Chapter 53: Problem Solved Smoothly! Akatsuki's Meeting!
"Of course."
Byakuya smiled and nodded.
To him, this matter was honestly incredibly simple.
All he had to do was tell Kurama Yakumo the whole truth,
promise to revive her parents,
sign a contract with her to fix her frail constitution,
and finally, together with her, eliminate that other personality. Done—mission accomplished.
Not only would he help Kurama Yakumo solve her problem,
he'd also gain a powerful subordinate.
Total profit!
Originally he had planned to have Karin and Izumi collect Kurama Yakumo after they revived Namikaze Minato.
But now it looked like he wouldn't need them after all.
"What's the method?"
Kurenai looked at Byakuya with hope shining in her eyes.
Kurama Yakumo was simply too dangerous.
If there was a way to avoid taking risks, she naturally didn't want to gamble with her life.
"Psychological counseling."
Byakuya gave a mysterious smile.
"Simply put…
I'll give her some proper psychological guidance."
"Psychological counseling?"
Kurenai frowned slightly.
"We've already had people try that with her. It didn't work at all."
"Those attempts weren't strong enough.
Leave it to a true professional like me~"
"Professional…?"
Kurenai blinked again.
This was apparently the first time she'd ever heard of such an occupation.
"Yep~"
Byakuya nodded.
"We'll go see Kurama Yakumo in just a bit.
Then I'll talk to her alone.
The problem will be solved very quickly."
"Will that really work?"
Kurenai looked at Byakuya with some doubt.
Although she trusted him quite a bit,
she didn't dare bet everything on it.
If he failed and ended up provoking Kurama Yakumo…
the girl might instantly go berserk
and kill Byakuya with a genjutsu on the spot.
"Trust me."
Byakuya simply met her gaze calmly.
His face was filled with absolute confidence.
Kurenai's cheeks flushed under his stare.
For some reason, she suddenly felt that Byakuya was extremely trustworthy.
Finally…
she nodded.
"Then let's head out now."
"Awesome!!"
Kiba shouted excitedly from the side.
He had no idea why Byakuya was so confident or how he was so strong,
but as long as they could solve the problem and keep Kurenai-sensei with them—
he was over the moon.
Everything else?
Didn't matter.
...
The group hurried quickly toward Satomi Hill Villa.
They arrived before long.
Kurenai reported briefly to the ANBU stationed there,
then let Byakuya go inside alone.
It didn't take long before he saw his target.
"Who are you?"
Kurama Yakumo was a girl with skin as pale as Orochimaru's—
probably because she almost never went outside.
At the same time, because of the long-term oppressive environment,
her entire presence carried a gloomy, heavy air.
"I'm here to help you."
Byakuya looked at her expressionlessly.
"Do you want to know the whole truth?"
"No need."
Kurama Yakumo replied coldly, then turned back to her painting.
Byakuya wasn't surprised in the slightest.
He silently sensed the people monitoring him from outside,
then took out four scrolls and tossed them onto the ground.
They landed precisely in the four corners of the room
and automatically unrolled toward one direction,
finally forming a perfect rectangle.
With a muffled bang—
a very special genjutsu was deployed.
This illusion only targeted everyone looking into the rectangle from outside of it.
With this genjutsu in place,
no matter what Byakuya said to Kurama Yakumo here,
people outside would only perceive it as him giving her psychological counseling.
They would also believe the scrolls were merely a special ninjutsu used to enhance the counseling session.
"Genjutsu?"
As a genjutsu master who wasn't affected by it,
Kurama Yakumo instantly noticed what Byakuya had done.
"What are you trying to do?"
"I want to tell you the truth."
"I don't need your truth.
Those things were done by the Third!"
"No—you need it. Because deep down, you're already starting to doubt your own theory."
Byakuya spoke without any change in expression.
"Otherwise, you wouldn't have made all these preparations, trying to pull Yūhi Kurenai into an illusion
just to question her properly about what really happened."
"What… exactly do you know?"
Kurama Yakumo's tone softened noticeably.
"I know everything.
More than that—
I can give you power.
I can make you a real ninja.
I can even bring your parents back to life.
You'll have no regrets left."
"What did you say!?"
Kurama Yakumo completely lost her composure.
Her usually expressionless face was now filled with pure shock.
"As long as you sign a contract with me,
I'll tell you the full truth."
Byakuya extended his hand toward her.
"Once the contract is made, your soul belongs to me.
I'll control your life and death.
But in exchange… you'll get everything you want.
It's fair.
If you agree—take my hand."
Kurama Yakumo stared at Byakuya with a grave expression.
Although she thought it sounded completely unreliable…
she wanted the truth.
She wanted her parents revived.
She wanted to become a ninja.
And on top of that,
her body was so weak she probably wouldn't live much longer anyway—even without selling her soul.
So…
gritting her teeth, she reached out and grasped Byakuya's hand.
Buzz~
After a wave of energy,
an "X"-shaped mark appeared on Kurama Yakumo's lower abdomen.
...
"All done~"
Not long after, Byakuya released the genjutsu
and walked out with a smile.
"This… it's already finished!?"
Everyone was stunned.
Then Kurenai rushed inside without another word.
Seeing her, the other three quickly followed.
Byakuya didn't mind.
He didn't say anything either.
He simply waited silently.
Sure enough, moments later,
Kurenai and the others walked back out, faces full of disbelief.
"How did you do it!?"
"That's… completely impossible!!"
...
At the same time—
The Akatsuki organization was holding an internal meeting through projected ninjutsu.
The reason for this sudden meeting
was mainly because Zetsu had passed up intelligence about the Black-Robed Organization.
At the same time, Itachi had also sent in new information.
Nagato decided it was time for a proper discussion.
"Lately, a very mysterious and powerful Black-Robed Organization has appeared in the ninja world.
Their goal… seems to be reviving some terrifying existence.
This may conflict with our grand plan.
Therefore—from this moment on—the Akatsuki will focus all efforts on gathering every piece of intelligence about that organization!"
...
Meanwhile, somewhere in the Land of Fire—
Naruto was facing a huge problem.
No matter how he and Jiraiya tried to persuade her,
Tsunade absolutely refused to return to the village and become Hokage.
Plus, Naruto's first impression of Tsunade wasn't exactly great either.
So they were completely stuck.
"How can we possibly get Granny Tsunade to go back and become Hokage…?"
Naruto sat on the ground, clutching his hair in frustration.
"This mission has to be completed no matter what!
Even if I don't think she'd make a good Hokage…
I still want to show Mom how amazing I am!
Mmm…
But what should I do…?
Sigh…
If only Byakuya were here…
He'd definitely know what to do…"
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