Days of Future Resurrection 33-Team Righteous!
Trying their luck in the mountains, Team Righteous was on the move to find one last scroll. The wind stirred the snow sending into the eyes of Team Righteous, almost blinding them. The cold temperatures of night didn't help their situation either. Michiko halted the rest of her team with her raised hand. Michiko squinted and looked in the distance before signaling her team to find cover. The other five members in the team covered themselves in snow. Michiko knelt to the ground and squinted her eyes. She saw a disgusting creature throw the torsos of two men out of a cave. This was a tasty snack. It was plentiful in chakra and the Kekkei Genkai of these two was...juicy. Lord Kami does his best as always. the creature thought. The torso wasn't as good but the face and lower half were to...die for! The creature finished.
The creature was three meters tall and had gray skin. His head resembled a pig with a snub nose and no lips. He just had gums that revealed his teeth, which were just a collection of fangs sticking out of his jaw in a distorted order. He appeared to be in no pain, but blood flowed out of his skin, it even appeared to be natural in some flawed twist of evolution. The blood would pour out of an open sore, then the sore would close just as another one would open on his body continuing the cycle. His eyes were completely black and the top of his head was skinned so that the skull was showing. Around the edges of his skull, gray hair grew and reached his lower back before being made into a ponytail.
This creature is fucking disgusting! Michiko thought to herself. The torso of the creature was hairy and looked like the chest of a feral dog. Scars ran up and down its legs and arms. At the end of its left arm, a claw curled into a ball. The talons of the claw went straight through its hand. At the end of its right arm, an axe for a hand replaced its claws. From its back, four meter long bat wings stretched, which it used to fly away.
"Chakra sensors indicate a surge of unknown chakra type. Michiko, what was that?" a robotic voice asked.
"It was nothing, Unit 10-8." Michiko replied.
"I'd prefer it if you call me by name as a full human." 10-8 replied.
"Sorry, but there are probably a lot of spies from rogue ninja groups here. If they knew who you were, they could easily find a way to the Doctor." Michiko replied.
"By knowing who you are, couldn't they already find a way to the doctor?" 10-8 replied.
"No. I officially died ten years ago. The only trace people are going to find of me is at a gravestone in Leaf City." Michiko replied.
"Michiko, the least you could do is give the Android a break?" a shy masculine voice asked.
"Thank you, Naoki." 10-8 said.
"Oh umm, you're welcome." Naoki replied. Naoki stood at 165 centimeters and hadn't grown in years. He was 14 years old, sported a red jacket, and had crimson hair. His jacket had lettering so worn out that the lettering was unreadable. He wore gray shorts and blue sandals that shinobi wore once upon a time. Michiko grinned at Naoki before letting out a sigh.
"Nothing at all." Michiko said out loud.
"What?" Naoki asked.
"Mao was wondering what was wrong with me." Michiko replied.
"Michiko, are you sure there is no way to turn off your mind reading abilities?" A skeptical Mao asked.
"I would if I could. Sometimes the things other people think disgust me." Michiko replied.
"Redesigning myself to be an android really gives me the best of both worlds." 10-8 added.
"Oh?" Mao asked.
"Yeah, I get the benefits of a robot, but I keep my human emotion." 10-8 replied.
"It's one upside of course." A softer Mao replied.
"Thanks, Mao." 10-8 replied.
"Thanks for what?" Mao asked.
"My HDD says that seven seconds ago you said 'It's one upside of course.'" 10-8 replied.
"That wasn't me!?" Mao replied.
"Saeko, is there really a point to using your Kekkei Genkai of speech imitation?" Michiko asked.
"No, but it is still fun to use." Saeko replied.
"10-8, where is that horrible creature at?" Michiko asked.
"He went out of my radar's 20 meter range long ago. If you would like, my enhanced eyes have a 600 meter thermal vision function.
"Do it." Michiko commanded.
"With pleasure." 10-8 replied. 10-8's eyes turned red. After 14 seconds, 10-8's eyes changed back to their human looking eyes. "There is nothing within 600 meters, Michiko." 10-8 stated.
"Thank you, 10-8." Michiko replied. Michiko walked over to the mangled torsos and shut their pained eyes. She searched their pockets and found their wallets, and looked at their identification cards. "This one is named Tomm, and this one Dayve. Someone will want these wallets someday. I'll take them with me." Michiko thought. Michiko continued to search their pockets.
"No, I don't think so, Mao." Michiko uttered out loud.
"What is it, Mao?" Naoki asked.
"I was wondering if Michiko thought if somebody already took the scroll." Mao replied. "But what makes me curious is why you think that, Michiko. Chances are that these people were in a challenge by another participant of the Exams. So wouldn't it make sense that the guilty party would take their scrolls?" Mao asked.
"Sure. But I think that whatever did this already had the scrolls. I think that this act of murder was for pleasure." Michiko said.
"Are you implying that this thing wasn't human?" Naoki asked.
"There is an android over there. Would you please have some manners?" Michiko asked.
"Sorry, 10-8." Naoki apologized.
"It's quite alright. But Michiko is correct in her deduction. I can confirm through my chakra sensors that these marks were done by two sentient beings. Judging by the nature of these marks, these bodies were probably toyed with before being killed." 10-8 coldly said.
"The guilty party probably already had the scrolls, these corpses were just to pass time with." Michiko said. Michiko pulled up two scrolls and presented them. "I think this confirms my statement." Michiko grinned.
"What's the matter, Michiko?" Mao asked.
"This freezing cold weather slows down all activity inside the body. Although these men are dead, their brains are still intact and are currently thinking in their final moments." Michiko said.
"I thought you said they were dead?" Naoki asked.
"When a person dies, assuming their head didn't suffer trauma, their brain remains active for seven minutes before shutting off. During this time, the brain can hallucinate vividly. Michiko has been reading their minds this whole time." 10-8 explained.
"What Michiko is saying, is that the cold temperature is slowing down this process and therefore, prolonging it." Mao explained.
"What are they thinking about, Michiko?" Naoki asked.
"Their wives and children." Michiko replied. "At this temperature, their brains will freeze over from frostbite sooner than they will naturally. Mao, please hand me your sword." Michiko demanded.
"Why Mcihiko? Are you seriously going to stop them from enjoying their final moments with their family?" Naoki asked.
"They know that they are dead. They are waiting for their final moments to be over is all. They are suffering a lot right now and I think that since I can read their minds, I should at least be able to give them the pleasure of going to whatever they believe in during the afterlife faster." Michiko shed a tear. Mao handed Michiko her sword. Michiko brought the blade above her head. "Goodbye, Ritsko. I love you." Tomm thought. Michiko sliced his head in half. "Goodbye, Fuko. Make sure the kids grow up alright." Dayve thought. Michiko stabbed Dayve through his eye and was able to send his soul away.
"If people are going to kill," Michiko began while handing Mao's sword back to Mao, "then they should have the decency to kill them all the way and not let them suffer." Michiko let out another tear.
"It looks like these two men were here on a matter of revenge. They were tracking a woman named Grrimm." Michiko said. The small campfire the group managed to build cracked and popped.
"Does anyone here know a Grrimm?" Mao asked.
"Nothing in the database." 10-8 replied. "I wonder what kind of monster could do this?" Michiko thought.
"Just as we suspected." Monkey King Enma grunted.
"What happened here?" Saruame said.
"The Jashin Cult is what happened!" Akane bursted out. Enma, Akane, and Saruame were looking at the control room, which had been redecorated in the blood and organs of all the workers inside.
"How can you tell?" Enma asked.
"I was at the Haze village massacre. This is what a true sacrifice to appease Jashin looks like. Lots of people with none of their organs in their body." Akane replied.
"I see." Enma thought.
"We have to keep an eye out for the Jashin cult. Something very big is going to go down. I can feel it." Enma declared.
"We need to cancel the Exams then." Saruame said.
"No. If word gets out that the Cult was able to infiltrate this far into the Kingdom, we will have absolute chaos. I will have Hebikin and his associates find the cultists at once. Then we will interrogate them and seal them up." Enma delcared.
"Won't that endanger lives?" Akane asked.
"She's got a point Enma. This sounds too risky." Saruame said.
"There is no need to fear. Everything will work out fine. Hebikin is incredibly efficient. For now, my most trusted allies will clean up this mess and take massive precautions. We will have to crack down on security for the rest of the exams. You two need to get to the central tower though. It seems your team has arrived there and this part of the Exams are almost over anyways." Enma explained.
Story-GirrafeAssassin aka AkatsukiSwaggerman Editor-Classified42