Chapter 225: Darkest Night Hidden in The Leaf (10)
A/N: I would like to shed light on a mistake before we begin. Kai has mastered other genjutsu from the Senju Clan—Infinity Darkness (Once used against Hiashi), Mind Reader (staple Konoha T&I technique), The Hold of Reaper (a time-deluding genjutsu similar to Tsukuyomi), and Nightmare Realm (Tobirama's Version of Tsukuyomi.) But I forgot to add these genjutsus to the list of techniques and subsequently failed to add them in Kai's training when he created the Senjutsu Variation of these techniques. So, I will adjust the SP behind the scenes and write with the simple assumption that he's mastered the Senjutsu variants.
But I do apologize for my weak memory.
***
Dodai's importance is not lost on his enemies, even if he isn't one of Kumo's coded shinobi. He answers only to the Third Raikage as his confidant, or in Tsunade's terms, the Third Raikage's Paper Bitch. Every leader of great importance has one, or in Hiruzen's case, should have one.
The invasion's leader opens his lone eye dazedly. He feels his body suspended midair by the enemy—a masked one. But that enemy is not present here, not in this grey world of white sky and black soil. All Dodai's lone eye can see is a bizarre creature that shifts from a phantom-like phase to a material one.
A white ceremonial kimono drapes the specter of a demonic visage, whose arms extend horizontally, his palms folding on the sleeves of his kimono. Two red horns pierce through the specter's long, white, shaggy hair, and their purple skin folds into multiple wrinkles around his mouth as they bite on an unsheathed tanto.
"A genjutsu," Dodai whispers, rousing his chakra to find himself remaining stuck in this ethereal space. As if crucified, Dodai's body mimics the specter and remains midair with his arms splayed open horizontally.
As experienced as he is, Dodai comes to a simple but chilling realization.
'A temporal perception-altering genjutsu,' His expression hardens.
The weakest Genjutsu of this kind takes time to set. Why? Because the medium needed to enter the target's system is very rare. Such Jutsu starts with the Rank of A.
'But knocking out the target makes things simple. No,' Dodai remembers the Dragon Sennin driving his blade through his body before putting him in the Genjutsu… with a tap of his finger!
'How?'
Dodai struggles a bit. Only specialists with Dojutsu should claim such proficiency in Genjutsu.
But the truth is simple.
Kai's affinity with Yin nature release has reached the point of Kekkei Genkai, where he can emulate feats of a Sharingan without possessing a Sharingan. Or a Byakugan, for that matter.
The few difference between Kai's regular eyes and a Sharingan are the Mangekyo-Rinnegan Genetics and the ability to sense chakra in colors.
But the revelation that the Dragon Sennin is well-versed in such heights in Genjutsu does not stop Dodai from using everything in his means to escape this prison.
Yet, the chilling eyes of the specter in front of the captured shinobi do not make things easier.
Kai did not have the mind to 'play' with his opponent. He lied to B, too. Dodai's value as a prisoner will not save his life. Kai sentenced Dodai to death the moment he used [The Hold of Reaper].
This genjutsu is remarkable as it shares Senju and Uzumaki heritage. Tobirama developed this Genjutsu after the Senju Clan bonded with the Uzumaki Clan. He learned about the existence of the Shinigami after this alliance, forming an image of the Shinigami that Dodai witnessed to signify the death of anyone who's fallen into this jutsu.
As Dodai suspects, the activation of this Genjutsu is problematic. Instead of luring the five senses, a Shinobi must be at death's door to activate the Jutsu. Technically, to use this Genjutsu, the target must lose a certain amount of blood and vitality.
What Dodai cannot imagine, however, is that this Genjutsu poisons the mind of the target through the user's chakra. The image of the Shinigami signifies the death of the target. The mind will deteriorate at a quick pace, bringing a peaceful demise to the target due to the time difference in their senses.
Since Kai wants the information to stay with him, he needs Dodai dead. And more than respectful of the Shinobi, no less of an elite than Sakumo, Kai restricts all the trash-talk and continues to operate on the cursed seal on Dodai's mind.
He has returned to his empty laboratory.
Tsunade has cleared out and stored every important and incriminating thing in their labs, including Danzo's mindless body, so it's only Kai, Dodai, and two wood clones—one already stationed in the Senju Compound and the other one arriving from the Uchiha Police's side shortly after stopping Raikage in his tracks.
"Fuck, what's that bastard's skin made out of?" Kai's clone hisses, and others understand what he means. After all, Kai's clones boast similar raw attributes except chakra reserves, so being unable to dent the Third Raikage, let alone hurt him, in their Lightning Cloak mildly surprised them.
"That's not a natural body, no doubt about it," Kai responds to himself and chuckles, "But we'll find out now, won't we? One will use the [Mind Reader], and the other two will help bypass the cursed seal without activating it. I'm thinking of pinning the blame for Dodai's death on this poison."
Kai empties a vial of the green liquid into Dodai's mouth before looking at his clones, "Let's get started. We have four minutes.Dodai, the Rubber Defense, should have quite a few things we can learn. I'll try and ask for his body after T&I is done with him to hand him off for Bounty."
---
C and the other five Jonins observe ahead with stern expressions before the leader of the team demands.
"You understand how this works. Hand over Raikage's son if you want this," He holds the small earthen pot close to his chest and matches her amber hues with his stony blue ones.
The end of Tsunade's green haori sways and whips as a nearby explosion's tremors pass through their spot. Her eyes take stock of other shinobi around C—A red-haired, dark-skinned man with a surprisingly familiar sense of chakra, another grey-haired elite with the kanji of 'lightning' printed on his right shoulder, and three more jonins. Her eyes soon fall on the pot Nawaki's sealed in before she questions.
"Did he put up a good fight?" Her sharp voice cuts through the sound of battles around them as C narrows his eyes.
"Not against us."
"Sounds about right," Tsunade crosses her arms and cocks her head sideways, "Your Raikage's son was hot shit to others, too, but folded in a single attack."
C's brows twitch while the red-haired elite snarls, "It's a waste of our time. Let's get on with it!"
"I'm surprised you didn't end your words with some 'datte' verbal tick. Maybe it's the air in Kumo that breeds different Uzumaki. I'll see what Konoha can do with your Raikage's lineage."
Her words freeze others briefly.
It's at this point C's expression changes, and he looks around himself.
The world itself starts melting like burnt wax, including his skin. The pot in his hand turns into a puddle of liquid, his vision darkening with his eyeballs melting, and his teeth turning into putrid sludge that slides down his throat and splashes out on his exposed ribcage!
But it's not just C that's experiencing all this.
It's his entire team.
"Huff," The clone in front of the shuddering team sighs as she looks beyond them to see a Tsunade with verdant-green straight marks crisscrossed on her face. Her amber pupils flicker yellow-gold as she bends over to pick the pot that has Nawaki sealed.
"Thank you," Tsunade smiles at a tiny Katsuyu, who shared her chakra to weave her Senjutsu-charged Genjutsu.
"It's my pleasure, Lady Tsunade," Katsuyu chimes gently and worries, "But your idea of ambushing them with Wood Release was too rash."
"I think my wood release is already known to whoever's been spying on us. After all, I felt a sneaky gaze when dealing with Raikage's son."
"Still," Katsuyu fusses while sticking close to Tsunade as she recedes her Sage Mode, finding her transition to and from Senjutsu easier the more she uses it.
"Besides, the other Shinobi villages want Nawaki and me either dead or used to create what they call pure Senjus, numbnuts the lot of them. Using Wood Release to save Nawaki wouldn't even be a risk, but probably affirmation of their nightmares."
Tsunade moves from the location without looking at her wood clone. She's already working with five wood clones and feels she is ready for her sixth one, her compatibility with the wood release being higher than Kai's, probably due to her heritage. Or maybe it simply irks Tsunade that she can't even be better than Kai in one thing her grandfather lords over the continent, so she truly gives her all in her training of Sage Mode and Wood Release.
Her clone, meanwhile, safely seals the enemies, including the grey-haired man, with the briefest amount of Senjutsu in his lightning kanji over his right shoulder.
'Kumo's really going nuts with their research. Makes me feel ashamed I still can't crack open Fukushu's secret,' she recalls the cheerful 'Head' of the Jashinism Community.
A literal head.
---
'Listen, Jiraiya. I don't know why, and I'm too busy to care, but you've forced yourself to learn the Sage Mode. It's nothing as dangerous as my condition, where Senjutsu Chakra becomes a disease, so no. I don't think you'll grow tits. But if your Sage Mode has a problem, then there is a cure. There is always a cure. We have some time on our hands before Sensei thinks we'll get attacked, right? Let's start with the basics. Enter your sage mode. I will observe your body's reactions.'
Jiraiya reminisces about the rough few weeks he suffered under Orochimaru's regime. While he cannot say he has mastered his Sage Mode, he admits that his condition has gotten exponentially better.
His white hair grows thicker and longer. Deep-red pigments cover the area of his toad-like eyes, but he doesn't suffer any other change aside from that.
'Remember how you used a summoning jutsu without a summon? Your survival was a shock to us all. But I believe it did not leave you without consequences. Even a reverse-summoning jutsu must have a set location before you can summon yourself away, but you didn't. After my recent research on one of the subjects from Kumo, I don't need a Byakugan to notice some issues with your tenketsu. Four of your eight gates, to be exact. Now, I'll be trying my new jutsu. Prepare to open up to your buddy—meet Slick. My scalpel.'
Jiraiya's body experiences phantom pain as he stares at the snarling four-tailed chakra 'beast' with glowing, torch-like white eyes.
And somehow, he doesn't look as intimidating as a thin scalpel in the pale hands of whom Jiraiya considered his best buddy.
Not anymore.
She's a bitch, and he knows better.
"How do you want to deal with this, Jiraiya-san?" Shikaku questions with a frown as Jiraiya half-shrugs, "You three were supposed to assist me with dealing with any of the Jinchuriki's support. Of course, when I'm out of chakra, I'd need your help."
He claps his hands together, crouching slightly with a strained smirk, "Something tells me that I can't compete with a Jinchuriki in terms of Chakra reserves."
Shikaku frowns and musters, "I have a better plan."
"Get on with it, then. You have eight minutes," Jiraiya replies smugly, more than happy to lie about how long he can maintain his Sage Mode.
It's actually 10 minutes! Twice his last record!
But he cannot admit that in front of his enemy, right?
Shikaku nods nonetheless and gestures to the rest of the team to follow him.
One of B's tails flicks at Shikaku and the rest when Jiraiya's mane snakes ahead to bind B's crimson body and fling him aside with absurd strength, shocking the silent and enraged Jinchuriki of Kumo!
"I'm your opponent, kid," Jiraiya saunters ahead, his wooden sandals clacking on the hard ground of the forest as the one-and-a-half-horned Jinchuriki suddenly cries out, "B, you can go all out now. I've dealt with the Lightning Jutsu from before."
"Hmm?" Jiraiya evades the stabbing tails before grabbing one of them and snarling softly under his breath, "I don't know much about being a perfect Jinchuriki." As he throws B over his shoulder, only for the Jinchuriki to balance himself on a tree as Jiraiya exhales explosively, "But the last Jinchuriki I met was more dangerous than you can ever imagine!"
He jumps, leaving a visible shockwave in his physical actions before stepping on something invisible and avoiding B's sudden miniature Bijudama.
While Jiraiya steps on another tree, a massive force impacts B right in his face, sending him flying through dozen of trees!
'We're being made fool of, ya' fool! Gotta save Dodai and my rep, yeah!' B inwardly scowls as he hears Hachibi's voice.
"Careful, B. I have some memories of Senjutsu from two memorable men. I won't go into detail now, but your opponent can attack you from a distance using formless energy beyond Chakra. And his physical strength will undoubtedly be a threat to our massive body if we go into the second mode of our tailed-beast form."
B stills before his monstrous head start bobbing to a tune only he can hear in his mind.
"A great enemy has to be an exciting one. Gonna blow our steam together, partner. Let's show Konoha the might of eight. When you're ready, say with me!"
"WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"
Two voices let loose a massive call simultaneously before a pressure of chakra raises a gust of wind while Jiraiya clicks his tongue.
'I should stop boasting. This guy can be as dangerous as Su… which reminds me, why can't our Jinchuriki do all these amazing things?'
He senses Shikaku and others moving in a particular direction before working his jaw, 'But I should be sufficient with some of the Jutsu I managed to learn… Minato's really something… inspiring Kai and me to master the Jutsus he invented.
***
Alternate Title: The Genjutsu of Death; Dodai's End; The Shinigami's Stare; Tobirama Continues to be Unhinged; Kai is Uchiha's Unwarranted Cousin; Gangbanging Dodai's Mind—Probably Nono; Poisoning Dodai; Slipping Past Seals, Finding Secrets; The Short, Uneventful Rescue Mission; Tsunade Goes All-Out; Katsuyu's Hesitation Away from Confirming the World's Nightmare; Katsuyu's Melty-Melty Magica Genjutsu; Katsuyu's the Real Waifu; Slug Supremacy; Storing More Captives; Nawaki Evades Bad End; The Real Sage; Jiraiya's New Best Friend; Jiraiya Can't Grow Tits? Who Decided That? *Transformation Jutsu Poof*; Orochimaru's a Bitch; Doing Heavy Lifting; Hachibi's Memory; Senjutsu Nightmare; Boastful Jiraiya; Minato and Katsuyu Competing for the Role of Best Waifu… *Cinnamon in Distance* Amateurs
***
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