"I see."
'What's with this unknown disease trend? Is it a tradition or something to die due to unknown diseases?'
Izuna has tears in his eyes.
"Then, can you give me a bit of advice on how to attain the Six Paths Power? It will help me get rid of this disease, right?"
Izuna turns to Hagoromo.
Hmm…
"Thou are right. Six Paths Power will certainly elevate thy existence to the next phase of evolution, but I am uncertain of the possibility of such a matter."
Hagoromo shakes his head.
"Let me explain Six Paths Sage Mode to you."
Hagoromo taps his staff on the ground.
Whoosh…
He creates an image of God tree as he explains.
"A millennium ago, the seedling of God tree landed on the Shinobi World. Its roots spread throughout the world. It thrived by absorbing blood, shed into the countless battle over the period as it gradually drained the natural energy from them.
Later, the tree bloomed a chakra fruit which was later consumed by mother. Thus, the chakra fruit is the essence of Nature energy of the very planet itself.
After harvesting the chakra fruit, the God tree will either revert to its seedling form of Ten-tails and it will continue to absorb the Nature energy until the planet dies or it will wither away having fulfilled it's purpose.
The Six Paths Senjutsu uses the chakra of the ten-tails. Mother ate the chakra fruit as such as I was born with the chakra of Otsutsuki and ten-tails."
Hagoromo pauses as he waits for Izuna's response.
"I am aware of it."
Izuna nods his head.
"I have read several records of it in Mount Myoboku."
'Well, no shit! I already knew about it from my past life.'
"Then, where do the Six Paths Sage Mode comes into the picture in all this?" He questions Hagoromo.
'Come on! Old Geezer! Just spit it out already.'
Mm…
"Six Paths Sage Mode is a by-product of Sage Mode and ten-tails chakra in my body. I awakened it the moment I gained access to my Rinnegan."
Hagoromo explains the truth.
"With this power, I gained an innate understanding of all five basic nature transformations, yin, yang, yin-yang release, and manifested truth-seeking balls with no need to master them."
"I expected as much. No wonder, I cannot progress beyond Kekkei Shi."
Izuna sighs helplessly.
"So, ten-tails chakra is the key. No wonder the Otsutsuki clan is harvesting planet after planet. They just spread the seedling of God Tree to different worlds and later came sniffing it like a dog."
Izuna mocks the Otsutsuki clan as he stares at Hagoromo.
"Anyway, Old man, though you weren't of much help still I have got a faint idea of my path forward."
Izuna turns towards the orbs in his mindscape as he slowly walks towards the purple black hole.
He stretches his arm forward and coats it with Nature energy as a cyan cloak appears on his arm.
He grabs the orb forcefully and contains the purple lightning using the Nature energy.
"This should work for now."
-----------------
Inside Konoha Hospital,
Tsunade checks the vitals of Mei as her expression turns ugly.
"She is four weeks into her pregnancy. That blow to her womb led to a miscarriage."
Tsunade turns to a Hyuga beside her.
"Give me a detailed report of the embryonic tissue. I will perform a surgery to remove it."
"Yes, Tsunade-sama."
The Hyuga medical-nin activates her Byakugan.
"Shizune... pass the curette to me."
Shizune passes the surgical instrument to Tsunade.
An hour later,
Outside the operation theater,
Creak… creak…
The door opens and Tsunade exits the room. The Uchiha family, together with the Kiri entourage, is impatiently waiting outside the room.
"How is it? How is her condition?"
Aiko asks her.
"She is out of danger. As for her pregnancy, it was too late. She had a miscarriage."
Tsunade shakes her head as she silently closes her eyes.
----------
Ugh…
Izuna slowly opens his eyes as he gets out of his comatose state.
"Captain, you are awake!"
Ah…
Izuna turns around and notices two Uchiha police members lying on the bed.
One of them has a bandaged arm, while the other has a bandaged leg.
"You two are…"
Izuna tries to recall their name as their appearance seems familiar to him.
"Atsushi and Isao, right?"
"Captain, you recognize us."
Izuna nods his head.
"I have a question for you." He asks them.
"Yes, Captain."
"How long was I passed out for?"
"Uh! Captain… it has been three days since we came here."
Atsushi scratches his head.
"I see."
He extends his left arm to remove the IV drip from his right arm, but emptiness greets him.
'So, I lost my left arm.'
Izuna shakes his head and removes the IV drip using his mouth and walks out of the room.
"I have to check on Mei and Ayaka."
He hurriedly dashes out of the room as he senses Mei's chakra.
"Found her."
Whoosh…
Izuna flung opens the door and enters the room.
"MEI!"
Mei is silently staring out of the window as the silver clouds slowly drift in the sky.
"Izuna!"
She slowly turns towards him as tears flow from her eyes.
"I am sorry, Izuna."
Whoosh…
Izuna flickers in front of her and embraces her.
"It's not your fault. Don't blame yourself. I was too weak to protect you."
He hugs her tightly.
Waah…
Tears flow from her eyes as Mei lets out all of her emotions. She sheds tears for a while in Izuna's embrace.
Izuna pats her head as she slowly calms down.
She gently touches the stub left arm of Izuna.
"It's ok. I can live with one arm and it won't hinder any of my abilities." Izuna assures her.
He caresses her womb as anger blazes in his eyes.
'UNFORGIVABLE! Absolutely Unforgivable! Next time, I meet him will be his last.'
"Yes!" Mei silently nods her head, as there is a hint of sadness in her eyes.
Izuna notices her expression.
'I am not a mother, so I can't imagine the loss of a child for a mother; but as the father of the child, my fury won't subside until I exact revenge on the person responsible for this.'
He tightly clutches his fist.
'Isshiki Otsutsuki!'
Bang…
The door slams wide open as Tsunade enters the room.
Bam… bam…
She walks towards them with heavy footsteps as she approaches them.
"Uh! Tsunade!"
Izuna turns towards her.
Bam
Tsunade punches him and sends him flying.
"You idiot! How can you be so reckless with your life?"
Tears flow from her eyes.
Aww… ouch...
Izuna whimpers in pain as he turns to Mei for help.
Mei turns away and ignores him.
"No, save me."
Izuna begs for mercy.
"Do you think you are some kind of hero? Trying to do everything by yourself. You preached about the importance of family and friends, and yet you dived into trouble all on your own. You are nothing but a reckless fool."
Tsunade balls her palm into a fist.
"You deserve punishment for your sin."
Izuna closes his eyes.
'I can't run away, can I?"
Whoosh…
He is squashed between two huge melons as Tsunade hugs him tightly.
"You idiot! Don't do something as reckless as this again? I was worried for you. I lost everyone close to me; I can't bear to lose you too."
Tears flow from her eyes.
"I won't."
Izuna pats her back as he embraces her.
'I am such a fool. To protect my family, I hide things from them; yet it only leads to more trouble. It's time to confess everything and dig out all secrets.'
Cough… cough…
Edo-Hashirama coughs slightly as he enters the room.
"Tsuna-chan! Why are you ignoring your grandpa? Grandpa needs a hug too!"
He opens his arms wide.
Hmph…
Tsunade scoffs and turns her head away.
Ah!
Hashirama's expression froze as he depressingly hangs down his head.
Creak…
The door wide opens as more person enters the room.
Aiko and Akira push Hashirama away and hugs Izuna.
"It's a relief, you are okay!"
Aiko tightly hugs him in her embrace.
"That's my son." Akira nods his head.
"Ah… mother, I am suffocating."
He flails his arms around.
"I am sorry!" Aiko leaves him from her embrace.
"Onii-Chan!"
A sweet voice falls in their ear as Ayaka jumps in his embrace.
"Ayaka!"
Izuna catches her with one arm and hugs her.
"Thank goodness, you are fine."
He gently pats her head as Ayaka wraps her arms around his neck.
Hmm…
"This is…"
Izuna notices the diamond shape mark on her palm as his expression turns ugly.
'That bastard! He wants to sacrifice Ayaka.'
"Ayaka!"
He separates from Ayaka as his expression turns serious.
"There is an evil spirit around you. Let big brother deal with it."
"Ok! Onii-Chan!" Ayaka nods her head.
Whoosh…
Izuna makes some hand signs with his right hand as he forms a Fuinjutsu seal.
'I won't be able to restrain this Kama seal. But I can slow its advance. Since it is a type of curse seal; then this should work.'
"Fuinjutsu: Demonic Evil Containment Seal"
Whoosh….
Various fuinjutsu seals float in space as they circle Ayaka.
"Enclose"
Izuna makes a one-hand Ram sign as the seal shrinks near her palm.
Swoosh…
Smoke rises from Ayaka's palm as she clutches it tightly.
"Onii-Chan! It hurts."
"Hold a sec longer. The pain will go away soon."
Whoosh…
The sealing formula surrounds the Kama seal and forms a circle around it.
"It's done." He sighs in relief.
'Thank goodness, there were various curse seals sealing formulas in the scrolls of the Shikkotsu Forest.'
"Oni-Chan! I feel so sleepy."
Ayaka's vision blurs as she hugs him. Izuna catches her and lays her beside Mei.
"She will be fine after some sleep." He nods to his parents.
"Wonderful!"
Hashirama walks in front of Izuna as he curiously stares at the latter.
"Your Fuinjutsu skills are even better than Mito." He compliments Izuna.
"Thanks for the compliment, Lord First." Izuna nods his head.
"Hmm… Kid, I don't have enough time. I could last this long solely with my will. This body will dissipate soon before it happens; I have some things to discuss with you."
Hashirama's expression turns serious.
"Yes, I also have something important to talk to you."
Izuna nods his head and turns towards Akira and Aiko.
"I believe it's time to answer some unanswered questions."