A month of training, experimenting, and some research the Youkugan is what it took for me to fully comprehend its uses, though it definitely would've taken much longer if it weren't for my teammates and sensei. Using the eye had become pretty natural over the past few weeks, though getting used to its limits and my own abilities were still in the works.
The creations of the Youkugan are made by shinjutsu, which means "the art of reality.” This, I learned from an old scroll that Tsunade-sama kindly dug up for me. It only offered a description of the eye and revealed none of its secrets, but that was probably to be expected. It didn’t really matter anyway, since the point of my training was, in a sense, to uncover the secrets of this eye.
The main ability of the Youkugan was making genjutsu a reality. When I create something through shinjutsu, a portion of the pattern in my eye would disappear and reappear on the object I made. This part was discovered pretty easily, since the triangle shape that disappeared from my eye and reappeared on a boulder I had made was hard to miss.
"Damn it, Riku! Get those creepy things away from me!" Ino screeched, jumping away from the two shadowy figures that inched towards her. In the middle of each one's head, where a nose would usually be, was the pointed circle, one from each of my eyes.
Similar to how the Sharingan makes the user’s eyes red, the Youkugan makes my eyes grey. A thick circle with eight points coming out of it forms around my pupils. In between each spike is a five-sided shape that’s identical to a kunai without its handle. I just refer to them as triangles, and the eight points are what I call spikes.
"All they want is a hug," I pouted mockingly, making the figures reach their arms out in front of them. "Don't tell me you're scared."
I've assumed that the transfer of the mark acts like a seal or a bond in order to keep the creation intact. Creating things with the Youkugan is something that's learned through experience. It's like holding an object together with several phantom limbs. Although I'm not physically holding onto my creations so that they stay as a form of matter, it feels as though I have a sixth sense maintaining the shinjutsu. As such, I'm consciously aware of what I'm doing with my creations. Like genjutsu, the shinjutsu creations don't have a conscious mind. The more creations I make, the more I need to focus. However, I'm sure it'll become much easier as I get used to my kekkei genkai.
With a small yelp, the kunoichi pushed Chouji towards the figures so she could get away. As a result, he fell into the figures, so I used them to push him back onto his feet before cancelling the shinjutsu.
Also like genjutsu, I need to consciously control the movement of my creations. If I lose focus, my shinjutsu will falter and flicker away like a genjutsu would. However, while genjutsu leaves the sensation of being injured, shinjutsu will actually leave wounds on the target, even after the shinjutsu is cancelled. Shinjutsu must be countered in the same way as any other obstacle. If I made a wall of fire, it would need to be put out with water. If I cut somebody using a kunai knife I created, they would need to get it healed, and so on and so forth. Disrupting chakra flow to the brain will not break a shinjutsu, which is the main advantage of this kekkai genkai.
"W-who wouldn't be a little freaked out by those creepy things?! Geez, they're worse than Shikamaru's Shadow Neck Binding Technique.” She muttered while crossing her arms over her chest with a huff.
Naturally, the fact that the patterns from my eye disappear as I create things limits the amount of objects I can make. Size also matters. For example, a rock the size of my head "costs" one triangle, whereas a rock as big as me will require four triangles to hold together. The marking may not be entirely distinguishable but it's always there, so if what I make is something as small as a senbon needle, the portion of the ring I used to make it would look like a black stripe around its middle. If I make anything small enough, the object itself would simply be black.
"That's enough, you three," Asuma-sensei spoke out with an amused grin. "You guys did well today, and you've improved quite a bit with your Youkugan, Riku." He noted with a satisfied nod. "Why don't you guys take the rest of the day off? The Souzou Festival is coming up, so-"
Before the jounin could finish, Ino gasped loudly and clasped her hands together, smiling brightly.
"The Souzou Festival!" she repeated, now wearing a grin amusingly similar to Naruto's. Before I could even ask what that was, she was already going on about it like it was the sole reason of her existence. "It's an annual event, and maybe the biggest event in Konoha, too! It celebrates the founding of our village, so we pay our respects to the former four Hokage. We all wear a yukata and there are hundreds of stalls with games where you can win prizes or buy adorable little trinkets—"
"And food, too!" Chouji interjected happily. To my surprise, Ino didn't seem annoyed by his mention of food. In fact, she nodded excitedly with a grin and went on about what sort of snacks they have, like kebabs, dango, mochi, and all that good stuff.
"We'll be sure to show you everything there is to see when the festival comes around." The jounin added with a laugh while lighting a cigarette. "Well, I have some business to attend to. Don't overwhelm Riku too much, got it?" With an exchange of goodbyes, our sensei was gone.
Ino seemed to be caught in her own fantasies and such while Chouji drooled over the thought of the food, but I wasn't all-too pumped up about it. Maybe it’s because I didn’t know what festivals were like, so I didn’t know how excited I was supposed to be. I thought that maybe I was supposed to be excited because it was something new that’s supposed to be fun, though it didn’t change the fact that I was rather… indifferent towards it. Despite being in several villages, I had never participated in one of their festivals. They always made me feel out of place.
Ino noticed my lack of reaction and immediately questioned it. “Aren’t you excited?”
"It's nothing. I'm just not very fond of wearing a yukata or anything," I answered with a shrug that earned a dramatic gasp from the blonde kunoichi. "What?"
"Oh, but we can make you look so pretty!" she nearly cooed grabbing my hands and holding them up below her chin. There was an incredibly hopeful look in her eyes that I wasn't sure how to respond to. "I can put your hair in a really cute bun and we can decorate it with really pretty accessories- oh, I can already see it now! Let's bring the other girls, too. We can all pick out a yukata for you! It'll be a girl's night out!"
"I-- uh, it's alright. I can find a yukata myself. I wouldn't want to cut into your preparation time, after all," I answered, trying to resist the urge to pull away. Dressing up or looking nice was never really anything that I'd wanted to do. Though I was pretty neutral about wearing a yukata - as unfitting as I found it to be - I liked to steer away from any "pretty accessories" or make-up. I was rather unsuited for such things and as a shinobi, they shouldn’t have been concerns to begin with. Plus, most things that involved being pretty meant taking off my mask, which I wasn’t going to do any time soon.
The disappointed look in my teammate's eyes almost made me want to say that I would gladly let her do whatever it was she wanted to do, but Ino seemed to understand where I was coming from and gave a faint smile. “I’ll let you go this time, but I’ll get you to change your mind sometime or another.” One more second of puppy dog eyes and I might have actually given in. That was a close one.
I couldn’t tell if she was trying to threaten me or if she was being sincere. Either way, it made me wonder if it counted as a form of harassment, seeing as I was basically being forced into it all.
After washing up and eating dinner, I decided to spend the rest of the evening finding more information in the library. It was only about seven, so I had a good number of hours for reading. Although I didn't have any specific questions I wanted answered anymore, I had taken a liking to the atmosphere there. The library was calm and relaxing, which made it great for sorting out one's thoughts. I pulled out an old book on Nareigakure and flipped through it until I came across a section on my clan. There weren't many scrolls or books regarding my country, village, or clan, but I guess Konoha got a hold of some common information, since the Fire and Sun country were on pretty good terms, so I've heard.
"You seem to come by quite often, Riku," a familiar voice called from behind. I glanced back to see Kakashi-sensei approach me with a couple of scrolls in his possession as well. "What brings you back here?"
"Nothing really," I answered, staring blankly at the pages before me, but didn't read any of the words. "And you?"
The jounin took a seat in front me and set the scrolls down before answering. "Tsunade-sama wanted me to bring her a few scrolls, but that can wait. Let's chat for a bit," he suggested with his usual kind smile, though I felt like he wouldn't give me a choice in the matter.
"How are you holding up with your new team? I hope you get along with them." My reply was a simple nod. "My genin tell me that they miss having you around. If you have time, they'd love to have you join us for a training session or two."
This time, I looked up with a faint smirk. "Even the Uchiha?" I asked with a doubtful look, earning a soft laugh from him.
"I'm sure he'd like a decent sparring partner, though it would be nice if he could just simply get along with Naruto," Kakashi-sensei shrugged.
"I'm having a hard time deciding whether or not that was an insult to my skills as a shinobi," I murmured in response, earning me a soft chuckle from the jounin. When I got no clear answer and decided that he was just being difficult.
He noticed what I was reading and shifted his gaze back to me. His eyes were slightly more serious than before. "You know, we were rather shocked when we heard about your last mission out in Tetsu no Kuni," he murmured while resting his chin in the palm of his hand. "I'm sure you were, too."
"Discovering that you're the descendant of a supposedly-extinct clan tends to shock oneself," I answered indifferently, playing with the edge of the page. "It's earned me a few stares and whispers when I walk around, especially from other shinobi. It’s lessened over time, but I'd rather it stopped completely. I guess this is sort of what it's like to be Sasuke."
Another faint laugh came from Kakashi-sensei. "Are you learning about your clan's history?" He asked, changing the topic and gesturing towards the book. I shrugged and stared down at the page, this time scanning over the words.
"I suppose so," I murmured, pausing when I caught a glance of a specific word. I read it over and over, wondering why it seemed so familiar. Well, I suppose it's because it's the name of the last Head of the clan, but there was something else about it that was so…nostalgic.
"Are you alright?" Kakashi-sensei asked.
I nearly jolted up as I was snapped out of my thoughts before shaking my head to clear them. "Shurikane Misaki..." I murmured to myself, glancing back to Kakashi-sensei. I could've sworn his right eye widened just the tiniest bit in reaction to the name. I narrowed my eyes slightly, wondering if it was just my imagination or if he had some sort of twitch. "I feel like I know her, aside from her being the Head of the clan and all," I clarified, closing the book.
When I looked back at the jounin, he still seemed to be in his own little world. "Kakashi-sensei?" I called out, bringing him back to reality. He looked back at me with a distant look in his eyes before it was blinked away. Hesitantly, I asked, "Is there something wrong?"
"Hm? Maa, no, it's nothing." He answered with an odd smile, fumbling when grabbing the scrolls he was supposed to take to the Hokage, and stood up in a way that seemed subtly unbalanced. "If you have any concerns, feel free to come find me.”
With that, the jounin was gone in a heartbeat.
That night, I had another dream. It started off with several hazy images of a familiar house. No, it was more like a manor of some sort. There were a few voices around but they were too muffled to understand. I felt myself being lifted and set onto my feet. I realized that I had been crawling. I was a toddler until the scene changed and I was standing in the middle of a grassy field. Sitting next to me was a young woman, roughly into her mid-twenties or early thirties. She had dark brown hair that reached just past her shoulder blades. The light of the sun blinded me from seeing a portion of her face, the only thing visible being her warm smile.
Before I could move to see who the woman was, a sharp pain struck my chest. I looked down to see a kunai sticking out of it. I was older now and the bright scenery shattered, leaving me in an empty dark space. There was nothing around me until a figure manifested in the shadows. It was the woman from before, but her back was turned to me. I approached her slowly before realizing she seemed to be talking to a little girl. I could hear the woman's voice, but her words were incomprehensible. Both her voice and the little girl seemed familiar.
"Riku, you must promise me you will always stay strong."
I stopped walking and found myself staring at the woman and the little girl. That little girl was…me? No wonder she seemed familiar, but if that girl was me, then did that mean...
"Wha-...Mommy, where are you going?"
…That woman is my mother? I stepped forward and tried to reach out for her. She gave the younger me a hug and stood up to leave, a regretful look in her eyes. I looked down at the younger me. She was on the verge of tears, but fought them back while choking out, "No...Mommy told me that I have to be strong. I can't cry...!"
"Misaki-sama, you must hurry!" A distant voice called. My mother responded, disappearing into the darkness. Misaki… so my mother was the head of the Shurikane clan.
When I looked back to where the younger me was supposed to be, I was startled to find that she had been replaced by a mutilated apparition. It was a dead body, with half its head blown off. I could see its bare teeth and its right eye hanging out, resting on the ground in a small pool of blood. The darkness around the corpse seemed to disappear, spreading across my field of vision. It was replaced by a recently trampled battle ground. I was in the middle of the war once again.
I found myself wandering around the place, seeing faceless shinobi fighting against each other, though none paid any attention to me. Suddenly, I was almost knocked off the ground from what felt like an earthquake, but I heard the loud crashing sound from behind. As I turned around, a large shadow loomed over me. I looked up to see a large, red, hairy beast. I was right under it, so I couldn't tell what it was. I rushed out of its way and in front of it to see if I could get a proper look at it. When I finally saw its face, I was once again in shock.
It was the Yonbi.
The beast noticed me and looked down, its white pupils staring right at me. It seemed to hold hatred in its eyes and raised its arm, presumably to smash me, but I didn't react. This was a dream, after all.
"Seeing you in my dreams isn't exactly something I imagined, Yonbi," I commented nonchalantly, but was almost knocked off my feet from the bijuu's response.
"Don't call me by that wretched moniker!" It roared, looming over me in a manner that would definitely make me run for my life if this wasn't a dream. "I have a proper, honourable name, bestowed upon me by the Sage of Six Paths himself!"
Before I could utter a sound, the Yonbi was introducing itself - if this could even count as an introduction - in a rather prideful manner.
"I am ---! I am the ---! You address his holiness of all heavens, ---! Ho haa haa!" Its voice ripped across the battlefield and I had to steady myself as the ground shook from the sheer volume of his bellowing. Unfortunately, as most dreams tend to be hazy, I couldn't quite catch his name, or whatever else it was he was saying.
"I'm sorry, could you repeat that?" I asked in a slightly hesitant manner, afraid that the demon would get irritated. As I feared, it threw a bit of a fit.
"Damn brat, use your ears! Stupid human, my name is -! -!" It roared while glowering at me. Although I still didn't catch his name, I decided to nod and refrain from asking once more.
As the echoes of its roaring died away, its eyes went back to staring right at me. The bijuu crouched down so that its nose was right above me. I wasn't even as tall as one of his elongated canines.
"Hmph. So you ended up here, huh? I take it you're going to try and enslave me now, eh?!"
My brows were now furrowed in confusion. "Why would I try to do that?" I responded, causing the Yonbi to give me a curious look. "I can barely use ninjutsu. What makes you think I'm capable of controlling a bijuu?"
"You...You're sensible, for a human at least." It huffed while straightening up, though its intimidating eyes remained fixated on me. "If you're not here for my power, then what the hell are you here for?" It spoke with a growl in its voice, as if it were trying to threaten me, even though its words held no such meaning.
"I--" I stopped myself immediately after uttering that one sound.
I was going to say that this wasn't by choice since this is a dream, and that everything around me, including the Yonbi, was just a product of my subconscious imagination, but that didn't seem like a good thing to say right now. Telling such a prideful being that they don't really exist, whether they be real or not, didn't seem like the greatest idea.
After clearing my throat, I gave it another shot. "Why are you destroying the village?" That seemed like a good start. I was pretty curious about that, anyway. I'm pretty sure my clan used the Yonbi to win the war, so why was it simply going on a rampage?
"Hrmph. Those selfish humans dare to enslave me, the Great ---! Fools, the lot of you stupid humans, enslaving me like this! Us intelligent apes should be the ones enslaving humans! Hoo haah!"
Although I knew why he was so angry, I didn't fail to realize that the selfish humans he was talking about was my clan. I kindly informed him of this fact as humbly as I could so I wouldn't upset him even more. His fit of raged died down and he lowered his glare to me.
"Ho haa haa! You're not like the rest of your clan, but being weak isn't much better, ignorant brat."
I woke up after that.
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Chapter notes: Double update, because why not.
This chapter contains some light gore.
Chapter end notes: Thanks for reading ~