Chapter 22: Hook, Line, and Boom?

??? POV 

*Shhnnnkkkk* *Shhhnnnnkk* 

I watch the pearly white inch out from deep under my pale skin slowly rising without a single drop of blood flowing. 

Bringing it out didn't even hurt anymore as I've been forced to use it every day by the monster ever since that fateful day. I have no idea where my mother's home was, nor do I know where I have been taken to now. 

"How much food do we have left from that ship we ransacked three days ago?" 

"We only have a day's worth of food left…" 

"Fuck! We can't afford to raid another fishing boat or village so soon! Byakuren's dogs are hot on our trail in droves. If we draw too much attention to ourselves now, he'll sic his whole army on us in an instant." 

*Tch* 

"You sound scared shirtless of that midget and his group! Grow some spine! One of us Kaguya clan warriors is worth ten of his incompetent peons. Kouta-sama is being overly cautious!" 

Two of my clansmen participate in a heated argument about a matter that I can't really make sense of, the only thing I can gather is that one of them is displeased by how the monster is running things.  

"You damn fool! Haven't you heard the rumors that Byakuren has gathered hundreds of ninjas under his rule. We would be wiped out before we can even put a dent in his forces with such odds. Kouta-sama seeks to keep our clan out of that monster's clutches in our fragile state." 

I have begun to lose hope of ever seeing my mother's face again. Even if she is searching for me, I don't know if I want her to find me because the monster, "Kouta" and his lackeys are far too strong for her.

They'll kill her without batting an eye like they've done to so many that have spotted us migrating endlessly through multiple small islands on a small fishing boat that barely fits us all in it. 

I must escape this boat before she finds me and dies because of it. However, I'm not dumb. I know full well I'll have to fight my way off this floating jail to leave. 

I am chained up in my locked room at the bottom of the boat unless it's to "train" then release me and drag me upstairs. Usually, the training involves me trying to protect myself as I am beaten with sticks and fists. 

All the bruises and wounds that I receive heal almost instantly without leaving a single mark. But each training session leaves me exhausted and unable to move. 

"Just because that midget's forces are bloated with garbage doesn't mean that we can't trim them down to size. The remaining members of this clan are all proven in true battle, all those that fell prior to now were just dragging us down. We also have that beast that Kouta-sama fathered just in case we get backed into a corner." 

The man loudly bangs against the door of my cell to emphasize that I am the beast he was indeed referring to. However, I would sooner stab him in the back than fight alongside him. 

"I would keep your stupidity to yourself from now on if you don't want Kouta-sama to cut your tongue out. Your bloodthirst is admirable, but it will only lead to the death of us all especially when the entirety of Water country has been effortlessly consumed by the very army you consider filled with "garbage"." 

The hostile man grunts and doesn't respond further. 

I am being held captive by my father and 14 others. The fourteen all share the traits of black hair and red dots on their foreheads but none of them seemed to have my powers. 

At first they were very scared of me until they saw the monster easily break my jaw and wrist, when I tried to stab him during my first training session. 

From then on, they readily joined in on my torture sessions and eventually took them over as the monster stopped taking part a few months back. 

They think it's funny as I desperately try to defend against their punches and kicks, unable to graze even a single hair on any of them despite being kept within arm’s reach. 

I wish I could figure out how to shoot those things out of my hand again, but I can't figure it out for the life of me. Currently, I can make spikes the size of my pinky rise from my arms if I concentrate hard enough. 

The spikes get more fragile the longer they get so during the beatings, I try to keep them as close to my skin as possible to deflect some of the pain. It worked very well the first few times but recently they have been only targeting areas my arms aren't protecting while they bully me.

I need to find that same spark that I felt that day in the cabin when I defended my mommy from the monster. It is somewhere within me deep down and the more I focus on it, the closer I feel to finally grasping it instead of light brushing it at times. 

And when that day comes, I'm filling every single person on this boat with lots of holes. 

Shogo POV

*sigh~*

It's been about two weeks since I had that “riveting” conversation with Byakuren. I left that tiny island surrounded by mist and went back to Nakajima to collect any tools I felt would need. 

Also, I told Hana I would be gone for a while on a mission. I was tight lipped on the details of the mission and didn’t ask her anything about the people on the list as I didn’t want to involve her in my shitstorm. 

And I would be lying if Byakuren’s words didn’t have any effect on my behavior as I have become more conscious of my dependence on the nice old woman’s help. 

Currently, I am hiding out in the ceiling of an old rundown one-story home on the outskirts of a large town that holds the headquarters of the worldwide publishing juggernaut, Wutarui Written Word. 

The heads of the Wutarui organization, Hideki and Yoko Wutarui, both originate from this small formerly destitute island without a name directly to the west of the Terumi’s volcanic island and just off the coast of Nagi Island. 

They built this publishing company from the ground up on the very island they grew up on and over time, a bustling village rose up around it due to the growing market spurred by the immense success of the publishing company. 

There’s been a lot of talk of it being named “Wutarui Island” soon due to the family being entirely responsible for completely flipping around the island’s dying fate and making it a worldwide landmark. 

The island’s people absolutely love the couple and basically kiss the ground they walk on. It was extremely easy to get info on the couple’s whereabouts as I posed as an overly eager foreign fan that has traveled very far to get an autograph from Hideki Wutarui to the receptionist on the first floor of the company building. 

The woman was a complete blabbermouth as she politely refused my request, explaining that the heads of the company had left to build up one of their many branches on the mainland two weeks prior and they wouldn’t be back to headquarters for at least a year. 

The reason I decided to go for the Wutarui couple first out of everyone else on the list is because they are the greatest flight risks by far given that they are the heads of a global publishing operation.  

I responded with a sad sigh and my best pouty look before I turned to slowly walk away. But then the talkative receptionist gave me another valuable nugget of information, as she hoped to ease my "sadness" at having missed my chance to meet my favorite author. 

The only child of the Wutarui couple, Benishi Wutarui, is going to be leaving the island to study abroad with his parents today at noon. The fifteen-year-old Benishi has been sickly his whole life and couldn't leave with his parents because he requires a great deal of preparation to travel for any significant amount of time. 

Most of the village is getting together before Benishi's boat's departure and is giving gifts to help with the long voyage. The receptionist encouraged me to say farewell to the couple's son with her and maybe ask Benishi if he can get his parents to send an autograph to me. 

She assured me that Benishi is nice enough to actually follow through with my request. I smiled brightly and thanked the woman behind the counter profusely before running out of the building intent on planning just how I was going to snatch up that kid and make his parents come back to Water Country.

It's been a week since I received that helpful tip and I used to scope out the giant boat that Benishi would be using to leave. It wasn't hard to find the boat given that it was the largest at the docks and a crew was stuffing extravagant shit in it all week. 

After searching every nook and cranny of the boat during the night all week, I've concluded that my best bet for infiltrating the boat undetected will be attaching myself to the bottom of it well after it departs from the shores of this island then waiting for everyone to fall asleep on board. 

Benishi's room is located at the top of a two-story cabin on the back of the boat. It should be easy enough to sneak in and out of since it is so far from all the other rooms on the boat. 

The teen won't be much trouble for me to physically overpower given his weakening disposition. Hopefully, Benishi will be cooperative after seeing I mean business when I flash around my big ass sand sword a bit. 

I look in the corner a scowl at all black mask and suit that Gengetsu had given me to wear on missions. I hate to use anything that bastard gave me, but I had nothing else appropriate for what I needed to do under the cover of night. 

I'll suck it up for now but when I finish tending to this damn list, I'm throwing this shit into the ocean. 

Sigh~

I toss the bony tail of my charred dinner into my mouth before slipping the mask on to my head. 

'Let's get this shit over with…'

Later that night…

The surface of the ocean is blanketed by a relatively persistent mist. While it wasn't nearly as debilitating as the one conjured by Byakuren, it did make it imperative that I pay attention to the water surrounding me just in case my target passed by in the water in front of me. 

I feel my goosebumps rub against the light fabric of my all-black getup. 

I'm standing on the ocean, lightly bobbing up and down, waiting for the boat to come into sight. After taking a moment to look at the planned route for the ship's voyage to Bear Country, I made the estimation that they will pass this exact spot a few kilometers northeast around six hours after they left the port on the starting island. 

It took me fucking forever to do the math! I had to scrap my calculations like ten times because I had to consider weather, tide strength, the weight of the boat, the size of the sail, etc. 

Definitely the hardest part of this damn mission by far! One thing is for sure, I'm sinking this goddess damn boat for giving me so many headaches over the past week. 

Right on que the light mist slowly parts to reveal the fifty-meter-high bow of the very ship I had spent the better part of a week examining. 

I lightly hop over to the large water vessel that is moving quite fast despite its size. On the off chance that someone actually is awake at this ungodly hour, I make sure to keep silent in my approach. 

I leap from the surface of the water and land horizontally on the hull of the gigantic with minimal noise. 

'Now here comes the part I've been waiting for!'

Gleefully removing the large blade strapped to my back, I stab the lower end of the hull with the full length of my sand sword. While walking along the bottom, I repeat the action a few more times before I'm satisfied that I have successfully compromised the gargantuan boat's ability to stay afloat for an extended period. 

I didn't want the sailors aboard to spill the beans of the young Wutarui's kidnapping to those fanatic islanders for at least a few days.

The holes I made should prevent them from being able to rush straight back to the island. They'll have to stop somewhere and have all these holes fixed before they can make a return trip.

With slow cautious steps, I saunter up the hull of the ship almost on all fours then hang off the banister by my fingertips. 

I glance back and forth on the deck looking for any sign of people or sources of light beyond the shadows cast by the many barrels lined along the otherwise empty deck.

Satisfied that no one will see me infiltrating the boat, I pull myself up and walk along the railing as I don't want to deal with the creaky floorboards of the boat. 

Having a huge sword placed horizontally on my lower back does wonders for my already immaculate balance, who would have known! 

I am already halfway over to the Wutarui kid's room and there isn't a soul in sight. The only thing I can hear is the whistling of the wind and the calm waves underneath, rocking the boat softly. 

*Twww-wwang!*

*Twww-wwang!*

My body reacts before my mind, and I am already soaring into the air toward the other side of the boat. I land into a somersault and continue rolling behind one of the barrels for cover. I remove the sword off my back and look out into the shadows of the boat. Scanning the roofs of the cabins that I am smack dab in the middle of currently, not a very advantageous position.

*Twang! *

*Thunk! *  

I dive to the other side of the boat right before the head of a well-placed arrow penetrates my skull and instead gets lodged into the barrel I was taking refuge behind.

'I need to gauge how many people are shooting at me. I already know they're on top of the roofs of both cabins.'

Quickly crouching down to let an arrow soar over my head from behind then I leap to my left to avoid another arrow getting shot into my back. 

'So, there's two archers on the roof behind me…'

*Pss-ssshhhh~*

*Pss-ssshhhh~*

Both of those arrows that I avoided start to flare up and sparkle brightly, lighting up the dock of the boat in a disorienting white flickering light. 

I look up to the roof closest to me just in time to see two men in black kudo uniforms with white sheets covering their faces, aiming their loaded bows downward towards my face.

My normally tranquil chakra flow surges throughout my body and I leap backwards into the air cracking the wood below me. I gently rotate my body, so my feet are pointing in the air and my back is now turned toward the archers who just shot at me. 

I land feet first on the bottom of the crow's nest of the main mast, only to have to swat away more arrows shot at me from the archers below with the flat side of my sand sword. 

My assailants look tiny from up here but now I could clearly see four archers that are only carrying longbows. 

'These bastards can't do shit now that I have the high ground! I have no idea how the hell they're seeing me with those napkins over their faces, but those arrows won't fucking matter when I get close enough.'  

Discarding a kunai and a paper bomb from my pouch, I quickly wrap the paper around the small weapon's hilt. Then I rig the bomb to go off in little more than a second with a subtle infusion of chakra. 

I look behind my shoulder to see that the blinded archers behind me have notched two more arrows and are aiming directly at my back somehow. 

They shoot the arrows simultaneously and I toss the sizzling kunai towards them in the same breath.

 *KaBOOOMM-!!!!* 

I slide down the mast to avoid their arrows then watch as both archers on the roof towards the back of the boat are engulfed in flame and smoke.

'Hopefully that put them out of commission…'

The whistling in the air closing from behind, alerts me to another fucking set of arrows tearing through the sky to my position. I slap them aside with the flat of my blade again then in retaliation I charge my chakra again and reverse my grip on the hilt of my sand blade. 

I raise the sword over my shoulder and launch towards one of the remaining archers below me with all my might as if it were a mighty spear. 

Quick as lightning my blade meets its target, the bowman on the left could only watch in horror as my mighty sword plunges into the chest cavity of his companion. 

The sword sinks all the way into his chest to the hilt with the blade spilling out of his back into the floor below, pinning the archer on the right's still warm corpse to the wooden roof of the cabin. 

Blood hadn't even begun to leak out of the dead archer before I leap from my position on the beam to take care of the still shocked archer on my left. 

Midway through my descent to dispatch my foe below, the archer quickly turns their bow towards my falling form and shoots an arrow. 

The arrow is on trajectory to pierce my chest, and will no doubt cause fatal damage if it hits. I put my left forearm in front of my chest only for it to explode with pain as the arrowhead lodges deep into the bone with an audible crack.

I land on the wooden roof, cradling my left arm, my vision slightly blurred from tears. 

The remaining archer stumbles back from me in fear but I immediately whip a kunai at their head with my good arm. 

The projectile buries itself in the skull of the archer, penetrating the cloth with a wet thud. I walk towards my sword that is still pinning a corpse to the roof, inwardly cringing from the feeling of warm blood between my toes. 

Putting my foot on the impaled corpse for support, I then begin tugging on the hilt of my sword until it finally dislodges from the wood and slides out of the corpse. 

The blade of my sword is now soaked in blood from top to bottom, it gleams a dark red in moonlight instead of its normal sand color. 

I put the sword on my back and quickly scan the bloody corpse closest to me. Reaching down and ripping the cloth off the dead archer's face then tearing it mostly apart. After yanking the arrow out of my left arm out with a grunt and I tightly wrap the torn cloth around the puncture wound, trying my best to cut off circulation. 

I quickly scan the archer's only to be baffled by the glossy cloudy white pupils that rolled up to nearly the back of his skull.

'Holyshit! How the hell was this bastard shooting at me while blind! They had to have been using some other sense to get my location all those times…. Now that I think about it, those archers behind me didn't react at all when I threw that exploding kunai right in front of them- '

"BBBRRRRRTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!~" 

I look back to the roof where I thought I had dispatched the archers with the blast, but lo and be fucking hold, one severely charred half dead archer is blowing on some makeshift handheld horn. 

The sound violently echoes through the air hurting my sensitive eardrums. The torture only lasts for another few seconds before the crispy archer finally succumbs to his wounds and plops over on to floor. 

Massaging my ears lightly, I fully turn around to glare at the irritating jackass that tried to make my eardrums explode. There's no doubt he woke up the entire boat with that damn horn. With a little effort I can hear the shouting and clamoring feet of the 

sailors surging up from the depths deep in the ship. 

‘Fuck!’ 

I rush to the back cabin where I knew the Watarui heir’s cabin resides, I leap from the railing of the middle cabin then kick off the side of the mast and land in a somersault in front of the door leading to the upstairs of the captain’s cabin. 

‘Hopefully the teen won’t struggle too much. I can’t afford to get cornered in a tiny room. I won't be able to use the sand blade to its full potential due to its length. If worse comes to worst, I can just put a kunai to that sickly bitch’s throat and use him as a hostage to get off this floating heap of shit!’ 

I refuse to put the sand blade away with so many enemies crawling on this ship so instead of using the handle, I lift my left foot to kick in the door on account of me only having one usable arm now. 

*KRAK! *  

“Rrrrraggggh!-”

Before my sandal can even brush the door, a sizable man about twice my size wielding a spear forcefully bursts through the door, making me stumble back in surprise. 

Our eyes meet and he charges me with the point of the spear primed to impale my chest. I watch the man move towards me in surprise….at his slowness. 

There is no way this dude is using chakra if he's moving this slow. As the tip of the spear closes in and the large man extends his arms preparing to skewer me, I pivot to my right before the point can break skin and let the spear travel perpendicular about a couple inches from me. 

The man looks at me in shock, his arms still vulnerable and outstretched. In one fluid motion faster than man can react, I swing down the sand blade with all my might. 

*SSSLLLNNKKK!!*

The blade goes through both of the spearman’s arms and also the middle of the spear. There is a spray of blood that tags the side of my face as I try to turn away at the last minute. I can't help the feeling of disgust welling up inside me at the blood overpowering smell of the blood on my mask. 

The large newly crippled man beside me erupts into blood curdling screams before crumpling to the ground in agony. Blood continues to pour out of his arm holes painting the side of the ship to his right red. 

The sight of the armless grown man cowering on the ground is hard to look away from, but I hear the door swing open from the captain's cabin again. 

"YOU BASTARD!" 

A total of three men run out of the door towards me. All of them significantly smaller than the huge spear dude and armed with curved short swords. The lead attacker is closing on me faster than the spear guy though it doesn't matter at all given the fact my weapon has more range. 

I remain standing still as the swordsmen rush me. I can see the fear and desperation in their eyes clearly as they are now six feet away. 

The lead swordsman leaps forward with his weapon raised intent on bringing it down on my scalp. The other two lag slightly behind but are poised to strike in order to overwhelm me with numbers. 

Circulating chakra throughout my body, I step to the right completely out of danger of the overhead swing and at the same time whip the sand blade to the right, cleaving straight through the waist of the man directly in front of me. 

Both halves of the man separate, with blood and guts spraying onto my entire front. The sword slips out of the now dead man's hands while in the air, falling to the ground blade first. 

All the while my eyes are trained on the next closest enemy, his eyes widen as he is still registering the quick death of his comrade. The sword in front of me is now close to the ground so without moving my gaze I kick the blade directly, upward. 

The sword spins wildly in between me and the swordsmen and just as the second enemy takes a step, I kick the spinning sword with all my might. 

"Fuck-" 

The blade has now sunk itself deep into the chest of the second swordsman, the man looks confused at the hilt in his chest before collapsing face first on the ground. 

"Holy shit!" 

The final swordsman starts to succumb to his fear as he looks at the blade pushing out of his freshly dead comrade's back. His hands start shaking and his stance becomes unsteady. 

It is clear this one has none of the courage his comrades had shown and now knows that despite my non-intimidating physique, I am a force that cannot be overcome with just an advantage in size and numbers. 

I point the crimson sand blade at the man while looking directly into his eyes as he steps back in panic. Mustering up the deepest voice I can, I address the last swordsman to stand down. 

"Drop your weapon if you want to remain alive! I need information but I have no qualms with just killing you and finding your ward on my own." 

The sword clatters to the ground and the coward submits on his knees, 

"Whatever yah want! Just don't fucking off me! The weird ass kid is below the deck in some heated room or whatever. The ladder down there is under those barrels!"

He points to the line of barrels along the right side of the ship. I let the tip of my blade lightly poke the bridge of the coward's nose, 

"Where are the other sailors and are any of them armed?" 

The man leans back a bit before again spilling his guts, 

"They're all down in the sailors’ quarters in the middle cabin! None of them are armed and can handle themselves in a fight. That's why those rich bastards had to hire us for security along with those creepy ass archers." 

It's a bit suspicious to me that the Wutarui couple would only hire such meager defenses for the safe voyage of their only child. However, I doubt the yellow-bellied man would dare lie to me when he is trapped on this boat with nothing to stop me from killing him besides him being cooperative and earning my pity. 

I point my sword toward the captain’s cabin, 

"Get out of my sight, coward! If I see you again, I'll flay you with your own sword and toss you into the ocean after…" 

The surviving swordsman paled at my threat before stumbling to get to his feet and quickly run to his momentary haven from me, inside the cabin. 

I can't help but scoff at the man's behavior. 

'Sheesh there's knowing when to make a tactical retreat and then there's just being a fucking punk…'

Ignoring the man's existence, I direct my attention to the barrels lined up to the right of me. With a single slash of my sword, I cut all of them down to less than half height. 

I can feel my right bicep throbbing from having to swing the sword without the use of my other hand. I am starting to exhaust myself with all the chakra I've been using to supplant my strength and speed. 

Kicking away the remains of the barrels with little trouble and seeing a small square cargo hatch in the floor. I yank the string on the small door, pulling it open and letting loose a cloud of steam from the bowels of the ship. 

I peer down into the darkness to see the barest of light coming from below. The feeling of the heat on my face is not unlike that of a freshly drawn bath of boiling water. The bizarreness of the sudden temperature change gives me second thoughts about venturing down there to find out if I had been lied to or not. 

'What the fuck does a sickly teen need with his own goddess damn sauna!? Could this possibly have been the reason that he didn't simply ride with his parents out of the country?'

I shake my head in exasperation at the absurdity of requiring a sauna to be built into a seafaring vessel. 

With one more cursory glance into the pit below, I hop down the hole and land after what amounted to only a 6-meter drop. 

I am currently in a very dark and narrow hallway with a single door at the very end with a faint candlelight coming from beneath the threshold. The heat in the hallway is sweltering. 

It is taking every fiber of willpower for me not to rip off the mask covering the entirety of my head. I was already sweating lightly from all that movement upstairs. but now it feels like I have just come out of the ocean. 

Soldiering on down the hallway, occasionally wiping sweat out of my eyes. I reach the door at the end and aggressively twist the knob not at all expecting it to be open, however, to my surprise it twists easily and gives me access to the room beyond. 

Already my alert level is at an all-time high. There's no way this dude didn't hear anything from above. So, what possessed the teen to not even bother locking the door to his secret room. 

Throwing a bit of caution into the wind, I kick the door fully open and stand at the ready with my blade out in front of me. Steam rushes out of the room into the hallway behind me, washing over my face first. 

"Ah! Shinobi-san! I've been expecting you!" 

I am greeted with a smile and a wave from an astonishingly pale and gaunt adolescent male with long messy brown hair that cascades off his shoulders. 

Sunken dark brown eyes stare amusedly at me with a fierce intelligence behind them, analyzing my every move. 

I flinch as the teen slowly reaches to his right and grabs the handle of a candle holder off a nightstand. The candle inside is already lit but it looks to be reaching the end of its life. 

He lifts it up to his eye level, increasing the visibility of the admittedly dark room. My eyes finally adjust to the low visibility and my heart stops in panic. 

The walls and floor which were previously hidden in shadow, are now visible due to candlelight. Every single inch of the wooden walls and floorboards are plastered with explosive tags. 

Looking at the ground directly beneath me, familiar ink symbols instead of wood greet me under my sandals. It takes all my willpower not to bolt from the room then and there, as I doubt I would be able to successfully get out of the massive blast radius by the time this psycho lights up the fucking night sky. 

"Please shinobi-san come closer it's hard to see you in this poor lighting and shut the door behind you, all the steam is escaping-" 

*Cough! * *cough! * *gasp*

The creepy teen devolves into a coughing fit clutching his chest with his left hand in apparent pain. Still the candle holder is held firmly in his right hand about a foot from his forehead. 

Not wanting to set off anything between us, I followed his request and walk further into the room after closing the door I had previously kicked open. A quick glance at the back of the door causes me to wince. 

Like the walls and floor of the heated room the back of the door is completely covered, frame and all, with explosive tags. 

'Could have blown this entire ship to the fucking moon by just kicking the damn door!'

I shake my head lightly in disbelief at the sheer stupidity of it all. I fucking knew that there was something fishy about all this and I still walked dick in hand into the most overkill trap I've ever seen. 

The teen collects himself once more taking a few deep breaths before he continues speaking,

"I'm sure you've had more than enough time to gauge the current situation we're both in Shinobi-san, but it is one that can be rectified through compromise on both our parts. So please let's talk…"