Chapter 294

Hiccups POV:

It's been three weeks since I met Asami's daughter Chiaki and since then a lot has happened, starting with me returning to the palace that once belonged to Akuhei. After I arrived, I brought my family over and spent the day helping them all settle in for the vacation but when night came, I took my wives to the library where I told them about Chiaki and how she wished to become our servant to repay the debt she thought she owed me. Both Astrid and Hadasa were against it but Blanca on the other hand wanted to meet the girl and give her the chance to see what she could do and she made that clear to me before taking my other wives aside, whispered some things to them and when they came back, all three were all for it. I honestly didn't know what Blanca said to them and they wouldn't tell me but it actually was something I was grateful for since it made my life a little easier for me.

Following that, Asami came to check in on us three days later and was grateful to us for accepting her daughters offer and summoned her before hugging her goodbye and leaving after I gave her permission to visit whenever she wanted to see how her daughter was doing. After that Chiaki took one of the guest rooms and I gave her the week to settle in and get to know the family members, which she was grateful for since she wanted to get the chance to learn about each of us. It wasn't three days later that she was settled into the family and was more like another member of our family and these days she'd often play her koto for us to enjoy and at times the kids would fall asleep listening to it since it was so peaceful. On one occasion I'd come and find the kids fast asleep using Chiaki's tails as pillows and cuddle toys as she simply smiled and continued to play her koto. When she wasn't doing that, she was mostly socializing with my wives and occasionally me which is rare in my case since whenever she saw me, she would mostly avoid me for some reason and I had talked to her about it she would pretend she didn't know what I meant and disappear again using some excuse.

Aside from that I'd spent a lot of time examining the two gifts from the yokai and I had to say, I was impressed with them although it took me two days to figure out how to use them properly. First there was the lantern which was made of black iron and had claw like spikes sticking out of the bottom and top of the frames with the bottom ones facing down and the top ones facing up while the frame of the lantern was pulled inwards, the bottom had a small spear like head sticking out while the tope had a diamond shape being pushed out with a ring on top of it that had a small diamond at the top connecting a chain to it. This lantern though did the opposite of what regular lanterns did though since within it was a floating black orb that would pull in the flames and other sources of light leaving the place in darkness, but as long as I held it, I could see easily as if the room was fully lit. Carrying it wasn't that difficult since it shrunk down into a bracelet with the lantern in the middle of it but it had to grow to full size in order to pull in the light.

Then comes the jar with all the faces sculpted on it and I discovered that like the lantern it was going to be very useful for stealth missions but in a different way since while the lantern made things dark, the jar made things quiet and deception easier. The way it worked is it when it opened up near people, a mist comes out of their mouths and into the jar, making the eyes of one of the faces glows. This mist as it turns out was the voice of the victim so when they're pulled out of their bodies, the victims can't say anything and are turned into mutes. This would in turn make things a little easier for me during infiltration attacks on enemy bases since it meant I'd be able to attack their bases with a little more ease since the guards wouldn't be able to sound the alarm or cry for help. Along with this, I could then use their voices as my own by holding the jar and focusing on the image of the one whose voice I took into the jar. As for the jar itself, it could shrink down to palm sized when I needed it to steal voices but when I wanted to use the voices, I'd put it down and let it grow to full size to take the voice out and into my body. It only remained within me for three minutes before it came back out and either into the jar or back into the owner of the voice and be able to use them again.

Now I was back in the nearby village that I once saved from bandits a while back when I was just getting something to eat and taking the chance to take in a bit of the culture. My family however was back in the palace since I didn't want to draw too much attention and a group of foreigners entering the village out of the blue would definitely gain some attention, especially the family of the one who protected them from bandits. (AN: Chapter 247) I was making my way through the various stalls and enjoyed the smiles I got from some of the shop owners who recognized me and greeted me warmly with some asking how my family was doing. I have to say it was nice to just feel like a normal traveler in a foreign land since normally I kept getting swarmed by fans wanting to use me or my family in some way. Still though, as I walked around, I couldn't shake the feeling that I was being watched and not by the villagers but by those who didn't want to be seen. I knew it was most probably just my imagination and paranoia playing tricks on me but just to be on the safe side, I brought out my wolf cane and kept it at the ready for a fight.

Nobodies POV:

Hiccup didn't realize it at the time but it was not his imagination or his paranoia playing tricks on him as in the shadows there were two figures watching him as he made his way around the village and browsed the stalls. The two figures watched as he bought some apples from the local fruit merchant before they turned to each and an unspoken discussion happened until they nodded and while one ran off the other turned back and continued to watch Hiccup. This person watched as he went about, buying a few things, stopping to talk to some people, examine some of the local artwork and a few other things one would expect of someone travelling through the village.

3 days later

Hiccups POV:

It's official, I knew I was being watched and not only that but also being followed by someone in the shadows who didn't want to be seen or have their presence known, but why they were following me I did not know. What I did know is this person was well trained in the art of stealth so they were no armature or a garden variety bandit scouting out its target but until they make their move to show they were a threat to me, I wasn't going to do anything even though they'd been doing it every time I came to the village. On the bright side, in my latest trip to the village I'd run into Daiki, the kind elderly man I'd met when I first came to the village and it was good to see he'd been doing well and I'd confided in him of my concerns about my stalker to which he told me it was probably just a fan who was too scared to confront me. I shrugged it off figuring he was right and I was just being paranoid but now I knew there was more to it as now there were multiple people hiding in the shadows and watching me which is why I'd been keeping my family in the palace instead of taking them on trips to the village. Sadly, none of my family members were happy about this except for Xiu and Zepher who didn't know any better with them still being babies.

Eventually I caved and decided for our final night here in Japan I'd bring my wives and the older kids to the village which was holding its fireworks festival. This brings us to now, with me and my family sitting down in a field outside of the village, enjoying some of the food we bought from the stalls while we all sat on a blanket, I'd brought with me. While we were all here, Chiaki was at the palace looking after Xiu and Zepher but I couldn't shake the feeling that I was being watched again from those who didn't want to be seen. I shrugged figuring it was just me being paranoid again since chances are it was just a few curious locals who'd never seen a group of foreigners before, but to be on the safe side, I made sure everyone had their weapons on them.

3 hours later

The festival was over and I was not happy, not because the festival was over but because during the fireworks display, Egil had been taken by Hadasa to use the outhouse. After ten minutes when they didn't come back, I went looking for them but what I found made my blood run cold since I found Hadasa lying unconscious on the ground behind the outhouse, in some bushes. From what I could tell she'd been knocked out from behind after the ones who attacked her hit her with a dart that failed to do anything other than alert her to their presence since the poison was plant based and that kind of poison has no effect on her. I knew this since when I found her there was a dart in her fingers that she pulled out after it hit her and a bruise on the back of her neck, from where she was struck and she confirmed it when she came to. I healed her with my mystic Ganji waters before we all began searching for Egil and his kidnappers but came up empty and my kitsune mask wasn't helping since whoever took him knew how to completely cover their scent.

We'd decided to split up to cover more ground with Chara going with Astrid and Brant going with Blanca since we didn't want any of the other kids to be taken while we were searching for clues. Now I was in the village center and since the villagers had turned in for the night, the place was deserted and the lanterns were mostly extinguished. It was then I took a breath and closed my eyes while spreading out my other senses before I immediately got my guard up as I realized that I was not alone in these streets and that there were no less than five people all around me. I glared at the shadows where the closest person was hiding before activating my ox flame boots speed mode and rushing towards it before quickly reaching out into the shadows and pulling the one hiding in it out by the neck while the victim thrashed, grabbing my arm and trying to make me let go. I ignored the struggle and dragged the guy who I saw was wearing a navy-blue ninja outfit, out into the middle of the streets before striking a few nerve points on him, leaving his body numb and then looked around at the others who were still hiding in the shadows and said.

"Unless you want me to drag each of you out of the shadows like I did your friend here, I recommend you come out." Just to be safe I had my sentient metal needles floating in my coat and ready to come out at a moment's notice as the other members came out with each wearing a single color in the form of dark grey, crimson red, dark dirt brown and almost black grey. "Alright, now that you're all out here I'm going to give you the chance to explain why you're stalking me and if you took my son, I'll give you the chance to return him and if you don't then I will teach you all a new meaning for the word pain." The one wearing red stepped forward and brought out a scroll.

"We bring a message from the leaders of our clans." He tossed the scroll at me and I easily caught it. "If you truly value the life of your child, you will obey the instructions on the scroll." I glared and dropped the ninja in my grasp who quickly got away.

"Pass on a message to your masters, they have no idea who they're messing with and when I meet them, they're going to understand why so many powerful people have tried to either recruit me or kill me." It was then the one in red through a kyoketsu-shoge's blade at me but I caught it out of thin air and noticed the rope was a thin chain making me smirk. "And this is why you shouldn't mess with me when I'm already angry." I channeled a blue crystal and sent lightning down the chain to the ninja who lit up with lightning as he screamed before I let go, allowing him to fall to the ground. "Anyone else want to push me tonight?" They just stared at me in shock and took off into the darkness, with the one in blue not noticing the jewelwig I put on him when I grabbed him.

Nightfall the next day

The message had read that we were to meet in a week and that I was to come alone, but after my wives, Brant and Chara found out what was happening they were determined to join me in rescuing our son. For this mission though, I pulled out all the stops and made it clear to everyone that they were to remain in my shadow and kept them there while I was making it through the base. I'd decided it best I wear the ninja outfit, gifted to me by Asami when I was first sent to train under the Ancient One but I kept my regular gear on underneath it since there was no telling what these ninjas had waiting for us. I'd already used my golden falcons show me where their lair was and had the one jewelwig I'd been able to get on the one ninja, show me an outline of their base and find Egil who was fortunately, unharmed and was simply meditating in a cell.

Now both me and my family were on my ships deck with me sitting down on the top deck in my ninja attire as Toothless was curled around me while I looked through the eyes of Inazuma who was flying through the base and giving me an idea of what we were dealing with. The place was built into a mountain and was clearly not their main base but one of the secret bases where they did operations nearby, the Ancient One had told me about these when I was training under him and learnt a lot of ninja clans did this in case, they had targets nearby or needed to make a stop along the way to their missions. Still though, despite this not being their main base it was filled with ninja, all looked ready to get into their battle stance at a moment's notice.

I admit it was impressive but what made me nervous was a single room that had five men sitting on a small platform, each wearing a cloak that covered their bodies, hoods that covered their heads shrouding the top in darkness and their lower faces were covered in masks. What made me nervous though was the seals on the backs of their cloaks, they were the same seals that my ninja masters had to show which clans they belonged to, meaning these guys were either survivors of the clan from when Akuhei attacked or impersonators which would anger my ninja. I honestly didn't know what to think of this since was not something to take lightly as my ninja would not be happy when they found out as those seals must be earned and to wear one without earning them would be a massive insult to the clans. I took a breath and closed my eyes one last time before standing up and putting on the mask before turning to my family and said.

"Alright, remember that these guys are trained to fight in the darkness so try to remain hidden behind things to avoid being seen and do not let them make a sound since they've most likely had training to sharpen their hearing." They nodded. "Now remember, Egil is our top priority so don't take any unnecessary risks and remember everything our ninja have trained you in." They all nodded as I looked around and admired how my wives had abandoned their usual style for black kunoichi outfits while Brant and Chara remained in their normal gear but with long sleeved black shirts beneath to cover their arms. "Now let's get going." I pulled each of them into my shadow and mounted Toothless. "Let's go get my boy back bud." He growled and nodded before we took off with me having the ship shrink down and return to my arm as we flew down.

Half-an-hour later

We'd successfully broken into the base and were now standing a few feet from the door that led to the dungeon where they were keeping Egil, with two ninjas standing on either side of the door. These guys made me nervous since for the past few encounters we'd been able to remain hidden without anyone taking notice of us thanks to the training we'd all undergone thanks to my ninja. I signaled Astrid and Chara forward, since she was the one best suited for this job and she knew what to do, taking out two purple kunai which she quickly threw at the two guards, hitting each of them in the shoulders. Before they could fall back or hit the ground, Astrid rushed forward and caught their bodies and gently lay their bodies down on the ground silently.

I smiled and nodded before we made our way over to the door and I used the eye of the dragon to check in side and found four guards standing around the room. I held up four fingers to everyone before turning to Hadasa and signaling her forward and as soon as she did she pulled out a dark yellow pod from her bag and I nodded. I placed my prosthetic hand against the door and made it intangible before nodding to her and she gently rolled the pod through it and once it was through, I pulled my hand away. I watched as the roots of the pod stood it up and I began directing which way it should go to Hadasa using hand signals and of course the pod caught the attention of the guards who gathered around it but also kept their distance. I smiled beneath my mask and gave Hadasa a nod before she made the pod open up and shoot out its pins, each hitting the ninja's who froze up in place, completely paralyzed. Once they were dealt with, I gave Hadasa a thumbs up before pulling out my mystic red bell and gently rang it near the lock, disarming the locks allowing all of us to walk right in.

I looked around and saw the walls were lined with empty cells before we each made our way down the cells before stopping in front of one with Egil in it, sitting cross-legged and meditating. I smiled and rang the bell, opening the lock and no sooner did I open the door did my wives rush in and pull a very surprised Egil into a hug and as soon as they let him go, his siblings did the same and I wasn't far behind. When we pulled away, he looked like he was about to speak loudly but I covered his mouth and held a finger to my lips before pulling my hand away from his mouth as I whispered.

"Ninja are trained to sharpen their hearing so we need to keep quiet or we'll have the entire base after us." He nodded. "Now what happened to your sword?"

"They took it from me with a little difficulty since a few hands got frozen until they wrapped it in leather and carried it away somewhere."

"Did you see where they took it?" He shook his head.

"No but I can sense where my blade is." I nodded and pulled out a ninja outfit for him.

"Good, put this on and we'll get out of here to retrieve your weapon but remember all the ninja have taught you since we need to remain hidden or we'll be over run." He nodded and quickly changed before we took off out of the room, leaving the paralyzed ninja behind.

Half-an-hour later

We were making our way towards where Egil's sword was taken with Egil leading the way since he could sense his weapon and it's a good thing to since I didn't want to risk the chance of someone being able to tap into its power like Akuhei did with my weapons when I first took him on. Now we were standing outside the room where Egil's sword was being kept and I knew what was hiding behind it, since this was the room where the five cloaked figures were sitting. Before I could even begin thinking of a plan on how to get in unnoticed the doors slowly opened, making each of us press up against the walls and hide in the shadows. For a few seconds we each held our breath while trying to remain as still and, in the shadows, as possible in order to avoid being spotted until a familiar voice came from inside saying.

"Would you all not feel more comfortable standing before us instead of up against the walls." I signaled my family to keep their guard up and have their weapons at the ready before we all came out of the shadows and into the room with the doors closing behind us and once we were all gathered before the five cloaked figures I chuckled gaining looks from everyone.

"I have to say I don't think of myself as someone who's easy to deceive but it looks like you were able to do just that Daiki." The cloaked figure in grey chuckled before he removed his hood and mask.

"I see you were able to figure out who I was easily." I shrugged.

"I recognized your voice but now I'm not sure who you are since I assumed you were just a humble villager which you're clearly not." He chuckled.

"You are correct, I am in fact the sole survivor of Akuhei's attack on the Metal Blade Ninja clan and since that attack I have spent years perfecting my skills while rebuilding my clan and although we are not what we once were, I still hold onto my childhood dream of bringing the clan back to its former glory." He then gestured to the other four men. "A hope that I possess for my clan as do the sole survivors of the other clans Akuhei wiped out." I raised an eyebrow.

"You men are the survivors of the Rushing Water, Silent Wind, Flaming Forest and Crushing Earth Ninja clans?" They nodded.

"We were merely children when Akuhei destroyed our clans but we had already begun our training and had the scrolls containing the knowledge of our clans and together we became the ninja masters who would revive our clans." I nodded.

"That is something I can respect but what does my family have to do with this, why'd you kidnap my son?" It was the one in red who replied.

"We did it to lure you and your family here." I raised an eyebrow as the one in brown continued.

"You are outsiders who do not deserve the knowledge of our clans' techniques nor can we forgive the lies you've told." I raised an eyebrow.

"Lies?" The one in blue replied.

"Claiming you slayed Akuhei and have freed our clan leaders from his control with them repaying their debt by serving you and teaching you the fighting techniques of our clans." I saw him clench his fists. "A clans' techniques are sacred and should only be taught to other members of the same clans, not a dishonorable outsider like you and your family." He pointed his finger at me. "We don't know how you got your hands on our clans' techniques but we shall not allow you to continue to taint them with your use." He glared at me as the one in white said.

"We will not let you or your family leave this place alive!" As soon as the words left his mouth, he threw his arms up throwing six kunai at us to which my blade scarf rose up and quickly knocked each of the kunai aside shocking the five ninjas as I smirked and began walking towards them.

"I admire your loyalty and determination to help your clans but it looks like you didn't realize something when it came to when you first saw me fight." I glared and released my sentient metal needles and tail. "I was holding back."

Each member of my family brought out their weapons with Egil simply getting into his fighting stance and Blanca readying her magic but before we could do anything my ninja masters appeared between my family and the elders. For a few seconds there was silence until my ninja walked up to the platform making the elders back up in shock until they were off the platform allowing my ninja to lift the top up and pull it in two. They each reached in and pulled out a weapon that I could easily sense great power from, similar to the one from the dragons' forge but different in a way. Before I could get a look at what they now held the elders walked up and I got ready for a fight but much to my surprise they dropped to their knees and bowed as Daiki said.

"We owe you an apology Hiccup, you are not a thief nor are you a liar." I raised an eyebrow.

"What changed your minds about me?"

"Within that platform are the mystic weapons that answer only to the clan founders, but they were not able to use them once Akuhei took command of them." He took a breath. "The only way they would allow their masters to wield them once more is if they took them by their own free will, free of any form of control." I kept my guard up, since deception was one of the main weapons of a ninja, as they sat back up before Daiki. "I hope you and your family can forgive us for our actions Hiccup." I stared him in the eye and saw no hostility and honesty in his eyes so I sighed and nodded.

"I'm going to probably get in a lot of trouble later on for this but I can't be mad at you for this since I know that a ninja clans techniques are sacred and are considered the greatest treasures of the clans and for an outsider to use them is the greatest insult." He smiled and nodded.

"Thank you Hiccup." It was then my ninja walked back and bowed to the elders before turning to me and giving me a look that meant they wanted to discuss some things with me that was important and I sighed before turning to the elders.

"Is there a place we can all discuss some things?" They nodded before Daiki stood up.

"We have a living space where we can discuss some things and I will have some of our ninja make some tea if you'd like." I nodded.

"That would be nice but first, please tell me where Egil's sword is." He nodded before pointing to the wall above the door where a small gap was dug in.

"If it's all the same to you, we'd prefer one of you get it as the magic within that sword has already injured five of our clan members who are now in the infirmary with frost burns on their hands." Chara threw her chain kunai with the ring on the end into the gap and pulled Egil's sword back out which he quickly caught with a big smile before I turned to Daiki.

"All done, now let's get going, but I get the feeling that it's going to be a long night?" They all nodded and we made our way out of the room to see what my ninja wished to talk about but I had the feeling it'd be one massive headache for me like most of this day has been.

AN: HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL, and sorry for the long wait for this new chapter and how short it is but I'm down to my last few days of vacation so I've been enjoying family time mostly. At least this is a start for the new year of chapters and next week it really begins as next week Wednesday my holiday ends and it's back to work with me so I'll try to get back into the writing groove as fast as I can but it takes time and until next time, HAVE A HAPPY NEW YEAR and remember to review.