I have ultimately decided to continue writing under the same story so people don't get jolted out. Sorry for lying last chapter .
Now Playing: Sneaky Driver
Critical Hit! 349 damage!
Hifumi Taiyome defeated! +180xp!
Critical Hit! 332 damage!
Kodachi Taiyome defeated! +200xp!
I try to keep the wince down as I note from the death messages that the two sentries I just decapitated are sisters. As blood splatters like a fountain against my Henge, I let the two bodies hit the floor, since the two of them had the bright idea to go take a leak together.
The buddy system doesn't work when neither can spot the oncoming threat.
With a grimace, I turn away as the stench of blood hits my nose. I… am no longer as used to this. And yet, I can feel my brain slip into familiar patterns. Forget the names. They're NPCs. Actors put there by the system to populate the world.
It's easier when the one you just killed is just a "character" in a "quest". Their existence begins and ends down the length of my blade.
Just another target. I slip their corpses into the [Inventory] for later examination.
While it would be difficult for me to do it with my actual skin, the henge I'm wearing is already suffused with my chakra, so it's easy to then channel my chakra through it to alter its properties, allowing the blood to wash down with no friction. As I'm now clean, my henge is already in place, and down from nearby tree falls down a perfect copy of Kodachi. She grimaces at me.
Fuma Tomo, Fuma Clan Fledgeling (The Gamer), Lv.27
"You know, I thought it would be easier than with the children." she whispers as we start to make our way back to camp. Blithely, I wonder how terrifying this is. I've practically become a skinwalker.
"Children that fought back with enough strength to kill us. It's easier to feel bad when your opponent can't defend themselves." I quietly inform. We slip back into camp. It is a little ways up an unnatural-looking hill that was most likely created via Earth Release, perhaps over multiple days. Several tents, distributed amongst two campfires, made for the sleeping quarters. A small forge, glowing with embers and a smithy. A storage area.
And of course, the reason why I was here at all… the cages. Inside large metal cases still loaded up on their carts were a woman, a child and a man. The man was breathing raggedly, beaten to unconsciousness. Considering the lack of medical attention, he would likely die in the next few days.
The woman was Hyuga. Specifically, a part of the Branch Family, by the appearance of the seal on her forehead. I could imagine that, if the rescue attempt went poorly, they would just flip the switch on her. However, the issue was that cradled in her arm was a red, crying, blank-eyed baby.
"Shut that little bitch up! I thought all those devil spawn were supposed to be stoic little dolls?!" The clone cries out, and I blink for a moment as the Hyuga clan member glares in our general direction. However, a cacophony of laughter ensues a moment later, even as the Hyuga flexes her Byakugan in an intimidating manner. A moment later, her expression turns difficult, before settling on the baby again as it starts fussing.
I bump my shoulder to the clone. "Good one." The face of Taiyome Kodachi grins back at me.
We talked, we joked, we laughed with the other guards. I committed nothing to memory. A miniscule part of myself that I couldn't suppress wished for my acting to slip up, for someone to be familiar enough with the sisters that they would notice something was up.
They didn't. I'd picked my targets well. After all, the two of them keep to themselves in camp, remaining guarded in order to not permit anyone to take advantage of the other member of the duo.
Still, that didn't mean that there wasn't a complication… in the form of a pretty strong guy.
Hiroshi, Konohagakure Missing-Nin, Lv.29
HP: ?/?
STR: ?
VIT: ?
DEX: 52
INT: 16
WIS: 32
CHA: 36
CC: 12%
LUK:1
Hiroshi is the leader of the Breeze Bandits, a small group of civilians exiled from the Land of Wind after having turned to banditry. While their lacking skills should have quickly led to their demise, their luck came about after having met him as he fled the Leaf Village in the aftermath of the Kyubi's attack, having planned to make his leave for months. He quickly took the leadership role, using his superior strength to keep them in line and his knowledge as a former shinobi to know how to avoid actual danger in the form of making himself too big an issue for actual shinobi to bother with... until now, where they attacked a convoy returning from the capital which escorted a Hyuga civilian- from the Branch Family, but pregnant with a child that didn't bear the mark. With this stroke of luck, he believes holding onto her as a means of trade with Kumo could elevate them to higher status than simple bandits.
Scum. The kind that would kidnap a defenseless pregnant woman and a baby. I feel the clone's rage boil under the surface of her henge, but she maintains the Kodachi persona, laughing along with the rest of the guards. She's good, I'll give her that. We need to keep up the facade if we want to rescue the captives and take this scumbag down. A musclebound brute, to be exact- still moderately wiser and barely smarter than most of the people here due to his status as a former shinobi, but barely edging me out on wisdom and chakra, and dwarfed by me in DEX, INT, CC and LUK.
...and yet, I wasn't sure I could kill him. His HP was in the four digits. If you paid attention up until this point, you may know that that should be, with a VIT stat just in the two digits, impossible. A month ago, I would be questioning what the game was pulling behind the scenes. Now, thanks to my Superior Observation perk...
Toughness: Hiroshi adds his STR to his VIT when calculating maximum HP.
True Grit: When calculating maximum HP, double the amount received from his VIT.
Absolute bullshit. At this point, I'm not even sure a Tailed Beast Bomb would take him down in one hit. He'd probably stand back up, look around, and go "Huh. Didn't see that coming."
So... calculations... to have still two digits VIT and three digit STR... his VIT must be at least 69 (heh) and his STR... well, considering he's level 29 and has no less than 69 in VIT and 96 points coupled across his other stats if we discount a baseline of 10 from him being an adult... his STR should be... only around 110, 120 let's say to be onerous, since it doesn't actually matter as both VIT and STR will result in him gaining HP. So... 120STR, 70VIT... that's... 120+70, times ten for the base HP calc, times 2 for True Grit... that's 3800HP. He's a fucking tank. No doubt about it.
...one of my crits does 400 at best. How does that even work, I stab him in the neck, and he flexes so hard my sword breaks?
A hand swats me out of my reverie, and I look to the side to see my clone look at me, the face of Kodachi overlayed on top of their own. "What's got you all stiff?" They ask, and I realize that I've been staring at Hiroshi for a bit too long.
"He's so... beefy," I murmur in reply. It's not accidental that I say so louder than I intend. The other guards chuckle at the 'joke', while Hiroshi himself glances over, a smug look on his face. He flexes an arm, showcasing muscles that looked more like boulders than human flesh.
"Wanna come have a feel? Maybe I'll let you guess how much I can bench," Hiroshi jokes, and the guards around us erupted into more laughter.
They shouldn't be this happy. They're bottom feeder human scum, kidnappers and slavers. Yet here they are, joking around like we're all buddies, as if the proof of their guilt is not glaring daggers at us from the cage.
"3800 beefy," I whisper, and the clone stiffens beside me.
"One of our crits does four hundred," she breathes out in a mirror of what I'd just been thinking. "How does that even work? We stab him in the neck, and he flexes so hard that our sword breaks?"
It was fascinating to hear recursive thoughts like this occur, but hardly useful. We exchange a look, and she nods once, understanding passing between us. We need a new plan. I can't just blow my cover with some fancy jutsu, not here, not now. I've got to play it safe, keep my head down, and wait for the right moment. A Great Breakthrough would swoop through most of the bandits, but then, I'm left with whatever remains and the question of what to do with the survivors.
...waiting for Yugao-sensei is an option, I suppose- discretion being the better part of valor and all that- but... how the hell am I supposed to get anything done if I can't even take out a lump of meat like him?
Still. Going for a blitzkrieg probably won't work... it sucks, but I continue the charade. We spend the rest of the night sharing stories and laughs with the bandits, while I keep a close eye on Hiroshi. He seems content to drink and flex his muscles, not noticing our tension.
As the night winds down, clone-Tomo besides me pretending to have succumbed to the alcohol and taking a nap while I lazily clean up Hifumi's sword.
Low-Grade Steel Wakizashi
Durability: 39/50
Longer than a tanto but shorter than a katana, this sword's poor craftsmanship makes it a poor choice for taking on armored opponents, but is nonetheless a serviceable blade for cutting through flesh. Lives claimed: 0.
Wish I could say the same for my own kill count. Bit late for that though, I'm afraid. I carefully sheath the sword and look around, eyes glossing over the remaining details of the camp. There's twenty five of "us", twenty four mooks and the boss man, Hiroshi. Twenty four mooks, and the boss man, and one hostage. Apparently, we take watch in rotations of two hours each, six people apiece... and Hiroshi, doesn't. He sleeps the night, which, what with being able to single handedly slaughter his own men if they ever thought of rebelling, makes sense.
"Hey, Kodachi, babygirl, you wanna ditch the watch and hit the sack early?" one of the bandits slurs at the clone, and she blinks 'awake', looking around blearily, though her eyes are sharp.
"Huh? Wha... the hell you talkin about, Kuro...?" She slurs, playing the part of the slightly intoxicated sentry. It's a good cover.
"You wanna die, you fucking creep?" I hiss protectively, playing the part of the concerned, sober sister. The bandit laughs it off, slapping the clone on the shoulder and stumbling away to find someone else to bother. Hiroshi watches the exchange with a knowing smile, his eyes lingering on us.
"I'm a little envious of your dynamic, to be honest," Hiroshi says, smiling and rubbing the bridge of his nose. "You two are like... those two-headed beasts from the old stories. One stays awake, the other one sleeps, right? You've always got each other's backs."
"...boss, you suck balls at complimenting a girl," I huff with a roll of my eyes. The clone giggles.
He laughs easily, the sound echoing around the campfire. It's a disturbing sound, one that feels like it's made of a hundred layers of lies and a single thread of truth. But he's not entirely wrong. We do have each other's backs, just not in the way he thinks. "I would like to think you know I wasn't talking about your looks, Hifumi," Hiroshi says. "Still. You should let Kodachi rest, since she got too sloshed to do her part. She can trade watch with me."
"...so she sleeps on her ass while you help us, for once, chief?" Kuro says without me even prompting, and Hiroshi just gives a 'what can you do' shrug. "Fine, fine," my clone peels off the floor. "I know when I'm not wanted. Fuck all of you, and if you touch Hifu, I'll... I'll... kami, I'm smashed, I can't even threaten properly." She sways off into the darkness of the tent. I'm... not sure what the plan for the clone is now, but it can figure something out.
"Come on, spread out, pretend to actually try and get your watch done," Hiroshi says with a smirk. I peel off the floor, ready to head off and lop some heads, when he pokes my shoulder. "Hey now, I said I'd take your sister's place, right? You two always do your watch together?"
I nod, not really sure where this is going, but deciding to play along. "We've got a system," I murmur, keeping my voice steady.
"Well, don't change what works, right? You can share her watch with me." Hiroshi says, his grin growing wider.
I force myself to play along, nodding in a slightly tipsy manner. "Whatever you say, boss."
He slings his arm around my neck, a heavy, uncomfortable weight that I try not to react to. We walk away, and I'm not sure where we're going until he shoves me up against a tree, and his grip is suddenly not playful anymore. His eyes, reflecting the embers of the campfire, bore into me. "You know. Hifumi was a bit of a bitch, but I don't exactly enjoy that you killed her," he murmurs, his breath reeking of sake. I freeze, and he scoffs. "Do anything and I snap your neck. Then I go deal with your teammate in the tent, and who knows what happens to our little hostage, Konoha-san.
"...you absolute shitstain of a man, do you really think you can scare me?" I ask with a chuckle, playing it cool despite my racing heart.
Minari Masarai Defeated! +160exp!
"I think," He says, squeezing a little tighter. "That you don't want to test me. Now, tell me, was this a mission, or were you just border patrol? Did they send you for the Hyuga, or just us?"
Careful not to bite my lip, I decide to stall for time as I start to manage my [Inventory] while I talk. "...they sent us for you, but I didn't know about the Hyuga. Just a bandit elimination mission, you know?"
Hokuzo defeated! +170exp!
Jinzafusa defeated! +160exp!
"Ain't that the truth," he drawls. "You know, I'm curious about who's behind the Henge. Are you some genin corps scrub that got a bit too eager for a promotion?" He's enjoying this, I can feel it. The way his hand tightens, the smugness in his voice, the way he thinks he's got me in a corner.
Noginori Noginori defeated! +160exp!
Hiro defeated! +140exp!
...maybe I can play this to my advantage. "Should I drop the Henge?" I ask, tilting my head up to look him in the eye. He grabs me by one arm and the neck, pushing my head away from him. "Yeah, you know what. Drop the technique. You do anything other than a tiger seal, and I'll crush your throat."
Okanashi defeated! +60exp! (asleep)
Enaka defeated! +50exp! (asleep)
With a sigh, I do as such, noting out of the corner of my eye the steady stream of notifications, though I ignore the rest. Apparently, the rest of the opposition are… well, not opposing us. I don't think he's unaware that the clone is currently running through the camp, killing off his men one by one. I'd be surprised if he didn't kill them himself after giving over the Hyuga.
After a moment, my legs dangle in the air, the two feet of added height that the transformation into Hifumi had given me no longer present. The henge dissipates, revealing my true, eight year old body. "Ta-da." I huff.
His grip twitches, and his breath hitches. For a second, I see the doubt in his eyes. "You're not from the Leaf," he murmurs, his tone low and contemplative.
"What makes you say that? You don't know me," I reply, genuinely confused.
"The Leaf doesn't do child soldiers anymore. Not since the third war," Hiroshi says, his grip tightening slightly around my neck.
"That's... a good one," I huff. "Maybe you weren't looking hard enough." I don't bother hiding the sarcasm in my voice.
Sixteen... seventeen... the notifs have been steadily piling up. Clone-Tomo's been busy, and judging by the sudden quietness around camp, she's been doing a good job. Hiroshi's grip relaxes slightly, his eyes darting towards the tent where the hostages are held. He's getting nervous.
"Is that why you're not killing me? Because you noticed my teammate's been busy?" I ask, not bothering to keep the smugness out of my voice. Hiroshi's eyes dart around the camp, his grip on me tightening. The smell of his fear is palpable. "You think you're clever, don't you?"
"Shut the fuck up, you little brat," Hiroshi snarls, his face contorting with a mix of rage and fear. He pulls me close to his chest, using me as a human shield as he starts to walk back towards the camp, and I almost want to laugh. "You're gonna sit still and be a good little hostage, or I'll crush you like a bug."
I sit still, though I'm far from afraid now that things have turned in our favor. The crunch of leaves and the sudden silence of the camp are music to my ears. The clone's swift work was better than I could have hoped for. Only Hiroshi remains, and he's got the sense to be terrified. He's stumbling through the camp, eyes wide as he takes in the carnage of his fallen men.
The clone has also dropped the henge... no, wait, he henged into looking male and slightly bigger, but still related to me, and I have to admit, I look terrifying. A katana bigger than I am, hair spattered in blood, and standing far too proud for an eight year old. He stands up, slowly removing the sword from the neck of one of the men- an action that is purely theatrical, as I saw the notif of his death a minute ago. He turns to look at us, and Hiroshi's grip tightens on my throat.
"Who the fuck are you?" Hiroshi's voice is shaky now, his bravado slipping as the gravity of the situation sets in.
"...heheheheh..." I chuckle, my voice sounding eerie even to my own ears. "I bet you're gonna feel really, really dumb when you find out," I whisper, letting the last words hang in the air as the clone starts to walk towards us.
"Not a single fucking step closer," Hiroshi warns, his voice cracking under the weight of his fear. The clone stops, the blood-drenched sword held loosely at his side, his eyes never leaving Hiroshi's.
"What the hell are you doing?" The clone asks, tone bored. "You're wasting time. The longer we stand around, the more likely we are to be caught if those Kumo shinobi show up."
"Are you an idiot, brat? This kid does anything, I snap her neck," Hiroshi says through gritted teeth, his eyes wide and panic-stricken.
"So it would seem." The clone drawls, before turning back to me. "Seriously, what are you doing. I saw sixty tags vanish from my [Inventory] like, three minutes ago."
"Wha-"
"I was waiting for real Tomo to get close enough to watch," I sigh, smiling widely. "Hey, Hiroshi. Anyone tell you that art is an explosion?" I say, doing a hand seal with my free hand and channelling chakra from my pores. A moment later, I hear the sizzling of sixty explosing tags stored on various parts of my body. "Because I've got a piece of art for you right here. Sayonara, you scum."
-1HP!
Hiroshi's eyes go wide with shock, crushing my throat before I even have a chance to do anything. I go up in smoke like the clone that I am.
The tags, however, were very much real.
Tomo commits identity theft. It's okay, they weren't using them anymore.
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