Chapter 496: Long-Distance Teleportation
"Super Beast Scroll? What kind of ninjutsu is that? Is it a secret technique of your Iwagakure?" Kurama Yakumo asked expectantly.
As he flew her away from the house, Ishiro explained, "The Super Beast Scroll is actually a Konoha ninjutsu. A secret one, I suppose. It allows you to bring painted animals to life to help you fight. Similarly, you can use it to fly on painted birds. I had a disciple before whose talent was in painting, so I traded for this jutsu from your village."
Seeing her strange expression, he added, "I imagine the Hokage has also thought about teaching this jutsu to you."
Yakumo frowned. "Lord Tsuchikage, why do you keep speaking up for Konoha? Shouldn't you be trying to make me feel more loyal to Iwagakure?"
Ishiro smiled. "That depends on the situation. If you were mentally immature, I wouldn't tell you these things. But from our conversation, I can see that you've already formed your own values. You have your own judgment. So, I won't lie to you. I will only tell you the truth as I know it, and I hope you can make a rational choice for yourself."
Yakumo thought for a moment. "Lord Tsuchikage, is the 'truth' you mentioned the real reason you sought me out?"
Ishiro nodded. "That's right."
He organized his thoughts. "Do you believe that someone in Konoha killed your parents? And that they want to kill you too?"
She nodded. "Yes. Although my parents weren't ninja, they shouldn't have died in some random fire. Someone must have killed them and then set the fire to destroy the evidence. And I also overheard Teacher Kurenai and Lady Hokage secretly discussing getting rid of me."
Ishiro shook his head. "Although I look down on your Konoha—the internal power struggles are too severe—to be honest, a little girl like you isn't worth the Hokage herself resorting to conspiracy. Put yourself in her shoes. If you were the Hokage and wanted to get rid of a parentless little girl, would you need to conspire with someone? And this conspiracy was just coincidentally overheard by you, a non-ninja. Does that sound reasonable?"
Yakumo was stunned. She had clearly never thought about it that way.
Ishiro continued, "As a Hokage, Tsunade is qualified in some respects. She has the magnanimity a Kage should have. As far as I know, there's another story behind your parents' death. Your Teacher Kurenai and the Hokage don't want you to know the truth. But their purpose in hiding it is to protect you. They are afraid you will be hurt by it."
"Lord Tsuchikage, you know the truth, don't you? Please tell me!" she asked urgently. She struggled to stand up from her chair and bowed deeply to him.
Ishiro patted her head and had her sit back down. "Your current emotional state is not suitable for knowing this truth. You are not calm enough. Adjust your emotions. At the very least, you must convince me that you are ready to face this cruel fact."
Yakumo was at a loss. She was still just a naive child. Although the death of her parents had forced her to think more, she had not undergone ninja training, and her willpower was even weaker than that of a normal academy student. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't calm down.
Seeing this, Ishiro patted her head again. "Alright, you're still young. When you get to Iwagakure, train hard and learn some ninja knowledge first. Most importantly, train your will. Only when your willpower is strong enough will you meet my requirements, and only then will I tell you the truth."
Yakumo was dejected. She felt so useless. The truth she had been desperately seeking was right in front of her, but she didn't even have the right to know it.
Seeing her state, Ishiro changed the subject and began to tell her about some things in Iwagakure. He focused on the current lives of Sōkai, Neji, Haku, and the members of the Uzumaki clan. Like her, they were all outsiders. Talking about their experiences could resonate with her.
After a long while, they arrived above the Takigakure branch. "Below is our branch in the Land of Waterfalls. Shall I take you down for a look?"
Yakumo nodded, her voice soft. "Okay." After Ishiro's guidance along the way, her mood had improved. As a little girl who had never left the vicinity of Konoha, she was still very curious about the outside world.
Ishiro then took her to meet Shiden.
Shiden was currently guiding Riori Uzumaki in learning the Mutual Multiplying Explosive Tags technique. A large group of Riori clones were continuously summoning explosive tags and detonating them. The entire training ground was filled with the sound of explosions.
The sight left the newly arrived Yakumo dumbfounded.
Seeing Ishiro, Riori snorted and didn't greet the teacher who was always tricking her. After all, it hadn't been long since the last time.
Ishiro pointed to Shiden and Riori. "That is Captain Shiden. Sōkai and Neji live at her house. You will live with them from now on. Her daughter, Kurotsuchi, is the same age as you. You two should be able to become good friends. That silly-looking older sister is Riori Uzumaki. You can call her Sister Riori. Although she's a bit of an airhead, she's very enthusiastic. Neji likes to hang out with her a lot."
Then he said to the other two, "Captain Shiden, Riori, this is Kurama Yakumo, whom I just brought from Konoha. From now on, she will live at your house, just like Neji and the others."
Hearing this, Riori immediately forgot she was angry with Ishiro and ran over eagerly. She didn't come alone; several hundred shadow clones swarmed over with her.
They looked at Yakumo curiously. "Kurama Yakumo? Were you also abandoned by your clan like Neji?"
"Yakumo, you can call me sister, just like Neji does."
"I'll teach you how to fight. I know where to find friends to fight with."
"When I get back to the village, I'll teach you how to line up to use the Great Fireball Technique!"
Kurama Yakumo: ...
After introducing her to Shiden and Riori and letting them get acquainted, Ishiro took Yakumo and continued on to Iwagakure. He could clearly feel her sigh of relief as they took to the air.
Ishiro thought: This is probably what happens when an introvert meets an extreme extrovert. Neji's mood back then was probably similar to Yakumo's now. Using Riori as an icebreaker really was a good idea.
With Shiden and Riori as a buffer, Yakumo was no longer so resistant to the idea of Iwagakure, or rather, her new home.
Ishiro first took her to Kitsuchi's house, then summoned Katsumata to place a soul-type seal on her. He himself placed a seal similar to the one used to imprison a Tailed Beast.
Yakumo's current state was like Shion's. Both had a monster living inside them, and both had a special relationship with that monster: they were one and the same.
Using a combination of soul sealing and Tailed Beast sealing, Ishiro would allow Yakumo to slowly draw out the power of the monster inside her, just like Shion. Simply destroying it was not what he wanted; he wanted to use it as nourishment to strengthen her.
However, Katsumata's seal was not enough. Ishiro sent a letter to Miroku in the Land of Demons, asking her to come and help apply a Priestess Seal. When it came to soul sealing, the priestesses were the experts.
Before Shion's mother arrived, Ishiro received some good news.
"You really succeeded?" he asked, looking at Akino Atsumi excitedly.
She nodded. "Yes, Teacher Ishiro. We've made major breakthroughs on two fronts. First, I've already tested it. We can now perform long-distance teleportation of ordinary ninja between here and the Land of Bears. Second, my Flying Thunder God seal has also been simplified."
"Tobirama Senju's seal is indeed easier to study than Minato Namikaze's. I suspect Minato may have upgraded the technique; I still can't figure out his seal. But I've figured out Tobirama's. I've tried to shrink the fuinjutsu, and although I can't reach his level, it's a big improvement."
With that, she took out a Fūma shuriken from her storage pouch. Ishiro saw that it was covered in a large number of fuinjutsu markings. Indeed, while it was a far cry from what the two Hokage could do, compared to only being able to teleport between two Heavenly Transfer pedestals, this was a huge simplification.
Akino threw the shuriken at a stone wall. The next moment, it embedded itself. She then performed a complex series of hand seals, vanished, and reappeared next to it.
Ishiro was very satisfied with this. He had long since given up on her using the Flying Thunder God for combat. He didn't even remind her to simplify the hand seals. For now, there was no need. With her combat talent, even if she could use the technique at Minato's level, it would be useless. She'd just teleport next to an enemy and get punched to death.
She was better off researching the teleportation array, which would increase the village's strategic flexibility.
He nodded in satisfaction. "Very good, Akino. Your research is still classified as a top village secret. Without an order from a high-level meeting, you are not to share it. As for your reward, the village will not treat you unfairly. Come, let's go see the teleportation array to the Land of Bears."
They went to a secret room in the Anbu headquarters. It was heavily guarded, with five full Anbu squads on duty at all times.
Inside, besides the twenty Anbu, there were three ordinary ninja. They were the ones who had tested the teleportation before Ishiro's arrival.
Ishiro first asked them in detail about their experience, gave them a gag order, and then placed a seal in their minds. After that, he had Akino demonstrate.
Soon, she had completed a round trip. Then, under her guidance, Ishiro did the same.
After he returned, he asked her, "Akino, if we can complete the teleportation independently, is it possible for us to use the Flying Thunder God Technique independently as well?"
Akino rolled her eyes. "Teacher Ishiro, you're underestimating the Flying Thunder God. This fixed-point array is far more massive than it. All the necessary arrays are complete, which is why the person being teleported doesn't need any foundation in space-time ninjutsu. But the Flying Thunder God is completely different. Its original purpose was for rapid individual movement. It was born for the battlefield. The key to the jutsu is all about how to place the mark. As for how to teleport after that, it all depends on the user's own mastery of space-time ninjutsu. So, they are two completely different things."
Ishiro thought it made sense. Otherwise, with the intelligence of Tobirama and Minato, how could they not have thought of it? Minato had even figured out a way to split the technique into three parts to pass it down.
But Akino also had a question. "Teacher Ishiro, why didn't Tobirama and Minato research teleportation arrays? Minato even had time to upgrade the Flying Thunder God."
Ishiro knew what she was thinking. "Akino, do you think a teleportation array that can move a large number of ninja is more useful than the Flying Thunder God?"
She nodded. It was a stupid question. The Flying Thunder God could only move one person, while the array could move an entire army.
But Ishiro sighed. "Akino, your strength limits your vision. You don't yet understand that in this world, one strong person is more useful than an entire army. I won't say more, just one point. Now that the village has this method, all we can do is keep it a secret and wait for an opportunity to ambush an opponent. But if the condition were changed, and I, the Tsuchikage, possessed the Flying Thunder God Technique, do you know what I would do?"
Akino shook her head blankly.
Ishiro smiled faintly. "I would immediately begin to unify the shinobi world."
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