(A/N: Surprise bonus chapter!)
"We're here Master!"
Yasaka cheered as she dragged a glum looking preteen, the girl's ears and tails looking freshly fluffed. They both wore a pair of white and blue kimonos that was still slightly damp from their bath. The man in question sat in the middle of a courtyard with a nearby meticulously taken care of flower garden, under a large and heavily gnarled tree that covered him completely from the overhead sun.
His long black hair pooled behind and around the edges of the small courtyard, blue eyes looking at the pair with a hint of warmth. These eyes seemed ancient, completely out of place on a human that didn't even look 30 yet. Before him sat 2 pillows with a tray of steaming tea off to the side. The aroma of which tickled at the girl's nose nicely.
"Thank you for having us, Master Yamato." Kunou bowed deeply just before taking a seat besides her mother who had practically pranced all the way over.
"There's no need to be polite Fox Junior, I was the one who called you here so unexpectedly." She could feel the ripple of Ki as the porcelain tea pot floated in the air. Bowing again, she held out a small cup and allowed the bright green liquid to be poured. If she thought the aroma was strong before, now it was boarding on the edge of uncomfortable. It had a sweet scent to it, like some strange mixture of fruit pressed down into a juice. But the amount of energy that wafted of it told her this wasn't some random drink.
"Thank you, Master Yamato."
"Thank you!"
The pair said in unison, their palms feeling the heat. Iori nodded before pouring himself a cup, the steam billowing up into the sky.
"This is called, Spirit Moon Tea." He intoned, eyes looking far into the distance past," It comes from the leaves of a Moon Demon Tree. But not just it's normal leaves. It grows a single fruit every century, poisonous of course. Very much so. Can easily kill most creatures who dare to eat the fruit."
She paused with the cup halfway to her lips, eyeing the steaming liquid with obvious trepidation.
"You're scaring Kunou-chan." The kitsune sipped loudly at the drink before holding out her cup for more.
"But it's leaves," A mischievous twinkle sparkled in his eyes," Are packed full of an opposing Ki befitting the poisonous nature of the fruit. It's healing properties are known to help with channel damage and further reinforce them to be more resilient over all."
"You are much too kind," Kunou bowed and graciously sipped at the liquid. Felt it's fruity flavor slip past her lips and down her throat. As it ran across her taste-buds, they danced in delight at the sweet and sour taste. There it sunk down her stomach and warmed her belly," Thank you Master Yamato."
"It's no big gift." The man waved airily," There's no reason for you to be uncomfortable if it can be avoided."
"It's estimated cost is around 3-4 billion yen." Yasaka said suddenly, her eyes close as she thoroughly enjoyed the brew.
"...What?"
The girl paused.
"Yeah." She nodded," It was considered a treasure back in the day. Something sects would literally kill for. Orthodox, Unorthodox or Rogue. It didn't matter. I didn't even know there were still Moon Demon Trees around anymore, where did you find these Master?"
"I grew it." He sighed in contentment. If Kunou wasn't near shaken and withdrawn from her mother's prank, she would've felt a bit of vindication seeing her face contort in confusion so great that it hadn't been seen in centuries.
"How?" Yasaka croaked," How is that possible?"
"…." Iori thought for a moment," The primary reason why normal plants can become natural treasures is because of the excess Ki they hold. So theoretically, any natural treasure could be produce artificially by injecting a certain amount of Ki into it. How are producing Spirit Plums if you didn't know this?"
"I've been keeping our old trees alive…" She sighed, slumping in defeat," Sure we have caretakers but every once and awhile I go a check them just in case. A few of them have died despite my attention and that's why those demands were crushing us so much."
"Ah." He nodded in understanding," They probably died because you were injecting them with Youki. Trees and plant life in general requires normal, natural Ki to live off of. Sure Youki can be used to help keep it afloat. But it'll be like slapping a band-aid on a deep cut. It's because on the type of environment they developed in. If you wanted a plant to be reliant on Youki then you'll need to alter the seeds."
"Oh," Yasaka sunk further into thought," I guess I never thought of it like that. So it's like trying to imbue someone with Corpse Ki?"
"Exactly." He nodded," Ki always tries to alter whatever it's inhabiting. Fire Ki burns, Earth Ki hardens etc. It means that you've slowly been forcefully changing your Spirit Plum Trees into Yokai."
"You're so mean Master!" Yasaka pouted cutely," You just made MORE work for me!"
"Then I will not keep you," He smiled serenely," Let's go onto the reason why I called you here, Fox Junior."
"..Huh?" Kunou was shaken out of her shock,"..Yes Master Yamato?"
"How are you feeling after clearing out your Heart?"
She had actually sit back and really think about it. Scanning her body with a thread of awareness, the girl noticed a few irregularities in her body.
"I feel fine." She said carefully," I think anyway?"
"As long as there's no pain, that all that matters." He nodded," Next question, did you notice anything on your way here?"
"Hmmmm," She thought back, flashing memories of the halls they passed,"...There weren't any people?"
She had found it strange, while her mother didn't employ too many maids their estate was still large enough to require at least a few. And it wasn't uncommon for there to be servants maintaining the building. Usually dusting, cooking, sweeping and just general cleaning. But despite walking from end of opposite side of the estate, she hadn't heard or seen any of them. Further thinking about it, even her usual friends/guards were nowhere in sight.
"Correct." Iori said," I've told Yasaka to send everyone home, for their own safety."
"What do you mean?"
Now Kunou was starting to get a little bit scared, what had happened?
"When you cleanse an organ, you take a single step forward on the food chain. That first step at eternity. It grants you a certain ability that'll forever separate you from everyone else. Based on your cleared organs, you can influence other people. For your instance, you have literal control over life and death at the mere flick of the finger. Your Heart produces a type of pressure that'll make other hearts seethe with envy. To bow in unison to yours. Meaning, you can control foreign heartbeats. Even at your most basic stage, you have no equals among your age group. No peer close to you in terms of power whatsoever. Your Heart now has the ability to kill, to instill fear so great that no one would dare ever cross you. For right now, only those who also cleared at least a single organ have any kind of defense against this pressure. But the more organs you clear, the stronger this pressure will become. This will happen with every single one of your organs, all capable of producing their pressure in kind. This is the power of the Divine Organs. The reason of why so many Ancient Practitioners had this legendary level of arrogance towards everyone to the point of calling all those not on the path, 'Mortals', it was well founded. You need to learn how to control this pressure, or else you'll kill anyone who gets too close."