Kumogakure Hospital

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454

Sitting behind a mahogany colored desk was none other than Daremo. The temporary Raikage having made an unexpected and unannounced visit to Kumogakure’s Hospital. As expected, this had surprised many of the employees of the establishment. Even though they knew of the connection and relationship he shared with the current new head of the hospital, Marici, that as her husband, it was still surprising to see him there. For many thought, he would be busy with other engagements, especially with him being the temporary Raikage until a more suitable one was found. Yet, apparently, that was seemingly not the case.

Citrine colored eyes looked over the documents spread out on the desk. The silver-haired male was reviewing the diagnosis report on a shinobi who had attempted a body modifying jutsu without having any knowledge on human anatomy. The results were less than pretty. The individual had completely destroyed their arm in the process. Muscles, tendons, chakra pathways, all of the aforementioned were torn, twisted, and broken at various points. Although surgery could have with realigning, there was a slim chance of the individual being able to fully use their arm again.

The individual’s parents did not like the outcome for their child, thus, they had personally reached out to Daremo to see if he could do something about it. They could have always asked Marici, but their viewpoint on female doctors was outdated to say the least. Thus, they sought out their best option in the form of the temporary Raikage. He had taken on the case out of boredom. He needed something else to do aside from paperwork. Plus, it gave him a chance to see Marici, well, it would have, if she didn’t have an emergency meeting to attend to.

Going through the papers, Daremo had an idea of how he would correct the individual’s arm. Though, he knew not if the person, and their family, would like the suggestion. It involved him removing the limb before regrowing it. There was no worry about the chakra pathways, they could be regrown as well. If they did decide to go with his suggestion, the patient would be out of commission for some time as the limb will be tender, thus, needed time to heal. Of course, they could ask him to look for different alternatives, which he would do. Just as he was about to write up the suggestion, there was a knock at the door.

Looking up from the documents, his gaze fell on one of the nurses standing there. “There is a patient out in the waiting room by the name of Raiu Mizuki. She is specifically asking for you. ” An eyebrow was raised when the Raiu’s clansmen name was brought up. His curiosity was piqued. What was she doing at the hospital? Why was she specifically asking for him? The answer to the question was revealed shortly afterward, “She mentioned something about chakra corruption?”. Now, that was something he hadn't heard in a while. The last case of chakra corruption he was involved with dealt with the current Tsuchikage.

In that particular case, he had helped the Iwa-nin in dealing with the corruption, albeit in not a refined manner. The times have changed now, and he had studied more on the subject, and learned how to how to deal with the alignment. Getting up from the chair, Daremo grabbed the white doctor’s coat hanging on the back of his chair and slipped it on. He did not bother in stacking up the papers on his desk, for he would come back to them later. Instead, he walked out of the room, following the nurse to the front of the hospital. If the corruption was like the previous case he dealt with, then, time was of the essence.

Arriving at the waiting room, Daremo spotted Mizuki and approached the woman, “Come on, follow me.”, he spoke. He wished to get her away from the other people within the waiting room. For the last case of chakra corruption, he dealt with, had the user randomly releasing surges of chakra from their being. He needed not for that to happen to Mizuki while surrounded by people. Not only would that be a personal relation nightmare, but, he knew the woman would feel bad if someone died by her hands indirectly. “We will be going to a specialized room. So, I can help with that problem of yours.”, he spoke as he opened the door to the room.

Relatively large in size, the room had everyone one would expect a patient room to have. The only difference was the number of markings etched on the wall. Each marking being some type of seal, meant for a specific purpose. “Take a seat.”, he pointed to one of the comfortable chairs in the room, “So, chakra corruption? How long did you have it? How did it happen? For the last time we met, you didn’t have any signs of it?” There was no need to dance around the subject at hand. He needed to know how Mizuki got chakra corruption.

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870

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983
Total: 1'437

With the hospital not only serving civilians but, also shinobi, there was need for certain features that normally would have been omitted. One of the features being a room, one of many, that was designed with many, shinobi, hypothetical in mind. Those who choose the profession can find themselves contracting many different diseases and alignments foreign to civilians, and that couldn’t be treated with normal technology or remedies. Thus, rooms like this, equipped with more chakra aligned machinery and supplies, were added onto the hospital. They proving instrumental in use on shinobis’ who reasonings for being here could not be fixed through traditional means, such as what Mizuki was going through.

Citrine eyes, that were focused on Mizuki, widen at the mention of Black Raiton. Although not a native of Kaminari no Kuni, Daremo was aware of the existence of the Hiden. Every village had at least one Hiden it was known for, and when it came to Kumo, Black Raiton was it. His knowledge of it only comes from studying the texts of the Era of Heros, and The Warring States where both the Godaime and Sandaime Raikage were users of the Hiden. Now though, as he gazed at the dark tendrils which had almost colored Mizuki’s fingers and hand in black and was slowly moving up her arm, it seemed like his friend had inherited the Hiden.

Though, his eyes narrowed at the sight of the Hiden, as he thought about it. Something was not right with how the Hiden was acting. None of the old text mentioned Black Raiton acting in such a manner. There was nothing in the text which mentioned the blackening of limbs of those who wielded the Hiden in the past. From what he could remember from the text, Black Lightning was almost tame for those who wielded it. So, the question remained, why was it acting this way with Mizuki? It felt like the answer was right there, but he could not remember it.

Daremo listened to the brief history of Kumogakure’s hiden, and how it was passed on from master to student. Having become apart of Kumo, he learned of the tradition revolving around the holder, usually a Raikage, of the Hiden, and how it was passed onto a student of the current Raikage, and presumably the wielder of the Hiden, at some point in time. But, as he learned, the tradition had been lost with Lin not having wielded the Hiden, and with Hastur, presumably, destroying the last temper were the ritual, of passing on the technique, took place in. The information answered two of Daremo’s questions regarding the previous Raikage.

Now he knew for certain that his relative never had Black Lightning, something he had been curious about after learning a Guanyin had held the Raikage spot. And the second, how Hastur managed to get his hands on the Hiden in the first place. It was not really surprising the previous Raikage would go through such lengths to prevent someone else from learning the Hiden. Daremo always felt Hastur was someone who dislikes when others had more power than him or had the means to tame the same power he wields. The self-proclaimed God was a jealous one if he went through that length to prevent the Hiden from falling into someone else’s hands.

Though, it seems like the man did not do a good job. For the Jashins, the mere mention of the cult caused Daremo to scowl lightly had been digging around in search of another temple. If there was one temple dedicated to the Hiden, surely, there must be two, right? Sure enough, there was another time where the power of Black Raiton could be harness for their own goals. The thought was a troubling one. What type of damage could an entire cult with Black Raiton do to the village? Luckily, Mizuki had found out the plan, and foiled it, but not without a cost.

Gingerly, Daremo gripped the infected arm with his left hand. Being in the mere presence of the Hiden caused the hairs on his arms to stand up. He could feel the untamed and raw power coming from the hiden. He did not marvel at it though, instead, he examined her arm. Not wanting to cause her any harm, he took care in turning her arm on either side, noting the tissue damage caused by the Black Lightning. He would be able to heal the damage, but, he was uncertain of how his chakra would interact with the Black Lightning. There was also the issue of the Black Lightning causing the same damage over again if he healed her.

While trying to think up a solution for Mizuki, he listened to her speak on the encounter she had with Maryssa, a Jashin cult member. The foolish woman believes she could succeed in taking over Kaminari and plunging it into a nightmare. Did she really think that no one was going to stop her? The people of Kaminari, who had just got from under the rule of Hastur, were tired of oppressors. They would fight back against those who wish to oppress them. The woman was foolish for her goals of conquests, and she met her end at the hands of Mizuki.  Daremo did not bat an eyelash at the mention of his friend using a Kinjutsu to end the woman’s life. Sometimes extreme measures had to be taken.

The Kinjutsu answered the question on how Mizuki obtained Black Raiton. She having attracted the element into her hand, presumably, in order to fire it back at the opponent. While he does not know anything about the Kinjutsu she used, aside from what she mentioned, it seemed the lingering effects of Raiton was not one of them. But, Black Raiton, which properties are only known by the wielders, seem to latch onto the person, corrupting them in a sense. The Hiden reminded Daremo of disease in how it latches onto another host, and slowly begins to corrupt them. While it was fascinating, Daremo still needs to find a way to help his friend out.

The moment Mizuki mentioned how the former wielders of Black Raiton used a seal to control the elemental, Daremo’s eyes lit up with realization. That was it! A seal, every other user, at least those known to wield the Hiden, had a seal on them to help with the control of the element. None of the text he had read mention anyone who wielded the element without a seal on them somewhere. That was the answer to the question. In order to help his friend, he would need to create a seal to contain the energy, more importantly, a seal similar to those in the past.

Letting go of her arm Daremo smile softly at Mizuki, “I do have an idea on how to deal with this.”, he said, “You mentioned you encountered Maryssa at the second temple, right? Did the fighting between you two destroy the temple, or is it intact? For, there could be information regarding the Black Raiton Seal used by others to control the Lightning.  If there is information regarding seal creation, I can replicate it. For while I am a sealing expert, I have yet to get my hands on the formula for the Black Raiton Seal.” The seal was a closely guarded secret within Lightning country, thus, it is not surprising, he didn’t have access to the formula. This is especially true with the only means to understand and study the element, aside from the few texts books on it, come from temples. One temple Hastur apparently destroyed, and the other where Mizuki had a confrontation with a Jashin member with.

“I understand the principle behind it. The seal being used as a ‘gate’ to control the amount of Black Raiton is channeled through the body. But, in order to replicate the seal, we must travel to this temple, and see if we can find anything regarding the seal. I don’t want to make a seal, and it fails to do the job. Do you think you can take me there?”, he asked. The more information he can garner about the seal, the easier it would be for him to replicate it.

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1389[2259]

Daremo had an idea on how to work with it but from his questions he hoped for access to the temple. There might be clues that could help him to reshape the original Seal to a point where it would be of use to Mizuki. Only... Other than the slight hesitation of Mizuki if it was a good idea to make the location of the temple known, the other problem was such that the temple was a day's walking from Kumogakure. It was only through Mizuki's supernatural speed as a trained shinobi that she had shortened that time to several hours. Returning there meant a long trek which removed Daremo from his current job but also left more time for the corruption to continue its advance. Could she afford stalling though?

"It is neither intact nor destroyed. Maryssa's skill was considerable. She was on par with myself. Had she not been blinded by black raiton's power, she might have been more of a challenge. Her belief that owning the Hiden and using its devastating power sufficed to become another 'god' is what allowed me to have a head start in our fight. And that using raiton against me is possibly the worst tactical choice to make is what granted me the victory.", the 'Lightning Demon of Iwagakure' said with a chuckle. To think that exactly that aspect of her was now growing beyond her own power due to black raiton was somewhat of an irony - the akuma rising to claim her soul, of a sorts.

"It's quite a distance away. It'd normally take a day to get there, but I discovered it's considerably shorter for a shinobi with haste. A handful of hours should do it at our speed. The key point is the small shrine to the kami on the Trial of a Thousand Steps, if you remember that one. Once we're there, I'll tell you the rest of the directions."

Making haste was paramount to victory. Reaching the small shrine on the Trial of a Thousand Stairs, Mizuki clearly had a harder time to catch her wind than usual. Across the hours, the black raiton had not sit still and by now her whole arm had turned black. Tendrils of black reached for her neck and chest, the chakra taking its toll on her health. In between breaths, she pointed downwards and explained that the Temple was to be found all the way below, past the lingering mist. Taking the initiative by example, she'd jump down the almost vertical depths of the mountainous area they found themselves in, making use of her Light Body Technique to assure herself she wasn't just jumping towards her death. Once she had landed, she'd wait for Daremo's arrival before proceeding towards the entrance of the Forbidden Temple.

"Here it is. It was guarded by traps when the Jashinists entered, so don't be surprised if you find a handful of them dead within the corridors. All but one of them was capable of getting through its defences.", she warned him before leading him through the corridors.

The first of the dead was found right outside the entrance of the temple. A younger Jashinist battered to death by the extraordinary force of the jounin standing at Daremo's side. A massive crater in the mountains had revealed the hysterical strength she had deployed before he fell to his death head-first. At first sight, it wasn't clear what had killed him - the strength or the fall - but a thorough examination by the likes of Daremo certainly would give more insight on his death. The second of the dead was found within the antechamber of the temple. She had been pierced by a black raiton spear; the cracks in the wall still showing where she had been pinned to. It was by Mizuki's grace that she was pulled off and given a more 'proper' resting place on the ground, if a corpse not having been granted a proper burial could be called as such. Eventually, they'd reach the Lost Corridor. A place which looked unusually clean other than the giant pile of rubble and bones that had gathered up against the walls. The stench of rot and blood betrayed a recent kill by whoever had caused this situation. Eventually, they'd reach the heart of the temple - the Trial of Ascension.

What should have been a solemn ascension towards a greater power had seen better days. It was close to being entirely ruined, the scorch marks of raiton and black raiton alike visible where lightning had not brutally carved its path through. In the middle of the room, resting on the circle platform, stood the remains of a completely charred body exactly in the position she had stood when firing off her black raiton at Mizuki - Maryssa, the last of the Jashinists that had broken through the temple, now a painful reminder of how dangerous black raiton really was. There was no chakra left within the charred remains as kaminari had eaten it, no blood left as the intense heat had evaporated it, no softness in her flesh as all was nothing other than ash merely waiting for someone to let it crumble into nothingness.

"This is Maryssa... Or what remains of it when black raiton proves too much to handle", Mizuki almost whispered as her voice broke part in empathy, part in suffering for what she had unexpectedly done. She'd cough softly, telling herself that such results were an unfortunate necessity even though the person in question might well have been misguided at best. "I doubt you'll learn much from her state, other than why this place should remain forgotten as good as possible."

She'd leave Daremo to his curiosity if he had such a need and move towards the base of the stairs where soon the hooded, robed presence revealed itself again. It'd eye the two with an aged sense of peace, the guardian not bothered in the slightest by visitors or the poor state of its temple.

"You return."
"Yes. We had hoped to find some answers. You told me I passed the trial but it is not complete, is it?"
"It is complete, yes. An aspirant is taught the Hiden of Kaminari's power if they so desire it. It used to be your predecessor; now you hold its power. You endured it, you proved adept at using it. Now all that remains is for you to keep it under control like those before you."
"Those before me carried a Seal."
"Oh? So you've already realised Kaminari can not be controlled as easily. A pleasant realisation, as many others failed to do so. Unfortunately, the Seal itself is not within my knowledge. I am merely a kami who tests the worth of those seeking its power. But to hold onto its power... that is up to its host."
"So all who come here are sent to a certain death?"
"Wisdom dictates all power comes with a price. Only fools seek to use ultimate power without consequences. The wise, however, seek to contain it rather than wield it."

Mizuki sighed. The kami was hardly wrong. At least, on all but one thing - Mizuki had never come here to seek its power. She had come to stop the Jashinists from wielding it and had, in a twisted way, been subjected to the trials of black raiton. In the eyes of the kami, she had been just as much an aspirant to Kaminari as Maryssa was. Now, there was no stepping back, but with the kami not in possession of the Seal's knowledge, the burden to find a solution rested even more on Daremo's shoulders; her thoughts on the matter shared with a worried expression towards Daremo. He had come here for answers but the kami had none. Perhaps the chamber itself carried symbols and insights towards a potential Seal but Mizuki's knowledge on Fuinjutsu was too poor to even know what she'd be looking for if such was the case. And that was taking into account that part of such secrets could have been erased during the battle.

"I can only hope your knowledge of Seals finds something that can help you here, Daremo."