Author's Notes: What a positive reception! I'm glad you all enjoyed the brief battle between Ainz and the Three-Tails! Don't worry, I have plans for that Tailed Beast, but for now, let's see some other perspectives.
And here is the Q&A to answer the last chapter's burning questions.
Why didn't the Three-Tails use a Tailed Beast Bomb?
The Three-Tails, at this point according to the filler anime arc, is newly reformed and as such is not at its top-game so to speak. Let that explanation serve as the reason why the Three-Tails fight wasn't longer or more intense.
Ainz is slow, he should've been hit by the Three-Tails.
He is not slow, a level 100 character is quite fast, even if Ainz is not specced into a speedster build. He can match most of the Kage in speed and movement, especially with buffs; there are speed feat examples in Overlord LN to prove this. I will concur that he isn't at the speed of ninjas like the Raikage or KCM Naruto, but those are exceptions to the rule, not indicators of all Kage or Jonin.
Ainz should be outright resistant to projectile attacks anyway.
As stated multiple times in this story, and throughout the official material, Ainz can nullify any physical or magical damage below level 60. So in anything below that, yes, but anything above that damage threshold can harm him. Of course, Ainz uses methods to further improve his defenses, but that requires time.
Can Ainz defeat-
No comment. I don't answer these.
The Overlord of Nadeshiko
Chapter 12
Shizuka still felt the migraine tethering near the forefront of her mind, a consequence of drinking away the night before in the after-party of her officialized wedding. The village may have mainly celebrated, but Shizuka did not feel joy in the marriage, but rather a somberness hid behind an emotional mask as memories of her true lover haunted her thoughts that night.
She was not betraying him, for she held no love for Ainz Ooal Gown.
But neither did he for her, it was a power play, and both Shizuka and Ainz agreed to and acknowledged the fact.
If anything, that fact was quite relieving. The man she married did not wish to force her hand or replace the small semblance of a heart that remained in love. No, if Ainz had wanted to forcefully take anything, he'd have done so earlier instead of weaving together puppet strings.
Ainz Ooal Gown was intelligent and cunning.
But even Ainz lacked in information, even that man was not omnipotent. Shizuka kept her position as the leader for Nadeshiko Village, which position outmatched even her husband's. Although Ainz could view much, a few select materials remained confidential for her eyes only.
Shizuka sighed, clutching her head with one hand while another reached for a small stack of papers placed on her desk. She had been forced awake by her friend, Tokiwa, and taken away from the comfort of her couch. It appears that Ainz had taken over for her in the morning, allowing Shizuka some much-needed time to rest more, but an emergency situation appeared which forced him to temporarily leave the village for a mission.
At least, that was the excuse that Shizuka quickly drafted up to explain his sudden disappearance. In which his use of space-time ninjutsu, according to Tokiwa, had been a shocking revelation.
Shizuka classified that, keeping it between herself and Tokiwa. The information of Ainz in possession of a space-time jutsu needed to be kept secret as long as possible.
"What else, Tokiwa?" Shizuka inquired as to what Ainz did.
"He sent a hawk reply to Kirigakure's invitation, accepting it," Tokiwa answered.
Shizuka's head met the table with an audible noise.
Ainz Ooal Gown meeting with the Kage of the Mist Village?
That was a diplomatic disaster waiting to happen.
While Shizuka and her predecessor had been inching closer to making Nadeshiko independent of Kirigakure, it was a delicate process. Especially in terms of militant and economical pressures that have been weighed against the smaller ninja villages throughout the Land of Water. The Bloody Mist had not been kind during her predecessor's era, whole ninja villages and clans were wiped out in the civil war that erupted, Nadeshiko escaped in due part to its strategic location on the border, and utter lack of Bloodline Limits.
The strange occurrence of only female births was seen more as an anomaly of location rather than a dormant or passive hidden Bloodline Limit. A technicality and propaganda that served to keep the Bloody Mist away from Nadeshiko Village beyond contracts.
Her predecessor slowly but surely pushed for more and more independent self-reliance and sustainability, and Shizuka had tried to do the same.
Keyword: Tried.
The situation of Nadeshiko Village had barely progressed after her teacher's death. It was nearly identical to the state it was in her time, while Shizuka had only been the leader for a few years, her authority had been fought against after the incident with her prior lover. This made any changes exceedingly more difficult.
Although Ainz did terrify Shizuka to a degree, she wasn't fearful of him. And he did seem to placate the Elders, allowing Shizuka breathing room to begin implementation of several changes, even if they were only minor at this point.
Very minor.
Nadeshiko Village didn't have the financial or military strength to make significant changes, something that Ainz seems to want to change. But such a major increase in the economy or military would surely draw the attention of the Hidden Mist Village.
What did Ainz Ooal Gown have planned to deal with that subtle pressure?
Shizuka had kindly rejected the inquiries of the latest Mizukage, choosing to take a passive approach in the diplomatic ties between Kirigakure and Nadeshiko. Assured the Hidden Mist Kage that previous contracts between them remained ongoing and that Nadeshiko held no prejudice or grudge for past actions of when Kirigakure was the Bloody Mist.
Ainz, on the other hand, seemed to want to take a more active angle.
She didn't know how to respond to that, it was something Shizuka would need to ask when he returns.
The knock on her office door drew Shizuka's thoughts away.
"Enter," She said, raising her head and adjusting her sitting posture.
A man entered, bearing the signature headband of Nadeshiko Village, a rare active male ninja in the village caused by the cultural marriage. At most times, when a man is married to a Nadeshiko kunoichi, they give up their right as an active ninja of their previous village and are put into a civilian role. It was another traditional law that Shizuka found annoying and dumb, no men can be active ninja, barring a few exceptions.
The husband of the current leader was one exception.
This man that just entered was another.
Shizuka greeted him, "Hello, Oda. What brings the chief medical-nin to my office?" She asked.
"Where is Lord Ainz?" The Chief Medical-Nim inquired.
She blinked, puzzled by the inquiry, "He is currently away on a mission," She gave the cover. "What do you need of him?"
"According to one of my students, the necklace she received had been gifted to her by Lord Ainz…" He trailed off, his expression betraying his awe. "I cannot begin to describe its potency, it made her Healing Technique near equivalent to the Mystical Palm Technique. In fact, any attempts at medical-related actions just… Better, the girl just did better at it all."
Shizuka's fingers brushed against her wedding ring, her thoughts reminded of its strange effect as well as recalling the odd vial that healed her wounds when she and Ainz first met. It was a miraculous item, and only after recalling its existence did it dawn on how valuable it must have been.
But to also have an item that enhanced all aspects of medical-related jobs or jutsu? To the point that it brought a low-ranked jutsu to near equal one of the harder medical ninjutsu to learn?
"Did you experiment with it yourself?" Shizuka said, wondering if she needed to classify this as well.
"No, I dare not. I assume such an item, no, such a relic must be a well-guarded secret. If it was gifted to Sakiko purposely, then I would not take it away," He answered, though sighed afterward. "No matter how much I desire to try it."
"Good," Shizuka decided to cover for Ainz. "I want you to continue training Genin Sakiko as a medical-nin. The necklace is indeed a well-guarded object. But you are allowed to order her to temporarily remove it, see if it aids in her understanding and learning rate, or if it only just improves the potency."
"Understood, Lady Shizuka," He answered. "But please inform me when Lord Ainz returns, until then," He politely asked and left the office, the door closing behind him.
Shizuka slumped onto the desk again, "Ugh…"
Tokiwa had a sympathetic look, "You alright, Shizuka?"
"My head hurts, and it's not just because of the hangover," Shizuka groaned.
"I'm sure the worst is behind us for now," Tokiwa reassured.
"I doubt that."
While Tanya appreciated this mission over dealing with a kaiju, that did not neglect the fact as a recent academy graduate, she and her other genin team members were wholly unprepared for a certified B-Rank difficulty. At first, the geological survey played out like a D-Ranked mission with B-Rank pay, but such would have it that two other factions were appeared and throw the easy work out the window. A team of enemies with a notable rogue leaf ninja, along with the kaiju, and also an additional group coming from Konoha that threatened the power balance between the Land of Fire and the Land of Water.
As someone who had been trained into the military forces of Nadeshiko Village, Tanya also went out of her way to explore the political and law side of the Land of Water, in particular, any information concerning the tense relationship between the Hidden Leaf Village and the Hidden Mist Village. She was aware of the potential downward spiral that can result if her Jonin leader, Kluke, messed up the delicate diplomatic mission between them and the Konoha team.
She'd thought that Lord Ainz would have instead chosen to be diplomatic himself, but Lord Ainz instead opted to focus his attention on the events at the lake.
Now he was dealing with the kaiju, the sounds of a massive battle had recently quieted down, but the displacement of water the battle caused waves to break through the surrounding forest and decimate the environment. If Tanya and her teammates hadn't been fortunate to still be affected by Lord Ainz's flying jutsu, they could have potentially been swept up by the after-effects of the battle.
There was a downside to the large displacement of water, whether it was due to that kaiju or perhaps an atmospheric weather condition, a fog began to fill the area soon after.
At least she didn't need to be concerned about genjutsu, it was an annoying effect. The 'appearance' of Being X, when he'd never shown himself in twelve years since her reincarnation, was such a straightforward sign of genjutsu that it was quite mocking of her mental willpower.
Tanya had taken charge of the operation, the others were too inexperienced in leadership, She fell back to her experience from the time on Earth but adapted to the militant education. The benefits of the [Invisiblity] scrolls might have kept them all invisible to the visual eye, but it also worked against them, as they couldn't see one another. Once Lord Ainz had given them directions, Tanya quickly created a series of vocal sounds that they could all use to indicate their positions and keep together as a group.
It was a bit troublesome, the other genin lost track of their fellows more often than Tanya excused. They gave away their position too often by trying to know their companions' locations.
But enough about that.
In the end, Tanya managed to locate the location of the targets. Although forced to abandon their tactical edge given by flight, they wouldn't be able to effectively spy with so much distance. As such, Tanya ordered her team to head to the ground level and remain hidden. Only if they were forced to dispel the [Invisibility] would they break what amounted to radio silence.
Time to work for that salary pay.
The invisible petite blonde kept a relatively safe distance, her eyes managed to catch sight of an occasional crystal that was hidden in brush or grass. She did not know what they were placed around for, whether it'll be the remaining after use of the 'Crystal Style' the enemy kunoichi could use, or a deliberate spying tool like some cartoons she'd seen on Earth, Tanya decided to not touch or prod them.
In her line of sight, there were two individuals in a tiny clearing, the kunoichi and the boy from before. The boy looked to be about her age, but appeared to be a complete civilian, the older kunoichi now named 'Guran' from the boy's talk appeared to have some sort of emotional bond with him.
So this was the boy that Lord Ainz deemed crucial for the enemy's operation?
He didn't look impressive at first glance, but Tanya recalled the pillar of chakra from before, looks can be very deceiving.
The kunoichi Guran suddenly stood up from her kneeling position, alarmed by something as a crystal blade protruded out of her side arm. Tanya almost likened its design to a Duel Disk from YuGiOh.
"Yukimaru, stay behind me," Guran adopted a defensive posture, but her attention wasn't focused on Tanya's location, rather somewhere else.
Tanya's gaze fell over what took the kunoichi's focus.
Out from the mist and shadows, a specter appeared, an unholy creature that gave her pause. It was a ghost-like entity of human form, white and black, almost blending in with the mist but maintaining a physical presence. Tanya felt a chill run down her spine, her muscles tensed, but her mind remained confused.
Why would some sort of wraith appear? There was nothing in all she learned of this world about ghostly apparitions. Well, she also didn't know about the turtle kaiju reject, but at least it was a living creature, not some spirit in need of an exorcism.
A genjutsu, perhaps?
It seemed unlikely, especially considering not only Tanya's apparent innate resistance but also Lord Ainz's jutsu which helped fortify her mind. She also didn't want to risk dispelling the optical illusion of the scroll's jutsu in an attempt to rid a genjutsu.
And in the event it wasn't a genjutsu?
Well, Guran's first reaction was a clear attempt to dispel it; hands formed in a seal and a spike of chakra. But her gaze to the creature remained fixed, and its approach quickened with the haste of a hostile entity. She switched her approach, throwing crystal senbon at it, but the attack passed through it harmlessly.
Tanya reasoned that physical attacks would be hopeless against a specter's wraith, perhaps elemental jutsu or outright raw chakra might be effective. But, unfortunately, Tanya had no such techniques; her only Wind Style supplemented her physical ranged weapons, not dealing direct damage by itself.
As indicated when the enemy kunoichi tried to swipe at the wraith, her attack had no effect, instead, frost-covered her crystal blade and she retreated to a safer position. Tanya weighed her options, the boy Yukimaru was a valuable target, she could attempt to take him while Guran was busy with the wraith-like entity.
A bird-like whistle echoed, an indication by her teammate that someone else approached.
"Rasengan!"
With a burst of speed, a blond-haired ninja appeared out opposite of Tanya's place, he shoved two swirling spheres of chakra, each in hand, successfully onto the wraith, which screeched with an unholy sound as its ghostly body was shredded apart with ease by the jutsu and continued down into the earth, creating a small crater.
A bit disturbing to hear, but the surprise attack was incredibly potent, the wraith died easily to the attack, which given Tanya's observation, was the pure chakra attack needed for the situation.
"You alright?!" The man directed his attention past Guran and towards the boy, Yukimaru.
At this point, Tanya recognized the leaf village symbol on the ninja's headband.
Why the hell is a Konohagakure ninja here? Wasn't Jonin Kluke supposed to be in diplomatic discussion? Had something occurred that warranted an alliance or hostility between Nadeshiko and Konoha?
"The hell was that, leaf ninja!?" Guran questioned with clear hostility, wary around an enemy ninja and likely anxious of the earlier wraith's presence.
"How should I know? I thought it was one of Orochimaru's experiments!" The newcomer exclaimed. "Step back from the kid, he doesn't belong with you," He drew a kunai from his back pouch.
"Doesn't belong with us? He's been with us from the start," She took a cautious stance, ready to fight.
"No, it's my careless words that caused that," He retorted.
A battle between these two seemed sure to begin, Tanya made a whistling sound to indicate the others to retreat to their designated safe area, the camp. It wouldn't be wise to interfere with a fight like this.
Unfortunately, Tanya made a beginner's mistake that she'd immediately caught on and scolded herself for.
The battle-ready and anxious state of those she spied on. A sudden noise even masked as a bird whistle, caused Guran to throw crystal needles towards Tanya's position, which by a stroke of luck, managed to scratch Tanya by the cheek and dispel the [Invisibility] that had safeguarded her.
"Shit!" Tanya swore as she became visible to the surprise of everyone.
"Nadeshiko!?" Guran identified Tanya quickly, no doubt recalling their brief encounter from before.
Then hell broke loose.
The leaf ninja performed a single hand-seal and multiple copies of him appeared. Guran quickly drew her attention back to him in time to intercept the multiple clones which physically interacted with her attacks, allowing Tanya to identify them as being quite different from the regular Clone Jutsu.
She made a quick decision, making an educated guess that cooperating with the leaf ninja was more favorable than one in league with a rogue agent. Tanya dug into her pouch and pulled out a handful of shuriken, then tossed it at Guran; this forced the rogue kunoichi to defend herself by deflecting the thrown weapons but allowed the leaf ninja to circumvent and take a position in front of Yukimaru while two clones managed to hit Guran with a few blows.
However, the clones appeared fragile and dispersed into puffs of white smoke when hit.
"So you're Yukimaru? I'm Naruto," The lead ninja introduced himself.
"Naruto?" Yukimaru spoke.
"You'll come with me back to the Hidden Leaf Village, she works for Orochimaru, and that guy will do anything to achieve what he wants, anybody serving him is less than human," Naruto said, glaring at Guran.
Tanya spoke out, "Yukimaru will head to Nadeshiko Village. You will return to Konohagakure or risk diplomatic tensions between it, Nadeshiko and the Hidden Mist Village," She said. "Though for now, we can assist one another."
"I doubt you'll be able to go against a Sannin," Guran argued. "Nadeshiko is a weak ninja village, you may have caught us by surprise earlier, but we've done our research on you now."
"I'd rather he returned with me, but any place is better than back with that snake creep," Naruto replied.
"Guran will protect me," Yukimaru tried to put his opinion upfront. "She is kind and I don't think she's a bad person."
"She's just using you for their own purposes," Naruto argued back.
"Shut up," Guran spoke.
Her body suddenly broke apart in fragmented crystals and re-appeared behind Naruto, but Tanya had been prepared, though a little surprised by what seemed to be a variant of the Substitution Jutsu, she threw several kunai at the enemy kunoichi's new location then quickly formed a series of hand-seals, several of them may accidentally hit Guran, but Tanya was confident in her aim and control.
And she had the chakra reserves to burn.
"Wind Style: Gale Palm!" Tanya shouted as a torrent of wind swept up and significantly increased the speed of her thrown kunai, the kinetic force generated by the combination made each weapon a deadlier projectile.
"Damn it!" Guran only managed to deflect a few but suffered cuts over her body, and worse yet, one of Tanya's weapons managed to pierce and embed itself into her right arm. "I hate Wind Style users," She swore openly and quickly swapped between various hand seals.
Tanya had already finished another three-set series of seals. She whispered to hide what technique she'd used. Although basic ninjutsu, its function was more similar to a physical illusion, and wouldn't be able to be a direct additional combatant.
But that was fine.
"Crystal Release: Shuriken Wild Dance!" Guran was surrounded by crystal particles, like enlarged snowflakes, that began to spin rapidly before launching towards both Naruto and Tanya.
It passed through Tanya's body, which dissipated uselessly like a clone.
"A regular clone?" Guran noted, her attention turned back to Yukimaru, who was now in Tanya's possession, safeguarded or kept a hostage against Guran, Tanya had yet to decide truly.
"Nice job, kid!" Naruto complimented, Tanya winced at the reminder. "I'll deal with her quickly, Shadow Clone Jutsu!" About a dozen clones appeared around him, all charging towards Guran to engage in close-quarters combat.
Tanya made sure to mentally note away that jutsu in the back of her mind, physical clones could be helpful on many occasions. Though it would be hard to replicate without instruction, she'd need to figure a way to learn it later.
Several blue spiraling spheres of raw chakra formed in the palms of the clones, given the devastating nature of the attack displayed earlier, Tanya knew that her chances against this particular ninja were very low if he'd chosen to be an enemy. The clones without the Rasengans went ahead of those with the technique, forming a makeshift human shield that sacrificed themselves to tank Guran's ninjutsu and allowing the others to approach.
But an eruption of soil and rock interrupted their approach just in time, Earth-style ninjutsu that wasn't created by Guran by rather a bulky male ninja that Tanya identified from the boat before. It dispatched all the clones and pushed away Naruto, but while he quickly grabbed Guran for a retreat, Tanya interrupted his movement for Yukimaru.
The bulky man swung his fist, but Tanya used her rather small body size to evade under it, attach a kunai with an explosive tag, and stab it into the man's leg. Tanya tackled the boy, Yukimaru, to the ground a few meters away as the man hastily tore out the kunai and toss it in the sky, but it was too close for him to safely prevent the following explosion from knocking him and Guran back.
"Guran!" Yukimaru shouted in concern. "How could you do that!" He yelled directly into Tanya's face.
"She's an enemy," Tanya replied, not personally caring for the boy's opinion. She turned to look for the two enemies, but they had vanished, likely tunneling down into the earth and closing the entrance in their retreat.
That was a hastily retreat, if they'd continue, Tanya wasn't sure she could fight them, but it appears that they decided not to further engage because Tanya spotted several more ninja arrive, alongside her assigned team leader, Jonin Kluke.
"Tanya, are you alright?" Kluke approached, her green eyes scanning Tanya over for visible injuries.
"A little roughed up, but I am still combat-able, Jonin Kluke," Tanya answered, standing back up and patting down her clothes, ridding them of the soil and dust. She glanced behind Kluke, noticing two more leaf ninjas conversing with Naruto, one which she identified from the Mist Village Bingo Book back in Nadeshiko, Kakashi. "Are they the Konoha ninja that Lord Ainz talked about?"
"Partly, there are actually two teams present from the Hidden Leaf Village," Kluke explained. "They cannot leave until they've received orders from their Hokage, but have agreed to not interfere with us."
Tanya raised an eyebrow, "Aren't they trespassing in the Land of Water, though?"
"Yes and no, it's a complicated matter," She answered. "The Hidden Mist Village does not own the Land of Water, although they are the primary Hidden Ninja Village of its region, they serve the Water Daimyo. Its borders belong to him, not the Mist, even if they tend to overlap in a militant sense."
"So even if they are a village from the Land of Fire, their presence in a different land could not be considered a military action unless hired by another's Daimyo," Tanya reasoned.
So ninja villages were more similar to individual contractors, mercenary groups, than actual military armies. But wasn't identical to that description, as they were in themselves governing bodies in service to the larger government. It was a type of loophole that allowed the Leaf Ninja to be in the Land of Water, despite the disapproval of the Mist Village should they be aware.
"What's our orders now?" Tanya questioned her superior.
"We're going to regroup back at our encampment," Kluke answered. "Where are the other genin?"
"They should be returning to the camp already," Tanya answered. "I took control, Uraku let me," She referred to the slightly older and more experienced genin, who despite such, didn't seem to be able to take up a leadership role properly.
"Do you still have a communications scroll?" Kluke lowered her voice when asking this.
Tanya nodded, answering her nonverbally.
"Good, Lord Ainz has recently subdued the Three-Tails, but he likely can't leave its location," Kluke explained, then directed her attention to the young boy. "So who's this?"
"Yukimaru, Lord Ainz said that he'd be an asset," Tanya replied.
"Hey!" Naruto approached them, followed by the other two. "Thanks for the help, I didn't want Yukimaru to return to someone serving Orochimaru," He said.
Tanya resisted the urge to retort, "It was a logical deduction."
"I'll rather be with Guran," Yukimaru remarked.
"You'll be with us for now," Kakashi spoke. "Naruto, you shouldn't have head out like that."
"I was worried about him," Naruto replied, pointing to the young boy. "Besides, when I arrived they were fighting some sort of creature."
"A wraith," Tanya clarified. "The closest name to its description."
"Ah… So that was a ghost…?" Naruto trailed off in confusion. "Not actually tough are they?"
"We'll meet again later," Kluke said. "Our superior will likely want to talk with you."
"Our offer still stands," The other leaf ninja, wearing some sort of steel headgear.
"And our reply remains the same," Kluke countered. "There being more than one Konoha team was a surprise already, do not press your luck further. Furthermore, this boy will accompany us back to our encampment."
"Hey-" Naruto began, but Kakashi placed an arm in front of him.
"We understand," Kakashi gave into the demand. "But I'll like to send one of my team members with you to establish communications."
"Then I volunteer-" Naruto started to speak again.
"I will only accept a kunoichi," Kluke said with her arms crossed.
"Very well," He answered.
"Then we'll part ways from here, Tanya, follow me, I'll grab hold of the boy," She went to Yukimaru, who attempted to resist, but it appears he's entirely an untrained civilian despite his value and couldn't do anything as Kluke retrained him in hold enough to carry. Then with a leap, vanished in the treeline.
Tanya sighed as she followed after the jonin leaving behind the trio of leaf ninja and hoping the mission will end quickly now.
