Hmm…

Izuna glances at the villagers.

"All of them are under a genjutsu."

He approaches the villagers and places his hand on their heads to disrupt their chakra.

"This is the same Genjutsu as Fusao."

Bzz…

He zaps the villager and disperses the pollen inside their body.

'Now I really want to recruit this guy. His genjutsu is ingenious; if you don't know the method to dispel it.'

Mmm…

"NAGATO!… NOO…"

A pained grunt attracts his attention. He stands up and walks near the source of the sound.

"KONAN?!… So, she is also under the effect of Genjutsu."

Izuna places his hand on her head to dispel the jutsu.

'Wait! Should I dispel the genjutsu? Technically, she is my enemy and I should capture her."

Izuna ponders for a while.

'Let me ask Minato-san about it.'

Whoosh…

His consciousness enters in the Sin Seal. He spots Minato and Kushina conversing something serious with Kurama.

Ahem…

Izuna clears his throat to get their attention.

Hmm…

Minato and Kushina turn around and notices Izuna.

"Izuna-kun! Thank God you are fine."

Kushina bear hugs him.

Ah…

Izuna struggles for a while but finally relents. He turns towards Minato and asks him.

"Minato-san! I have a question for you."

"Mm… Go on."

Minato nods his head.

"So, it is like this…"

Izuna discloses the identity of Konan and the relevant information about Akatsuki.

"I see… that's a lot to take in."

Minato enters in deep thought.

Sigh…

"So, she is the orphan Jiraiya-Sensei took under his tutelage."

Minato rubs his head.

"Though… they harbor harmful thoughts for Konoha and as a former Hokage I should eliminate them, but I am a dead man. So, I will leave the choice for Jiraiya-Sensei.

Till then, why don't you try to influence their thoughts? You are quite good at convincing others."

Haha…

Kushina chuckles as she hears the last sentence.

"Well…"

Izuna rolls his eyes at Minato's remark.

'My free trial of Talk-No-Jutsu has expired. I can't influence others anymore.'

Izuna shakes his head and turns to Konan.

"I will influence her thoughts with Kotoamatsukami. Though it is not an ideal approach; but it will get the job done."

Shiing…

"Kotoamatsukami"

Izuna places his hand on her forehead and casts the powerful genjutsu to alter her thoughts and induce his suggestion.

Buzz…

He continues to dispel the genjutsu of all other villagers.

"Ugh!"

Konan clasps her forehead in pain as various ideas cycle through her mind.

In this journey, her thoughts were in disarray as the death of Yahiko continues to cycle through her mind.

'Is this the Akatsuki… Yahiko dreamt of?'

Various memories of bloodshed and slaughter freshen in her memory. The members of Akatsuki members plundering other villages in the name of mercenary bounties and killing innocent people erupt in her mind.

'NO! What Yahiko wanted was a peaceful world with no war and bloodshed. He didn't want anyone to become a war orphan and struggle for survival.'

More and more memories of Yahiko's dream and Akatsuki's brutal activities cycles through her mind as both sides start to clash.

"NOOO!!"

Konan feels a splitting headache as he abruptly opens her eyes and sits up.

Haah… Haaah…

Sweat trickles from her forehead as she clutches her forehead. Her vision turns blurry for a second before she retains clarity.

"Where… where am I?"

She looks around as the unfamiliar environment greets her.

"What's going on?"

"Where am I?"

"My son!! Where is my son?"

Various unfamiliar voices echo in her head as she looks around.

The memories of the incident return to her.

"The last thing I remember was… I left the village to meet up with Sasori's spy."

Whoosh…

Konan immediately raises her guard as various paper shurikens, and chakrams float around her.

She warily stares at Izuna.

Hmm…

Izuna senses a hostile gaze on his back. He turns around and notices Konan.

Swoosh…

Izuna disappears from Konan's vision.

'So fast… he is so fast.'

Whoosh…

He reappears behind her. There is a sharp blade placed near her neck.

"If I really wanted to kill you; then I could have done it ages ago."

Whoosh…

Izuna sheathes his Katana and turns around.

"Looks like Jiraiya's teaching fell on deaf ears. The messiah of Jiraiya's prophecy turned out to be a paragon of destruction. An emotionless puppet used by others for their selfish cause."

'Wha… what?!'

A frown appears on Konan's emotionless face as a tint of remorse and guilt appears in her heart as Izuna's words reverberate in her ears.

'An… an emotionless puppet!!… used by others for their selfish cause.'

Konan is lost in a trance as she reflects on her life.

'Why?!…. why can't I deny his words?'

The weak, frail and emotionless image of Nagato bound to the Gedo statue appears in front of her.

Konan slowly lifts her head and stares at the image of Nagato.

"Those eyes…. the eyes of Sage… the eyes of hope and light.

But now… why they are devoid of any love and hope…"

A shiver runs down her spine as the cold, emotionless eyes gaze into her soul.

"… why they so much resentment and hatred for this world?"

Konan mumbles to herself as she struggles to look for an answer.

Izuna ignores her and walks towards the Giant tree.

'The Genjutsu is showing its effect.'

Crunch… crunch…

He steadily walks towards the center of the village and approaches the base of the Giant tree.

"Hmm… this tree is still sucking the vitality of this turtle. Should I try to uproot it?"

Swoosh…

Two giant Susanoo arms appear behind him as the arms grab the trunk of the tree.

The arms of Susanoo apply upward force, and the roots of the tree erupt from the ground.

ROAR…

The giant turtle roars in pain.

Ah…

Izuna surveys the roots of the tree and notices some red veins tightly bound to the roots of the tree.

"These are… these roots… or rather, these veins are directly connected to the heart of this giant turtle. If I pull the tree out; the heart of the turtle would stop functioning."

The Susanoo arms gently place the tree and disperse.

"I have to think of another way to remove this tree. If I forcefully removed it, this turtle will die for sure."

Izuna scrutinizes the top of the tree.

Huh!

He notices a small red fruit at the peak of the tree.

Whoosh…

Izuna flies towards the top and grabs the fruit.

Swoosh…

Instantly large amounts of Nature energy and vitality cycle through his body and rejuvenate him.

"WOW!… Just by touching this fruit, I recovered my chakra. What kind of fruit is this?"

Hmm…

He notices two more small unripe fruits near the only ripe fruit.

"These are Vitality fruits."

Kozue slowly approaches Izuna and remarks.

"Oh!"

Izuna returns to the base of the tree and stands in front of Kozue.

"Looks like you have some idea about this tree. Any clues on how to save this Giant turtle."

"Yes!" Kozue nods his head as he wipes his tears.

"This giant chakra is grown from the chakra seed passed down through our Shinrin Clan.

A millennium ago, the seed of the Senju tree reached out to earth from another world. The seed slowly sprouted and grew into a Shinju tree.

The ancestors of my clan were nomads who would wander the land from one place to another. The King of the land tasked members of my clan to take care of the Shinju tree in exchange for a stable life.

So, the ancestors of my clan settled near the Shinju tree. Slowly, my ancestors grew dependent on the Shinju tree. They would drink the dew from the leaves of the Shinju tree. Cook food from the bark of the Shinju tree.

Slowly… slowly… the physiology of my ancestors changed. This is the blessing of the Shinju tree to our clan, and we are the descendants of the Shinju tree."

Kozue narrates the origin of his clan.

Hmm…

Izuna performs a full body scan of Kozue as a frown appears on his face.

'His body is similar to Zetsu. Though in Zetsu's case, his memories and sense of individuality are wiped clean. Still, his body is almost the same as Zetsu; maybe except for some parts considered unnecessary by a certain someone.'

Izuna stares at the thing dangling between Kozue's legs.

Brr…

A shiver runs down Kozue's spine as a cold sensation crept between his legs.

He hurriedly hugs his body and continues.

"… after the Rabbit Goddess consumed the chakra fruit. The chakra fruit left an empty unfertilized seed. She passed that seed to the caretaker of the Shinju tree; the Shinrin clan…"

"Mm… so mean to say that… this giant tree is the sprout of that hollow chakra seed."

"Yes!"

Kozue nods his head.