[I had posted the character designs for this arc in my pix iv account

Chara design Corvid's Eclair pix iv

.ne t/en/

artworks/125345117]

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Chapter 27: The Shadow over Insumasu

Part 4: Guys, we are M-rated now.

The Gato City in a way is sort of the unofficial ninja village of Wave Country.

It was established about 5 years ago, but had mostly started operating 2 years prior. The reason the small city of 20000 population had been raised so fast was the combination of it being built through the strategic usage of Ninjutsu as well as filling up the needed population through importing and freeing slaves of certain qualifications to establish the foundation of population.

Ladies and gentlemen, Gato is so much more competent and smart in this fanfic, which means Tazuna is absolutely fucked this time.

However, despite what I seen as a bustling, up and incoming city, the moment the clock strike 5pm, the flourishing vibe of the new city quickly died and down and everyone hastily return home, leaving only 500, which is half of the Gato Police Force to patrol the city, which consist of individuals with enough rudimentary ninja skills to be better than your average police but not enough to be the real deal.

"What the two of you about to see is what had been asked by our employer for us to investigate.", Sasuke lead us to observe from the rooftop of Gato Tower, a 15-floors high tower. Man, it gives me chuckles that they consider 15 floors to be pretty high for a building in this world, lol.

"First of all, its Team 7 that's being hired by Gato. I am not, technically.", I clarified.

"What does it matter if you're not technically working with us? We're all on the same side anyway. Shouldn't that mean you too are working for Gato too?", Naruto asked.

"That's not how it works, Uzumaki. If just hiring a squad from Konoha by extension made everyone work under the same employer, that would make every job to be unfeasible. Normally, if two squads were working on missions that leads to conflict of interest, both squads cancel or freeze the ongoing mission to wait for the Mission Office to arbiter which mission we should continue. Otherwise, ninjas are supposed to stay neutral if they're not hired for the job. They can help if they want, but they cannot sabotage the mission.", Hanabi helpfully explains the nuance of ninja relations.

"And that's why Hotaru insist that he is not under Gato's hire. It will give him a leeway when it comes to making contact with Insumasu Town.", Sasuke elaborates further.

"This means he has the neutral ground to work with, and in theory, will be able to argue to make contact with Zabuza and his Angels peacefully.", Kakashi elaborates further as he arrived to the rooftop.

"Sheesh, what took you so long, Kakashi?", I commented as the deadbeat finally show his face around the block.

"Mah, I was just resting after my epic battle with Zabuza."

"Dude, it was your clone that do all the fighting. You were being a deadbeat as usual reading doujins and giggling like Hot Topic chicks reading Twilight."

"I had priorities."

I just stare deadpan at Kakashi. Team 7, you're gonna have a rough time with this idiot around.

"It's about to start.", Kakashi warns, his expression turn serious for once.

As soon as the sun fully set in the west, roars and cries of the horrific nature emanates across the city. As I observe the roads below, monstrosities of unparalleled terror rise from the shadows, and roam the nook and cranny of the city, seeking prey to feast on.

Ladies and gentlemen, this fanfic had decided to rip off Bloodborne now.

"Oh for fucks sake! Really?!! This is Yharnam now?!"

The Others don't get my references, but they always just assumes that's just me referring to manga ideas I had yet to publish. But they do get the idea that if even Hotaru sounds pissed off that means the situation is really that fucked.

I can only stare with comical horror as I just saw a fucking Cleric Beast just maul a squad of patrol who got careless and chomped of their heads. It then swing around the corpse of a patrolman and use it as impromptu mace. The whole city, once silent, has now turn into a cacophony of screams and roars. Blood flood and splash every corner of the city as more and more patrols were slain in their futile attempt to hold back the scourge of shadows. Half-earen corpses left strewn all over the place

Damn it. I guess this fanfic is M-rated now.

"They call it the Hyakki Yakou, The One-Hundred Demon Parade. But as you can see, the monsters that roamacross the city is more than just a hundred.", Kakashi began his explanation tangent. "We tried to identify what the monsters is, but the moment we killed any, it melted back into the shadows. When we tried to capture it, it dissipates the moment the sun rise up. We tried to cull the numbers as much as we could, but the number of monsters will be replenished the next night."

"I assume the same thing is also going on in the Insumasu Town?", I asked.

"We have reports of the Hyakki Yakou rising across a quarter of the island now. It started in the city about 3 months ago, but since then it had spread further."

"Have Gato tried full extermination before?", I asked further.

"Gato had hired enough ninjas to perform complete sweep three times before it proves to be useless. And now that it had spread this far, it would be not economical for him to continue doing so. Now, the island is maintaining what semblance of order they have left by having security patrols culling up the Shadows of Hyakki Yakou that got up too close to the many shelters across the city. There are many who decides to forgo seeking refuge in the shelters and holed up in their own homes. It would simply be up to luck whether the Shadows found them or not."

Shadow monsters. A new city crippled before its rise. Original inhabitants that opposed the rapid development of the island.

Man. This is supposed to be a joke fanfic. The amount of content this fanfic made up should be illegal.

"I'll try to make contact with Insumasu Town tomorrow."

"Are you sure that is a good idea? Even if you claim neutrality, Zabuza and his Angels may prefer to just take you out on principal. It's more likely that you're a spy acting on our behalf rather than a person making up his own decision.", Hanabi questions my idea.

"oh don't worry about that Hanabi. I have an idea."

))))) The next morning)))))

"I am here to betray Konoha and join you girls."

"Huh?!!"

As the squad of three hot youkai hot chicks being confused over my random declaration of betrayal, I smirk.

See, I have a plan.