223. A Peculiar Village

Hmm…

Izuna inspects his surroundings as he closes the door.

"All these people are in disguise. Can't blame them; all of them are criminals or rogue shinobis.

I have little to do with the village, but the informant is from this place. I wonder who he is?"

"Seal"

He makes a hand sign and places a Fuinjutsu seal on the door.

'It has become an instinct of mine to place sealing formulas everywhere.'

Izuna shakes his head and turns towards Kimimaro.

"Kimimaro!… your Kekkei Genkai Shikotsumyaku is an integral part of your combat. Paired with taijutsu and Senjutsu; you will become a force to be reckoned with."

"It's all thanks to you, Angel-san."

Kimimaro bows in front of him.

"But… it's not enough."

Izuna shakes his head.

"… you don't have any talent for genjutsu and even your ninjutsu skills are very poor." Izuna remarks as he makes some hand signs.

Crackle… Snap… Pop…

Kimimaro snaps his bones and takes out a bone sword from his arm.

"I don't need ninjutsu or genjutsu to kill my enemies. I can just slice them off with my bones." A hint of bloodlust appears in Kimimaro's eyes.

Izuna notices the bloodlust in his eyes.

'It must be the effect of his bloodline. As he reaches adulthood, more and more of his bloodline potential will be released and he too will slowly turn insane, like his clan mates.

No wonder the Snake Sage Mode suits him. But he needs to keep his bloodlust in check.'

"I see." Izuna nods his head as he lifts his finger and points it towards Kimimaro.

"Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique"

He casts a simple genjutsu on Kimimaro.

Argh…

Kimimaro clutches his forehead and shakes in fear as he hugs his body.

Snap…

Izuna snaps his body and dispels the genjutsu.

"This was a D-Rank genjutsu meant to be used against chunnins and genins, and yet it turned into a nightmare for you."

"I… I am sorry."

Kimimaro lies down on the ground as his entire body is drenched in sweat.

"Having self-confidence is fine and all. But you must never underestimate your enemies. Since… you know your weakness; it is time to get rid of it."

'What about you, brat? Most of the time you underestimate your enemies. Hmph…'

Kurama snorts at him.

'Let's not talk about that.'

Izuna turns his head away in embarrassment.

Haha… ahaha…

Minato and Kushina chuckles.

'I agree with Kurama on this matter.' Minato nods his head.

'Not you too… Minato-san.' Izuna drops his head in shame.

Ahem…

He clears his throat and turns to Kimimaro.

Whoosh…

Izuna takes out a chakra paper from his pocket.

"I never checked your chakra nature; maybe it is time to do so."

He hands over the chakra paper to Kimimaro.

"Infuse your chakra in this chakra paper."

Swoosh…

Kimimaro grabs the paper and infuses his chakra into the paper.

Drip… drip… Crumble… crumble…

The paper turns soggy before it crumbles apart in the dust.

"I see!… So, you have a dual chakra nature of Earth and Water. That's pretty good." Izuna nods his head.

"In these upcoming days, I would train you in some basic ninjutsu techniques. Since you don't have an affinity for genjutsu; we will skip that part. I will only teach you how to dispel a genjutsu. So, get ready for the training."

"Yes… Angel-san." Kimimaro meekly nods his head.

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

Outside the Land of Valley,

Whoosh…

Konan climbs the mountain as she reaches the peak of the summit of the mountain.

"This is the place."

She takes out the map from her scroll and checks the location.

Swoosh…

Icy winds blow in the mountain as a chill runs down her spine.

She pockets the scroll and gazes at the bottomless end on the other side of the mountain.

Scramble… scramble…

'Dance of the Shikigami'

Various paper sheets gather behind her. The paper sheets form two giant wings behind her.

Swoosh…

The paper wings create a thrust as she flies to the bottom of the hill.

Whoosh…

She smoothly lands at the bottom of the hill.

"It must be somewhere around here."

Konan searches for the hidden mechanism to enter the village.

She founds the mechanism.

Swoosh…

'Paper Transformation Technique'

The paper gathers around her as she changes her outer appearance.

Whoosh… whoosh…

Three masked shinobis with kunais block her way.

"Halt!"

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

"Kimimaro, I have taught the basic technique to you. Practice it diligently and you will master it in no time." Izuna instructs Kimimaro.

"I am on my way to barrier maintenance duty." He steps out of the house.

"You are right on time, Akihito! I will teach you the method."

Izuna comes across Fusao, who guides him towards the location of the barrier squad.

Both of them approach the center of the village, near the giant tree.

"This giant tree serves as the foundation of this village. It not only supports the weight of the entire mountain on itself but also acts as a core for the barrier.

The roots of this tree are spread throughout this mountain range and thus act as a chakra circuit to maintain the barrier."

Fusao explains the details of the barrier to Izuna.

Whoosh… whoosh…

Both of them scale the giant tree as they land on one of its branches. There are two giant blue leaves on the branch.

Swish… swish…

Fusao makes some One-hand signs as he places another hand on the leaf.

Swoosh…

A surge of chakra rises from Fusao's body and enters leaf.

Hmm…

Izuna curiously stares at the process as he activates his Sharingan.

"This is…"

His eyes widen in surprise as various chakra veins and circuits appear in his vision.

The chakra veins on the leaf absorb Fusao's chakra and the chakra circuit circulates it through the tree before spreading the chakra to the roots.

'Wonderful… truly wonderful… I have never seen such a method of creating barriers. There are no fuinjutsu seals involved at all. Not only this, but this entire tree; I have never seen such a thing even in the Mount Myoboku; Ryuchi cave, or Shikkotsu Forest.'

Izuna curiously surveys the entire tree.

"It's your turn now."

Fusao interrupts Izuna's thoughts.

"I…"

Izuna helplessly stares at his left arm.

"…"

Fusao notices the missing left arm of Izuna.

"Eh!… why don't you try to place your leg on the leaf? Just make the necessary hand signs with your right hand." He suggests.

"That could work." Izuna nods his head and follows the instruction.

Swoosh…

A massive surge of chakra rises from his body as the tree greedily absorbs the entire chakra.

"This… at this rate, this tree will suck me dry."

Izuna's expression turns ugly as he wrestles control of his chakra.

'I have been sucked dry for almost ten years. My chakra control has grown to the point that I won't even waste a single drop of my chakra.'

He directs a small amount of his chakra to the tree.

An hour later,

Huff… Huff…

Fusao breathes heavily as the tree continues to absorb his chakra.

"You don't look so well." Izuna notices the pale expression of Fusao.

"It's nothing." Fusao shakes his head.

"I have to do my share to protect the village. Also… it's not like we have to do it every day. We need to do this once per week… as for the rest of the days; someone else will take over. Huff… huff…"

Fusao assures Izuna as he pants.

Hmm…

Izuna activates his Sharingan as he inspects Fusao's body.

'The rate at which his chakra is draining, I am afraid he will suffer from Acute Chakra Deficiency (ACD) within next two hours.

His body will lose its bodily function, and it will compensate the rest with his vitality. What accurate calculation? Three hours is the perfect time to stop.'

Izuna analyses the situation as the gears in his mind churns.

'Don't tell me, I have come across another trouble. Am I a trouble magnet or something? Why does every unknown trouble of shinobi world cling to me?'

Izuna closes his eyes as he muses over the matter.

'Still… if my hunch is right, which usually is. Then something is fishy about this place. Not just fishy; I can smell the entire fucking ocean here.'

Sniff… sniff…

Izuna takes a deep breath as a soothing fragrance enters his nose.

Haah…

He takes a deep breath as his body relaxes automatically. Alarms ring in Izuna's mind as it lowers his guard.

'What's going on? What's the deal with this fragrance? Why my body is acting strangely?"

Fusao notices Izuna's tense expression and chuckles.

"There is nothing to worry about. This is the scent of the glaze snow lilies grown in the nearby pond. These lilies produce a fragrant aroma which soothes mind and body."

Fusao takes a deep breath and calmly closes his eyes.

'Glaze Snow Lily?! It sounds like some sort of chakra laxative. Well, whatever it is; I will face it head-on.'