Chapter 215: Fish Fry
—
["See~? This is more fun than just destroying the world outright?"]
Neji couldn't help but agree with Lady Luck on that. Flying in the sky with three girls (and one cat) in his six arms (and one shoulder), Neji was enjoying the search.
'I suppose. But anyway, I am thinking of completing your quest sooner rather than later. I have three people with me right now, along with a cat, so if I make them accept me as their "God" today, only one would be remaining. That one, I have in my inventory.'
["Tsk~ No, I am not gonna count your cat. That's cheating. Do it the hard way, naa~ What's so fun in easy runs?"]
Neji grunted at that, making Hanabi look at him carefully, nervous as if she did anything wrong, but he just smiled at her. "Sorry, I am just a bit annoyed that we haven't found anything yet."
She nodded and Neji went back to his mind. 'Fuck you.'
["After you clear this world~"]
Neji sighed. He didn't mind hard games either, but the case was different when the life and well-being of his main girls were at stake here. But he didn't have any choice, this entity was too old and strong for her to understand his humane emotions properly. Not that he hated her, he still liked her, just that she was annoying in these times.
["In any case, you said you plan to make them accept you as their God today? A confident one, aren't you?"]
Neji kept flying, not bothering to answer her. He just said that in a moment's note, of course. Though he was a bit confident that today, he could make them see him as a "God". For that he needed a punching bag, and as it turned out… that bag was just close to him.
He wasn't able to sense the Gedo Statue yet. His [Dark Sense] Skill, unlike [Blank], was relative to his main Level. At his current level, it couldn't help him sense something like Gedo Statue that was an unknown distance far from here and also protected behind a barrier-clad cave.
However, it seemed they were close to the cave enough for the Akatsuki to send their troops after the rescue teams.
All four of the Nejis dropped to the ground, and three of them puffed out of existence after putting the girls down. Now, Team Neji and Temari stood facing a blue-skinned humanoid fish, a bandage-covered 'sword' over his shoulder.
"Hehe, and here I was wondering if I should jump up or not. But still, flight? It seems the rumours don't lie, Thunder Palm Neji." The monster, Kisame Hoshigaki of the Akatsuki said, chuckling to himself.
Thunder Palm Neji was a moniker Neji Hyuga earned after becoming a Jounin. In this timeline, Neji had all five chakra affinities, thought by the Hyuga Clan head to be a perk of the "Tenseigan" but it was really just a boon Lady Luck gave him because, unlike Chakra, he didn't need any of the "affinities" to cast any elemental spells or Jutsus by using Mana. However, with that perk being in place, Neji Hyuga received the chance to train any of the five elements he wished, and he chose Lightning as his main choice. That, mixed with Gentle Fist, he soon received that moniker from how flashy and fast his palm strikes were.
"The rumours don't lie about you either, Mr Fuck Face." Neji replied with a smile. "You really are a fish-human hybrid, also you look retarded."
"..." Kisame's veins popped up in his forehead with an audible gush of blood. "Hah, and here I thought only your former sensei was an annoying bastard. I was just planning to hurt you kids a bit, but fuck, ya are asking to be butchered. Let's go, Samehada!"
The knock-off Arlong moved, kicking the ground and disappearing, only to reappear just above Neji's head and strike down the huge longsword, now somewhat revealed from beneath bandages, as the scaly sword came to clash with Neji.
Neji's body spun.
‹Eight Trigrams Revolving Heaven›
Neji spun rapidly, mana gushing out of his pressure points, as a blue dome of defence was created around him. The sword, Samehada, clashed with the dome of spinning chakra, pushing against it for a few momentary seconds, before getting slammed backwards like a paper all hitting a fan.
Neji stopped spinning and looked at Kisame who had jumped back a few steps.
[© Kisame Hoshigaki - Shark Human - Mid Tier 8]
That "©" before his name meant he wasn't the original, but a sort of clone. Neji recalled a technique that was used in this arc in the canon timeline where 30 or so percent of Kisame's and Itachi's chakra was used to make some sort of clone, but he couldn't exactly remember the name of it.
However, although this clone only had 30% of Kisame's chakra, it didn't mean their physical abilities were only 30%. They certainly weren't 100%, but they were close.
'The Akatsuki…' Neji looked at the fish. 'They're quite a bit stronger than I initially supposed they were. The real Kisame might even be Tier 10, and I am not sure if I can defeat him like I am now. Not even with Fusion.'
However, Tailless Tailed Beast or not, a Tier 8 Kisame was fair game. Also, Neji was something of a Tailed Beast himself, though nobody would be able to confirm his claims since they couldn't properly sense his Chakra because of his skill- [Blank].
"Kurai," Neji said, hearing a sound from Kurai in the back. "Keep the girls safe. Cast a few [Automatic Barriers] just in case."
"Alright, papa." Kurai replied, doing as he asked.
Neji then focused on the enemy ahead. He grabbed the top of his kimono and let it fall off to his waist, where it was tied with a rope. Now his torso was visible, as he faced an unimpressed Kisame.
"Ya trying to seduce me or what?" as he asked the question, Kisame's unamused expression slowly changed as his eyes widened, and Neji saw his changing form in the reflection of Kisame's eyes.
"Haah, and here ya were calling me a monster." Kisame chuckled as he looked at Neji, his torso covered in silver draconic scales – with the addition of glistening star-like spots present in them – that stretched until his jawline, and a pair of long white horns on his head. "...I would have assumed this was some sort of Sage Mode, but nah, even though I feel a different form of energy within ya, now that I focus, it's not Nature Energy."
"I suppose so." Neji said, in his Hybrid Dragon form, his voice deep and crispy. "Let's move."
Neji disappeared from his spot.
—★—
Hanabi knew her older cousin was strong. But she never knew how strong. That's why initially she was scared when the monster-like man attacked him. But, she regained her faith in him once he used ‹Eight Trigrams Revolving Heaven› in a manner that was as perfect as her father, reflecting the attack back to the monster.
However this… this scaly form…
Was this a Tenseigan ability too?
In any case, although the fish-man called her Onii-chan a 'monster' too, Hanabi couldn't help but digress. Neji looked… more attractive, if anything, in that form of his. And if the blushing face of his girlfriend, Tenten, was anything to go by, she thought the same. However, only Temari had a tense expression, as she looked at the battle nervously, and by the fact that she was a Joining, she probably could see more than Hanabi and Tenten could.
Hanabi ignored that, shaking any dreadful feeling from her head, and focused on the battle.
Then her heart dropped at the scene ahead.
As Neji disappeared, immediately reappearing behind Kisame, he failed to launch his palm strike at Kisame because the fish had anticipated the attack, swinging his sword behind as it… cut Neji in half, splattering blood everywhere.
"Onii-"
"Shut it." She was interrupted by the Cat, growling at her. "He's fine. A deity doesn't die so easily."
A deity? What was Kurai talking about?
However, and whatever it may be, Hanabi soon realised she was right. The one that got cut was a 'Water Clone', a water clone with red-coloured water, which gave the false impression of blood. Huh, was something like that even possible?
Neji, probably the real one, appeared beside Kisame, his long silver hair dancing behind him like the stream of a waterfall. He grabbed the hilt of his sword with one hand just as it immediately disappeared into thin air, making Kisame blink in shock.
"What just-"
Neji's arm moved as Hanabi watched his perfect muscles shift in synchronisation and a precise manner, as if he was some sort of artistic mechanism. Hanabi wasn't sure about the last part, but one thing she did know was that this fight… It was better than something out of a scholar's artbook. All his movements were clean, smooth, and precise. Perhaps it was because she was a Taijutsu user herself, or maybe because it was Neji who was performing it, Hanabi felt a strange dampness between her legs.
Still, she was focused and watched as Neji's palm struck Kisame in the stomach… then in his left chest, and his right chest, then his legs, then his face, and so on. Each time his palms connected with his enemy, the sound of thunderclaps resounded in the area. But the sound effect wasn't just for show, Neji's palms were clad in Lightning, and each time it connected with Kisame, who tried to fight back but failed, it burned his blue skin, making a stench no different from that of a fried fish. And as Hanabi watched the battle with her Byakugan, she noticed Kisame's chakra pressure getting completely shattered at each hit. So surely, he was losing his ability to fight the more seconds passed.
At the same time, sharp shockwaves left the impact point, so strong that oftentimes than not those waves came flying towards them, and Hanabi could swear that it would have been the end of her and her team a dozen times over if Kurai's automatic barrier or whatever didn't act up in the right time.
"Kaugh! Auk- motherfucker! Kgh!"
Kisame was groaning and cursing, blood leaking from his mouth and ears, his body jolting at each hit, slowly failing to counter Neji's strikes. After ten more seconds of one-sided assault, Neji's final palm strike landed on his face, a majestic shockwave slamming on Kisame's face so hard that his head burst like a watermelon.
-Bhroom!
Everyone watched as blood splattered in the vicinity, some splattering on Kurai's barrier, but most just ruining Neji's clothes.
"...Ah." Hanabi heard gaps that echoed with her own, watching as Neji huffed, his body slowly returning to normal as he was smiling. That was the smile of a victor.
"Ah, I got some nice levels."
Nice? His level of skill was more than just nice. It was an art, a particularly gorgeous art.
However, soon, Hanabi and everyone else noticed something weird that grabbed their attention. Kisame's body… wasn't Kisame's at all.
—★—
[You have killed "© Kisame Hoshigaki", a Tier 8 foe!]
[You have received 40,000 Exp!]
[You have levelled up!]
[You have levelled…!]
[You have…!]
[...]
[You have gained 14 levels!]
[You have reached Level 304!]
[Class, Voidmancer, has unlocked a new skil!]
It seemed since this "clone" was made using Rinnegan, it gave him Exp after kill, something that the normal chakra clones probably wouldn't give.
In any case, this was great. When he fought Hisashi Midoriya, another Tier 8 person, he recalled receiving 35,000 Exp and gaining 10 levels, and reaching level 189. However, with only 5k more exp, and already being at level 290, he still gained 14 levels. Certainly, now that all the exp restrictions of his system were pulled off, his growth was faster than ever.
Also, because of his draconic high human race, he received a whopping 140 allocatable stat points and 2-points auto-added in all the other stats for every level. This really was great. He decided to distribute the 140-points in places he should be more focused on instead of this balanced "318" in every stat.
After a quick session of thinking, while the girls were observing "Kisame's" body with creeped-out eyes, Neji put 90 points in DEX, since that gave him more Stamina, the thing that all his Quirks depended on. Especially Surge. Because Surge just went so well with Gentle Fist that it was a bit too scary. Then, he put 25 in STR for strength. Because even though his physical stats increased like a bulldozer in his Hybrid Form, it was still based on his base form stats, so his base physical stats also needed some love. At last, he put 25 points in the INT.
Now, he stood at a total of 34,300 MP. In other words, a total of 68,600 CP.
"Onii-sama," Hanabi brought him back to reality, staring at his face. "Do you know what this is…?"
Neji knew what she was talking about. But what was the sudden change in title? From Onii-chan to Onii-sama? Eh, at least that just meant he left a strong enough impression. But obviously, that much wasn't enough to convince them that he's a "God", despite Kurai's tries. He would have to try his hand with the three more enemies he's supposed to face today.
"I think I do." Neji decided to act wise, answering Hanabi. "A forbidden Jutsu that uses a human sacrifice to summon someone else inside that body. That someone else, as it happens, retains most of their original power. The Shapeshifting Jutsu"
Though it was a forbidden Jutsu only available to the Rinnegan, they didn't need to know that.
"I have never heard of a jutsu like that." Temari said, but she wasn't trying to object to him, rather looking at him with a bit different, fascinated eyes. "This Ninja, he's from the Sand. I have talked with him before… never would have assumed he was a spy."
"He might have been under a Genjutsu, we can't be sure." Neji said, and everyone seemed to agree with him.
"I suppose." Temari nodded before slowly and hesitantly looking at his chest. "Though can I ask why exactly did you decide to reveal your chest? Amidst a battle, of all times."
"You certainly don't seem to mind the view."
"But in a battle-"
"You're interested in seeing it outside a battle?"
"..."
At her silence, Neji laughed and waved it off, starting to wear his kimono again. "It's a requirement I need for that form. As you noticed, I was huffing hard after the battle. I need a lot of air when using that form, and not just from my nose or mouth, but from my entire body. That's why I had to do it. Sorry if it made you uncomfortable."
That was bullshit. He just needed to show them that he wasn't exactly a "human" and any chance of it being the legendary Sage Mode was destroyed by Kisame's observation, just as Neji had planned.
"Um… No, I don't think it was uncomfortable in any way." Temari blushed, but she didn't look away like the other girls he encountered. This girl was good at tolerating some teasing, it seemed. "Though what was that anyw-"
"Right," Tenten, who'd been silent until now, slipped into the conversation as she hugged Neji's arms, her cheeks pouting. "His chest certainly isn't anything uncomfortable to look at. I can tell because I have seen it very up close. Unlike you guys."
Oh-ho, jealous. Also, she just saved him from making more excuses by interrupting Temari.
"Hey!" Hanabi protested, taking his other arm. "What do you mean by that? I-I have seen his chest up close too. I have s-showered with him a lot before."
"When you were 5 years old, and I was 12. Meaning when I barely had any muscle." Neji pointed out.
"Still!"
Temari gave them an awkward smile as Neji shrugged at her, earning a pity-filled nod from her.
"Anyway," Neji changed his tone. "From what I know the Akatsuki always moves in a two-member team. Meaning another one of them is around, probably after Kakashi's team. And if the Akatsuki hasn't changed their team combs yet, I think Itachi Uchiha is Kisame's teammate. In that case, it would be really bad for team Kakashi to face him alone. Let's move."
Temari didn't seem convinced. "But isn't it better for Kakashi to do it alone? His Sharingan can counter Itachi-"
Neji pulled down his blindfold, staring at her. "However, my eyes give me absolute resistance against Genjutsu. Especially from the Sharingan."
"Ah…" Temari, as expected, was also dazed in his eyes. However, being a Jounin she quickly regained her senses and left with Neji in the air.
—★—
Itachi wasn't that far from Neji, just 17 kilometres away. Neji quickly found him with his Lord's Eye. However, in mid-air, Hanabi spoke to him in a soft, hesitant tone.
"Um, Onii-sama…"
"Yes?" Neji replied calmly, putting the other three of his clones a bit ahead so that he could talk with her secretly.
"That… you just showed her the Tenseigan like that. Father will get mad if he hears about it."
"I know."
"Also, how did you do it…? You were strictly commanded by Father to never, by yourself, take off your blindfold. If a branch family member with the Cursed Seal disobeys the command of any main branch member, let alone the clan head himself, the Cursed Seal would activate on its own and give him unimaginable pain that they would wish for death. Isn't that right? But nothing of that sort happened to you…" she looked confused, but at the same time reluctant to ask. As for why she seemed reluctant, she probably didn't want Neji to think she would snitch on him.
'Adorable.' Neji curled up his lips and decided to tease her a bit.
"Perhaps I did feel pain. Perhaps I trained myself to not show any outer sign of me receiving pain from the seal?" He said, chuckling softly. "People say you can get used to anything. If that's so, what's this little pain? In any case, I hope Lady Hanabi isn't planning to snitch on this servant-"
Hanabi's expression changed into that of a frightened one, one that was fearful of being misunderstood. "Onii-sama!! I would never! I was just-"
"It's fine, it's fine." Neji laughed aloud, suddenly hugging her tightly. "I am just kidding. I am well aware you wouldn't do it, dear. Or I wouldn't have done that in front of you. I also didn't feel any pain, I have a way to avoid that. But it's touching to see you worry so much, you cute little thing."
Hanabi froze, and Neji watched with his Lord's Eye how her face flushed like the brightest sun under his arms.
Hanabi's lips were quivering, seemingly embarrassed and very annoyed but clearly relieved at the same time, as she pushed her face against Neji's chest.
"...Idiot."
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