Tengu * Fellow Transmigrant

After all that fuss, Izuna finally got to eat a hot meal.

He devoured the grilled fish, Miso Soup, white rice, and a plate of vegetables that Ban had added on the spot.

The wings on its back had retracted at some point, and the back of its single garment was now perfectly smooth.

He was in a coma for several days and was kept alive by the rice porridge that Tobirama fed him. His stomach was empty, and he ate so much that he barely had time to breathe.

Ban sat opposite him, looking at his starving, reincarnated appearance, and couldn't help but chuckle.

Eat slowly, no one's going to take it from you.

Izuna gave a mumbled reply and continued shoveling rice into her mouth.

Madara's smile didn't last long. He turned his gaze to the boy sitting cross-legged in the corner, smiling as he looked at Izuna, and his expression turned cold again.

"What exactly are you, you bastard?"

Mokushō adjusted his sleeves, sat up straight, and spoke with a more serious tone than before, "I am Mokushō, a Tree Yokai, and now his Shikigami."

"Shikigami? What are those?"

"You can think of it as a master-servant relationship. Your brother is now my master; he can order me around like Summoning Beast."

Madara raised an eyebrow slightly. "So you're a kind of humanoid Summoning Beast? That's quite rare."

"It's very common..." Mokushō complained softly.

Madara ignored the muttering and asked, "What is this Tengu you're talking about? Why do you say Izuna has awakened?"

Mokushō didn't hesitate for long before speaking, "Tengu are Great Yōkai who soar freely through the skies, extremely arrogant, and enjoy manipulating all living beings at will."

Izuna's chopsticks stopped in mid-air, and a piece of grilled fish slipped from the tip of his chopsticks and fell back into the bowl.

He looked up, his expression slowly shifting from confusion to a subtle sense of guilt. "Huh? Me?"

Madara's face darkened. "How dare you speak ill of Izuna?"

"Hey, this isn't a bad thing, it's the truth. The Tengu Clan is just such a clan." Mokushō raised a finger, his tone carrying a complex emotion that was hard to describe as either reverence or fear. "All turmoil and natural disasters are controlled by these demonic people. The fate of the nation is entirely in their hands. Whether the country is destroyed or prospered depends entirely on their whim."

"Arresting people whenever they want, playing to their heart's content without any regard for others' feelings, stirring up trouble at will—this is the Tengu, both extremely arrogant and extremely noble."

Izuna put down his chopsticks completely.

He stared blankly at Mokushō, his eyes wide. He thought to himself, "No, is this talking about me? I'm a college graduate... uh, now I'm just a fresh graduate working a regular job. If I had that kind of ability, I would have already found a place to lie down and retire! Why would I be thinking about building a village Tenten because I'm afraid of war?"

But Madara fell into deep thought.

To be honest, Izuna did have an arrogance that he didn't know where it came from.

At certain moments, such as when formulating diplomatic strategies, he had never seen anyone else display such an air of self-assured confidence in controlling the overall situation.

They handle matters decisively and efficiently, without caring about any personal relationships or interests involved.

Now that we've come this far... it seems... Izuna really enjoys using missions as a pretext to move people between different families around, and by the time the other side realizes what's happening, they've already been led by the nose without even realizing it.

He even dared to arrange for the Uchiha and Senju, who were enemies, to work together. For various reasons, no one dared to disobey his arrangements. Although he did all the right things, it was true that everyone was completely led astray by him.

And he often acts on his own whims, which, while we don't really object, is indeed a bit too... free.

Is this what they call the personality of Tengu?

He glanced up at Izuna. Izuna was poking at the grilled fish in his bowl with his chopsticks, his brows furrowed, and he was muttering something under his breath.

Ban mentally compared the string of descriptions he had just heard with the person in front of him, and then immediately dismissed those thoughts.

Izuna has a very good personality; you could even say he's gentle.

If you were to ask who in Konoha is the kindest-hearted person, everyone would say it's Izuna.

He loved children the most, and could get along well with all the young people in the clan. Everyone spoke highly of him, and he could even persuade the most stubborn and combative member of the clan. Even Tobirama, that cold-blooded guy, took good care of him.

When he saw the child with Explosive Tags on the Arena, intending to take him down with him, his first reaction wasn't anger, but a sigh, and then he let the child go.

How could someone so adorable be that damn Tengu that Mu Mokushō was talking about?

"Well, I've already said it, so if you don't believe me, that's fine too." Mokushō shrugged.

Izuna finally found his voice, pointing to his nose, his voice trembling. "But, but..."

Madara, unusually, interrupted Izuna.

His expression was calm. "Putting aside where you heard this ridiculous rumor, I'll ask you one thing. Do you know exactly what abilities the Tengu possesses?"

"Uh, you really don't know?"

There is no such race as Yōkai in this world.

Mokushō was taken aback for a moment. "Eh... that's really strange."

"Speak quickly, or I'll have Izuna break the Contract."

"No!" Mokushō jumped up, then froze, seemingly realizing he had exposed his weakness. Even without seeing his face, his frustration was palpable.

Ban raised an eyebrow slightly. Was he really afraid of this? Was it because he had latched onto a Tengu master? That made sense. He himself had said that Tengu was extremely great. If Summoning Beast could rely on a powerful master, it would indeed be happy.

"Then speak quickly."

"Don't terminate the contract... I'll tell you..." Mokushō sat down again, placing his hands neatly on his knees. "Tengu... well... let's put it this way, if he's in a bad mood, he can summon Hurricane."

Izuna:?!

Madara's pupils contracted slightly. "So strong?"

"What kind of beings do you think the Tengu are?" Mokushō puffed out his chest, his voice regaining its previous unpretentious tone, "They can fly to the heavens and dive into the earth, they can summon wind and rain, they are omnipotent! The Tengu can only be defeated by the Tengu, there is nothing in this world they cannot do!"

Madara seemed to be deep in thought. He just wanted to find out why Izuna could fly and why she was unharmed after jumping off the cliff, so he could find an explanation to clarify these things just in case.

As it turned out, Mokushō poured out much more stuff than he had expected.

Hurricanes, capable of summoning wind and rain, invincible under heaven? This isn't just a matter of ability; it's a myth. Does such a being truly exist in this world?

Izuna's expression changed from blank to that of an elderly man on the subway looking at his phone.

His eyebrows furrowed, his lips turned down, and he scrutinized Mokushō from head to toe with a critical gaze. "No, do I look like that kind of guy? Speaking of which, you just mentioned the demonic path, didn't you? The demonic path is no good! I'm not a demon!"

Let's leave that aside for now.

Madara tapped his fingers lightly on the table twice, completely ignoring Izuna's protest of "Let's not talk about that for now?!": "Don't just flatter me like that. Explain to me, point by point, what exactly the Tengu you're talking about can do."

Mokushō stroked his chin. "Well, if I know something more common, the first thing that comes to mind is flying."

Even without wings, the Tengu can ascend to great heights through its affinity with nature.

"To give an analogy," he said, holding up a finger, "It's like the Sharingan's innate ability to perceive things; it doesn't need to be taught, it just comes naturally."

"Wait a minute." Madara raised his hand, interrupting him. "You're talking as if Tengu awakening and Sharingan awakening are the same thing."

"It's the same thing. Don't you Uchiha awaken your Sharingan and wings at the same time?"

Ban fell silent.

He stared at Mokushō's face, which was mostly covered by Talisman Paper, and suddenly realized something.

Everything the child just said is common sense to him.

Just like the Uchiha Clan having the Sharingan and the Senju Clan having strong regenerative abilities, these were commonplace things in his world.

The series of questions he just asked, "What is Tengu?" probably sounded to the child like he was asking what outsiders' attitudes were toward the Uchiha.

Knowing all this, he still dared to say to his face that Tengu was a demonic being; he was utterly audacious.

But the child's admiration for the Tengu was genuine. When he said "extremely great" and "capable of summoning wind and rain and doing everything," he puffed out his chest with pride, as if he himself could fly.

I both fear and respect him, both criticize and praise him. I really don't know what this guy is thinking.

Izuna seemed to realize the problem as well. He exchanged a glance with Madara, but did nothing, continuing to ask, "Besides flying, what else?"

Mokushō counted on his fingers. "You can summon wind and rain! When you're angry, the weather often changes, with lightning, thunder, and strong winds. In severe cases, it can rain for several days in a row."

Izuna couldn't help but reveal a strange expression, like an old man on the subway looking at his phone.

Madara seemed to be deep in thought, then he turned to Izuna and said with a very serious expression, "Izuna, from now on you can only eat one of the Three-Colored Dango a day."

"No!" Izuna screamed.

Mokushō burst out laughing.

Ban glanced at the pitch-black sky outside the window, raised an eyebrow, and thought, "The weather hasn't changed."

Izuna realized what was happening and slammed his fist on the table in exasperation. "Madara-kun! Are you kidding me?!"

"Sorry," Madara said, but the corners of his mouth didn't turn down at all.

Mokushō suppressing a laugh, saying, "It's the middle of the night; even if there are dark clouds, you can't see them."

"You two!" Izuna grabbed a cherry tomato from the table and threw it at Mokushō. Mokushō nimbly caught it and respectfully placed it back into Izuna's bowl with both hands.

This action drew attention from Ban.

Mokushō coughed twice, straightened his cuffs, and continued, "Also, each Tengu can conjure flames out of thin air, and they cannot be extinguished by ordinary means."

Izuna blinked. "Amaterasu?"

"Huh? Ah, I don't think so? I remember Amaterasu's flames are black." Mokushō tilted his head, his red eyes on the paper narrowing slightly. "That's natural flame, a normal orange-red."

"Eh, I see." Izuna nodded thoughtfully, then changed the subject, his tone suddenly becoming nonchalant, "But how do you know about Amaterasu? Could it be...?"

Mokushō's body stiffened slightly, the reaction was extremely subtle, but nothing could be hidden in front of Madara.

Madara frowned. Amaterasu was just the name of the sun goddess; why was he so nervous about it?

Izuna slowly uttered the second half of his sentence: "You've watched Hokage too?"

Mokushō relaxed for a moment, then immediately jumped up, his voice filled with the ecstatic joy of meeting an old friend in a foreign land. "Hey! You can't be...!"

"The pagoda suppresses the river demon!"

"Heavenly King covers the Earth Tiger!" Mokushō blurted out, then paused, his tone shifting from elation to confusion, "Good heavens, why are you testing me backwards?"

Izuna, chin in hand, said smugly, "I was just afraid you wouldn't be able to answer."

Mokushō put his hands on his hips. "Are you afraid I'll answer correctly?"

"Hehe~★"