A few days had passed since the little incident at Issei's house. After the police found nothing wrong, and Issei convinced his parents not to say anything bad about Kiryuu, they quickly left.
The last few days had been somewhat relaxed at Kuoh Academy, and soon the summer vacation arrived. During this time, Rias took the remaining members of her Peerage to train.
"Although the chances of victory are almost nil, we still have to find the strength to fight..." Rias murmured. She, Akeno, and Issei were on top of a small mountain, where there was a cabin where they would all stay for the next month before facing Riser Phenex.
"Actually, even if the odds are minimal, we aren't defeated yet, Are we?..." Akeno murmured with a slight smile. She stepped up to Issei and gently tapped his head, "Besides, we have this little piece of shit with us... he's, he's the Red Dragon Emperor hahahaha!!!" she burst into loud laughter.
Issei squinted, said nothing in response to the tap, and simply stood there, sighing with disinterest.
"That's right, Issei is the Red Dragon Emperor, but he's the weakest among us," Rias narrowed her eyes as she observed Issei.
"The theory of Chakra usage—maybe that could help strengthen Issei's foundation and allow him to benefit more from his Sacred Gear," Rias said, quickly smiling as she looked at the boy quietly standing behind Issei.
Rias's smile was shared by Akeno and Issei, both of whom also turned their heads to glance at Itachi, not far away.
"Itachi... no, Lord Uchiha, thank you for coming..." Akeno bowed slightly, narrowing her eyes with joy as she looked at the ninja the way one looks at a delicious triple-meat hamburger.
"It's incredible that you still haven't traveled to the Underworld to take charge of your territory and clan, hmph..." Rias sighed with some frustration. She recalled how Sirzechs had called her to talk to Itachi; her brother seemed to need the ninja in the Underworld for some paperwork.
"It's true, people in the Underworld are progressively more anxious to meet Lord Itachi, they say your territory there is as large as the Phenex Clan's..." Rias spoke with a hint of emotion.
"My brother has arranged several clanless demons to serve you, as well as ten thousand magical crystals, he also had a small castle built in the center of your territory..." Rias began enthusiastically describing how amazing her brother was and how much he had prepared for Itachi.
A moment later, the ninja simply smiled, "They're waiting for me, Huh? Doesn't seem like they're in a hurry., also, I'll be here for a week to train you, then I'll head to the Underworld," he said before gently patting Issei's head.
And then Itachi began the training.
Rias, Akeno, and Issei were taught the theory of Chakra usage and began practicing.
However, as the days went by, the demons seemed to make no progress in chakra control.
But on a Wednesday, Itachi noticed something else, "Stop!!" he called to the demons training outside, quickly walking over to Rias and lightly touching her head with his fingers.
Itachi carefully activated his Sharingan and examined Rias's body closely.
Starting from her lips, moving down her flawless white skin, her large breasts rising with her breath, to her waist, her wide hips, finally her plump legs and delicate feet.
"This is...?" Itachi murmured, gently touching Rias's abdomen. There was something odd there, like a single chakra node that normally should be scattered across eight different points in the body.
Itachi smiled strangely after a while, continuing to inspect the single chakra point in Rias's abdomen, he then noticed the same anomaly in Akeno and Issei's bodies.
"Damn..." Issei muttered, stepping back. When Itachi locked eyes with him, Issei could see the ninja's strange eyes, red with patterns. His body felt oddly exposed, his heart raced wildly, and a primal fear swept over him.
The same happened when Akeno gazed into Itachi's eyes, while Rias, who had her eyes closed, opened them slightly, meeting the ninja's gaze without visibly reacting.
Internally, though, she was stunned. Her mind froze momentarily, her body trembled slightly, and her eyes couldn't help focusing more on Itachi's gaze.
"Beautiful eyes..." she murmured before faintly smiling. But none of that mattered to Itachi, who continued observing Rias Gremory and the other demons before sensing something peculiar in that single chakra node in each of their bodies.
"This feeling is so unique, I'll never forget it," the ninja murmured as he watched the three demons, then he shook his head and finally sighed.
"I see, so... amazing..." Itachi smiled and shook his head again, "This is your way of telling me you've always been close, Isn't it? Orochimaru..." Itachi muttered.
The chakra he felt inside Rias's, Akeno's, and Issei's bodies was similar to Orochimaru's, and that one chakra node they shared was three times larger than a normal node.
"What do you mean by 'he's always been close'?" the redhead asked, a slightly nervous voice escaping from her red lips.
"Well..." Itachi smiled, "The only chakra nodes in your bodies seem to have been artificially implanted, and their chakra is nearly identical to Orochimaru's..." Itachi didn't need to say more; the others drew their own conclusions.
"I..." Issei stepped back, forced a smile at Itachi, "H-Hehe, I-Itachi, W-What do you mean by that?" he asked fearfully. His mind recalled Orochimaru, though he had not seen him, he had heard of him, his subconscious had burned into memory what it felt like to be near the serpent.
Akeno's eyes widened, her mind conjured the moment she had been on the verge of giving up; that strange snake, by mere presence, had made her wish for death, "The voice, the face, everything..." Akeno sighed deeply, covering her mouth as sudden nausea hit.
Rias was no better, the mere thought of something inside her body with chakra similar to Orochimaru's was enough to make her stagger.
"It doesn't seem lethal for now," Itachi said after a moment, he gently touched Rias's stomach again, narrowing his eyes, "But it's strange, It's a very unusual chakra node, even so..."
Itachi hesitated, "What's inside you seems more like a chakra reservoir that slowly fills over time," he concluded, yet his expression remained unsettled.
He didn't know when nor how Orochimaru might have implanted that strange chakra node inside Rias, Akeno, and Issei.
"Itachi..." Rias narrowed her eyes, forcing herself to stay composed and adopting a serious expression. She looked at Itachi with a strange stare, "Can I use the chakra from this strange node?" her question was direct.
"I'm not certain, but... you should be able to," Itachi replied, though countless questions raced through his mind.
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