227. Jujutsu?
"Fine! I will do it."
Izuna nods his head.
He turns towards Kimimaro and instructs him.
"There is some kind of barrier blocking my sense inside the body of this turtle. Either it is the work of the Giant tree or someone else is messing with our senses. Either way, be on your guard."
He warns Kimimaro.
"Yes, Angel-san."
Kimimaro nods his head.
Whoosh… whoosh…
Both of them flickers towards an opening on the surface of the Giant turtle's body.
"Our priority is to search for the missing villagers. There might be some relation between them and this giant tree. Fortunately, my seals aren't the only things which can help me with the tracking."
Izuna makes some hand signs and slams his palm on the ground.
"Shock Release: Detection Wave"
Izuna releases low-frequency body waves from his hands. He places his ears on the ground to hear the reflected waves.
'Shock Release allows me to manipulate body and surface waves on Earth. I can release low-frequency seismic waves to study the composition of the earth. These waves can travel further along the ground and will bounce back.
Or, I can release High-frequency seismic waves to create landslides and earthquakes.
These body waves differ from the naturally occurring body waves since I infuse some of my chakra in these waves.'
Shoom… Shoom…
Izuna continues to release the chakra-infused surface waves throughout the cavern.
Wham…
Izuna senses one of his reflected waves.
"I can sense a presence up ahead at 8 o'clock. Let's check it out."
Whoosh…
Izuna flickers towards the location as Kimimaro follows after him.
They enter one of the many tunnels inside the cavern as a rock wall appears in front of them.
Hmm…
"There is someone bound behind that wall."
Izuna activates his Sharingan and inspects the rock wall.
There are multiple green-colored veins on the surface of the rock wall as they tightly bind a person.
Hmm…
"This is one of the many roots of the giant tree."
Swish… swish…
Izuna makes a hand sign.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu"
He spews out a giant fireball to burn the root.
Sizzle… Sizzle…
Smoke rises from the root as the fireball fails to burn it.
"Huh! This is some sturdy material. It is highly resistant to fire. Then what about this?"
Izuna makes some hand signs and stretches his palm.
"Inferno Release: Searing Flames"
White flames cover his palm as Izuna directs them towards the root.
Crackle… crackle…
Smoke rises from the root as it slowly turns into ashes and frees the prisoner.
Bam…
A familiar figure falls on the ground as Izuna recognizes the person.
"Fusao!"
Izuna inspects Fusao's body.
"Hmm… He is under a powerful genjutsu. It is similar to the barrier around the village. Looks like it is the work of one of those lilies."
Swish… swish…
Izuna makes some hand signs as purple lightning crackles in his hand.
Bzzz…
He zaps Fusao and purges the pollens from his body.
Ugh…
Fusao slowly opens his eyes as he slowly recovers from the genjutsu.
"Where… where am I?"
Fusao groggily opens his eyes as Izuna and Kimimaro appear in his vision.
"Akihito-san! What's going on?"
He questions Izuna.
"Well!… I am not so sure. But apparently, it has something to do with that giant tree." Izuna shakes his head.
"I would like to know your recount about this tree. Maybe it might help us escape from this situation." Izuna questions Fusao.
"I… I… Honestly, I know little about the tree." Fusao shakes his head as he recounts his tale.
"Twenty-five years ago, the flames of the second shinobi war were yet to go cold when my entire village was massacred in one single night. My father and I were the only few lucky survivors.
It was the work of an evil cult. The members of the cult murdered our entire village to create a Forbidden Jujutsu."
Fusao narrates his story to Izuna.
'Hmm… background stories like his aren't that rare. Almost every shinobi from smaller nations suffers the same fate as him. Still, I am slightly interested in the evil cult and their Jujutsu.
Various Evil cults are operating in shadows in this world. Some of these cults worship an unknown God and pay a tribute to the said 'God' to gain power.'
An image of Hidan appears in Izuna's mind.
Hidan is a member of the Jashin cult, which offers the human sacrifice to their God to earn his favor. In exchange for the ritualistic sacrifice of many people; Jashin grants them Immortality.
'As enticing as the idea of immortality may sound; there must be a sort of catch to this offer. The members of the Otsutsuki clan are God-like in the eyes of the shinobi. But they are just a bunch of cosmic parasites leeching life from one world to another.
Maybe this Jashin is also a similar being.'
Izuna ponders as the image of the purple cloaked figure appears in his mind.
'Can Jashin be somehow related to that unknown being?… No!… Right?!"
Izuna shakes his head to discard this thought.
'For now, I should focus on the matter at hand.'
He turns towards Fusao, who continues his story.
"… later, Father found about this village from a passer-by and since then I have grown up in this village. Father died three years ago, leaving me all alone in this world."
Fusao solemnly shakes his head.
"I… I see. I am very sorry for your loss." Izuna awkwardly nods his head.
'I just want to get some information about this God-damn tree; so, I could prepare against any surprises.'
Izuna helplessly stares at Fusao.
"This entire village is a trap. There is no haven in this village; instead, this entire village is situated on top of a giant ancient turtle.
Supplying chakra to the Giant tree to maintain the barrier around the village was just a pretense; their real aim is to cast and maintain a genjutsu on the giant turtle."
Izuna informs Fusao as he ponders.
'So, this tree was planted twenty-five years ago; perhaps after the Second Shinobi War.'
Shoom… Shoom…
Izuna continues to use Shock Release to look for the traces of the villagers.
Wham…
"Found them! At 2 o'clock."
He quickly dashes in the direction.
Whoosh…
Kimimaro and Fusao follow after him.
"This is…"
Surprise appears on Izuna's face as he stares at the state of the village. Multiple tall trees and vines populate the village.
The long and thick light green vines tightly bind the villagers. They form a giant network around the village as the vines wrap around each other to create a giant cage.
Izuna activates his Sharingan and inspects the vines.
There are multiple spikes and thorns on them as these thorns' pierces in the body of the villagers and rapidly drain chakra from their body.
"Angel-san! This is the place."
Kimimaro reminds Izuna as he flicks his arm and draws a bone sword from it.
He walks towards the vines to free the villagers.
"FALL BACK!"
Izuna yells to stop him.
Whoosh…
He grabs Kimimaro's arm and drags him back.
Clang… clang… clang…
Multiple thorny spears shoot out from the ground as they try to pierce Kimimaro's body.
"Shinobi Rule No:1 Never let your guard down," Izuna warns him.
Swoosh… Swoosh… Swoosh…
Multiple thorn spears attack the group from all directions.
Swish… swish… swish…
Izuna makes some hand signs as he faces the spears.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu"
Izuna spews out a giant fireball to incinerate the spears.
Swoosh… Swoosh…
The spears pierce through the fireball as they aim for his vital spots.
Tch…
"Looks like fire release is useless against them."
Whoosh…
Izuna jumps back and avoids the spears.
Clang… Clang…
The spears pierce the ground as poisonous fumes rise from it.
Izuna monitors his surroundings as he searches for the tracks of the attacker.
'I can't sense the presence of the attacker.'
He fails to sense the chakra signature of the attacker.
"Mangekyo Sharingan!"
Izuna activates his Mangekyo Sharingan to look for the location of the attacker.
"Strange!!… The attacker can avoid my detection. Let me inspect the surrounding area and these trees and vines."
He continues to inspect the large vines and trees as something clicks in his mind.
"I see. It makes sense now."
Izuna deactivates his Mangekyo as he slowly walks towards the villagers.
Swoosh… Swoosh…
Multiple thorn spears attack him from all directions.
Whoosh…
Izuna skilfully avoids the spears as he closes the gap.
"I have figured out your secret."
Izuna stops in front of a small tree in front of the cage.
"I will give you three seconds to reveal yourself or else…"