Naruto: System Test
A/N: "The following is a fan-based work. Naruto is owned by Shueisha, Viz Media, and Masashi Kishimoto. Please support the official release."
A quick moment to answer a question:
Someone reviewed and expressed confusion as to why someone could be S rank, but low level, while someone with a higher level, could be easily killed in comparison to what they felt someone that level should be. The reason for this is because level and Ninja Rank aren't directly connected. So, level and stats are based more on what you've done(experience gain), and much much less on what you can do. Your Ninja rank, however, is entirely based on what you're able to do. For example, consider Unmei. At the start of the story, he would be low to mid C rank at best. His jutsu were okay, his stats were okay. After becoming The Gamer, however, and immediately learning several new Jutsu over the next day or so, his ability to fight and kill skyrocketed. Along with that, so would his inherent rank. The game assigns rank, but the villages do as well. They would still currently consider him a lower rank than the game does because they don't know what he can do. Of course, he has achieved more since the start of the story, and the higher-ups are taking notice...
Chapter 7: And so it begins...
I slid down a small hill, using the added momentum to hop into the air and land in the branches of a large tree. Being so far south of Kumo meant the forests were much thicker, less open mountain. The trees here were thousands of years old, towering higher than the best of our buildings, branches as thick as a person could be tall. I'd passed two of the four outposts I planned to hit already, the other two on the far east side of my planned course. With nothing to report, no surprises on the horizon, I was quite happy that I had taken this small mission. I sat down on the branch I was on, and simply continued to watch the area around me for an hour. As I sat there, I took the time to practice using pure Swift Release chakra. One thing that stuck out to me was that I could affect the mixture's potency. While under normal circumstances it was 50/50, I could easily make it 30/70, or 40/60 if I wanted to.
'Though, potency doesn't really make much sense…' I thought.
It was more like I was making slightly less of the Swift Release mixture, and I would have leftover Wind or Lightning that was still usable, depending on how I mixed it. For example, I could use Shocking Grasp sealessly. So I could use Swift Release techniques, and as long as I did a mixture that left extra Lightning Chakra in my system, I could also use Shocking Grasp without needing to switch what nature release I was using. This was an interesting discovery, and I fully planned to use it in the future.
*crack*
I instantly stop breathing, sitting completely still, only my eyes moving ever so slightly to survey the area in front of me. Someone, or something, just broke a branch. The animals in the area had also gone completely silent. I flood my body with Swift Release, rapidly turning my head left and right to check my area, before ending in my original position as I let the Chakra drop.
"You're focusing on your front too much."
I throw myself off the branch on the first syllable from behind me, beginning a string of hand seals as I flip to land on my feet. Before I manage to drop half the distance, a foot slams into my back and throws me off course. I fly by a tree, and abandon my Jutsu to reach out and grab the tree with my Chakra infused hand. The bark is ripped off as I slide by, but eventually, I stick, my arm nearly pulled from its socket as I stop in mid-air. I bring my feet down to the side of the tree, turning as I do, finally getting my eyes on my assailant, and freeze. Dressed in a loose-fitting white outfit, a black hood, and a bone white mask over their face, I recognize them as a member of the Kumogakure Yurei, an elite of our Ninja Forces. A Kumo Ghost is expected to be the best of the best, executing the will of the Kage without anyone ever knowing they were there.
If it weren't for the name floating above them, I would have assumed this was an assassination attempt.
"Joka?" I ask.
My assailant, who had been in the process of pulling a sword from a scabbard on their back pauses, before pushing it back in. Reaching up, she grabs her mask and pulls it off, revealing her face.
"How the hell did you know it was me, Unmei?" She asks, "My voice was different, I didn't use any of my abilities, and I even made sure to move differently from how we fought before!"
"I uh...I don't know really. I could just tell?" I reply, not sure how to explain. I definitely couldn't say I could see her name above her head. "But wait, are you a Ghost?"
"I'm not allowed to answer that." She replies, before reaching into her pouch and pulling out a scroll. "I was supposed to test you before giving you this, but seeing as you've figured out who I am, that's moot."
She tosses it over to me and I snag it out of the air. There is a seal of some sort holding it closed.
"Before you open that, know that this mission is classified. Opening it sends a signal to an office in Kumo, alerting them that it's been opened. If you read it and do not accept it, you will be required to stay with me for the next 48 hours so that the mission can be completed by someone else." Joka says, before putting her mask back in place. "If you accept the mission, you will be acting as a Ghost, meaning you leave no trace. No one knows you were there, no one knows that a Kumo Shinobi was in that area. You will be provided with an outfit like my own, which contains seals. Should you die, your body will burn to ash. Should you be captured, your body will burn to ash."
"What happens if I don't open it, and refuse outright?" I ask, studying the scrolls exterior, mulling over her words.
"Nothing. I take the scroll, you continue your patrol. But that would be the last time you're approached by us." She replies.
I nod, before channeling Chakra into the scroll, allowing it to pop open. I unravel it and begin to read. One thing that sticks out to me immediately is a section at the bottom that is made of a very complicated sealing array. If for some reason the mission parameters change, I can use the array to send a long distance pulse of Chakra, using dash/dot, to communicate with my "Controller".
Nodding I ask, "Do you know what is in this scroll?"
"I do not." She replies.
"Interesting," I tell her. "Can I ask why me?"
"Apparently you've been making some waves this week. This offer came from the top." She replies.
"I see," I answer. "I accept, then."
New Mission
"In The Undead Of Night"
Kiri No, one of Kumo's satellite villages has dropped all contact. Two messengers and a trio of Chunin are MIA after being sent to regain contact. Investigate the disappearances, report back. Time Limit: 48hrs.
Objective 1: Survive
Objective 2: ?
Objective 3: ?
'That's not ominous at all.' I thought.
She pulls another scroll from her pouch and tosses it to me. "That contains what you will need for this mission. You have 48 hours to return to this exact spot, mission complete. Ghosts do not fail, understand?"
I unseal the contents of the scroll, revealing a pouch, and an outfit that matches Joka's. I strip and then pull it on, tightening the drawstrings around my wrists and ankles. I pull the black hood up, before looking around for the mask.
"Here," Joka says, handing me the mask.
I place it on, the back of the mask seemingly molding to my face as though it were made for me. I seal my normal items away, before placing them in the new white pouch on my side.
"For this mission, your name will be Urami. Whatever the mission is, do not be seen, do not be heard, and if you plan to survive this, do not get caught."
8 Hours Later - North East Tundra - Outskirts of Kiri No
To give myself as much time as possible I used Swift Release to get on location as fast as possible. I arrived a bit tired, but a Soldier Pill fixed that instantly. I'd moved carefully for the past three miles, and if my memory was correct, as soon as I crested this mountain pass, I should be able to see Kiri No. Kiri No is one of seven smaller villages within Lightning, under the protection and control of Kumogakure. While autonomous, they were required to provide shelter and supplies to our Ninja as needed. That we haven't heard from them in a while, and several of our forces MIA, this could be a big deal.
A snowstorm was moving into the area, which was both a help and a hindrance. While visibility had dropped for anyone that might see me, while I could see them from a good distance based on the floating information above their head, it did make leaving tracks an issue. Thankfully I could use Wind Release to move the snow around behind me, while also making a slight vacuum near my skin to keep my body heat. I'd tried walking on top of the snow, but it wasn't yet thick enough for my Chakra to really stick just yet.
'I am so glad I chose Wind,' I thought, as a particularly strong gust pushes against my vacuum. 'I'd be an ice cube right now.'
I slid down a small icy hill, before making the trek up the other side, and after pushing through the sparse snow covered trees, I got my first look at Kiri No since I was a Genin. About 60 buildings laid out in irregular rings, along with a central square, Kiri No was one of the middle sized villages under Kumo. At my current vantage point and distance, even with this storm, I should have been able to see the fires burning in homes, or the central square. Yet the area as far as the eye could see was pitch black. With no choice but to move in closer and investigate, I began the slow trek down the other side of the mountain.
Even with snow falling down all around me, the air was eerily still. I was no more than a dozen meters from the edge of the outer circle, and yet I could see no lights in the buildings I faced, I could hear no noise from a village with over 300 people living within it. Using Swift Release I made it to the buildings closest to me, quickly making it to the top after peering over to be sure there wasn't anyone waiting. While I could see people's information above their heads, there was a distance requirement to it. I hadn't measured it exactly, but I estimated it was about 100 meters. Yet while perched on the roof of this building, there were no signs of life in any of the buildings within that area.
I moved silently between buildings, roof to roof, working my way towards the center. Every way I looked I found nothing, an entire village of people devoid of life. From what the scroll said, they had lost contact less than a week ago and had sent out the Chunin on day four. They were expected to make contact yesterday and report back, but nothing had come of it. I made a small hop between two buildings, my range finally hitting the central square, and I froze, my body struck with what I can only describe as terror.
Yūbokumin Aku no Kami no Ningyō Lvl 48 - Undetected
42,194XP
I forced myself to carefully approach, moving no more than a few feet per minute, doing my utmost best not to make the slightest noise. After nearly half an hour I had managed to get close enough to actually see the monster before me.
'Nomad, Puppet of an Evil God.' I thought, studying his name and title.
The name was recognizable to me, from my study of our Bingo Book. Yūbokumin was a missing-nin from Suna, currently ranked SS Class. None of the information in our books had him down as a Jashinist, which made his abilities even scarier. The tall pale man stood surrounded by bodies, a literal wall of them encircling the entire center square, stacked four or five high in places. Men, women, children, even the animals, all slaughtered. In the center square, the three missing Chunin were staked to standing logs at their shoulders, and hips, clearing having suffered for a long time before death. The man is talking, but his words are lost in the wind of the storm, as he cleans the blood and gore off of a bladed gauntlet he wears only on his left hand. I carefully reach into the hip pouch, feeling the mission scroll until I was able to find the spot to channel chakra to communicate to my handler.
"Urami. Emergency." I pulse.
The answer takes a minute to come back. "Go."
"Contact made, village dead, Chunin dead. Jashin." I replied.
"Capture?" They ask.
I consider the question for a moment, weighing the odds. "Negative. Target known. Yūbokumin."
"Do not engage. Objective change: Keep watch, backup in route. 3 hr. Capture paramount."
I replied affirmative, before slinking back slowly and carefully. As much as I'd love all that experience, the chance that this man just erases me from existence is far too high. Thankfully I didn't need to see the man in order to keep an eye on him, as I could keep buildings between us, and simply watch the glowing info bar instead. I slip down the side of one of the buildings, creating a vacuum between two buildings so my landing is silent, before slipping into an open door and hiding within the building. Three hours was forever when all you could do was watch.
Not three hours later
The follower of Jashin hadn't done much besides move through the village, house by house. I assumed he was searching for something, and he must have found it as he was quickly heading for the edge of town. I made the split decision to follow as fast as possible, and enveloped myself in a vacuum and run out of the building. I couldn't breathe, but I had a few minutes before that would become an issue. I quickly pulsed that he was on the move and that I was following, through the mission scroll. I didn't immediately get an answer, so I let go so one of my hands wasn't completely useless. The man was moving quickly, far too quick for me to keep up without the use of Swift Release.
I could channel a small amount to give me a slight speed boost, but it still burned through a lot of chakra very quickly. Not to mention that whatever backup I had coming was heading to a village we were no longer at. I felt a slight movement in my pouch and quickly reached in to grab the scroll.
"Report." Whoever my handler was pulsing repeatedly.
"In pursuit. SW heading." I quickly replied back.
"Back up on location. Stall 1 minute and make noise." They ordered.
'Shit…' I thought, considering my options.
I didn't know much of the Jashin followers, other than they were all immortal to some degree, sociopathic, and tended to be very strong. His level was a bigger pause to me. His stats must have been through the roof to have a level like that, so that alone was worrisome. However, this was orders, and I should be able to manage 30 seconds at least. I push a Lightning heavy mixture of Swift Release into my system, rocketing forward at about half of my max speed. At the same time, I begin a series of hand seals while grabbing a Kunai.
Yūbokumin Aku no Kami no Ningyō Lvl 48 - Detected
42,194XP
I see the change as I swiftly approach, and jump as high as I can as he turns around to face me. The top of my arc is directly above him, and I drop three Kunai along the way to the top of my jump. As I drop down the other side, I grab three more Kunai in my free hand and throw them on interception courses with the first set of Kunai. I land a dozen feet behind him, rolling as I begin another set of hand seals.
Final Strike!
+0.5
Final Strike!
+0.5
Final Strike!
+0.5
I nearly sag with the Chakra expenditure at the triple jutsu use, having used over half of my max Chakra for the one set, but I can't argue with results. As each Kunai hits its copy above, there is a large arc of electricity, zapping down like a small bolt of lightning to crash into the man beneath. A man who just happens to be wearing a metal gauntlet. All three slam into him, giving him a nasty jolt, burning him as well, each one lighting the area for miles, the crack of thunder echoing for who knows how far. I finish the new set of seals as the final bolt hits, readying my next Jutsu. Before I can even react, Yūbokumin explodes out of the smoke, his fist slamming into my chest and throwing me back.
His right side is flash burned, bright red against his unnaturally pale skin, his clothes fused to his skin from the heat. The gauntlet on his left arm is slightly melted, making it much less effective than it would normally be. As I hit the ground I flood my body with Swift Release, activating Velocity. While it isn't used for fighting, as much as getting from point A to B, I had already figured out a useful way to use it offensively. I grab a Kunai, taking a step forward as the world blurs around me, throwing the Kunai with all my strength at the same time. With a crack like lightning, the Kunai disappears, a four-inch hole appearing in my targets chest, launching him back, an explosion of dirt, snow, and metal 30 feet behind him.
I grab another, a cross-chest throw, but this one misses Yūbokumin's body as he's now a moving target. The look of confusion is on his face for only a moment before he rotates, his hand digging into the ground beneath, arresting his momentum. With a mighty yank, he launches himself at me, his fist slamming into my chin my vision flashing white as I'm knocked nearly senseless. The blades of his gauntlet slice into my chest as he grabs my throat, flipping me over to slam me headfirst into the ground. Only the liberal covering of snow saved me a broken neck, but something still definitely fractured. A hard kick to my midsection and I slide through the snow for several dozen feet, stopping in heap. It takes me a moment to believe I'm alive before I force myself to my hands and knees. My right hand is twitching like crazy, a sharp jagged pain my neck pulsing with each twitch.
Yūbokumin has cleared the snow around him, his skin turning pure white with black markings. "Sorry bitch! Looks like an extra one for Lord Jashin."
He drives a thin knife into his side, his eyes fluttering in what seems like pleasure as I scream and bite down on my lip, blood gushing from a newly opened wound in my side. He digs it around, twisting it, the pain transferred to me through some unknown ability.
"That's right asshole, scream for me!" He laughs maniacally as he jams the blade into his stomach.
I hate to admit that I did. I tried to force my body to move, but every movement sent a tremor of agony through my neck, side, and now stomach. The fact that my right hand was useless already robbed me of 90% of my jutsu. I use my Wind Release to create a vacuum around him, and immediately feel myself suffocating. He simply laughs, the sound thankfully blocked by near-perfect vacuum but comes out once I end it. I'm considering other options as he rams the blade into his left leg, blood spurting from the wound in my own to coat the snow beneath me when we hear a high pitched noise in the distance. Yūbokumin looks up and behind me, my own eyes following.
High above us is a dark blue blur, a trail of green fire scorching the air behind it, heading right in our direction. A sharp stabbing pain in my side draws my eyes back to Yūbokumin, his thin knife buried several inches into his rib cage, a look of glee in his eyes.
"Looks like Lord Jashin will take two more sacrifices today," Yūbokumin says, laughing.
I can't breathe correctly as my left lung starts to slowly fill with blood, a jagged hole ripped straight through my side. The high pitched noise gets louder, wider almost, before it slams into the ground between Yūbokumin and me, throwing the two of us a dozen feet back. I roll several times leaving a smear of blood in my wake. Standing at least six feet tall, this new figure is covered in dark blue armor, sleek and form-fitting, his muscles straining underneath, armor that almost unnaturally gleams. As he stands fully from his crouched position, his armor seems to liquify, twisting, flowing, before hardening from it's previous sleek form to a more spiked, traditional look.
The face covering melts away to reveal a smirking, bearded mouth. Yet even with living armor, the sudden appearance, and walking off a landing that flattened the area, it's the six green-yellow chakra wings that really stand out.
Nanabi no Haruko Lvl 61 - Detected
68,192XP
He surveys the battlefield for a moment, before walking over to me. Lifting me up, he places his free hand on my two worst wounds at my side and leg, covering both with a dark blue liquid that hardens to seal them. Setting me back down carefully, he turns back to Yūbokumin.
"You'll live, Urami. Consider your mission complete, return to your staging area." He orders, watching Yūbokumin get back to his feet.
"Now wait a fucking minute asshole. You don't just drop out of the sky and take away one of Lord Jashin's sacrifices!" Yūbokumin yells.
Haruko lifts his hand, the armor molding into some sort of translucent bulb. There seems to be movement within before it suddenly explodes, liquid coating Yūbokumin's left side in the blink of an eye. As soon as it touches, he burns, the acid begins to eat through his flesh. Haruko appears at almost the same moment, his other fist forming into three long claws that are jabbed through Yūbokumin's stomach, lifting him into the air, before slamming him down to the ground. Ripping them free, he grabs both of his legs, lifting him into the air before slamming him into the ground, a tree, the ground again, a surprisingly sturdy rock, ending with the ground again.
Yūbokumin is dazed, but clearly not out, as Haruko steps down, his leg armor forming some sort of spike with crossed claws. The spike in the center slides through his chest as he steps down, the four long claws snapping down to meld to the spike poking through his back. This locks his arms in place, and the spike prevents him from simply sliding out of the hold as it locks him like a cage.
"Return to staging, Urami." He orders, before the original six chakra wings seemingly unfurl from his back, and he launches into the sky, taking Yūbokumin with him.
I can only sigh, before using my left hand to force my right hand through a series of handseals. It takes four tries, but in the end, I manage to complete the seals needed for the Headhunter Jutsu and slide into the ground. Much like before I manage to dig out a little area I can rest in, creating air holes as needed. I can only hope that after eight hours of sleep my neck will heal like my other wounds tend to.
A/N: And we're back at it again with some good ole fashion ass-kicking. Sadly, it was Unmei getting his ass kicked. However, he completed his objective and didn't die a nameless faceless asshole in the frozen wastes, so I'd call that a definite win. Next chapter we see his return to Joka and see what other trouble he can get in to.
Until next time, this is Klldarkness, and you just finished reading Chapter 7 of Naruto: System Test!
A/N 2: I updated Pokemon: Nuzlocke! Feel free to give that a gander, and expect more to come! Join my discord, like, subscribe, maybe buy a T-shirt! Thanks for your reviews!
