NOVEL NEXT 213. Ghosts
STOMP! STOMP! STOMP!
"Hahaha! Hungry little bastards aren't ya?!"
ROAR!
Trailing through the canyon with his new, completed compass, Rei's travels had been anything but smooth. The further in he ventured, the worst things became. While not having encountered any enemy teams as of late, the local wildlife was more than willing to accommodate his arrival
Believing he travelled with stealth and subtlety, a pack of abnormally large bobcats decided to prove him wrong as they began pursuing him. All rivaling a car in size, their speed nearly matched his own!
"Wow! This is actually turning out to be a challenge, thanks for the exercise guys!"
GROWL!
"Okay okay, I get it. Not fond of a little small talk. In that case..."
SKIR! ZWISH!
With a sharp turn, Rei jumped away, creating some distance between him and the hungry pack before weaving a hand seal, prepping to place them all under his control with Genjutsu
"Let's end this little meet-and-greet here--eh?" {Enemy ninja? No... hold on...}
Just as he was about to activate his technique, what appeared to be a man standing on a perch of a mountain caught his eye. The individual was not dressed like your standard shinobi, wearing baggy pants, no shirt, and a long overcoat
Rei had seen this person before, the very same day he "changed"...
TAK!
"Isshiki Ōtsutsuki?!" Rei yelled as he stopped in his tracks
The very same Ōtsutsuki he killed and used to alter himself, somehow alive, stood before him!
Stopping to get a better view, he readied himself for whatever came next, but Isshiki merely stared at him, not moving a muscle...
{This isn't an illusion! There's no way he can be alive, I took extra steps to ensure it! Karma disappears the moment the Ōtsutsuki who placed them reincarnates in another vessel. Which is exactly what happened when I forced him to reincarnate in Jigen's body} "Why--How are you here?!" Rei demanded an answer
But Isshiki looked onwards, ignoring his words
"K-Kuh! Bastard... SAY SOMETHING!"
After screaming from the top of his lungs, Isshiki finally moved, completely unsettling an already nervous Rei. His right arm rose ever slowly, and for what seemed like an eternity, he pointed straight in the Genin's direction
{What's he doing...?} Rei couldn't make head or tails of his actions
"Inferior creature"
"H-Huh?"
RAWR!
"Uh?!" {CRAP!}
Without warning, one of the bobcats managed to catch up to the distracted Rei, nearly biting his head off in the process!
"Ugh, I would've been dead had I not been... wait, where the hell is he?!" He shouted while frantically turning his head in search for Isshiki, now completely gone from his sight
No other chakra signature remained
"Did... did Isshiki just save me? No way..." Rei wondered if what he saw was real, or a hallucination as he considered whether or not Isshiki was pointing at him, or towards the bobcat who just attacked him from behind in warning
RAWL!
"Hm? Alright, now I'm pissed. Time for you all to take a LONG nap!" {Magen: Kakuran1Demonic Illusion: Disturbance!}
THUD! THUD! THUD!
One by one, the predators fell on their sides, immobilized from the technique. With the current threat neutralized, Rei turned to the spot Isshiki had stood, trying to make sense of what he saw
"Maybe... I've been out here took long. Need to find a place to rest, and clear my head. There's still time to get to the objective"
♦♦♦
CHOMP!
"Ugh... Damn it! Again with this shit?! I'm not your lunch, you're mine!!"
Continuing his travels, Rei discovered what seemed to be a quiet lake untouched by man. He'd been moving for quite some time, so finding a place to wash off and relax, to clear his weary mind after spending days here without a shower...was nothing short of a Godsend to him
Unfortunately, his hopes were soon dashed the moment he was within reaching distance to it
SPLOOSH!
"Argh...! Will. You. Just. QUIT IT?!"
Crocodiles the size of buildings had burst from the lake, nearly devouring him in the process! Now trapped in the middle of the area, for the past ten minutes, Rei had done nothing but dodge, punch, and kick these scaly foes
"Cheh! Overgrown geckos! I JUST WANTED TO COOL OFF FOR ONE G**DAMN MINUTE!!" (Rei)
CRASH!
Be it on land or lake, they moved with speed and silence, never muttering a sound until Rei was between their jaws... like true predators. Fortunately, his inhuman speed was enough to avoid them
Even more astonishing than their size, was the sheer number of them. Rei had placed several under Genjutsu to fight for him, but with every one defeated, more and more arrived to take their place
{Just how deep does this lake go?!} (Rei)
But that wasn't all they had in store for him...
GURGLE!
"Huh? N-No f**king way...?!" (Rei)
Some of them began gurgling water in their large, stretched jaws before...
SPLOOSH!
"Suiton2Water Style?! You gotta be kidding me!" (Rei)
These creatures were capable of wielding chakra! Bombarding the Kumogakure Genin with blasts of concentrated water! But as shocking as it may be, there was another spectacle that caught his attention
For the ones who fell under his control, once subdued, the other crocodiles would seemingly break them out of his illusion!
{Disruption of another's chakra flow...they can even perform the Genjutsu: Kai3Illusion Technique Release?! They're smart enough to do that?! What the hell kind of place is this damn canyon?!} (Rei)
SPLASH!
{They're even switching tactics, coming at me from different angles. No other choice then, I wanted to keep this a secret in case someone else was watching but...} Irritated beyond belief, he'd reached his boiling point
CHOMP!
Biting his thumb, Rei slammed his hand on the water
"Kuchiyose no Jutsu4Summoning Technique!"
POOF!
Hell bent on evening the odds, Rei called forth the creature responsible for his nickname, "The Dragon"
"HISS!"
"Kill em..." (Rei)
CRASH! BITE!
At his command, his "Imugi" attacked with fury, striking every other living creature in sight. With it's genetically enhanced strength and dexterity, the hardness of its scales, biting and tearing the giant crocodiles into to chunks of fleshy meat was a simple matter. Even more so, thanks to the unique Zōfuku Kuchiyose no Jutsu5Amplification Summoning Technique applied to it, the creature would split apart into individual Imugi's... all with the same capabilities
In a matter of minutes, the once tranquil looking location became a scene of blood and horror, but Rei didn't care, casually ignoring the violence as he took off his clothes... bathing in a quiet corner of the lake untouched by violence
"Once you're done with them, bring one over and heat it up for me! I'm hungry, and it's been forever since I've had Thai food!"
CRUNCH! SCORCH!
Eventually, the echoing sounds of slaughter subsided, the Imugi's had finished off the enemy. Now working together, they managed to extract a chunk of meat bigger than his room, before heating it with their fire breath
Though not as he would've done it, he was grateful all the same, and ordered them to eat all they want
"Go ahead and grab some meat for yourself..."
The Imugi's seemed hesitant to leave. For some reason, they seemed to exhibit a peculiar concern for Rei, as if they knew something about him that he didn't...
"I'm fine, you don't have to worry about me. Now leave me to the meal you've so graciously provided"
RUMBLE!
The Imugi's eventually left to eat as well
Much of the revenue Rei acquired from his work with Tetsuo Mori went towards feeding his pet project. There was no way he'd miss an opportunity to save a little cash with this "free meal" in front of him
{They even drained a lot of the blood, just how in the hell... they're a whole lot smarter than I realized} After picking at it a bit, Rei began eating
"Mmm... it sucks I didn't bring any other ingredients, then I could've made a kebab. Sigh... it's moments like this where I wish I could use Isshiki's Sukunahikona6Small Man of Renown and Daikokuten7Great Black Heaven. Then I could store anything I'd like in my own private dimension, like all that crocodile meat...huh?"
Rei put his clothes on in response to a figure approaching in the distance. He couldn't make out who it was, but he recognized the attire, similar to his own...it was Kumogakure attire
"Heh...hehe! Yes! Finally! Some good fortune! They're here...!" Knowing his team was the only one from his village in this exam, his mood turned for the better at the thought of reuniting with them
However...
{Huh? There's only one? Don't tell me...did Tai and Suzu get separated?!}
Only a full team could pass the exam, his teammates splitting up remained one of the many fears that kept him up during his solo tenure in the canyon. Less than five days remained before the exam's time limit was up
"Sigh! That's only gonna complicate things...honestly, they had one job! Just goes to show, I can only trust myself to do what needs to be done--huh?" His ranting was put to a pause when the Kumogakure ninja's appearance became visible
But he never expected what came next. The sight itself caused him to question his very sanity...!
"No...no no no! What is wrong with me?! Why am I seeing... that's impossible! You can't be here!" He frantically checked his chakra for signs of tampering, verifying whether or not someone had placed him under an illusion
He checked, and checked, and checked...over and over again. But no matter how many times he tried, he couldn't find anything wrong. The figure before him was still there. He was still there
Standing in front of him now, it was neither Tai or Suzu, but rather...
"R-R-Rei..."
Not a clone, a transformed enemy, or an Illusion!
Another "him", or rather, the original owner of the body he currently inhabited... Rei Sano was here!
"First Isshiki, now you?! What do you want?!"
"Let it go..."
{He spoke!} "Here to take your body back?!"
"Let it go..."
The boy refused to answer any of Raymond's questions, but continued waltzing towards him
His mind befuddled, he acted without caution and ordered the Imugi to attack. But for some reason, they couldn't hear him. Despite their connection via chakra, his summoned creature would not act
"Let it go..."
"D-Damn it! Let what go?! Your body?! If could, and go back home, I would!"
WEAVE!
Raymond took matters into his own hands as he formed seals, shockingly discovering his ability to knead chakra was not working for some unknown reason! As of this moment, he couldn't use Ninjutsu or Genjutsu!
KASHINK!
He removed a kunai from the holster on his right leg
"Shit...SHIT! I don't know how you're doing this, and I don't care! If chakra doesn't work, I'll do this the old fashioned way--UHACK!!!"
Stopped mid sentence, "Rei Sano" grabbed him by the throat and hoisted him in the air!
"U-URGH!"
"Let it go...!"
Clenching the arm, Raymond desperately tried to free himself while simultaneously gasping for air. For the more he struggled, the tighter the grip
Without warning, the clear sky became cloudy and dark, bombarding sounds of thunder accompanied by flashes of lighting erupted in the atmosphere
"LET IT GO...!"
"?!" {The f**k is happening right now?!!}
"Rei Sano's" face had turned hollow, his eyes went completely black as pure darkness emerged from behind him in the form of tiny strands. Consuming his body before making their way towards a captive Raymond
"N-No...this can't be how it...how I-!" He screamed in defiance, unaccepting of this situation!
His efforts were fruitless as his body went limp upon being consumed by darkness
All he saw was pitch black, not a single trace of light remained...
"YOU HAVE TO LET IT GO...Raymond Parker"