Inside Kurama Yakumo's body, there resides a monstrous second personality, an inner demon called "Ido."
It was Ido who, after Yakumo's failed request to her parents to attend the ninja academy, broke free from her mental restraints. Using Yakumo's bloodline ability, it unleashed a fire that burned down the house, resulting in the deaths of Yakumo's parents.
"At this moment, Yakumo still does not know that she was the cause of her parents' death. She believes that the Third Hokage, fearing her bloodline abilities, tried to kill her with fire but mistakenly ended up killing her parents. Fortunately, the death of the Third Hokage has somewhat eased the resentment in her heart."
Furen gently raised his hand and softly stroked Yakumo's dark hair as she used a paintbrush to create a painting.
After Furen requested to see Yakumo's bloodline limit, Yakumo, blushing, picked up her brush and began to paint. The painting depicted a serene forest, with a deer leaping gracefully through the trees, resembling a sprite.
The youthful stirrings of love were expressed perfectly in this painting.
From time to time, Yakumo glanced shyly at Furen, her eyes filled with cautious affection.
Kurama Yakumo's favorability towards you +20%
"Furen-kun… Sensei Kurenai might come back…" Yakumo murmured softly with her head lowered.
Furen, realizing the moment had come, let go of her dark locks and shifted his gaze to the painting in her hand.
This painting represented the bloodline ability of the Kurama clan, which Yakumo manifested through her art.
"Are you ready, Furen-kun?" Yakumo asked, patting her flushed cheeks.
"Yes, I'm ready," Furen replied.
Yakumo nodded. In the next moment, without Furen feeling any discomfort or disorientation, he found himself inside the tranquil forest depicted in the painting.
"So, I've already entered the illusion..." Furen looked down at his hands, surprisingly not feeling any discomfort.
Furen had experienced many illusions before, but he could always sense a difference in them. For instance, his Mind Body Chaos Technique often gave him an unsettling feeling in his mind, but in this place, there was no such unease at all.
As Furen pondered how he might handle such a situation if it occurred during battle, a deer with a lively and intelligent look in its eyes leaped out of the nearby forest. It approached Furen, rubbing its soft head against his leg.
At this moment, Furen knew that Yakumo was controlling everything in the environment. He gently stroked the head of the little deer and began to ponder.
"How do I draw out that inner demon, Ido?"
He needed to bring out the monster Ido from within Yakumo and eliminate it. If he could resolve the inner demon issue, along with freeing Yakumo from it, her favorability toward him would greatly increase.
Currently, Yakumo's favorability had already reached 55%. Furen estimated that in order to extract the Kurama clan's bloodline from Yakumo, her favorability would need to reach at least 75% to appear in the reward pool.
"Yakumo, can you change the scene again? I want to see the power of your bloodline illusion in a combat setting," Furen asked, knowing that Yakumo was observing and could manipulate the environment at will.
"What kind of illusion would you like to see, Furen-kun?" The little deer beside Furen suddenly spoke in a human voice.
"Hm, how about an illusion of a burning scene?"
Furen suggested. Fire had always been a nightmare for Yakumo, something she was reluctant to touch, as it was the very thing that had killed her parents.
Though her heart was filled with reluctance, Yakumo, who held Furen in such high regard, still complied without hesitation. The peaceful forest quickly began to burn, and in the blink of an eye, the entire forest was engulfed in flames.
The heat of the fire rolled through the air, feeling incredibly real to Furen. If Yakumo wished, she could even make the flames in this illusion materialize in reality — such was the power of the Kurama clan's bloodline, turning illusion into reality.
With the appearance of the flames, the once serene atmosphere became filled with danger. Furen could genuinely feel the heat of the fire scorching him.
Gradually, the fire grew more intense, almost as if things were getting out of control. Furen tried to call out to Yakumo again, but there was no response this time.
"Finally… it's happening, huh?" A smile appeared on Furen's lips. It seemed his method had successfully awakened Yakumo's inner demon, Ido.
"Heh…"
A sound like the dry heave of a giant creature emanated from the distance.
Furen followed the sound and saw the enlarged silhouette of Kurama Yakumo's back amidst the burning scenery. As he gazed at her, the figure slowly turned around, revealing a grotesque face on what had once been Yakumo's back. It was her second personality, Ido.
Furen began walking slowly toward Ido.
Ido noticed Furen but did not attack, merely sitting quietly. Since Yakumo had positive feelings toward Furen, her second personality, Ido, also held no hostility toward him.
As Furen approached Ido, he raised his hand, and in a swift motion, a weapon appeared in his grip. Before Ido could react, Furen plunged it into Ido's head.
It was... the paintbrush that Yakumo had been using earlier when she was painting.
Once the paintbrush pierced Ido's head, Ido's body froze, and then it shattered, breaking apart into countless fragments before dissipating into the illusion.
At that moment, the memories stored within Yakumo's second personality, Ido, were fully revealed.
Flames, blood, death, her parents…
The truth was laid bare.
In Furen's eyes, the burning illusion began to melt away, like a painting being washed clean by water, until it vanished, bringing them back to reality.
In the real world, Kurama Yakumo was now sobbing, her tear-filled eyes buried against Furen's chest, soaking his clothes.
"Furen-kun…"
Having learned the truth about her parents' deaths, Yakumo felt as if her world had collapsed. In Ido's final moments, all of her memories were laid bare before her.
"This wasn't your fault, Yakumo..." Furen gently stroked Yakumo's head as she cried in his arms, softly comforting her.
But Yakumo continued to sob, overwhelmed by the cruel reality that had been revealed to her.
Kurama Yakumo's favorability toward you: +45%
Ding!
Congratulations, host! Kurama Yakumo's favorability has reached 100%. You now have two remaining chances to draw rewards. Would you like to activate them?
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T/N:
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