Chapter 4
Slipping the fish she'd just purchased into her inventory, Sora wiped her hands off and oriented herself.
As she had guessed, there was a group of three students who were tailing her, all of whom came from the clans that didn't have bloodlines. Whether they had seen what she had done, which was very unlikely but still possible, or if maybe they were just getting revenge for her managing to be the one to land a 'hit' on Karatachi-san, she didn't know. But what she did know from their expressions and the way they moved and spoke, they were pretty pissed.
They all had Kunai on them in various places, and each of them probably knew more techniques than she did. Aside from her Mystical Palm technique, she didn't know anything but the three academy basic techniques. Plus, she hadn't yet had an opportunity to decide what she wanted to have for her levels. She had ten points, so if she dumped it into agility, she'd be increasing her speed by a full meter per second. Since she wasn't only moving at that snails pace, it obviously meant that it added onto her baseline human abilities.
From that she could also deduce that base weapon damage was the amount that a human would do with the weapon normally, and then her strength was added onto that afterwards, since she didn't have arms with the strength of wet noodles. But she was getting off-track, and had to shelf those thoughts to refocus on what was most important, spending her ten points.
Intelligence was investing in her future, but if these three guys decided that her future was to die there and she wasn't able to stop them, then that investment would be useless to her. So maybe an increase in speed was best, but would a roughly 10% increase in her speed be enough? People were usually able to run at about 10m/s, so being able to move at 12.4m/s would actually put her 24% above the average person, except these were clan kids who probably had a major advantage on her both in training and techniques.
That last thought was why she was wary of pitting herself against them. They could easily hit her with techniques that she wouldn't recognize or be able to avoid. Strength, Vitality, Wisdom and Luck were entirely out for the moment. Increasing her melee damage by 10% wouldn't help her much, aside from health Vitality wouldn't likely have a direct impact in the coming fight. Wisdom was for techniques, which she didn't have yet, and Luck needed a substantial investment to pay off.
So really, it was between Intelligence and Agility. Intelligence would be if she thought she could win, and Agility for if she needed to be faster. But then, there was always the chance that even if she buffed her speed up by another meter per second, they would still outclass her. Her main advantages were her health regeneration, meaning that even if they hurt her badly she would regenerate back to full strength, and the fact that if they turned this into a regular attempt, they would potentially be a good source of experience. But was there a way to pull this whole thing off?
Rolling her eyes, she opened the notification that kept incessantly flashing at her.
Quest Received!
Which of us is the fisherman...and which the trout?
Objective: Survive the attack from aggravated Kirigakure Academy Students
Reward: 500 experience, Rusty Naginata
Bonus Objective: Find a way to make their attacks a recurring event
Bonus Reward: 500 experience for each attempted attack
Failure: Potential Maiming/Potential Death
That...was pretty much exactly what she wanted.
Well, when she thought about it, The Game definitely seemed to be trying to push her in certain directions, and despite her admittedly antagonistic attitude towards the thing that had spoken to her, it seemed like it was generally being helpful, nudging her towards the Hunter-nin corps and giving her experience and rewards. Of course, the drawback was pretty severe for this quest, maiming/death being on the roster for if she fucked this up.
But on the other hand, 500 experience every time they try to attack her...she was already intending to attempt setting up a...a 'farm' of experience by trying to get them to attack her multiple times, so maybe The Game was reading her mind and drawing its objectives partially from her own decisions? Whatever the case was, it worked for her, but it also made her suspicious.
The Game was establishing a recurring quest to give her experience. That meant it might be covering for the fact that when she 'fought' the Yuki kid by hitting him with a senbon, she got no experience for that attack. So getting hits didn't give experience, and that meant there was a chance that even sparring wouldn't give her experience, leading her to the final assumption that The Game worked by way of requiring her to get a kill to get experience points. If she didn't kill her target, then she had to either do a specific action to get experience like harvesting herbs and ore and stuff, or by simply doing quests.
And yes, maybe there were ways to gather experience by doing things like foraging, fishing and stuff like that, but that was boring and The Game was already catering to her needs by setting up a recurring quest to give her experience, so what would be the point? Obviously as she got stronger and required more experience, relying on this recurring experience to level up would become untenable and she'd have to find alternate ways to get experience, maybe by getting quests to prock regarding sparring which would give her experience for winning or at least drawing in fights.
Of course, the Naginata also helped motivate her. She didn't actually have any kind of polearm to use, so getting one, even a 'rusty' one, would be very useful. Maybe she could even make it better by finding a blacksmith and getting them to clean the weapon up to increase the damage and make it look better. Having a Naginata would also make her a lot more dangerous as an opponent, and if she kept with using that kind of weapon, she would be very dangerous to enemy shinobi, with such an unorthodox weapon, the kind very few shinobi would encounter, it would make her that much harder to fight against.
She would need to look into maybe getting a collapsible version though, since it would be a pain carrying around a weapon that would be as tall as her. She couldn't just keep it in her inventory either, since anyone who was paying attention would question where she was keeping such a massive weapon. Maybe there was some plausible way for her to carry it, but she didn't know of one, so she couldn't assume there was one.
But that could all come later. The trio of disgruntled students were doing a commendable job of following her, except for the fact that they had messed up and come a little too close to her, probably having guessed at her range and grown in confidence when she didn't react to them visibly. She knew they were there, and they didn't know that she knew that fact. Fifteen meters sounded both like a long way but also a short way depending on the context. For following someone, 15 meters sounded like it was a pretty short distance, and it was, but it was also a pretty long way since 15 meters meant there was plenty between them and her they could use for cover.
Of course, with a Byakugan, anything inside that 15-meter radius wasn't private to her, she could see it all. So the instant they stepped into her range, they gave the game away, even as they tried to stay in cover and only looked at her very occasionally and briefly. If nothing else they could be commended for conventional stealth skills, since she physically hadn't stopped them a single time, just through her Byakugan did she know they were there.
Honestly, she was really a little excited to see how she'd fair. Sora from before could beat each of them in a fight, sure, but this was a 3-on-1 and Skye was still getting used to her new environment and identity, so maybe drawing upon Sora from before and her ability to fight was going to screw her over at some point. Or maybe it would work out fine and she'd beat their asses without breaking a sweat.
...Yeah, that wasn't very likely.
After spending another few minutes walking, Sora finally spotted a good location to fight the three students.
It was isolated, so nobody would show up to mess with their fight, both a good and bad thing. Good because it meant they wouldn't get chewed out for infighting, but bad because if they decided that they'd rather kill her or something then nobody would help her. Fingers crossed she would be strong enough to beat three students, and if she had to she would use the tanto she had in her inventory. Sure it wasn't a polearm, but if she had to stop them and had no other ideas, then that would be her last resort.
She didn't want to kill the three brats, she just needed to beat them down to the point they wouldn't immediately try to attack her again, but not leave them so demoralized that they wouldn't attack her again at some point in the future, maybe a week from their fight. Then again, weekly would mean she'd get maybe two dozen rounds with them before the academy year was over and she'd graduate, so she'd likely lose that source of experience. Students fighting each other might be accepted, but Genin fighting other Genin would be cracked down on hard. They were soldiers in the village military, and infighting in a military would never be acceptable.
So maybe she could make it seem like she almost lost and that way they'd be more encouraged to fight her again. But then if they thought they only nearly lost against her, they might bring more friends along and pretty much force her to lose for real. But then again, if they thought anything except that, they probably wouldn't attack her again. So how was she meant to orchestrate this into being a recurring thing?
Plus, when she thought about it, 500 experience for each recurring attack was pretty crap. Maybe it'd have been a lot better that it was for each attacker that came after her. That way she'd have a reason to incite them to chase her, but not to fight them. If she got 500 experience per attacker, then all she'd need to do is get The Game to identify them all as attackers, then flee. That would encourage them to attack her again, thus hitting multiple targets with a single bullet.
She glanced down at the small icon that denoted quests and things, staring at it for a moment...then a few moments longer when it didn't change. So, The Game might change itself slightly to conform to her plans, but it wouldn't outright change quests just because there was a better alternative. That made things a bit difficult. She could just beat these students down and hope that there would be another quest down the line, since, as that thing had said, there was a patron of The Game that was using her as entertainment like some kind of fucked up story or something.
Giving her no quests and no way to get experience would probably make that patron bored, so The Game itself was under obligation to find ways for her to progress, to incite conflict and trials upon her, in the name of providing entertainment. If that was the case, then she could use what she quickly dubbed the Hunger Games approach to it. All she had to do was make the most attractive prospect for The Game being helpng her and making her powerful.
If The Game thought that by making her powerful and pitting her against powerful foes she would provide entertainment to the patron, then that would be what The Game would do. And, on the other hand, if The Game thought that having her be weak against strong foes would provide a good show to their patron, then she was fucked. The Game was the one controlling her main advantage over other people, so she was at the mercy of it.
Shaking her head, she put such thoughts out of her mind, taking a pair of Kunai from her inventory with the vision of the tailing students blocked by her back. Watching each of the three carefully, she rounded a corner, stopping there at the edge and focusing on the three of them as they approached her. One of them had senbon that had a liquid on them, and all three were carrying well-made Kunai. One on three odds weren't any good to her, so all she had to do was even the odds a little.
She hooked a finger through the loops of the Kunai and waited. When the first, the one with the Senbon, came into reach, she whipped around the corner, catching the three by surprise as she plunged a Kunai straight down into his shoulder, feeling and seeing his clavicle snap under her blade as it became lodged deep in his body. She raised her foot and booted him away as the other two drew Kunai, spinning the one she had remaining on her finger to draw their eyes as she put her hand behind her back and, after a few moments, managed to draw her second Kunai out of her inventory.
Sora brought the second weapon around and eyed the pair, smirking slightly at the screams of agony from the downed student. "You two have a choice here. Take your friend and fuck off to the hospital with whatever remains of your pride, or stay and try to fight me with a lower advantage than you had planned." She glanced between the pair, then stomped down on the ankle of the downed student, a snapping sound and another scream of pain piercing the air. "Your choice."
That incited one of the pair to anger as he lunged forwards. "Kenta, no!" The other one yelled, his words falling on deaf ears as the student charged her, lashing out with his Kunai. Sora saw the attack coming from years away and shifted back, giving up ground for a moment before lunging forwards, then to the left as she avoided the thrown Kunai from her other opponent, forcing her to abort her attack.
She could see through her Byakugan that the one apparently called Kenta was now swinging to stab her in the side. She could see it, but couldn't avoid it, not when she was already to the side. So instead, she turned and smacked his arm with her own, knocking the blow off-course. She followed through by pivoting into him and jamming the Kunai in her left hand into his side.
Rather than pierce his side, Sora's Kunai clanged into metal as the boy substituted himself with a metal garbage can, which positioned him a few paces behind her. She didn't bother turning, instead she charged forwards, smirking as the third boy, the one who threw one of his Kunai at her, substituted with another garbage can further down the narrow street, quickly regrouping with his friend.
Sora quickly picked out an object she herself could replace herself with and did so, appearing behind the two boys. Since she only had one Kunai, she elected to attack the seemingly more intelligent and less brash boy, her sudden disappearance not giving him enough time to even begin to turn around before she was stabbing him in the back. Her blade pierced low, just a little ways above his pelvis. She forced the weapon in nice and deep, then tore it back out and skipped backwards to avoid the sudden and furious assault of his friend, who had now witnessed her stab two of his friends.
She drew back several more paces, keeping half of her focus on her Byakugan to ensure she didn't lose her footing on the mess-strewn ground as well as tracking exactly how the boy was moving. For her first proper fight, it went rather well. Of course, that was because the three boys played right into her strengths. An ambush to take one down, and a surprise attack handling the second, ensuring she never had to fight three on one. if she'd had to fight them all at the same time she'd probably have lost considering how despite his anger and telegraphed attacks, the boy attacking her was genuinely putting her on the back-foot, and she was running out of space.
The street was a dead end, and the turn she'd ambushed them on was the last turn before that corner. She had to keep giving up ground since he was physically stronger than her, and trying to block one of his attacks would see her guard broken in an instant. Sora picked out an object to replace herself with on the ground and did so, appearing behind him.
Initially she intended to stab him like she did his friend, but saw quickly that he was already turning around with his Kunai ready to stab anything close, so she was forced to skip back again. He put a Kunai in his second hand stealthily, though with her Byakugan she saw it clearly, and was ready when he threw it. What she wasn't ready for was a second Kunai to enter her vision from behind and slam into her shoulder, sending her reeling forwards. She saw it coming when it got into her range, but seeing a fast-moving object from 15 meters away meant nothing when she didn't have the reaction speed to avoid it.
A moment later a blow smashed into her face and send her flying onto her back, a strangled scream cracking her throat as she landed on the Kunai and drove it straight through her, the tip peeking out of her flesh. She could still see through her Byakugan, but the pain of having a Kunai going all the way through her shoulder as well as the blow to her face made it impossible to focus on what she was seeing.
Rather than try that, she clenched her fist around the Kunai in her hand and rolled several times to the side, trying her best to ignore the burning sensation of her shoulder and the fact that she couldn't actually move her left arm at that moment. Her normal vision was blurry, probably from tears, but she was able to focus on the form in front of her enough to see that he was attacking again. Rather than back off, she moved forwards and went low, her throat making an almost growling noise as she felt something sharp lash against the top of her head and open a fresh line of hellish pain.
Pushing through it, she moved her right arm and forced the Kunai she held upwards towards where she estimated the chest of her attacker was, grinning with feral glee and vindication as she felt it pierce flesh, heard his scream of pain and felt the vibrations of that scream run through the blade embedded in his chest. Rather than spend another moment thinking about what she would do next, she tightened her grasp and forced the blade downwards, drawing a fresh scream from the boy as she sliced his front open.
Another heavy object slammed into her from behind, this time in her back, and she nearly fell over onto the still-screaming boy, only managing to stay standing by the blade still lodged in his body. Forcing herself to focus through the sheer pain for just a scant few moments, she managed to spot herself in her Byakugan. There was a long slice going from the top of her forehead to nearly her ponytail, coating her hair liberally in blood, while her face was a mess of blood that was pouring from her nose after she had been punched. There was also a second Kunai lodged in her body, nearly piercing her kidney.
Turning her attention to the boy that had thrown the Kunai, she managed to glare at him, and despite her pain she managed a blood-stained grin at him as he blanched. "You...will take your friends, and you will fuck off. Attack me again, and I'll cut your eyes out, stuff them into your kidneys, then make you eat them." Without even waiting for his response, she began ambling down the street.
During the fight, she hadn't once glanced at her stats, and when she did, she realized that maybe The Game deserved more credit. She had been stabbed with two Kunai, punched in the face and sliced across her scalp. And yet, she still had 159 hit points out of 210. Of course, those kids probably had pretty low stats according to The Game, so with them being the ones to attack her...while she still hurt pretty much all over, they weren't nearly as close to killing her as she assumed.
Sora reached up with her one working arm and put her finger into the loop of the Kunai in her left shoulder. Biting her lip, she drew the weapon out of her arm in a single motion, her teeth drawing a fresh load of blood and actually causing her 6 points of hp damage as she bit into her lip. Putting the weapon into her inventory, she shuddered, then put her hand on the far less deep weapon lodged in her back, pulling that one out with a lot less pain, as it hadn't been driven in almost to the ring, then dropping it into her inventory.
Her nose was still very firmly broken, but hopefully that would just heal from her natural regeneration, along with the gaping wounds that she'd just opened. She wasn't losing health from bleeding, and quite frankly the blood-loss was a trickle compared to what it should have been, so presumably her healing was already going to work closing up those holes. She'd need to be careful to avoid getting accused of having some kind of bloodline, but maybe if she just chose to keep the scars of those two stabs she would be alright. After all, if anyone asked, she knew Iryojutsu and her father was damn good at it, so it could easily be explained away.
She glanced at her quest, frowning as she did so. She had failed the bonus objective, probably because those three weren't going to try to attack her again, or at least, she hadn't actually orchestrated it with her actions. That wasn't the end of the world though, just...irritating. But on the plus side she now had a naginata, which as she looked in her inventory had a base damage of 25, so a very good weapon for damage. Of course, landing hits with it would be difficult since it was so large and visible, nothing like a Kunai, but still, very acceptable.
But the real kicker, what brought a small smirk to her face, was the 'hidden' objective.
Hidden Objective: Be observed fighting proficiently in a disadvantaged situation by an interested party - Completed
Reward: +300 Relation with (Unknown Party), 500 experience
That brought to her attention the relations system, reminding her that she really needed to go through all her menus and look at all The Game had to offer.
The interested party was probably a Hunter-nin, scouting her for their organization and observing her little scuffle with those three students. If that was the case, hopefully her tenacity and the fact she got stabbed twice, sliced across the scalp and punched in the face and still beat her opponents would cover for the fact that she got hit that many times in the first place. It would be...annoying if she were rejected from being a Hunter-nin simply because she fucked up like that.
But more importantly, she needed to look at her relations. Doubtlessly her relations with the three who attacked her would go through the floor, but maybe by viewing relationship changes she could deduce the fallout of her actions.
So...yeah, she got cocky and nearly got her shit pushed in.
Of course with The Game twisting reality to work with video game stuff she wasn't actually close to death, and neither were the boys she stabbed, well, aside from the guy she cut open, he probably took a lot more damage through that attack. She hasn't yet had a chance to set up her interface correctly to display health bars and stuff for other people, she only knows her own, but I promise, she will be looking at numbers and things soon...ish.
Hopefully the usage of the replacement was enjoyable. I feel like that ability really was underused in Naruto. Being able to pick an object and replace with it to appear behind your opponent is really powerful. Imagine using it on Kunai, you would have a makeshift short-ranged Hiraishin on your hands. You can imagine that if someone got as proficient with it as Shisui was with the Shunshin, they would basically be a budget version of Minato.
Anyways, please review and all that business ^.^ I feel like this chapter was a bit...ehh, weak-ish simply because writing such a currently-underpowered character really isn't my normal schtick. Those of you who read my other stuff probably have seen that I tend to write really overpowered characters, so having such a comparatively weak character is really bizarre.
But hey, hopefully you all still liked it =D
Name: Sora Metami
Level: 3
Age: 12
Experience: 2647/3000
To Next Level: 373
Title: Academy Student - 50% Experience Gain within Classroom
Health Points: 210 (100 Base HP + (Vitality x Strength)
Regeneration Rate: 7/minute (Health ÷ 30) (Severe or noticed injuries can be chosen to retain scars)
Chakra Points: 220 (100 Base CP + (Wisdom x Intelligence)
Regeneration Rate: 7.3* (Chakra ÷ 30)
Strength: 11 (Each point increases melee damage by 1%, adds 1 slot to inventory)
Vitality: 10 (Each point raises poison resistance by 0.1%, reduces need for sleep by 0.1%)
Agility: 12 (Each point increases top speed by 0.1m/s, increases weapon proficiency gain by 1%)
Wisdom: 10 (Each point decreases chakra cost for techniques by 0.1%)
Intelligence: 12 (Each point increases experience gain by 1%)
Luck: 10 (Each point increases the chance of something lucky happening by 0.01%, decreases the chance of something unlucky happening by 0.01%)
Available Trait Points: 10
