A/N: Sigh. 11 chapters in and this book has the lowest engagement I've ever seen. I don't even know what I'm doing wrong cos you guys are too silent. Come on guys. This might as well probably be my last book.
I really want to get this to the top of the rankings so let's try our best alright. Let me know what you guys think, review, and font forget the powerstones and keep adding this book to your collection.
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*So tell me, who are you, really?"
She let out a smile underneath her mask, before she hefted her axe onto her shoulder and looked towards him.
'Her strength is at best peak second grade. It seems even someone as talented as her has not yet reached full potential.."
Meanwhile, Sasuke walked towards his Kusanagi stabbed into the ground and pulled it out, holding it in reverse as he thought deeply, a bit disappointed.
His strength had increased leaps and bounds compared to the him about from three weeks ago. And while he had not yet reached first grade strength, anything or anyone below that level was not even worthy of mentioning in his eyes.
"Who I am doesn't really matter. It won't serve any purpose to you. We're all just trying to survive in this damned world in our own ways.."
Sasuke's calm voice and reasonable words resonated deeply with her heart, and she smiled.
"For the first time we agree, Zero. Survival. It's the only thing that's important in this world, and that is why I'm afraid this interaction can't end peacefully unless you relinquish hold of that head in your possession..
Cursed technique: Endless Crow Barrage!!"
After ascertaining that she was no match for him in terms of hand to hand combat, she resorted to finally revealing her cursed technique, employing a powerful move right of the bat.
*KAW!* *KAW!*
Countless crows flew out of the forest behind them, empowered by cursed energy, before they shot straight towards Sasuke's figure like bullets.
"Earth Style: Mud Wall!"
Without even wasting time, he formed several hand seals and smashed his both palms onto the ground.
Multiple mud walls erupted from the ground and shielded his body from the recurring explosions.
He then readied himself to fire an attack when he felt something wrong. Lifting his head, he noticed and endless number of crows suddenly circling his body from above.
"That wasn't the real attack, was it? Creative, but sneak attacks should catch the opponent off guard."
He chuckled towards the woman, before he formed multiple hand seals and sucked in his stomach.
"Fire style: Majestic Destroyer Flame!!"
A burst of flame escaped his lips, spreading and drowning every thing above him in a majestic explosion, leaving the woman gobsmacked for a moment.
'Earth and Fire? Is it possible for someone to possess multiple cursed techniques?'
She wasted no time even while her thoughts were in disarray and blasted towards Sasuke's figure with full speed, wanting to take advantage of her previous attack to put him down once and for all.
Even though the entire arena was now drowned in smoke as a result of the explosion, her senses pierced through the layer of white and quickly located his figure.
*BANG!*
Sasuke turned around in surprise only to see the massive blade smashed towards his head unreasonably.
The blow connected, sending a shadow flying through the layers of smoke which quickly began dissolving after a moment.
"You're right, sneak attacks are supposed to catch opponents off guard. Thanks for the lesson..."
She smiled and hefted the battle axe onto her shoulders, walking smugly towards the battered shadowy figure on the ground only to be shocked in return.
Rather than an explosion of his head and brain juices, she found a wooden log split into two in his place.
"I'd stand down if I were you.."
She quickly reached for her axe, however the cold edge of the sharp blade and the calm voice that resounded from behind her quickly reminded her of the cold truth --- she had lost the fight, and her mission was a failure.
The edge of Sasuke's Kusanagi thrummed with a faint purple aura, that threatened to mercilessly cut her down in case she made any attempt to fight back.
"In the end I lost..."
The audible sense of loss in her voice betrayed the small smile on her face, as her axe dropped to the ground in surrender.
However contrary to what she expected, she suddenly felt unrestricted, the blade that threatened to kill her, no more. She raised her head only to see him sheathing his blade on his lower back and preparing to leave.
"Compassion is a foolish mistake for a bloodthirsty mercernary of your caliber."
She picked up her axe and slowly caressed her neck realising the small cut from which blood dripped.
Sasuke halted after hearing her words and his brows raised within his mask.
'Bloodthirsty? Is that my current reputation within the Jujutsu society?'
He questioned internally and sighed. He was going to brood over what to do next when he got back to the sanctuary.
"Compassion? I find it beneath me to take a life without anything in return..You should be glad you don't have a bounty on you.."
He didn't turn around, yet his words reached her ears and elicited a smile from the young woman.
"The Star Religious group are a bunch of pretentious do gooders who'll go to any limits just to achieve their goals and prove their flawed beliefs to themselves. You should leave before your inevitable betrayal and death.."
She spoke as she picked up her axe and hefted it back onto her shoulder.
"Not if I kill them first.."
His headstrong attitude was excellent for a mercenary, however for someone like her who dawdled in the affairs of bounty hunters since.s young age, she knew what he was going to get himself into.
"Anyway, as thanks for sparing me have this."
She flicked a black card to him which he caught in between two fingers without even turning.
"Whenever you decide to ditch those religious fools, go to Q Association Headquarters and look for me.."
After her words she seemingly morphed into a horde of crows and disappeared.
Smiling underneath his mask, he also turned into a streak of lightning and flickered into the distance.
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STAR RELIGIOUS GROUP HQ..
The Star Religion was quite the passionate movement known throughout all of Japan. Their main headquarters stood proudly in Shibuya, a rather large cluster of buildings occupying a beautiful landscape in the beautiful urban city.
Within a large all white dojo situated near a temple in the HQ, two men sat around a glass table, sipping tea and conversing with smiles on their faces.
The first was a middle aged monk dressed in pure white robes. A beaded chain adorned his neck along with a calm and amicable smile on his face.
Before him, a dark haired man dressed in a brown suit calmly reciprocated the priests respect and drank alongside him.
"It's good to have you here again, Kenji. You're always welcome here."
The priest's voice radiated a calm and and loving demeanor, however the evil hidden within the depths of his irises said otherwise.
"Thank you, priest. Although, I didn't come to stay for long. I brought the requested information from the Diviner...."
He smiled and handed over a small file to the priest.
"Congratulations to the Star Religious Group in advance.."
The man known as Kenji laughed, and watched as a small smile slowly crept up to the face of the priest.
"This is good news. Very good news. All praise be to Lord Tengen.."
The priest downed his entire cup in one go, and the smile on his face widened.
*SWOOSH!*
Before they could even continue their conversation, a figure flickered and appeared outside the dojo in a ghost like a fashion.
"Our guest of honour is here on time as always, come in Zero .."
The Priest smiled and gestured to the shadow at the door, who calmly walked into the all white dojo despite the bloodstains on his robes.
Without a word, he waved his hand and dropped the bloodied decapitated head of a man onto the floor, that stained the pure white carpet.
"Hahaha. As efficient as always. Finally, the demon who used to terrorise the lives of our believers is burning in Hell!"
The priest grabbed the mangled and bloodied head of the fallen Yakuza boss and laughed in disgust before flinging the head away and calmly returning to his tea.
"You may leave now, Zero. Don't forget to be present at the service tomorrow.."
As he turned around to leave, the Priest issued a reminder to which he slowly nodded and flickered out of the dojo, disappearing into the distance.
"The salvation of the world is at hand, with the upcoming revival of our Lord ."
Watching his disappearing figure, the priest's eye flashed with a hint of evil, before he looked away and smiled.
***
Directly appearing before his apartment, he wasted no time and entered, as a rather organized and neat view came into sight.
He wasted no time and took off the bloodied Akatsuki robe he wore and unmasked himself.
After a few moments he half naked and only left with his pants.
Dropping his Kusanagi and every other bloody clothes into his Ninja backpack, he entered his bathroom and stood under the shower. The cold water caused him to shiver for a moment however he took a deep breath and calmed his tense shoulders.
He then proceeded to precariously wash and scrub his body, wanting to rid himself of the blood stains, however he sighed and halted, remaining motionless for a moment.
But after a couple of minutes, he walked out of the bath house, wrapped in a white towel and fell onto his bed.
Pulling out a bowl of ramen, meat, some vegetables and some rice cakes, he served himself and began feasting to his heart's content.
Considering the life he now lived, he couldn't bring himself to accept food or dine with the members of the Star Religious Group. He had to be vigilant at all times and couldn't afford to lower his guard even for a moment.
It was just like Mei Mei had said before. He was threading on a thin line and he knew it. But this was the only was to survive for now.
'I need to get even stronger..'
He thought to himself for a moment, before he shook his head and went back to eating.
'System Status..'
He called out in his consciousness and the interface popped up.
*Uchiha Sasuke Template System: 22% assimilation.
System points: 9670
Release systems unlocked:
- Fire release
- Wind Release
- Earth Release.
- Lightning Release.
Jutsu assimilated:
Body Flicker Jutsu
Body transformation Jutsu
Basic Clone Jutsu
Substitution Jutsu
Great Fireball Jutsu.
Mud Wall Jutsu.
Lightning beam Jutsu
Propelling Wind Jutsu.
Chidori: (25 percent mastery)
Majestic Destroyer Flame.
Three Tomoe Sharingan
Weapons unlocked: Kusanagi*
Looking through his status he sighed and shook his head. He had completed nearly 50 plus missions within the span of three months and yet he didn't even have ten thousand points.
It wasn't because the system was stingy with him, but rather, he refused to hunt any curse above second grade to avoid getting on Jujutsu society's radar.
Also due to the fact that the Star Religious Group's bounties consisted of merely humans and non curse users, he wasn't really profiting off that in the way he wanted.
He tapped on the Sharingan evolution tab and salivated, watching the unique patterned Sharingan of Uchiha Sasuke staring him right in the face, yet it was locked by the system and going for a whooping 50, 000 system pts.
Don't get him started on the price of the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan because it was nearly four times the price of the Mangekyou itself.
After ridding himself of the utensils, he took a sip of water from his ninja backpack and got to sleep immediately..