ตอน 9: 《Infectious Mara-struck 》
Black Blade of Konoha
A/N: Naruto is owned by Masashi Kishimoto.
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[Jin's first person PoV]
The sent of foul iron is slowly fading away on the road back to the village. I managed to get rid of most of the blood that I accumulate during the slaughter, but my senses are like that of a bloodhound. Even after a day of travel, I can still smell the lingering scent of blood on me.
Even after slaughtering those bandits, I felt unsated. It's like a hunger deep within me wanting me to fight, to bleed, to kill and immerse myself in a unrelenting battle lust and let my anger run free. But for now, it is barely even a whisper which I ignored in favor of idle thoughts.
Kobeni seems to not be effected much by the taking the life of those bandits. Just this morning I asked to see her sharingan. It was still at one tomoe, meaning killing those bandits didn't mentally effect her much. I think.
Hokuto on the other hand seems to be a bit gloomy. Well, he has been living within the Hyuga compound for most of his life. A sheltered child so to say.
It's normal to be somewhat disillusioned with whatever he thought the world is like, after glimpsing the ugly side of this world we live in. Those women clearly weren't treated as human beings by those bandits. They were malnourished, beaten and clearly suffered under sexual abuse to put it mildly. There wasn't much we could have done for them, we were hireable cutthroats at the end of the day. Though, we did dropped them off at the nearby village on our way back to konoha.
[line break]
After returning from the mission, we got a day off from active duties. I retreated back to the workshop and continued producing human stabbers for konoha. Kobeni is nowhere to be seen, and I don't really pay much mind about it. She is probably doing some Uchiha stuff.
Hokuto on the other hand, last I checked he has been telling his fellow branch slaves about the dangers of the outside world and how lucky they are to be living inside of the "protection" of the main house. If I didn't know better, I would have thought he to be mentally disabled.
But that bastard is doing something else. I'm not exactly sure what Hokuto is planning, but I had the uncanny suspicion that it wouldn't be beneficial for the main house of those otsutsuki imitators. And I couldn't give a fuck about it. If he succeeds, then I would lend him a hand if he asks for it. If not, then I couldn't care lesser.
That reminds me, I still have my template progress to check on. With a mental click, the all too familiar panel is displayed.
■■■■■
"Blade: Legacy template"
[Unlocked main legacy: 14.15%]
"Status"
Name: Jin Kurama
Titles: Inheritor of Blade's legacy, Weapon smith apprentice, Shinobi: Genin, Ninja of Konohagakure
Sin Mastery: Wrath Lvl 5 (main sin), Pride Lvl 1, Greed Lvl 1
"Perks"
• Mara struck (Infected phase)
(You are now infected with the undying disease known as Mara struck. Your healing factor is boosted, but you can still die if your injuries are too severe.)
• 30% Senju body
(One of your grandparents is a senju. slightly improved stamina and regeneration factor.)
• Tall physique
(You are considered tall in comparison to those of your age.)
• Intimidating presence
(weaker individuals or those younger than you will be intimidated by your presence.)
• Weapon crafting talent
(weapons made by you will be better in quality and learning any crafting techniques will be easier to comprehend and learn for you.)
• Genjutsu restriction [Supreme] (loosened)
(You can only cast one type of AoE genjutsu known as "unreachable paradise" This genjutsu is currently locked due to host's meager amount of Unlocked legacy. Base academy jutsu such as the Transformation jutsu and the illusionary clone jutsu are now available.)
• Kotomine's Mapo tofu cooking talent
(You can cook Mapo tofu flawlessly with minimum resources.)
• Charismatic speech [New]
(You are more convincing when you make arguments. Those that hear you saying something are more inclined to believe in what you are saying.)
"Traces"
• Shard Sword
(2/6)
• Karma wind
(1/1)
• Hellscape
(1/10)
• Death Sentence
(0/10)
• Shuhu's Gift
(1/10)
"Eidolons" (1/6)
□ (click to see more)
"Quests"
• Gain physical fitness at the level of a peak human. (ongoing)
• Become a renowned weapon Smith. (ongoing)
• Kill a being of abundance. (Unavailable)
• Get your drip. (Any time)
•Emergency Quest: Reach 20% Legacy unlock in three years.
(Failure will result in you losing control over the plague in your body and you will become a mindless monster)
[Rewards will be revealed after quest has been completed.]
"Gatcha"
• Pulls: 10 times
• Results:
- Copper ingot ×1
- Rubber slippers × 1
- Medical Incense candle (red) ×1
- Trace upgrade × 2
- can of Steel powder ×1
- Eidolon × 1
- Happy meal × 1
- dead bird (sparrow)× 1
- plastic chair × 1
■■■■■
It hadn't been two months and my progress has almost reached the 15% mark thanks to my relentless training I put my body and mind through. But satisfied with my progress, I'm not. Even though I did went through the ranks of those bandits fairly easy, I am no were close to the level of power to be safe.
On the other hand, my Gatcha pulls this time were indeed bountiful, but how the hell did I pull a f■cking dead bird and a rubber slipper? I can, to some extent understand getting the plastic chair even and the happy meal.
Taking the dead avian out of my Gatcha space I was about to throw it away. On second thought I pricked my finger and let a few drops of my blood drip into the dead animal's beaks.
From what I understand about mara-struck, is that "rejuvenates" it's host and form a symbiotic relationship that allows the host to over come injuries, sickness and even death. If my theory is correct, I will be able to "resurrect" the freshly dead ones, by inflicting them with my mara-struck.
To prove me right the bird faintly shuttered, then one of it's eyelids began to twitch.
I observed the entire process with morbid fascination. It's alive, but weak and on the verge of death. I can feel a connection with the reanimated sparrow. 'This could be useful.' I thought to myself. At this moment, a system notification popped up.
[Congratulations for discovering the hidden ability "bond of abundance". This skill allows host to have up to a certain number of subjects that are under host's control. In exchange they will receive a regeneration bonus that scales with that of the host and receive benefits of mara-struck similar to that of the host. After infected for twenty two days, host can cause infected subject to go into the final stages of mara-struck turning them into a mindless husk at will. By doing so will free up the slots for new subjects to be added.
(Notification: Bond of abundance cannot work on individuals stronger than host.)
Current available mara-bounded subjects: 1/5]
After finishing my work for the day, I went back to my apartment with the living bird carried in my arm. The little thing didn't even tried to get away, if knowing that I am it's master and lifeline.
Returning to my single room apartment living space, I placed the reanimated bird on the table and gave it some leftover rice and some water.
"I could use this." I pondered upon the versatility of the "bond of abundance" ability.
[A few months time skip]
And so, time moves on. My team had a few more bandit extermination missions from time to time, with a few escorts missions mixed in. The D rank mission are getting lesser by the week, which is a sign that we are no longer considered as rookies.
Escorts missions were one of the missions Sakumo was mostly hired for. Many merchants and influential people hire him for protection. Due to the circumstances that Sakumo is a Jonin sensei, team five was taken along for these missions.
Training with Sakumo had become less infuriating and I get 0.01% Unlocked legacy from each week of sparring. Also I gained some insight regarding the hatake style kenjutsu.
It's not much, but progress is progress in my books. It's almost been a year and my progress is at a 15.06%. it's better than nothing and I find myself feeling optimistic about my chances of reaching the 20% mark in the remaining two years.
Then one day....
"Hey! you bastard! I challenge you to a duel!" an obnoxious brat with orange goggles shouted at me, while I was heading home after a long day of work.
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AN: As promised, here is your chapter for this month.
Your stones mean nothing to the progression of THIS story. Comments and reviews are the sustenance for this story to continue.
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