Chapter 37: Weakness Revealed

Real world

"This must be getting under your skin doesn't it? Me being this close to your girlfriend and all." replies Seiriyu as he continued to hold his katana right at Izuka's throat as he stared Gaara down.

Gaara never answered as his eyes remained glued to the blade.

"I'll take the stare directed to my black katana as a yes." answered Seiriyu with a small smirk.

"Let her go Seiriyu." replied Gaara as he crossed his arms.

"You are in no position to make commands Gaara. One false move from you and it will mean the end for the Lady Sage. I suggest you cool down a bit and wait it out until the Sage has come back to the real world." suggested Seiriyu as he never lessened his hold on his weapon.

Gaara let out a small breath as he let his arms fall to the sides after a tense few minutes passed by.

"Now that's a good Kazekage." replied Seiriyu with a sinister smile as his twin protégées looked on with blank stares.

Izuka's inner world

"So, what is the weakness of the Kotowashi Clan's kekkai genkai?" asked Izuka as she leaned on one of the bars on Shukaku cell.

"It's actually quite simple my dear jinchuriki. Every ninja's chakra pathway system has eight paths that limit the flow of chakra in the person's body correct?" asked Shukaku as he propped his head on his sandy paw.

"Indeed" answered Izuka as she raised an eyebrow at the tanuki.

"Do you mind naming them for me? I'm a bit fuzzy on the subject." asked Shukaku as he displayed a mischievous smirk on his mug.

"There is the Gate of Opening, the Gate of Healing, the Gate of Life, the Gate of Pain, the Gate of Limit, the Gate of View, the Gate of Wonder, and finally the Gate of Death." answered Izuka with a blank stare.

"And there's your answer right there. In order to nullify the kekkai genkai, you would need to attack and nullify at least three of the gates, one of those gates must be the Gate of Death. The others are all fair game.

"Why the gates though? How are they connected to the kekkai genkai?" asked Izuka as she gave Shukaku a thoughtful look.

"That is also simple my dear. The Kotowashi Clan's kekkai genkai is the ability to absorb an opponents' chakra by just touching their skin. The absorbed chakra immediately enters the clan member's chakra pathway system and instantly goes straight to one of the Eight Paths, where it is stored and used for later purposes. Damaging one of those gates can lead to serious disruption of the chakra system." explained Shukaku as he let out a loud yawn.

"But why is the Gate of Death the one gate that must be targeted?" asked Izuka as she fiddled with one of her pigtails.

"The other six gates can recover from a disruption, but since the Gate of Death is located in the heart, it targeted, not only will it be disrupted, but it will disrupt all the other Gates, therefore disrupting the entire chakra pathway system, but it must be that last Gate that is disrupted."

"As well as kill the Clan member." added Izuka in realization as her eyes made contact with Shukaku's own.

"That's the idea," replied Shukaku with a smirk. "I hope this info will be useful to you."

"It will be," answered Izuka as she started to walk away from the cell. "Considering the fact that you actually have been helpful, I'll keep it in mind for the future."

"I'll expect something in return you know?" answered Shukaku as he narrowed his eyes at her back.

"The question is: What do you want that I have not given you?" replied Izuka as she disappeared from Shukaku's line of sight.

Shukaku started to ponder the question in his mind before letting out a howl of annoyance.

"She's got me there. You are growing into one fine Sage of the Sixth Paths Shizukara Uzumaki" replied Shukaku as he laid his head down for a nap.

Real world

Gaara continued to stare down Seiriyu as the dictator began to whistle a cheery tune while the Lightning Twins stood stoically at his side. He stopped whistling when he started to feel Izuka's chakra begin to rise.

"What's this?" asked Seiriyu as he looked down at the Sage.

Gaara's eyes widened in slight surprise as he let out a silent sigh of relief as he saw that Izuka's eyes were returning to normal.

"What? What's going on?" asked Izuka tiredly as she quickly blinked her eyes.

"Took you long enough," said Seiriyu as he took Izuka's right arm and twisted it behind her back as he continued to keep his katana right at Izuka's throat. "Get up!"

Izuka didn't even bother to move.

"I said GET UP!" he yelled as he twisted her arm painfully behind her back.

Izuka grimaced in pain as Gaara looked on at the situation with a cold stare as the Lady Sage reluctantly got up from the ground. When Izuka was able to stand at her full height, Seiriyu leaned his head near Izuka's right ear.

"What did you and Shukaku talk about?" he asked her curiously as he snuck a look at Gaara.

"Like I would tell you." answered Izuka as she stared Seiriyu right in the eye.

"Not the answer I wanted to hear," responded Seiriyu as he let his katana's blade start to push against Izuka's neck. "I'll ask again. What did you and Shukaku talk about? Tell me or else Gaara will have to witness his girlfriend's death right before his eyes."

"Like you would do that," muttered Izuka as she looked away from Seiriyu. "Do you know what you would cause if you killed me right here? The Five Great Nations would definitely retaliate and attack Amegakure if you killed me. Plus, I know a few of the tailed beast would definitely not be too happy with you once I'm gone."

Seiriyu's face took on a look of contemplation as he began to think about Izuka's words.

"Listen to her Seiriyu. We both know that she's right. Kill her now and you will be public enemy number one." added Gaara as he crossed his arms.

"After thinking about it, I have decided that you two make a good point, so I won't kill you Lady Sage. But I do have other ways to get what I want." responded Seiriyu as a torrent of black lightning erupted from his palms and enveloped Izuka's entire body

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" yelled Izuka in complete pain as Seiriyu's black lightning circled her entire body.

"IZUKA!" exclaimed Gaara as he started to command his sand to attack, but stopped when he saw that the Lightning Twins had started to surround him.

After a tense minute passed by, Seiriyu stopped his attack and Izuka's body slumped in the dictator's grasp. Smoke was visibly coming off of her body.

"If you don't want another round of lightning to travel throughout your body, I suggest you answer me quickly. What did you and the one tailed beast talk about when you were in your inner world?" asked Seiriyu for a third time as he held Izuka's limp body up.

"I'll tell you, but you should know one other thing Seiriyu." huffed Izuka as she weakly opened one of her eyes.

"And what would that be?" asked Seiriyu as he began to lessen his hold on his katana.

"You and those twins are not the only ones that can manipulate lightning." answered Izuka as regular lightning began to envelop Seiriyu.

"AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" yelled Seiriyu as he let go of Izuka's body as the lightning continued to attack him. Izuka fell to one knee as she was let go, but sensed an attack coming her way. She turned to see Aki and Maki come her way, both with lightning covering their hands. However, Gaara's sand grabbed the two by their legs and threw them into the wall, rendering them unconscious. The lightning attacking Seiriyu finally dissipated and Seiriyu slumped down to the ground breathing heavily.

"YOU BITCH!" he cried as he stood up, but Gaara's sand tackled him into the wall, rendering him unconscious too.

"What a vulgar mouth you have," commented Gaara as he walked over to Izuka's side and helped her to her feet. "We need to move."

"Right!" agreed Izuka as she started to move, but her legs gave way before she could take her second step. Lucky for her, Gaara caught her before she could face plant to the ground.

"Are you alright?" Gaara asked her as let her sit up on her knees.

"I'm fine. Just taking on the black lightning jutsu and using a lightning justu of my own really takes a lot out of me." replied Izuka as she slowly got up to her feet.

"That was one of your lightning jutsus?" asked Gaara as he let Izuka get to her feet on her own.

"My control over the elements is similar to how you control sand. I don't need to use a jutsu for small attacks. Only the larger ones." explained Izuka as she grabbed her scythe from the ground.

"And what you just did to Seiriyu was just a small lightning attack?" asked Gaara as the two made their way to the door.

"I've been practicing." was all Izuka said as the two made their way to the staircase. The two made their way down the long staircase until they were at the same floor of the banquet. The two ran in through the front door and looked around to see that all the guardsmen were either killed, injured, or tied up. They ran over to Temari, Kankuro, Daisuke, and Ryu, who were currently tying up the last of the rain ninjas with rope.

"I see you have everything handled here." commented Izuka as the two ran up to the group.

"Yeah; all the guests that weren't ninjas hightailed it outta here, including the Rain Daimyo and his two advisers." replied Daisuke as he finished tying the last knot.

"Where's Seiriyu?" asked Ryu as she reverted back to her miniature form.

"Probably back in our old suite with his twin protégées all unconscious." answered Izuka as she crossed her arms.

"Did you just say twin protégées?" asked Kankuro as he took off his hat to scratch his hair.

"Yes; he has a pair of twins younger than us as his students who come from a clan whose kekkai genkai is lightning manipulation. They don't need jutsus or seals to use their attacks." Gaara explained as he brushed his hand through his hair.

"Poor kids" commented Temari as she closed her fan.

"The good news is: I know how to stop Seiriyu's kekkai genkai." said Izuka as she resealed her scythe and returned to her regular form, kimono and all.

"How did you find out?" asked Temari.

"From Shukaku" answered Izuka with a shrug.

"WHAT?" exclaimed Ryu, Daisuke, and Kankuro in unison as they stared at the Sage.

This prompted Izuka and Gaara to explain everything that happened between them and Seiriyu in the upper levels of the tower. When they were finished, everyone else had solemn looks on their faces.

"May Mioka's soul rest in peace." Daisuke muttered to the group as his hands clenched into fists.

"We need to avenge her death one way or another. So all we have to do is damage three of Seiriyu's chakra gates in order to nullify the kekkai genkai?" asked Ryu as she perched herself on Izuka's shoulder.

"Yes; the first two Gates can be anyone of the eight except for the Gate of Death. The Gate of Death must be the one that's targeted last in order to neutralize the kekkai genkai. It also means sealing his death." explained Izuka as her eyes started to become droopy.

"Are you okay Izuka? You look a little sleepy." asked Kankuro as he walked over to her position.

"Seiriyu was able to come into contact with my skin. He must have absorbed a good amount of my chakra." explained Izuka as she started to slump to the floor.

"That's not good." mumbled Daisuke as he watched Gaara kneel down to Izuka's and helped her up to her feet.

"With Izuka in a weakened state, we need to come up with a plan to stop Seiriyu." replied Ryu as she got on Temari's shoulder.

"But how do we get Seiriyu into a false sense of security so that we can target his chakra gates?" asked Temari as she began to rack her brain for ideas.

Gaara looked around at his comrades before settling his stare at Izuka, who was staring straight ahead while leaning on him for support. That's when a light bulb turned on in his head.

"I may have an idea."

End of chapter 37

A/N: Please review!

Birthdays

May 13: Tesla Lindocruz (Bleach)

May 15: Kankuro (Naruto)

May 17: Emilou Apacche (Bleach)