I know I said I wouldn't work on this, but this update kinda just happened. The chapter's still mostly unedited lol. Again, if you want to use any mechanics from the story, feel free to PM me.
I woke up to musty darkness and the sound of dripping. The ground around me felt like slicked craggy stone. Blearily rubbing my eyes, I got up and hobbled towards the flow of air that could only be an exit. The cave opened up to fog-blanketed marshlands. Once I stepped outside, familiar, translucent letters flashed in the sky.
—Hidden Village Outskirts—
Well, that's convenient. I followed the vague stone path along the marsh, trying my best to endure the biting cold. Then, I heard an angry shout as a figure jumped out of the fog and slashed at me.
[HP 380/403]
I instinctually rolled back as the man went for a second slash with his knife. When I made eye contact with him, a red bar appeared over his head. Dodging another slash, I thanked whatever twisted diety gave me my stats as I threw a telegraphed hook at his head, lowering his bar by 22 points. After four more cycles of dodging and punching, he lay on the ground unconscious. His knife glowed at his side. I picked it up, gaining a [Makeshift Shiv] with a base damage of 30. Just to be sure, I plunged his knife into his throat and listened to him gargle as his breath left his body. Huh, I guess the first kill isn't really that traumatizing.
[+19 EXP, +1 Bloodlust]
As I pushed further down the road, I killed four more beggars, gaining a total of 76 EXP and 2 more points of bloodlust, which the game still refused to give me an explanation for. Finally, the heavy fog eventually lifted, giving me the wonderful view of an endless, tree-mottled swamp. Before me a massive network of cylindrical stone buildings and an archway leading into a large ramp that led into the largest building. At the gate, a man wearing a faded blue flack jacket over a black muscle shirt glared down at me.
"Who're you, brat?"
"Kakioka Shunsui. I seek passage into Kirigakure."
His eyes bored into mine for several minutes before he scoffed.
"You're barely blooded. We're at war, brat. The village has no need for the weak. Your kind can scrounge in the swamps for all I care."
I sighed, pulling out my bloodied knife.
"Listen, I've killed five men on the way here today, all of them being twice my size. I'm anything but weak at this point."
"The weak can always kill the weak," he scoffed, "but if you're so keen on proving your worth, I'll grant you access if you can bring me to my knees."
"And if I kill you?"
He barked out a cruel laugh.
"If you kill me, then you really are strong, but that's never gonna happen."
With a battle cry, he pulled out a zanbatō and slammed it between us. The passage behind me became shrouded with mist as a red bar covered the bottom of my vision.
–Tanaka Yuudai, Gatekeeper of the Mist–
-HP: 550/550
I dropped to the ground as he swung his massive blade in a wide arc and made a lunging strike, dealing 46 damage. I quickly made 2 more strikes in succession, dealing 102 more damage. Before I could dodge back, he kicked me in the gut, propelling my smaller frame several feet back.
[HP:297/403]
Holy fuck that hurt. I don't even want to know for how much his sword would hit. With a grunt of exertion, I got back on my feet just in time to roll out of the way of his zanbatō, which he embedded into the ground. As he struggled to pull it out, I slashed twice at his right arm, dealing 94 more damage. He yelped in pain as my second slash ruptured one of the veins on his arm. I internally cheered when I saw his bar drop by another 100 points. Giving up on his sword, he flashed through several hand signs before spitting a small bullet of compressed water at me at point-blank range. Without any time to dodge, I took the hit directly in the chest. I let out a strangled scream as I felt several ribs crack with a squelching snap.
[HP:188/403]
"Alright, you're tough, brat. I'd normally let you in, but your stupid hit to my arm really pissed me off," he growled, flipping through the same set of hand signs.
Before he finished, I desperately ran up to him and wildly slashed as many times as I could, getting in another four and dealing another 197 damage. He released another bullet at me, this time laced with his blood before falling to one knee. Again, I took the hit directly and grunted as it staggered me.
Critical hit!
[HP:22/403]
I spit a globule of blood to the ground as my legs threatened to buckle. He was panting and grinning savagely at me.
"You're a tough piece of shit, kid," he bowed his head. "Let me live or kill me; I've got no more energy left. As the victor, it is your choice."
I stared at his mangled form. On one side, killing him is morally wrong, and I don't know how rejecting my own predisposed morals would affect me in the long run. On the other side, there was no way he'd actually be fit to do anything in the foreseeable future since I've somehow rendered his arms useless. Wordlessly, I approached him before placing my hand on his shoulder.
"Getting soft on–"
I cut him off as I plunged my shiv into the nape of his neck.
[+3000 EXP, +10 Bloodlust, Basic Zanbatō added to inventory.]
He then slumped to the ground. I too fell on my butt as the exhaustion caught up to me. With another groan, I pushed myself back onto my feet and grabbed his shoulders, dragging him up the massive ramp with me and leaving a trail of smeared blood.
Halfway up, 4 men in white stylized masks appeared before me.
"Did you kill this man?"
Great, guess our fight got loud enough to attract the local law enforcement.
"Yeah. He wouldn't let me gain entry to your village."
"And why do you wish to enter? For all we know, you could be a spy. Trust runs thin in times of war."
Then, my mouth, for some reason, ran on autopilot.
"I'm pretty sure my father was a shinobi from this village. I simply wish to carry on his service, and possibly take it to new heights as one of the Mist's Seven Swordsmen."
Without another word, one of the Hunter Nin grabbed me as another decapitated Yuudai and threw his body over the side of the ramp in one motion.
"We will take you to refugee housing. You will have an audience with the Mizukage along with other candidates tomorrow morning. Do not leave your assigned residence."
My vision blurred before I found myself roughly thrown onto a bedroll. I quickly drifted to sleep and woke up in a familiar void surrounded by a wall of mist filled with information.
Name: Kakioka Shunsui
Title: None
Level: 10
EXP: 3418/829
Age: 7
Sex: Male
Stats
HP: 403
Stamina: 91
CP: 73
VIT: 10
END: 10
STR: 16
DEX: 15
RES: 7
INT: 6
Bloodlust: 13/100
Gifts:
[Sharply Styled]: 30% extra damage with bladed weapons and 50% extra sneak attack damage.
Inventory:
Makeshift Shiv: 35 dmg, STR E, DEX E
Basic Zanbatō: 101 dmg, STR D, DEX C
-Requirements: STR 17, DEX 15
Ryo: 0
Level up?
I stared at my stats and groaned as they were just short of being able to use my new weapon effectively. The fact that there was no auto-leveling was also a bit of a hassle. I lazily clicked yes and put 1 point each into Strength, Dexterity, and Intelligence. Bringing my stats up to the following:
Name: Kakioka Shunsui
Title: None
Level: 13
EXP: 703/1289
Age: 7
Sex: Male
Stats
HP: 403
Stamina: 91
CP: 78
VIT: 10
END: 10
STR: 17
DEX: 16
RES: 7
INT: 7
Bloodlust: 13/110
XXXX
I was woken up the next morning by the door of my temporary residence being slammed open.
"Up and at'em, maggots!" a rough looking man shouted from the doorway. "Your assessment with the recruiter is in 5 minutes. Any of you show up late will be executed promptly."
Definitely not the reign of the Godaime then. Luckily, whatever entity forced me into this world failed to impart the ability to grow tired onto my wretched soul. I rolled out of my bedroll and walked out of the door to see familiar letters flash against the cavernous roof above me.
—Kirigakure—
The man looked at me, scoffed, and began walking, not bothering to wait for the others who were still waking up.
"At least one of you understands promptness. Follow me. I'll take you to your evaluation. The others can either catch up, or become target practice."
His lackadaiscal pace quickened up slightly to a faster gait, just short of jogging. My tiny legs had trouble keeping up with his longer strides, and by the time he stopped in front of the building, my stamina gauge was nearly empty. Four of the teenagers from the barracks caught up to me, but I never took the time to see how many there were in the morning.
"You have 10 seconds to present yourself."
He stepped out of the way of the door and faded into the surrounding fog. I squared my shoulders and stepped into a large circular room with a carved, dome-like ceiling. There was a raised dais in front of me, on which three men stood, brandishing strange-looking blades. However, the dim lighting made it rather difficult for me to make out the details of their faces.
"Only five, huh," the figure on the left said, leaning against his thin, needle-like sword.
"Heh, sucks to be you guys," the one of the right continued, "the lazy ones got to be fodder."
The one in the center stabbed his massive cleaver into the ground before talking.
"You go-getters have to take the honors students' test," he said, leaning forward, revealing is sharp toothed grin and tattooed face. "We're on temporary leave from out bloodbath to find new recruits. If ya do well enough, one of us might even take you as an apprentice."
In one motion, he pulled the sword out and holstered it onto his back. The man on the left stepped forward also stepped forward, revealing his hunter nin mask.
"Kekeke, not me. I don't have time for a brat."
He pulled up his giant needle and slipped back into the shadows before vanishing completely.
"Well, if Kuriare's out, then I am too," the one on the right. "I'm Munashi Jinpachi, by the way. It'd be a shame if I blew one of you guys up."
"Guess that just leaves me," the remaining man said, leaning onto his cleaver. "Whoever wins can learn my name. It won't matter if you know it in the Pure World, after all."
While the others were staring at him, I tried to take the initiative by pulling out my zanbatō and swinging at the teen on my right. He screamed as he was disarmed, literally.
[103 damage, enemy arm severed]
[+42 EXP, +2 Bloodlust, -3 Sanity]
His health bar depleted to 0 as he fell to the ground. The other three stared at me in shock.
"What? I thought it was that kind of test? They had all these talks about 'survivors,' 'Pure World,' and all that jazz."
After saying so, I 'paused' and sorted through the various settings in the menu. Why the hell am I not fazed by what I just did? Was it the game helping me filter any trauma? Game? Answers?
[Tutorial arbitrarily locked. Do more and you will find out.]
I was then forcefully ejected from the pause menu. Then the still-unnamed proctor began to laugh. It was a cruel sound, the harsh cachinnations reverberating around the room.
"Right now, brat. You're my favorite. That bloodlust will make you go far. I heard you managed to kill Tanaka at the gate. The rest of these brats fought him before you, but no one took things as far as you."
"Wait, I don't want to be here. I just wanted to be a ninja, not have to kill my comrades," the boy next to the one I murdered began to stammer. "I'm getting out of here."
He began to run back towards the mist blocked doorway. However, before he could take his fourth step, he stumbled as his torso fell to the ground, with his legs following promptly after. My eyes boggled when I saw the number 622 appear under his empty health bar. When I turned back around, the proctor on the same level as us, somehow jumping from the dais, down to the potential escapee and back in front of us in the span of seconds.
"Here's my first lesson. You're not comrades until you're blooded. Shorty here," he nodded his head towards me, "Is the closest to becoming a 'comrade.' I had a whole list of exercises ready, but the two deaths kind of screwed things up, so I'm making a new entrance exam."
I felt liquid rushing from behind me as the blood flowed from the corpse by the door and into the man's cleaver.
"If you manage to kill the brat, I'll personally get you an apprenticeship with the Swordsman of your choosing."
"A-and if we lose?" the lanky teen to my left asked.
The proctor grinned again, baring his sharp teeth.
"Well then, that just means you're not worth teaching, aren't you? The brat's gotta be half your age."
He then faded into mist before appearing on the overlooking dais again, leaving a shroud of heavy fog around the room.
There were two clangs as the man tossed two tanto onto the floor in front of the remaining aspirants. Guess that means it's time to start. I immediately swung my zanbatō to my left in a wide arc, however, the boy lunged under my sweep and grabbed his sword in a surprising show of skill. I tried to swing again, but the combination of the sword's impressive weight and my lack of stamina in my slowly refilling bar made it excessively easy for the two to jump out of the way.
They landed at the opposite side of the arena and gave each other sideways glances before lunging at me from opposite sides. I was able to dodge the attack from the right but unfortunately left myself completely open to the one from the left.
[HP: 331/403]
I swung my sword wildly at the boy on the left, grazing him as he tried to roll away. I dealt another 102 damage and brought his health bar down to roughly a third. He growled at me before lunging at me again. Keeping in mind of the boy on my right, I rolled backward, into the mist.
Above me, a stylized icon of a closed eye appeared as I crouched in the mist. Surprisingly, I was able to make out the rough shapes of my two targets as they ran around the room, stabbing randomly into the mist. This must be the whole stealth thing from the intro. I prowled around the mist until I was near one of the shapes before lashing out with a power attack that consumed the entirety of my stamina bar.
[Critical! Sneak attack! +50% damage]
I grinned as 175 appeared under his full health bar, depleting it completely.
[+44 EXP, +4 Bloodlust]
Then, the icon changed to an open eye as I felt a stabbing pain in my left shoulder. I stumbled out of the mist and groaned as my lack of stamina made it impossible for me to actually dodge the follow-up slash.
[HP: 179/403, left arm injured, weapon scaling halved!]
I switched out my zanbatō for my trusty shiv as fast as whatever mechanics governed my life allowed me, but was once again unable to dodge as he slashed me diagonally across the chest.
[HP: 102/403]
Luckily, my stamina bar was full, making it much easier for me to dodge out of the way of his third swipe. While his back was turned, I stabbed at him, creating a loud squelching noise as I quickly forced my shiv into his lower back and forcing him onto his stomach as I applied more pressure. The numbers 10 and 42 appeared under his bar in rapid succession, depleting it to 0. As I stumbled back onto my feet, more words flashed across my vision.
[+62 EXP, +6 Bloodlust, -2 Sanity]
As I stared up at the Swordsman, he made a one-handed sign and dispersed the mist. I was actually able to track his movement this time as he casually hopped off of the dais. He grinned at me before clapping a hand on my injured shoulder.
[HP: 82/403]
Seriously? Did it really damage me that much?
"You're a natural, kid. I was expecting those two to beat you, to be honest. They were here for a couple of weeks longer than you, after all," his grin broadened as he squeezed my shoulder not too gently.
[HP: 75/403]
I grit my teeth as I felt more blood trickle down my arm.
"Hoh? You've got the teeth too. If such a thing as Fate existed, I'd say that you were destined to be my disciple."
I scoffed and spit some blood onto the exposed tip of his blade, which greedily drunk it up. I then looked up at him expectantly.
"Well, does that mean I've earned your name then, wielder of the [Kubikiribōchō]."
He looked down at me for another moment before answering.
"The name's Biwa Juuzō. You can call me shishō. No teacher choice for you. Welcome to the Mist's Kenjutsu Corps. Hope you last more than a month."
Name: Kakioka Shunsui
Title: Kenjutsu Corps Genin
Level: 13
EXP: 851/1289
Age: 7
Sex: Male
Stats
HP: 403
Stamina: 91
CP: 78
VIT: 10
END: 10
STR: 17
DEX: 16
RES: 7
INT: 7
Bloodlust: 23/110
Sanity: 195/200
Inventory:
Makeshift Shiv: 35 dmg, STR E, DEX E
Basic Zanbatō: 101 dmg, STR D, DEX C
-Requirements: STR 17, DEX 15
Ryo: 20