Brainwashing Yakumo Kurama

A dozen kilometers away in the air from the Yomi, Yichen and Izumi Uchiha were flying towards Iwagakure.

Izumi Uchiha asked Yichen, somewhat puzzled, "Lord Tsuchikage, why didn't you just kill this person?"

"He was imprisoned in the village for six years, so he must harbor a deep resentment towards the village."

"I'm worried he'll retaliate against the village."

Yichen said, "You don't understand people like Yomi. Yomi is very similar to Danzo; they both have ambitions far beyond ordinary people."

"They will stop at nothing to achieve their ambitions."

"Does Danzo not know I have ill intentions? Of course he does."

"The reason he's willing to cooperate with me is because he needs to become Hokage again to achieve his ambitions."

"If he can't become Hokage, he might feel that life has no meaning."

"His journey to becoming Hokage was all about serving us, regardless of whether he ultimately succeeded."

"Yomi is the same. Once he's out of our control, he'll do everything he can to expand his power and strengthen himself."

"For Yomi to expand its power, some existing power must suffer losses."

"And his Dark Medical Ninjutsu is amazing; he's immune to conventional attacks."

"But his Dark Medical Ninjutsu isn't a panacea; it can't counter my Light Release."

What do you think he would do in this situation?

Izumi Uchiha and said, "He will go to Konoha, Cloud ninja, or Mist ninja to develop his influence."

"He will cause trouble for our enemies."

Yichen smiled and said, "That's right. At least for now, letting him out is beneficial to the village."

"His growth and expansion have been beneficial to us."

"As for the future, if we reach a point where we absolutely have to kill him, to be honest, I don't even consider him a threat."

Izumi Uchiha; she had learned something.

Yichen said, "Our ultimate goal is to Unifying the Ninja World, and we will encounter many enemies in the process."

"If we can create trouble for the enemy without going to war, then what are we hesitating for?"

"This is something your Uchiha Clan has never done well. You clearly possess great martial power, yet you have always been suppressed by the Konoha High-ranking officials. The root cause is that you are always thinking about destruction."

"You know, sometimes, compromise and concessions are more worthwhile than trying to take everything."

Izumi Uchiha said, "I understand, Lord Tsuchikage."

After dealing with Yomi and returning to the village, Yichen went to the Ninja Academy and found Shion.

Upon seeing Yichen, Shion quickly greeted him, "Lord Tsuchikage."

Yichen patted the little girl's head and said, "Little Chōmei said that you're not very serious about your cultivation."

Shion quickly retorted, "No way, I've been working really hard at my cultivation."

As she spoke, she glanced at Yichen somewhat guiltily.

Yichen said, "I have some bad news for you."

"The Moryo within you originally had a loyal follower named Yomi. Before we sealed the Moryo, he took away a portion of its Moryo's Power."

"But later I caught this man and locked him up in the village Prison."

"He's been in this situation for over six years, but just now, he escaped."

Shion's mouth opened slightly. She thought for a moment and asked, "Did he leave more than an hour ago?"

Yichen asked curiously, "How did you know?"

Shion said, "A little over an hour ago, the Moryo within me stirred a bit, but it quickly calmed down, and I didn't think much of it."

Yichen understood. "As expected, Shion sensed Yomi's departure."

However, on the surface, Yichen said with a look of disappointment, "Why didn't you say so sooner? Otherwise, we could have started tracking you sooner and maybe even caught Yomi again."

Shion asked cautiously, "What will happen if he runs away?"

Yichen said solemnly, "He will come back for you and release the Moryo from your body."

"The Moryo has been released, and I can defeat it again, but you, as the Miko, will surely die."

Shion's face paled, and she quickly grabbed Yichen's clothes, saying, "Lord Tsuchikage, what should I do?"

Yichen shook his head and remained silent.

Seeing this, Shion panicked; the little girl was on the verge of tears.

Seeing this, Yichen sighed and said, "I have no choice. I can't stay by your side forever."

"But you might have a way."

Shion asked, puzzled, "What can I do?"

Yichen said, "If you can completely digest the Moryo before the Yomi come looking for you, then you don't need to be afraid of it."

Shion immediately asked, "Then Lord Tsuchikage, what should I do?"

Yichen said, "How about this, I'll have the Anbu Guard escort you to the village's laboratory specializing in Yin Release techniques every day, and have my disciple Katsuya and my sister Natsuki teach you how to quickly digest the Moryo."

Shion dared not object; she immediately nodded in agreement and said, "Lord Tsuchikage, from now on I will definitely train diligently."

Yichen nodded and said, "I'll take you there now."

Shion nodded hurriedly. She was even more anxious than Yichen. Heaven help her, she was truly terrified.

A moment later, Yichen emerged from Katsuya's laboratory. Recalling Shion's earnest cultivation just moments before, he sighed inwardly, "You really have to use trickery to deal with kids."

After arranging Shion's training, Yichen then went to find Yakumo Kurama.

Yakumo Kurama is one year older than Shion and Sakura, and the same age as Neji and Kurotsuchi.

However, due to his physical condition, Yichen arranged for him to be in the same year as Sakura, and to be in the same class as Sakura.

In Yichen's plan, Sakura, Shion, and Yakumo Kurama were in the same group, and Yichen had already decided on the team leader: Uzumaki Riori.

Of the three, Sakura has long since Earth Flow a path of simultaneously developing Medical Ninja and Yin Release.

Shion also began practicing Yin Release techniques to accelerate the digestion of the Moryo within her body.

Only Yakumo Kurama remained, Yichen felt it was time to have a serious talk with her.

When Yichen found Yakumo Kurama at the Ninja Academy, she was carrying a drawing board and sitting on a large bird created using a Super Beast Imitation Drawing.

Yakumo Kurama is now the Ninja Academy. She is leading a large group of underlings around the school, and other children give her a wide berth. She has the air of a big sister.

Previously, Neji, Kurotsuchi, and Karin, who were a year ahead of her, could still outmaneuver her. However, after the three graduated, no one at the Ninja Academy could handle this girl anymore.

Yichen watched her stroll around the Ninja Academy's training ground as if inspecting his territory.

Then Yichen used his Porcelain Release to transform into a small mud ball and hit her on the head from a distance.

Yakumo Kurama was furious. "Who in the Ninja Academy dares to mess with me these days?"

She turned around angrily and quickly spotted the murderer.

When she saw that the person who hit her was Yichen, who was smiling, she was stunned for a moment, and then she dismissed her group of followers somewhat guiltily.

Then, Yakumo Kurama urged the large bird beneath her feet to come to Yichen's side, and she whispered, "Lord Tsuchikage."

Yichen nodded and said, "Yakumo, are you having a good time in Iwagakure?"

Yakumo Kurama stuck out her little tongue, thinking, "Can't you tell whether I'm happy or not?"

But outwardly, she still obediently said, "Lord Tsuchikage, I'm very happy. Iwagakure is wonderful."

Yichen nodded and said, "Let's find a quiet place. I want to talk to you about something we didn't finish discussing a few years ago."

Yakumo Kurama was taken aback, then remembered that when Yichen brought her from Konoha, Yichen had said he would tell her the truth that the Fifth Hokage Tsunade and her teacher Kurenai Yūhi had hidden from her.

Suddenly, Yakumo Kurama slowed down the speed of her flying bird. She had a premonition that this truth was not what she wanted to know.

But running away was useless. Although she slowed down her flight speed, she eventually flew to Yichen's side.

The two sat on the rooftop of a teaching building at the Ninja Academy. Yichen said, "Yakumo, have you felt anything unusual about your body these past few years?"

Yakumo Kurama was silent for a moment, then said, "Is there something strange inside me?"

Yichen nodded and said, "It seems you already know."

Yakumo Kurama said, "My strength has increased very quickly. At first, I thought it was because of my talent, but later I sensed something was wrong."

"The seal that the Lord Tsuchikage and Shion's mother placed on me back then continues to provide me with power."

"This power doesn't just appear out of thin air. I feel like my situation is similar to the Jinchuriki described in the books."

"So I suspect there's something strange inside me."

Yichen nodded and then asked, "Do you have any guesses about what's inside your body?"

Yakumo Kurama remained silent; she had a guess, but dared not speak.

Seeing this, Yichen said, "You have a second you inside you, but that you are different from your current kind and innocent self."

"It's ferocious and terrifying; its personality and thoughts are completely opposite to yours."

"He is the murderer who killed your parents!"

Hearing Yichen's words, Yakumo Kurama did not show much shock. In the past few years, she had left Konoha and her thinking had become much more open.

Now that she no longer gets stuck on things like before, she can look at her own problems from an outsider's perspective.

The Ninja Academy's education taught her how to analyze intelligence and how to think critically.

Therefore, she had already guessed that this was the outcome she least wanted to hear.

After a moment of silence, Yichen asked, "Yakumo, what are your plans next?"

"Don't worry, just say it. Even if you want to go back to Konoha, I won't stop you."

Yakumo Kurama shook his head and said, "Lord Tsuchikage, I don't want to go back to Konoha. I want to know if my clansmen are all well?"

Yichen thought for a moment and said, "Don't worry, many members of your Kurama Clan have lost their ninja talent. They are dispensable in Konoha, and no one will target them."

Yakumo Kurama then asked, "Lord Tsuchikage, how is Teacher Kurenai now?"

Yichen said, "Kurenai Yūhi? I'm not sure either. If you want to know, I can have the Anbu inquire about it."

Yakumo Kurama thought for a moment, then shook her head and said, "Forget it, I've disappointed her."

Yichen laughed and said, "Let's not talk about that. Have you ever wondered why such a monster would grow inside you?"

Yichen quickly changed the subject; he didn't want Yakumo Kurama to keep dwelling on Kurenai Yūhi's affairs. It wasn't conducive to brainwashing her.

Yakumo Kurama looked at Yichen and said urgently, "I don't know, Lord Tsuchikage, do you know?"

Yichen's question struck a chord with her. Yes, why is it that everyone else is normal, but she has a monster inside her?

Yichen said, "Because you live in this wrong Ninja World."

Yakumo Kurama was puzzled. "What wrong Ninja World? Don't we all live in this Ninja World?"

Yichen looked up at the sky, his gaze somewhat unfocused, and said, "The world we live in is dark. Although the sunlight is intense, it can only dispel the darkness outside, but it cannot dispel the darkness in people's hearts."

Upon hearing this, Yakumo Kurama immediately felt that the topic had suddenly become much more sophisticated.

"Since the Sage of Six Paths established the Ninja Sect, the Ninja World has never had a single day of peace."

"The Sage of Six Paths spread Chakra with the intention of enabling people to understand each other, but that's simply unrealistic."

"Ninjas possess superhuman strength and naturally have no desire to abide by worldly rules."

"Many ninjas attempt to use their own power to break the established rules, to place themselves above the existing rules, and to create new rules according to their own will."

"And so began the conflict. The Ninja World has never known peace since."

"First came the internal strife within the Ninja Sect, then the infighting between Ninja Clans, and now it has escalated into a large-scale war between Great Ninja Village."

Yakumo Kurama thought for a moment and asked, "Can't we just stop everyone from fighting?"

Yichen shook his head and said, "The purpose of ninjas' learning and training is for power, and the purpose of gaining power is for profit."

"Stop everyone from fighting, and that's stopping everyone from fighting for their own interests. Who's willing to give up their own interests? Who doesn't want a better life?"

Yakumo Kurama thought about it and realized it made sense, but what did it have to do with him?

Yichen continued, "For thousands of years, the ninja clan's ideology has been deeply ingrained: if a strong ninja emerges, everyone benefits."

"So when your people learned of your talent, they placed enormous expectations on you."

"But your parents don't want you to shoulder the burden of reviving the family."

"So two different personalities emerged during your upbringing."

"One is you, the one currently out in the public eye. This Yakumo Kurama is pampered by her parents and lives a carefree life."

"Another Yakumo Kurama grew up amidst the expectations of her clan; she was resilient, yearning for power, and ambitious for the future."

Yakumo Kurama fell into deep thought.

Just then, Yichen added softly, "Perhaps what gives rise to another Yakumo Kurama is not only the expectations of the clan, but also the expectations of their parents."

Yakumo Kurama was taken aback, and then scenes from his childhood with his parents began to surface in his mind.

At that time, her parents' eyes seemed to hold both a doting love that wanted to shield her from all the storms of life and a desire for her to become a strong person and revitalize the family.

A moment later, Yakumo Kurama said, "Lord Tsuchikage, thank you, thank you for clearing up my doubts."

Yichen smiled and said, "No matter what the future holds, you are now a part of the village."

"As the Tsuchikage, it is my duty to care for the younger generation of the village."

"Besides, you're someone I brought from Konoha. If I don't care about you, no one else will."

After a long silence, Yakumo Kurama asked, "Lord Tsuchikage, do you have a way to end the conflict in the Ninja World?"

"Without conflict, surely no one would be as unfortunate as me."

Yichen laughed and said, "Yes, there is. If I didn't even have this method, why would I be the Tsuchikage?"

"If I'm not striving for this goal, then what's the difference between me and those who constantly wage wars for their own ambitions?"

After a pause, Yichen said, "To end the conflict in the Ninja World, I have chosen two approaches."

"First, Unifying the Ninja World Ninja World, making it a single ninja village, and turning all conflicts into something like the Chunin Ninja Exams."

"Instead of the current situation where tens of thousands of ninjas are constantly fighting each other."

"Secondly, find a common enemy for all ninjas, and under external pressure, completely eliminate any thought of infighting among them."

"Everyone is focused on this enemy and working together towards the same goal."

Yakumo Kurama asked curiously, "Who is that common enemy? Konoha?"

Yichen shook his head and said, "What are you thinking? Konoha is also part of the Ninja World, so naturally it's someone I need to unite with."

"The common enemy I'm referring to is an invading force, just like the Rabbit Goddess Kaguya Otsutsuki."

"These people want to destroy the Ninja World from the ground up; they are the common enemy of all of us."

Yakumo Kurama paused, then said, "Didn't the newspaper say that the Rabbit Goddess was defeated by the Sage of Six Paths?"

Yichen said, "That's right. The Rabbit Goddess is sealed inside the moon, and the Sage of Six Paths's Brother is there to guard her."

"But who said there's only one Rabbit Goddess?"

Yakumo Kurama was startled and blurted out, "She has accomplices?"

Yichen nodded and said, "Yes, she has accomplices, and more than one. Those powerful, god-like figures are still coveting our homeland."

"Some of these people are even more powerful than the Rabbit Goddess."

"To deal with these people, we need, and we must, unite."

"Leaving aside these people, let's just talk about the Rabbit Goddess."

"The Rabbit Goddess has been sealed in the moon for thousands of years, at least a thousand, but I don't know the exact number."

"But she's still alive, and there's a force in the Ninja World that wants to release her to destroy the Ninja World once again."

Yakumo Kurama exclaimed in surprise, "How is this possible? How can someone live for a thousand years?"

Yichen paused for a moment, then said, "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. I know of seven beings who have survived from a thousand years ago."

Yakumo Kurama swallowed hard. She felt Yichen was telling a myth. This was completely different from the worldview she had formed before.

Yichen said, "You know the three Summoning Beasts, right? They each have a Sage has lived since the time of the Sage of Six Paths."

"Among them, the Sage Gama-Maru of Mount Myōboku once instructed the Sage of Six Paths in Senjutsu."

Yakumo Kurama was an excellent student and had naturally heard of the Three Great Sage Locations. This is how the Iwagakure textbooks described the Three Great Sage Locations.

The three Summoning Beast beasts controlled the methods of cultivating Senjutsu, but the great and wise Fourth Lord of the village broke their monopoly.

The Fourth Lord led Iwagakure to discover a method for cultivating Senjutsu.

The village has now produced several Sage capable of performing Senjutsu: the Fourth Lord himself, the Third Lord, Lord Shinya, among others.

Yakumo Kurama glanced at Yichen's faint eyeshadow and said, "Senjutsu is what you look like now, Lord Tsuchikage?"

Yichen nodded and continued, "Maintaining Sage Mode for an extended period can prolong lifespan, so after I learned Senjutsu, I'm basically always in Sage Mode."

Yakumo Kurama nodded.

Yichen added, "Besides these three, there's also the Rabbit Goddess and the Sage of Six Paths' brothers."

Yakumo Kurama's mouth gaped open, and she stammered, "The Sage of Six Paths is still alive?"

The Sage of Six Paths is a legendary figure that everyone has heard about since childhood, and everyone is familiar with him.

Upon hearing that the Sage of Six Paths was still alive, Yakumo Kurama was even more excited than when he heard that Kaguya Otsutsuki was still alive.

Yichen nodded and said, "Yes, I have seen the Sage of Six Paths' brothers with my own eyes."

"However, the Sage of Six Paths's Brother should have already exhausted his life force and died."

"By the way, Neji also met the Sage of Six Paths's Brother, and he even learned some methods to become stronger from Sage of Six Paths's Brother."

"Neji?" Yakumo Kurama was somewhat envious of this genius of the same age.

Even during their time at the Ninja Academy, Neji's strength far surpassed hers.

Yakumo Kurama stood there stunned for a while before realizing something was wrong and asked, "Weren't there seven? Why is one missing?"

Yichen said, "The seventh one is that guy who wanted to release the Rabbit Goddess."

"He also survived from the era of the Sage of Six Paths."

"I've fought his people who are openly known to the public a few times, but I've never actually fought him."

"This is a cunning and shrewd individual, extremely adept at concealing his true intentions."

After a long while, Yakumo Kurama finally snapped out of his reverie, which resembled a Yichen tale.

She said, "Lord Tsuchikage, so while we were playing ninja games, you were fighting against people like this all along?"

Yichen smiled slightly, ruffled Yakumo Kurama's hair, and said, "I am the Tsuchikage, so naturally I must keep these dangers out of the village."

"When you grow up and inherit the Will of Stone, it will be your turn to protect the younger generation of the village."

At that moment, in Yakumo Kurama's eyes, Yichen, smiling in the sunlight, was radiating dazzling light.

Bathed in this dazzling light, Yakumo Kurama's confusion vanished. She had finally found her own value.

Yakumo Kurama said, "Lord Tsuchikage, please take me as your disciple. I also want to become a ninja as excellent as you, and fight against those invaders who attempt to destroy the Ninja World in the future."

"I will defend our homeland, and I will defeat anyone who attempts to destroy the Ninja World."

Yichen nodded and said, "Alright, I'm willing to accept you as my disciple. From today onwards, you are my disciple Yichen's disciple."

"Yakumo Kurama, this cruel Ninja World has brought you misfortune, but it has also given you the hope of becoming a strong person."

"As long as you can harness the power of that monster within you, you will one day become as strong as your teacher."

Yakumo Kurama nodded vigorously, his eyes filled with unwavering determination.