Hmm…
Izuna stares at Ido's demonic figure and ponders over the matter.
'Looks like I have to delve deeper into the origin of the Kurama clan.'
"Of course, I will help you. You are my student, after all. For now, you should try to assimilate the large amounts of dark chakra you absorbed from the bead."
Izuna waves his hand and exits Yakumo's mindscape.
"Is there something wrong Sensei?"
Hanabi and Yakumo ask him as he staring at the space.
"Hmm… I was wondering about your recent performance in the battle. A ninja should always expect the unexpected."
He shakes his head and turns to Kanami.
Kanami walks towards him with a smile.
"NO!"
Ayaka stands in front of Izuna and crosses her arms to keep her away.
"ARA!"
Kanami purses her lips and chuckles.
"Don't worry Ayaka-chan! I am indeed interested in your brother but I can't stand beside him."
She shakes her head and turns to Izuna.
"I sincerely thank you on behalf of the entire fleet. If not for you, then our entire fleet might have perished in the sea."
Kanami has a sincere expression on her face.
"There is no need to be so modest with me."
Izuna shakes his head.
"These people saved my life once; I am just repaying the debt."
"Thank you so much!" Kanami bows to express her gratitude.
The Mist in the sea gradually clears up and rays of sunlight descend from the clouds.
"Miss Kanami! We are about to reach the shore."
One of the sailors informs them.
"That's a relief!"
Kanami heaves a sigh of relief.
"Ayaka-chan! Hanabi-chan! Yakumo-chan! I will take you on a scenic tour around Benisu island. There are various tourist spots around here."
She waves at them.
"Ohhh…! I am so excited about the trip."
Hanabi has stars in her eyes.
The group gets off at the harbor. The members of the cargo fleet wave goodbye to them.
"You lot enjoy your tour with Kanami, meanwhile I will pick up some supplies," Izuna waves goodbye to them and departs.
"Alright girls, follow me," Kanami and the group walk in the opposite direction.
Whoosh…
Izuna flickers through the streets. He takes out a scroll from his pocket. There is a map on the scroll.
"It must be around here!" He stops at the container near the docks.
"Pride! You can come out." Izuna turns towards a corner.
Swoosh…
A cloaked figure leaps out from the shadows and bows in front of Izuna.
"Report!"
Izuna nods his head.
"Leader, after seven years the three-tails has finally resurrected itself."
Hmm…
"That took a while!" Izuna nods his head.
"It is severely weakened after its previous death. It's still recuperating its chakra at the bottom of a lake in Land of Water."
Pride passes another map to Izuna.
"Hmm… that's good!" Izuna pockets the scroll and asks him.
"What about the six-tails and its jinchuruki?"
"I last spotted him at the Nagi Island. After he deserted the Kiri village, the hunter-nins of the Mist have relentlessly chased him down."
"I see!"
'Akatsuki hasn't made a move in all these years. I haven't even heard any news about Nagato since our previous scuffle. Either they are just lying low or they are planning something big. Anyway, for now, Zero-tails takes the priority.'
Izuna turns to Pride as an idea comes to his mind.
"Pride! I would like you to infiltrate the Land of Sky's flying fortress, Ancor Vantian, and monitor their activities. They are planning an uprise against the five shinobi nations, but I believe someone else is pulling the strings from the dark. Your task is to source out the puppeteer in the shadows."
He assigns another task to Pride.
"Understood!"
Pride bows again and gets ready to depart.
"Wait!" Izuna stops him.
He takes out a small sealing talisman from his pocket and passes it to Pride.
"Keep this talisman with you. It will ward off the sinister chakra of Zero-tails," Pride pockets the talisman and flickers away.
Sigh…
"Lately, I feel like a lot of things are happening in the shadows. Everything seems to be a part of some big conspiracy," Izuna rubs his forehead.
"I still have two months before my body fails and my chakra system ruptures. Even thinking about such a thing scares me. Even after searching nonstop for almost four years, I haven't been able to find a solution. Looks like I have to rely on the chakra fruit to revive myself. As for now…"
Izuna raises his head and notices a fleet of ships sailing towards Benisu island in a distance. He notices the emblem of the Sky troop etched on the hull of the ship.
"Another battalion of Land of Sky! They are most probably here to attack the Benisu island to harvest some fuel for the Zero-tails."
Izuna concludes.
"Hmm… the speed at which they are traveling; they will be here in another hour or so."
He predicts the arrival of the Sky troop.
"In this time, I can strike a deal with the Merchant Association of the Benisu Island in exchange for the protection of this place."
Various ideas pop up in Izuna's mind.
'Running an organization is such a pain. I have to always think about the finances. I am turning more and more like a certain money-loving shinobi Frankenstein.'
--
In a small tavern in the Land of Fire,
Achoo…
Kakuzu sneezes loudly.
Sniff…
He wipes his nose and chugs down a cup of sake.
"You caught a cold, haven't you?"
Another shinobi with medium-length grey hair and distinctive purple eyes chuckles at Kakuzu. There is a giant triple-bladed scythe tied around his back.
"Shut up or I will kill you!" Kakuzu growls in anger.
"Haha… You can give it a try!" Hidan laughs hysterically.
"Shut up!"
Kakuzu slowly sips his sake. He gazes out of the window.
A giant Shaolin Monastery appears in front of his eyes. There are a multitude of staircases in front of the monastery, as it is located on top of a small hill.
The walls of the monastery are surrounded by impenetrable sealed iron walls. A gigantic metallic gate lies in the center of the walls. Multiple statues and images of Karasu and Yamabushi Tengu are sculpted on either side of the entrance.
"So, that's the Fire temple of the Land of Fire."
Kakuzu licks his lips as he appreciates the beauty of the temple.
"It sure is a giant temple."
Hidan nods his head.
"After I lay waste to this temple, I will make it a worship place for Lord Jashin."
"What a waste!" Kakuzu snorts.
"Look how fancy this temple is. I am sure there are lots of treasures and hidden wealth buried deep within this temple! That's worth a lot of Ryo. It will be a shame to demolish this temple and make it a worship place for some phony God! I can even sell the bricks of this temple for lots of Ryo," Kakuzu's eyes shine with Ryo.
Hmph…
Swoosh…
Hidan waves his giant triple-bladed scythe and attacks him.
Clang…
Kakuzu blocks the blade with his hand.
"Earth Release: Earth Spear"
He circulates earth chakra through his hand and turns it into a darker shade of black to raise his defense.
"Take it back!" Hidan growls in anger. Take back what you said about Jashin-sama!"
Hidan frantically attacks him.
"Hmph… Make me if you have the skills. A blind worshipper of a phony God!" Kakuzu snorts at Hidan's effort.
"Damnit! I will kill you," Hidan goes berserk and attacks Kakuzu.
"Bring it on! I am not afraid of you and your phony God!"
BOOM…
Both of them start a fight as they flicker towards the middle of the forest.
--
At Benisu Island,
In front of the Merchant Association.
Izuna stares at the gigantic headquarters of the association and clicks his tongue.
"This place sure has a huge influx of money. Can't wait to strike a deal and squeeze some money out of them." He has a sinister smile on his face.
'I am not some saint or messiah who will blindly protect anyone because I am entitled to do so. I will provide my services as an S-Rank shinobi and get paid for the mission commissioned to me.'
Izuna convinces himself and takes a step inside the building.
Izuna enters the building of the merchant association.
"Irasshaimase!"
A blonde woman with shoulder-length hair welcomes him. There is a beauty mark on her chin as she greets him with a warm smile.
Mmm…
Izuna nods and greets her.
"Sir, are you here to purchase something?"
The woman asks him with a friendly smile.
"Sort of!"
Izuna nods his head and walks upstairs. There are multiple items placed on display on the first floor.
Hmm…
Izuna's curiosity is piqued as he stares at the various items shelved into glass cases.
"Respected Sir! These are the recent batch of items dug out from the ancient ruins discovered on a nearby island."
The attendant introduces the items to Izuna.
"Ancient ruin?!"
Izuna tilts his head in confusion.
"Yes! Recently, one of the exploration team of sailor shinobis discovered a hidden archipelago that resurfaced nearby. Four small islands surround a tall mountain in the middle. There is an ancient temple in the middle of the mountain."
The attendant points towards various murals, wine jars, swords, and other antics kept on display.
"These priceless artifacts were scavenged from that place. The exploration team placed them here. Later, they will be auctioned to the collectors."
The attendant has a polite expression as he introduces them to Izuna.
"That makes sense!" Izuna nods his head.
He throws a momentary glance at the so-called priceless artifacts and prepares to leave.
'There is nothing noteworthy among them.'
He turns around to walk to the second floor to meet someone familiar.
Hmm…
Izuna notices a momentary glint from the corners of his eyes.
"This is…"
His attention is attracted by a dull blade with five hollow rubies embedded in it.
'I sensed some intense chakra fluctuation in it for a second.'
Izuna walks up to the shelf.
"I would like to take a closer look at this blade."
He turns towards the attendant.
"Ah… dear customer! They are carefully preserved in the case. I am afraid touching them might damage them and thus hamper their value. I am sorry but I can't fulfill your request."
The attendant apologizes to him.
"It's alright! He is a guest of mine."
A middle-aged man in a traditional green kimono walks down the stairs.
"Vice-chairperson!"
The attendant hurriedly bows to the newcomer.
He has long black hair tied in a topknot at the back of his head. He sports a petit handlebar mustache and a garibaldi beard. There are thick hairs on each side of his arms.
"It's a been a while, Ezume-san!"
Izuna greets the middle-aged man.
"Haha! It sure has been."
Ezume nods his head.
"Back then, you were still a kid when you escorted my supplies. Time sure flies away quickly."
Ezume laughs heartily. He turns towards the attendant.
"What are you waiting for? Show him the artifact!"
He waves impatiently.
"Yes… yes sir!"
The attendant hurriedly removes the blade from the case and carefully hands it over to Izuna.
Hmm…
Izuna grabs the blade in his hand.
'It's quite heavy for a one-handed blade and its hilt is quite small for two-hands.'
Izuna flips the knife in his hand. He carefully examines the gems embedded on the blade.
'These look like pure chakra ores. But they have dried up their reserves.'
"What's the name of this blade?" Izuna asks the attendant.
Ezume notices the interest in Izuna's eyes as the latter analyzes the blade.
"Ermm… Sir, let me check the details!" The attendant turns around to bring the log register.
"There is no need!" Ezume waves his hands.
"This blade was found by a squad of sailor shinobis working for me. It's called the 'Dragon Blade'. I was the one who put this on auction."
Ezume turns towards Izuna.
"Are you interested in this blade?"
"Sort of!"
Izuna nods his head.
"The material of this blade is quite rare. I was thinking of reforging it into a new katana for my personal use."
"I… I see!"
Ezume is surprised to hear Izuna's response since this blade is an old antique.
"Ezume-san! A blade is a weapon, a weapon meant for battles. It will be a waste to put such a fine weapon on display!" Izuna shakes his head.
"Well, I can't argue with you on that!" Ezume chuckles.
"Since you are interested in this blade, I will directly sell it to you for half the price." Ezume presents an offer.
"Really?!"
Izuna raises an eyebrow.
"Of course! It was thanks to your help back then that my supplies were safe, and I was able to grow this big. If not for that, I would probably be drowned in debt by now."
"Is that so?! Then I will appreciate your goodwill. Please state the price." Izuna gently caresses the blade.
"I was originally about to auction it at a starting price of 1 million Ryo, but since I promised to sell it to you for half the price, then what about five hundred thousand Ryo." Ezume has a smile on his face.
'Damn! That's too expensive for such a rusty blade. These businessmen sure are fickle-minded people.'
Izuna curses them in his mind.
"Fine! I will buy it."
He hesitatingly draws a stack of Ryo from his storage and passes it to Ezume.
"Haha… As direct as ever!" Ezume bursts out in laughter.
He passes the money to the attendant and gestures at Izuna.
"I am sure you are here for another batch of sake and tea. I will send someone to fetch them for you. Meanwhile, you can wait in my office and have a chat with them. I am thinking of expanding my business to Konoha."
Before Izuna could reply, he was dragged upstairs by Ezume.
Izuna has a helpless expression as he stares at Esme's back.
'Damn! I was here to grab some free cash from them, but instead, they scammed me for 500 thousand Ryo. Still, it's a steal even with the amount of sum.'
Izuna flips the dragon blade in his hand.
'This blade is made from meteorite iron, which is a very good crafting material and is extremely rare.'
'Brat! Can I take a look at that blade? It feels familiar!"
Yin Kurama's voice rings in Izuna's ears.
"Well sure!"
Izuna passes the blade to Kurama as he arrives in Ezume's office.
Ezume gestures to Izuna to sit on a sofa. He waves at an attendant to serve some tea.
"So, I would like to talk about the potential business expansion in Konoha…"
Ezume starts his long, boring monologue.
Izuna sips the tea and enters the Sin Space to take a look at the Dragon Blade.
Hmm…
Kurama is carefully inspecting the blade as it holds the weapon in its claws.
"Do you recognize it?"
Mmm…
Kurama nods his head.
"It's the Dragon Blade from Mount Koryū."
Kurama points towards the five-partite prism symbol engraved on the hilt of the blade.
"This is the symbol of Mount Koryū."
"Mount Koryū?!"
"Mount Koryū or the Ancient Flow Mountain is an ancient temple located at the junction of the chakra ley-lines of the shinobi world. This faction existed way before even the birth of the Sage of Six Paths.
Back then, humans couldn't channel chakra through their bodies. Instead, they use such special weapons, which absorb chakra from nature, to combat against various powerful beasts roaming throughout the world. However, not much is known about their origin and downfall."
Kurama shakes his head and passes the blade to Izuna.
"You can still restore this blade and use it without smelting and reforging it. The forging method of this blade has been lost centuries ago. It has a blood seal engraved on it. Just drop some blood at the hilt and you can summon it during the battle."
Kurama introduces the method to wield the blade.
"I see!"
BOOMM…
A loud explosion occurs in the middle of the city. Multiple sky shinobis fly through the skies of the Benisu Island as they wreak havoc everywhere.
"That's my cue to leave!"
Izuna exits his mindscape.
Ezume has a terrified expression on his face as he stares at the flying sky, shinobis.
"What… what's going on? Who… who are these people? Why are they attacking us? Where are the guards?"
Ezume shouts at his attendant.
Whoosh… whoosh…
Multiple sailor shinobis flicker through the rooftops as they engage in a battle against the Sky shinobis.
"They are the sky shinobis!" Izuna replies to Ezume.
"They attacked Konoha a few days ago and lost the battle. This time their target seems to be Benisu Island."
"Sky shinobis?! What grudge do they have against us?" Ezume panics as the Sky shinobis closes on.
"It looks like they are targeting the Merchant association!"
Izuna scans the pattern of their flight.
"Our Association?!" Ezume's expression turns ugly.
"Seems like it!"
Boom… boom…
The sailor shinobis and the sky shinobis engage in fierce combat.
Izuna calmly stares at the battle without making any move.
'My shadow clones will ensure the safety of the civilians, but I won't interfere with the battle.
This attack from Sky will serve two purposes. Lately, the ego of the merchants of the Benisu island has inflated a lot. They are manipulating the market of the world of the shinobi by creating artificial demand and supply leading to inflation.
This will serve as a lesson for them and will tone down their ambitions.
Secondly, well… it is an opportunity for me to earn some big cash to fund my organization.'
Izuna takes another sip of the tea and slowly places it on the table.
"Ezume-san! I am sorry but I have to evacuate from this place and I hope you do the same."
Izuna grabs his supplies and prepares to jump through the window.
"Wait!"
Ezume has a flustered expression.
"Izuna-san! You are a powerful shinobi, right?! Please lend the merchant association a hand." He pleads to Izuna.
Hmm…
Izuna stops in his tracks. He has a smile on his face as Ezume takes the bait.
"Well…"
Izuna turns around with a serious expression.
"Ezume-san! I am sorry to disappoint you, but I am currently in the middle of another important S-Rank mission issued by the village. Also, looking at the scale of this attack; it can easily be an above S-Rank mission. Such missions are quite risky and one can lose their life if they aren't prepared."
Izuna helplessly shakes his head.
"I… I…"
Ezume stutters as he is unable to refute Izuna's words.
"I may not be able to lend a hand, but I know a few powerful Konoha shinobis who are present on this island that might help you in your current situation."
"Really?!" Izuna's words spark some hope in Ezume's eyes.
"Yes! But they don't have any incentive to lend help. So, I am afraid it's not easy to convince them. You get what I mean… Ezume-san?!"
Izuna drops some hints at Ezume.
"Please summon them. I will convince them with handsome rewards." Ezume drops on his knees and pleads to Izuna.
"Please stand up, Ezume-san! Don't embarrass me like that!"
Izuna hurriedly stops Ezume.
"I will immediately summon them, but bear in mind all of them are S-Rank shinobis and their price might be a bit too high."
"It's alright! Merchant association lacks anything but funds!" Ezume nods his head.
"Alright!"
Izuna jumps out of the window and flickers away.
"I hope the personals of the association won't suffer any harm!" Ezume stares at Izuna's back with worry.
Whoosh…
Izuna flickers in a nearby alley.
Swish…
He makes a hand seal.
Poof… Poof…
Seven shadow clones appear in front of him.
"You know what to do!" Izuna signals to them.
"Just leave it to us!"
Swish… swish…
The clones transform into masked shinobis and flicker towards the merchant association.
"I will be making some quick buck if these clones follow the script."
Izuna has a sly smile on his face.
"My acting and scriptwriting skills have improved a lot. Now, I have to polish my directing skills. But for now, let me search for Ayaka and the rest."
Izuna closes his eyes and senses their chakra.
"Found them! They are on another island!"
Whoosh…
He flickers towards the group.
--
In a small restaurant,
Ayaka and the girls are hiding under a table. They warily stare at the group of sky ninja flying through the skies.
"Why does it feel like a repeat of the previous incident?" Ayaka remarks.
"Because it is!" Yakumo nods.
"Ayaka-chan! Yakumo-chan! Do you know them?" Kanami asks them.
"They are the sky shinobis from the Land of Sky. A few days ago, they launched an attack on our village but were easily repelled by Konoha shinobis." Hanabi replies to her.
"So now they are targeting our nation." Kanami grips her saber.
"Your girls, stay here! I have to join the fight to protect my village."
Whoosh…
Kanami flickers out of the restaurant.
Mm…
"Ayaka! Do you think Sensei will be alright?" Hanabi inquires with worry.
"Of course! Sensei is strong! I heard he is even stronger than the Hokage." Yakumo nods her head.
Tap… tap…
A pair of hands poke their head.
Eek…
The girls freak out the sudden attack.
"What are you girls gossiping about?" Izuna appears in front of them.
Phew…
They heave a sigh of relief.
"It's you Sensei! I thought it was an enemy for a second!" Hanabi takes a deep breath to calm herself.
"Alright girls! It's time to depart for the Land of Sky."
Izuna walks out of the restaurant. The girls closely follow beside him.
They look around but fail to notice a boat or ship.
"Sensei! The Land of Sky is on another island. How will we reach there?"
"We already have a boat!"
Izuna points towards the sky.
The girls raise their heads and notice the flying ship of the Sky.
"But that's the enemy ship."
"It sure is!"
Whoosh…
Izuna jumps on top of a building and grabs a flying Sky ninja.
"Shinobi Battle Skill #4 Deception"
Swoosh… Bang…
Izuna pulls down the flying sky shinobi and knocks him out.
Poof…
He transforms into the sky shinobi and ties the winged flying mechanical device around his waist and takes flight.
"You three have five minutes to follow after me. This is a test of your infiltration skills. If you can infiltrate the sky ship without being discovered and successfully reach the Land of Sky, then you will pass my test."
Whoosh…
Izuna flies away in distance and disappears from their vision.
"Another test?"
Ayaka grit her teeth in anger.
"Let's go!"
Yakumo takes out a painting scroll from her storage and makes some brush strokes.
"Genjutsu: Sharingan"
Ayaka activates her Sharingan and traps an enemy in her genjutsu.
"Eight Trigrams: Vacuum Palm"
Hanabi knocks out another sky shinobi from the sky.
Poof… poof… poof…
They transform into the sky shinobis and fly towards the sky ship with the help of the Mechanical winged devices.
--
On top of the sky ship,
"Damn it! Where did these shinobis come from?"
The captain of the fleet grinds his teeth in anger as he stares at multiple masked shinobis wreaking havoc on his sky fleet.
"Retreat!"
He signals his subordinates to retreat.
"If I suffer a loss here, then I won't be able to face commander's wrath. Besides, we have already fulfilled our purpose."
He pulls out a crystal orb. The orb is glowing with dark purple chakra.
"This is enough dark chakra to power the flying fortress for another month."
He stows away the crystal orb and signals to his second-in-command.
"Order your men to do a thorough inspection of every shinobi. I don't want another case of the second shinobi war incident."
"Yes, Captain!"
The subordinate nods his head and leads his men to inspect every sky shinobi.
On a corner of the ship,
Gulp…
Three sky shinobis gulp their saliva.
"Do you think they will catch us?"
One of them asks the other.
"I hope not!"
The sky shinobis inspect every shinobi one by one. The guard arrives in front of them.
"You three! Present your chakra tag."
"Chakra tag?!"
The trio cluelessly stares at the guard.
"Umm… we are new recruits! So, we don't know what chakra tags are?"
"What?!"
The guard's expression turns ugly.
"You THREE!"
Before he could any more words.
"Genjutsu: Sharingan"
Ayaka quickly activates her Sharingan and places him under a genjutsu.
Hmm…
"What's the matter?!"
The rest of the guards turn towards the first guard.
"You three are fine. Next!"
The first guard returns to his senses and continues the inspection.
Phew…
"That was a close call!"
The trio heaves a sigh of relief.
At the other corner of the ship,
Another shinobi stares at the trio and smiles slightly.
"Looks like they have successfully completed the first step!"
He nods his head in satisfaction.
'Naruto world is all about a shinobi, a ninja who is a master of deceit and covert operations. Although in the latter half of the series, the skills of a ninja became irrelevant but these skills are still an integral part of a shinobi's growth. Who knows, they might come in handy in sticky situations?'
Izuna nods his head and stares at the captain, who is gazing at his subordinates.
Hmm…
"From his expression, it looks like he is surely up to something! Well, that's none of my concern, at least for now!"
Fwoosh…
Izuna hides his presence and fades into shadows.
What now?!"
The trio of thegirlscautiously walks around the sky ship.
"We are already on the ship. Let's just wait until we arrive at the Land of Sky."Hanabi proposes.
"No, that won't do! We can't let them got away scot-free."
Ayaka shakes her head.
"Then do you have a plan?" Yakumo curiously asks her.
"Of course!" Ayaka nods.
She rummages through her storage scroll.
"Here!"
Ayaka forks out a stack of paper bombs.
"Paper bombs?!"
Hanabi and Yakumo stare at her in confusion.
"What do you plan to do with them, Ayaka?!" Hanabi questions her.
"What else! Blow up this ship, you dummy!" Ayaka places the paper bomb on one of the walls of the sky ship.
"These paper bombs are custom made by Kushina Nee-san!"
Swish… swish…
Ayaka makes some hand signs.
Swirl…
The paper bomb disappears in the wall.
"These paper bombs will disappear from sight once you plant them."
Swish…
Ayaka pulls out the paper bomb, and it turns visible.
"See!"
She replants the paper bomb and disappears.
"Wow!"
Hanabi and Yakumo's mouth turns into 'O'. The vanishing paper bombs surprise them.
"Here!"
Ayaka passes a stack of paper bombs to Hanabi and Yakumo each.
"Let's meet at the same spot after an hour. I will take the right!"
Ayaka walks towards the right side of the ship.
"Then I will take the left!" Hanabi walks towards the left.
"Guess I will cover the remaining area!" Yakumo turns around and starts planting the paper bombs.
An hour later,
The girls meet up at the same spot.
"Have you planted all the bombs?" Ayakaasks them.
"All done!" The girls nod.
"Good! We will prepare an Explosive Surprise for these Sky shinobis. They will get a taste of their own medicine for attacking our village. Hmph…" Ayaka folds her hands around her chest out of her usual habit.
"What are you three bantering about? Go and help the rest of the men to repair the flying devices."
A Sky Jounin happens to pass by.
"Yes… yes sir!"
The body of the trio stiffens, and they hastily move out.
Swoosh…
The Sky jounins undoes his transformation and turns into Izuna.
Sigh…
"These girls! How reckless they are?"
He shakes his head.
"Don't they know even the walls have ears? What if someone eavesdropped on them? Still… they are quite daring for planning to blow up this entire ship. It would be a good idea if this was a normal ship, but it isn't."
Izuna turns towards the energy room of the Skyship. He narrows his eyes.
There is a giant spherical orb at the location of the power source. It's pulsating with dark chakra as it powers up the entire ship.
"If this thing blows up, then I am afraid it will contaminate everything in at least a radius of fifteen miles. No wonder they don't use deploy these ships in the battle. The power core of this ship is so unstable. Even a tiny bit of scratch on this thing will make everything go boom."
"I saw a similar thing in the flying fortress Ancor Vantian of the Sky fleet." Roen leaps out from the shadows.
"This thing contains so many negative emotions that even staying around it will cause anyone to go insane." He remarks.
"It's the part of the reason that there are so many 'Evil Warding Sealing Talisman' around this thing. At least the Sky shinobis know the danger they are playing with. But how come they are so technologically advanced than the rest of the shinobi world?!"
'I never expected to witness a flying vassal in the shinobi world. There are many smaller nations whose technology is far better compared to Konoha, like the Land of Sky, the land of Snow, the Benisu Island, and many other smaller nations. Perhaps the feudal system of large nations has limited their achievements, and it only empowers them as a military force while ignoring all other aspects of growth.
Well, I will leave that headache to the future hokage. For now, I have to deal with this power core.'
Whoosh…
Izuna walks towards the power source of the Skyship. His body phases through the walls and he arrives in front of the core.
Ba-dump… Ba-dump… Ba-dump…
The energy core is furiously pulsating with dark energy as it pumps out the dark chakra towards every corner of the ship.
Swoosh… swoosh…
Izuna swiftly removes the protective seals around the core.
Swish… swish…
He makes some quick hand signs and forms a sealing Fuinjutsu around the core to hold it in place.
"This dark chakra could be useful for Ido, but I will have to slowly purify to make it usable."
He raises his head and stares at the giant orb.
"It will probably take me a few days to cleanse this much amount of foul chakra. Thankfully, on our way here I crafted a new seal based on my light chakra."
Swish… swish…
He quickly throws five sealing chakras around the dark core The seals glow with a bright hue and slowly cleanse the core.
"I will erect an illusion to prevent others frominterfering."
Izuna makes his preparations and departs from the core room.
--
Outside on the deck,
Hmm…
The captain of the ship takes out a pentagonal compass from his pocket. The needle in the compass goes haywire and flickers wildly.
The captain's expression turns ugly. He immediately turns to his second-in-command.
"Quick! Take a look at the power source. There are some energy fluctuations in the room. If that thing gets unstable, all of us will be blown to smithereens."
"Yes, Captain!"
The second-in-command dashes inside the power source room. He walks closer to the reactor room and looks around.
"Everything seems normal, but Captain said there are some fluctuations with the power source."
He walks closer to the power source to inspect it carefully.
In a corner of the room,
'They sensed the energy fluctuations in the core! How?!"
Various questions pop up in Izuna's mind.
"Anyhow, I can't allow him to get closer to the core and disrupt the process."
Whoosh…
He sneaks beside the second-in-command.
Swish…
Izuna silently assassinates the sky shinobi without even spilling a drop of blood.
He places a hand on the shinobi's forehead and recovers his memories.
"I see! So, they have a device to monitor the condition of the core." He nods his understanding.
Swirl…
He opens a Kamui rift and disposes of the body of the sky shinobi. There is a heap of bodies of sky shinobis in the Kamui dimension.
Swish… swish…
Izuna makes some hand signs and creates a shadow clone. The shadow clone transformsinto the sky shinobis and walks out of the room.
"Everything seems fine, Captain! There is noneed for concern." He assures the captain.
"Hmm…"
The captain nods his head.
'I still have a feeling that something is fishy.'
"I will take some rest. Inform me when we arrive at our destination."
He waves his hand and walks into his room.
"Yes, Captain!" The rest of the guards nods their head.
"Sate sate sate!"
The shadow clone turns towards the rest of the guards and smiles. The guards return hissmile and stare at a distant corner of the ship.
At another corner of the ship,
The trio of girls is lurking in the shadows to avoid detection.
"We have been flying for almost sixteen hours. We are probably close to our destination." Hanabi counts the number of hours spent on the ship.
"Yes! As soon as we reach land, we will drop down from the ship using these winged devices, and then we will blow up the entire ship." Ayaka plans.
The trio is holding a winged mechanical device each.
Tap… tap…
The sound of footsteps falls in their ears as a group of guards walks towards them.
"Did they find us?" Hanabi panics.
"Calm down, Hanabi! Let's wait and watch their reaction."
The group stops in front of the trio.
"Hey, you three! I have been keeping an eye on you for a while. What are you lot doing in such a remote corner?"
The eyes of the guards turn to the flying device in their hands.
"And what's the deal with the flying device? Why is it still with you? Go and deposit it in the armory!" The guard yells at them.
"We… we…" Hanabi is flustered to hear such harsh words.
'They found us out!' She sighs helplessly.
"We are repairing our flying devices. During the earlier battle, it suffered some damage from the attacks of the Sailor shinobis."
Ayaka points towards a broken part.
"Also, do you have a problem with us?" She stares at the guard with cold eyes.
"Humph… whatever!"
The guard snorts and leaves with his friends.
Phew…
"That was a close call!" Hanabi sighs in relief.
Mm…
Yakumo also nods her head.
At the other corner of the ship,
Fwoosh…
The group of guards turns into Izuna's clones.
Haha…
"I had a delightful laugh there. Seeing them like that, I was almost about to crack up!" The clone burst out in laughter.
"Me too!" Another clone also cackles up.
"You two are quite mean, you know?!" another clone argues with them.
"Hey! We are the same person, so I don't know what are you talking about?" The first clone throws a sideways glance at the third clone and ignores him.
"…"
On the deck of the ship,
The real Izuna silently stares at his clones.
"Why do I feel like I will get split personality disorder if I continue to heat their arguments?"
He ignores them and enters the Sin Space where Kurama is beckoning him.
woosh…
Izuna enters the Sin space.
"What's the matter, Kurama? Why are you almost on the verge of jumping the gun?"
"Brat! Never mind that, just look at that the blade."
Kurama points towards the dragon blade present beside him.
Swoosh…
The Dragon Blade is floating in the space beside him.
Shoom…
It emits a dark red chakra while rotating mid-air. The five chakra gems in it are pulsating with energy.
Shoom… Shoom…
The gems float out of the blade and form an elemental pentagram seal. They release the chakra of their respective element. The chakra infuses within the five-partite prism symbol and forms a complex array of lines.
Fwoosh…
The five-partite seal glows brightly and releases a blinding light.
Hm?!
Izuna and Kurama shield their eyes to block the light.
Whoosh…
Izuna activates his Rinne-Sharingan in case of any unexpected situation.
ROAR…
A translucent figure of a gigantic white dragon appears in front of Izuna and Kurama.
The dragon has five eyes, with two eyes on each side and one giant eye in the middle of its forehead. It has five sharp forked horns in the shape of a crown.
BAM…
The dragon slams its palm on the ground and roars furiously. It flaps its massive wings and slowly opens its eyes.
Izuna and Kurama warily stare at the Giant white dragon.
"Oye Kurama! I promise you I won't beat you up. Just tell me how you summoned this giant dragon in here?"
Izuna turns to Kurama with an unfriendly gaze.
"Oye! Oye! It's not my fault. I was just inspecting the dragon blade. Out of curiosity, I infused some chakra in it. Who knows, it will drain almost one-fourth of my chakra and start to glow?" Kurama complains.
"I am not the culprit; I am the victim here!" Kurama has a helpless expression.
"I will deal with you later, but first let's see whether this dragon is hostile?"
Hm?!
The white dragon slowly opens its giant eyes. Its massive eyes inspect its surrounding.
Gulp…
Kurama gulps his saliva as he feels overwhelming pressure from the white dragon.
The dragon notices Kurama and Izuna.
"A Kitsune and a human?!"
Shiing…
The middle eye on the forehead of the dragon glows slightly. Its gaze pierces through the illusion and notices Izuna's eyes.
"OTSUTSUKI CLAN?!"
The white dragon roars in fury.
Shoom…
Its horns glow brightly and it forms a giant concentrated energy ball on its forehead.
"DIE!"
Fwoosh…
With no prior warning, the dragon releases a powerful energy attack towards Izuna and Kurama.
"Damn it! It's a hostile being."
Kurama grits his teeth.
Shoom…
He opens his mouth and gathers a large amount of dense red and dark blue chakra particles. He coalesces them in a tailed-beast bomb.
"Don't be so hasty!"
Izuna waves his hand and uses his Rinne-Sharingan to dispel Kurama's tailed-beast bomb.
"Just wait and watch!"
He gestures to Kurama to sit beside him.
Hmm…
Kurama warily stares at the incoming energy bomb.
Swoosh… swoosh…
A giant Fuinjutsu formula appears in front of them.
Shoom…
The energy bomb slams into the Fuinjutsu seal.
Rumble… Rumble…
The space around them trembles violently because of an enormous amount of energy.
Swirl…
The Fuinjutsu seal slowly devours the energy bomb.
Fwoosh…
The energy bomb disappears completely, and the seal retracts back into space.
"Do you think this glutton sin will let go of such vast amounts of energy?" Izuna chuckles.
"You made me worry for nothing, brat!" Kurama heaves a sigh of relief.
"OTSUTSUKI CLAN?! Today you will witness your reckoning?"
The eyes of the white dragon turn red. It spread its wings.
Swoosh… swoosh…
The dragon channels elemental chakra through its wings and passes it to its claw.
"Elemental Annihilation Strike"
It swipes its claws towards Izuna.
"You think you are the only one who can wield all five elements!"
Izuna crosses his hands around his chest and raises a finger.
Shoom…
Large amounts of chakra rise from his body and turn into a gigantic Susanoo.
Swish…
The Giant Susanoo pulls out its blade.
Swoosh… swoosh…
The elemental chakra of all five nature condenses around the blade.
Slash…
The Susanoo swings the blade and intercepts the claw of the dragon.
BOOM…
A giant explosion occurs in space.
BOOM…
The force of the explosion pushes both Susanoo and the dragon back. Both of their attacks cancel each other.
"NOT YET!"
The dragon roars in fury.
"I won't calm down unless I exact vengeance on the Otsutsuki clan for destroying my world!"
ROAR…
BAM… BAM…
The dragon slams its claws on the ground.
Rumble… Rumble…
It riles up its entire chakra.
Shiing… Shiing… Shiing…
Its five horns glow with different elemental chakras.
"Earth Genryū, Fire Genryū, Wind Genryū, Water Genryū, and Lightning Genryū; lend me your strength! ROAR…"
The dull dragon blade slowly floats up in front of the giant dragon.
Swoosh… stab…
The blade stabs in the center of the five horns of the dragon and turns into a sixth horn. The five elemental chakra gems glow brightly and fuse with the other five horns.
ROAR…
The entire body of the dragon glows brightly. Its size increases drastically and numerous spikes made out of scales grow on its entire body and forms armor around it.
The dragon opens its mouth and condenses an enormous amount of chakra into it.
"Light Genryū: Roar of Decimation"
"That's Light chakra?!"
Izuna's expression turns grave.
"This lizard can use Light chakra." Izuna is shocked to see the dragon use the light chakra.
'I thought no one beside me can use the light chakra. It's the first time I am seeing someone else use it beside him.'
Fwoosh…
The dragon fires a condensed beam of volatile light chakra towards Izuna.
Rumble…
A giant sealing Fuinjutsu seal appears in front of Izuna.
BOOM…
The light beam slams into the sealing formation.
Crack… crack…
Numerous cracks appear in the sealing formation as it is unable to sustain the intensity of the attack.
"Your sealing formation is of dark nature. It can't block my light nature attack. Today, I will grant you eternal damnation!"
The dragon roars at Izuna.
Izuna's expression turns serious as he confronts the attack.
"You aren't the only being who can control the light release chakra."
Swoosh…
Izuna infuses his Susanoo with Light chakra. His Susanoo turns silver and golden shoulder pads and gauntlets appear around it.
"Amenouzume" (Amenouzume is the goddess of dawn)
Izuna summons a gigantic shield of light in front of his Susanoo.
BOOM…
The volatile chakra beam of the dragon collides with Izuna's shield.
Haah…
The Susanoo grips the shield but the brunt of the attack slowly pushes it back. The collision of both sides creates a blinding display of light.
Argh…
Kurama closes his eyes as he feels a stinging pain in them.
A minute passes away as the explosion finally settles down.
Kurama slowly opens his eyes. He narrows his eyes to get a closer look at the battle.
Izuna's back appears in his vision. The previous attack has dispersed A significant portion of his Light Susanoo but there is not even a hint of scratch on Izuna's body.
Kurama looks around but fails to notice the giant white dragon.
"Where is that dragon?" He curiously turns to Izuna.
"It's there!"
Izuna points towards a chibi white dragon lingering around the Dragon blade.
"It's that giant dragon!" Kurama curiously stares at the white dragon.
Swish… swish…
It pokes the dragon with its sharp claws.
ROAR…
The white dragon roars at Kurama.
"Kitsune! You better watch out for your fangs. Don't undermine the might of a dragon. Even if I am weakened, I can still take you down with me."
"Whatever!"
Kurama mocks the dragon.
"How did he turn small?" Kurama curiously asks Izuna.
"How you say?! When you are the reason, this dragon grew up to its previous size, to begin with!" Izuna rolls his eyes.
"This dragon blade, or to say this dragon, has a special ability. It can forcefully cut or assimilate the chakra of other beings. Needless to say, when you infused the blade with your chakra. This dragon soul used the opportunity to steal a major portion of your chakra!"
Izuna explains the details to Kurama.
"Hmm…" Kurama nods his head.
"Human! Who are you?! Why do you have those eyes and how can you use both light and dark chakra? No being should be able to use such contrasting aspects of energy!"
The chibi dragon fires a flurry of questions at Izuna.
"I can sense that you are not a member of the Otsutsuki clan, but you still have the blood of Otsutsuki flowing through your veins. Did this world also suffer demise at the hands of those wretched Otsutsuki clan members?"
The white dragon grits its teeth in anger.
"I could not fulfill my promise to the 'Traveler'."
The white dragon sighs helplessly.
"Hold on a minute!"
Izuna interrupts the white dragon's monologue.
"Can you explain to me what's this all about? As for your questions, I will answer them after you answer mine."
"Fine!" The white dragon nods his head.
Call me Light Genryū." The White dragon introduces himself.
Mm…
"I am Izuna Uchiha and this dog here is Kurama!" Izuna points towards Kurama.
Grr…
"I am a Kitsune, you brat!" Kurama growls furiously, but the dragon and Izuna ignore him.
"About my origin!" The chibi white dragon reminisces some memories as he is lost in his thoughts.
"I am not a being from this world!" The dragon speaks with a voice full of longing and desire.
Mm…
Izuna and Kurama nods at him.
The technique and the chakra used by the dragon aren't from the shinobi world. Kurama, with his vast experience and Izuna with his Rinne-Sharingan, can notice the fact quite easily.
"It was a few millennials ago! No! Perhaps even before that! My world was once a prosperous world, with all sorts of life growing and flourishing in it. But all of it was destroyed!"
The dragon has a sombre tone as he speaks these words.
He turns towards Kurama and continues.
"This Kitsune is a being born from the chakra of this world and thus is a part of nature itself. In my world, we had five such elemental beings. There were five different Genryū or dragons representing earth, wind, fire, water, and lightning.
These five Genryū were worshipped throughout the world as they helped to maintain order in that world."
"Are you not a part of those five?" Izuna curiously asks him.
"No, I am not!" The white dragon shakes his head.
"When the faith, hope, charity, fortitude, justice, temperance, and prudence of all beings of the world merged with the other Genryū; I, Light Genryū, came into existence. I was born to save the world from the claws of those greedy beings!"
The white dragon has an anguished expression on his face.
Hmm…
Izuna stares at the Light Genryū. He silently analyses the words of the white dragon.
'From the way, he was born, he seems to be a ten-tail version of his homeworld. Also, what I am more curious about is how he can use the Light chakra?'
"Greedy beings? You mean the Otsutsuki clan?!" Kurama curiously questions him.
"Yes! Those Otsutsuki clan members invaded our world in order to steal all of our nature energy. However, the Nature energy of the world has already given birth to five elemental Genryū to maintain balance and order in the world.
So, those Otsutsuki clan members targeted the Genryū. One by one, they suppressed all of them and stole their chakra. They planted a God tree to steal the Nature energy from all beings.
In order to resist the Otsutsukis, the various beings of my world formed a resistance army to have a last stand against them. But it was all futile!"
The dragon helplessly shakes his head.
"In front of the God-like powers of those Otsutsuki clan members, the beings of my world were like ants, waiting to be trampled beneath their feet."
He tightly clutches his claws in fury.
"When all beings had lost hope and the world was on the brink of collapse, a Miko appeared from the stars. She sacrificed her body and combined the power of seven virtues with the five weakened Genryū to create me, the Light Genryū."
"Oh?!"
Izuna raises an eyebrow.
'Seven Virtues?! Why does it sound familiar?'
"I was the last line of hope of my world against the power of the Otsutsuki clan. We successfully resisted their power and even pushed them back, but it was all in vain. Sigh…"
The white dragon sighs helplessly.
"Why?!" Unable to hold his curiosity, Kurama asks him.
"With the failure of the previous two members, the Otsutsuki clan sent more powerful members to correct their mistake. Against more powerful enemies, we weren't able to resist at all. We were quickly pushed into a corner and were on the verge of extinction.
Despair and desperation shrouded us, and all hope was lost. In the gruelling battle, I lost my body and almost all the living beings of my world turned into nutrition for the Chakra tree. It was at this moment; he arrived!"
The white dragon has a respectful gaze.
"Who?!" Kurama curiously asks him.
"He called himself 'the traveller'. He was a shrouded figure of mysteries. He easily dispatched the Otsutsuki clan members to the afterlife."
"The traveller?!"
Izuna has a conflicted expression on his face.
'Just who is this 'traveller' guy? Why is he involved in every shit that's related to these otherworldly beings?'
Doubts appear in Izuna's mind. The white dragon continues its tale.
"We might have won the battle, but we lost the war. From the initial population of billions of beings, only a handful of thousand beings survived.
Under the constant siege of the chakra tree, the Nature energy of the world was exhausted. Our world became a barren and desolate place unfit for sustaining life.
The traveller took pity on us and brought us to a new world, this world! He carved this Dragon blade and sealed the lingering souls of the five Genryū in this blade as a tribute to our old world.
Under his leadership, we found Mount Koryū and established a temple to protect this new world from the threats of the Otsutsuki."
The white dragon sighs as he reminisces about some distant memories.
"Even if our world was destroyed and our connection to our home severed; we persisted to preserve our legacy. To repay this debt of gratitude, we passed the sole legacy of our world to 'the traveller', the legacy of Senjutsu!"
"Senjutsu?!"
Izuna and Kurama stare at each other in shock.
'And here I thought, it was the traveller guy who created the Senjutsu. Turns it out, he was just the inheritor of the technique.'
"However, the traveller already had a technique which was a superior version of our Senjutsu. Still, he passed on the knowledge of Senjutsu to the beings of this world to save it from the same disaster as ours."
The white dragon sighs helplessly.
Fwoosh…
Izuna gathers some nature energy and presents it to the White Dragon.
"You mean to say that the Senjutsu is a technique of your world."
"Yes! The flow of nature energy in our worlds was vastly superior to this world. This world is small-sized, whereas our world could be considered as a middle-sized world. The survivors of our world acted as the guardians of this world to protect it from the otherworldly threats and suffer the same fate as our homeworld."
"Then how did your temple turn into ruins? It was already destroyed when I was born!" Kurama raises the question.
"It's the damn Otsutsuki clan members! Two of their members, a female and a male, invaded this world to harvest its Nature energy. The guardians of Mount Koryū sensed their arrival. Both sides engaged in a brutal battle, but they were no match against the overwhelming power of the Otsutsuki members.
The temple was obliterated and sunk into the bottom of the ocean. Thankfully, the protective barrier carved on the dragon blade preserved it at the bottom of the sea."
The White dragon heaves a sigh of relief. He turns towards Kurama and Izuna and questions.
"I have answered all of our questions, now it's time to answer mine!"
"Go ahead!" Izuna nods his head.
"What happened after the downfall of Mount Koryū. How did this world manage to survive the catastrophe of the God tree?!"
"Well, it's a long story!" Izuna and Kurama fill up Genryū on the series of events that happened after the arrival of Kaguya and Isshiki.
"I see! So, that's what happened?"
Genryū nods his head.
"This world might be temporarily away from harm's way, as in the case of our world. But I suspect, more powerful enemies will soon head your way!" He warns Izuna and Kurama.
"I know!"
Izuna nods his head.
He stares at the small body of the Light Genryū and asks him.
"Can you still recover to your former strength?"
'If this dragon can recover to its past strength, then the Shinobi world will have another powerful protector in its arsenal.
"Unfortunately, no!" The white dragon shakes his head.
"This world rejects my existence as a foreign being and thus I can't absorb the Nature energy of this world. I can forcefully extract the Nature energy using my powers, but that will conflict with my reason of existence. I was born as the saviour of the world, not as the harbinger of destruction. Thus, I choose not to rob the world of its energy."
"That's unfortunate!" Izuna shakes his head.
He turns to Kurama and waves.
"You two keep each company since I have to deal with some affairs outside!"
Whoosh…
Izuna disappears from the Sin Space.
--