chapter 110 – Makura

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Back in Ryuka, Takeshi Minamoto is standing alone at sunrise on one of the roofs of the Minamoto mansion. Since his enemy, the one who called for a final challenge, seems to be absent for now, the Kiri-nin is doing stretches while thinking of the way he should handle his opponent's abilities. Knowing that his white tengu still has wisdom to share, he demands his advice.

"So, Tentoki, what precautions and strategies should I use?" he asks.

"Let's see…" the celestial light replies, reminding himself of their latest encounter with Fuyuko and his fight with Ryutoki from 2 decades ago. "Honestly, there's no way we'd lose an actual fight against this guy."

"Really?" Takeshi says, finding the tengu's optimistic quote quite surprising.

"Really. My power alone can counter all his jutsus." Tentoki explains. "His Kagemane and all that derives from it are powerless without shadows, so you just have to emit one intense flash of light anytime he starts using it. And his Jinton can only dismantle matter at atomic level so my Koton's light particles pass through. The only thing left that can actually be dangerous to us is Ryutoki's Tengudama. Back in the day, when I fought this tengu, my host Shibata wasn't as strong, fast, tough and talented as you. Your combat skills should clearly surpass Fuyuko."

"I see. No stress then." Takeshi calmly comments.

As he still waits, he looks in the distance and notices a boat reaching the beach of the village. It is the same little boat he saw yesterday, and Fuyuko Yamanaka is on it with a yellow haired woman who's probably Julia Tomoe. Eager to get rid of this story, Takeshi jumps off the mansion's roof and gets to the beach, where the boat just docked, to meet his enemy.

"Dude didn't waste a second." Fuyuko comments when he notices him. "How long have you been there?"

"You told me you were there already, and that you'd destroy the place if I wasn't coming." Takeshi replies.

"An obvious overstatement, wasn't it?" the Yamanaka adds, meaning he wouldn't have resorted to destroying an innocent village anyway. "I guess your early presence goes to show your overflowing self-confidence."

"Not gonna deny." the Minamoto quickly says before looking at the girl behind Fuyuko. "I guess you're Julia Tomoe. It's the first time we meet."

"I'm pretty sure you're not here to make conversation, Takeshi Minamoto." Julia replies.

Takeshi embarrassingly looks away to stare at Fuyuko again. This cold answer at least gets him straight to the point.

"Not here to chat, indeed." he says. "There's no need for any discussion since I know everything there is to know."

"Is that so?" Julia doubtfully says. "How come?"

Fuyuko squints his eyes before the Minamoto replies, already expecting a certain misleading answer.

"I've met another former Kakumei member." Takeshi explains, as expected. "She and another mercenary told me about you, Fuyuko Yamanaka. They told me you would be taken over by Ryutoki without another tengu's help. It honestly sounds like a reasonable motivation. After all, you're fighting for survival. Frankly, I would have helped you if it wasn't for your other true objective."

"Nununuh I woULd hAve heLPeD yOu if blah blah…" Fuyuko quietly repeats Takeshi's words with a dumb mocking face. "And what's that other goal, Kizaru?"

"To refuel Kakumei." Takeshi promptly says, in a fully serious tone. "You asked for her help to free Oshio Uchiha and take on things where you left them. I can't let you do that."

"… Pff! Ha. Hahaha! Hahahahaha!" the former Kakumei member forces himself to laugh. "Shit! That's embarrassing. That's cringe. I didn't think you were that focused on being him."

"Him? Who's him?" Takeshi asks, not sure to understand Fuyuko's fiction breaking comments.

"Him. The guy." Fuyuko adds, not making it any clearer. "The kind of guy to say "home" when the cab driver asks where to."

Takeshi doesn't reply and just makes a confused face. He doesn't even know what a cab is. Fuyuko insists.

"The kind of dude to say 'it's me' when someone asks who's there… The kind of fella to take it personally when you get sick during a pandemic… The kind of individual who…"

"Goddamn it, can't you speak like a normal person?" the Minamoto exclaims, annoyed.

"I'm saying you've been fooled, you fucking MC syndrome-pilled idiot!." Fuyuko angrily replies. "Meinu is a shit ass liar bitch and your simp ass got played by her slutty ass!"

Takeshi raises both eyebrows and takes a moment to breathe, astonished by the unnecessary vulgarity of that statement. He's never heard the word "ass" being used wrongly so many times in a single sentence. Somehow angered by what he seems to have understood about his opponent, Fuyuko puts his hands together and spreads his shadow through the ground. Julia steps back to let him play.

Kage Nendo

Using the surrounding shadows, he lifts up all the boulders and objects lying nearby as if he had telekinetic powers, and tosses them one after another to Takeshi who lights his body up in white and promptly avoids all the projectiles. While at it, Fuyuko goes on with his explanation.

"She's the one who came to me and asked for help to free Oshio." he says. "And I fucking refused! I got what I wanted from Kakumei. Most of those rich Daimyo assholes are dead. Y'all just gotta kick their families' asses outta my land and they'll be done. Meinu, that crazy bitch, wants to free Oshio and start over because she is not satisfied. She's the goddamn reason Oshio got into this in the first place. And now she just wants to waste him even more to resurrect that bastard Momoshiki and kill the Hokage. It's her weird obsession, not mine. Maybe she's like you, believing she's got to be the main character."

Takeshi and Tentoki listen to this rant while dodging his offensive, and find an agreement.

"Wait, so Killin' Kiss wants to free Oshio, and this guy just wants nothing?" Takeshi says.

"… It was foolish of you to believe her." Tentoki replies. "Fuyuko may be right. You purposefully let her fool you because you wanted a reason to defeat him. You wanted to be the hero against the villain. But now, you have no reason left to fight."

"What do you mean, no reason left?" Takeshi argues. "He's still after me and I still gotta get him away from my family."

"Don't forget what you told yourself just a minute ago, Takeshi." Tentoki reminds him. "He only needs a tengu to prevent Ryutoki."

"There's no way I can help him with that!" Takeshi changes his mind out of frustration. "I'm not gonna share that jutsu with him."

"Listen to me!" the celestial light exclaims. "There's no need for him to know how to extract a tengu. If what your other tengu said yesterday is true, it is your presence that makes the seed grow, just like the Daitengu's presence used to. You're poisonous to him, so it's kind of your fault if he dies."

Takeshi frowns, upset about this phrasing, but can't argue with it. Reached by these words, he understands that the only benefit of beating Fuyuko would be to kill Ryutoki, but if an alternative is possible, then he should consider it.

Koton – Kagayaku (Shine)

He emits a blinding light from his body that shines through the whole beach and illuminates even what hides, erasing all the shadows in the area. Being left with nothing to manipulate, Fuyuko's jutsu wears off. Unable to rely on Kagemane, he tries another of his powers.

Tengudama

He quickly loads up and fires a chakra ball as a ray beam toward Takeshi who counters with his own.

Koton – Kosen

He shoots a continuous light beam to confront Fuyuko's tengu power and manages to rival it. While the two attacks are colliding, Takeshi takes his decision to end this fight.

"Tentoki, you're right." he says. "Let's try something else."

Not sure if this collision will end, Takeshi lets his jutsu go and leaps aside to go toward Fuyuko. Just as Ryutoki did 19 years ago with Chuji's body, Fuyuko has a second Tengudama ready because he also expected his opponent to flee from this confrontation. Seeing Takeshi emerge on the right, he shoots the second beam, but this Koton user is faster and smarter than Shibata.

Koton – Shiroi Heki (White Wall)

By using the fundamental components of Koton (Lightning and Yang), he emits a white electricity to which he brings form with Yoton. This results in a solid, nearly unbreakable but ephemeral barrier that blocks the chakra ball and holds just long enough for Takeshi to get away again. Seeing the Kiri-nin get dangerously closer, Fuyuko brings his hands together and performs a series of hand sign that Tentoki recognizes.

"This is the Jinton barrier." the tengu says to his host. "Getting close will be dangerous."

Takeshi gets the message, and takes advantage of this situation to make the power gap clear to his opponent.

Koton – Raiko (Thunder Light)

Using the same combination as earlier, he creates a solid white lightning bolt in his hand and tosses it toward Fuyuko. But instead of hitting him, he just sends it flying through the Jinton barrier, past his face. It lands on the sea and instantly propagates an intense light that knocks out every nearby living thing in the water.

Fuyuko senses the blast behind him and hears Julia gasp out of surprise in front of this oddly efficient jutsu. For Takeshi, the point is made. Jinton can't stop Koton either, and this leaves Fuyuko with nothing to oppose him.

"If you're not an enemy of Kiri, then I have no reason to fight." he says, to calm everyone down. "If all you need is a tengu that can hold back Ryutoki's at birth, then I'll help you. It is only about saving a life, isn't it?"

Fuyuko makes a confused face and looks at Julia behind him. He shrugs, to show he's ready to accept this collaboration and steps forward to Takeshi. Julia quietly laughs, amused by this turn of events.

"Is this for real?" Fuyuko asks, just to make sure.

"Tentoki…" Takeshi doesn't reply and asks for confirmation to his tengu instead. "We'll find a way to get rid of the tengu seed inside him with my father or Makura's help. Until I figure this out, you should stay in this guy's body, to make sure Ryutoki doesn't take him over when he hatches."

"Takeshi…" Tentoki replies. "This is a rightful but risky operation. It is putting a lot of faith in your own self, and a heavy burden on me."

"Sorry, but I want to try it." the Kiri-nin replies.

"Of course, I can take this on me for a short time,…" the celestial light gives a warning. "But understand that as soon as I'll be in his body, you'll lose my power and he'll gain it. Are you sure about that?"

"I am." Takeshi declares as he lays his open hand on Fuyuko's shoulder.

With just this contact, he sends Tentoki to a new yamabushi and leaves him alone with a seemingly sealed seed in an empty inner world. Julia looks at the scene confusingly and hardly believes it when she sees Takeshi's glowing white hair go back to black as her boyfriend's body slightly shines bright for a moment.

Fuyuko looks at her again and, together after a short silence, they laugh out loud. Takeshi confusingly looks at them, unsure of how he should feel. Doubting his latest decision, he tries to pull Tentoki out with the same jutsu he just used, but Fuyuko pushes his hand away before he can.

"I didn't think you'd actually do it." the Yamanaka says. "I think I underestimated your MC syndrome. You're really so focused on being the hero that you sacrificed your tengu to a dude that was your enemy a second ago, just as soon as he made himself look like a victim."

Takeshi sees the Yamanaka's shadow start to move under his feet, and leaps away to avoid paralysis. But this doesn't trouble Fuyuko's intention.

"Julia!" he exclaims to his girlfriend who lays one hand on his shoulder and makes a simple hand sign with the other.

Kaiin

With this simple jutsu, she breaks a seal that she applied herself. Inside of Fuyuko's mind, Tentoki sees the seed of Ryutoki suddenly breathing out an intense chakra wave and breaking to reveal the tengu that was growing inside.

"What?" he shouts to himself. "It was already ready to hatch! They just sealed it to contain it temporarily!"

As soon as reborn, Ryutoki, the Power of Kings, only takes a second to become aware of his surroundings and immediately tries to force his presence on this body. Tentoki, who's been sent in this body to save Fuyuko, does the same task he was supposed to, but to save Takeshi. He pushes the deadly tengu and prevents him from taking control.

"If he takes over, Takeshi won't be able to match his violence!" he tells himself.

Stuck in a stranger's body and forced to fight off a stronger tengu, he can't do anything about Fuyuko freely using the power of them both, flowing through his mind.

Koton – Shunshin

Fuyuko makes use of Tentoki's power for the first time and pushes his knee into Takeshi's face, surprising him with his newly acquired speed. The Kiri-nin flutters across the beach and lands on his knees, ready to go on. Startled by this unexplained change of heart, he listens to understand while doing his best to keep up.

"Sure I still need you to stop that tengu fight in me." Fuyuko says as he leaps forward and kicks Takeshi again. "But you forgot one thing, Sonic… You still fucking killed my sister, and there's no way I forgive you for this!"

Takeshi tries to use the same jutsu as Fuyuko, but realizes soon enough that he can't. Instead, he applies the same principle to lightning.

Raiton – Shunshin

With only his own specialist speed, he almost manages to keep up to Fuyuko. He can see him move and takes cover from his hits, but is still too slow to dare dodging them. Instead, he tries to bear the few punches he takes and waits for the right time to strike back. In his mind, another voice exclaims in anger.

"What did you do?" his last tengu says, with a calm but seemingly upset voice. "Gifting a brother to your enemy is the worst thing to do. Take it back. Eliminate him. Show him fear!"

Takeshi knows very well what Makura is saying. Fuyuko is right. By wanting to play the hero again, he blindly abandoned Tentoki without listening to his warning. He has to fix this. He has to take Tentoki back. But he also needs to eliminate Ryutoki. The best possible way to do so is to kill Fuyuko.

The Yamanaka gets visibly angry as he notices that, even without Koton, Takeshi still manages to equal his new quickness. This speedsters' battle brings them to push each other across and outside the village, all the way to the bottom of the mountain, back and forth in the forest and on the sea. Takeshi tries to get him away.

Shiden

He uses his purple lightning blade to chase Fuyuko away in an attempt to take him down. The Yamanaka quickly takes advantage of this distance and goes long range.

Kage Nendo

He lifts up the surrounding trees and rocks and sends them all raining on Takeshi who can't cancel the shadows anymore. He can only run and hope to avoid everything. For most of them, he can't avoid them and has to slice through with his Shiden. Too focused on this task, he almost gets hit by Fuyuko's Jinton – Genkai Hakuri that passes by and disintegrates all the projectiles. Now that the air is cleaned, Fuyuko shoots the jutsu he has in his other hand.

Tengudama

This time, Takeshi doesn't have the speed or attention to evade it and gets hit by the chakra orb that sends him fluttering through the buildings of Ryuka, all the way back to where the fight began. There, he hears the voice of Makura again.

"You are stronger than that." it says. "Take over. Show him ear."

"Damn it! I know I can do that!" Takeshi yells back. "I know we made this to that girl when I was a kid. I know it is your power. But I don't know how to save Tentoki."

"Take him back." Makura simply replies. "And kill Ryutoki! My name is Makura! I am Fear itself! And my power shall eliminate your enemies."

Kage Shibari

Before he can stand up, Takeshi suddenly gets caught in the paralysis of Fuyuko's Kagemane. Locked in place, he sees Fuyuko dash toward him with another Tengudama in his hand. Before he can reach him and strike one last time, Takeshi feels a new power flow in his body. It manifests as a new ability.

Mokuton – Sashiki

A wooden spear suddenly emerges from the ground and promptly pierces Fuyuko, off guard. Stabbed and forced out of his euphoria, Fuyuko looks up and crosses the gaze of a 3 meters tall extremely long black haired wooden figure's 3 blue eyes. This devilish shape bends over, from behind Takeshi to impose its height over Fuyuko and make him feel an unexplained feeling of discomfort.

His shadow paralysis wears off and lets Takeshi free. Noticing the Minamoto standing up and coming closer, Fuyuko angrily raises both hands to prepare another strike but is vigorously interrupted by Takeshi's new abilities.

Mokuton – Takkei (Crucifixion)

The wood entity raises its long black clawed hands and elongates its fingers to pierce the Yamanaka's hands. A leafless tree emerges from the ground under Fuyuko, binds his limbs with his branches and holds him in the form of a crucifix. Having the enemy at its mercy, Makura shows to Takeshi the one power they used in the past.

Genjutsu – Narakumi

Unable to move, Fuyuko lowers his eyes to see Takeshi just an instant before he swiftly jumps to him and strikes him with a kick that makes him feel like he's falling across a whole forest to finally land against a wall, just like when he was defeated during the battle of Hikari. However, this time, he isn't knocked out. Instead, he's fully conscious and sees a person standing back to him.

He recognizes his twin sister, Akiko, or is it his little sister Karina, or Julia, or Kawaki, or Oshio? It is unclear to him, but it feels like he's seeing all of them at once, being promptly and repeatedly beheaded in front of him by Takeshi's Shiden. He knows very well that this is an illusion, but his instincts drive him to believe it, and fear it.

In reality, he is still crucified in front of Takeshi who calmly stands up and walks toward his opponent, ready to end it. Before he gets close enough, he senses the intense heat of a raging flame thrown by Julia in his back, and makes sure to counter it.

Suiton – Suiro

He uses the water prison on his own self to take cover and stop the fire that was reaching for his back. As soon as the flames disappear he dispels the water jutsu and is immediately attacked by Julia who repeatedly tries to stab him with the daggers of Fuyuko.

Takeshi boringly dodges all her strikes before disarming her and catching her throat. He lifts her up and lets the lightning of his Shiden slowly crawl up his arm on his way to her neck.

"Kill her." Makura says in his mind. "Show her fear. No human should oppose the power of the Daitengu."

Takeshi prepares to blindly follow his tengu's order, but stops the lightning at the last moment, when he inadvertently notices the face of Fuyuko over Julia's shoulder, unconscious but with his eyes wide open. Right when Takeshi caught Julia and disarmed her, he started to very distinctively feel an intense feeling coming from Fuyuko.

Just like he can smell any scent, he senses the unbound fear in the Yamanaka's heart, slowly growing and loosening the grip that holds his soul and body together. This same dreadful fate is what Takeshi forced on Mimi, the ex-girlfriend of Guroi who was sent to kidnap him as a kid. An illusion of fear so intense that it causes the subject's death.

He closes his eyes and manages to see the Genjutsu that Makura is showing to Fuyuko. He opens his eyes again and looks at Julia, passing out from his choking. Suddenly feeling oddly inhumane, Takeshi takes a step back and lets Julia go. He takes a few seconds to get back to his senses and reminds himself of what matters. He has to save Tentoki and eliminate Ryutoki.

He remembers all the warnings of the celestial light about the mystic and dangerous presence of Makura, and holds back. He refuses to follow Makura's ways and figures out an alternative. In his mind, he turns around to stare at Fear itself.

"Makura,…" he says. "I accept your power. But I can't accept your advice. You are a part of me. You are the incarnation of my connection to the Daitengu, but you're not the guiding voice I want to follow. This voice is Tentoki's."

After these words, he turns around and controls the wooden structure that holds Fuyuko to bring him down to the ground. With just a touch, he takes Tentoki back and leaves the body to be controlled by Ryutoki. Fuyuko, possessed by the power of kings, has white markings appearing on his face and abruptly wakes up. Still bound by the tree, he can't free his rage.

"My life. My essence. It is similar to Sojobo's isn't it?" Takeshi asks Makura, leaving Tentoki to listen. "How far does this connection go?"

"… Your life… belongs to the Daitengu." Makura replies, regretfully forced to accept his host's choice. "You bear a part of him that is more than just us. Your life is his. His life is yours."

"I see… So if I have some of his abilities. Do I also have…" Takeshi says as he tries to deal with Ryutoki in a quite surprising way.

Just like Sojobo absorbed this tengu and Tenshi 19 years ago, Takeshi attempts to absorb Ryutoki again, turning the powerless tengu into pure chakra that he consumes to gain its abilities. Tentoki and Makura watch, astonished by this demonstration. Ryutoki is consumed nearly perfectly. His chakra becomes Takeshi's, but only half of his power is passed on. This slight imperfection is probably the limit of what Takeshi can do.

Tentoki stands up and looks around, still unable to see Makura. Takeshi, noticing Tentoki's confusion, fixes it. Having finally understood his own will power, he unveils his tengu and makes him visible to anyone who enters his mind. He goes to stand before him.

"Makura. You've lent me your power, as I asked." he says. "But never will I rely only on you. Fuyuko doesn't deserve to be killed by me. Neither does Julia Tomoe. I don't have to act like I'm saving the world, or saving anyone. I'm just holding back the grudge of someone else. Nothing less. Nothing more. Until now, I was mistaken. Kaori and Teru were right about that. Your voice won't lead me to change this. Tentoki will."

Tentoki looks at the wooden statue, waiting for its reaction. Makura doesn't speak. He simply lightly nods in agreement, complying to his yamabushi's decision.

On the beach of Ryuka, now that the fight has ended, the people come closer to see what happened. On the ground, Fuyuko wakes up, nearly out of chakra and strength. He looks around and sees Takeshi in front of him. Inside of him he doesn't sense any tengu. And lying by his side is Julia, unconscious.

"I didn't kill her. I'll let her go. I have no reason to capture her." Takeshi tells him. "About Ryutoki, I absorbed him. He's gone. There is only you left."

Fuyuko processes this information, and gets a bitter sensation of frustration. He realizes that, added to not having gotten the vengeance he was seeking for his sister, his life was saved by the one he owes to slay.

"Tsk! The hell you think you're doing?" he angrily says.

"I don't really want to prove you right." Takeshi replies. "So I won't make myself look like the hero. I won't capture Julia, I won't kill you, and I won't seek recognition for saving the day. I only did what was necessary. Still, I have to do my job as a ninja. I can't let you roam free. You still need to get locked down for what you did to my father."

"Go fuck yourself!" Fuyuko replies. "You think I want your pity? You have no right to choose what becomes of me."

"Yes I do. I defeated you." the Minamoto declares. "And I choose to deliver you to Konoha."

"Tsk… Damn it!" Fuyuko is out of words, humiliated. "What even is this power you used? Why is fate so much on your side? You don't deserve to win. You deserve to suffer more than you made me suffer. You need a serious beating. A return to reality. An adversary that will take from you as much as you took from others. Someone who'll make you feel so small and powerless that you'll never dare play the hero again."

Takeshi listens to these words silently and thinks of how they could come to reality. For now, he is unaware that, Fuyuko's wish ,he will later recall it as a prophecy.

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And so, just as he decided, Julia Tomoe was left to go wherever she wanted to, while Fuyuko was delivered to Konoha's prison. In the evening the same day, Takeshi brings his defeated opponent to the place where he leaves him to Shikamaru Nara and Izuna Uchiha. The prisoner blandly looks away from Takeshi. He understood that revenge is out of reach and this is exactly what frustrates him.

In the prison, on the way to his cell, Fuyuko is focused on Izuna who obviously reminds him of his friend Oshio. Izuna is focused on Fuyuko's right shoulder that bears a tattoo reminding him of his brother as well. Shikamaru, also reminded of the past by Fuyuko's presence, brings up a personal matter.

"So, Yamanaka Fuyuko…" he says. "You had a twin brother…"

"Sister." he corrects.

"Sister, yes… what a drag…" Shikamaru continues. "You two are from the Yamanaka clan but use the Nara's jutsus as well. Do you know anything about your life before leaving Konoha?"

"Leaving Konoha? What you talking about, Megamind? I've never lived there."

"Your jutsus and ancestry are exclusively from this village. Of course you're from here. What I think is simply that you were taken away before you were even 1… To make it clear, I think I know exactly who you are. In fact, I might have known your mother."

"My mother? What's that? You sound like you're gonna make a Yo Mama joke." Fuyuko stays distant. "Beat it, Alakazam. You don't know her. She's just some random housewife chick that sells candies."

"Really? I would have guessed she was from the Nara clan, since your father is a Yamanaka."

"You're right about the dad at least." Fuyuko quickly tries to end this discussion. "Listen, dude, my parents are nothing interesting. They're just kinda like Peter and Lois Griffin without the comedy."

"… If you ever get out of this cell legally, come to see me." Shikamaru says, knowing that this isn't the right time to get a common interest with a prisoner. "I'm not as sure about your story as you are. There's things I'd like to elucidate, and you could learn about yourself by the way."

Fuyuko just shrugs and lets the Hokage's advisor leave, not paying attention to his words. Alone with Izuna, he lets him bring him to a tiny cell where only one other person is imprisoned. A blonde haired tanned woman with blue eyes, and a ridiculously mature body. He recognizes Seiki Tomoe, former subordinate of Killin' Kiss who came to Konoha in order to allow Kawaki's surprise attack on the 7th Hokage.

"Aren't you one of Meinu's power puff girls?" he asks.

"Fuyuko Yamanaka? Long time no see." she quietly says.

Izuna looks at the two former associates of his brother sitting together in this cell, and has a throwback to last year. If he remembers correctly, Seiki is the one who fooled him, and Fuyuko is who stole his body to bring it to Hikari. They are both responsible for his time in Minoka's lab. Yet, he doesn't feel angry. He's already guilty enough about Minoka's case.

"Were you good friends with Oshio?" he asks Fuyuko.

"Hell yeah I was." Fuyuko replies. "Kinda miss him though."

"Were you all friends in Kakumei?"

"Kinda… Except for that dollar store Kaneki and Meinu." he replies, which upsets Seiki.

Fuyuko thinks of all the other Kakumei members and reminds himself of what Izuna knows of them. He remembers the time Izuna spent in Hikari and how he escaped. Looking at the Uchiha's sorry face, he guesses what he's thinking. Before going to sit as a loser in the back of his cell, he gives just one tiny message of hope to the one who abandoned his dreams due to his past crimes.

"Do you know anything about Kakumei members other than Oshio and I?" he says. "If I was you, I'd go check the village of Sochoku. It's a little village not far from Hikari. You might find some people of interest there."

Izuna tilts his head, a bit confused by this suggestion. He looks at Seiki to figure out if she knows anything about it, but she cluelessly looks away, feeling some sort of guilt related to him. Unsure, Izuna keeps this advice in mind, he will certainly ask permission to go to this village very soon to settle this mystery.

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At the entrance of Konoha, Takeshi Minamoto, who came there to deliver Fuyuko, is joined by Yukiko and Kaori who come to find him right as he's about to leave.

"Well, this was a quick story." Kaori says to him, commenting on this little mission.

"So it was a Kakumei member?" Yukiko adds. "I thought there was only Killin' Kiss remaining."

Takeshi shortly thinks of the mentioned name, Killin' Kiss, and wonders how she'll go on with her stupid ambitions. Fortunately, there is nothing she'd be able to do by herself. Not worried about her, he instead looks at Kaori and remembers all that Tentoki taught him with this story.

"You were right about me, Kaori." he says, to her surprise. "I'm trying too hard to be the hero, and this time, it only slowed me down. I think I was listening to a voice in my mind that I couldn't clearly hear until now. It made me so confident and selfish that I started to put my gain over my ambition. All I want, and all I should pursue, is to serve Kiri and the Union as they want me to. Not to please them by all means. Just to be what they expect."

"… Ok?" Kaori awkwardly says. "I guess this mission felt a bit longer than it seemed to you."

Kaori, oddly bitter that Takeshi actually could learn a lesson, ignores this remark. Yukiko, next to her, is quietly amazed. She doesn't know what happened, but it must have been personal. Takeshi looks back at the village before leaving, thinking of a visit to Hideo Kotobuki's lab. He needs a bit more information about Makura and the Daitengu. What is happening to his body, and why.

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End of Chapter 110 – Next Chapter: Relief