Kekkai's gaze flicked as he scanned his surroundings with intense scrutiny. The fact that he had entered a practical death trap unawares set tensed his nerves to the fullest.
//
Ding
[Clear Mind] Triggered
[Creative Mode] Activated
//
Kekkai immediately activated two of his perks as he went all out in this situation. Kept his thoughts clear and organized as he tried to understand the purpose of the runes and if they were meant to trap and contain or for sensory and home defenses.
Fuinjutsu is one of the most versatile and potent power systems that the elemental nations had to offer! Capable of bending the laws of reality as the user saw fit Fuinjustu is capable of locking, Containing, and managing any physical, spiritual, or conceptual entity the user deems fit.
Even laws of space and time and conceptual creatures like Gods can be sealed by it. Flying Raijin that Senju Tobirama is based on the concept of combining the Sealing of a person's Spatial mark on an object and using a said object to break the laws of space and time to Summon said thing to a specific location. And once this mark is placed on an individual it is almost impossible to remove unless you had higher attainments than the caster or remove the area the mark is located.
And this is one of Kaguya Otsutsuki's prime examples of how broken the technique is if it's applied on a high enough level!
A literal Alien God who can manage the entire world's Chakra can shift and bend the world as she saw fit, a person who doesn't even have a true physical form can be packed up into rock helplessly, then she had her chakra taken and split into several different entities.
Although the Fuinjutsu in this house most likely isn't up to that standard it sure as hell can contain him!
If there's one thing in this world that Kekkai fears most and that is Fuinjutsu.
He doesn't like this broken system at all, and the entire house is covered in it.
Kekkai took a deep breath and began to accumulate his strength, preparing to break out a the slightest sign of trouble.
Keeping his movements to the minimum His mind worked overtime to understand what the hell was going on!
Steps sounded from the stairs as Suki walked down slowly. Coming to a stop at the bottom of the stairs she watched the still Kekkai standing at the Archway on the opposite side.
"What are you doing standing there? Are you coming in or not?" She asked after a moment
Kekkais eyes flicked as he looked at her. After looking at the red hair and back to the sealing runes he finally understood.
"What's an Uzumaki family member doing in the Kingdom of Stone? Shouldn't your people be halfway across the world?" He asked
"Who said I'm an Uzumaki?" She said raising an eyebrow.
Kekkai just gestured widely with his arms to the house around him.
Suki didn't speak after that. She just looked at him for a moment.
"Your Fuinjutsu is nice and concealed. Although I should say as expected of an Uzumaki because I didn't recognize it for a moment because it's hidden in the design."
"We are not Uzumaki, as for the Fuinjutsu, my Mother made it," Suki explained
"And may I ask where she is?" Kekkai asked
"Dead. Passed away a long time ago." Suki said darkly. Her eyes became sharp and she began to glare at Kekkai.
"I'm sorry to hear that." seeing her glare he was awkward for a moment before apologizing.
"No need to be sorry. Like I said it was a long time ago." She said flippantly
/I would believe you if you weren't still glaring/ He thought
Suki turned and went back up the stairs, turning her head to say "They don't activate unless you have malicious intent. Just don't break anything and it'll be fine."
Kekkai looked around with hesitation for a few seconds before following her up the stairs. The two were silent as they walked up.
//
Ding
[Clear Mind] and [Creative Mode] deactivated
//
"So, why are there a bunch of seals decorating your house? Aesthetically pleasing as it is, not very much abode friendly." Kekkai asked, Trying to release the tension a little of the tension.
"Look, I know you mean well but we are just a family of two who likes to live undisturbed in a small town." She stated sharply while cutting him off.
"Could have fooled me, red hair and Fuinjutsu are the defining characteristics of your clan, and not a lot of people can pull this off without decades of training or enough heritage to pull it off, and You don't look that old to me," Kekkai stated
"I don't know if I should take that as a compliment or insult, and maybe I'm just that good," Suki said blandly without looking at him.
"Whatever you say," Kekkai said with a shrug.
"Second door on the right." Suki motioned when she reached the top of the stairs.
"Ok." He nodded.
Suki continued walking to another room at the other end of the hall, the waiting Takahiro who was standing there looked up and smiled when he saw her.
But when his smile froze because when he opened his mouth to talk to her, she walked past him like he was air slammed her door shut when she entered her room.
Kekkai shook his head and pulled the frozen statue that was his cousin and pulled him to Akito's room. Easily dragging him away, he knocked on the door.
"Come in. It's unlocked." Akito permitted
Entering Kekkai was surprised to find a surprisingly tidy room. A small balcony leads into a small room with a single mattress and two desks along with some drawings put to the side of a closet.
"Is this your room? I have to say, it's, umm, well bland." Kekkai said
"What do you want?" Akito rolled his eyes and said.
"Bandit information. Where they target, where they live, and their methods of operation." Kekkai asked
"What do you take me for? An all-knowing spy?" Akitos asked, eyes popping out at the amount demanded.
"Umm," Kekkai was embarrassed at this, it seemed that he was asking a little too much from a kid." then what do you have?"
"Base locations, Methods of operation, Leaders, and a list of all their personnel," Akito said, his eyes blinking innocently.
/This damn brat!/ Kekkai glared at him.
Akito smiled at his small victory and stepped to his desk and took out a bunch of maps and information charts from a drawer.
"Like I always say, don't look down on me because I'm a kid! I'm more than slippery enough to get all there is to know from this town to the border. How much information are you looking for?" He started boastfully.
"I'll keep that in mind, spy kid. I'll only need Hideout locations and the roads they target. That will be good enough for now." Kekkai remarked blandly.
"How many? What areas?" Akito inquired
"All of them. My task is for all the bandits on the border so the more the better!" Kekkai said provocatively.
"Just you and him?" Akito asked shocked, before turning to look at Takahiro in the corner with a little worry in his eye.
/Hey, hey, at least you got the brother on your side. The sister looks like she will be a handful though/ Kekkai thought humorously
"Nope just me. He's here to watch." Kekkai boasted
"Just you?" Akito looked doubtful.
"What was that brat?" A vein twitched on Kekkais face. He began to glare dangerously at the little rugrat.
"Nothing!" Akito had enough sense to not continue.
"Good. So do you have what I need or not?" Kekkai asked while holding out his hand.
"Sure thing, that'll be 22,000 ryo." Akito grinned and pinched his fingers together.
"You and your sister sure charge an arm and a leg." Kekkai grimaced as he started this.
"We gotta put food on the table somehow." He said unapologetically. His face says are you going to pay or not?
"He's my wallet for now." Kekkai gestured his head to the pale ghost drawing circles in the corner.
"Gotcha," Akito said cheerfully before handing over a couple of pieces of paper.
Taking a look at the paper for a moment to confirm, he began to head out of the room.
"Where are you going?" Akito inquired.
"To hunt some bandits, duh," Kekkai declared sarcastically.
"Don't you need to prepare, or bring him?" Akito pointed to his cousin.
Looking at the still grey and useless cousin Kekkai just groaned for a second before shaking his head.
"Pshh, I was born ready. Just keep an eye on him till I get back." Kekkai said dismissively before continuing out of the door.
When he arrived outside he pulled out one of the maps and began to plot his destination. Akito may be bratty, but the kid knew what he was doing.
The maps he gave were detailed and marked the junctions and hideouts that he needed.
Examining the map he saw four bandit hideouts close to town. He wanted to hit all four before night fell.
Taking a look at his HUD he confirmed the time and took off.
//
Health:651/620 Regen:6.15hp/5s
Stamina:84sp Regen: 8.4sp/10s
Armor:220ap/220ap Regen: 10ap/10min
Pupil:420/420. Regen:8.4pp/5s
R.A.M: 19 Regen:2.25/5min
Buffed:
Buzzed (2 hours 45 minutes)
Nourished (1 hour 20 minutes)
//
Kekkai wanted to squeeze these buffs for all they were worth! Running full speed, he crossed the dry grasslands as fast as lightning to get to his first destination.
Twelve miles away lay a small valley at the bottom of a small mountain. Inside it lay a circle of small makeshift houses and carriages.
There a moderately sized group of people were sorting through a couple of crates, chests, and containers and passing out random items to each person in the crowd.
"The prey is earning less and less these days. Padreil, how about we head over to the Kingdom of Birds for a while to see if we can get a better score there?" Questioned An overweight woman in leather armor with pale skin, and course brown hair.
"No, Stainying, we can stick around for a couple more weeks here. The small rebellion in the Kingdom of sand has gotten bigger and bigger these days." answered Padreil, a long-legged Young man in leather armor with darker skin and a cold, calculating gaze, "Refugees will start pouring through all the borders and it will be the perfect time to start fishing in Troubled waters."
"What about inland? They sounded pretty convincing when they came to us to join in their camp." said a broad-shouldered old man with bronze skin. His eyes were frantic and wary as they darted to and from.
"Because those greedy fucks want a portion of all the income we make whenever we visit their town. I would rather have us keep all the wealth and spend it where we need it rather than tributing most of our work to that worthless mine." Padriel sneered.
"But they offered protection. What if the towns get sick of us and offer up a bounty to get rid of us?" Said a lanky young man in armor with ruddy skin while trembling.
"Oh quit your whining Sativa." mocked a tall broad-shouldered man in plate armor and a heavy axe across his shoulder.
"The only people we go after are loners in their own right. Nobody is gonna miss them if they suddenly turn up missing in the first place." explained The man settled his axe to his side "No one reporting, no bounty, Plus we have over 25 men, and no one in their right mind would attack us."
"But-" Sativa opened his mouth but it was interrupted by Padriel.
"No buts, look you're getting too tense, how about we head to the capitol in a few days and find a couple of women to take away your troubles." Padriel patted his shoulder and grinned lasciviously.
This time Sativa stopped trembling and began drooling," I'd like that."
"Sure you would, now get back to work!" Padriel chided before shoving him back to the boxes of valuables.
"DUST CLOUDS! WE GOT DUST CLOUDS!" A sharp-eyed man screamed from the edge of the valley entrance.
"What! Get ready boys, it looks like we got company!" Padriel was shocked but then immediately took up his crossbow and shouted to gather his men.
The camp began to churn as everyone poured out of their makeshift homes and grabbed their weapons. They poured to the mouth of the valley and looked at a mysterious dust cloud that was roaring toward them.
"Get ready!" Padriel ordered.
The men and women began to tighten their hands on their weapons.
"Crossbows!" Padriel ordered.
Men standing on high wooden platforms began to knock heavy arrows with shiny barbed metal tips. Propping the butt on their shoulders and aiming.
As The dust cloud got closer and closer the bandit camp became tenser and tenser. When it reached a couple of hundred meters away and they could barely see an outline of a person running in it, Padriel lifted his crossbow and began to aim.
But then, nothing. The cloud of dust stopped in place billowing and shifting in place as it came to a halt.
After a second of watching the Bandits looked at each other in confusion. Savita who was on the side holding a large metal net looked at Padriel with confusion.
"Umm" He hesitated before asking," What's going o-"
*BOOOMMMMM*
In an explosion of dust and debris, something landed in the middle of the bandit group, causing the thieves to cover their faces and cough severely, and become temporarily blinded.
When the dust settled the shape of a hooded man in a black trench coat took form. Slowly standing up and dusting himself off he stood there in the middle of the stunned bandits thinking to himself.
/Perfect landing, I give myself a 10 out of 10/ He thought pride fully.
Lowering his face mask he looked around at the bandits who were armed to the teeth and smiled.
"Hello there." He said cheerfully
"Who the fuck are you?!" Pedrial inquired stunned for a second before lifting his crossbow again.
"That's not your line! You're supposed to already know!" Kekkai scolded
"What?" Pedrial asked confused.
"I'm supposed to say 'Hello There' and you're supposed to say 'General Kenobi!' in a surprised fashion! Get with the program." Kekkai explained slowly like he was talking to a child.
"General? Are you some kind of samurai?" Asked Pedrial.
"Ugh, I can't expect you to get the reference." Kekkai facepalmed."Anyway, let's get this party started!"
//
Ding
[Clear Mind] Triggered
[Creative Mode] Activated
[Combat Prediction] Primed
//
Without further ado, he flicked both of his arms out to his sides. Out of his long sleeves came hidden daggers that flew out and quickly embedded themselves into the throat and eye of two unsuspecting Thieves.
The woman whose throat was pierced held it tightly with wide eyes and gurgled blood from her mouth as she slowly dropped to the ground. At least she died quickly, the man with a dagger in the eye, was not so lucky.
"Arghhh, my eye! My fucking eye!" He screamed as he fell back and rolled side to side in pain.
/Two down./ He noted
Taking advantage of the panic, Kekkai dashed to the side after one of the closer melee combatants. Slipping through the gap of his hurried sword swing he slid to his side with a combat knife taken from his hip strap and immediately stabbed him twice in the chest and swiped his throat.
/Three down/ He thought
Taking the man and slinging him over his shoulder, He ran deeper into the crowd while utilizing his body to obstruct a few more blows as a human shield.
Reaching into his coat he grabbed a palm-sized stone rough and rocky surface. Squeezing it hard until it began glowing red Kekkai tucked it into the leather armor of the man before he hurled the corpse to the thieves.
Catching the body in confusion, they fell back under the momentum of the throw. Turning back he began hunting the rest of the divided group.
*Kaboom*
An explosion of smoke and fire consumed several people as the stone released a burst of strong Fire Chakra, Killing them instantly on impact from the force and heat.
/Nine down/
Bandits at the edge of the explosion screamed In a panic as their armor caught flame, dropping their weapons and started rolling on the ground in an attempt to put out the flame. Making them easy pickings for Kekkais blade to harvest as he turned to finish them off.
"Fuck! Explosive tag! This fucker is a Ninja, Kill him!" Pedrial screamed in fear as he watched close to a third of his men be killed in less than 15 seconds of this demon's arrival.
Quickly shifting his body to the side to dodge a bolt from one of the bowmen on the rafters. Glaring at his shooter he bent to the side and grabbed the arm of a fat woman who came screaming at him with a hand axe.
Pulling her arm to the side and kneeing her in the stomach. As her eyes gapped and she tried to gasp for air he twisted her arm and disarmed her.
As she dropped the axe in pain he grabbed the falling axe from the air and with a full-powered swing he chopped her head off with a single blow!
Continuing the momentum of the swing, he turned the swing into a throw as he flung the axe in retaliation for the bolt.
The axe screams against the wind as it spun quickly before embedding itself into the skull of the archer.
/Eleven down./
Kekkai was like a phantom as he flicked back and forth between the thieves, using his agility to his advantage to weave through his enemies, using their own people as platforms to kick and roll of to disorient them. Striking critical if not fatal blows every time he attacked as he danced.
"Fuck!!! Somebody kill this asshole!" Pedrial screamed in panic and rage as he watched more and more of his men cut down as if they were leaks to be harvested.
"We're fucking trying, he's too fucking slippery. Can't get a clear shot." Shouted back one of the bowmen while sweating bullets as he tried to line up a shot onto the flickering shadow.
"Then fucking limit him! Where are our nets? Tie him down and fill him with arrows!" Commanded Pedrial
No sooner than when he said that Savita who was sneaking up from the side released a weighted metal net that spread as it tried to catch Kekkai.
Smirking at this move, Kekkai kicked up one of the dropped spears from the ground and with a swirling extension motion he caught the net with a spin.
The second he performed this movement instead of dodging enabled the archers to lock onto him. Three bolts immediately fired and screamed at his head.
*Ting*
*Tang*
*Ting*
With the sound of metal bouncing off of metal as the three bolts just bounced off his skin. Not as scratch was seen.
//
Ding
Piercing damage
35x3x1.5 Critical Attack= 157.5 Damage
Migration:157.5d/3m
Armor-5
Health-1
//
Silence pervaded the air as all of them froze in place. Padrials eyes popped out as he saw three sure kill shots bounce off this monster's skin. He had fully expected him to dodge or at most be one of those substitute phantoms that he heard ninjas loved to use.
But this man, no, this demon in human skin didn't even bother to dodge as the arrows just bounced off of his skin.
The sun blazed high in the sky making the cold sweat pour down their backs all the more prominent as the air tensed and terror began to weigh down on them like a heavy blanket.
Taking a finger and rubbing it along his skin where the arrows hit. Kekkai raised an eyebrow and looked at them.
"All that work. Not even a drop of blood." He mocked with a disappointed look.
That was the straw that broke the camels back, one after another they started to drop their weapons and slowly backed away.
Savita was the first one to bolt for the valley mouth as fast as his legs could take him as he fled in hysteria.
Though he didn't get far, because when he got 5 meters away he was impaled by a flying spear from behind and nailed into the ground.
He lay there and tenderly touched the hole in his chest before spitting blood and collapsing as he died.
"Where do you think your going? Nobody is leaving until I give you your one-way ticket." Kekkai said while still in a throwing stance, "Your one-way ticket to Hell!"
"Get it? Because I'm going to kill all of you? Ah never mind. None of you get my jokes." He smiled and chided them.
But none of them took it as a joke as the remaining people scattered and ran in different directions like headless chickens or stood there frozen in despair.
/Tough crowd/ Kekkai grumbled
But he still continued his work, drawing out a small tantō he cut down the rest of the fleeing bandits.
Flying limbs and screams of pain and despair echoed throughout the valley for a short while before silence.
Pedrial could only kneel on the ground, his eyes blank and soulless as he watched this Shinigami stalking towards him with a blade dripping in blood.
Once he arrived before him, Pedrial could only look up at him and croak from a dry throat.
"What the hell are you? Why did you come after us?!" He asked in despair
Kekkai stood in front of him with a suddenly serious and thought for a moment before answering.
"Because I'm Batman!" He spat out harshly with a deep voice.
"I thought you were named General Kenobi?" He asked with his face twisted in confusion.
"Bro, just get with the program." sighed Kekkai, he didn't bother to settle his confusion before taking a quick clean swing.
A confused head went flying through the air.
.
.
.
.
.
//
Ding
Uncommon quest
Wolves Nest Cleaning
1/52 Gangs cleared
Clear the Hideout completed
Bandits killed: 27/27
Hostages:0/0
Evaluation:A
Receive
135 rep
405 eddies
+1 Program 1/2 off voucher
//
Kekkai flicked his blade to the side and let his chakra run from his hand and rub down the blade to clean the blade.
After that, he holstered the blade and began to clean up. Picking up his personal blades, and throwing knives scattered across the battlefield.
"My time?" He asked while pulling a knife embedded into the back of a mans skull.
/Five minutes and thirty-six seconds./ answered Nikita. /Although you could have cut it to two minutes if you didn't waste time showboating./
"Hehe," Kekkai could only scratch the back of his head embarrassingly.
When he came to a batch of scorched black corpses he examined each of them for a moment shifting through the crisp carbonized remains until he stumbled upon the one he was looking for.
A corpse with a bowl-shaped gap in it's chest, in the middle was a glassy surface with something that glowed red like an ember in the middle of it.
Picking it up he ignored the crunching of fragile glass as he signed into the chest cavity to retrieve his prize.
It was the rough rocky surfaced bead, right now it was glowing a deep red and black glow. Kekkai still marvels at how much heat was restrained inside this tiny little bead.
He calls it the Astral Charge, one of the most versatile and volatile findings during his research at the Mēkā clan. It was found near one of the breeding chambers of fire-type Yokai. When he found that it passively absorbed heat, friction and kinetic force. Albeit a little at a time, but when it's released the influence of the explosion is quite exponential.
When he first experimented with this little mineral in an attempt to draw out the energy contained in it he nearly blew himself up from the resulting explosion. Well technically, he did blow up his working station.
If it hadn't been for Grandma Cho who had many years of experience dancing at the edge of a knife to sense the danger and snatch him by the neck and hightail it out of there, he would die from the resulting miniature sun that laid waster to his lab before leaving a glass like crater close to 10 meters in diameter.
Kekkai who was choked by the sudden pulling from his neck was about to complain about what was the problem thanked his grandmother deeply when he came to from his terror of the experiment.
Since then although they succeeded in containing and refining it to suit different purposes this little monstrosity does make a great renewable Grenade! All it would take to prime it would be a little squeeze and bang! You got a sure-kill area-of-effect weapon.
Carefully placing it back into a pouch inside his coat he began to organize the rest of his spoils of war.
When he finished, he packed all of it into scroll that he marked then buried into the ground so that Takahiro could come to claim it and use his summons to send it back to the clan for processing.
Taking the map out once again and confirming his direction he took off once more into a cloud of dust and dirt as he rushed to his new location.