Izuna flickers to the borders of the Land of Ancestor. He makes a hand sign and releases a signal to summon the rest of the members.
The three Sins appear beside him.
"Here! Finally, I have a lead on Five-tails location."
Izuna tosses a scroll towards them.
"Collect the chakra of the Five-tails and report to me in Konoha."
"Yes, Leader!"
Whoosh…
The group disappears from his vision.
Sigh…
Izuna takes a deep breath and enters the Grimoire Space. He appears in front of Minato's and Kushina's soul.
"Minato-san, Kushina Nee-san! After eleven years of wait, I can finally fulfill my promise to you."
Sob… sob…
Kushina's eyes turn teary and she hugs Izuna.
"Thank you… thank you… Izuna-chan. I can't describe my happiness in words."
Hu… Hu…
Minato nods his head as a smile appears on his face.
"Of course! I have to take good care of my little brother."
Izuna smiles sheepishly.
"His eleventh birthday is close and I want to make it memorable for him."
"Yes!" Kushina wipes her tears.
"I can finally hug him in person. All these years, it has been hard for him."
Yin Kurama opens one of its eyes and stares at the group. The old memories of his family wash over him.
Humph…
He snorts and closes his eyes.
"Humans and their emotions…"
-----------
Later in Konoha,
Inside the Hokage Office,
"Tsunade! I have something very important to tell you."
Izuna's expression is serious as he sits opposite Tsunade.
Hmm…
Tsunade's expression changes and she waves her hand to dismiss the Anbus.
"What's the matter? It has been a while since I last saw you with such an expression. The last time was during the attack on the village. Is the village going to suffer another calamity?"
Tsunade slams her palms on the table, anxiety clear on her face.
"No!"
Izuna shakes his head.
"But the situation is in no way inferior to the previous one."
Tsunade's expression turns grim.
"If so, then I have to summon the clan leader and the village council. We can't delay this matter any longer."
Tsunade takes out a scroll and brush from her drawer, ready to write a summon letter.
"Wait!"
Izuna stops her.
"The circumstance this time are different, and it isn't wise to inform so many people. After all, I don't want the process to fail."
Tsunade places down her brush and asks him.
"So! What's the situation you are talking about?"
"It's better to see it in person. Besides, others are already present there."
Mm…
Tsunade nods her head.
-------------
In a Secret Underground room,
"We are already here! Now won't you fill me on the details?"
Tsunade and Izuna walk through a passage as Tsunade asks him.
"Have some patience! You will understand once we get there."
Tsunade observes her surroundings and remarks.
"Danzo has built quite a fort here. I never knew his Root had grown to such an extent. The number of resources required to build this base must be quite high."
"What do you expect?! The third Hokage turned a blind eye to most of Danzo's questionable actions, thus giving him an incentive to be more unbridled."
Izuna shakes his head.
"Well…"
Tsunade has a conflicted expression on her face.
She can't deny Izuna's words since there is some truth to them. But she also can't blame her Sensei for Danzo's deeds.
'This reminds me of the situation with Jiraiya and Orochimaru. One grew in the shadow of Sensei, the other in Danzo's. If only…'
Tsunade shakes her head and discards her thoughts.
Soon, both of them arrive in a large hallway.
There are a few people already present in the hallway. Tsunade recognizes all of them.
"Sakuma-san, Mizukage-san, Kakashi, Guy, Itachi, Shisui, you all…"
"Greetings Hokage-sama."
All of them greet her.
She turns to Izuna for answers.
"These are a few of the people I trust the most in the village. Today, I am going to perform a crucial forbidden technique and I need all of you to watch over me. Though the chances of failure are slim still I can't afford to take any risk."
Izuna enters the hall, and the group follows.
Whoosh…
As soon as the group enters the hall, a dense wave of chakra assaults them.
Swoosh…
A Fuinjutsu formation lit up and erects a barrier.
"This is…"
The eyes of the group turn into slits as a massive Fuinjutsu seal appears in front of them.
The seal extends to the other end of the giant hall, spanning a distance of almost fifty meters.
"Such complex seal…"
Tsunade takes a deep breath as she stares at the giant seal.
"Even the barrier formation surrounding Konoha isn't this complex." She remarks.
"Yes! Although I don't have any detailed knowledge in Fuinjutsu still I have paid a few visits to the Barrier team's headquarters and that seal lacks compared to this seal. No… there is no comparison at all."
Sakuma nods his head in agreement.
"Hmm… I remembered Izuna made some changes to the barrier formation around the village after the chunnin exam event. But this is on an entirely different scale." Kakashi remarks.
Shisui and Itachi silently agree with the fact.
"Of course… I have exhausted all of my Fuinjutsu knowledge to create this seal. You can say it to be the finest masterpiece. This seal took me ten years to complete." Izuna remarks with a smug expression.
"Ten years…"
The group sucks a breath of cold air as they stare at Izuna with wide eyes.
"What… what kind of seal is this? You are a Fuinjutsu Grandmaster and it took you ten years to complete this seal."
Tsunade peers in Izuna's eyes.
Kakashi, Itachi, and Shisui activate their Mangekyo Sharingan and inspect the seal.
There are eight different circular nodes on the outer edge of the seals. Various seals which are connected to a giant central node surround the other circular nodes.
The central node is a giant Tai-chi symbol. One-half of the circle is black separated by a curved line. There are two giant white dots in the black half instead of the usual one. Similarly, the other white half has two giant black dots instead of one.
The seal is absorbing vast amounts of Nature energy from the surroundings.
Tsunade senses the abnormal flow of Nature energy whereas the trio of Kakashi, Itachi, and Shisui can see the flow of Nature energy with their Sharingan.
"Wha… what's the purpose of this seal?"
Tsunade questions him.
"I am also interested in this seal. Somehow, I can sense an abnormal amount of energy from this seal."
Mei remarks.
"How do I say it? This energy is similar to chakra, but it is also a bit different."
Mei shakes her head in confusion.
'What?! Mei can sense Nature energy.'
Izuna raises an eyebrow.
'When I met her for the first time, I sensed her aptitude for the Sage Mode and it was average. She wasn't suited to learn Sage Mode. But now, she can sense Nature energy without any help. What's going on?'
Many thoughts flash through Izuna's mind and he is unable to conclude.
'Is it because she bore my child?
NO! NO! What am I even thinking of?'
He furiously shakes his head and discards such thoughts.
"It's the Nature energy. This seal is absorbing large amounts of Nature energy to sustain itself. But I am not sure of the details."
The group turns to Izuna for answers.
Ahem…
Izuna clears his throat and enters in his professor mode as he explains.
"…"
The group rolls their eyes as they stare at Izuna. Still, they attentively listen to Izuna's explanation.
"The basis of Fuinjutsu is to use your chakra as a medium to create desired effects since your chakra is completely under your control. However, not everyone is proficient enough to draw using chakra. It requires a certain degree of mastery to achieve that feat…"
Izuna stares at them with a smug, as if implying something.
"…"
The rest of the group silently nods their head in understanding.
'Narcissist! This guy is a Narcissist.'
After a short pause, he continues the explanation.
"Thus, the Fuinjutsu seals are drawn using the ink made from the ingredients grown in the Shikkotsu Forest. Those ingredients are rich in Nature energy and can easily act as a substitute for one's chakra.
However, the effect of such seals is not that great, and it limits the potential of the seal. But in this case, I substituted my chakra with the Nature energy. The reason being, if I used my chakra to create this seal; the seal will crumble apart once I left this place.
It is part of the reason why sealing scrolls are made of the bark of trees grown in Shikkotsu Forest. That paper has special chakra conductive property and can retain the external chakra for almost a millennium." Izuna finishes his explanation as he ponders to himself.
'Also, this seal is a test of my fuinjutsu abilities. I have been stuck at the Grandmaster level of Fuinjutsu for nearly 14 years.
Finally, after so much pondering, I saw a new hope to reach the next level. To touch on that level, I have to return to basic. Since Fuinjutsu affects Nature and Nature energy is derived from Nature; then what will happen if I use Nature energy infused with my will to draw the seal.
Only one way to test it out.'