Against The World

"They say four is death. We would see if that held true."

-x-

"She requested information on sealing."

"Is that so...? Very well, have Uzumaki-san pass along the introductory scrolls."

"Are you sure that's wise?"

"The Uzumaki boy was a complete disappointment—the son of two seal masters, yet he had no talent or interest. Minato and Kushina won't live forever, we need to secure a seal master for the village. We already know the girl is one of the smartest we've seen in years, if she has any aptitude for the subject... She's our best bet."

-x-

Seven

The evening after I graduated I moved into the dorms—which was what the housing for ninja who can't afford anything better is called. The dorms were half way across the village, near the training grounds, and I was lucky to have my storage seals for the trip. I didn't have many possessions, but I did have a couple box fulls that would have been annoying to transport otherwise.

I was assigned to unit 420, which amused me to no end.

The dorm only had one room if you didn't count the small bathroom. There was a small kitchen area with a stove, sink, fridge and cupboards in the right corner closest to the door. The floors of the room were scuffed and the paint on the cupboards peeling, betraying the fact that I wasn't the first resident.

In the corner across from the kitchen there was a small table with two unmatched chairs.

The door to the bathroom, which was in the back left corner, was straight across from the entrance. A loft bed was nestled in the far right corner between three walls. It was already made, with plain white sheets and a grey quilt. Underneath it were multiple drawers for storage.

Anything else I'd have to buy myself.

I unsealed my clothes first, and carefully placed them in one of the drawers under the bed. Then I moved onto the bathroom and arranged the toiletries. Finally, I put my spare sealing ink in the bottom drawer.

I was unpacked and the room was just as empty as it had been when I started. With nothing left to do, I climbed up onto my bed and lay down. I took my forehead protector from my pocket and held it up, trying to decide where I should wear it. The forehead was the obvious choice, but it wouldn't work very well with my typical hairstyle. I closed my eyes and tried to recall as many ninja as I could. I'd seen it worn in several different places, like around the arm or waist. A few people wore it pinned over their hearts, but that was the last place I wanted to put it.

After a lot of thought, I decided to wear it around my neck. Like a collar. Like I was a dog, and belonged to Hidden Leaf.

-x-

"...Team Four is Hoshino Sekai, Haruno Sakura and Yamanaka Aiko." Kago-sensei announced.

"Who's Haruno Sakura?" I nudged Aiko, who was sitting next to me, as usual.

"I don't know. She wasn't in our class, I think." the blonde whispered back. "I guess—"

"Ahem! Just because your team has been announced, doesn't mean you can start talking!" Sensei barked.

"Apologies, sensei." Aiko and I chorused. We remained silent for the rest of the team placements.

"Congratulations on graduating." Sensei said with a smile. "I'm pleased that all of you have made it this far, and hope that you will do your village proud. Remember, the Will of Fire burns strongly in each of you, so you can always draw on its strength and endure. Teams Five through Forty-one are dismissed for lunch, you're expected to return here in an hour to meet your jounin instructor. Teams One through Four, please follow me across the hall."

Aiko and I exchanged a glance, but dutifully followed the chuunin to the smaller classroom. At his gesture we all found a seat.

"I'm sure the twelve of you are wondering why your teams have been singled out." he started. "The reason is that you've all been selected to be part of a trial run for a modified genin team dynamic.

"There are certain roles in the village that are extremely important, especially with the ongoing war. However it is also important that the these ninja pass on their knowledge and skills to the next generation. Therefore, each of you will be assigned a mentor for a specific field. Your mentors will teach you individually, for the most part, but will take turns leading your missions and overseeing mandatory team training. Any questions can be answered by your mentors. You have fifty five minutes for lunch—please return to this classroom within that time. Please take care."

Kago-sensei left the room, and three of the other graduates followed after him, but the rest of us decided to eat and wait in the classroom.

"Haruno Sakura?" Aiko called. A pink haired girl looked up at us through her bangs.

"Yes?" she squeaked.

"I'm Yamanaka Aiko, and this is Sekai-chan. We're the other two members of Team Four. Would you like to come sit with us?" Aiko asked with a smile.

"Sure." She nodded and bit her lip, gathering up her bento and coming to sit on the other side of Aiko. "It's nice to meet you."

Great, a shy one, it seems. "You too." I replied.

The three of us ate in awkward silence until we all finished our lunches.

"So..." Aiko started. Here eyes darted between Sakura and I. "Sakura-chan, me and Sekai-chan have been in the same class for two years, but we haven't met you before. What class were you in? How old are you?"

"Oh, um. Well, I was supposed to have three terms left, but Michibi-sensei wanted me to try early, and I passed. I guess it was because of this?" Sakura answered hesitantly. "Oh, um. And I'm ten. What about you two?"

"Oh, you're a year younger than me, than. I'm eleven." Aiko smiled. "Sekai-chan is seven. I'm wondering who my sensei is supposed to be, and in what. I'm a Yamanaka, so probably infiltration or interrogation. What about you two? Any ideas?"

"Seals." I replied instantly. "I think Uzumaki Kushina will probably by my sensei—I met her a year ago. She's the best seal master in the village, but usually very busy."

"Seals?" Sakura asked, her eyes focusing on my left arm. "Is that what that is?"

"Yes. It's a storage seal."

"Cool. I think maybe a medic will be mine? I've been going to the introductory lessons for academy students, you see, and Nohara-sensei says I'm doing better than the rest of the class." Sakura explained, fiddling with a strand of bubblegum pink hair. "Maybe she wants to take me on?"

For the rest of the lunch period, the three of us continued to get to know each other, and the more we spoke, the further Sakura crawled out of her shell. I noticed that like Aiko, while she was still a little kid, she was smart enough to be tolerable. Hell, she was probably smarter than Aiko.

Our conversation was interrupted by the arrival of a trio of jounin. Once they collected their genin, they left. Time trickled by, and soon it was just the three of us waiting on our own jounin sensei.

"They're late." I commented.

Sakura glanced at the clock. "Only by fifteen minutes. Maybe something came up? I doubt they'll keep us waiting too long."

"I'm sure they'll be here soon." Aiko agreed.

I shrugged in response, and we returned to waiting in a silence as awkward as when we ate.

Another quarter of an hour slipped by before the door burst open.

"Sorry we're like, super late!" called Uzumaki Kushina as she walked into the room with another woman at her side. "Sakura-chan, your instructor is dealing with an emergency surgery, and so Kairi-chan and I were trying to decide if we should like, wait for her or whatever."

"Obviously, we opted not to." the second woman, Kairi-sensei, I inferred, added. She was tall for a woman, with long navy hair that covered the right half of her face. "We left a message for her to meet us at training ground thirty-two when she's done."

"So let's get going, girls!" Kushina-sensei enthused. "C'mon!"

-x-

Training ground thirty-two was a clearing bordered by large oak trees near the Senju compound. There was a small, clear pond in the centre of the training ground. It didn't look too deep, perhaps two metres deeps, give or take.

The entire training ground showed no damage from ninjutsu, but looking closely I noticed that the bark on some of the trees was worn down, and the green grass had been flattened. It must have been one of the grounds where ninjutsu training was forbidden. Though, I'd heard from Aiko that as long as you only used non-destructive ninjutsu, like the three jutsu we were taught in the academy, and most supplementary jutsu, everyone tended to look the other way.

Kushina-sensei plopped down on the ground and motioned for us to join her and Kairi-sensei, who's own descent was much more graceful.

"Alright, everyone!" Kushina began enthusiastically. "My name is Uzumaki Kushina, and this is Kojima Kairi! Sekai-chan will be my apprentice, Aiko-chan will be with Kairi-chan, and Sakura-chan's mentor will be Tsunade-sama." The redhead explained. "I specialize in seals, Kairi-chan specializes in espionage, and Tsunade-sama is a combat medic. The three of us our the best of the best in our respective fields, and we'll be training you to eventually take our places. Any questions so far?"

Sakura raised her hand. "Um... When you say Tsunade-sama will be my mentor, do you mean Senju Tsunade-sama?" she asked hesitantly.

"Yep!" Kushina grinned. "Apparently she's had her eye on you ever since you started the introductory classes."

"What Kushina-sama says is true." Kairi-sensei added with a small smile. "You're very talented, Sakura-chan. According to Tsunade-sama and Nohara-san, you've picked up things much more quickly than ninja twice your age."

The pink haired girl's eyes widened and she flushed, clearly flustered. "O-oh."

"You said we'd eventually replace you." I said. "Replace you in what, exactly?"

Kushina smirked proudly. "I'm the village's Seal Master. A lot of what I do is heavily classified, so I can't tell you much of what I do for the village quite yet, but it's a vital position in the village, and because of it I'm near the top of the jounin hierarchy."

"As for myself," Kairi-sensei started. "I am the head of the Internal Espionage Division, and highly ranked in External as well. I would have been the head of both, but running two departments at the same time as performing missions isn't feasible."

"And of course, Tsunade-sama is the Head Medic, and the only combat medic in the village." Kushina-sensei added.

"Aren't there quite a few combat medics, though? Nohara-sensei was telling me they'd just authorized several medics for mission duty?" Sakura asked with a furrowed brow.

"Those are field medics, kid." A voice from behind the three of us genin interrupted.

"Ah, Tsunade-sama! You're, like, done sooner than Kairi-chan and I expected!" Kushina said as she started vibrating with excitement.

"It was an easy surgery." The woman waved her hand in dismissal as she sat down next to Kushina-sensei. "Brats, I'm Senju Tsunade. You can call me Tsunade-sensei."

"What's the difference between a field medic and a combat medic?" I asked, focusing on the new arrival. She seemed familiar.

"Field medics go on missions with a team, but they are not to join in on the fighting unless the rest of their team is already dead. Unlike hospital medics, they have sufficient skills to keep up with their teammates and defend themselves if necessary." Sakura explained. "Combat medics do participate in battle, and are much more skilled in offensive and defensive capabilities than field medics. I just hadn't realized that Nohara-sensei was speaking about just field medics—I assumed that combat medics weren't so rare."

"Exactly." Tsunade-sensei nodded with a pleased smirk. "Most other villages don't differentiate between field and combat medics, using the terms interchangeably. By our definition, many medics from other villages would be considered combat medics, however they also don't actually meet our standard to qualify as one."

"Now then, I think it's time we explain to you how things are going to work on this team." Kairi-sensei said. "First of all, there will be mandatory team training thrice a week. For some of these sessions, it might be all three of us there, for others it will just be one of us.

"Once we deem you ready, we will start you on missions. In village missions will only take a day, but eventually you will likely be running missions that can take up to a week or more with one of us.

"This rotation will allow us the time to fulfill our own duties while still training you three. Understood?" She finished.

"Yes, sensei." Us genin answered slightly out of sync.

"Alright then. Sekai-chan, you'll, like, meet me tomorrow morning at seven outside the Hokage tower, okay?"

-x-

I was early. Not like, weirdly early, like, an hour or something. No, I was just fifteen minutes early. And yet, I spent forty-five minutes waiting for Kushina-sensei.

Was it normal for her to be late?

By the time it was ten after seven, I decided fuck it, and flipped onto my hands. I lifted one arm and simultaneously brought one of my legs down to meet it. I raised my leg and lowered my arm, then repeated the motion with the other arm and leg. It wasn't strenuous or something, but it was something to keep my body occupied while my thoughts drifted.

The chuunin "guards" standing outside the building and passing academy students gave me odd looks, but I didn't particularly care.

"What are you doing?" Kushina-sensei asked upon her (late!) arrival.

"Keeping myself occupied." I answered as I flipped back to my feet.

"Well, you do you, Sekai-chan." She commented with a raised eyebrow. "Come on, let's go to my office."

I blinked in surprise. She had an office in the Hokage tower? That was... uncommon, to say the least. Very few people had offices there, and all who did were extremely high up on the village food chain.

Sensei must have been more important than I would have ever assumed.

I followed her into the building, where she stopped and talked to the two women sitting at the reception quickly, then pulled me long. I was led through a maze of stairs and hallways—both going up flights of stairs and down them. I couldn't even keep track of which floor I was on very well, as by my estimates, some of the rooms were only half a level below others. By the time we reached her windowless office, I had no idea what level I was on, and wasn't sure if I was on the east side or the west of the tower.

"It's confusing on purpose, isn't it." I observed.

"Yep! It took me ages to figure it out on my own." Sensei replied with a giggle. "There are only a couple places that are fairly straight forward to get to. Hell, most ninja enter the Hokage's office through the windows because it's a lot quicker than navigating through the building." She shrugged. "I mean, getting to the office isn't too difficult comparatively..."

"I noticed things made little sense at the hospital as well. From the little I've seen of it, I can't find a pattern in the room numbers." I commented.

"Yeah, we do that a lot. Keeps civilians from nosing their way around, and will confuse an enemy impersonating a Leaf ninja.

"Enough about that though, I'm here to tell you about what we'll be working on, and what you'll be expected to do when you eventually replace me." I tilted my chin in acknowledgement, and sat down in one of the armchairs at sensei's direction. The chair was large, so I allowed myself to sit with my legs crossed, since Kushina-sensei didn't seem the sort to care. My fingers started tapping my knees as I took a moment to take in my surroundings.

The room was covered from ceiling to floor with papers, books and scrolls. Ink stains covered the large desk and the wheeled chair behind it, as well as most other furniture, including the two arm chairs Kushina-sensei and I sat on. Brushes and pens were scattered across every available surface. Bookshelves lined all but one of the walls, which had numerous papers covered in half finished seals stuck to it.

"First of all, sealing is an old and dying ninja art. Seal master's are vital." Sensei stressed. "The village needs them, but few show any interest in learning sealing. Which is why when teachers, or in some cases, clan leaders and family members, learn of someone interested in it, we provide basic information and see if they stick with it. Not only did you stick with it, but you've shown aptitude for it. Aptitude beyond what anyone would expect.

"Initially, the village hoped my son would replace me, as the Uzumaki clan, while almost extinct, is still feared today for our prowess with seals. My husband is also proficient with seals, so the village was hopeful. Unfortunately," Sensei let out a long sigh. "My son has neither the interest nor aptitude for the subject, and refuses to study it at all. On top of that, it is too risky for me to have another child. It's unfortunate...

"When I say my clan is dead, what I mean is that we used to be as large as the Uchiha clan, but now there are only a handful of survivors scattered across the continent, and it's doubtful any are proficient in Uzumaki sealing, aside from myself." Kushina-sensei stared at the bookshelves, a faraway look in her dark blue eyes. "Uzumaki sealing is very powerful. It was my clan's secret technique, and, well... The village can't afford to lose it. Which is why," she fixed her gaze on me, the expression on her face conveying just how serious she was. "Under several conditions, I am willing to teach it to you."

I was taken aback, and the tapping of my fingers faltered for a moment. Nobody showed an outsider family jutsu and techniques. It just wasn't done. To be offered the chance to learn them? It wasn't just something that rarely happened, as far as I could remember I'd never heard of it being done before.

"Sensei... Are you sure?" I asked. She nodded. "What..." I licked my lips quickly. "What are your conditions?"

"All things considered, they are very lenient." The redhead smiled reassuringly. "The first is that if I am no longer around to teach any of my grandchildren, that you teach them. The second condition, is that unless I have no grandchildren or they decide to follow Naruto's path, you don't teach Uzumaki sealing techniques to anyone else."

"Please clarify the second condition." I requested.

"I mean that you can only teach this to students who are not members of the Uzumaki clan if there are no Uzumaki who are able and willing to learn. Uzumaki take precedence." Kushina explained. "Furthermore, if you must take on an apprentice that's not part of my clan, they follow the same conditions you do. And you may only teach a single non-Uzumaki apprentice my clan's secret techniques in your lifetime, unless the apprentice dies before you. In that case you may take on another."

I repeatedly tapped two fingers against my chin as I pondered her offer. It wasn't just lenient, it may as well have been that there were no conditions at all. I was expecting to have to declare not just my own fealty to the clan, but the fealty of any descendents as well. Or something even worse. It was a no brainer.

"I accept."

-x-

After I had accepted Sensei's conditions, we spent time going over going over what I was already able to do with seals. The process was tedious, as it involved Kushina-sensei asking me increasingly in depth questions about different aspects of sealing, including some I'd yet to even hear of, like linked seals.

It had been late afternoon by the time she declared she had a thorough understanding of where I was skill-wise. Once that was done, she had me spend ages doing paper work. I had to fill out what felt like hundreds of forms.

One was for clearance to learn the basics about defensive seals, apparently in preparation for eventually learning how the village's worked and maintaining them, never mind that the stuff I was applying for clearance to learn was too basic to even be relevant to or of use against the village's seals, but that was ninja hoarding and paranoia for you.

There were other similar forms that covered different areas of sealing, and they were pretty much the same as the other one and simple to fill out, but frustrating in that I'd had to write the same thing on at least six or seven of them.

Another was for clearance to wander the restricted areas in the Hokage tower unaccompanied. Which basically referred to most of the tower, excluding the academy portion, the Hokage's office and the way there, the lobby, and the mission rooms. By the time I finished it all, it was late enough that sensei sent me home.

Fucking paper work. No wonder the founders decided to build the village in a forest, if they hadn't, we'd never have enough paper to run this god forsaken place.

-x-

The next day I met with Kushina-sensei at one of the training grounds instead of her office.

Once again, I had opted to arrive fifteen minutes early, though this time I brought a book to keep me occupied if sensei was late a third time. (One is an accident, twice is a coincidence, and thrice is a pattern.)

As I read my book, I ran laps around the training ground, and so that was how sensei found me.

"Oh my god." Sensei groaned as she landed from her jump from the trees. "You're just like my husband's student—he's always reading, regardless of what he's doing."

"I must balance actions which generate spiritual energy by generating physical energy at the same time, or else my chakra imbalance will become even worse." I told her.

"Well, at least you have a reason." She admitted, and then crossed her arms and scowled. "Minato's student just does it to be a little shit, if you ask me."

I merely stared at her, having no idea what she was talking about. On the bright side, at least she was on time today.

My redheaded teacher sighed at my lack of response with a small shake of her head. "Right, well, today we're going to spar so I can assess your taijutsu."

I nodded and fell into my preferred stance, watching her carefully. Unlike yesterday, when she wore a simple calf-length green dress, she was dressed in a much shorter sleeveless dress, which showed off her muscular arms, with a thick black belt around her waist. Beneath it she wore black leggings which ended just above her knees. I supposed this was her training about combat attire.

Kushina-sensei held herself loosely, not even bothering to fall into any taijutsu stance. "Well?" She said. "C'mon. The time you spend just standing there is time I'm never gonna get back, you know."

I pounced at her. She gracefully dodged my first attack, and then my second, third and fourth as well, each without comment. My fifth attack, a kick aimed to her torso, she blocks instead. "Decent power behind that one." She commented. "Room for improvement, but impressive for your age."

Ignoring her comment, I continued my (hopeless) assault until she abruptly kicked me into the air. I flipped in the air and landed on my feet just in time to dodge her fist.

From there I was one hundred percent on the defensive. I did my best to evade her, and blocked what I couldn't dodge but she still managed to get in several good hits.

It felt like ages, but it must have been no more than twenty or so minutes before she called time. I was panting from exertion, but Kushina-sensei hadn't even broken a sweat.

"Not bad, Sekai-chan." She told me with a grin. "You did a lot better than I expected. You're pretty fast for a genin, yanno?"

I shrugged a shoulder. No, I didn't know. It wasn't like I knew how fast most genin were.

From there she went on to critique my performance. I faltered slightly when I had to go on the defensive, my transitions still weren't the smoothest. Apparently I put to much thought into it, when my movements should have been instinctive.

"I shall endeavour to improve my taijutsu to an acceptable standard." I told her once she was finished.

"Oh, um. No! I didn't mean to say you were, like, doing poorly, or that you're not suited for taijutsu, just that those were, like, the areas that needed more work! You're good for a fresh genin!" Sensei rambled as she flailed her arms in an attempt to get her point across.

"Kushina-sensei," I interrupted. "I understood what you meant."

"Oh." She grinned bashfully, rubbing her neck. "Right. Okay. Good.

"Anyways, aside from teaching you sealing, another reason I was selected as your sensei was because I primarily use taijutsu when engaging opponents, and since you don't have much aptitude for ninjutsu, it will be one of the main aspects of your combat style."

"I thought it would be, but I was also told I'll likely have an aptitude for genjutsu. Will you be teaching it to me?" I asked.

"Well, to be honest I suck at genjutsu. Like most Uzumaki, I have skewed chakra, favouring physical energy. But! Don't worry about it. I'm working on finding someone who can teach you genjutsu, okay?"

"Okay." I agreed. "Why did you decide to focus on taijutsu for yourself?" I couldn't help but ask her.

"Well... I'm pretty good with ninjutsu these days, but when I was a kid and first starting out, I sucked at ninjutsu. The closest thing to ninjutsu that I used was my manifestation of the Uzumaki bloodline limit, which worked really well with taijutsu. So, since you have a problem with ninjutsu like I used to, it means I know a lot of what you need to learn instead, especially fighting against ninjutsu specialists." She explained. "Even these days I don't use ninjutsu in direct combat—most that I know do large scale damage and are best for sabotage."

I nodded slowly. It made sense. Learn how to fight without relying on ninjutsu from someone who primarily fights without ninjutsu. "Your bloodline limit?"

"Ah, you'll have to wait and see, Sekai-chan!"

-x-

After training had finished for the day, I went to Suzuki Kashiya, which was a nice little cafe specializing in various sugary delights. It was one of my favourite places in the village, but not one that I made it to very often.

It was a cute little store, with a pale blue front, a black arched door and a large window framed with black shutters that bore the shop's name in elegant lettering.

I pushed the door open, and saw that both Aiko and Sakura were already there and waiting for me.

"You look tired." Aiko commented instead of greeting me. I shrugged. "Well, since you're finally here—"

"Ah, Aiko-chan, you've only been here for a couple minutes..." Sakura interjected softly.

"Right, good point. Anyways, since you're finally here, Sekai-chan, we can order now. C'mon. It's my treat, so get whatever you want, Sekai-chan, Sakura-chan." Aiko offered.

"Are you sure?" I asked. She nodded in response, so the three of us headed over to the counter.

"I'll have the house tea with some hakuto jelly, please." Aiko ordered, and looked at Sakura.

"I'll have green tea with one of those pear tarts."

I hummed as I looked over the variety of desserts and sweets available. "I'll have green tea, two of the choco bananas, a slice of your strawberry shortcake, a candied strawberry—no wait, make that two, and a crepe—surprise me with the filling. Please."

Aiko and Sakura gave me incredulous looks when I completed my order. "Is that everything?" Aiko asked sarcastically as she adjusted her glasses. I just nodded, and watched Aiko pay for the order. The price of my portion ended up being twice as much as my teammates' put together. I didn't feel bad about it though. Aiko was a clan kid, and I knew she was from one of the wealthier branches of the Yamanaka clan.

"...That's quite a bit, Sekai-chan." Sakura mumbled once we were seated with our orders.

My blonde friend snorted. "That's a bit of an understatement."

"I require sustenance." I told them around one of the choco bananas. "I'm a growing girl." I told them once I swallowed.

"Please, Sekai-chan. I've known you for almost two years and you've only grown like, two centimetres since your first day at the academy." Aiko laughed.

"I've grown five, thank you very much." I snapped. My height, or rather, my lack of, was a bit of a sore subject, not that many knew that. The medic who did my pre-academy medical exam said I would always be a bit short, but I was a good bit beyond short—barely hitting the one metre mark.

"Oh, wow. Five whole centimetres. That's soooo, impressive, Sekai-chan." Aiko drawled, eliciting a soft giggle from Sakura. "I guess it seemed like less since I grew twelve centimetres in the same time period, so it just seemed like you were getting shorter and shorter."

"Shut the fuck up, Aiko." I grumbled and shoved a forkful of cake in my mouth. It was time to change the subject. "Sakura, you've been fairly quiet."

"Yeah, you've been quieter than Sekai-chan."

"O-oh." Sakura's eyes widened. "Well, I mean... The two of you seem very familiar, and I just didn't want to intrude."

"We invited you!" Aiko protested. "You can't intrude when you're invited. Besides, we're teammates, so you're one of us now!"

"One of us. One of us. One of us." I chanted monotonously, and then shoved more cake in my mouth. It was absolutely delicious.

-x-

Notes: What? Sakura of all people graduating early, but not any of the other rookie nine?! There is a reason for this, I swear! I will elaborate on it more later. Also, this Sakura has never met Ino, hence she is still rather shy. I mostly made team 4 all female because that's something we never see and fuck that, GIRL POWER.

Kashiya means candy store/sweet shop/confectionery shop, etc. Candied strawberries, peach tarts, hakuto jelly, crepes, and choco bananas are all fairly common Japanese sweets.

Secondly, I apologize for the delay. I've been working on a lot of organizing and planning for this fic. Secondly, I was just discharged from partial hospitalization on Friday, which I'd been in since the end of May. That, obviously, took up a lot of time and energy. Hopefully I get the next chapter out sooner.

Thanks for all the support. Don't forget to check out the sekai-against-the-world tumblr, I post maps, floor plans, character stats, trivia, progress updates, answer asks, etc.

All the best,

The Mathemagician