Shichinintai Neo - Chapter 2
The message came as quite a surprise to the Shichinintai. It had come to them out of nowhere. It was a holographic image of a man in a baboon pelt, the blinding white fur wrapped around his body, and the shrivelled baboon face worn like a mask. They all knew who it was, the cloaked man was their employer. They had only seen him once before, but that had been a holograph as well, they had never seen the man in person.
The Shichinintai had been wandering aimlessly when the message had arrived. The party of mercenaries had left the ruins of the city they had just destroyed. They had stopped on the road at a river. Such as sight as a river was rare in this war-torn world, and a clean river was a blessing to travellers. After all, water provided life, and sure enough, there was a thin forest on either side of the river.
The Shichinintai were resting by the river when then holographic man had immerged from the nearby forest. He approached the group. The first one to notice him was Bankotsu, who was sitting on a rock nearby the forest. A thousand questions began to swarm in Bankotsu's mind as the fur-clad man strode toward him. He tried to decide on which one to ask, but by the time the man had reached him, all he could think of was:
"It's you!"
"You have done well. I am most impressed." Came the voice from under the cloak.
"Why did you ask us to destroy that city?" demanded Bankotsu.
"To test your strength, ability and loyalty." laughed the man, "I just wanted to see how strong you are before I give you any real tasks."
Renkotsu, standing nearby and hearing this, stepped towards the holographic image and asked:
"What will you have us do next?"
The man in the baboon pelt laughed and replied: "I need your protection from my enemies."
"Enemies?" demanded Bankotsu, "How many enemies?"
"Several." responded the man dryly, "My main concern is the Hanyou: Inuyasha."
"A single Hanyou?" scoffed Bankotsu, "The seven of us are known for demolishing the armies of entire nations, and you want us to kill a single Hanyou?
The man frowned. "He is no mere Hanyou." he growled, "Do not be foolish enough as to underestimate him."
"Is he really that strong?" inquired Renkotsu, a little nervously.
The man in the cloak nodded. "And he is not alone. He has many friends."
"Can you tell us about them?" requested Renkotsu, who seemed to becoming more and more uneasy with each thing the holograph said.
"Absolutely." replied the man, "The leader, the Hanyou Inuyasha, is a ferocious warrior who was infused with the DNA of a canine, giving him a strong sense of smell and hearing. He wields a blade that is able to cut through time and space itself and create a deadly burst of energy. With that blade, he can take out entire armies with one swing. He is the product of an incomplete experiment, he was to be the most powerful soldier ever conceived, but the project fell through, leaving him half as powerful as an unstoppable monster. "
"His woman, named Kagome, is also quite formidable. She is an ex-bioengineer. She studied DNA for several years, and developed a weapon capable of deteriorating and living beings DNA on contact, rendering cells useless. The weapon takes the form of a longbow."
"Accompanying them is a monk named Miroku. He is an ex-astrologist who developed a compact vacuum that can suck in almost anything. The device became fused into his hand in a lab accident He has the ability to deactivate the vacuum and reactivate it at anytime. Luckily for us, the device is a tad unstable and threatens to destroy him soon."
"Another member of Inuyasha's twisted crew is the Youkai exterminator: Sango. She used to work for an organization that hunted Youkai who had become a threat to humanity. She worked with Kagome in a bioengineering lab at that time, and created several bio-weapons from the remains of the Youkai she hunted."
"The final two in Inuyasha's team are Youkai themselves. The first, Shippo is a young boy who was infused with the DNA of a fox. Whilst living in a laboratory, he learned to handle holographic equipment, and now uses holographs to create illusions. The second is a beast known as Kirara, a domestic cat whose DNA was altered to make it able to transform into an enormous, ferocious beast."
Renkotsu had now become extremely unnerved. He took a swig from his gourd, which was filled with some unknown, but evidently very strong, liquor. The holographic man laughed.
"Calm yourself Renkotsu. I'm quite sure that if you all work together, you can defeat these nuisances." assured the man.
Renkotsu took another long drink from the gourd. Then, looked back up at the man.
"Well, I suppose there's only one way to find out. Where can we find these people?"
The man grinned. "Do not worry about finding them. They are searching for me. Your task is simply to await them at Mt. Hakurei and kill them when they "
Renkotsu frowned. "I've heard about that place. I heard that during the war, it was used as a stronghold against armies of Youkai, because the owners of the property had shielded the entire mountain with a force-field.
"Yes, all of that is true. You are well educated my friend." confirmed the man.
"Why on earth would you need us to defend a place that your enemies cannot possibly invade?" inquired Renkotsu.
"Defend? I never asked you to defend the mountain. I simply meant to say that they will come to the mountain in search of me and at that time you will eliminate them. Use the mountain to your advantage."
Renkotsu seemed relatively satisfied with the answer. He took a final swig from his gourd, then returned it to his pack, and turned back towards the holographic man. He seemed to have calmed his nerves.
"Now," began the cloaked man, "I have with me one of my Saimyoshou. It will guide you to the mountain." The man was pointing to a robotic bee sitting in a nearby tree. "I'll contact you again once you reach the force-field barrier."
As he finished his sentence, the holograph became blurry and began to fade.
"Wait!" blurted Bankotsu. He ran up to the holographic image.
"What is it?" demanded the man.
"Will you at least tell us your name?" begged Bankotsu.
The man sighed, as though he had already been asked the same question several times that day. Which he probably had.
"You can call me Naraku." He replied before disappearing completely.
Bankotsu stood and stared at the spot where the holograph had just been. After a minute he turned around and looked to Renkotsu.
"What do you think boss?" asked Renkotsu. Bankotsu frowned, and looked up at the robot insect that Naraku had mentioned. The bee cocked its head and it's wings flapped rapidly for a second. Bankotsu turned back to his teammate.
"I don't think we have much choice." he replied. At this point the rest of the Shichinintai had left the river and had come to surround their leader.
Jakotsu came up and wrapped himself around Bankotsu's arm. Bankotsu looked down at his closest friend and saw his worried expression. Bankotsu smiled to reassure Jakotsu, then directed his attention to the rest of his crew.
"Alright everyone, we have our orders, let's move out!" he yelled out. The rest of his crew let up a cheer and, grabbing their equipment, they left the riverbank.
Naraku sat in his large cavernous mansion and sipped his sake. Through the eyes of his Saimyoshou he kept track of the progress of his hired assassins. He smiled.
A silhouette appeared at his door. It stared down at him, as he sat laughing. It spoke to him in a woman's voice:
"I've sent Kohaku. He should reach them in an hour, they're almost here." Hearing this, his dark smirk grew into an evil grin.
"Thank you, Kagura." He said.
"Are you sure we can trust them." asked Kagura.
"Who?"
"Any of them," she replied in a worried tone, "Kohaku or the Shichinintai."
"Of course, Kagura." he assured her, "Kohaku is my slave, and all that Bankotsu and his rag-tag team of warriors want is money, and I have money."
Kagura said nothing, she simply walked away.
Naraku laughed as she walked away. He set down his sake and from his pocket, withdrew a deck of cards. He began to shuffle them.
"Who shall I dispose of first?" he asked himself. He stopped shuffling and drew the top card from the deck. He flipped in over and inspected it slowly. He laughed. "Then it's settled...you're first, Koga."