Drawn to Power
Disclaimer: I own nothing
Chapter 7: Spar with Nurarihyon
- Tatsuya -
I waited near the manga section of the shop while both Sae and Tobi were buying things for their school project.
This week's jump had the poster for Naruto with Itachi using his Mangekyo Sharingan.
Even in this world, Itachi Uchiha had taken the character polls by a storm, consistently having a high ranking and this was when his identity as a spy wasn't even revealed.
I smiled wondering what he would do if he knew this and then shook my head. That guy would probably tell me to not waste my time on such things and train.
My thoughts were broken by someone's voice.
"Will he buy….do you think he will buy our manga?" I turned in the direction of the voice.
Two girls were currently staring at a guy reading a manga. The guy finally nodded and took the manga to pay for it and the girls cheered.
"Yay! Someone bought our manga!"
A third woman just sighed.
"It's not the first copy of the manga to be sold. We are a new manga publishing company. The sales will obviously be low at first. Instead of standing there and watching them, you should ask for their opinions on what we should improve to increase our sales." She said, her words attracting my attention all of a sudden.
A new manga company.
I walked up to the shelf where the guy was reading and picked up the manga.
Monthly Comic Earth Star.
Huh, that's a new name.
I opened the manga and read a few pages of the manga.
….it was….alright….no. It was slightly below alright.
Something else attracted my attention. An advertisement in one of the pages.
Before I could read more I sensed the gaze of one of the girls looking at me and turned towards them.
"Please buy the manga….don't read it here." The brown haired girl, she….almost begged me.
I smiled, embarrassed. "Yes. I intend to buy it."
"Eh! Really!"
"Hmm, I was just reading the advertisement."
"The advertisement?"
"Yes. This one about recruiting Mangaka." I pointed to the advertisement section on the back cover of the book.
"Eh….the mangaka recruitment?"
"Hmm, I want to apply for this." I replied calmly.
"Are you aspiring to be a mangaka?" The black haired girl asked.
I nodded.
"Umm, if you don't mind, could you tell us your views about our manga? Ah, I apologise, my name is Aki Torii. I am the assistant editor-in-chief of the Earth Star Monthly Manga. We are a new company and were wondering what we can do to improve our manga."
"Hmm, I am not exactly an expert or anything but you would need some good mangakas. Since you are new, I doubt the top guys would be willing to come to you instead of going to the more….well established manga publishing houses. The best thing you can do now is find more….consistent mangakas. Those who can keep their quality up and keep producing manga regularly without any delays. Once your manga gains traction, you can try other options. For now….just try surviving in this race. As for reviews, I would need to read the whole thing to give you any review,"
"That's….quite thoughtful of you. Thank you for your opinion." She brought out her card and passed it over to me. "You can call me when you want to submit your manga. May I ask what kind of manga you wish to submit?" She asked.
I thought for a bit.
This was a monthly manga right now so submitting One Piece would be dumb. Maybe I can publish smaller mangas like 'Kaichou wa Maid-sama' here for the time being.
"It's a Shoujo Manga." I smiled.
Yeah, it's perfect for now.
We talked for a bit when Tobi and Sae arrived and then left the place to go back home.
x_
I held my sword up, parrying the strike which sent me flying and crashing into a nearby mountain, sending cracks throughout the area. I felt my blood rise up to my mouth but didn't even have time to cough it out as I kicked the ground and dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding the attack which cleaved the mountain and several others behind it.
The sheer speed and power behind the attacks was insane. It was nothing like the usual fights between us and even then I knew that this was not even close to the true level of his power.
Shanks was a veritable monster.
He wasn't even using Haki right now and I was already struggling this much.
"Let's take this up a notch. You said that guy's ability overwhelms the mind with fear and prevents your mind from seeing him, correct? Then we are going to beat the fear out of your mind. Get up and get ready for level 2." And with that said, I felt a mountain crash on my very soul, spatting blood on the ground.
"Don't chill around like a princess. Your enemies won't wait for you for that long. They only need one moment to take your life and then it will all be gone. All your work, all your hopes, dreams, hard work….all gone. Would you like someone to do that to you?"
His words struck my heart as I remembered everything, the reason I was going through this training at all.
I clenched my sword in my hand and breathed my answer out. "...o."
"I couldn't hear you. You don't even have the strength to speak, how do you expect to defeat an enemy like this?"
"No."
"Louder."
"No!"
"Louder!"
"Arghhhhhh NO!" My Conqueror's Haki erupted in rebellion against the vast wave that was Shanks' Haki and I kicked the ground beneath my feet, rushing forward to swing my sword.
Shanks dodged my attack with ease and the next moment, I felt a massive blunt force attack my stomach, draining all the air from my lungs along with some vomit and I felt the world go black for once. And yet, despite the pain and hopelessness of the situation, my Conqueror's flared even stronger than before and I swung my sword towards him. Obviously, he parried it with ease, although the slash from me cleaved the ground behind him leaving a hundred metres long trench. The next moment, I felt the weight of his Haki increase even more.
"Words are only good when backed up with action. Try harder." He said as I felt a punch on my face, sending me flying once more.
This time, the attack was enough to rob me of my consciousness.
I woke up to the smell of booze and looked around to see Shanks sitting there, drinking alcohol as usual.
"How long was I out for?"
"Fifteen minutes. Last time you were out for twenty seven minutes. Hmm, maybe I was holding back my punches." He said holding his chin in a thinking pose.
No! No you weren't holding back.
I wanted to retort but I knew for sure that he actually was in fact holding back a lot so I kept silent.
With only two days left for my duel with Nurarihyon, I decided to throw myself into life and death battles with my mentors to push my battle instincts to the peak.
Obviously, it resulted in my death countless times in this dimension as all my mentors were frighteningly competent.
Even though I was far stronger than Tobirama and Itachi physically now, they could still run circles around me with their battle experience and techniques.
That said, I was getting closer to them with every death. For example, now, I could fight Tobirama for over an hour without dying.
It was only Hashirama and Shanks, these two who were on a completely different level and by that I mean on a whole nother level, so much so that it wasn't even funny.
Fighting against Hashirama was like fighting against a monster with thousands of wooden tentacles which come at you in an endless wave until they drown you.
Even the pollen from flowers was enough to render me unable to fight in just minutes and that's with my already insane resistance to poisons, not to mention the Shin Susenju. That was a whole other beast in itself.
Today I was doing the same thing with Shanks.
Although in this case, if he were to use his full power, I would lose consciousness instantly from his Haki only so it wouldn't be much of a fight. This was the guy who could make Admirals crumble with his Conqueror's Haki from kilometres away. So, I left the choice of strength to him only that he has to push me to the brink.
And this was the result.
"Okay, time to get up. Only three days left."
"Yes."
And just like that, I was given another round of beating….
x_
"I will return in two days. Listen to whatever Tojou-san says and don't cause trouble, okay?" I asked Tobi who nodded.
"You shouldn't worry about Tobi-kun. He is a very good boy. He will not cause any trouble for us." Sae's mom, Sanae-san said with a smile.
I smiled at her and then looked at Gin.
"Take care of Tobi, alright." I said brushing his head.
"Woof!"
Nii-san!" Tobi protested at my joke….although considering the fact that Gin was the strongest one in the room apart from me, it wasn't actually a joke.
"You should take care on your trip, Tatsuya-kun. Eat on time and don't stay up too late." Sanae-san reminded me before handing me a bento.
"Thank you, Sanae-san."
The excuse I had given them was that I was going to meet my friends and go on a trip with them.
It wasn't wholly incorrect as I was indeed planning to meet my friends, there was just no trip. Instead, I was planning to fight Nurarihyon first.
With that said, I turned around and left.
- Rikuo Nura -
He sat beside his grandpa and faced the guests who had come to visit the Nura Clan.
The well built man with a scar on his face looked dangerous but it was the woman beside him who felt more intimidating to Rikuo.
The girl behind then kept her head bowed but sometimes raised her head to look around the place.
"How many years has it been, Gozaburo, Ren?" His grandpa spoke, breaking the silence.
"Over a decade, Nurari-sama. The last time we met was when you accompanied Rihan-sama for our daughter Sun's naming ceremony." The woman said with a bow.
"Ah yes. I remember. The Sakamushi of the Seto Group is a delicacy hard to forget."
"Then please allow us to serve you sometime in the future, Supreme Commander."
"Hahahaha sure sure. But I have retired now. The new commander of the Nura Clan is my grandson, Rikuo."
This caused both the older guests to look at him and he greeted them.
"The Seto Group would be happy to work with Rikuo-sama in the future. Please visit us sometimes. The Seto Inland Sea is a very good place to have some vacations."
"I will be honoured to. Thank you for your invitation."
"Now that the greetings are done with, what brings you here Gozaburo?" His grandpa asked the man who had been quiet for the entire conversation.
The man took a deep breath and put on an even more serious face as if that was even possible.
"A while ago, a boy, a human, saw my daughter's tail."
He saw a serious look come up on his grandpa's face. "I see."
Although confused, he looked at them in confusion, choosing not to interrupt their conversation.
"Unfortunately we couldn't find him as he was just a tourist there and he got away. What we were able to find however was that the boy lived here, in Tokyo."
"Hmm." Grandpa took a sip of the tea in his cup and looked at the man. "And I take it that you wish to hunt him down?"
This caused Rikuo to snap his head in their direction. "What?!"
"The Mermaids of the Seto Inland Sea along with several other races living under the seas around Japan come under the rule of the Ryujin-sama. They abide by several rules to keep their community safe. In the case of Mermaids, young mermaids' legs transform when they get wet. They can control it when they become adults but till then, if their tails are seen by anyone human, they have to take care of them to prevent the spread of their existence among common people. If they fail to do so, the mermaids who were revealed….have to kill themselves."
"But that's….not fair."
"It's not and I don't want to kill him either. He saved my life." The girl spoke for the very first time.
"Sun!"
"No father. I would be dead if that person hadn't saved my life back then. To kill him….would be a shame for all Seto Mermaids."
"Hahahaha….I see. So you have chosen that path." His grandpa laughed, making him confused again.
"No. She will not do anything like that. We will just find and take care of that brat who wants to steal my daughter from me…."
"Father!"
"Alright, be quiet you two." The woman shouted, making both of them quiet and then bowed towards his grandpa. "It's a matter of our daughter's life. Please, allow us to search for the boy here."
"I see, I see. Sure, why not. You can stay here. I will tell someone to clean some rooms…." Before his grandpa could speak more, the door to the room opened and Rikuo saw it was Kejoro on the other side of the door.
"Supreme Commander, you have a guest." She said nervously.
"Hmm?"
"It's….Shadow."
"Shadow! Why is he here?" He asked, surprised on hearing the name after such a long time. They had searched for him after that incident with the Shikoku Youkai but there had never been any sightings or news of him throughout the territory.
"Ah….it's been one year already. Hmm, did he bring something for me?" His grandpa asked.
Kejoro nodded and put several paper bags in front of them.
Rikuo opened them to check. "Kofuku Manju?"
"Oh, how many are there?"
"Hmm….eight."
"Good. That brat remembered." With that said, his grandpa got up. "Kejoro, clean some rooms for the Seto family. They will be staying with us for a while. I apologise, Gozaburo, but I have an appointment to keep so I will have to leave for a while."
"Appointment, Grandpa?"
"Yes. I promised to spar with that brat in a year if he brought me Kofuku Manju and now he is back." His grandpa said as he walked out of the room with the paper bag, slowly biting the Kofuku Manju. "Oh, he got them from Hina-chan's shop. The kid's got taste."
….
….
….
"What?!"
He quickly followed his grandpa outside to the front gates of the Nura Clan where several youkai were standing around one guy.
The same black hooded coat and sword on his side, there he stood, without any care….Shadow.
- Sun Seto -
They followed Nurarihyon outside along with his grandson to look at what was going on.
Behind her were her parents.
On coming out, they saw the scene of several youkai surrounding a person in black hooded cloak while the Supreme Commander of the Youkai were walking towards him.
"Who is he?" She asked curiously.
The one who answered was a young Yuki-onna. "He is Shadow, the one who lives in the shadows to hunt the shadows."
"...huh?"
"He is a human." Her father clarified. "What is a human doing here?"
Before they could answer his father, Nurarihyon-sama greeted the boy.
"How are you, brat? You completely disappeared for the whole year. I thought something happened to you."
"I am here to keep the promise." He replied.
"Heh….do you really think you have any chance?" Nurari-sama asked with a smile as he took a bite of his kofuku manju.
"I wouldn't know if I don't try." He said.
"Hmm, alright. Come on. I don't want my mansion to be destroyed. There is a nice empty spot nearby, although a bit far from here. Do you think you can keep up?"
"Wait, destroyed? What are they talking about?" She asked, looking around.
"That old Nurari made a promise to the boy to answer his questions if he defeated Nurari in a fight. In return, he would have to pay in Kofuku Manju….sigh, that old man is playing around even at this age?" A voice came from behind them.
They looked back to see the speaker only to see a cat.
All three of them, her parents and she jumped away in fright.
The cat then transformed into a woman with cat ears and seven tails behind her.
"Magari-sama." The rest of the youkai bowed.
"M-m-magari-sama. Nice to meet you." Her mother spoke with hesitation.
All Mermaid Youkai are instinctively afraid of Cats and this youkai in front of them….was one of the strongest ones among all the cat type youkai in the world.
Magari, the Vice Commander of the Nura Clan.
"Ren. You guys are still afraid of me….sigh. This is why I was keeping a distance. What I didn't expect was this brat to show up."
"Wait, you mean Nurari-sama is going to fight with Shadow?" Their talks were interrupted by the Yuki-onna.
She nodded and looked at the two.
The boy just nodded but before they could go anywhere, Rikuo-sama stopped them.
He stood in front of the guy. He was however completely different than before.
Was this his youkai form?
She had heard that the grandson of Nurarihyon was only a quarter youkai and could only transform into his youkai form for a quarter of the day.
"Speaking of promises….I remember I had promised to fight you when the battle with the Shikoku youkai was over. You disappeared after that and I couldn't fulfil the promise. What do you say, before fighting with grandpa, how about a little spar with me?"
….
There was silence in the whole place as they looked at the two.
The man in question took a look at Nurarihyon who just shrugged so he looked at Rikuo-sama and nodded.
Both of them stood in the middle of the ground while the other youkai took distance.
"Why is everyone so tense? Is that human really strong?" Her father asked.
The yuki-onna who had been talking till now, now had her eyes glued to the two but still nodded and answered them.
"Shadow is strong….very strong. He was able to fight with the seven Phantom Travellers of the Shikoku Youkai and even killed some of them by himself. Later on, the Supreme Commander told us that he could have very likely taken their entire group down if he wasn't worried about causing too much destruction in the surrounding areas. This was him a year ago."
They looked at the two fighters in astonishment.
"You….haven't changed much since the last fight." The boy….Shadow, spoke first.
"Well, I would say the same but I can't see your face." Rikuo-sama smirked.
The boy shook his head. "I mean your strength….it hasn't changed much since the last time I saw you."
"Hoh, are you saying I am weak? Don't worry, I won't disappoint you."
The boy just looked down as if sighing and then gripped his sword and spoke. "Let's get this done with."
Nurarihyon-sama was the one who gave the signal for the fight to start.
And it was then it happened.
Rikuo-sama froze, his eyes wide.
The other boy just walked forward and came to Nurarihyon-sama. "Let's go."
Nurarihyon-sama looked at his grandson, frozen there like that and sighed while shaking his head.
"Rikuo still has a lot to learn. Magari, keep the kids here. Don't let anyone follow." With that said, they left the place quickly while everyone was still confused about what happened.
It was only after a moment that they snapped out of their confusion and the youkai of the place, all ran towards Rikuo-sama, the Yuki-onna being the first one.
"What is going on Magari-sama? What happened to Rikuo-sama?
The cat youkai just went forward and slapped Rikuo-sama and he snapped out of his frozen state and looked around confused. "What happened? Where is Shadow?"
"He left with your grandfather."
Rikuo-sama seemed to have realised what happened and gripped his sword tighter, looking down.
"How long was I out?"
"From the moment Nurari gave the signal. I had heard about his prowess in illusions but this was something else entirely. I haven't seen that kind of talent in someone that age."
"So….I couldn't even make one move against him?"
"Well, he wasn't lying when he said you haven't changed much in the last year. Maybe use this as a wake up call and start training?"
"Where did they go?"
"Away from here. Their fight would have destroyed the whole area."
"Is he really that strong?"
"That boy? Yes, from just what I could feel, he seemed stronger than most High Class beings. I don't know what tricks he has so I can't say anything about his full strength but if he keeps whatever training he is doing, he would reach the Ultimate Class level in a year at best."
"Ultimate Class….I see." WIth that said, he didn't speak anything and just looked down at his hands.
"Alright, no moping around. We have guests living with us. Go and show Miss Sun around. She is around your age and will be joining your school. She doesn't have any friends here. Don't let her feel left out." Magari-sama said, making him nod."
They led her with them while her parents followed the older youkai.
On the way, the Yuki-onna, Tsurara as she introduced herself, introduced her to the others till they were finally in one of the rooms.
"So, I couldn't ask you back then but….what exactly were you talking about? What path was grandpa talking about?" Rikuo-sama asked her, catching her off guard.
"Eh!" As she realised the question, a blush appeared on her face. "That….when another human sees our tail, we have to kill them. This was the rule set by Ryujin-sama. This rule however has an alternative. Ryujin-sama is also worshipped by humans and while he understands the reason for keeping them separate, he doesn't forbid us from associating with each other."
"What exactly is this alternative?"
"We….we….need to ma-marry the human."
"What!" Tsurara shouted excitedly. "But that's….what if he is an old man or a creep or someone bad….that would be…."
"He's not!" She retorted almost instinctively, surprising not only the yuki-onna but also herself. She then went on to explain to them. "It's the only way for both of us to live." The person saved me from dying that day. He could have let go of me when he saw my tail….but he didn't. He promised me that he would save my life….and he did. Never once did he look badly at me because of me being a mermaid. He even carried me to the sea."
They became quiet as they looked at her.
"Oh my, sounds like someone has a crush." The woman called Kejoro smiled with a hand on her cheek.
"I…I….it's…."
"How does the boy look?" Rikuo-sama asked, making her look at him. "You came here to find him so you must have some kind of picture of him, right?"
"Ah….we don't. I didn't give the exact details to my father because he was planning to go behind my back and kill him. I….intend to find the boy myself and talk to him. Until then, I want to join a human school and learn more about them." She said in a determined voice.
"I see. That is something we can support too." Rikuo-sama said as he reverted back to his normal human form. "Till then, you can live with us and be friends with everyone. If you need something from us, please don't hesitate to speak to us."
"Thank you." She bowed lightly.
"By the way, Rikuo-sama, we need to go to sleep early. Tatsuya-kun will be coming tomorrow morning and we are going for a picnic."
"Ah, I completely forgot about it in all this rush. Actually, Miss Sun, since you will be joining our school, how about you join us? I can introduce you to my friends. You just need to be careful about not revealing your identity there and everything will be fine."
"Eh? Are you sure? I wouldn't want to impose."
"You will not be imposing. Anyways, our picnics are always fun. Although Kiyotsugu, that guy is an idiot sometimes, the rest are good. Tatsuya-kun is smart, actually he was the smartest in all our year."
"Was?"
"Yes, he changed schools due to some problems at home but visits us often. His grandma passed away a while ago and so we decided to have a picnic to cheer him up this time." Tsurara said. "Wait, let me show you the images from the last time we went to the zoo." With that she ran away and looked in the closet of the room.
Sun noticed that this was Rikuo-sama's room and yet Tsurara was checking the closets.
They were very close.
While she was searching, they talked about various things and soon, Tsurara was back with the album.
"Here, this is from the year end ceremony at the school last year." She opened the album. "This is Rikuo-sama. He looked so handsome, didn't he? This is our school, this was our homeroom teacher…." Tsurara explained as she showed her pictures.
Suddenly Sun saw a picture which made her freeze.
"And this….Sun? Miss Sun."
Her eyes were still stuck on the picture in the album which she pointed at with a shaking finger. "W-w-who is this person?"
"Oh, he is Tatsuya-kun. He is our friend."
"Hmm what happened, Miss Sun? Is everything alright?"
Rikuo-sama asked and she looked at him with stunned eyes. "He….he's the guy who saved me."
….
….
….
….
"What?!"
- Tatsuya -
"You said it was close. This place is two hours away." I said looking around.
This place had mountains all around and I couldn't sense any people around.
"Well obviously, I couldn't have you fight anywhere near the town area. What, scared?" The old man joked.
"Not really. Just worried about having to carry you back to the Nura Clan if you sprain a leg or something."
"Hahahaha, feisty. Let's see if it's all just words." The old man said as he drew his sword.
This time, I didn't wait and immediately kicked the ground, drawing and slashing with my own sword, making him parry.
I didn't want to give him the time to use his Fear on me.
The man was obviously taken aback by my strength and slid behind several steps before he could stop my blade. He pushed back and I continued my assault with another strike, trying to not give him time to breathe.
Over the next fifteen minutes, we clashed our blades and I saw that he was getting serious bit by bit and I was on the backfoot once more.
His strength was still remarkable despite his old age but it was his swordsmanship and technique which was the real problem for me.
He was parrying my blows without expending as much power while dancing around to dodge my moves and while his attacks didn't carry as much power as mine, they were all done with pinpoint accuracy, making me dodge or leave an attack in the middle and parry his attack.
It was a massive difference in both our skills.
Finally after fifteen minutes, he deflected my blade to the side and stepped forward, making a slash which made me jump back and land on the branch of a tree.
"My my, you have certainly grown a lot in the last year. Just what kind of training have you been doing, brat?" He asked as he looked around the area.
I kept one eye on him while looking at the surroundings too.
The entire forest on the mountain was razed to the ground due to our clashes. There were gigantic crevices in the ground at several places.
With that, he looked up at me and smiled. "Now, let's get a bit serious, shall we?
I used my Observation Haki at full power at this instant, my Sharingan flaring not missing his figure for a single instant to not lose him.
He just slashed the ground under him as a cloud of dust covered him and in that instant, I felt the change.
A wave of energy surrounded him, overwhelming my Observation Haki and spreading all over the area as if an explosion.
When the explosion subsided, he was gone but I could still feel….this energy all over the place.
It was spiritual in nature, kinda similar to how Shanks used his Conqueror's Haki to block Observation Haki usage.
I felt a chill down my spine at this instant and dodged almost from the instinct of several fights I had been fighting for the last year, preparing for this day.
Thinking quickly on my feet, I made a handsign and created several shadow clones, dividing the attention of the opponent while I tried to create traps for him.
It didn't work much as they were only delaying him for several seconds.
Unlike Tobirama, Nurarihyon was a monster….quite literally.
Since running was not an option, I decided to go all out, Pirate Style.
With a shout, my Conqueror's Haki burst out and to my surprise, the wave blew away the fear of Nurarihyon for an instant, making his Meikyo Suigetsu fade away for a moment and giving me back my sight of him.
He was midair in a jump towards me.
The man looked surprised too as he looked at himself and then at me.
I didn't let this opportunity slip and raced towards him, first using a genjutsu to take advantage of his shaken mood and second, using an Armament empowered strike on him with my full power.
The strike sent him crashing to the mountain side, sending cracks around the crash site.
With another hand sign, several clones appeared and sent all their chakra in five elemental jutsu.
This was Hiruzen Sarutobi's speciality, the five elemental combo which he could do due to his mastery in all different styles of Nature Transformation and while my skill in Nature Transformation was not even close to that of the third Hokage, I had all the affinities due to my bloodlines.
There was a massive explosion in the place where Nurarihyon had crashed and I kept my Observation Haki on him till the last moment.
And I was glad that I did or else I would have missed it completely.
The old man moved at an incredible speed, incomparable to anything he had done before and the same energy from before, his fear, coated his blade as he slashed, tearing away the explosion and straight towards me.
I dodged to the side while sending another attack towards him which was blocked by the man coming out of the explosion.
Nurarihyon had his kimono burned and a bit of his skin had burn marks but he was mostly fine.
"That was too dangerous, brat." He said with a serious face.
"And yet you are undefeated. Tell me, if I were to go easier, would I ever be able to defeat you?"
"No. No you wouldn't. Very well then, go all out. I want to see how strong you are." he said, taking a stance with his sword for the first time as I felt his aura get flaring but this time instead of making him disappear, it wrapped around him like a blanket.
He made the first move and slashed down with his sword.
I dashed forward and tried to parry the strike with my own blade but was surprised when I was kicked in the stomach instead and was sent flying with a slash sent after me.
I gritted my teeth and flared my own Conqueror's Haki as well as pushed my Observation Haki to the max but found that he had disappeared again. Although I didn't have the time to worry about it as his slash was still coming towards me. I parried the slash with my own but was still sent rolling backwards where I suddenly felt a cold blade on my neck.
"Shin Kyoka Suigetsu. It can shift the Opponent's awareness and cut their fear. Your own technique is quite similar to our own fear, overwhelming one's mind although it is more of the Spiritual Nature, much like the spells used by the Onmyoji. Then again, that's understandable knowing your background." He said as he sheath his sword.
"...what?"
"Come on boy. Do you think I, Nurarihyon, the Youkai who specialises in illusions couldn't see through your illusions. Although this illusion of yours is quite unique, do you think it is enough to fool me? I couldn't identify you the first time I met you on that rooftop against Muchi because I guess that wasn't you and instead one of those clones you used during the fight but your aura was unmistakable when you were present in the fight against the Shikoku Youkai. That was the real you, wasn't it?"
I looked at the man with an open mouth while he continued.
"After that I did some digging around and found out about your background. You were living with that woman, Ageha Ikuse and were getting visited by the exiled Shuri Himejima. On digging further, and putting your hatred for the Cult of Hagoromo Gitsune into account, it was easier to pinpoint your true identity, an exile of the Kushihashi Clan, the son of that Lightning Fist brat. If you want to keep your identity hidden, you should learn Senjutsu or anyone with a decent practice of Senjutsu would be able to identify you as long as they see your real form."
I forced myself to break away from my trance and quickly concentrate on the thing he had said. "Senjutsu?"
I remember Grandma telling me about the Senjutsu of this world but she didn't know much about it so she couldn't elaborate further on the topic.
"Yes. Youkai are beings born of the world so they are closely connected to this world. This makes them innately compatible with the energy of the world and thus Senjutsu. Senjutsu is the art of using nature's energy for yourself. It not only allows you to fight at a much higher level but also see through the auras of other people. If you truly wish to keep your identity hidden, you'd sooner learn Senjutsu as there are very few methods of hiding from any Senjutsu user. Being one yourself is the easiest of them."
He said as he sat down beside me and put a hand over his burned arm. The burn wound on his arm healed.
"That attack was quite vicious, you know? This is one of my favourite kimonos." He said, a bit annoyed. "Still, I guess I might be getting too old if a kid barely out of his diapers could do this much harm to me. Sigh….now if only Rikuo took his work seriously and trained harder, I could retire with peace."
I looked at the man who didn't look anything like the guy who had just handed me my ass on a silver platter.
He looked just like a normal old man complaining about his grandson.
I thought of something and brought out some of the Kofuku Manju from my inventory and handed it to him.
"Oh, you had more. Good. At least you know how to apologise." He said, taking the sweet and eating.
"Why haven't you told Rikuo?" I asked after a while.
"Hmm? Why would I? It's none of my business."
"..." I looked blankly at the guy.
"You two are friends. Do whatever you want between yourself. Anyways, that brat needs to get his ass on line. Maybe the loss against you today will make him think carefully. The Nura Clan is not something one can rule over by half-assing things."
"Thank you."
"So….why are you hiding your identity?" He asked.
I looked at the ground below me as I remembered my life until now and let out a sigh. "I don't have many people close to me and I don't want people to target anyone close to me. Me revealing myself would make sure that they do so."
"Hmm. That's true. Is this about your father?" He asked.
I didn't answer but sometimes silence can be the best answer.
"You do know that your father, as a part of the Five Principal Clans, has killed many youkai too. If you think about it, you are trying to do the same thing they did."
My neck snapped in his direction and I was pretty sure I was glaring daggers at the guy.
He however seemed unphased by my glare.
"Humans kill youkai, youkai kill humans. They go after each other for revenge and the cycle of hatred continues."
"Are you telling me to let the people who killed my father go?" I asked, my voice cold.
"Heh….that's not my place to tell you. I am just stating what I have seen in all these years. Do you think I am lying? If this were some innocent youkai killed by your father, would you care for them?" He stared back at me with calm eyes and I was the one who averted my eyes.
"You wouldn't be talking like this if you had lost someone close to you." I spat in my anger. I knew it was in anger and completely dickish of me but I didn't want someone to saying anything bad about my father.
"Oh? Who says I haven't lost anything?"
I looked at the man, surprised at his words.
"My son, Rikuo's father….was killed by other youkai too."
My mouth opened in surprise but I couldn't say anything.
"But that's a risk you carry when you take such a position. You cannot step on the battlefield and expect only to kill others without being killed by others. My son knew this….And so did your father….and trust me, if he was as caring as you think of him, he would absolutely not want you to risk your life to go after such people."
….
….
….
….
I looked towards the sky, at the moon as the scenes of the past appeared in front of my eyes.
"The only ones who should kill are those who are prepared to be killed."
The old man nodded and continued.
"Hagoromo Gitsune was someone who actually loved human beings."
I was surprised by the sudden change of topic but didn't say anything.
"She was married to a human and even had a son with him. In fact, I think you might have heard the name of her son. His name was….Abe no Seimei."
"What?!" I blurted out, stunned at the reveal.
Abe no Seimei, was the foremost onmyoji of Japan, who devised many of the methods of exorcism used by the onmyoji of Japan other than the Five Principal Clans. He was a legend who gave humans a method to protect themselves against the youkai. And now this guy is telling me that the guy was half youkai himself and not just any but a Nine Tailed Fox Youkai.
"Surprising isn't it? You see, Hagoromo Gitsune originally wanted a world where humans and youkai could coexist peacefully."
"That's a good but foolish dream."
"Oh, you don't think that's possible?"
"While I would love to see such a world too, it's not realistically possible unless someone extremely powerful forces them to coexist peacefully. I don't know much about Youkai so I can't speak about them but just look at the history of human beings. Even without the awareness of other races, they fight wars with each other, for their greed and biases. They discriminate with each other based on their colour, religion and even languages, so much so that they would throw away their own blood because one of their parents is of a different country or religion? Do you really think such people would just put aside their biases and get along happily with beings who are far stronger than them and have an image of eating their kind?"
The image of Nobuhiro Kushihashi and the rest of the Kushihashi Clan came to my mind.
"I know there are good humans in the world too but most of the ones in power are not among those good ones. Expecting such things from them would be too much."
The image of Shuri-san and Grandma came to my mind. They….didn't treat Rikuo and Tsurara with any bias. Perhaps if people like them were in power, things could have been better.
The man was taken aback by the bite in my words.
"Humans always fear what they cannot understand and their first reaction against such things….is violence. I am not saying that it's impossible, but for that to happen, something big, something devastating will have to happen to force them. Otherwise it's not possible."
"Well well, looks like Rikuo needs to catch up to you in more than just strength. What you said is true. That is one of the reasons for the secrecy of the Supernatural World from common humans. Anyways, Hagoromo Gitsune's wishes were appreciated by her son who started working in the court of the emperor to try to slowly make the people more accepting of the Youkai. All that was until she was killed by a court noble of the emperor's court."
"Huh?"
"That fool had heard that the liver of a Shinoda fox could grant eternal youth and had sent his armies to hunt her. They brought her body to an onmyoji to prepare the elixir and guess who the guy was?" He suddenly looked at me.
My eyes went wide in realisation.
"Yes, they brought her body….to her own son. It's safe to say that Seimei went berserk and slaughtered all the court members and left with his mother's body. From then on, he came to be known as Nue."
"But if they both died, then…."
"Ah yes, you don't know much about her. You see, while Hagoromo Gitsune did die, she could reincarnate at times and possess the bodies of other people. The thing is, Abe no Seimei had devised a method of perfect reincarnation and to do so, he needed to be reborn from the same womb which had given him birth once. Hagoromo Gitsune had obviously agreed to this request of her son. Eight hundred years ago, she reincarnated as a female samurai you might have heard or. She was called Tomoe Gozen."
Damn….another big name.
"Four hundred years ago, she had reincarnated in the courtesan Lady Yodo, she was the mother of Hideyori Toyotomi and the master of Osaka Castle. At the time Hagoromo Gitsune frequently met with her yōkai underlings in secret late at night, where she would ingest the livers they had collected for her - all for the sake of giving birth to the Nue. However the livers of average people were not good enough for the task so she switched to the hearts of people who had unusual abilities like a princess whose tears became pearls, etc. One such princess was Yoihime….my wife."
"Huh?"
"Yeah….I fought against Hagoromo Gitsune because she was targeting the woman I had fallen in love with."
"Your wife was a human?" I was surprised again.
"Well yeah, how else would Rikuo be a quarter youkai?"
"I….didn't know what percentage youkai he was, just that he was part youkai."
"You need to learn Senjutsu soon."
"...hmm."
"Anyways, I was lucky in that fight as I was assisted by Hidemoto Keikain, the ancestor of your former classmate on that day and even then, I lost my heart, leaving me permanently weakened and in this degrading self from then."
"Your heart?"
"Yes, quite literally. She ripped it out. Youkai bodies work differently than normal human bodies. If you want to kill one, make sure they are burned completely and even ashes are scattered."
He was weakened from that fight so….this was his weakened self and Hagoromo Gitsune and possibly Nue is stronger than him.
No….I will not let that discourage me.
"As you see, the fight you are entering is something that has continued for over a thousand years and believe it or not….it was not her who did it."
"Why are you telling me all this?"
"So that whatever decision you make, you do so with full knowledge. You have a chance, a rare chance to get out of all this mess and start anew. Do you want to risk it all for revenge?"
….
….
"Sigh….take your time but think about all this before you enter the fray. I understand the pain of losing someone close to yourself but don't let it become the sole guiding force in your life. That kind of life….is not pleasant. As for Senjutsu, I could guide you for a bit until you are competent enough to hide your aura. I am not exactly a master of the art myself to teach you much further."
"...why are you doing all this for me?"
"Hmm? You are Rikuo's friend, aren't you? And you will have to pay me with Kofuko Manju. I am not teaching you anything for free. Actually, you know what?...I have another plan in mind."
"What plan?" I asked, cautiously.
He told me his plan and by the end of it, I was looking at him incredulously.
"Are you sure that will work?" I asked.
"Well, it's worth a try. Just do it for me, please."
I nodded unsurely.
"...Thank you for everything, Nurarihyon."
We just sat there without any words as I thought about what he had said then.
Grandma had also said something similar.
To let go.
But….every time I tried thinking of it, the scene of my father's body appeared in front of my eyes and all that thought went to hell.
- Nurarihyon -
He returned back to his Clan early the next morning after guiding the boy with the basics of Senjutsu.
While that was nowhere near enough to learn Senjutsu, it wasn't someone one learned in a day, who knew with that kid.
His arm still stung from last night's attack.
Just how the hell did that kid train all this time? He had to actually go all out to finish the fight quickly.
If anyone heard that the infamous Supreme Commander of the Nura Clan got injured by a fourteen year old, he would become a joke for the whole world.
Seriously, he needs to kick Rikuo's ass to get him to train.
The thing which bothered Nurari was the boy's state of mind.
He was confused.
On one hand he said Humans and Youkai cannot live together and on the other he was friends with several youkai and even treated him with respect.
His time with the Kushihashi Clan had left its scars on him. He noticed the disgust in his voice when he spoke about people throwing away their own blood due to their biases. Seriously, those fools would lose such a gem for their pride.
He shook his head.
Maybe he should point the boy to someone who can help him sort out his thoughts. Such mangled thoughts would only drive him the wrong way.
As he reached the gates of his clan, several youkai rushed forward.
"Supreme Commander, are you okay? Did that man attack you? Why is your kimono burnt?" Karasu Tengu was the one in the lead as usual.
"Hmm, this…. is nothing. I was doing a barbeque and didn't watch out."
….
They all stared at him and soon Rikuo also came running out.
"Grandpa….wait, are you hurt?"
"No….this is nothing. Let's go inside and talk. I am tired."
Sitting in his room, his daughter-in-law brought him a cup of tea while Rikuo and the rest of his group sat in front of them. Surprisingly, the mermaid was also with them.
"Thank you, Wakana. Now, you all seem to have something to talk to me about."
"Umm….that Shadow….was he strong?" Rikuo asked after some hesitation.
"Didn't you get beaten by him? What does that tell you?" He asked, making their faces blanche.
"B-b-but Rikuo-sama would have won if he hadn't used that trick." Tsurara tried to complain but one look from him shut her up.
"No….no he wouldn't." He shook his head.
"Supreme Commander?"
"First of all, he was using illusions, my speciality….against my descendant and won." His words made them wither. "Second, no enemy would tell you and attack."
"If Shadow had truly attacked, none of you would have stood a chance against him. He could have taken you all on at the same time….and won. The illusion….was probably the most harmless of his means which he used against Rikuo. Give him a year or two and he might just reach my level." He said, before taking a sip from his cup.
All of them became quiet.
"Now, what did you all want to talk about?"
Rikuo snapped out of his thoughts first. "I….well, the boy Miss Sun is searching for….it's my friend."
"Your friend?"
"Yes. Tatsuya. The white haired guy whom you met before. He is one of my closest friends. Her father wants to kill him. Grandpa, what should we do?"
….
It was only the years of experience that helped prevent him from bursting out into a fit of laughter.
Oh, this was going to be fun.
x_x_
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Author's Note:
I am back with another chapter of 'Drawn to Power'.
So, a few things happened in this chapter.
Tatsuya met another Manga Company owner. For those interested, search for Mangirl! It's a short anime series with four minute episodes each on youtube.
Secondly, he got into a fight with Nurarihyon and learned some shocking things.
And finally, we got to see some background scenes about the incident with the Mermaids and their further actions.
From the next chapter, I will concentrate on some aspects of slice of life more.
As for the reaction of canon characters, we will see them soon.
Enjoy the new chapter.
Good Day, Peace Out.