NO. 43 - Attack On The Shie Hassaikai
"All right, everyone. Listen up."
I stepped before a large printout of an expansive connecting business building tucked away between several other homes and buildings. Surrounding the extensive building was a tall gate with only one entrance at the front. Several other pictures were taped below it, showing the surrounding empty homes and other structures.
Himiko, Jin, Kaina, and I were all in one of my extra rooms, which I had transformed into a small war room. A long table lined with three chairs on each side stood in the middle of the room.
"This here is the Shie Hassaikai Compound. It's run and operated by the Eight Precepts of Death, headed by Overhaul. It's newest Yakuza boss." I said as I pointed at a blurry image of a man with brown hair dressed in an oversized green jacket.
The man's most stand-out feature was the red and gold plague mask over his nose and mouth. In the picture, Overhaul is walking through one of the building's connecting hallways, followed by a man dressed in a long white raincoat and holding his hood up. A black and gold plague mask sat over his face. In his arms was a small girl who seemed to try to shrink into herself. "Behind him is his right-hand man, Chronostasis. In his arms is our main objective, Eri."
"The girl they're experimenting on to create this quirk-destroying drug," Kaina said with narrowed eyes as she held the red cartridge bullet between her fingers.
Sitting beside her, Himiko shifted uncomfortably as she looked at Eri with a sad expression. Jin leaned forward on the table, his usual loud personality silent. I nodded before pointing to each photo of Overhaul's Eight Bullets.
"That's right. That bastard has been slicing Eri and using her Quirk to fashion a new line of quirk-erasing bullets. Until recently, one of my other targets shot me with one to erase my Quirk. Considering that was the first time I've seen the drug being used, it's safe to say Overhaul has a working prototype he's giving criminals to use." I said as I motioned at the bullet in Kaina's grasp.
"Unfortunately for them, it didn't affect you, thanks to your cursed energy!" Jin said as he punched the air in front of him. "The fool!"
"Right, that negative energy of yours," Kaina muttered as she looked at me thoughtfully. "It still amazes me how only you can use such a unique power source. Not to mention the seemingly endless abilities it gives you. It's a little unfair if I'm being honest."
[+10 SP]
[+10 SP]
[+10 SP]
"Sukuna-kun is basically a walking cheat code," Himiko said.
"That's right, that means I won't have to worry about being shot by those bullets and losing my abilities. You three, however, still can lose your Quirks if you do get shot." I walked over to the map that was sitting on the table and pointed at the building's main entrance. "For that reason, I will be entering in first while loudly announcing my presence. Once I've gotten the compound's attention, Himiko and Jin will move in after me to look for Eri with the help of my scout rabbits."
Moving my finger across the map, I ended up pointing to a building a few blocks away. "Kaina, you're to provide them cover fire once they have a hold of Eri. While I'm confident I can take down most of Overhaul's men, I'm not blind to think some could slip through and chase after them. You'll also stop any reinforcements from entering the compound."
[+10 SP]
"Consider it done," Kaina said with a nod.
"Himiko." I turned to the blond girl. "Thanks to the modifications I made to your outfit, you should be able to make full use of your Quirk to bypass their defenses once I make my entrance. You'll disguise yourself as one of the Yakuza so you can search for Eri unimpeded."
"No problem! I'll find Eri-chan and snatch her from right beneath their noses!
"What about me? What about me!" Jin said as he raised his arm like an excited student. "What's my task?!"
"Jin, you'll be Himiko's shadow. Follow her in her disguise and take out any of Overhaul's underlings through the compound. You'll also create two clones of me to act as your two's backup. You need to make sure you have a clear escape route out of the building once Himiko has secured Eri. Because once they realize she's missing, they're going to come after her like rabid dogs."
[+10 SP]
"You got it! Leave it to me!"
"I'm impressed you gathered all this information in such a short amount of time," Kaina said as she looked over all the intel in the room. "In my opinion, those crows of yours are probably your most impressive ability."
It's all thanks to Nanami's hard work. That crow is the reason we finally caught sight of one of Chisaki's men.
I gave her a smile and nodded. "Yeah. There's no better intelligence-gathering team than my crows. Now then, let's go over each of the Overhaul's Bullets and what they can do…"
x x x
[General POV]
Pain. All Eri knew was pain and fear.
Ever since her mother disowned her after she accidentally made her father disappear with her Quirk, Eri had been subjected to dozens of experiments by that cruel man, Chisaki. Her body had been sliced and ripped apart so many times that she no longer knew the total number. But what she did know was the deep, intense pain she felt every time she was brought into that room.
Even as she sat in her large, dark room, Eri was terrified. The toys Chisaki's men bought for her were strewn all around, ignored by her. There was no joy to be found in them. Only fear.
Laying on her side, Eri curled herself into a ball as tears streamed down her face. The bandages tied around her arms and legs itched as she held herself in an attempt to find some comfort. But whenever some of her bare skin touched her bandages, she was quickly reminded that there was no escape from the pain.
"Mommy…" Eri's whispered. "I'm sorry… I didn't mean to do that to Daddy…"
Closing her eyes, Eri's mind worked against her and replayed the memories of her father screaming as his body was rewinded back into nothing. Eri could only stand in shock as she looked over her father's scattered clothes. She was only brought out of her numb confusion once her mother began to scream.
"I'm so sorry."
Holding herself tightly, Eri made a weak wish within her mind. Not to escape her current situation but for someone to hold her and comfort her.
To make all her pain, fear, and guilt go away.
In the eerie silence of her dark room, Eri cried herself to sleep.
x x x
[Shimizu Souta POV]
"Is it done?"
I heard a sigh from the other end of my phone. "Yeah, we're currently getting the last resident in the ward out. We're still working on getting the next ward to move, but it'll take some time." Detective Yoichi said. "You wanna tell me what's going on over there?"
I grinned at the man's curiosity as I looked down at the large compound below. Since this was Yakuza territory, I didn't have to worry about civilians getting in the way of our operation due to all the surrounding buildings being empty. They were all a front set up by Overhaul to keep everyone away from his base of operations. Evacuating everyone else close by was just a cautionary step.
After a quick fly-through with my crows, I was sure that no one who didn't belong here was within a 100-meter range of the compound.
"I told you, didn't I?" I said lowly. "There's going to be a grand light show."
Hanging up the phone, I raised my right hand up and held up my middle and pointer fingers out. "Emerge from darkness, blacker than darkness. Purify that which is impure."
Above the compound, a black slime-like substance appeared over the sky and crawled down toward the ground. It extended out 30 meters from the compound radius. Once my veil was up, I lifted my hands and clenched them together to activate my latest technique.
"Maximum Output: Forest Encirclement!"
x x x
[General POV]
Dressed in a modified version of her hero costume, Kaina had her sights trained on the far-off compound with a steady eye. Floating above her was Jello. The Shikigami was there to act as Kaina's Sentinel while she kept an overwatch over the compound.
Suddenly, everything around the compound began to shake uncontrollably as several hundred roots shot out of the ground to form a wall all around the compound. Trapping everyone within the ring of plant life.
"…so that's the bang he was talking about," Kaina muttered as her direct line of sight into the building was left unimpeded. "Show off."
x x x
Off within the Shie Hassaikai Compound, Kai looked around in confusion as his surroundings began to tremble. Turning to his second in command, Kai saw the man try to remain on his feet as everything shook.
"What is this?!" Kai roared in anger as he rushed out of his office. As he struggled to balance himself, Kai finally left the room and looked out of the hallway window. "…What?"
As far as he could see, his compound was surrounded by thick roots that seemed to reach the skies themselves.
"Overhaul!" Hari yelled as the trembling finally began to subside. "Are we being attacked?!"
Kai glared at the roots outside and spun on his feet. Speed walking, Kai and Hari made their way through the compound.
"Move the Boss out of the compound at once! When he's safe, gather all our research and get it all to site B!" Kai growled out. Hari nodded and lifted his phone to make the call necessary, only to find that his signal was jammed. "Our communication has been jammed!"
Kai glared at Hari and quickened his pace. "Then go on foot! I'll grab Eri."
x x x
[Shimizu Souta POV]
Landing in front of the compound's front gate, I lifted my leg and broke down its doors. Rushing toward the front doors, I lifted my hand and sent a ball of fire crashing through them. Several grunts of pain yelled out as my attack blew the doors off their hinges. Stepping inside, I looked down at a few Yakuza grunts sprawled out on the floor.
[5x7 = +35 SP]
"Sorry, I'm not taking my shoes off," I said and made a hand sign. "Rabbit Escape."
Rising from below were six dozen rabbits, spreading apart; they all gathered into six teams of twelve. In front of each squad was a lone rabbit squad leader; they turned to me with curious expressions. "Find Eri and then lead Himiko and Jin to her."
Nodding, they all scampered throughout the hall. I watched some open a few doors while others jumped into the ventilation system. I waited a few moments before I heard two pairs of footsteps behind me. Himiko and Jin looked around the ruined front doors and then at the knocked-out or dead men on the ground.
[+10 SP]
[+10 SP]
"What an entrance," Jin said as he raised his hands up to create two perfect clones of myself. They turned to one another and shrugged before they tried to summon one of my Shikigami.
"That's odd." One of the Twice clones said. "I can't feel any CE within me."
"That's because you're Twice clones," I said to them, causing them to nod and accept their situation. Which made sense; I was pretty used to having copies of myself. They were mainly here to provide Jin and Himiko with some extra muscle.
"This one will do," Himiko said as she crouched next to one of the Yakuza thugs. Using her new blood extraction system that I created for her, she began to drain out a cup of blood from the man below. With a smile, Himiko then drank the blood.
Jin and I watched as her body morphed to resemble the Yakuza member perfectly, except for the gear she wore, which was now strapped to the man.
"See! I told you I had to be naked for this to be perfect!" Himiko's new low voice whined.
"Yeah, no. I'm not having you walk around in the nude." I said before the three of us heard several running footsteps approaching our position. "I'll clear a path. I already have my rabbits searching all throughout the compound. Once they find Eri, one of them will come find you."
"Okay."
"Copy that!"
Nodding at them, I slid my hands in my pockets and walked over toward the quickly approaching group of Yakuza thugs. Scanning their group, I saw that none of the Eight Bullets were with them. Grinning, I stomped my foot and sent a wave of sharp roots that shattered through the floor toward them.
My newest Diamond tier curse technique, Disaster Plants, belonged to the Disaster Curse, Hanami.
This technique allows the user to form and control a variety of cursed flora. Its capabilities are normally initiated telepathically, activating the technique next to the user or near a target, but it can also be deployed from the user's body.
The plants created by this technique can vary in size, shape, and physiology. Anything from simple flowers to giant wooden roots can be formed. The flora of the technique is, however, still made from cursed energy, meaning that curse-like plants can be created quickly and deactivated instantly.
Unfortunately, I wasn't able to absorb the life energy from the plant life around me due to lacking the large red flower that Hanami had on their shoulder. While disappointing, it wasn't that big a deal.
The large group of Yakuza thugs all tried to come to a stop at the sight of the incoming wave of wooden spikes; unfortunately for them, they were too slow to evade my attack.
One by one, they were all quickly skewered by my sharp wooden spikes in a wave of blood and violence. Grinning at their defeat, I slowly made my way through the compound.
[13x25 = +325 SP]
"Now then, come and get me."