Midori couldn't help but nervously tap on the pummel of her katana with each failed attempt of finding even a shred of evidence of Rinko and the others at the dead village. There was a possibility of them teleporting here, a place close by that gives them multiple places to hide.
She looked around the last house for a moment before slamming the door shut with more force than necessary on her way out. She was about to check the forest next when she caught sight of something in her peripheral view. Midori froze for an instant before coating herself with Taima Particles, rushing towards it.
When she arrived there a few seconds later, she saw nothing, other than the villagers' corpses baking in the hot sun. She stared at her surroundings trying to find any indication of anyone being there before sighing in defeat when she couldn't find anything.
"Calm down Midori, panicking won't get you anywhere. You need to think calmly and trust that they'll stay alive," Midori scolded herself trying to calm her beating heart as she wiped off her sweat.
Just as she was about to head south, she heard her name being called by Misao, "Midori! Hey Midori, Jubei found them."
That got her attention and she ran towards Misao, hope blossoming in her heart, "Did, did he really find them?"
"Yeah," Misao agreed, "They're ok, but John is pretty winded from running a couple of miles. He needs to exercise more if only a few miles could tire him out so much."
"Oh thank God," Midori said feeling relieved, and asked, "Where are they?"
"They're near the forest entrance not far from the village. They're going to be here soon," Misao said pointing to the west, following after Midori who headed in that direction.
----------------------------------------------------------
"So Jubei what did you find out about the ship?" I asked panting, my head pounding, feeling my stomach trying to come up through my mouth. In response, I lightly grabbed my stomach as if trying to keep it in one place and trying to take deep breaths slowly.
"Midori was right, they wanted the cargo that was inside the ship," Jubei said before looking at Kagero. "Do you know where they traveled to? The tracks were heading towards that direction, somewhere northeast, maybe. I'm not familiar with the area to make a proper guess."
Kagero frowned staying quiet for a bit and looking toward me before she spoke, "The trails of those carts lead to Kashima Harbor. They can't be allowed to escape or all the dead villagers and the Koga ninjas, my comrades, won't be able to rest in peace."
"We should hurry up then, we don't know when they would depart or if they are already departing at this instance," I said, bringing up the possibility even if no one wanted to voice it.
"Maybe not," Jubei said disagreeing, "If they were about to leave, then Dakuan would have told us and forced us to help stop it."
"That's true if he is working for the government like he says he is," Kuroyuri countered, "He says that he's an agent, but there's no proof since the rest of his team was killed, leaving him the only survivor. Not to mention that he was never here when we fought against any of the Demons of Kimon or the fact that he hid while we fought against the wasps."
"There's also the fact that after Dakuan left, we were attacked by that red-robed woman a little while later," Rinko added, as even Jubei started to have second thoughts about him.
"Maybe—," I started to say something, but I was interrupted by Midori who yelled out our names.
"John, Rinko, Kuroyuri, and Kagero. Thank goodness you're all alive." She then pulled us all in a hug and then let go after a few seconds, allowing us to breathe again.
"It's nice to see you both again," I said taking small sips of water, my throat still feeling dry.
"So what were you all talking about before you were interrupted?" Misao asked and everyone stared at me.
"Uh, right. Maybe she was there the whole time, spying on us?" I stated uncertainly, starting to feel uncomfortable with everyone staring at me.
"That could be it," Kuroyuri nodded in agreement before she added, "Just in case though, we should keep an eye on him when he shows himself. I rather not get killed for trusting the wrong person."
We all lapsed in silence following the tracks.
----------------------------------------------------------
(1 hour 45 minutes later)
We arrived at a cliff overlooking the Kashima Harbor and soon noticed a dead horse, men dressed up as typical ninjas moving all over the place, and carts filled with piles of boxes stacked on top of one another, numbering in the low hundred or so. We watch some of the injured ninjas, some even worse off, removing the boxes from the carts and piling them up on the floor slowly.
"It seems that they're still unpacking the gold," I said scratching my head wondering who or what attacked them. "Does anyone see the ship that is supposed to take the gold?"
"No, it seems that it hasn't arrived just yet," Rinko said shaking her head, looking out towards the sea. She couldn't see any ship, even after using her ability to increase her eyesight.
"We still have time then, that's good. We can still take the gold and run far from here," Dakuan spoke up, suddenly appearing from the tall grass behind us and I stiffened up in response to his sudden appearance.
"You finally showed yourself," Jubei said not at all surprised by his reappearance, having sensed him coming.
"I arrived back from scouting the area, but I couldn't get too close without being spotted. I have wonderful news to share," Dakuan said with a smile on his face. "The group carrying the gold was attacked by a roving band of yokai that was searching for something or someone. They soon fought and significant numbers of those ninjas were killed in the clash. The most wonderful news is that the boat that was supposed to come here has been forced to dock and fix the ship because they were attacked by not one, but two Funayūrei, or a ghost ship if you didn't know what that is. The rumor I heard is that the boat itself is twice as big as a regular one. That's why they were attacked."
"How much time does that gives us?" Kuroyuri asked trying to appear nonchalant, but on the inside, she was suspicious of the good fortune they received with this news. She noticed Midori's eyes were inadvertently drawn to Misao when Dakuan said that some yokai was looking for someone.
"We have half a day or so until the boat arrives due to this unexpected opportunity. It'll be night soon, if we don't strike while they're low on manpower, we might never get the chance again," Dakuan spoke trying to get us interested in attacking, but we were all hesitant at this unexpected development.
"No, we should attack in the dead of night or early morning while we recover as best as we can from our injuries," I said, shaking my head from the ground feeling very tired and sore all over.
In that next instant, a multipronged claw was fired from the tall grass aiming for Misao who barely dodged it from being skewered, only to receive a long gash on her arm before it quickly retreated into the tall grass.
"Misao!" Kuroyuri yelled in shock as we all turned around with our weapons were drawn trying to find the culprit. She ripped off a part of her kimono and wrapped it around Misao's wound, trying to stop the bleeding.
*Rustles* *Rustles*
"Shit! We've been discovered, scatter!" Dakuan shouted about to run, if not for the fact that Jubei pulled on the back of his shirt.
Two dozen or so regular ninjas stood up, surrounding us in a half-circle formation with kunai and ninja stars ready to be thrown as our backs were to the cliffside. It was a tense moment as we all waited for something to happen next and unexpectedly, it was broken by Dakuan, who let out a loud wet fart at the standoff.
That broke the tense standoff between us as they started throwing their kunai and ninja stars at us. I ducked behind the tree as everyone else scattered, dodged, and or blocked them. Jubei retaliated by slashing horizontally, instantly bisecting less than half of them and the rest dodged by either jumping in the air or rolling away.
Rinko jumped after them, coating her blade with her Taima Particles to make it stronger, she sliced through the incoming blades and ninjas with ease before landing on her feet. For a moment the men stayed in the air until blood burst from their chests, falling to the ground.
Kuroyuri threw her own ninja stars at the enemy, soaring through the air, faster than the eye could see. Some were killed, the stars being lodged into their bodies, but a few survived, only by luck as the stars only grazed them.
The 7 that survived started running away from the area, splitting up, each going in a random direction.
"Stop them, but covertly! We can't allow them to alert the enemy that we're here!" Dakuan yelled out, elongating his staff to bash one ninja's head in. Jubei cut off a leg from one of them before killing him. Kuroyuri threw multiple kunai at the path the retreating ninja took, forcing him to stop. A sword soon skewered him from behind as Midori reappeared. Misao dealt with her own opponent easily enough. Rinko suddenly disappeared, teleporting and killing the rest, one after the other, taking less than a second.
"Where's the one that used the metal claw thing?" Kuroyuri asked trying to find any trace of him from the ninjas that were killed but found nothing. No one went near the dead ninjas for fear of them being bombs waiting for us to get closer. It was a strong possibility after surviving the last one.
"He travels through the shadows, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike. Be careful and stay vigilant, he could still be here," Dakuan spoke trying to sense anything out of the ordinary from the woods.
"Try to look for areas that have a darker shadow than normal in the current lighting. Stay close and don't run off without backup," She said, looking at Jubei who ignored her.
I could feel my heart beating faster as I imagined that guy hiding in my shadow ready to kill me and he was just drawing it out. I shook my head trying to get rid of that thought and started breathing slowly, trying to calm myself while watching my surroundings. It worked and I felt a little better, but not by much.
I don't know why I kept staring at the dead bodies, but I had a feeling that there was something important about them, other than the loot that is. Something was screaming in my mind that I was missing a piece of the bigger picture.
I stared at one who was laying on his stomach, blood slowly pooling onto the grass and his skin was very white. I tensed up since I can never forget that type of skin color. It repeatedly appears in my nightmares and after someone has been dead for a lot longer than a few minutes.
Before I could tell them about this, a claw flew out from near the head alerting everyone to his location and that it was heading toward me. I froze just for a moment which was enough time for it to reach me, but I was saved by someone pulling me away. I blinked feeling a stinging sensation on my cheek as it retracted back towards the dead body.
The dead ninjas suddenly started twitching, moving slowly, those that could lift themselves from the ground rose, while those cut in half stayed still. Shijima rose from the floor soon after, laughing creepily as he brandished his claw and created illusionary copies of him and the dead ninjas. They all ran, mixing, their images overlapping over one another and then they ran towards us.
Jubei took a few steps forward clashing his katana with the ninja's weapon, but his eyes widened with shock when it sliced through, the image disappearing, "Shit! An illusion!"
His trained instincts saved him as he quickly rotated 180 degrees to block a sneak attack aimed at his back. He gritted his teeth pushing upward, a little disadvantaged by the awkward position of the blade lock and kicked the enemy's stomach to get some breathing room as a few more ninjas appeared.
Misao dealt with her illusionary opponents easily and moved to help, but she was surrounded by more Shijima and ninjas. She clicked her tongue in annoyance and slashed out, using her flames to burn them all, only for them to disappear.
Rinko herself was surrounded from all sides fighting multiple opponents at the same time and dodging the claws aimed at her. She destroyed the chains, but they were all illusions and dispersed as new copies showed up.
"Hahaha! It's only a matter of time until you make a mistake and I'll take my time playing with you. Maybe I'll let your friends live just long enough for you to kill them yourself," Shijima said, speaking from multiple clones at the same time, staring lustfully at her. He was forced to dodge as she lunged towards him, slashing off his arm, only to disperse into nothingness.
Rinko looked around herself, making sure that her teammates weren't nearby, and teleported away, leaving a sucking void in her place. They were unable to escape from the force sucking them in and a few seconds later, the void exploded outwards, leaving many dead ninjas in bloody chunks.
Shijima barely escaped as he submerged into a nearby shadow and traveled away from her. He was then forced to jump out of the shadow as Jubei jumped down, katana aimed down, ready to skewer him.
Misao, using this opportunity, cut off one of his legs and cut deep into his shoulder. He threw blood into Misao's eyes, blocking Jubei's next strike with his claw, and ran away with Jubei following him, "You're not getting away!"
"Jubei, wait! It could be a trap!" Misao yelled out blindly, trying to wipe the blood out of her eyes. When she opened them again, he was gone.
I grunted at the unexpected weight of my sword swing being blocked and tried to push forward, only to stagger forward as he shuffled backward. I was left open for the second ninja that appeared, ready to skewer me if not for Kuroyuri diverting the blade and cutting off his head, his body fell to the floor, motionless. The first ninja died, having his head chopped off by Kagero.
I panted, looking around wearily for more enemies showing up, before realizing that the battle was over. I sighed in relief, lowering my weapon a little, but I kept my guard up. I then noticed someone missing from our group and turned around just to make sure.
"Does anyone know where Jubei is?" I asked feeling my eye twitch in annoyance, this is the second time he left us. If we weren't here then, Kagero would have been kidnapped and raped by that shadow guy. I really want to strangle him with my bare hands.
"He left, chasing after the shadow guy," Misao said pointing in the possible direction he went. "I think we should leave before more of them show up when they don't report back."
"That's a good idea, but where exactly?" I asked looking around the forest. ''It's not like we can hide somewhere nearby..." I trailed off, catching the weird look on Dakuan's face. "You know a place, Dakuan?"
"Yes, I do. There is a place, but it's deserted," Dakuan spoke slowly, "It's not that far from here, and it has the perfect vantage point of seeing the ship before it could dock."
"What's wrong with it, then?" Rinko asked, walking closer, and sharing a brief glance with Midori and Kuroyuri.
"It's... well," He hesitated for a moment, "There have been rumors of that place being haunted by a malevolent yurei, or an evil spirit. Exorcists were sent to deal with it, but they couldn't find any trace after spending days waiting for it to show. It was soon abandoned after 2 more families were killed. That was more than 6 years ago and I don't know if it's still there."
"We can easily handle a single ghost and if it's not there, then it's the best hiding place," Kuroyuri said picking up all the extra weapons and placing them on her person.
Dakuan reluctantly started leading us to the haunted house in the mountain area. I stayed near the back as I received the rewards and message to draw a card.
[Killed 24 Ninjas and forced Shijima to retreat. Received 6,000 Exp and 6,000 summon points]
[You leveled up × 2]
[Rinko leveled up × 3]
[Midori leveled up × 4]
[Misao leveled up × 3]
[Draw a card?]
[Yes/No]
I pressed yes and drew the card.
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[Taimagical Girl] Lilith
Faction: Taimanin
Lv: 1/45 (0/488xp)
HP: 2,750
TP: 250
ATK: 242
DEF: 131
Special Skills: Ninjutsu: Dragon Dance Lv1
Increases ATK of all allies by 30%.
Increases ATK of all allies by 1750.
Cost: 75 MP
Activation: 3/3
----------------------------------------------------------
I had to blink a few times because she was dressed like someone else that is in my party. I really wanted to summon her for that reason and the fact that her title has the magical girl in it. I wonder if she could transform into her magical uniform from her regular clothes.
-----------------------------
-----------------------------
John McClain
World: Ninja Scroll/ InuYasha/?
Lv. 27-> 29 [1,148/2,900]
Class: The Summoner
Alignment: Neutral
HP: 21,00-> 22,000
{Regen 21-> 22 per min}
MP: 14,500-> 15,500
{Regen 32-> 33 per minute}
Deck: 19
Summoning Points: 39,000-> 45,000
Cards in Storage: 0
Card in hand: 5
Available Draw: 0 (03:58:21)
Graveyard: 0
Card pack available (12:46:51)
-----------------------------
[Savage Hunter] Rinko Akiyama (SR)
Lv: 35-> 38/45 (560/1880)
Faction: Taimanin
HP: 8,400-> 8,700
TP: 1375-> 1450
ATK: 3,896-> 4462
DEF: 1,891-> 2158
Special Skill: Ninjutsu: Air Evasion Lv 1
Cost: 60 MP
Increases ATK of all Taimanin by 3000.
Increases ATK of all Taimanin by 17%.
Activation: 3/3
-----------------------------
Kuzu Kuroyuri (R)
Faction: Taimanin
Lv 35/35 (Max Level)
HP: 2,120 (4,750)
TP: 455 (1,325)
ATK: 2,057
DEF: 1,976
Special Skill: Licentious Techn. Lv 1/5
Cost: 50MP
Cuts damage from enemy Demon by 22%.
-----------------------------
Houma Midori (R)
Faction: Taimanin
Lv 31-> 35 (Max Level)
HP: 4,250
TP: 1275-> 1375
ATK: 1408-> 1581
DEF: 2695-> 3303
Special Skill: Pebble on the road (Lv1/5)
Cost: 40MP
Increases DEF of ally Taimanin by 2000.
Activation: 3/3
-----------------------------
Misao Yukishiro (UR)
Faction: Half Demon
Lv 17-> 20/55 (1720/1860)
HP: 9,100
MP: 1,075
Attack: 1510-> 1640
Defense: 2880-> 3118
Special Skill: Ninjutsu: Phoenix (Lv 1/5)
Cost: 80MP
Increases DEF of ally Demon by 40%.
Increases DEF of ally Demon by 1250.
Activation: 3/3
-----------------------------
