So yeah, two chapters to cover the over-all backstory and plot-setup for the Taimanin cast. Team Fuuma is in Kuoh because the Japanese Government are a little antsy about having 2 'High profile political targets' cosplaying as schoolgirls without their approval.

Their mission: Keep the Demon Heiresses safe from the shadows by killing anyone that looks at them sideways whilst making sure they don't get their hands on any Sacred Gears by taking them off the board by any means necessary.

Let's see how well that goes for them now that they've taken a major piece off the board in the form of the original protagonist. Let's see how Rias does without her horny berserker beat-stick.

For those interested: As stated, some of my old stories are on hiatus, some are just straight up dead & some are being reworked. If you care to adopt one, please just send me a PM to let me know so people don't start spamming me with 'some guy stole your fic' reviews.

Chapter 3: Ninja x Mission.

As I'm sure many an Isekai protagonist can attest, the absolute worst aspect of reincarnating in a modern setting is having to deal with all the teen-drama bullshit that is High-School all over again. Anybody who claims these were the best years of your life has clearly never gotten laid or even touched tits.

Not even Gosha Academy, which was an Honest-to-Haruhi Ninja High-School, albeit one with a deplorable deficit of Royal Alien Furries, could completely escape the humdrum that is homework, standardised testing, and foot-long essays on long-dead shoguns.

So needless to say, as relieved as I was to get out from under the all-seeing-eyes of the Igawa Elders and away from the constant back-biting from my beloved Clansmen, I wasn't exactly chomping at the bit to start my first day as a Freshman at Kuoh Academy.

Now I know what you're thinking. Given my knowledge of the franchise, why the hell would I sit on my laurels for a whole year instead of finding some way to ingratiate myself with either Rias, Sona, or hell even Azazel or Heaven in order to try to manipulate events in my favour?

For starters, while the Taimanin were primarily dispatched to eliminate Youkai or devils, we weren't exactly on the best of terms with the Grigori or Heaven either, due in part to our demonic heritage and the bad blood that existed between the Biblical Factions and the native religious factions of Japan.

However, the most pressing reason for my holding back till now was the fact that, mission parameters aside, the last thing I wanted was to draw the attention of either heiress, as I honestly had no desire to get dragged into Rias' bullshit if I could avoid it.

What? Don't look at me like that. Rias might be hot, but even my preference for redheads wouldn't be enough to drag me into that hot mess. Besides, she really had nobody but herself to blame for her current situation, as if she'd simply spent the time actually building her peerage, she could've easily beaten Riser.

Don't believe me? Then let me spell it out for you. For all her virtues, which was ironic considering she was a Pure-blood Devil, at the end of the day Rias Gremory was, at least initially, a spoiled brat who was handed everything she needed to succeed on a silver platter, including several prominent members of her peerage.

Setting aside Akeno, who had unwittingly drawn the attention of the Gremory by healing one of their clients, thus facilitating Rias coming to her rescue when the Half-Fallen's relatives tried to murder her, the rest of her peerage were all practically gift-wrapped for her by her older brother, Sirzechs.

And even then, Rias had required the aide of her Father's Bishop to seal the deal, so it could be argued that even Akeno was a gift to her from her father, though it paled in comparison to the blatant nepotism of Sirzechs abusing his authority to overrule Koneko's execution to gift her to Rias like a new-born kitten.

And even if you somehow managed to find a way to argue against that logic, you cannot honestly expect me to believe that Rias just happened to stumble across Kiba or Gasper during their lowest points whilst 'out for a stroll' balls deep in the middle of territory governed by the Church and Vampires respectively.

Hell, according to his backstory even Kiba had called bullshit on her explanation until he realised Rias honestly just wanted to help him, so it wasn't too far-fetched for me to believe that Sirzechs had been manipulating events behind the scenes to ensure his little Sister's happiness.

Sadly, despite being handed some of the finest pieces a devil could ask for, including the daughter of a Cadre and a Longinus user, Rias had wasted her time in the human world indulging her inner weeb and masquerading as a foreign exchange student instead of preparing for the Rating Game against Riser.

Because even if their parents hadn't pushed the issue, something I suspect had been deliberately set up by Sirzechs due to Rias acquiring Issei, the Gremory Heiress would've had no choice but to face Riser in a Rating Game to cancel the engagement the moment she graduated from Kuoh.

And this is why I suspected the conflict with Riser was a set-up by Sirzechs, as given how lazy Ddraig was and Issei's complete lack of talent, it was highly unlikely the idiot would've been able to awaken the Welsh Dragon or even unlock Balance Breaker until after Vali and Albion showed to rouse the Vanishing Dragon's rival.

So yeah, as hot as Rias was, and believe me she was easily in the top ten of my 'To Do List' even before I was reincarnated, I literally had no desire to get involved with her personal melodrama, especially given how I already had enough on my plate as it was.

As such, it was in my best interest to appear as unappealing to both Rias and Sona as possible, which wasn't all that hard to be honest, as even without factoring in the presence of a Sacred Gear, there was a set criteria that Devils tended to look for in potential Peerage members.

Just look at Sona's peerage for example: with the exception of Tsubaki and Saji none of the members of the Student Council possessed a Sacred Gear and yet they were an overall more effective team than the Gremory Peerage due to their co-ordination and each member excelling in a particular role.

So the first order of business was to come off as physically unappealing, which wasn't all that hard given how my Albinism and manky left eye gave me the prefect excuse to skip out on most physically demanding activities such as gym-class or sports-related clubs for 'health reasons'.

Of course, I couldn't just come off as a slacker either, not if I wanted to keep Sona off my back, so I had to at least put the minimum amount of effort in class, just enough to keep my grades up, but nowhere near enough to catch the attention of either heiress...especially after-hours.

See, as calm as Kuoh town appeared on the surface, once the sun went down the monsters that lurked behind the scenes liked to come out and play, only to be cut down by Rias and Sona's respective peerages as part of their so-called training.

Now don't get me wrong, there are merits to live-training exercises. Hell, back in the old days before Gosha Academy the Fuuma would often capture live Youkai and even enemy Taimanin to use as 'training dummies' for combat, interrogation and several other practices I'd rather not speak of but were vital for Taimanin.

Sadly, while Sona at least appeared to be taking these Stray Hunts seriously, actively devising new strategies for her peerage to utilize in battle as they fought, it seemed that Rias was using them as more of an excuse to vent her frustration over her situation instead of actively using them to train her peerage.

Though I'll be brutally honest with you, the first time I saw her vaporise a Stray with her Power of Destruction had been absolutely terrifying. There truly was no comparison between watching her off some-no-name mook on-screen and sensing the poor bastard's life-force vanish right before your eyes.

As terrifying as it was to witness however, it only added further proof to my theory that Rias was wasting her talents, as she wasn't even trying to be creative with her power, simply hurling it around like run of the mill fireballs instead of finding unique ways to implement it.

Take Sirzechs for example; while some of you might cry foul at the idea of comparing Rias to her Super Devil Older sibling, Sirzechs didn't just rely on his raw power to win his battles. No the man took the Power of Destruction and made it his own, even going so far as to transform into the embodiment of it.

And even if she couldn't go to Sirzechs for training because of 'favouritism', there was nothing stopping Rias from approaching her own mother, who as a member of the Bael Clan and the former bearer of the 'Ruin Princess' title was more than qualified to educate her in the finer nuances of their Bloodline.

Of course, none of that really mattered anymore, as for the past year since my team arrived the number of attacks by Stray Devils and Rogue Youkai have plummeted to the point entire weeks could go by without so much as a bump in the night.

And no, we weren't doing this just to mess with the Devils. While I won't deny the government considered the undermining of their development an added plus, the fact was that ensuring the safety of the civilian populace of Kuoh was part of our mission parameters.

It also didn't hurt that the bounties for every Stray Devil or Rogue Youkai we took down netted my team a nice bit of profit on the side. Money that would've no doubt been wasted on Rias' weeb hobbies and whatever the hell the rest of the peerage did in their spare time.

Needless to say, it didn't take long for the heiresses to suspect someone was hunting Strays in 'their territory' without permission, but between the Section 3's information suppression, their general lack of experience and refusal to ask their siblings for help, it was almost laughably easily to slip under their radar.

And so my first year at Kuoh passed like a blur, seemingly endless days of pretending to struggle in class whilst attending some of the less-physically demanding clubs, nights spent hunting down Strays whilst sending back regular reports to Gosha, all in preparation for the following year.

April - 2018

I'll confess, I couldn't help but feel a hint of anticipation when the new school year rolled around, not out of any desire to further my academic career, but because this was the year when the plot of DxD would finally begin and it all started with a certain would-be Harem King being propositioned by a literal Fallen Angel.

I won't lie to you, the day Issei came swaggering into class looking like the cat that got the cream, shot the dog and framed the milkman for it, only to proceed to strut around Campus like his balls were too big for his pants, I almost had to excuse myself for the day to avoid bursting out laughing like a loon.

I mean, okay, I knew the guy was desperate, but even without my knowledge of how things turned out, did he seriously think pissing all over his friends like that wouldn't come back to bite him in the ass? To say nothing of the dirty looks he was getting from the rest of the student body.

After all, it was no secret that the Perverted Trio were the social pariahs of Kuoh Academy, so unpopular that even the so-called unpopular kids could look down their noses at them, as at least they knew better than to voice their perversions outside the realm of 2-D.

And while Issei was arguably the lesser of three evils, his prior reputation didn't exactly endear him to his peers, which lead to all sorts of rumours spreading about his supposed girlfriend, not helped by the fact that, with the exception of Motohama and Matsuda, who were both in denial, nobody had seen the girl.

Of course, lovestruck fool that he was, Issei ignored all the back-biting. After all, what did it matter to him that people doubted him? They'd been doubting him for well over a decade now, and yet here he was on the cusp of losing his virginity, assuming he played his card's right.

I'll confess, a part of me really wanted to take Raynare out, as for all his faults Issei didn't deserve to go out like he did. But my orders were to keep all Sacred Gears out of Devil hands, so even if I did save his life, all it would take was Rias promising to flash her nips for the horn-dog to pull a Dio and reject his humanity.

And so it was that I found myself tailing after the pair on their first official date while the rest of my team ran interference just in case Rias decided to send more than just her bat familiar in to deliver the summoning parchment.

"Nothing to report so far, Kotaro-sama." Tokiko reported over my wireless ear-piece, "I can confirm that neither the Gremory Peerage nor members of the Student Council appear to be operating within the immediate area."

"Unsurprising," I noted, taking a sip from my soda as I watched Issei fawn over Raynare as she munched away at a parfait, the two of them having opted to dine at the local Saizeriya "They're probably taking advantage of the weekend to complete as many requests as possible."

It went without saying that their reason for doing so was to compensate for their inability to hunt Strays, which would have had a drastic effect on their overall ranking when it came time for them to present themselves at the Young Devils Competition down the line.

"I've scouted the area around the fountain like you instructed." Amane reported solemnly "As you suspected, there appears to be a barrier around the area that is keeping the civilians away, though nothing serious enough to trigger any of the wards the Devils have set up."

'And Rias wonders how Azazel was able to live right under her nose for so long.' I scoffed, shaking her head at the redhead's naivete as I finished my drink and got to my feet, deciding to stop by the restroom before heading for the park to throw off any suspicion that I was tailing them.

'Huh, weird that they'd have a unisex toilet but no handicapped one.' I noted as I slipped behind the screen hiding the entrance to the restroom, only to curse at the sight of the occupied sign over the Gents 'Then again, it's not like there's an elevator for this floor...hm?'

Now it should be noted, that in order to prepare for Operation Scarecrow, my team and I had familiarised ourselves with the floor-plans for most of the shops in the area. This included the local Saizeriya, which was infamous for the faulty lock on the Mixed-Gender Restroom.

Now to be fair, it wasn't that the lock didn't work, you just had to make sure it actually locked when you went in, unless you wanted someone to walk in on you mid-dump. The restaurant had even gone so far as to put up a sign reminding people of the fault, so you had only yourself to blame if anything happened.

That being said, you can probably imagine my surprise when I opened the door to the restroom only to find myself standing face to fiery crotch with a young woman frozen in the act of pulling up her panties, only for shock to give way to pants-wetting terror at the sight of her head of scarlet hair.

'How the hell did Rias manage to slip past Tokiko's surveillance?!' I swore, honestly pissing myself at the idea of being trapped in a confined space with the Gremory heiress in such a compromising position, only to slowly calm down as minutes passed without her reducing me to my composite atoms.

'Wait, Rias' eyes aren't pink.' I recalled as I stared at the girl, idly noting that her hair was also a lighter shade of red, bordering on pink, than the Gremory's iconic scarlet tresses, only to curse as the sight of her widening eyes and growing flush, clear signs that the initial shock of my entrance had worn off.

"Such a pain.." I swore as I stepped forward, using my momentum to slam the girl back against the restroom wall even as I clapped a hand over her mouth to cut off her scream "I'm truly sorry about all this, but I'm going to need you to go to sleep for a bit."

Not waiting for a response, I promptly struck a series of pressure points on the girl's neck that would temporarily cut off the flow of blood to her brain long enough to render her unconscious within seconds without causing any permanent damage.

"That's it, go to sleep..." I intoned as I gazed into her eyes, keeping my voice as soothing as possible as her struggles slowly ceased, reaching out to catch her the moment she finally went limp before gently depositing her on the toilet with as much dignity as I could afford.

"At least she didn't piss herself..." I sighed, thanking whichever local gods were listening for small mercies as I stepped back to compose myself, a part of me wanting to cut my losses and just leave the restroom, only to bite the bullet and turn to the urinal after ensuring the door was properly locked this time.

"Still, now that I get a good look at her, it's shocking how much she resembles Rias." I mused while washing my hands in the sink "Pink Eyes aside I wouldn't be surprised if she was one of Rias' cousins or half-siblings. Her old Man does have a Harem after all."

Whoever she was, she currently wasn't a threat and I had more important things to worry about than how many hypothetical bastard(?) children Zeoticus Gremory could have sired with his mistresses, Forst and Firmost preventing a certain Welsh Dragon from falling into the hands of his legitimate daughter.

Not to be a total asshole, I made a point of flagging down a passing waitress to let them know someone had apparently passed out in the unisex toilet, pausing briefly to flash a cheeky thumbs-up at Issei when the perv glanced in my direction before making my escape among the milling crowd outside.

Kuoh Fountain Park, several hours later...

And that, ladies in gentlemen, is how I found myself sitting in Kuoh Park getting an admittedly impressive blowjob from the Fallen Angel Raynare while Hyōdō Issei lay dying in a pool of blood not five feet away, no doubt feeling decidedly cucked right about now.

"You don't seem to be enjoying yourself." a cool voice noted with palpable amusement over my wireless earpiece "Is she that inexperienced? " the speaker enquired even as a red targeting reticule appeared on the back of Raynare's head "Perhaps I should give her a little incentive to work harder."

"Yeah, I'd appreciate it if you didn't head-shot the Fallen Angel while my dick is in her mouth?" I snarked, aloud, placing a comforting hand on Raynare's head as she froze mid-fellatio "Besides, you know damn well we're trained to resist stuff like this, so the fact she's even got me to half-mast is impressive."

"Be that as it may, we're on a tight schedule, Kotaro-sama." Amane reminded me, following the conversation thanks to her own earpiece, glaring down at Raynare as the Fallen redoubled her efforts, clearly interpreting her words as a threat "We need to identify the boy's Sacred Gear before it passes on."

"I really don't see the need." I countered, only partially because of my reluctance to call an end to Raynare's humiliation, as to be brutally honest there was little point in this part of the mission, given how I already knew what Gear Issei possessed "I mean, it's not like we can salvage the damn thing."

"OMPH-!" Raynare choked, the Fallen pausing mid polish to pull her head back with a seductive pop, seemingly heedless of the string of spit and pre-cum that trailed from her lips to her cleavage as she glanced up at me in desperation "I...might be able to help with that."

"Let me guess, Azazel's figured out a way to remove Sacred Gears?" I pressed, earning a look of shock from Raynare and a tense grunt from Amane, who tightened her grip on the Fallen's good wing "Don't look so surprised, everyone knows he's obsessed with hoarding the damn things."

"This is still a concerning development, Kotaro-sama." Amane insisted, glaring down at Raynare like she was absolute garbage "If the Fallen are able to remove Sacred Gears without killing the hosts, what's to stop them from implanting them in their own forces?"

"My guess is that the procedure still has some bugs in it." I proposed, knowing full well Raynare was talking out her ass, as the ritual she used on Asia was designed specifically to transfer the nun's Twilight Healing to the fallen, a process that would prove fatal "Most likely it kills the original owner in the process."

Still, to those in the know, it was a tremendous advantage, as more often than not Sacred Gears wound up in the hands of people who had no idea of their importance, who would summarily be snapped up by either the Holy Church or turned into Vassals by the Devils using their Evil Pierce System.

Needless to say, to this date there had yet to be a single Taimanin born with a Sacred Gear. Whether this had to do with our Demonic heritage was unclear, but if the Elders learned of a means of securing Sacred Gears for themselves, they'd be all over that like Happosai on freshly worn silky darlings.

"I can take you to the device." Raynare pressed with some of her old confidence, no doubt planning to lead us into an ambush in order to avenge this indignity even as she continued to jerk me off "My comrades and I have sequestered ourselves in the abandoned church nearby, if you allow me, I can-!"

"Whoops." I grimaced, looking on in amusement as my boom-stick proceeded to unload a salvo into Raynare's face, having stopped consciously holding back the moment she started talking, the Fallen's shriek of outrage reduced to a choke as I shoved her back into place "Sorry about that, time is money as they say."

"You bastard-!" Raynare managed to cough as I released her, her earlier attempt at seduction forgotten as she glared hatefully up at me, only to choke as Amane put her in a headlock, her eyes widening as she tried to move the limb from around her throat to no avail "Wait...you said...you'd let me live...!"

"So I did, so long as you sucked me off." I confirmed, wiping myself off with a tissue before tucking myself back into my pants and rising from the fountain with a cheerful smirk "But you're not sucking me off right now, are you, crow-chan?"

"You-!" Raynare spat, her eyes bulging with hatred and lack of air as desperately reached out to claw at me with her remaining hand, only to freeze as a horrible cracking noise filled the air, the light in her eyes dimming as she went limp in Amane's arms.

"Filthy crow." Amane snarled, allowing Raynare's limp form to tumble out of her arms like a puppet whose strings had been cut, glaring down at the Fallen like she was something particularly foul "How dare you try to seduce the young Master."

"As comforting as it is to see you so concerned for my purity, I never actually gave the order to kill her, Amane." I reminded her, glancing down at the broken form of the fallen with some disappointment. After all, bitch or not, she was still sexy as all hell.

"My apologies, Kotaro-sama." Amane apologised, bowing her head as she dropped down to her knees before me "However, while I may have acted in haste, I believed it prudent to neutralise her now, as it was unlikely such a low-ranking Fallen would yield much in the way of information."

'Direct and to the point as ever.' I mused, unable to help smiling at the sheer simplicity with which Amane had resolved the situation, marvelling at how different the woman kneeling before me was compared to the girl I used to know 'Though I guess some things never change...'

Born the daughter of Fuuma Gonsho, one of Danjo's loyalists, Amane was technically my cousin, one of countless others who carried the distinction, though her impressive physical abilities made her a bit of an outlier.

However, whereas Danjo had at least appreciated Tokiko's skills as a tool for the clan, even if he treated her like garbage, Gonsho had shunned Amane out of fear when it became apparent her talents far surpassed his own.

Unfortunately for Amane, things didn't get much better a she got older, her fierce nature, phenomenal talent and powerful yet difficult to control Ninja Art causing her to be ostracised by her own clansmen and peers alike, making her a lonely, savage child.

I don't know how much of this was due to Danjo's orders or not, but suffice to say it didn't take long for the old bastard to sink his hooks into Amane, using sweet words and the threat of abandonment to both physically and mentally condition the attention-starved girl to become his personal attack dog.

Needless to say, Amane quickly came to idolize Danjo, to the point she considered me a rival for his affections despite how obviously he despised me. She also developed something of a rivalry with Tokiko, as they were often assigned to 'babysit' me when not on missions.

Unfortunately, when Danjo launched his Rebellion, Amane fought on the side of the loyalists as the bodyguard for Tekkain Bantetsu, one of Danjo's staunchest supporters, the pair of them cutting a bloody swathe through the Igawa forces only to end up cornered by the Hound of Igawa, Kono Reima.

When it quickly became apparent that Amane was out of her depth, the wily Bantetsu opted to sacrifice her in order to save his own skin, slinking off into the shadows while she fought desperately against Reima's forces, only to eventually be brought down through sheer numbers, losing an arm in the process.

According to what little I managed to pry out of her, she was brought to Asagi's aunt, Igawa Senshu, who had mockingly threatened to drive her insane using poison before setting her against her allies, only for word to reach the Igawa of Danjo's defeat and my subsequent surrender not long after.

Needless to say, Amane, like most of the Fuuma, hadn't taken the news well, storming the now deserted Fuuma Compound to confront me, demanding to know why the hell I'd betrayed Danjo between pummelling me with her sole remaining arm, all while calling me a coward for refusing to defend myself.

In the end, I simply told her the truth. How I knew Danjo's plan was doomed to fail, hell, even before I'd approached Syuzen, the Igawa Elders had apparently already warned him of the possibility, and how by bowing my head to them I had at least spared the rest of the Fuuma from being purged for Danjo's mess.

In that moment, I think something within Amane broke, the distressed teen collapsing to her knees, begging me to tell her what she was supposed to do. Having lost not only her arm, but her very reason for living by serving Danjo, what was left for Fuuma Amane?

And in the moment I realized the magnitude of my situation. With Danjo gone, the responsibilities of patriarch fell to me, meaning that even if they despised me, even if I'd spend the rest of my life looking out for assassins in the dark, I was now responsible for their safety as the 19th Generation Fuuma Kotaro.

And so, I took Amane into my service, reminding her that just because Danjo was gone, that didn't mean the Fuuma were dead. If she truly wished to find a new purpose, then she just had to grow strong to help me protect the remaining members of our clan.

Amane, despite some hesitation, had latched onto me with the desperation of a drowning woman latching onto a life preserver, the once fiery-tempered teen who had mocked me as a child for my weakness growing into one of my most stalwart allies at Gosha village, maintaining the estate as my personal Butler.

Supposedly she had initially intended on assuming the now-vacant position of Clan Steward, but had wisely decided to settle for the position of Butler out of respect for Tokiko, who guarded the position with a passion that was admittedly unnerving to behold.

"Speaking of which." I mused, reaching up to my earpiece as I sauntered over to Issei's body, honestly not that concerned if the idiot bled to death or not before I got there, if anything it'd make my job easier "Any sign of movement from Gremory, Toki-nee?"

"Not at the moment, no." Tokiko countered, having remained behind at Kuoh Academy in order to maintain surveillance over the Gremory and Sitri peerages "She's currently in the middle of a game of Chess with the Sitri Heiress. Both their Queens are in attendance."

"No sign of Gremory's Rook either." the cool voice from earlier confirmed over the radio "Though I wager it won't take long for the Devils to come snooping around since the barrier over the park is beginning to fail now that the Fallen has been neutralised."

"No rest for the wicked." I sighed, shaking my head in exasperation even as Amane tossed Raynare's limp corpse over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes "Keep me posted Tsuru, I don't want anything coming anywhere near until we've finished cleaning up."

"As you command, Kotaro-sama." Tsuru acknowledged, signing off to resume her vigil over the park as I crouched down next to Issei, who was gazing up at the crimson sky, (no seriously, the fuck?), with a glazed expression, having been otherwise ignored until now.

"Nothing personal man." I assured the dying teen "Perversion aside, you're honestly not a bad guy. Hell in another life we probably could've been friends. " I confessed, since it wasn't as if I could judge him given my recent activities "Sadly, I've got my marching orders, and letting you live will only make them harder."

If Issei heard me, he certainly didn't give any outward signs save to cough up a mouthful of blood while reaching desperately for the crimson sky. During this time, I took the opportunity to rifle through his pockets for Rias' summoning pamphlet, ripping it up to ensure she didn't come calling.

"Better safe than sorry." I noted, placing a hand on the teen's bloody chest, feeling the dying tempo of his heart through my fingers, my right eye heating up as I activated my Ninja Art "Now then, let's have a look at what you've got under the hood..."

While I touched on this earlier, what set Taimanin apart from so-called 'modern shinobi' was that in addition to the usual ninjutsu tricks that they used to impress tourists we had access to special techniques that were only possible thanks to our ancestors cross-breeding with various demonic entities.

These Ninja Arts were only made possible through the use of Taima-Particles, a source of power unique to Taimanin that differed from both the Magic used by Devils or Western Magicians and the Spiritual Energy used by Youkai and Onymoji, actually serving as the anathema to both.

What this essentially meant is that even if a Taimanin were to use a 'Fire Art' against someone that was normally immune to fire, they would still suffer damage due to the Taima-Particles negating their immunity, unless they were simply drastically stronger than the attacker.

Unfortunately, unlike Ninjutsu, which could be learned by pretty much anyone provided they had the aptitude for it, whatever abilities a Taimanin could utilize tended to be limited to their lineage, making them more akin to a Kekkei Genkai.

Case in point, Hebiko's family, the Aishu, were famous for their 'Beast Art' that allowed them to transform into animals, however once unlocked each member could only transform into a specific animal, such as Hebiko's Octopus form or her Grandmother's giant serpent.

Needless to say, the Fuuma Clan, as arguably the oldest member of the village, also possessed a Ninja Art unique to their lineage, though if I was being brutally honest I'd have been quite happy to have been born without one, given how cringe-worthy the name was.

As cringe-inducing as it sounded, the aptly named 'Jagan/Evil Eye' of the Fuuma Clan was a versatile Ninja Art that was considered both a mark of pride for the clan and the symbol of their former authority over the rest of Gosha Village.

However, much like how each member of the Aishu could only transform into a single animal, no two sets of Jagan Eyes were the same, each granting their owner a unique power that they would then incorporate into their own personal Ninja Style.

As an example, despite both of them being Close-Combat specialist, Tokiko's Jagan granted her a level of Clairvoyance that bordered on Astral Projection, making her absolutely unmatched when it came to information gathering, whereas Amane's Jagan basically made her Bishop from X-Men.

I shit you not, my butler could tank anything, be it gunfire, sword-strikes or even an explosion and return the stored energy back to sender in the form of a concussive blast or, if she was feeling particularly sassy, an Honest-to-Haruhi beam attack.

Of course, as with every overpowered ability, the Jagan came with their own unique drawbacks and weaknesses. In Tokiko's case, using her Clairvoyance at range left her body vulnerable to attack, whereas repeated use of Amane's would eventually result in her damaging the nerves in her hands over time.

Needless to say, simply unlocking your Jagan wasn't enough to earn you respect amongst the Fuuma. No, in order to be truly considered a member of the clan, you had to master both the strengths it afforded you whilst limiting the weaknesses that came with it.

Case in point, Tokiko never left her body unattended for long and had mastered her Jagan to the point she fought better with her eyes closed. And as horrible as it sounded, losing her arm had arguably been the best thing to happen to Amane as she had since replaced it with a more powerful prosthetic limb.

Put simply, in a clan that valued power above all else, the Jagan was considered as much a symbol of pride for the Fuuma as it was a symbol of terror for our enemies, so much so that those who failed to awaken it were treated as less than human.

Where was I going with this? Well as it turns out, one of the reasons Danjo chose to name me his heir, aside from the obvious fact I possessed a Y-Chromosome, was the fact that I somehow managed to awaken my Jagan at a fairly young age.

Normally this would've hailed me as a prodigy, or at the very least would've earned me a lot more respect from my peers growing up, were it not for the fact I was born with only a single functioning eye, meaning the potency of my ability would be cut in half, to say nothing for the ability itself.

You see, my ability was basically just a glorified 'Appraisal' Skill, allowing me, through physical contact, to analyse a target's abilities, physical or otherwise. While this would normally be seen as a boon in regards to information gathering, to the strength-obsessed Fuuma it was next to useless.

Fortunately for me, Old Man Yamamoto clearly didn't see things the same way. After all, it was my so-called useless ability that allowed me to discover that one of the most respected teachers at Gosha Academy was in actuality a deranged Serial Killer.

More on that later, but for now all you needed to understand was that while my Jagan might have been useless in combat, it was the perfect tool for analysing my opponent's abilities whether it be a natural talent, a trained skill, a quirk of genetics or even what kind of Sacred Gear they possessed.

Now of course, due to my foreknowledge, I didn't technically have to use my power on Issei. I could have simply pretended to scan him and called it a day, it's not like we could've done anything to save him, but a part of me couldn't resist wanting to take a look at the Longinus with my own eyes, so to speak.

With that said, you could probably imagine my surprise when, rather than find myself slowly processing the information coming off of Issei's slowly cooling corpse, I instead found myself standing in the middle of what could best be described as a vision of hell. A sea of never ending fire which looked like they could melt the very fabric if reality.

"... Ah Fuck..."

And I'll just leave off there for now.

I'm trying to avoid serious lore dumps, but as I move onwards I'll be covering the rest of Kuroto's teammates as we go along. This chapter was devoted to Amane, by virtue of her being the one on-scene at the time.

Some of you more familiar with the lore of the online Taimanin games may have noticed something off about Kuroto's 'Evil Eye', rest assured, this was done for a reason which will be addressed going forward.

Again, I won't be updating this as regularly because of work, but at the very least I intend to get as far as I can with this one before life drags me away.

Next time, Kuroto learns the importance of the Hogwarts Motto.