Author's Note: I meant to do this chapter last weekend, but I've caught, and still have, an illness that's causing constant gastric reflux. So I've been unable to write for but moments at a time, and too exhausted to continue on. So until I recover, I probably won't be updating any stories for a bit.
This is also why the chapter is shorter than I meant it to be, usually, it'll have another thousand words. I wanted to get this whole arc done within one chapter, but as you've read in the AN, I need to recover first.
The Overlord of Nadeshiko
Chapter 10
Ainz Ooal Gown had kept his cautious zeal throughout his trek through the forest, closing in on Kluke's location with every step. The ninja from the Village Hidden in the Leaves did not pursue him, although they were unaware of his presence, he had thought that they'd make some effort to scout and identify the summoner. But they had not, and that made Ainz a bit anxious than if they had decided otherwise.
He knew that Kakashi was a jonin at least, the others might be chunin considering their ages, that was already a group matching the Nadeshiko forces in the area, excluding Ainz. However that assumption would be incorrect, Ainz knew that since those foreign ninjas were from a Great Village, their overall levels would be higher than the kunoichi from his own.
That wasn't taken into consideration if that was the only Konoha team in the area.
He dispelled [Perfect Unknowable] as he approached, it wouldn't be smart to surprise his own allies.
"Jonin Kluke, I have arrived to assist you," He said as saw the kunoichi stealthed in a tree.
Kluke jumped down, he'd half expected a salute or bow, but there wasn't any given. Ainz reminded himself that no such tradition existed in Nadeshiko's military, though they did a kneel in respect; that might not apply in active duty outside the village.
"Lord Ainz, I have gained crucial information since my message," She spoke. "Our encampment is nearby, we can discuss further there."
"Umu, lead the way," He agreed, knowing it would be a more guarded location to discuss plans and exchange information.
True to Kluke's words, Ainz followed her to a nearby encampment. It wasn't even proper to call it an encampment rather a small camp, as there were no pitched tents. There were a few traps that surrounded the place, ninja wire with hanging kunai and shuriken protected many avenues of a potential assault. In the center, a burnt-out fire pit, surrounded by a few sleeping bags and cooking tools.
It was likely this spot had been used during their geological survey; the traps were new, but the camp itself was not.
He did a headcount and was satisfied that every member of both teams was present. Although he didn't know the names of the genin, Ainz felt responsible for their well-being.
Ainz entered the camp with Kluke, on approach, the kunoichi tensed and adopted a rigid kneeling position. He did a casual wave, recalling a self-help book he read back in Nadeshiko about body motion intent. It seemed to have paid off, the girls all relaxed more, if still a little tense.
Kluke went to speak, but Ainz raised his hand and stopped her. "Hold on, although I do not doubt your surveyance, let me double-check something."
In PVP, the use of abilities, spells, and items were commonplace to gain crucial information about an enemy player. Especially if that enemy was in a party or guild, collecting knowledge served to form strategies or listen in on opposing plans.
Of course, any knowledgeable player would make preparations or wear equipment to protect themselves from prying eyes. Ainz did a combination of the two, though his equipment did the heavy load for him.
As was displayed now, the sky above the camp cracked with a thunderous sound, indicating the rebuttal of a previously ongoing attempt to observe them.
This had occurred not moments after he entered the camp, it just took his anti-scrying ring a moment to prompt.
"What was that!?" A graduated genin shouted in concern.
"Do not worry, it's a preemptive countermeasure on my part," Ainz answered.
Still, that was greatly more concerning than the earlier spying attempt on him by, assumingly, the Konoha kunoichi. In contrast to that low-level effort, this particular counteracted action was significantly higher in terms of tier level. It seems someone must have taken considerable interest in his kunoichi forces here, but with Ainz's presence, their methods of spying would be blocked so long as it wasn't anything on par with Super Tier Magic.
He turned his attention back to Kluke, "What have you all found out?"
Kluke began, "The rogue leaf ninja Kabuto, known to serve the legendary sannin, Orochimaru, arrived shortly after our encounter with a gigantic turtle lifeform at the lake. Accompanying him was a large bulky man, a kunoichi with her hair tied back, and a small boy, presumingly a non-combatant."
That did not sound like the Konoha team whatsoever, Satoru was glad he didn't jump the gun on marking them as complete enemies. That didn't discredit their presence here in the Land of Water without prior notice, but he could theorize that perhaps they were a headhunter team or forward scout force for Kabuto, as a renegade leaf ninja he would be a target.
"Skills? Ninjutsu?" Ainz asked.
"The kunoichi used some sort of earth-based ninjutsu, presumingly a Bloodline Limit, it created a crystal pillar dense enough to hold against water pressure from my ninjutsu," Kluke answered. "It also held against explosive tags," She further clarified.
Crystals?
Ainz recalled some crystal arcane spells, they were typically 3rd and 4th Tier with earth element damage type. If his jonin explained it as a Bloodline Limit, that meant that crystals were rare for earth element ninjutsu. Did that mean that unlike the Tier Magic variant the crystal ninjutsu would be closer to the 5th or even 6th Tier?
"Anything else?" He said.
"Once we retreated with the cover of smoke, the mist proceeded to worsen and caused occasional genjutsu attacks. The genin were all affected, and my chunin had difficulty in fighting its effects…" She paused for a moment. "Except for Tanya, she displayed quick recovery from genjutsu without aid."
"Tanya?" He looked over to the genin, the rather petite child with blonde hair and garbed in a functional uniform outfit perked up in attention.
"Here, my Lord," Tanya answered with a professional tone, which contrasted both her appearance and her fellow genins' demeanor.
Ainz eyed her over briefly, she might have some sort of active item or perhaps equipment that fought against mental status effects. But if it was rather some sort of passive skill or even a unique Job Class? Well, call it his collector's spirit, but he felt intrigued by having unique people in his village.
Nadeshiko was now Ainz's after all, only Shizuka held equal status. The Elders, while having considerable political power, were still underneath the position of the village leaders. They were like investors, but investors did not have the final say. That right was solely his and Shizuka's.
So, Ainz owned Nadeshiko Village.
It was different with Nazarick, Suzuki Satoru never considered himself Nazarick's owner, it was owned by the Guild Ainz Ooal Gown.
"And the giant creature?" He questioned Jonin Kluke again.
"Unknown, I'm not a sensor kunoichi, but I could still feel its immense chakra. I don't believe I can fight a monster like that," She answered. "The mist did seem to come and go with its actions."
Kluke never stated that she wasn't confident in fighting an unknown group of ninja, but if she mentioned the giant turtle in such a way…
A boss monster?
Unlike dealing with enemy ninja, which correlated with his PVP experience, the giant turtle might be this world's equivalent to a PVE boss entity, which meant it would be dangerous to face without a group. Furthermore, its mist created a hostile environment, a trademark symbol for any mid to high-level YGGDRASIL location with hostile monsters.
Of course, this also was dependent on what level the boss monster was. If this was a boss for a mid-level zone, Ainz could solo it without issue. However, if it was a boss for high-level players, its difficulty would vary on a number of factors.
Ainz might be able to solo it if he knew most of its skills, abilities, strengths, and weaknesses. But he did not have that luxury.
First, he needed to identify it, the information given was still too lacking.
At the same time, they can't keep wasting time only collecting information. If they do not take action, the opposition will. There were three factions in this region, which included Nadeshiko, all involved in this area. Although they were here for a geological survey of the region's resources, the turtle boss could be considered a resource in Ainz's opinion.
The monopolization of rare mobs wasn't uncommon in YGGDRASIL.
"A group of ninja from Konoha is nearby as well," Ainz began to explain his own gathered information. "I do not know their purpose here, though it might relate to the rogue target, there is also the chance they're here for another reason."
The relationship between the Land of Water and the Land of Fire was like two separate nations subtly pressuring the other for some sort of advantage while maintaining an outer appearance of peace. While Nadeshiko Village was under the flag of the Water Daimyo, it did not mean they had the same tense relationship with the Village Hidden in the Leaves as Kirigakure.
That did not mean Nadeshiko could ignore attempts to test their borders when so easily able to intercept. Ainz knew this, it was the same case between guilds in YGGDRASIL, wars occurred between them over resources, mobs, items, or simply because the opposition were Heteromorphic. Guilds would ally with one another, make promises to watch each other's borders, keep an eye out for enemy guild players… The list went on.
A similar case now lies before Ainz.
Of course, he had no desire to start with war with one of the Five Great Ninja Nations, Nadeshiko wouldn't survive such a conflict, and he wasn't confident in his own ability to singlehandedly fight against so many jonin, or the Hokage. The best course of action would be to send a warning to the Konoha team and see their response from there. As for the other opposition, they'll have to be considered enemies due to their status as Bingo Book targets or accomplices. Fortunately, they did not pursue his kunoichi, which meant they did not seek a direct conflict.
But they did fight over the lake, which meant his hypothesis over rights on the boss monster was likely their target.
"Alright, I have a plan," Ainz answered his kunoichi. "Kluke, take your chunin and give a warning to the Leaf Ninja to leave the region. Try to dissuade them, but be wary, their team leader is Kakashi Hatake."
Kluke's eyes widened at the name, "Understood, Lord Ainz."
He knew that Kluke's genin member, Tanya, would likely not survive a direct encounter with ninja from the leaf. So Ainz decided to leave her out of that confrontation and instead assign her, and the others, to himself.
"As for the genin, you will all follow me. I shall cast- Use a jutsu on you that shall give you a grade of resistance against genjutsu," Ainz ordered and mimicked a single hand seal he recalled from the books, then directed an open hand towards the nearest genin, Tanya. "[Lesser Mind Protection] jutsu."
This was a 1st Tier Spell, although it was useless for Ainz, he had used it a few times for buffing others. Since Momonga's Overlord racial skill allowed him to increase his maximum spell slots, he could afford to learn spells that would otherwise not be beneficial to himself. Still, even with his vast repertoire of spells and magical knowledge, that did not mean he had the benefit of being able to cast all of them. He still had to keep track of his mana reserves, even with his stat in mana being over the limit.
With [Lesser Mind Protection] it would allow the genin to resist the environmental illusion. Ainz had already passively resisted it a few times without any thought, he judged it wasn't something strong, just a minor annoyance for new players. However, if the boss turtle had a method of directly applying genjutsu, [Lesser Mind Protection] would likely not hold up against it.
Still, Ainz did this on purpose, he was still experimenting with the capabilities of the so-called chakra ninja job class. So he didn't want to place higher-tier buffs on his kunoichi without first learning what they could or could not resist. It would be pointless to place a buff on somebody that wouldn't benefit from it.
Though he did still apply it to Tanya, it would be unfair for her to receive no further protection when her allies did. He still needed to assure his kunoichis' loyalty.
As he continued to buff each genin, who were all amazed by it, Ainz sent a mental command to the Wraith nearby to find and attack the other opposition led by the rogue lead ninja. That should keep them busy for a bit, as anyone familiar with a Wraith would know that physical attacks were heavily ill-advised against it.
Now, to see about that lake…
Suzuki Satoru arrived at the lake where the boss creature resided, the four genins had followed him to the lake's edge, successfully resisting all attempts at the genjutsu connected with the heavy mist in the area. Though the mist had such a threat, its presence obscured the vision which Ainz found annoying, unable to see further into the lake without going deeper. This would've been a problem for any ninja or kunoichi, but for a magic caster, the solution would be simple.
"[Widen Magic: Complete Vision]," Ainz spoke and his vision was buffed to see through the fog without issue. With the Widen metamagic, he could see up to two hundred meters.
He couldn't see any giant turtle, though he did spot a boat in the distance surrounded by numerous crystal pillars at the lake's center. This was likely the rogue ninja group, and his previous theory about them desiring the boss monster seemed to hold fruit. He could sense the Wraith nearby, likely about to make its attack as commanded. But before the undead summon could do anything, a loud screech of a boyish voice echoed through the area, a pillar of blue energy erupted from the boat.
Ainz was cautious, it was something he'd never seen before, he would almost compare its visual effect to some high-tier magic, though it seems the boss creature came in response to the screeching as the giant turtle rose from the lake's depths and appeared between the crystal pillars. He managed to obtain a clear view of it, it was quite a sizable creature, matching the 4th Floor of Nazarick's Guardian golem in stature, it had three tails that splashed around in the waters behind it.
There were many different types of boss monsters in YGGDRASIL, Ainz could recall a giant flying turtle with a city on its back. And although this creature wasn't to that flying one's size, a turtle with three tails was something he'd never seen before.
It was intriguing.
"What do you see, Lord Ainz?" One of the graduate genin named Takako asked.
Another genin called Fusae commented, "I can't see anything in the fog, how could he?"
"Do not worry, I have full vision despite the overhanging fog," Ainz answered to them.
Uraku, the only experienced genin of the group, turned to the others except for Tanya, "I don't suppose you two know how to walk on water?'
Takako replied, "Saw it before, but I don't know it."
"No, I don't," Fusae said.
"We won't walk on water," Ainz said, though kept that piece of knowledge in his head for future reference. "We'll fly."
Tanya arched an eyebrow, "Fly?"
"[Mass Fly]."
