17 17: Borrowed Power
Hey! Another small author note before this chapter starts:
I'm not gonna lie, the next like... four or five chapters (including this one) have been through a ton of re-writes and I'm honestly still not super happy with how they turned out. You might spot some plot inconsistencies and character weirdness here and there. Trust me, if you do spot them, just know that there used to be even more when I first wrote these chapters.
I really hope the chapters are still good enough to not dull your reading experience!
Have a nice day, and (hopefully) enjoy the chapter.
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That night, Seija's clones perished valiantly in the line of duty, one by one.
Clones 1 to 6 all went east, finding nothing and vanishing on their own after several hours. Clones 7 to 12 on the other hand, who went west, found a number of interesting things. First was clone 9, the one who encountered the three Konoha Genin. Then clone 10, who was following clone 9, tracked them back to their camp and was promptly annihilated in one palm strike by a Hyuga wearing a green flak vest, the uniform of a Chunin or higher-ranked shinobi.
Clones 11 and 12 died almost at the same time. They had traveled further north than the other clones, and had been taken out by a white-haired, masked man. Clone 12 was actually the one who died first, not even seeing the attacker. Clone 11 turned around just in time to see the white-haired man's blade descend upon her.
'So that's where Sakumo is... Looks like he's heading north, I think? Clones 11 and 12 died before 9 and 10, and Sakumo hadn't returned to the camp after killing the clones, so he must be moving north with a purpose. That should mean he's not going to be involved down here.' That was a huge relief. Sakumo was, at least as far as she knew, a one-trick-pony who only used his tanto to fight. But he was still at least a high Jonin-level Kenjutsu user. He would've absolutely been the biggest threat to her if he had remained nearby.
Clones 7 and 8 found something else, however. Something important enough that clone 8 created a clone of her own and sent it back home carrying something.
Clones 7 and 8 had found the remains of the caravan. Everyone was dead, and Kaowru's body was nowhere to be found. Even through the dispassionate lens of her clones, Seija felt uneasy at the sight of real human corpses. In the bushes nearby however, clone 8 spotted something glowing in the bushes with a familiar digital light.
A scroll. And that's what just arrived at her window a few minutes ago, carried by clone 13, the one that clone 8 created.
'Firewall, what is this?'
"[This is likely one of Kaowru's system rewards. It would have been ejected from his Inventory shortly after he died.]"
'He had an Inventory?' Seija asked. She didn't have anything like that and was curious about the functionality of the other systems.
"[Indeed he did. Unfortunately, this is not an ability that I can obtain for myself. I exist to detect, disable and defend against enemy systems, not to store objects or provide Quests or Skills.]"
'Well... what does it do?'
"[Allow me to analyze it...]" A retro whirring and beeping noise played out in her head, before a system window appeared above the scroll.
[Consumable item: Summoning Realm Enhancement Scroll - Monster Hunter]
Firewall began his explanation before she even had to ask.
"[The Great System has informed me that this is a modifier that will apply itself when its owner, in this case you, casts the Summoning Jutsu for the first time. It will take the user to a more powerful summoning realm with more powerful and varied animals to summon. Due to its extremely high rarity and value, it is likely that he used a gacha to obtain it and got lucky, rather than a purchasing it using a Skill Shop. He would never be able to afford it at such an early point in his life otherwise.]"
'No wonder he didn't use it yet. He didn't strike me as the sort of person who had already learned chakra control, let alone the Summoning Jutsu...' Seija wondered if she should use it herself. It was hers now, so she got to decide what to do with it.
'So... should I use it?'
"[Perhaps. If I destroy it I will gain a very large amount of experience, since it is a very rare Item. Certainly enough to reach level 3, and even get a good way towards level 4 as well. However, that would erase it for good, and it is certainly as powerful as it is rare. You are not likely to get a similar chance again as the other reincarnators progress and gain the ability to use items like these for themselves.]" Firewall explained.
'Hmm... You said this will send me to a different summoning realm, right? Isn't the Summoning Jutsu supposed to take you to the animals that you're best suited for if you don't have a contract already? Wouldn't this interfere with that?'
"[No. Allow me to provide an analogy: Imagine that you are currently on the 'normal level' of the summoning realm, where only regular animals like dogs, toads, slugs, snakes and other such creatures exist. The Summoning Jutsu takes you to the animal best suited to you on the normal level."]
Firewall continued after pausing to let Seija soak in the analogy.
"[But this scroll will push you up into an 'upper level'. There, the monsters and mythical creatures you find will be vastly superior to whatever you were going to get before, 'best suited' or not. You lose nothing by using the scroll, as the summoned creatures will accept this contract automatically, without any sort of advanced test. Note that there will however be a basic strength limiter to stop you from summoning the most powerful creatures right from the start.]"
"[In the end, only experience for me will be missed, which I can always get from elsewhere as we will eventually encounter more reincarnators in the future.]"
Seija was convinced. In any other case it would've felt hypocritical of her to use an item from a system to gain power, but the Summoning Jutsu was made to call in help outside the user's own power anyways. If this had been a Skill scroll or some piece of equipment, like an enchanted sword, she would've asked Firewall to simply destroy it. She wouldn't waste her time on Skills, and her bare hands were dangerous enough as they were.
Most weapons would eventually break as she got too strong to wield them, and searching for a more powerful one would, like a Skill, take too much time away from her training. She could see the appeal in having one of those fancy 'soul-bound' weapons that naturally grow alongside their users but even then she just preferred hitting stuff. That, and weaving hand signs was a hell of a lot easier if you weren't holding a sword in one of your hands.
'Alright. Tomorrow I'll search the basement for a scroll for the Summoning Jutsu. I'll use the modification scroll myself.'
"[Very well.]"
- - - - -
The next morning Seija awoke and went through her morning routine quicker than normal. She wanted to catch her mother before the woman left for work at the clinic.
"Mom. I need to talk to you about something important." Seija started off as seriously as possible and gestured to the basement.
"Hm? Right now? Alright." Himiko responded. She didn't see such an expression on her daughter's face very often, so she went along with her.
Heading down, Seija turned to face Himiko, who had just closed the door behind them.
"I saw something in the forest earlier with my Byakugan. A large camp of people wearing metal headbands with leaf patterns, and green flak jackets."
Himiko would've normally frozen at such a revelation, but she had mentally prepared herself for something as serious as this the moment Seija started talking. Her expression turned severe.
"I see... Which way?"
"North west. Barely more than twenty kilometers away from my training spot. I had decided to send out some Shadow Clones to see how wide a space they could scout with the Byakugan after all this training I've been doing, and they spotted the camp out there. There were about forty or fifty of them, and it looked like they were still setting up the tents and moving crates and stuff around."
Himiko face-palmed and grit her teeth. "Damn it... that's a standard scouting and settlement occupation platoon... fuck..."
That was a rare sight. Himiko had usually been careful not to swear in front of Seija.
"Mom? Do you know anything about them?"
"I do. What you just described was a platoon of Konoha shinobi of the perfect size for annexing a small village like ours to use as a base of operations or a logistics station during a war. I didn't want to believe the rumors were true this time; they had only been a hoax four years ago..."
"So what do we do? We should just leave right now, right?" Seija was worried. Her parents were both technically missing-nin and were probably still wanted by Konoha. She'd even seen a much younger picture of her mother in an old copy of the Bingo Book that had been stored in the basement. Wanted alive only, not dead.
"Not now, we can't. They'll have about a dozen sensor-nin stationed in the hills for miles all around to catch people fleeing the village. They won't move until the actual assault begins, at which point a handful of them will re-join the platoon after the village is captured while the rest of them will get relocated to other battlefields." Her mother was chewing her nails while talking at this point...
"Well... could we hide?" Seija suggested.
"No, for the same reason as before. There will be sensor-nins coming in after the town is captured. They'll spot us even if we're hiding. Especially you, with your bright chakra. You'll only be able to get past them once they're not actively casting their sensory Jutsu."
"Oh... ok. Um... could we fight them?"
Himiko smiled sadly at her daughter's hopeful expression.
"No again, I'm afraid. They'll have at least one Jonin in command, and at least a dozen Chunin. The Genin wouldn't be an issue for either of us, but the higher ranks will cause some major problems, especially with that many of them. More importantly, if we do kill them then both ourselves and the village would then be threatened. They would send a more powerful squad of shinobi to track us down, maybe even the Anbu Black Ops. The entire settlement could get caught in the collateral damage if that happens." She explained. She wished it wasn't so, but Himiko knew they would have to try something risky or even self-sacrificial if they were going to get out of this.
"I see..." Seija added herself, "Now that I think about it dad would be in danger too since he can't fight like we can..."
"Exactly. And don't underestimate the Inuzuka Clan's tracking ability; There won't be one in the initial platoon, but there would absolutely be at least one on the tracking team. The Land of Rain's weather would help us somewhat, but it'd still take days for the scent trail to fade away..." Himiko desperately searched her mind for answers, but realised that her time was up and she would be late to work if she stayed here any longer today.
"Right, I need to go to work now. They won't attack yet if they're still setting up the camp. They need set up all of their supplies, scout out the surrounding territory to make sure they aren't going to get ambushed by a rival nation, and finally get permission from Konoha's High Command to attack. We have a week at minimum, hopefully more, before the attack begins. Above all else, we cannot let them know that you exist. You put that brain of yours to work while I'm gone, alright? Maybe you'll figure something out? You'll make it through this, I know you will." She kissed Seija's forehead and headed upstairs out of the basement.
- - - - -
Seija searched through the basement after her mother left and sure enough, the C-rank Summoning Jutsu was there.
'So I just have to do this and I'll be sent to the summoning realm?'
"[Correct.]"
'...Wait! This might be a solution! I won't use it yet since I'm not sure if I'll be able to do this again, but surely if we get sent to the summoning realm we can just hide there! It's perfect!'
Basking in her glorious intelligence, Seija headed out to the back yard to continue her training. She couldn't risk using the woods anymore with the platoon so close by, so she would have to make do with the space she had at home.
She also had to come up with an explanation for the Hyuga her clones saw there. She realised that she had missed her chance to bring it up to Himiko when they spoke earlier, and she cursed her child-aged brain for forgetting something that important in the stress of the moment. Clearly, she hadn't matured as much as she thought she would with all her past life's memories.
In any case, she had a totally fool-proof plan now, and the Rasengan still wasn't going to master itself while she waited for her mother to come back.
