Chapter 303: A Difficult Demand

"DIE! DIE!"

Mizuki wildly waves his claws at Izuna. Izuna nimbly dodges all of his claw attacks.

"So, you are still persistent in your blind faith."

Clang…

Izuna grabs Mizuki's claws with his bare hands.

Crunch…

He squeezes them with his hand and grinds them into dust.

Argh…

Mizuki clutches his hand in pain. Blood leaks from his fingers.

"Your actions are no longer redeemable!"

BANG…

He elbows Mizuki in his gut.

BOOM…

Mizuki is sent flying by the attack. He crashes through multiple trees and slams into a boulder.

Fwish…

Mizuki loses consciousness from the concussion. White smoke rises from his body as the effects of the potion wear off.

The aftereffects of the potion kick in and his cells start to degrade rapidly. Mizuki shrivels up in a frail and decrepit old man, his skin turns dark brown and wrinkles appear all over his body.

The current Mizuki looks like an emaciated old man.

"Mizuki!"

Tsubaki dashes by his side. Tears erupt from her eyes as she stares at the frail body of Mizuki.

"It's my fault! I shouldn't have let you commit any crime. If only…"

Sob… sob…

Izuna slowly walks by his side.

"Mystic Palm technique"

He uses the Mystic Palm technique to stabilize Mizuki's condition.

"I have stabilized the deterioration of his body but the harm has been done. That potion has destroyed his chakra pathway system. He is a cripple now and thus cannot wield chakra.

Take him to Konoha hospital. He can recover to his former self after the treatment. But he will spend the rest of his life as an ordinary man."

Izuna walks away from the couple. He stands in front of Iruka and stares at his badly wounded body.

"You know it wasn't your responsibility to face him on your own."

Izuna uses the Mystic Palm technique to heal Iruka's wounds as he chides him.

"Iruka! As an academy instructor, you should be aware of your weaknesses. Don't take such reckless actions next time. Sigh…"

Izuna shakes his head.

"Yes, I will keep that in mind. But I just can't let my only childhood friend to fall in darkness." Iruka weakly shakes his head.

Numerous thoughts pop in Izuna's mind as he stares at the indignant expression of Iruka.

'It's true that weakness disgusts me. But it's my own weakness that disgusts me. This world is full of powerful people and weak people alike. Powerful people play an important role to decide the fate of the world, but even weak people have their duties to fulfill.'

"Alright!" He turns his attention towards Ayaka and Hanabi.

"As for you two…"

"ANIKI?! ANIKI?!"

A hoarse voice falls in their air as two gigantic figures rush towards them.

A sickly girl is following them with a pale face.

"I am sorry! I wasn't able to hold them for too long!"

Yakumo apologizes to Ayaka and Hanabi.

The Stupid brothers notice Ayaka and Hanabi.

"You two beat-up Aniki? Now we will beat you up!"

Fujin and Raijin charge towards them.

"Good! I was about to look for you. But you delivered yourself right in front of me!"

Izuna clenches his fist.

A green and red aura surrounds his body as ground cracks beneath him.

Whoosh… Crack…

He disappears from his place. The ground crumbles in his wake.

BANG…

Izuna punches Fujin straight into the chest.

Bleurgh…

Fujin pukes out a mouthful of saliva, followed by blood.

Shoom…

He is sent flying through the forest. Multiple trees uproot on impact as a large cloud of dust and debris rises in the air.

BOOM…

He slams into a small hill and the entire hill collapses on his body. There is a large fist shape dent on Fujin's chest.

"B… B… Big Brother!"

Raijin trembles in fear as his legs shake wildly.

Izuna turns towards him.

AH!

A putrid smell spreads in the surrounding. Rajin shits in his pants and forms a pool of piss near his legs.

Izuna's expression turns ugly at this.

Eww…

Hanabi and Ayaka clench their nose in disgust.

"You think I will spare you if you pee your pants!"

Izuna turns to Hanabi.

"Hanabi! Watch carefully!"

He takes a taijutsu stance.

"This is Gentle fist!"

Hanabi's eyes widen in surprise as she recognizes the stance.

Haah…

"Eighty Gods Vacuum Fist"

Izuna thrusts his fist forward. He releases a gigantic fist made of chakra. The chakra fist travels towards Raijin at an insane speed.

BOOM…

It slams into his body and sends him flying. A massive crater forms at his position as Raijin flies through the forest. He slams into another hill beside his brother and passes out. The hill collapses on top of him.

Hanabi's eyes widen in surprise. Star appears in them as she stares at Izuna in admiration.

"Sensei! What technique was that? I thought it was Gentle Fist from the stance but it's a completely different technique!" She curiously asks him.

"It's called Eighty Gods Vacuum Fist! For now, you can say it is a precursor of your Gentle Fist. Do you want to learn it?" Izuna asks her.

"Yes, sensei!" Hanabi nods her head in excitement.

"Then learn it well!" Izuna takes out a scroll from his pocket and passes it to her.

"This is a secret technique of mine! You can't teach it to anybody else!" He sternly warns her.

"Mm…" Hanabi nods her head.

"Ehto… Sensei! Can I teach it to my Nee-san?" Hanabi asks him in trepidation.

"Hmm… you can teach it to Hinata. But don't teach it to anybody else or I will take it back!"

"Thank you, Sensei!" Hanabi jumps in excitement.

At the sidelines,

Yakumo has a shocked expression on her face as she stares at Izuna in amazement.

'Sensei is very powerful!'

Ahem…

Izuna clears his throat.

"At the beginning of the test, I told you that if I take action during your test, then all of you will be disqualified!"

The expression of Ayaka, Hanabi, and Yakumo turns ugly.

"But… but… we…"

Izuna sternly gazes at them.

Hanabi and Ayaka tear up at this.

"That was a lie!" Izuna chuckles.

"What I was looking for wasn't a spectacular performance instead I was looking for teamwork."

Ah!

They blankly stare at him.

He turns towards Ayaka and Hanabi.

"During the early phase of the mission, you abandoned your teammate behind and continued the mission.

This might follow the ninja code but it doesn't follow the moral code. In the ninja world, those who break the rules are scum. But those who abandon their friends are far worse than scum."

Izuna stares at the trio as they lower their head in embarrassment.

"Although your start was rough, but you redeemed yourself with your co-operation against the Stupid Brothers. Cooperation is the basis of teamwork. I am sure you folks will form a fine team in the future."

Izuna smiles at them.

"Does this mean, we…" Yakumo slightly parts her lips as she asks him.

"Yes, you three passed my test."

"Yeah!" Hanabi and Ayaka jump in excitement.

"Alright! You are dismissed for now. Come meet me at Hokage Office tomorrow morning to pick your first mission!"

Izuna waves his hand.

Ayaka grabs Hanabi's hand as she mutters to herself.

"Nii-san bullied me! I will complain to Mei Nee-san!"

"Ah!"

Izuna, who is preparing to teleport away, falters in his footstep.

'Was it a mistake to pick her in my team?' He questions himself.

"For now, I should focus on the real culprit! You won't escape from for long."

Shiing…

Izuna's left eye changes into Rinne-Sharingan. He senses the spatial mark placed on the cloaked figure.

"Found him!"

Swirl…

He opens a portal in front of him and walks into it.

Whoosh…

Izuna reappears inside a dark humid cavern. There are multiple passages in the cavern leading to different places.

"My speculation was correct. It must be him."

Izuna turns towards one of the passages and walks inside.

Hisss…

Multiple gigantic snakes slither through the cavern. They respectfully open a path for Izuna to walk through.

After fifteen minutes,

Izuna appears in front of a giant cavern with a visible temple inside it.

"White Snake Sage! You already know why I am here?"

Izuna bellows at the cave.

Hisss…

A gigantic blue snake with green eyes slithers out of another cave.

"Izuna-sama! The White Snake Sage is in her meditation. She won't be able to attend to you."

"Really?!" Izuna raises an eyebrow.

"Let him in!"

A hoarse voice enters their ears.

Hmm…

Aoda meekly nods his head and retreats into his cave.

Crunch… crunch…

Izuna steps inside the cave as he crushes gravel and dried leaves under his feet.

He walks in front of the temple.

"Hand him over to me and I will leave peacefully!"

Izuna has a cold expression on his face.

"And before you deny it, I already know he is here!"

Hiss…

The white snake Sage hisses and an old woman walks out of the temple.

"I am sorry to disappoint you, but I won't hand him over!"

The old woman stands in front of Izuna. Their eyes confront each other as the woman's reflection appears in Izuna's Mangekyo.