Konan was undoubtably a talent. There was no doubt about this with how quickly she took to the introductory information regarding Chakra that Shirou himself had imparted.
No doubt, this may have had something to do with her unique talent of Chakra Control Mastery. She was like a fish to water, never meeting any resistance nor losing focus.
She was seated across from him; the two taking shelter from the never-ending rain from inside a dilapidated house by a river Shirou had wheeled their accommodated cart into.
A fire was burning in between them, crackling with heat as small pieces of timber broken from loose parts of the house blackened and let off embers.
Just like Konan, Shirou was also deeply focused, but not for the same reasons.
[Sub-Quest: Establish a Rebel Force]
[Minimum members: 100]
[Affiliated members: 1/100]
[Time Limit: 5 years]
[Quest failure penalty: Death]
He was frowning heavily, something Konan failed to notice as she was deep in concentration with her eyes closed.
What rebel force?
He obviously had no such intentions.
His brow twitched, lips thinning as he pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation.
By this point, he'd decided to categorize these random notifications and messages that only he could see as something of a greater power's joke on him. It was like some sort of system dialogs filled with prompts and quests similar to a game of sorts. What chilled him to the bone was that each quest failure resulted in his death, and there was no option for him to refuse either.
The circumstances regarding his arrival in this world were also troubling.
Why was he in a child's ten-year old body? The last he recalled; he was eighteen in his last year of Homurahara. The status window displaying his name was also suspicious.
[Shirou: Orphan of Uzu]
[Clan: Scattered]
What was this description even supposed to mean? That this wasn't his original body and that he'd taken over someone with the same name?
He scratched at his hair in frustration, but sucked in a breath when he considered just how dead he should have been with his heart pierced in Homurahara Academy. It was likely only his soul had transferred over, and given the state he'd woken up in, starving to death, cold, and utterly exhausted, the original owner of this body must have died too.
Everything was too much of a coincidence to believe that it was the work of happenstance.
What was worse, was that he didn't seem to have any memories from the original owner of his new body.
Regardless, he was alive, and this was his situation.
If he didn't complete his current quest, then he would die if he considered the notifications as truth. At this point, he didn't have many doubts. Just the information that flooded into his mind after the purchase of items in the Shop proved that this system of sorts was of a far higher power than him.
Rebel Force?
What exactly was he rebelling against?
From Konan's background information, he'd already inferred that the place was caught up in war. If he was forced to make a Rebel Force, then he'd make one with the purpose of stopping this war.
Yeah. This way he could at least justify himself.
[Affiliated Members: 1/100]
He stared blankly at the required benchmark to complete this quest and felt his shoulders sag. There was no doubt that he still had a long way to go.
While brooding to himself, half an hour ended up passing.
After a while, Konan stopped practicing, silently regarding him with an earnest gaze as took in her gains. She looked elated despite her cool features.
[Konan favourability (+5) | Total: 16/100 (Acquaintances)]
"Thank you, for the lesson today," she inclined her head.
"No worries. Let's take a break and continue later," Shirou replied after noticing Konan's eyes darting towards the wagon where the food was stored. The audible grumbling of her stomach made her shrink in on herself, but she pursed her lips and nodded to his suggestion quickly.
Barefoot, Konan scampered towards the wagon and carefully peeled back the tarp so that the rain water wouldn't spill on the bread and rations. With nimble hands, she then found one of the rare fruits that hadn't gone bad and bit into it with vigour.
Konan had never had sweets before for as long as she could remember. Things such as deserts or pastries weren't part of her pallet, but the sweetness of fruits was her current equivalent.
It was kind of sad really, but watching the way her features brightened from a bruised apple made Shirou understand how grueling her past living standards had been.
If creating a Rebel Force could reduce the number of children and people that suffered under the same conditions as Konan, then even if he wasn't forced into doing it, he'd create a rebel force.
"Slow down. There's no one going to take away the food," Shirou found himself speaking up to remind Konan.
It was sort of instinctual by this point for Konan, but once she got her hands on food, it inevitably ended up scarfed down into her mouth, her cheeks bulged like a gerbil. It honestly didn't even look like she was chewing in her haste.
"Sorry," Konan swallowed and wiped her mouth. "Habit," she didn't elaborate, but Shirou could infer that it might be due to a history of food stealing.
You can't return what's already eaten, so you just had to eat as much as you could before running away.
"Just make sure to remember to drink some water," Shirou advised, digging through their supplies to find a pouch he'd left in the rain to accumulate water.
"Okay," Konan agreed, taking the pouch into her hand and swallowing a few mouth-fulls while patting her chest.
Little did the both of them know, their actions and the warmth of their fireplace attracted the attention of a small brown fur and pointy eared fellow.
"A dog?" Shirou mused when said dog trotted towards Konan and the food.
Shirou was never particular about dog breeds, but this one resembled something of Shiba Inu. The colour patterns were unmistakable.
"Hey, that's mine," Konan grumbled at a loss. By the time she'd reacted, the dog had already eaten a piece of food in her hands. Still, she relented as she knew that there was no way to get food back once eaten.
"S-Stop that," a flush came over Konan's features when said dog began to lick her fingers. Her protest fell on deaf ears. Worse, Konan couldn't bring herself to dislike the dog's actions. "Calm down. Calm down," she coaxed while brushing the dog's fur.
"Shirou…" Konan trailed off, staring right at him before turning away, not knowing how to voice her request.
"Go ahead if you want to feed the dog something. We still have plenty, and there's a river if we need to fish," Shirou inferred the meaning of Konan's actions through her expression.
Features softening, Konan beamed at the dog, finally acting her age as she gave it food while petting it.
This was the situation two other children, Nagato and Yahiko stumbled into.
"Chibi!" Nagato was the first to call out, unmindful of Konan and Shirou's stares.
The dog, Chibi, waged its tail excitedly and left Konan to run up to tackle Nagato, much to Konan's inner disappointment.
"Yo, sorry for barging in," Yahiko, the boy with orange hair, said awkwardly. "We didn't think anyone was alive in here considering the wall of fog outside."
Konan stared at the two strangers with reproach out of caution. With the current state of the Land of Rain, it was hard to trust anyone. However, most of her apprehension faded when she took into account Yahiko and Nagato's state of dress and similar age to herself.
The two were probably orphans like her and Shirou. Besides, everything would be fine if Shirou was okay with them. She trusted his judgment by this point at least. He was also the one who secured a supply of food.
Out here, the ability to gather food and survive was King.
"No problems," Shirou spoke up, knowing that Konan wasn't going to take the initiative in this case. "Would you like some food?" He offered.
Nagato and Yahiko's stomachs grumbled while Konan subconsciously guarded the wagon with her arms outstretched before blushing and stepping away when she realized she was acting improper.
Shirou had gotten the food, so it was only right that he could share it with whom he wished.
"C-Can we really?" Yahiko spoke up while Nagato swallowed nervously.
Shirou didn't hesitate.
When malnourished children appeared in front of him and he had food, his actions and words would have been the same each and every time. Konan's situation was the best example, and now Yahiko and Nagato's circumstances were no different.
"Go right ahead," Shirou replied without a change in expression. This was a sizable feat considering the information he could see above Yahiko and Nagato's heads.
[Yahiko: Orphan of the Village Hidden in the Rain]
[Character Type: Minor Protagonist (Unique: Increased training efficiency 10%)]
[Nature Transformations: Water, Fire, and Wind]
[Potential: S-Grade]
[Recommendation: Consider nurturing.]
Yahiko's information was unexpected, but Nagato's was the more impressive one by far.
[Nagato: Orphan of the Village Hidden in the Rain]
[Clan: Scattered]
[Character Type: Primary Antagonist (Unique: Elemental Mastery)]
[Nature Transformations: Fire, Wind, Water, Earth, Lightning, and Yang Release]
[Potential: SSS-Grade]
[Recommendation: As a future primary antagonist type, tragedy will lead him to walk down the wrong path. Nurture at own risk, or kill immediately]
Shirou found himself stunned with how heartless the last notification was, but he hid his surprise well and no one noticed. Instead, smiles tugged on Yahiko and Nagato's lips at the prospect of filling their stomachs.
Konan carefully handed out the food while taking stock of what was left.
Meanwhile, Yahiko and Nagato gingerly sat down by the fire and focused on eating until they were full.
In all honesty, Shirou knew that he was never the best at subtilty. It then came as no surprise that he was discovered eyeing Nagato and Yahiko in deep thought.
"What's wrong? Why are you staring at us like that?" Nagato was more perceptive to these things and instantly reacted by backing away and swallowing his food.
Yahiko was quick to follow suit.
The jig was up, Shirou supposed.
"Would the two of you like to train with us?" Shirou gave his offer. He didn't hesitate for a second despite the red warning signs regarding Nagato.
Killing children was never in his prerogative. Instead, if he could lead Nagato towards a brighter path, then wasn't that worth taking a gamble?
Moreover, wasn't there a simple solution to all this?
He'd just have to make himself stronger than them.
If anyone he took in ever strayed, then he could handle them himself.
Easy, right?
He'd train in order to become the strongest since he had the means in whatever system this was.
Well, first he'd have to get over the hurdle known as trust.
Nagato and Yahiko glanced at each other before staring suspiciously at Shirou and Konan. Food aside, everyone present were strangers. Chibi who was nuzzled by Nagato's side was whining at its owner to calm down, but in the Shinobi World, it was dangerous to not be cautious.
"He's not lying," Konan glared at the two in reproach. "He really can teach us. He's teaching me, and definitely has a lot of skills and knowledge." Otherwise, how could he have been teaching her so well if he didn't know the skills beforehand? She was of the assumption that Shirou must have come from a renowned shinobi clan or family before he turned into an orphan. "He's even capable enough to get all this food. Besides, what do you both have to lose? The rags we're all wearing?"
That was definitely a good point. Why would anyone try to trick homeless orphans?
Konan had enough of the tension and directly went to whisper into both Nagato and Yahiko's ears.
"Shirou might have been from a Shinobi family before he was orphaned like us," she 'revealed.' "He really should know exactly what he's talking about."
Yahiko struggled inwardly with himself at the revelation before looking back towards Shirou who'd waited patiently.
Unknown to Shirou, but the patience and maturity he displayed further cemented Konan's credibility.
"Then, ugh, we accept!" Yahiko's enthusiasm was earnest while Nagato was softer spoken.
Nagato felt that something obviously wasn't quite right, but Yahiko's fervor was infectious.
"Thank you for your generosity," Nagato nodded stiffly in acceptance.
Shirou nodded, but it was then that a series of notifications sprung up in front of him.
[Accepted Yahiko's nurturing path]
[Accepted Nagato's nurturing path- Take extra precaution]
[Sub-Quest: Establish a Rebel Force: Updating]
[Minimum members: 100]
[Affiliated members (+2): 3/100]
[Quest failure penalty: Death]
Well, that's three down. Ninety-seven more to go.
Shirou felt the arduousness of this current mission. It was going to take a while to complete, and he reasoned that he'd only been able to recruit Konan, Yahiko, and Nagato so easily since they all shared the same label as child orphans. It only helped that they didn't have many options to grow stronger and survive either.
It was like he was taking advantage of them by offering them a way out.
He shook his head. There was no point in dwelling on the issue when it has already been decided.
So how was he going to go about Yahiko and Nagato's training?
He stared at the two, and a dim glow of Chakra suffused his eyes.
Just like Konan, a recommended training path appeared for both of them. However, one thing was always the same:
[Chakra Knowledge]
Evidently, the basics were always important. Moreover, he didn't have the funds to purchase the recommended skills to teach just yet. Honestly, he really needed to either hope for rapid improvements from Konan, Yahiko, and Nagato, or increase his reputation somehow from acts of kindness.
He got Yahiko and Nagato started right away on feeling out their chakra, asking Konan to supplement her inputs should they run into any difficulty.
It was then when Konan, Yahiko, and Nagato began to focus and bicker with each other that new notices appeared before Shirou.
[First Three Students award acquired: Fate Character Install Card| Emiya (Archer) Duration 10 minutes]
[Warning: Hostiles Approaching Barrier]
The wounds of the First Shinobi World War had yet to heal before the emergence of the Second.
Twenty years of peace was bought from an armistice, yet differences in economic growth and political backlogs led to conflicts of interest and the creation of factions.
Of the Major Hidden Villages, conflicts stemmed across the entire Elemental nations with minor territories and smaller hidden villages acting as the battleground. The Land of Rain was one such area between the junctions of Earth, Fire, and Wind.
To the Land of Earth northwest of Rain, was the Village Hidden in the Rock.
To the Land of Wind southwest of Rain, was the Village Hidden in the Sand.
Finally, to the Land of Fire east of Rain, was the Village Hidden in the Leaves.
These three were the main competitors in the battleground of Rain led by its leader, Hanzo of the Salamander.
Tensions were high, and during this crucial state in the war, each side was trying to get an edge over the other to obtain greater benefits. Whether it was due to economic gains, personal grudges, or ambitions, no major hidden village was willing to organize peace until the losses were made up for, or the situation turned too disadvantageous.
As the Land of Rain lay under siege by the factions, a full-blown attack had yet to be called after a tentative balance of power was reached in the region. One village couldn't attack another without fear of the third taking advantage.
In the midst of this sensitive balance, a new variable had appeared without warning.
"Fox, report," a silver-haired man wearing a Shinobi headband of the Hidden Leaf narrowed his eyes at the strange barrier of fog able to be seen in the distance.
The man was a commander of the Hidden Leaf that had made a name for himself during conflicts with the Hidden Sand.
Konoha's White Fang: Sakamo Hatake, famed for his white-light saber.
His silver hair was tied into a high ponytail, his aged features reflecting his experience in numerous battles.
Behind Sakumo, a shinobi in a sleeveless metal vest and wearing a fox mask appeared.
"There's been no change to that barrier in the past few weeks, and our sources believe that it's unlikely the work of the Hidden Sand or Rock. This level of Fuinjutsu technique should be beyond them. No Shinobi has been able to investigate what's inside. We'll likely need someone of a High-Jounin level to investigate," Fox explained concisely. "Perhaps with the capability of Lord Third's students, we might be able to investigate further? However, the deeper into the fog, the stronger the Genjutsu. Please give us your orders, commander."
Sakumo hummed in thought.
The barrier before his eyes was tricky. So far, there were no reported casualties from those sent inside. Instead, many found themselves walking in, then inadvertently finding themselves back where they started. Those that penetrated further into the fog would lose consciousness and would then need to be retrieved.
How strong must it be at its deepest?
This was the question Sakumo had to consider. Moreover, was it worth the risk if neither Sand or Rock was involved?
"Pardon me, Commander," Fox spoke up with hesitation, but gained confidence when Sakumo signalled him to continue. "Doesn't this sort of Fuinjutsu barrier remind you of something recent?"
Sakumo frowned. In all respects, this wasn't the first time he'd felt a sense of familiarity. It was only now that Fox voiced that particular tragedy that the feeling of familiarity Sakumo was confused over shifted into realization.
No. No it couldn't be. Those swirls, those characters…
The land of the Whirlpools.
"Fox," Sakumo's tone shifted into solemnity. From his side, he pulled out a blank shinobi scroll which he opened and meticulously began making a crude copy of the Fuinjutsu seals over the fog barrier. "Immediately send a notice to the Hokage's ears only. Ask him to deliver this scroll to Lady Mito to get her verification on the matter."
"Understood," Fox nodded, took the scroll, and left in a burst of speed.
Meanwhile, Sakumo focused on the movements of his competitors in the distance with keen eyes. "Rock's forces are pulling ahead, and Hanzo's Shinobi are sending probes into the barrier," he muttered.
"Commander." Another shinobi, this time wearing a bear mask, appeared. "Shall we intercept?"
Sakumo frowned, fingers balling into fists. "For now, just observe and don't approach the barrier lightly. However, prepare to intercept at a moment's notice. If my speculation holds true, then this matter will be outside our jurisdiction."
"On it," Bear replied before leading a unit of shinobi to shadow Rock and Hanzo's forces.
Sakumo shut his eyes, and in the next second he too is gone.
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