Chapter 437: Stop It
"The little girl looks quite nice, so why is her inner demon such an ugly piece of work..."
Masahiko shifted his body sideways to dodge a blast of intense flame, knitting his brows as he looked at the hideous monster with two long horns on its head across from him.
Seeing that the flames had no effect on Masahiko, the monster shifted to spewing pale-purple smoke, its mouth endlessly muttering things like "Die!"
"Poison gas?" Masahiko took a deep breath and puffed out his cheeks, blowing the smoke right back: "And you're a chatterbox monster too. Pipe down!"
Several deep-red chains extended from around Masahiko's body. The monster, known as Ido, got to enjoy the same treatment usually reserved for a Tailed Beast. It was bound tightly by the chains and left thoroughly choked by its own toxic smoke.
"You look a bit like Moryo from the Land of Demons. If an inner demon conquers the host, it might have a chance to turn into that kind of hard-to-kill thing, but you won't get that chance now!"
This monster possessed a decent IQ; seeing the situation turn sour, it tried to beg for mercy, and when that failed, it resorted to threats. Masahiko simply shrugged them all off with a smile.
"Sixty-Four Compound Seal!"
An exceptionally intricate sealing formula extended from Masahiko's palm, wrapping around the monster inside and out for dozens of layers. It took a full five minutes of continuous sealing before it slowly came to a stop...
The chatterbox monster could no longer utter a single word.
"I really shouldn't kill you, but sealing you like this is basically no different from death anyway. Next, the little girl will still have to conquer it herself, but without this thing interfering, Kurenai should be able to help her untie her emotional knot." Masahiko muttered to himself before exiting the spiritual space.
The moment his consciousness returned to his physical body, a line of characters flashed before his eyes: "Witnessed and significantly altered the Naruto world side plot: Yakumo Kurama, obtained 2 (*5) Witness Points."
Masahiko's face lit up with joy as he enjoyed another bite of mosquito-leg meat—tasty indeed.
"Senior, is it resolved?"
Masahiko snapped out of his daze, lifting his right hand away from Yakumo's forehead: "I've locked that monster down. When this little girl wakes up, help her untie her emotional knot."
Kurenai said with a hint of joy: "That would be for the best..."
Masahiko nodded, then let out another sigh: "Her talent is quite good, cultivate her well. The Kurama clan's Genjutsu abilities are never lacking, let alone a fully awakened Kekkei Genkai successor like her. She... can be considered the last descendant of this ancient Kurama family..."
Speaking up to this point, Masahiko felt rather sentimental, but Kurenai put on a highly eccentric expression: "Senior, although the Kurama family isn't large, there are still over a dozen people left, and there are three others in the same generation as Yakumo."
Masahiko's face stiffened. He had emoted to the wrong audience; he had thought Yakumo was the sole surviving sprout of the Kurama clan...
Kurenai let out a sigh: "This child's standing within the Kurama clan... is met with mixed reviews. The situation is rather complex."
Masahiko understood partially: "There's no need to care about any of that. If things don't work out, just have her come join the Great Ancestor. Her Genjutsu talent is immense; if her body weren't so incredibly weak, she would catch up to you in less than two years."
Kurenai's Genjutsu was very strong. Back when Masahiko and Hashirama were classifying ninja ranks, they had established a rule: only an Elite Jonin or above could become a Jonin instructor to newly graduated Genin.
Among the Jonin instructors, Kurenai naturally couldn't compare to exceptional figures like Kakashi and Guy, but she was still easily worth 30 million Ryo...
Kurenai revealed a smile, looking down at Yakumo's relaxed, soundly sleeping face: "I will take good care of her, Senior."
Masahiko nodded, pondering: "As Yakumo's private tutor, do you know the training methods for an awakened Kekkei Genkai user of the Kurama clan?"
Kurenai paused: "...There isn't really any special training method. Yakumo's method for executing Genjutsu is painting; she possesses the power to turn the things depicted in her scrolls into absolute reality."
Hearing this, Masahiko turned his head. From the very beginning, he had felt something unusual coming from the adjacent room: "The next room is her art studio, right?"
Receiving Kurenai's confirmation, Masahiko turned around: "This little girl had her body intruded by my spiritual energy, so she'll sleep for an hour or two. You keep watch here, I'm going next door to appreciate her artwork!"
Yakumo's Art Studio.
Masahiko looked around at the dozen or so watercolor paintings: "The draftsmanship is quite good. When she has time, I'll have her paint a colored portrait of me."
Immersing his spiritual energy into one of the scrolls, a look of realization dawned on Masahiko's face: "So that's how it is. It contains the power of that little girl's Kekkei Genkai—using spiritual control to turn the desires of the heart into reality. This power... Eh? Did I accidentally activate it just now?"
"This painting..." Masahiko's expression turned blank: "This is not good, why would Yakumo paint something like this!"
It was a very interesting painting. Half of the canvas was covered in roaring, blazing flames, and inside the flames was... the Hokage Building!
Meanwhile, at the Hokage Building.
Asuma was a bit worried; Kurenai had been taken away to who-knows-where by Masahiko...
The veteran smoker ultimately couldn't suppress his craving. Since Kurenai wasn't here anyway, Obito probably wouldn't mind... so he stuck a cigarette into his mouth once more.
Before he could even light it, a thick, heavy scent of smoke drifted over, making him freeze: "Is someone else smoking here?"
Guy sniffed his nose and said: "Asuma, your craving kicked in again, huh."
"It's not me..."
Kakashi was startled, sensing an intense heat radiating from above his head: "How can this be? The Hokage Building is on fire!"
Obito blinked, his gaze snapping away from the crystal ball: "...On fire?!"
As night approached.
Masahiko looked at the charred walls of the Hokage Building with a bit of distress: "Obito, your master... takes full responsibility for this terrorist attack!"
Obito was speechless: "Why did you randomly burn down my office for no reason, Master?"
Masahiko shot him a glance: "I was worried you'd overwork yourself. While they're remodeling the building, you can rest for a couple of days."
Obito scratched his head, completely unconvinced.
Masahiko sighed. The kid truly wasn't as easy to trick as when he was young; how boring. But a moment later, Masahiko revealed a smile. He was highly satisfied with the five-senses-manipulating Genjutsu he had picked up from Yakumo's place!
"It's time to test it out."
Night fell, deep within the center of the Forest of Death.
The expressions of Team 7's trio were all rather unpleasing.
It was as if they were cursed. Over thirty teams of candidates had been dropped into this Forest of Death, which was only a dozen or so miles in radius. Yet after an entire day, they hadn't run into a single living soul. One had to remember that the second exam had a strict five-day time limit!
Sasuke spoke after a moment of thought: "If we can't find anyone tomorrow, we'll head straight to the central tower the day after and ambush the candidates who have collected both scrolls there. Though it's riskier, it's better than getting eliminated!"
"Let's just go camp them tomorrow!" Naruto scratched his head, his gaze shifting behind a large tree: "Hey! Sasuke, I'm going over there..."
"Do you remember the password?" Having gone through this once during the day, Sasuke instantly realized what Naruto was about to do.
Naruto's eyes darted around: "I remember it!"
Sasuke: Heh.
After Naruto left, Sakura's face turned slightly pink: "Sasuke-kun, I also want to..."
Sasuke nodded: "Go ahead."
"Don't peek... And, Sasuke-kun, keep an eye on Naruto for me!" Sakura instructed before running off into the thickets.
"One after another... all this talk is making me kind of want to go too." Sasuke sighed.
On the other side, Naruto began to relieve himself.
Just as the water valve opened, Naruto suddenly felt his backside poked sharply by a finger. His body gave a violent jolt, and he nearly urinated right onto his own shoes.
"Bastard Sasuke, stop it!"