In the infinite white expanse between worlds—the white space, Kaede stood stunned, his gaze shifting between the young priestess and the old man beside her. The man's presence was heavy, almost tangible—like the weight of an ancient mountain.
Michel's voice broke the silence, solemn and commanding. "It is time for answers. And if my granddaughter believes you hold them, I trust her instinct."
From Michel's hand, silvery threads erupted like a tidal wave, wrapping around Kaede in an instant. He struggled, but there was no escape. The threads coiled around his limbs, tethering him to the ground, shimmering with an eerie glow as they linked to his soul itself.
Pinned to the floor, Kaede gasped as the silver web dug into his spirit.
Michel stepped closer, his tone calm but heavy with implication. "You've encountered truth-extraction Genjutsu before—a question, a few words, and the truth follows. This is more... refined. These silver threads connect to your soul. They allow for clarity, for memory, for undeniable truth."
Hinata's eyes widened. "I never imagined something like this existed."
Michel chuckled softly. "I brought some creativity from my world. A bit unfair, perhaps. You'd be amazed what inspiration lies buried in the teachings I left for you. But enough talk. Let's demonstrate."
He placed his hand on the threads binding Kaede.
"Tell me, Kaede... What is your relationship with Jiren of Takigakure?"
The threads shimmered, and a memory bloomed behind them like a projected dream.
<<<< o >>>>
A teenager, tall and smug, stood before a younger Kaede. "Now that you can use chakra, you must understand the gift of our blood. Watch."
He twisted his face, his body rippling like clay until he took on another's form. "We can become anyone. No Jutsu rivals our clan's gift. But it comes at a cost. You'll need to marry within the family. It's the price of power."
The scene shifted. A funeral. Young Kaede weeps beside a corpse with malleable skin.
"It's the cost of power... I will miss you, brother. I will raise your children as best I can."
Another image: a six-year-old Jiren, small and frail, solving medical puzzles with eerie brilliance. Kaede approached him.
"They say you've already worked miracles. Would you hear my family's plight?"
A new memory: nine-year-old Jiren, eyes aglow with triumph. "I solved it. Your bloodline's curse ends here. You and your children will live long, full lives."
<<<< o >>>>
Michel's voice again: "What moves have you and Jiren made regarding the Land of Iron?"
The threads pulsed. More memories unfolded.
Kaede's voice: "Lord Jiren, now that you have the technique you wanted, do we still need the Land of Iron?"
Jiren, now a confident pre-teen, smirked. "The forbidden Earth Grudge Fear was unstable. But when I interrogated Akio Gin, inspiration struck. I took his heart—his soul was weakened by my soul-venom. My first mask was born. The samurai's forging techniques remain of interest. Especially how his father survived the same poison... Thanks to the heart of his son, my body has been reborn again. I wonder what other secrets his father didn't tell his son."
A new image: Jiren and Kaede discussing the slow-acting poison used to kill Daimyō Akihiko Gin—a toxin that ravaged the immune system so thoroughly that even mild illness proved fatal. *
Next: Kaede in a snowy clearing with three ninjas and two civilians. "Bring me that girl, Hinata. You two, spy on her." **
Next: Kaede drafting a letter, sending information about a captured samurai back to Jiren. ***
Another flash: Kaede overseeing the equipment of the Jashin cult, speaking quietly to himself. "Idiots. They think they lead the plan. Every tool we gave them is rigged. They'll be obliterated, never knowing why. A perfect victory in a key moment for Tenshō."
Then: disappointment etched on Kaede's face as he watched Tenshō ignore their plan in favor of chaos. ****
Another memory shimmered into focus.
Kaede, meticulously organizing contact networks across the Land of Iron, using the Inverted Lotus as a veil to infiltrate not only Renga's household but also those of other noble samurai. Each servant, guard, and official was part of a slow, subtle corruption.
Then—the image of a lowly gardener, gaunt and wild-eyed, trembling as a vial of iridescent liquid was handed to him. The drug enhanced his physical abilities beyond normal human limits for a short window before destroying his body from within. Jiren's voice echoed in Kaede's mind: "You only need to succeed once."
Kaede watched from the shadows as the gardener, unknowingly programmed and chemically bound to his task, moved through security checkpoints unnoticed—assisted by other servants unaware they were part of a larger scheme. The scene froze: the blood-streaked floor of Renga's private chambers. The illusion of a suicide pact complete. A perfect crime wrapped in shadows and manipulation.
<<<< o >>>>
Hinata stepped forward, her voice steady.
"Michel... ask him what he knows about Jiren's actions inside Takigakure."
Michel nodded, and once more placed his hand on the threads.
The white space around them trembled, and new revelations began to unfold.
Images, both long and fleeting, began to coalesce—threads of a story long buried.
Jiren, a child of sickly constitution but incomparable genius, saw the world of chakra differently. By the age of four, his insights into medical ninjutsu were already beyond comprehension. The Takikage took him under his wing, nurturing a prodigy that would redefine medicine in Takigakure.
He refined soldier pills, optimized ration formulas, and developed procedures that saved countless lives. Slowly, quietly, he began building his own following within the village—those he had healed, families he had saved, ninjas whose lives had been reshaped by his methods. He seemed like a boy with a heart for his people.
Among them was a girl—a jinchūriki named Fū. Jiren saw her not just as a weapon, but as a friend. They became inseparable, and the Takikage encouraged their bond, seeing it as a method to keep the dangerous power within Fū in check.
Then came whispers of a hidden samurai clan possessing something extraordinary. Word reached Jiren of the Body Forging Technique—a secret legacy of the Gin family. Secretly, he orchestrated a scheme to obtain the knowledge. He sold several venom formulas to Konoha in exchange for key intelligence. The patriarch was difficult to reach, but the son—driven by love, young, and naive—was easy prey.
Upon acquiring the method, Jiren was cautious. The technique promised much, but its risks were real. That hesitation birthed something darker.
Jiren, eyes alight with a mad vision, opened an ancient scroll—Earth Grudge Fear. Before Kaede's very eyes, Jiren used the Jutsu, tearing the heart from young Akio Gin. A mask formed. Jiren's grin widened. A monster was born. His genius and heart with a vitality capable of giving him a body worthy of him.
He engineered a way to manipulate the earth's energy itself, creating what he called "formations"—vast and complex structures of chakra interwoven into the very terrain. These formations were layered into the soil and rock of Takigakure, acting as hidden seals, barriers, and traps. He claimed they would protect the village, improve its defenses, and safeguard its secrets from outsiders.
But not all formations were made equal.
Jiren embedded secret passages—gates known only to his faction. They could be accessed only through specific conditions: a drop of preserved blood, a unique sequence of chakra pulses, and hidden switches scattered across the terrain. With these, Jiren and his loyalists could slip in and out of the village undetected, bypassing all known security measures.
To the Takikage and the public, the formations were marvels of defensive design. To Jiren's inner circle, they were the skeleton key to the village—and the foundation of his rising shadow empire.
<<<< o >>>>
The silence in the white void lingered for a time as both Michel and Hinata processed the avalanche of revelations that had poured forth.
Michel spoke first, his tone heavy with clarity and concern. "This Jiren... the path he would have walked in his first, perhaps even second life, is clear to me. He would have studied Takama's technique despite its grave risks, and when Akatsuki came for his beloved, he would have died fighting by her side. But that changed. When I lifted part of Shikashi's influence from Ren—the second vessel sent—Jiren must have received the insight into Earth Grudge Fear. That was the moment he took Akio Gin's heart... and the parasite within him steered his fate."
Michel paused, gathering his thoughts.
Hinata, quiet until now, found herself in agreement. The sequence of events was becoming clearer. She picked up Michel's thread.
"That was the moment his gaze shifted to the Land of Iron. That's when he began to move. Perhaps he didn't act more decisively then because of his cautious nature... even so, I'm more certain now. I have to take the initiative."
Notes: For references to chapters where Kaede was doing things behind the scenes.
* chapter 78
** chapter 74
*** chapter 90
**** chapter 84