In a small house in the middle of Kiri,

Izuna is resting against a tree in the backyard as he watches Kimimaro training. ​​

Hmm…

Izuna activates his Sharingan and inspects Kimimaro's body.

"In the Original timeline… he passed away from an unknown disease. I wonder… if he still has that disease."

Izuna uses his microscopic vision to check Kimimaro's bones.

"This is…"

He notices some tiny abnormal clumps of cells in Kimimaro's bone marrow.

"… this seems like cancer cells."

Izuna frowns as he notices the cancer cells in Kimimaro's bone marrow.

'Kimimaro's Kekkei Genkai allows him to manipulate his bones. He can produce multiple bones from his body… this process is carried by the rapid replication of cells in his body. Most of the bone marrow cells are found in the spine… and I have seen him replicating his spine… and using it is a spear.

Seems like the rapid multiplication has led to the development of cancer cells in his bone marrow. I would have to treat him soon… before cancer reaches the next stage.'

Cough… cough…

Kimimaro coughs a little as he is training.

'Seems like… he has developed symptoms.'

"Ok… it's enough for now… you can stop your training."

Izuna stops him. He infuses some Nature energy in Kimimaro's body to rejuvenate him.

Kimimaro's bones absorb the chakra and turn in a shade of grey for a while before turning to normal.

Hmm…

'This is…' Izuna notices the peculiarity.

He infuses more chakra in Kimimaro's bones. The bones absorb more chakra and redirect it towards his bone marrow. The cancerous cells in Kimimaro's bone marrows decline a little.

'This is interesting… I wonder if it was the reason… Kimimaro has such a high affinity for the cursed seal of Earth of Orochimaru… well... he does possess Otsutsuki bloodline… and thus a connection to the Sage of Six Paths. Maybe… it is the reason Orochimaru was able to prolong Kimimaro's life for such a long period by using the cursed mark.'

Izuna stops infusing Nature energy in Kimimaro's body. The cancer cells in the bone marrow start to slowly replicate again.

'Looks like… he needs a constant supply of Nature energy to prevent the multiplication of cancer cells.'

Izuna starts to make some hand signs.

'I have researched Orochimaru's seal present on Anko… and I have a gist of it. Orochimaru stored a fragment of his soul and will inside the cursed seal to revive himself… if he dies somehow. Otherwise… he can also… use it as a medium to take over the body of the inflicted person.

In a sense... it is similar to Karma Seals of the Otsutsuki clan… but it is a watered-down version of Karma Seals. I wonder… where did Orochimaru get his hands on such a powerful sealing technique.'

Izuna continues to make multiple hand signs.

A black sealing formula appears in his hands. He places his hand near Kimimaro's spine.

'Orochimaru's seal was meant for his revival… but my seal will function as a Nature energy battery… it will passively absorb a little amount of Nature energy from the surroundings and infuse it in his spine to prevent the production of more cancer cells.'

Sizzle… Sizzle…

Ugh…

Kimimaro grimaces in pain.

"Hold on for a minute. I am treating you."

The Sin seal on Izuna's hand activates and infuses some energy with the seal on Kimimaro's hand.

'Hmm… what's this Sin seal trying to do?'

Orange black marks appear on Kimimaro's spine. The sealing formula completes and forms three tomoe arranged in a circle around a black dot in the center.

Izuna frowns as he stares at the seal.

"It turned out to be different than I expected."

He turns to Kimimaro and questions him.

"Kimimaro… how are you feeling now?"

Kimimaro wears his Kimono and stretches his arms and muscles.

"Angel-san! For some reasons… I feel great and full of energy right now. All of my fatigue and exhaustion are gone. I can continue my training…"

"Well… don't push yourself too hard." Izuna shakes his head and closes his eyes.

Kimimaro continues his training.

"There seems to be no problem with the seal. I wonder what changes the Sin Seal made to it… well… I figure that out in the future?"

Izuna stretches his hands and yawns lazily.

"Sadly… I have made no progress with the Kekkei Shi. It is some hard to balance… four elements together… I don't want to repeat the same mistake and blow myself again. Maybe… I will take a break from the training."

He takes out a picture from his pocket and lovingly stares at it.

"Ayaka is already two years old now. I am such a terrible brother… for not spending enough time with her. After… the civil war in Kiri ends… I will spend more time with her… and teach her. I don't want to spoil her too much… Shinobi world is a cruel world… Weakness is a sin here… I will give her my share of love… but I won't hold back on her training."

He continues to stare at the picture.

"Yuito… Yuito… are you there… Yuito?"

A sweet female voice interrupts his thoughts.

Izuna immediately pockets the picture and walks to the front yard.

"I am here Mei… did something happened?"

He notices a grim expression on Mei's face.

"Yes… Something terrible happened… quick… I will explain it during our journey. For now… we need to move out."

"Yo!..."

Zengetsu waves his hand at him.

"Let's go…" Izuna nods his head and follows after them.

Swoosh… Swoosh…

The group quickly flickers out of the Kiri. While traversing through the forest, Izuna turns to Mei and asks her.

"Ok! What's the matter? Can you inform me now?"

Mei nods her head.

"It's like this… the civil war in the Kiri has drawn the attention of the Daimyo. It has been two months since we collaborated with the lower caste… the murder and massacre have become a common thing on the streets. The economy of the village has plummeted to rock bottom. The already unstable Land of Water has further descended in chaos…"

Mei takes a deep breath before she continues her explanation.

"… The Daimyo of Land of Water grew frustrated by the situation… since the flow of money stopped in the land. He suffered a massive loss in his business… so he scheduled a meeting between various factions for peaceful negotiation."

Izuna nods his head.

"Yes… I heard about it. What's the big deal?"

"… this is a big matter. Earlier this morning… father and the Elder Genji secretly departed towards the center of the Land of Water for the meeting. He only brought some of his trusted people with him…"

"Well... that's normal after all… too many people will leak the information of his whereabouts and the route he takes to reach Land of Water." Izuna nods his head.

"… No… the thing is… the information of his departure was somehow leaked to his enemies. They are already on their way to assassinate him." Mei informs with a panicked expression.

"What? How?... how did the information got leaked….and how did you came to know of this?" Izuna questions her.

"Someone informed me… to be exact… one of the members of the Seven Mist Swordsman… his name is Renjouro and he is the wielder of Hiramekarei. He didn't know about the name of the spy… but he informed of this matter before vanishing from my sight… I don't know… if I can trust this information… but I want nothing to happen to my father." Mei answers him.

"This could be a trap… maybe they are trying to lure you out… and assassinate you." Izuna speculates.

"It could be… that's the reason I came to you for help… and I came across Zengetsu along the way."

"Fine… let's go. We have to hurry up." Izuna increases his speed.

Mei and Zengetsu follows his pace.

'Hmm… Renjouro and Hiramekarei… I wonder if there is some connection with Chojouro. Looks like… the civil war is about to end soon…'

---------------------------

Inside the forest…

A group of three people hides on top of a tree, as they silently wait for their prey to arrive.

"We never got a chance to assassinate Mei Terumi during these past two months… but Fuji Terumi is fine too. It is a pleasant opportunity to get rid of him."

Mangetsu stares at the deeper parts of the forest.

"Samehada is thriving for more chakra… I hope they have strong people with them." Kisame caresses his blade.

"We are in the middle of an assassination… a powerful foe is the least we would like to ask for." Renjouro rebukes him.

"But… Samehada doesn't like the taste of chakra of a weakling." Kisame retorts.

Hmph…

Rejouro snorts and stops talking. He has a slightly worried expression on his face.

'Chojouro… I am doing this for your sake. I have seen the ways of the Noble clan… and I don't think… they have a chance in this war. I hope you will be able to find a better life ahead of you.'

Cough… Cough…

He coughs out some blood from his mouth. Renjouro quickly wipes away the blood.