Time passed in the Kurogane manor, and it was time to feed the young heir. Mitsuri panicked, unsure how to breastfeed someone who didn't drink or move at all. Masahi arrived a few minutes late due to work, seeing the worried look on his wife's face as she gazed at Enji, he smiled and approached them, shutting the door behind him.
"Why the long face, Mitsuri?" he asked, already knowing the answer.
"Oh, you're here. Where were you?" Mitsuri replied with mock anger after her initial surprise.
"Work," Masahi answered, repeating his question. He lamented the forthcoming inquiry. "You didn't answer me, Mitsu. What's worrying you?"
"It's... how do I feed him? He doesn't respond at all," Mitsuri finally relented, tears welling in her eyes. Every mother desires to play with their children, share their joys, and help them through pain. But in Mitsuri's case, motherhood left her despondent and lost.
Seeing her sadness, Masahi approached and hugged her from behind, making her sit down as he consoled her. "It'll be alright. As long as he's breathing, I promise to do everything in my power to keep him safe from anyone and everything."
Hearing her husband's sweet promise, Mitsuri's heart skipped a beat, just like when they first met. "Of course you will. If you don't, I'll be the first one to kill you," she warned in a cute voice, holding back tears.
"Hai-hai, I'll be sure to do that," Masahi relented. "As for feeding him, it's complicated... but not too hard."
"There's a technique used in the previous ninja wars," Masahi informed Mitsuri. "It's called 'Kyokyushoku'."
"Kyokyushoku?"
"Yes, it's a technique developed for captured enemy shinobi or spies. There are two versions: one prevents a person from swallowing anything, like poison, and the other makes the person unable to resist swallowing food. It was used on those who refused to eat at enemy hands but were valuable enough not to kill, thus forcefully feeding them. This was when nutrients through needles was not developed, at that time this was a useful method."
Mitsuri listened with a heavy heart. Though she understood the necessity of such a technique, it was still jarring.
"How will you do it?" Mitsuri asked, her voice choked with emotion.
Masahi didn't respond verbally. Instead, he took Enji from her hands to demonstrate the method. "Prepare some milk in a bowl."
Following his instructions, Mitsuri handed him a bowl filled with breastmilk. Carefully taking a spoonful of milk in his left hand, Masahi brought it to Enji's lips while placing his right hand on Enji's throat. Mitsuri watched in surprise as a faint blue glow covered Masahi's hand, using his chakra to manipulate Enji's mouth to open automatically. Skillfully, Masahi deployed the milk into Enji's mouth and manipulated his throat to drink.
Continuing to feed Enji, Masahi spoke. "Chakra, while seeming harmless, is very destructive and volatile. Its nature is to destroy rather than create. Our ancestors made sure of that."
As Mitsuri listened to these revelations, her heart trembled, but her trust in Masahi kept her composed.
"When we were small, my uncle used to train us. His methods, while punishing, were extremely effective. His motto was 'beating till it breaks and building something stronger with the pieces,' truly a demon incarnate," Masahi spoke with nostalgia, pausing to perhaps relive the memory.
"While uncle was strict, our aunt, his wife, was trained in medical ninjutsu by her master, a shinobi. During our free time in the afternoon after practice, she would heal our torn muscles and bruises. Due to our childish pride, we never thought to learn that 'weak' method. However, fatefully, some of us managed to pick up the trick to soften our chakra due to experiencing it too many times," Masahi continued with a chuckle.
"Softening the chakra meant removing the intent to hurt or destroy. It's very difficult and simple at the same time. My little sister had managed to do it in just two weeks, but us hard heads struggled for months. Though in our defense, some of us only thought to learn it after seeing its application in one of the spars she fought in. It was powerful, that trick. If unaware of its existence, you could easily catch someone stronger than yourself off-guard. I believe it is a prerequisite in learning all medical jutsu," Masahi explained.
Listening to the story managed to calm Mitsuri somewhat, and she looked totally invested in it. Seeing the intended effect, Masahi smiled.
"So, no need to worry, my chakra won't harm him," he reassured her. Mitsuri nodded thoughtfully before asking, "Why don't you unlock his chakra ahead of time? Surely that would help him, no?"
"I can't say for sure. Let's wait a few days. I've sent a request to Konohagakure for a medical shinobi to be sent. They should be here in a few days," Masahi assured her, putting Enji to rest before joining his troubled wife.
---------------------
A few days later, two shinobi wearing animal masks arrived at the Yasuragi village in the morning. Without making a sound, they went directly to the biggest house in the village.
Entering the house from the courtyard, they felt a sense of danger as soon as they put their foot on the porch. Jumping back, they armed themselves with kunai. From the darkness of the door, an old man with a mixture of grey and white hair emerged, holding a katana pointed at the floor.
Though there was nothing special about him, the two shinobi were on high alert, prepared to spill blood at a moment's notice.
"Hoo? Well then, Shinobi of Konoha, state your purpose for entering a noble's house without permission. Has Konoha finally turned its back on us?" the old man spoke with a heavy voice.
The two ninjas stood there for a few seconds, then one of them spoke from behind the dog mask, showing a stamped letter unique to the lord. "We have come here in response to a request by the lord of Yasuragi village, Masahi Kurogane." he spoke with a cold voice.
"Is that so? Then forgive this old man for reacting with such hostility. As you are aware, the air is recently filled with the scent of blood," the old man sheathed his katana and invited them in.
"Lord Kurogane will come in a few minutes. Please make yourselves comfortable."
The two ninjas had no reaction to the words; they remained vigilant, as the level of threat the old man projected was easily comparable to a jonin.
One of the ninjas asked curiously, as they didn't have any knowledge of a jonin residing in this village, "May I know your name?"
Looking at the masked individual, who appeared to be a woman, the old man spoke in a judging tone, "Barely chunin? I don't remember ANBU being this weak. Well, none of that matters, I guess. My name is Shugoju Watanabe. I'm honored to be in the presence of the infamous ANBU black ops."
As the woman wearing a cat mask was about to reply, the door slid open, and in came a handsome man wearing a red kimono with a katana strapped to his waist.
Masahi looked at the two shinobi, his hands instinctively reaching for the blade. However, upon seeing the ANBU masks and Watanabe sitting comfortably, he stopped but remained alert.
Seeing Masahi, Watanabe stood up and bowed slightly. Nodding towards the old man, Masahi asked the two ninjas, "Why did Hokage-sama send ANBU for such a mission?"
The other ANBU, who wore a dog-faced mask, handed a letter to Shugoju, who then passed it to Masahi. After reading the letter, Masahi nodded towards both of them.
"Please come with me. Shugoju, make the security tight around the manor," Masahi ordered the old man, leading the shinobi towards his wife and child.
Sliding the door of a room open, Masahi dismissed the two attendants. As soon as they left, the two ANBU entered.
"He's my son. A week has passed since the day he was born, but he just won't open his eyes. Other than breathing, there are no other signs of life," Masahi spoke with great sorrow.
The ANBU with the cat mask stepped forward and carefully removed Enji's clothes. Placing her palm on his chest, she seemed to concentrate.
"There are some remnants of foreign chakra in his throat and chest area..."
"Yes, I had to use the Kyokyushoku method to feed him."
"I see."
After thoroughly checking him, the cat-masked ANBU concluded that there was nothing physically wrong with him. However, the problem could be situated in the brain, which was a delicate organ. The brain's response to chakra could be disastrous and risky, even with tame chakra. Seeing that nothing could be done currently, the cat-masked lady spoke, "This condition is not new. We gave it the name 'Konsui.' Lady Tsunade, lord Orochimaru and the Yamanaka clan together worked on this but were unable to bring people back on command."
Hearing the grim news of no results, Masahi asked, "Konsui? What happens in it?"
"A person randomly enters a sleep-like state because of any type of trauma and wakes up after some time. The time, however, can be as long as years and as short as days or mere hours. There is no cure nor prevention. Though this is the first time I've seen someone born while being in a konsui, as there is no trauma to be seen. In some cases if the trauma can be treated the chances of patients waking up increases a lot more but in this case..."
"Is there nothing that can be done other than to wait? how about unlocking his chakra will that do anything" Masahi asked, searching for any strand of hope.
"As I said earlier, there is no cure. We are still working on it with no end in sight. As for unlocking chakra I would advise against that, its best for chakra related things to stay their course. The best thing to do would be to hospitalize him in Konoha so that we can keep an eye on him."
"I see... Thank you for your advice, I'll think it over. Your mission is complete," Masahi thanked them and declared the mission over, handing them a scroll and a letter before sending them on their way.
------------------------
Later that day, when Mitsuri heard about the matter, she cried a river. However, both were determined to see their child wake up, hence they started preparing for the eventual departure.
Afterward, a feast was organized to celebrate Enji's birth. Later that night, Watanabe and Masahi sat in a room.
"Such a thing happened, what an unfortunate situation. You should not despair, my lord. Young Master Enji will surely wake up one day," Watanabe assured Masahi.
"Thank you for your words, Shugoju. Any news from the border?" Masahi inquired.
"There is nothing new to report, my lord. Konoha refuses to take any extreme steps, Kumo continues to harass merchants, and Yugakure's ninja are nowhere to be seen. Hmph! Some allies they are," Watanabe reported with contempt for their cowardly allies.
"Their ninja are neither too powerful nor too plentiful, so this situation is not too strange. They are firmly being crushed between two mountains. As for Konoha, they are focused on the Iwa border. From what I know, the skirmishes between Iwa and Konoha are escalating day by day. Though it may seem Konoha is not paying any attention to Kumo, I'm sure they have already deployed some manpower in silence to keep an eye on them. It's just that we have not been informed of that," Masahi deduced from the information he received from various spies he had in other villages. The importance of a wide network was well known to him, even in his Ronin days.
Watanabe fell silent and contemplated what their next move should be. Although they had been appointed by the daimyo to lord over Yasuragi village, they could also be called to arms by Konoha. Hence, they must start preparing for the third ninja war!
'Though I wonder what the Hokage will do... He is too much of a pacifist from what I heard, but still, a war should break out soon enough. Haah, a war ended not too long ago, and a new one starts. What chaos!' Masahi thought somberly.
---------------------------
As the lord of Yasuragi village prepared for war, the villagers gossiped about the newborn baby.
"Have you heard? The lord's son was born dead. They even paraded a dead baby. How dreadful!" a woman said to her husband. His eyes widened as he spoke harshly, "Have you finally gone crazy? What if the lord heard it? Our entire family will die!"
"So what if he heard? It's true, isn't it? Hmph!" His wife retorted.
"Have you heard that the lord never lets anybody get close to the heir? Only he and his wife are allowed to touch him," a vegetable seller spoke quietly to his partner.
"Yeah, heard that too. My wife's sister works in the manor; she told me so," his partner replied citing his own source.
Such rumors floated around Yasuragi village as people learned about the firstborn of Masahi and Mitsuri Kurogane.
A month later, with no improvement seen, Masahi decided to send his child to Konoha for further treatment.
Outside Yasuragi village, on a road:
"I'll come back soon. After settling him, I'll come back, alright?" Mitsuri promised her husband tearfully. They had debated many times what would be appropriate, whether Mitsuri went with Enji or stayed in Yasuragi village. Masahi wanted to send his wife to Konoha for safety, but Mitsuri, who grew up in a political household, knew how this would be looked upon. She also wanted to be there to support her husband in tough situations. So, after making sure that Enji was comfortable, she would come back.
They also decided to visit Enji as much as possible during his stay in Konoha. Though Masahi could not leave his position, as it would cause chaos and distrust among the villagers, so only Mitsuri was able to go. Even that would be dangerous as the eventual war was approaching.
Bidding farewell to her husband, Mitsuri left for Konoha with some loyal soldiers, a few Konoha shinobi and the sleeping heir cradled in her arms.