160. Sin of Lust

Whoosh…

Izuna disappears in the portal.

Hmm…

He appears in a separate, isolated space.

'This space is similar to Kamui's dimension.'

There are multiple rectangular prisms pedestal scattered throughout the space.

Izuna walks towards the center of the room.

'What kind of trial was that Snake Sage talking about?'

He presses his hand on the pedestal and waits for the trial to start.

After waiting for a while, nothing particular happens.

"I guess… there must be some another way to start this trial."

Izuna fumbles around the various prisms to look for any clues.

"Hmm… these prisms are arranged according to a Fuinjutsu formation."

Izuna rubs his chin in contemplation as he tries to remember the sealing formation.

"I got it… it is a sealing formation from one of those scrolls in Shikkotsu Forest."

Izuna places his hands on the prism rectangles and arranges them according to the sealing formation from his memories.

Rumble… Rumble…

The large rectangular platform trembles, and the center pedestal rises in the air.

Hmm…

Izuna walks towards the pedestal and inspects it for a while.

There are some Fuinjutsu seals carved all around the pedestal.

"So… what's next… what am I supposed to do next."

Izuna curiously studies the seal as he tries to decipher them.

He notices a giant tomoe on the center of the Fuinjutsu seal.

'Huh!… this looks familiar.'

He places his hand on the giant tomoe.

"Wait… it looks familiar to my Senjutsu cloak. Maybe I should try using Sage Mode… after all, this person was the one who introduced the Sage Mode."

Izuna closes his eyes and enters Sage Mode. He infuses Nature energy into the tomoe.

Woosh…

The Fuinjutsu seal lit up and rearranges itself into recognizable words.

[Only the worthy capable of harnessing the power of Nature and elements to their truest form shall claim this legacy.]

"Well… I can use all the known elements, so just give it to me. Don't bother wasting my time."

He infuses his chakra into the seal. The seal absorbs his chakra, and the glowing words fade away, opening a compartment in the pedestal.

Swoosh…

The Sin seal heats up, and the Grimoire appears in front of him.

Huh…

"What's going on? Don't tell there is another Sin eye here."

Izuna notices many Fuinjutsu chains binding a box.

Swish… swish…

The chains shatter, and the box floats in front of him.

[Every being has a sin bound to their soul. It takes a lot of self-knowledge to find the sin that is bounded to you because we all carry every sin deep within us. No being can remain untainted by Sin. But you are also not a sinner when you prolong these. It is only a sin if you take it too far, and it defiles the soul. If you come to be corrupted by your sin, your soul will be drenched and marked as a sinner.]

These words echo through the isolated space as Izuna holds the box in his hand.

"Sins… huh… if I have to sin against humanity to protect my loved one's then I am ready to become the very epitome of a Sinner."

He grabs the box and rips apart the layer of seals on top of the box.

Whoosh….

Pink light glows from the box as a Sin eye floats out of the box.

The Sin eye is shaped into a heart with two pointed spikes jutting out from the corners.

Whoosh… whoosh…

The pages of the Grimoire flips open as the previous two eyes float out from it.

Bzzzt…

Pink lightning crackles from the Sin eye as it attaches to the Grimoire.

'Sin of Lust. The feeble bonds of the heart shatter into mere fragments. Lust is an eternal part of humanity… be it lust for power… lust for knowledge or lust for other beings. No being remains untainted by lust.'

Whoosh…

The Sin eyes fuse with the Grimoire, and another eye appears on the Grimoire.

Swoosh…

Dark Orange black markings crawl from the Sin seals as various totems spread all over Izuna's body. The markings travel towards Izuna's right eye and fuse with it, activating his Mangekyo Sharingan.

Whoosh… whoosh…

Three Limbo Shadow of Izuna crawls out from the Border Prison world as they rip apart the shadows and treads into reality.

Shoom… Shoom… Shoom…

The Sin eyes fuse with the Limbos, and an eye opens up on their chest.

The Limbo Shadow with the Sin eye of Lust opens its eyes and mumbles some incoherent words.

"What?… Limbo Shadows can talk."

Izuna is flustered by this incoherent mumbling as he listens to the shadow.

"Don't fail again…"

These words fell in his ears as the Limbo Shadow disappears from reality.

"What… what was that? How come a Limbo Shadow can talk?" Izuna stares at the shadows for a while.

"And… what does it mean by don't fail again…" Izuna mumbles to himself as a deep frown appears on his face.

Izuna shakes his head and looks around for an exit.

"I have to get stronger… stronger than anybody. Then only would I be able to live my life according to my rules?"

He notices a space-teleportation formula near the pedestal.

Whoosh…

He activates the teleportation formula and disappears from the small dimension.

Whoosh…

He reappears in front of Mei and the Snake Sage.

"How was it? Did you find anything?" Mei questions him.

"Yes, and No." Izuna shakes his head and turns towards the Snake Sage.

"I have a few questions to ask from you."

"Very well… go ahead… since you have completed the trial… you are a member of the Ryuchi Cave now."

The Snake Sage nods his head.

"Then can you tell me more about the Ryuchi cave? I wanted to hear the incident during the Rikudou Sannin era." Izuna asks her.

"Hmm… during that era… the Ryuchi cave isolated itself from the rest of the world. We had a small dispute with Mount Myoboku… the Ryuchi cave followed the orders of the 'Great Traveller' to not interfere with the human world but the Toad Sage interacted with a human and taught him the art of the Senjutsu thus breaking the rules of the contract."

Hmm…

Izuna nods his head in approval.

"… Rikudou Sannin and Ten-tails fought against each other. Their battle devastated the earth… changing the terrain of the planet. Rikudou Sannin sealed the ten-tails inside the moon. The Ryuchi cave remained unharmed thanks to the barrier created by the 'Great Traveller'."

The Snake Sage points towards the Red barrier enveloping the entire island.

"Hey! I have a question too."

Mei interrupts them.

"Go ahead…" The Snake Sage waves her tail.

"What happened to the ruins of the Kiri? Where are they? They are supposed to be the secret heritage of the Kirigakure." Mei questions the Snake Sage.

"Oh! That… there is no heritage. About a few decades ago… some humans chanced on the location of Ryuchi cave and entered into the weapon storage of the Ryuchi cave.

They just took some failed products with them and left the Ryuchi cave."

Snake Sage waves her tail.

"Great Traveller crafted many weapons, and the one stolen by your Kiri people were failed products. They are incomplete according to the 'Great Traveller'."

"…"

Mei silently stares at the Snake Sage.

'Failed products… so the famous Seven Mist Swords of Kirigakure are defective products. No… I won't reveal this to anyone.'

She shakes her head.

The Snake Sage turns towards Izuna.

"You have already mastered the Senjutsu… so there is nothing that I could teach you… If you are interested, I would teach you the secret art of Genjutsu passed through the Ryuchi cave. It was one of the techniques created by the 'Great Traveller'."

Hmm…

Izuna ponders for a while before nodding his head.

'I have some strong genjutsu techniques like Tsukuyomi and Kotoamatsukami. But genjutsu only serves as deference during a battle… it doesn't have any killing potential. Maybe… I could learn something interesting from them… their genjutsu technique seems unique.'

"I will take you on that offer. But for now… I have some urgent matters to take care of."

He turns towards Mei.

"Are you ready?"

"Yes…" Mei clutches her fist.

Whoosh…

He places a hand on Mei's shoulder and teleports from the Ryuchi cave.

The Snake sage looks at the space and then towards the barrier.

"I wonder what miracles would this kid create? I can see countless intangible threads of destiny tied around him. The destiny of many people is centered around him."

Whoosh…

Both of them appear inside the Terumi clan. Mei hurriedly runs towards her father.

"Father… You would be cured soon."