Chapter 404: The Trail of Yomi
In the letter Ishiro wrote to the village's high command, besides writing about his own understanding and speculations on Yin Release, he also assigned a task to Natsuki and Katsumata, who were researching the subject: to try and develop a method for improving Yin Release that could be popularized throughout the entire village.
Yin Release could increase chakra control. If the improvement of Yin Release could be popularized, then the strength of all the ninja in Iwagakure would be enhanced. This was equivalent to installing a cheat for the entire village's ninja force. Ishiro instructed Ikura and the others to fully support this research by Katsumata and Natsuki.
And while Ishiro was ecstatic about the changes brought by his progress in Yin Release, the Anbu sent out to clear out rogue ninja discovered something magical.
The Anbu squad that made the strange discovery was precisely the squad that Riori Uzumaki was in.
Riori's Anbu squad leader, White Cat, and her teammate, Himeki Suda, both had a ninja cat. The squad's reconnaissance ability was actually very strong. The ninken, Dango and Fūka, had discovered some unusual scents. Then, when the four members and two cats of the squad tracked the scent to its destination, they discovered several monsters that were human-like but not human.
They were called monsters because these things couldn't be killed. No matter how severely they were injured, they could recover as if new.
These monsters were precisely the terracotta army that Yomi had originally intended to create with the power of Mōryō. At that time, Yomi's ritual was halfway through when he was forced to stop due to the violent fluctuations of Mōryō's power within his body. What Yomi didn't know was that although he hadn't continued the ritual, when the power of Mōryō had fluctuated violently within him, he had still successfully created a few terracotta puppets.
After Yomi left, these terracotta puppets instinctively left the underground and wandered aimlessly nearby, eventually being discovered by White Cat's squad.
After a few tentative exchanges, White Cat's squad managed to capture these terracotta puppets.
Riori Uzumaki was very fond of them because they couldn't be killed no matter how much you hit them, meaning she could repeatedly use them as sparring partners.
Fortunately, White Cat was experienced and knew that such immortal things were very unusual. She had Riori create a shadow clone to bring these terracotta soldiers back to the branch.
A day later, while Ishiro was still practicing ninjutsu with his three disciples, White Cat's squad arrived with the four terracotta soldiers.
From a distance, Riori excitedly shouted at Ishiro, "Master Ishiro, I found some unkillable toys! I'll never have to worry about not having anyone to play with again!"
When Ishiro got a clear look at the four terracotta soldiers being carried over by a group of Riori's clones, he was a bit speechless. What normal person would think of these things as toys?
Ishiro ignored Riori's silly words and looked at White Cat.
White Cat said, "Lord Tsuchikage, we were searching for rogue ninja in the western mountains when Dango and Fūka discovered the tracks of these monsters."
"At first, I thought they were enemies, but after observation, I found that they were just puppets, and masterless ones at that. So, I wanted to subdue them, but during the fight, I discovered that these puppets were actually immortal."
"No matter how we attacked and destroyed them, these puppets could recover as if new. On the way back, they were destroyed by Riori's clones countless times, but they are still fine now."
"However, their strength is not great. Each puppet is about the strength of a stronger genin, but their physical strength is quite high."
Ishiro nodded. "Just these four? Are there any others?"
White Cat shook her head. "Just these four. I carefully checked the area in those mountains. Just these four, with no traces of any other puppets."
Ishiro found it strange. The terracotta army in the original story was very large. It would be impossible for such a large-scale army to conceal its tracks.
Where did that army go? Why are there only four puppets?
Unable to figure out the reason, Ishiro said to White Cat, "Take me to that place to have a look."
"Yes," White Cat replied, then pointed at the four terracotta puppets being held by Riori's many shadow clones and asked, "Then what should we do with these four?"
Riori became a little vigilant. Although her intelligence was not high, upon hearing White Cat's words, she instinctively felt that someone was trying to get their hands on her toys.
Ishiro glanced at the suspicious Riori, rolled his eyes, and said, "Can you hold onto these puppets for twenty-four hours a day? Are you not going to sleep? What if they run away while you're asleep?"
Riori looked conflicted. She really wanted to say that she just wouldn't sleep, but she couldn't bring herself to say it. Sleeping was also a very happy thing.
"Alright, your teacher will seal them for you for now. After you've learned that Fire Release ninjutsu, I promise to give you another four toys," Ishiro said.
Riori's eyes lit up. "Master Ishiro, you'll give these toys back to me after I learn the Great Fireball Technique?"
Ishiro nodded.
Hearing this, Riori very readily let Ishiro seal the four terracotta puppets. She now wished she could go and practice Fire Release immediately.
Ishiro didn't know any specialized soul-sealing jutsu, but these four genin-level puppets were too weak. A Five Elements Seal, which was nothing in front of Mōryō's main body, was more than enough to hold them tightly.
After finishing, Ishiro planned to go to that mountain range himself.
Having just mastered unsealed Porcelain Release, it was a good time to show off in front of his disciples.
With just a look from Ishiro, a spacious porcelain platform quickly condensed in front of them.
Ishiro walked onto the platform with a calm expression, then said faintly, "Everyone, get on."
He stood with his back to the crowd, waiting for their admiration.
Unfortunately, there was no admiration, no surprise. Everyone was already accustomed to his flying porcelain. These people who didn't appreciate good things hadn't noticed that before, he had to form hand seals to use his Porcelain Release, but now he didn't.
Then, White Cat's squad, Sōkai's trio, and the messenger Anbu squad all walked onto the platform amidst Ishiro's embarrassment.
The Land of Demons was not large, and the porcelain platform's flying speed was extremely fast. It didn't take long for Ishiro to bring everyone to the mountain range where the four terracotta soldiers had been discovered.
After flying around the area once and confirming that there was nothing unusual, just as White Cat had said, Ishiro entered Sage Mode and used his sensory ninjutsu.
"Huh. There's a cave a hundred meters underground. It seems there's something inside," Ishiro said.
White Cat's eyes lit up. "Lord Tsuchikage, should we go down and take a look? Unfortunately, I don't know Earth Release."
Ishiro waved his hand and said nonchalantly, "We definitely have to look, but there's no need to go down."
After speaking, Ishiro, still in Sage Mode, flashed through hand seals with lightning speed, then slapped the ground.
"Earth Style: Rising Earth Technique!"
With one large-scale Sage Art, Ishiro directly lifted the cavern from a hundred meters underground to the surface, leaving everyone dumbfounded.
Ishiro was secretly pleased. Hmph. That's what you get for being unimpressed with my showing off. Shocked now, are you?
Pretending to be nonchalant despite the considerable consumption, Ishiro stood up, clapped his hands, and said, "Let's go take a look."
Everyone walked into the terracotta area before them.
Soon, the two ninken discovered some bloodstains in front of the terracotta soldiers, as well as an area with runes that resembled a seal.
Ishiro looked at the ritual that had been set up but not used and, after a little thought, understood the cause and effect. "Yomi must have completed the ritual to control the terracotta soldiers halfway and then gave up. This blood was probably intentionally left by him when he was setting up the ritual to control them."
Ishiro didn't explain to the others but, under their strange gazes, carefully collected the blood left by Yomi.
Then, he said to Riori, "Riori, create some shadow clones and go see if there are four toys missing."
"Okay," Riori readily agreed.
With many hands, the work was light. Soon, Riori confirmed that among the massive army of terracotta soldiers, exactly four were indeed missing.
Ishiro said to everyone, "It's fine now. Let's go back. We'll leave this place for the Daimyo of the Land of Demons to handle."
After speaking, Ishiro sealed another four terracotta soldiers to take with him. No one found it strange. Everyone knew that he liked to conduct weird experiments, so no one found it unacceptable.
After everyone was back on the porcelain platform, Ishiro did not return directly to the branch but said to Chiga, "Chiga, can you find the owner of this blood?"
Chiga's eyes lit up. She didn't feel disgusted or anything; instead, she was a little excited that her ability might be useful. She hurriedly said, "I can try."
After speaking, Chiga ingested the blood that Ishiro had collected.
She closed her eyes and carefully sensed for a while, then pointed to the south. "Master Ishiro, it seems to be in that direction. It's a bit far, so the sensing isn't very accurate. I just vaguely sense that there's something over there."
Apart from Ishiro, no one here knew about this ability of Chiga's. They all looked at her curiously, not understanding how she did it. Sōkai was the most eager to find out the reason. If Chiga weren't on official business, he would have already gone up to ask.
Ishiro looked in the direction Chiga's finger was pointing, nodded, and said, "Sit tight."
Then, the porcelain platform carried everyone and flew rapidly into the distance.
After a while, Chiga said excitedly, "Master Ishiro, it's working! We're getting closer!"
Ishiro breathed a sigh of relief. He had been afraid that the blood trail would go cold after a long time.
After flying for a while longer, Ishiro adjusted his direction several times under Chiga's guidance. Finally, the porcelain platform brought everyone to a halt above a small village.
Before they could go down to investigate, Chiga said, "He went underground. He's running away."
Ishiro looked at the village. "Let him run for a bit."
"White Cat, your squad will go down and check. I'll go after him. I'll come back and rendezvous with you here in a bit."
Ishiro's Mind's Eye had already checked; there were no ninja with chakra in the village below.
White Cat nodded. After Ishiro lowered the altitude, she led her squad and jumped off the porcelain platform.
Ishiro then followed Chiga's guidance and pursued in the direction that Yomi had fled.
(End of Chapter)
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