34 34: Duel

Author note:

Do you ever just write double the normal chapter length because you forgot to split it up into two chapters? Because that's what I accidentally did with this chapter.

Also, this chapter is supposed to have comments with images of a couple of obscure characters, but my PC is having an update-related accident and I don't want to suffer through adding the images on mobile.

Anyways, since the chapter is so long there will probably be a longer gap before I post the next chapter, maybe two extra days? We'll see.

Enjoy your violence, and have a nice day!

_____________________________________________________________

The caravan train continued its trek through the desert towards the edge of the eastern forest of the Land of Wind. The expected ambush location of the bandits and the place where Renji planned to spring his own trap against Mishima.

As they approached the treeline their sensei twitched slightly and narrowed his eyes before signaling the team. The bandits were here, hidden just behind the closest trees.

He whispered to them. "They're here. A dozen civilian bandits and one disguised Chunin. I will restrain him, you three drive the rest of them away from the supplies. If you have to kill them, do it, but keep at least one alive."

He immediately vanished into the forest and Renji could hear the bandits cursing that they'd been found out and moving to throw their bombs.

'Might as well fight them.'

He let his chakra strings flow from his fingers and extended them, launching his fake Hari puppet towards the rushing group. He could see an orange light flicker to his left and recognised it as Mishima's... no, Pakura's Scorch Release. Her fireballs were slightly smaller than Mishima's were.

Two bandits on his left side burst into steam, leaving two mummified corpses where they had once stood. Renji cringed and flexed his index and ring fingers releasing a shotgun-spray of poisoned senbon at his own targets, paralysing three of them after sidestepping a firebomb that was thrown at him.

As for the remaining seven?

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-"

Renji could only look on in disgust as they writhed in the sand, screaming their lungs out in pure agony. Even Pakura was concerned.

"Um... Onii-chan, you can just kill them instantly so... why are you letting them burn like that?" She questioned her brother.

Mishima just laughed and gave a half-hearted excuse that it was more chakra efficient.

'Psycho.' Renji grit his teeth and tied up the remaining three bandits that he had captured.

Their sensei returned to the group with a tied up Chunin hung over his shoulder.

"Hmm. Good, you left some alive. Now, this guy here is wearing a Konoha headband, but I doubt it's a real one. Nobody on a stealth mission like this would so blatantly display their affiliation like that, but it could also be a double bluff so we still need to find their hideout and get some clue as to their true identity." He reported.

Renji nodded and administered an antidote to the first of his three tied up bandits.

*Cough* "Uggghh. What do you want?"

Renji crouched down in front of him and spoke.

"You know what I'm gonna ask you. Where's your base? Your friends there can't speak right now but they can hear us, so I'm only gonna ask you once. If you refuse to answer then I'll just kill you and ask one of them instead. Now talk."

The bandit grimaced and responded. *Sigh* "Damn ninja brats... it's east of here. Like ten kilometers or something. In a cave."

"That sounds like you just made it up on the spot."

"I ain't! I just don't know the exact distance or direction. The ninja over there was the one who knew the exact path." He pointed his chin at the unconscious Chunin. "But he won't speak. Wouldn't tell us who he works for, and he won't tell you 'neither."

Renji's sensei spoke up.

"There are no caves marked on this map. This area was thoroughly scouted months ago."

The bandit shook his head. "'Course it ain't on no map. The other boss made it with his ninja magic. Carved it right outa' the hillside."

Renji considered that point. 'So another shinobi made the cave? Earth Style is typically an Iwagakure thing, so that's a potential suspect right there.'

Sensei seemed to think so too, as he untied the bandit and promptly executed the other three, including the Chunin, before grabbing the startled man by the wrist.

"Then take us there. If you see any landmarks that you can remember, tell us. You might just live."

The bandit nodded and began to walk before being picked up by Renji's puppet.

"Gah?! The hell?!"

"This'll be faster, just put up with it. Or would you rather that we make you sprint the full ten kilometers?" Renji said.

"Uh... Sure..."

- - -

The bandit led them from where he was being held by the fake Hari by pointing out things that he could remember as the group moved eastwards. A large tree with yellow leaves at around the 2km mark, a split boulder that some shinobi had probably cracked decades ago at the 5km mark, an old deer skeleton in a small clearing at the 8km mark...

And then they killed him.

"Sensei, why did you do that?" Renji asked him. The bandit had given them surprisingly good directions and wasn't exactly a threat, so letting the man go wouldn't have been unreasonable.

"No loose ends." His sensei responded bluntly and without elaboration.

'Was that supposed to be a lesson? Pretty shitty way to teach someone. Of course you wouldn't leave any loose ends when it comes to shinobi, but this dude was a civilian...'

Either way, the reason why they didn't need him any more was because they were close enough that tracks from frequent foot traffic were starting to become visible on the path ahead.

Plus, the sun was starting to fall over the horizon, so if they needed to find a hidden cave then searching for a light source would be the easiest way to find it. Besides simply following the trail, of course.

And follow it they did for the next kilometer or so before something clicked in their sensei's detection range.

"Shit..."

Mishima spoke this time. "Hm? 'Sup, sensei?"

"I think they have a dedicated sensor-nin. A mixed Chunin and Genin unit has just appeared on our right flank, two-o-clock. The sensor's detection range must be greater than my own, so it's probably a Special-Jonin."

Renji pulled his puppet closer to himself and listened carefully to the sounds around him. Mishima and Pakura also summoned several fireballs to swirl defensively around themselves.

Moments later, Renji saw Mishima twitch and lean in preparation to jump to the left.

'His threat detection triggered. Here they come.'

Sure enough the ground beneath their team began to crack and split apart, and a line of shuriken shot out from the trees in front of them.

Hari easily blocked all of the shurikens with its body, so all Renji had to do was leap out of the Earth Style's path. Fireballs shot forwards and one of the approaching the shinobi was struck dead in the center of their chest right as they revealed themselves. Renji could hear one of the attackers shouting.

"Fuck! Nendo's down in one hit! Don't let those fireballs touch you!"

He could see the bushes rustling as the attackers split up, one heading for himself, and the other two for Pakura.

Renji could easily trust either Pakura herself or her older brother to defend her, so he focussed on the man approaching him from the front.

[Puppet Art: Twin Needle Reversal]

Hari's arms detached and launched forwards, long blades extended from the elbow joints aimed at the attacker. The enemy ducked under both limbs and spat a volley of rocks at Renji, but Hari's chest had already folded out into a wide shield as part of this particular technique.

The earth ninja realised the implications a second too late, as Hari's palms that were now aiming backwards from behind the man snapped open and fired a wide burst of needles back towards the puppet's main body, showering the whole area and peppering the victim's torso with poisoned senbon.

Renji stepped out from behind the shield and flicked his right hand to reattach the arms to Hari's main body before checking on Pakura as the man's corpse dropped to the ground. He stumbled slightly as he walked while trying to ignore the feeling in his stomach.

'Ugh... it's fine. He was trying to kill me, and I need this experience to deal with Mishima soon anyways. It's fine...'

It was the first time he had killed anyone, and he wasn't taking it all that well. Either way, the battle was over as he could now see Pakura standing over a pair of mummified women.

'No surprises there. Scorch Release really is nasty stuff... I can't imagine what having all of your blood evaporate from the inside must feel like. It looks pretty instantaneous, but Mishima has shown already that it can be drawn out for a few agonising seconds.'

Renji looked around the area and noticed that their sensei was missing. He figured that the man must have headed off on his own to try and catch the enemy sensor-nin during the battle.

"Well, that was lame. You two, let's go find sensei. He'll probably be at that cave by now, and there's no point in us going slow now that they know we're here. Try to keep up." Mishima said before flickering off further east.

The team traveled at high speed until they came across signs of conflict. Several dead Genin and Chunin shinobi lay strewn about the area around the entrance to a small cave, where the sound of clashing metal sounded out.

A figure shot out of the entrance gripping a bleeding, slashed arm, trying to escape from his Jonin-ranked attacker, but ran straight into one of Mishima's fireballs. The man hastily blocked the fire with an Earth Wall, but this stalled him for long enough, that he ended up taking a kunai to the back, finishing him off.

"Thank you, Mishima. That sensor-nin was annoyingly slippery." Their sensei spoke as he stepped out of the cave. "This place is clear now. We'll search inside for any evidence of their identity, although the sheer number of Earth Style users doesn't leave much to the imagination."

- - -

The team searched around the inside of the cave for some time, breaking open crates, flicking through paper documents and the occasional scroll. But Renji couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. Every time he glanced over at Mishima, the boy was... twitchy... tense.

'What's up with him. I don't mind watching the bastard suffer from anxiety right in front of me, but there must be a cause for that, right?' As Renji slowly and subtly assessed the situation, he came to a realisation.

'He's also slowly leading Pakura back towards the entrance with hints and whispers. This cave... SHIT!' Renji immediately Flickered back to the mouth of the cave right as an intense rumbling shook the whole cavern from below. He could hear their sensei shout out from the deepest part of the cave, where the man had been completely caught off guard.

"A stealth specialist?! NO-"

The ceiling compressed downwards upon him, like the hammer of a hydraulic press. Needless to say, he did not survive being turned into floor-pizza.

Mishima and Pakura were able to leave the cave first thanks to Mishima's early warning. Renji was able to follow them soon after, but with their sensei gone he was worried that they would have to deal with a potentially Jonin-level shinobi by themselves.

That was before he heard the laughter from behind him as he was staring back at the cave. He turned to face the culprit.

"Oi, Mishima! What the fuck are you laughing about?! Sensei was just crushed-"

He looked down in dawning horror. His feet started sinking into the mud that had just appeared around his ankles. Mishima's laughter intensified.

"AHAHAHAHA~!!! I can't believe such a convenient moment really showed itself! Finally, a chance to get out of that damn desert for good. Don't you think so too, Renji?" Mishima cackled at him.

Renji refused to respond and began reaching for his summoning scroll. He finally realised what was happening. Pakura was lying unconscious against a tree, knocked out by her own brother. Their sensei was dead, and he was going to be next. It was all Mishima's doing.

"Fuck... So you had access to Earth Style techniques as well as Scorch Release this whole time? You know what? It doesn't even matter. I'm done letting you do whatever you want to me! I'm not going down without killing you first!" Renji screamed as he whipped open his secret scroll, summoning the upgraded Hari directly in front of him.

Mishima's eyes widened as his threat detection spiked, and he slammed his hand down to create an Earth Wall right before a jet of fire from Hari's brand new flamethrower could reach him.

Renji had prepared Hari for this fight without knowing about Mishima's ability to use Earth Style. The flamethrowers he had equipped to the puppet were his plan to take the bastard out quickly. After all, how would Mishima block a wave of fire using only more heat from his Scorch Release? His plan would've worked too, if only Mishima hadn't been hiding this trick.

"Close!" Mishima shouted from behind the wall, "But not close enough! You've been naughty behind my back haven't you? That flamethrower wasn't something that your little toy could use before... did you make that specifically to kill me? HA! As if you ever could! You're nothing, Renji! NOW BECOME NOTHING!"

Now, Renji would admit that he didn't have much sensory talent. He would even say that his ability to detect chakra fluctuations was below average.

But even he could sense what was building up behind that wall and was able to determine its true nature from the wording of Mishima's taunt and the high-pitched whining sound that started emanating from that location. He struggled to free his feet from the ground before making a tough choice. Well, it was either this or his life, so it wasn't really that tough...

He pulled out a low-yield explosive kunai from his pouch and threw it straight into the ground that his feet were stuck in.

*Boom*

Wincing and gritting his teeth from the pain of burning his own legs, he managed to force his damaged muscles to pull his feet out of the newly crumbled earth and dive to the side. Right before a beam of blinding white light streaked past where he was just standing, carving a hole out of the landscape behind him.

'How the hell did he hide all this?! That was a fucking Particle Style beam! The Tsuchikage's Kekkei Tota! This is insane... Surely it isn't that easy to just casually fuse elements together like that, right?!' Renji complained in his mind before whipping Hari high up into the air to aim over the wall. With his other hand, he pulled the lower half of Hari's body downwards, separating the puppet into two individual parts.

[Puppet Art: Senbon Hail]

Hari's elbows snapped open, launching an immense spray of envenomed needles from the storage scrolls contained within its arms.

As Mishima once more constructed an earthen barrier to block the rain, he suddenly was forced to retreat from his small shelter, as Hari's detached, bladed legs shot around the corner and slashed at him.

"Grrr... This is annoying! [Scorch Release: Scorching Wave]"

Mishima's fireballs shot forwards into the leg-puppet, but when he saw the result he let out a 'tch' and was forced to back off even further as the flames seemingly only lightly burned the surface of the wood.

"Did you forget, Mishima? Scorch release only works on living things that have water inside them! My puppets can't be burned that easily!" Renji taunted.

He knew that Mishima must've spent a lot of chakra firing that Particle Style attack. It was well known in the anime to have been one of the most exhausting types of Ninjutsu to use.

Mishima wouldn't admit it, but Renji was really putting him on the back foot. He was forced to duck behind a tree as a second burst of needles rained down from above like an automatic shotgun. And was then forced out from behind his cover once again as a bladed leg cut straight through the wood, just barely slicing his shirt and grazing his skin.

Mishima felt the sting of his wound and knew he would have to make a desperate play. His danger sense informed him that the blade was poisoned, and that the poison was going to spread through his body.

He clapped his hands together and began charging a second Atomic Dismantling Jutsu between his fingers.

Renji scowled at this and forced his badly injured legs to move, throwing himself to the ground to dodge an attack that never came. The threat had distracted him for long enough that he wasn't able to command the two halves his puppet to attack Mishima, who immediately canceled the Jutsu and pulled a small bottle seemingly out of thin air.

'A system item! Analyse it!' Renji commanded his own system.

[Consumable item: Uncommon Antidote]

[A multi-purpose antidote obtained from a System Shop. Fights off toxins within the body. Will lessen the effects of most toxins, even if it fails to remove them immeditately.]

'I have no clue how strong 'Uncommon' is, but I'm not taking any chances! Hari!'

He abandoned the legs puppet entirely and connected all of his chakra strings to the torso puppet. Hari's chest swung open, revealing a miniature cannon aimed straight down at Mishima. The boy looked up immediately after draining the bottle, his danger sense screaming inside his mind.

But Renji couldn't fire it so freely, of course. It needed to be carefully aimed so that the shrapnel of the attack hit his target directly. And Mishima used this to his advantage, sprinting towards Renji at top speed to close the distance and make the attack fire too close to Renji's own body.

He didn't give Renji the chance to flee either, throwing out a volley of shuriken as he charged. Most of them missed but as Renji tried to run he stumbled on his wounded legs, and one of Mishima's shuriken severed his achilles tendon on his right foot. His leg gave out and he collapsed to the ground.

Renji knew his fate was sealed at this point. Mishima was mere meters away from him now, Scorch Release flickering on the psychotic bastard's palm. He was terrified of death, sure... but his desire to take down Mishima with him burned brighter than mere flame.

"FUCK YOU!!!" Renji screamed as he swiped his right hand down. Pulling the trigger on the cannon that was aimed at both of them from behind Mishima's back.

*Bang!*

Mishima's hand touched the center of his chest. And that was the last thing Renji felt before the blazing heat boiled him from within.

- - -

When the dust cleared, coughing and choking could be heard from the clearing outside the cave.

*cough* "Hah, hahaha! You bastard... You almost got me!" Mishima wheezed as he slowly stood up and almost stumbled from exhaustion before catching himself.

'Almost ran out of chakra too.' Mishima mused.

He dropped a second empty bottle from his hands as he approached the steaming corpse which had been blown a few feet away, shards of jagged metal dropping out of his back as he walked.

[Consumable item: Epic Healing Potion]

[A healing potion obtained from a lucky gacha pull. Pushes out foreign material stuck inside the body to prevent the healing process from being blocked. This rank of healing potion can regenerate even severed limbs in seconds.]

"I can't believe you even managed to make me waste this thing. Good job, asshole. That cost me a whole fucking Golden Ticket to obtain." He spat as he gave the steaming body a final kick.

[Skill: Earth Style, has increased in mastery to 28%!]

[Skill: Particle Style, has increased in mastery to 20%!]

[Main Quest Complete!]

'Aha, here's Light's report now.' Mishima thought to himself. 'Light' was the name of his Isekai Hero System, which had given him a certain quest on the day that he awoke.

[Main Quest]

[The One True Hero: defeat another reincarnator for good, either by killing or recruiting them. Current Count: 1/1 (Complete)]

[Check your rewards tab to claim your prize]

[Main Quest Updated]

[The One True Hero II: defeat multiple other reincarnators for good, either by killing or recruiting them. Current Count: 1/3]

'Took long enough, but it's done now. It was a bit harder than expected, but I know I can handle whatever those other extras can throw at me.' He nodded to himself before checking his rewards.

[Quest Rewards]

"[An isekai hero must truly stand at the peak! But who says you have to be lonely while you're up there? Now that you have proven that you are worthy of being a True Hero by defeating another reincarnator, I can give you this new quest!]" Light announced inside Mishima's mind.

[Items received: System Coins x25000, Waifu Collar x2, Gacha Ticket x10, Golden Ticket x1]

[Major Quest received!]

[A Hero's Harem: gather members for your future harem. Current Count: 0/2]

'Now that's what I'm talking about! It's only natural, after all. Weird that there's only two slots for harem members in this new quest. I guess it'll update to add more once I complete it.'

He summoned one of the collars into his hand. It was a plain black band made from some unknown, stretchy material. He found that he could open and close the discreet, heart shaped lock on the front of it at will.

[Waifu Collar]

[An item to be worn by a harem member. Makes them subservient and loving towards the owner. Item owned by: You.]

'Heh, perfect.'

Mishima approached the sleeping Pakura.

'Now who should I target after her, hm? I'd certainly like to teach that stuck-up bitch, reincarnator number #6, a lesson. That'd kill two birds with one stone to add her to the harem. Hmm, but I don't know where she is since those extras blocked me from all their Group Chats. I'll have to pick someone else for now... Oh! How could I forget?' He pulled out a map from his inventory.

'There you are. Just a couple thousand miles north of here... That could take a while but it's gonna be so, so worth it!' With both his sensei and Renji dead, there was nobody to stop him from leaving Suna for good and seeking out greener pastures.

'Heheheh... Wait for me, Konan-chan!'

He was, of course, aiming for Amegakure.

- - - - -

Meanwhile...

In a dungeon hidden beneath a Village of earth and stone, a boy, chained to a chair, is awoken by a splash of water on his face.

"Urgh..." He groaned as his blurry vision cleared and he looked up at his jailor, a man wearing the standard red sleeve and brown flak-jacket of an Iwagakure Jonin.

"You awake now? Good. Stay quiet while I go get the Tsuchikage. Now, you're gonna answer his questions truthfully, because trust me, you're really not gonna like what happens if you don't."

The man left the jail cell and closed the door behind him. The boy, known as Noriaki, now starting to get his bearings after being woken up was quickly realising he was in deep, deep shit.

'Fuuuuck... maybe trying to seduce the Tsuchikage's daughter wasn't such a good idea...'

He'd gotten a little too excited with having awoken his Harem System and since the Hidden Village of Iwagakure wasn't exactly known for having many female representatives in the anime or manga, he went for the next best thing and targeted the most beautiful woman he could find: The daughter of Onoki, the Third Tsuchikage.

It went well for a while, slowly getting to know her and gradually affecting her with the hypnotisation of his system for a whole month before he was caught.

'I probably should've figured people would realise she was acting strangely. What kind of adult woman would date a ten year old kid normally? But still, to just freaking knock me out and kidnap me without evidence? Not cool, man!'

His train of thought was broken when the door slammed open and an extremely pissed-off old man stomped into the room, trailed by two other shinobi. One was the man he'd seen earlier, and the other was a man with spiky hair who he didn't recognise. The old man at the front was, of course, Onoki himself.

"Alright, brat, explain yourself! What the hell did you do to my daughter!?" The furious old man yelled right in his face.

"I... uh... heheh, I'm not sure what you mean-"

*Crack*

The Tsuchikage's fist shattered the wall right next to Noriaki's head.

"Do not lie to me."

"Okay okay I get it! I'm sorry I hypnotised her!" He blurted out in a panic. He had never taken his life seriously until this point, but he was finally realising that that life was now in serious danger of being snuffed out.

Onoki narrowed his eyes.

"Figures. There is no way my daughter would've gotten into a relationship with you otherwise. So..."

He motioned to the unknown man with spiky hair, who stepped forwards and placed his hand on Noriaki's head. Noriaki didn't feel much, but worried that this might be some kind of interrogation technique.

"How did you do it?" Onoki continued, "We tried examining her chakra network, but found no disturbances. That was no ordinary Genjutsu, was it, boy?"

Noriaki felt a sudden pressure from the hand on his head and hurriedly answered.

"It's just a regular Genjutsu! I swear-"

He was cut off by a searing pain that shot through his entire body and he screamed, as the spiky-haired man spoke.

"That was a lie, kid. Try again."

The Tsuchikage snarled and punched the boy in the gut.

Noriaki felt like a train loaded with a thousand tons of rocks just ran straight into him.

'I can't... I can't just tell them... the others would be so mad at me... I mustn't-'

"Speak, boy!" Onoki shouted again.

"It's a *cough* Kekkei Genkai-"

"That's another lie, Lord Tsuchikage. Should I?"

"Do it, Kakko."

Noriaki screamed again as the hand sent more waves of agony down into his body.

This continued for just a few more minutes, with Noriaki only getting two more lies out before it became obvious that there was no way he would be able to get out of this without revealing the truth.

He didn't want to do that to the people he'd met and shared memories with through their Global Chat and Group Chats. He knew all of their names and faces, their likes and dislikes...

But he didn't want to die.

'I'm sorry, everyone...'

"St-... Stop... please, I'll... tell you..." Noriaki gasped out through the tears covering his face.

Kakko, the spiky haired man, raised an eyebrow.

"Lord Tsuchikage, it looks like he might be finally telling the truth."

Onoki grinned and crouched to look straight into Noriaki's eyes.

"Well, boy? What is it? How did you do it?"

"I used... something else... it wasn't a Genjutsu... or even a Kekkei Genkai..."

The atmosphere in the room suddenly felt heavier as Noriaki caught his breath to say his piece that would doom everyone he knew, for the sake of his own survival.

"...Have you ever heard of a 'reincarnator' before, Tsuchikage-sama?"