Chapter 174: The Truth Yakumo Chooses

 

The shinobi guarding the Kurama estate let Tonbo pass with the three children. Yakumo brightened at the sight of the twins.

"Tenyu, Maki. You've come to see me again. Is this your brother?"

She looked at Jun, who walked unsteadily beside them in his imitation of Tonbo's bandages.

"I have two children," Tonbo said hastily. "He's an admirer—of mine. Their classmate."

He wanted more children eventually, but not yet. A few years would be soon enough without people supplying him with another in the meantime.

Jun straightened. "Kawabe Jun. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Yakumo's presence unsettled him. There was something frightening about the woman in front of him, though she smiled warmly and invited them inside. She would make them a meal.

In the reception room, Jun moved his bandages enough to expose his eyes. The estate was larger than Tenyu's home, and apparently Yakumo occupied it almost alone. Furnishings and colors made it the most beautiful house he had ever seen.

His hand drifted toward his sword. Since studying Tonbo's notes, he sometimes found himself imagining how a stroke would pass through whatever stood before him.

"You aren't thinking of cutting Yakumo's house, are you?" Maki asked.

"I'll control it. Your father's book says you have to control yourself before you can become truly strong."

"Did I write that?" Tonbo considered it. "It sounds sensible. I probably did."

Tenyu leaned toward Jun. "Yakumo's genjutsu is better than Dad's."

"Much better," Maki agreed.

They still remembered the first visit, when a movement of Yakumo's brush had changed the world around them. Wind, rain, thunder, and lightning had followed her painting with ease. Only her limited chakra had held her back.

Tonbo found that difficult to answer with dignity. "You three talk. I'm going for a walk."

Outside, he formed signs and extended his senses across the estate, concentrating upon Yakumo. Contact Evolution had brought renewed growth to reserves that had nearly stopped increasing. During the past month or two, greater chakra had strengthened his perception along with his other abilities.

Ido was active within her, pressing against the seal and seeking a way to take her body. The work Tonbo and Kurenai had done still held it securely. What concerned him was the intensity of that activity.

Yakumo's genjutsu had entered another highly active period. From what he understood of the cycle, her disappearance might follow before long.

He did not know how to prevent it. He could not create living beings as the Sage of Six Paths had created the tailed beasts, nor did he possess Orochimaru's mastery of biological research. Bringing the children was one small thing he could do: give her more warmth and happiness while she remained with them.

His greater abilities did suggest another precaution. He could record her body's information and persuade her to preserve her memories and a sample of tissue. If the Ōtsutsuki came, and Orochimaru was still alive, perhaps cloning could offer a way to bring her back.

It was a possibility worth preparing for, however uncertain the future remained.

The meal and the visit went well. Yakumo cooked skillfully, and the children were happy to eat and play. She showed Jun what her painting could do, giving him a demonstration of wind and rain that held him spellbound.

Yakumo had gained another friend. He was only a child, but that did not make her less pleased.

At sunset, Tonbo left with the three of them. The figure accompanying the children was a Shadow Clone. His real body returned to Yakumo.

"Didn't you just leave?"

"My clone took them home. There's something I need to tell you."

He told her what he knew.

Tears fell onto the floor. Yakumo looked back over her memories and tried to reconcile them with his explanation. "I'm someone created by genjutsu?"

She did not doubt him. That made the truth harder to endure. She had thought losing her parents was the worst pain she would ever know. She had tried to live well afterward, hoping she could still do something for her family and Konoha.

Now she did not know what any of that meant. If her life had been created by a technique, what was she?

Ido answered her despair with a surge against the seal. It pressed toward her consciousness, eager to overcome the weakened resistance. Tonbo formed a sign with one hand and reinforced the binding, forcing it back.

Yakumo's gaze returned to him. "Why have you been so kind to me?"

For years he had visited and made her happy. She could not understand why he would bother if he had known what she was.

"Because you're here," Tonbo said. "You have thoughts of your own. You feel things. Whatever created you, while you're here, you're a living person."

She watched him, and a little of the emptiness left her expression.

"My abilities have improved," he continued. "I want to record your memories and the information in your body. If the chance comes, I'll try to bring you back."

Yakumo's eyes trembled.

"When that's done, I'll seal the memory of this conversation. You can go on being the happy Yakumo the children came to see today."