Bab 62: 62: I Must Destroy You.
Seija stretched after the dust cleared from the fight against the Lone Shadow Vilehand.
[Optional Objective Completed]
[Reward chest spawned]
'Hm?'
*Thunk*
A rectangular wooden crate appeared on top of the Vilehand's body, which seemed to vanish into thin air. Killua jogged over and deactivated his Godspeed, his hair returning to normal from its spiky state.
"Whew, always nice to let off some steam! What's in the box?"
Seija shrugged. "No clue. Guess we'll have to open it and find out."
She lifted the lid, revealing a sparse interior with little in the way of decoration. The only things contained within the box were five glowing, unclaimed Loot Drops.
She reached in and grabbed one as Killua and Ichiro did the same. Mimi also made her way over once she could see that the fighting was over.
*Shine~*
The glowing mote in Seija's hand expanded outwards into a cylindrical shape before the light faded and an Item was left in its place.
[Skill Scroll: The Vilehand Technique]
[A single-use Scroll containing a Skill impression for the Vilehand Technique.]
[Vilehand Technique: Clad your left hand in poisonous energy and touch your foe, inflicting heavy poison buildup which inflicts severe damage over time once buildup reaches the maximum, lasting until the buildup wears off. Costs a small amount of stamina to use. Note: This Skill has a set mastery level and cannot be upgraded.]
Seija willed it to activate immediately. It shined with a golden glow for a moment...
*Vrrrrrrsssss- Crack!*
... Before it crumbled to pixelated dust in her hand.
'...'
"[My apologies, Seija. It appears that we are not compatible with Skills...]"
'Could've warned me before I tried to use it... Moreover, what do you mean not compatible? I used the Monster Hunter scroll just fine way back when I was running from Konoha.'
"[To your first statement, I can only admit that I did not know until you tried it for the first time, and thus could not warn you. For your second, I remind you that the Monster Hunter scroll was not a Skill scroll, it was a modifier. It altered the destination of a non-System-made technique that you already possessed.
A Skill scroll on the other hand attempts to inject a System-made imprint directly onto your soul, containing the Skill in question. I am programmed to automatically defend you against all manner of System-based attacks, especially those targeting your soul in particular. This effect is passive, and I have no way of turning it off. I am sorry.]" Firewall apoligised.
*Sigh* 'It's... fine. I didn't really have much use for the Vilehand Technique anyways. I could probably replicate a similar effect with chakra if I took the time to study new ways to inject chakra into an opponent's body... Perhaps I should revisit my Medical Ninjutsu training?'
On the bright side, at least Firewall gained a healthy chunk of experience from destroying the Skill Scroll.
"Hey Seija, what was that flash of light?" Ichiro curiously asked as he leaned over to see what she'd had in her hand. In his own hand, he was holding a sheathed, straight-edged sword identical to the one the Lone Shadow had strapped to his back. A chokuto, if Seija wasn't mistaken about her sword terminology.
"Nothing important. It didn't work, so it broke." She responded cryptically.
"Ah, that sucks. Well, there's still one more Drop left in there. Killua picked up some fancy shin-guard thing that enhances kicking power, and Mimi just pulled out some sort of bead necklace. There's still one more Item to go, if you want to check it." He offered.
Seija nodded and approached the box once again. Pulling out the final Loot Drop, it too changed shape like the first one had.
When the glow faded, a small ring was left behind in her hand.
[Rare Item: Ring of the Lone Shadow Brotherhood]
[A ring representing the brotherly bond between the Lone Shadows, a symbol of their connection maintained even as they travelled far away from one-another for different jobs under the Central Forces' command. The ring contains a whistle. When blown, the whistle will summon a spectral Lone Shadow Vilehand to defend the user for ten minutes. Cooldown: one hour.]
Seija studied the description for a moment before her expression turned thoughtful. Not that Ichiro could see her face, of course.
'It's good... really good actually. Being able to pull a Jonin-level fighter out of your ass in an instant once per hour is very powerful... I'm just the last person in this party who needs it. I already have Jonin-level allies available to me through the Summoning Jutsu. But, I do know somebody who could use this better than anyone else in this group...'
She walked over to Mimi who was busy inspecting the bead necklace in her hands.
[Consumable Item: Bead Necklace]
[A necklace of prayer beads taken from a powerful fallen foe. Offering these beads to the System will grant the user's body permanently increased durability.
'Lone Shadows are the Interior Ministry's most trusted agents. Each of their leader's seventeen children has a specialty, from poison to shinobi hounds.']
Despite the slightly odd description containing some kind of lore-related quote - of all things - this Item was clearly very valuable. It provided the user with a permanent enhancement to their durability, which was a pretty rare trait to see in a world like Naruto's.
Most shinobi were happy to just accept the meagre defense provided by their chakra and would try to just dodge any attack that came their way... Nevermind the fact that this specific way of fighting resulted in the deaths of thousands of unprepared Genin every week during war-times.
That begged the question as to why the girl hadn't used it yet.
"Are you going to use those beads, Mimi?" Seija asked the girl, who jolted slightly from suddenly being addressed.
"Ah, um... maybe? I was kinda waiting to see if you might want it instead..." She said, timidly holding the beads out towards Seija.
Seija shook her head and glanced at Killua and Ichiro, who appeared to be busy talking about the kicking boost from Killua's new shin-guards. Killua would probably still hear her next words, but she wasn't bothered by it given the way she'd taken down Mishima.
She closed Mimi's hand around the beads and leaned in to whisper.
"Keep them for yourself. You're practically defenseless without chakra, and a little defense boost could go a long way. To tell you the truth, I don't think they would work on me at all. System-created effects don't work on me, even beneficial ones." She admitted.
Mimi's eyes widened a bit in surprise before she slowly nodded and closed her hand tighter. Seija watched through her System-sight as the beads collapsed into nothing, the code slipping into Mimi's body before settling into her skin and fading. She also sensed Killua pointedly glance at her the moment she said she was immune to System effects. Evidently, he had indeed been able to hear her.
Mimi flexed a bit, but apparently didn't feel much different after using the beads. The effect must not be very noticeable until the user actually gets hit by something.
"Thank you, Seija... To tell you the truth, I did kind of want to use it for myself. I just figured that you should be rewarded for helping me out so much..." The catgirl muttered while glancing at the floor.
Seija chuckled and gestured to the pouch on her hip, which was starting to look rather full from all the Magnetite and Adamantite that they'd picked up from fighting the cannon-fodder soldiers along the way.
"This is more than enough reward for me. But hey, if you really want to reward me, then you can do so by taking this off my hands."
She tossed the ring in her hand to Mimi who fumbled with it for a moment before catching it and reading the description.
"Wh- Seija! Th-That's not how rewards work! Surely I can't just take this!" The girl stammered as she read the description of the Rare-grade Item.
"Well, it's not in my hand anymore, and I don't have to deal with it. As far as I can see, getting it out of my hands is a perfectly good reward for me. And besides, we wouldn't even be here collecting all this loot if you hadn't opened the Dungeon in the first place." Seija dusted off her hands before turning back to the boys.
"Alright, everyone! We've gone over the rewards, now only the Boss Room awaits. Let's get a move on and put this Dungeon behind us, shall we?"
The boys agreed and quickly hurried over to her as they all got back on track.
- - -
A simple, unassuming wooden door stood before them.
"So that's it? Just looks like a normal door to me." Killua commented as he examined the door from different angles.
Mimi approached the door and the System informed the group of their Quest updating as the door suddenly unlatched itself and swung open, revealing a wall of golden fog on the other side.
[Scenario Updated]
[The lord of the Castle Tower (Reincarnator #11) has been successfully escorted to the secret exit. Using an old key they were carrying, the lord opens the door... but on the other side you can see that someone has beaten you to it! A mighty foe awaits in the field beyond the fog...]
Ichiro tapped his foot after reading the message.
"The System's taking some pretty heavy creative liberties with this scenario description... I can't see shit past that fog, and I'm pretty damn sure Mimi didn't have any kind of key on her." He complained.
"It's a story, Ichiro. Just gotta roll with it..." Killua nonchalantly said as he strolled right into the fog.
The others soon followed after him. The fog felt like walking through molasses, slow and heavy. Once they emerged, they took in the sight on the other side.
A field of long, reed-like grass unfurled before them. A small hill rose right in the middle of it, atop which stood a tall man wearing a black kabuto helmet with a golden crest and a tattered blue kimono. The katana in his hand looked almost too large on his withered, elderly body, but he didn't appear to struggle holding it one-handed at all. The blade in question shimmered ominously with an eerie, black light.
To his side, a corpse lay on the ground with a large cut in its neck, which the old man looked down at.
"Pitiful grandchild." He spoke, being the first enemy in the entire Dungeon to do so. (If you didn't count the screaming Nightjar Ninja on the rooftop, of course.)
"...This was your last wish? To see the castle brought back from the great beyond?" He turned away from the body to stare at the intruding Reincarnators, revealing a menacing scar through one of his eyes.
"Which means, shinobi..."
He readied his blade.
"I must destroy you."
[Defeat the Sword Saint]
- - -
*Crackle*
Killua's arms almost buckled under the force of the sudden blow against his electrified Nen.
"Gah- the hell?!" He exclaimed wide-eyed, before kicking off the Sword Saint's chest to gain distance. His first attack had been a complete failure.
'That strike speed... I don't think I've ever seen anything at that level! I barely even managed to block it via prediction...'
Knowing how the denizens of the Dungeon functioned, Killua had tried to end the fight as quickly as possible by entering Godspeed and beheading the Boss with his sharpened hands.
He'd learned, after all, that just about every foe in this place was built to be slow but strong, with only the Lone Shadow really breaking that mold. And even then, the Lone Shadow wasn't anywhere near his speed when he had Godspeed active.
But this Sword Saint guy was clearly built different. When Killua had shot towards the old man he'd watched in slow motion as his foe calmly raised his blade above his head. That was the moment where Killua got an awful gut feeling that something was about to go horribly wrong, so he immediately switched to a block on instinct.
A good thing too, as the blade had descended so quickly that he almost failed to even track it. An overhead blow faster than even his Godspeed.
After getting some distance Killua took stock of the situation. That attack had just torn through a huge chunk of his Nen that he'd concentrated in his arms to block the blow. He'd need a source of electricity in order to recharge it...
'Too bad I'm stuck in some backwards-ass samurai/ninja Dungeon with zero electricity... It does feel like it's starting to rain, though. Maybe...' He wondered as he glanced up at the clouds above. Sure enough, rain was beginning to fall over the battlefield - no doubt some kind of dramatic effect cooked up by the System that made this place to make their Boss Fight more climactic.
Glancing back down at the Sword Saint, Killua noted that his initial assessment of the man's speed wasn't entirely incorrect. He was pretty slow on his feet, all things considered. It was just his swing speed with his blade that defied all logical reasoning.
- - -
Seeing Killua be repelled by the Sword Saint's attack was quite the shock from Seija's perspective too. Her Sharingan whirled as it tracked the motion of the descending blade.
'Well... That's terrifying.'
She could easily tell without a doubt that there was no way in hell that she was getting close to that Boss without being forced to reveal her Steel Release for self-defense. Wasting no time once Killua was out of the way, she decided to give him the Danzo Special™ right out of the gate. It'd worked well against the Assassin and the Lone Shadow from earlier. Saboten too, now that she thought about it while putting her hands together.
[Wind Style: Great Vacuum Sphere]
The spherical blast of wind tore through the air towards the stationary Sword Saint. For a moment, it looked as if it would be enough to end the fight right then and there.
But the Sword Saint apparently had other plans. He deftly sheathed his blade at his waist and held it there for just a moment. Behind the chakra of her own Jutsu, Seija watched as a swirling mass of System code flowed into the sheath. An instant later, her eyes widened as another overhead strike was unleashed. A perfect blade of wind sliced her B-Rank Jutsu right down the middle and kept on going without even a hint of pause.
'Shit!'
In an instant, she made the split-second decision to give up on hiding her Steel Release. Sure, she could have dodged the wind-slice at the distance she'd been standing, but there was one small problem with that.
Since the battle had only just begun, she was still standing at the entrance to the Boss Room. And Ichiro and Mimi hadn't had time to duck for cover, meaning that they were still standing right behind her. If she moved out of the way, either one or both of them could be instantly killed by that mighty slash.
So she stood her ground and crossed her arms with her Steel Release active.
*CLANG~*
The sheer force of the blow pushed her back an inch before she dedicated a large chunk of her chakra supply to anchor her to the ground. Similarly to when she fought Saboten in the Land of Rain, her arms were forced to bear the brunt of the attack, a long scratch being carved into her skin.
But it'd been a year since then. Her progress in mastering Steel Release had grown by leaps and bounds. As the Sword Saint's attack reached its crescendo - the compressed air suddenly expanding in a blast of wind that tore her Akatsuki cloak to shreds and threw Ichiro and Mimi to the ground behind her - she stood firm.
When the blast cleared, the scratches on her steel arms remained just that: scratches, and nothing more. And with a flex of her chakra and an ear-piercing creak of metal bending out of shape, the scratches filled out and vanished into the smooth sheen of her metallic flesh.
She locked eyes with the Sword Saint and cracked her neck as she, Killua, and the Sword Saint steeled themselves for the fight proper.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone