Chapter 11 Part 1
"I'm a walking corpse," I muttered, fatalistic, looking up from That Very Scroll. My mood was... complicated. On one hand: new knowledge — the kind where just realizing what I'd stumbled into made me want to dance and hug Akashi. (What?! She's a very pleasant, attractive woman — especially without that muzzle of hers.) On the other: for at least two of the techniques in this scroll — one in particular — I could get planted under the nearest bush with zero ceremony. Enemies, allies — didn't matter. The "enemies" would just slit my throat and maybe dissect me. The "allies" would use me first — THEN slit my throat and dissect me. And the fact that only a Spiritual power user can even access this knowledge? Adds a real special kick to my situation. Makes me a guaranteed target.
That is — provided anyone ever finds out about my sudden "humble" little secret.
"Stinking rear end of the Ten-Tails — I want to, but I don't dare!" I groaned, sealing my Treasure into a tiny scroll. Treasure. No irony, no joke: stuff like this is priceless. Literally priceless. Things like this get passed down through families, clans, dynasties — considered the most precious of Relics. Never thought I'd get my hands on something like this — especially not this young! Well — at least now I've definitely got something special to pass down to my kids. Grandkids. Great-grandkids.
As for just hiding the scroll in the darkest corner and forgetting about it? Never seriously considered it. No way. That'd be cowardly, irresponsible, and just plain stupid. Sure — these techniques could be dangerous if anyone finds out about them. But I NEED to know them. Someday there's gonna be a moment where I've gotta choose between keeping my head down and protecting my life — and the lives of people I care about. When that happens — I want a couple trump cards up my sleeve. You never throw away knowledge. And besides... besides, this stuff is damn fascinating! And awesome! And useful! Even if it's dangerous... yeah.
All this — and I still haven't reached the end of the scroll. It just refuses to unroll past a certain mark. Was that a hint? Like — if I want more, I've gotta master what's already been given? That's the way I was leaning. At least it's more optimistic than thinking the pages just got stuck together because someone spilled something sweet on them.
"Trrk-trrk-trrk!.."
"What — what is it?! Oh — hey, little guy!" Startled, I stared at the tiny kodama with curiosity.
"Trrk-trrk!!!..." It shook its head even more frantically.
"What-what??? Easy — you're hard to understand!" The forest spirit's behavior had me both confused and worried.
"Trrrrrrrrrrrrrrk!"
"Oh... Got it," I said quietly — and almost at the same moment, I felt a faint tugging at the edge of my senses. Like a thread tied around your pinky — someone pulling on the other end. What the kodama was trying to tell me was suddenly crystal clear.
Attack.
In the first few days here, I'd walked the area — sticking alarm-barrier amulets all around the village. That's exactly what I was feeling now: something big crossing that invisible line. Over and over. And by some cosmic joke — most of the signals were coming from MY direction. A few more faint points on the opposite side of the barrier. Two really strong ones — from the bridge. Those two? Zabuza and Haku. No doubt. The small squad on the far side? Probably thugs sent to grab Tazuna's family. But I don't need to worry about that — I can feel faint Tailed Beast emanations from that direction too, which means Naruko's over there. Don't think half a dozen random scumbags are gonna do much against an army-girl who can crank out over a hundred clones at once. The bridge — that's clearly where the jonin fight's happening. So I'll hurry there.
Just gonna take out the trash first, of course.
To study the scroll without an audience, I'd gone pretty deep into the woods. No need to worry about my surroundings now — can work freely.
"Alright, run along, little guy. Thanks for the warning." I moved the kodama from my hand to a branch — it vanished inside instantly. "Hey — my little back-gnawers?"
"We are not back-gnawers!" Hora exclaimed, almost childishly offended.
"We do not gnaw Kaoru-sama's back!" Horo puzzled. Hard for these spirits to get human idioms — they take everything way too literally.
"You live on my back. Feed there. That makes you back-gnawers. Doesn't mean you have to literally bite my back to qualify." I laughed — a little nervously — at my own stupid joke. Guess somewhere inside, I still haven't accepted that I've gotta fight. I'm a monk, damn it! Not some Shaolin type — swinging a staff at skulls, running on wires. Although... I could do the wire thing. And crack a few heads — just a question of chakra. Hah... Tangled up in my own motivation again. Gotta remind myself why I'm here. Because I'm my own worst enemy. There. "There's gonna be a fight — you ready?"
"Haaaaaai!" Both carps shouted, cheerful as ever.
"Seems like a game to them..." I muttered, pulling supplies from my pouches. Okay... about two dozen basic shikigami blanks, nine more complex ones. Think I'll save those.
"...or not," I corrected myself, ducking behind a tree trunk. When someone tripped the barrier, all I could tell was that the line had been crossed — and that there were more than one or two. Pinpointing was tricky — the enemy was moving in a tight group.
So... about a dozen. Openly thuggish-looking guys — no stealth, talking loud. Gear? Whatever they could scrounge. Mismatched clothes, gaudy — armed with everything from katanas and staves to axes and clubs.
In other words — rabble.
"Alright — shouldn't be a problem," I thought, hurling the paper shikigami into the air. They shot toward the enemy, transforming mid-flight. Cut from paper — looking like stick-figure people — the shikigami started inflating like balloons, gaining volume. Fed by my spiritual power, they grew to human height — those same cartoonish human figures, now fully three-dimensional. And mobile.
Simplest neutral spirits. The name says it: neutral in the most literal sense — which makes them kind of versatile. Usable in pretty much any situation. Downside? Effectiveness could be better. These spirits have almost no intelligence — can only follow the simplest commands. "Take that." "Go there." "Hit that." That kind of thing. At my current skill level — I can control up to six at once.
"WHOOOA!? What the hell is this?!" The bandits started yelling as six white, faceless figures materialized in front of them. The sudden appearance of unknown... somethings shocked them stupid — and I used that surprise to the fullest, ordering the shikigami to attack.
Paper — but spirit-controlled, spirit-fueled. They could cause a ton of trouble for unprepared enemies. The white blanks lurched into the group, swinging their long arms in wide, clumsy arcs. The paper bodies were like silk — flexible, tough. When someone swung a sword at them, they just bent — didn't cut. But despite those perks — they couldn't really go head-to-head with humans. Too slow. Hits not strong enough to knock anyone out.
"And thank god nobody thought to light them on fire," I sighed inwardly. Reinforced or not — paper's paper. Should've tried catching stronger spirits. These ones aren't much real use. Yeah — shikigami like this probably won't cut it against anyone beyond regular civilians.
"Alright... Forward — Horo, Hora!" I shouted, bursting from cover.
"Yes!" The water spirits cried, exploding out of my body. Ugh!.. Not getting used to that anytime soon. "Water Jets!!!"
Flashing past me, the carps transformed into twin streams of water — spiraling together, surging forward — sweeping away a couple of slow bandits.
"Bastard!!!"
"This your doing, you little shit?!"
They spotted me. Rushed me — threats, curses flying. Didn't get far, though.
"Keep them off me!" I ordered. The six shikigami snapped into position — a wall between me and the enemy. No matter how the thugs tried, they couldn't break through that flailing, shifting barrier. "Horo, Hora — knock them down!"
"Hai-hai!!" Merging mid-dance, the two spirits became one water current — crashing down and sweeping every last bandit off their feet.
"Don't have time to play nice with these guys," I thought, running up to the splashing, floundering enemies. "And besides... why the hell am I even justifying myself?!"
"Be grateful I didn't just kill you," I muttered, lowering my hand into the puddle. "Byakurai!"
White discharge raced down my right arm — then white lightning slammed into the water. The bandits screamed in unison, convulsing. Looked terrifying — but not actually lethal. Byakurai was pure spiritual technique — couldn't do much real physical damage. Or at least — not my version. Honestly, the only thing it shared with real lightning was the name and the way it behaved. The real damage hit the spiritual and energetic components — crazy effective against spirits. Against living things? Weak thermal damage. Nervous system disruption. Slightly dangerous. Not fatal.
"Also... hurts like absolute hell." I watched the thugs writhe. Never actually tested this on shinobi. On humans? Yeah. One time I'm especially ashamed of — Old Man genuinely lost it, spent forever whacking my rear with that broom... Couldn't sit for a week. Ugh...
"Rake them into a pile!" I told the shikigami. They obeyed instantly. Ugh — should've said "stack them neatly." The blanks took it literally — just shoved bodies along the ground. "Fine, whatever — that works. Alright... surround them! Press in!"
The shikigami complied, crowding as tight as they could around the groaning, twitching heap. I hurled the rest of my simple blanks into the pile, folded my hands in a seal, and started murmuring an incantation. All the shikigami seemed to... melt. The whole white mass flowed like hot wax onto the bandits, swallowing them.
I stepped closer and slammed a spell-inscribed talisman into the quivering mass.
"Seal!" I shouted. The shikigami-mass shuddered one last time — and hardened. Something like plastic. "There. The world always feels cleaner when the trash is in special bins, right?! Sit tight, boys. Oh — and," I remembered, delivering a mostly good-natured kick to someone's rear end sticking out of the white block. "Even though I never knew my parents — raised in a monastery — I Am Not A Bastard!"
Strange... Did that actually get to me? Hm. Never would've thought.
Alright — this seal'll hold for a long time. No need to worry about this riffraff. Gotta get to the bridge. The Tailed Beast feeling's gotten stronger — I'm sure Naruko's already beaten back the thugs at Tazuna's place and linked up with the main group.
Better hurry — those Nine-Tails emanations are definitely intensifying. Really hope nothing bad comes of this...