3.19

To read up to 15 chapters ahead: https://www.patréon.com/SlyOW

-------------

Rank DD Reward and 2000 Points… Ibuse should have been worth much, much more. But I had still managed to get Points despite not finishing it myself, which was good already.

But no use crying over spilled milk. With Ibuse dead, Hanzo was now alone.

Speaking of which, "Ibuse!"

Hanzo, who was fighting the Samurai, suddenly seemed to gain untold strength as he quickly dispatched the Samurai who had been occupying him, while looking at me with bloodshot eyes.

Had he felt its death through their contract?

He must have, because he ignored the Ame Orphans, who were all on their last leg, and rushed at me.

Our weapons clashed as his face neared mine, and he growled through his poisoned breath, "I will kill you, you insolent child!"

I held my breath to not breathe any more poison in, I wasn't sure the enchantment on my armor was even working anymore.

Fortunately for me, I wasn't the only one spent. Although not as injured as me, Hanzo was slower than before, his attacks sloppier.

His rage, although it made his blade stronger, it also made him less skillful. As the two of us exchanged blows, several Samurais tried to cut in, but Hanzo blocked them off with a Jutsu as he trapped us both into a cube made of dirt, and solidified into rocks.

Neither of us could see anything, the light of the sun completely blocked by the barrier, but it handicapped us equally.

Despite being in a stalemate, we kept hitting each other, and the injuries continued to accumulate. My armor gave me some form of advantage, as it blocked a few hits, but before long it was ruined, and it fell to the ground, leaving me bare chested, just like him.

He had more injuries than I did, but poison was starting to take its toll on me, now that I no longer had my armor and its enchantment of Resist Poison.

After a while, the barrier around us crumbled away, restoring our vision back to us as we stood a few paces from each other, panting roughly.

Hanzo threw the weight attached to his weapon at me, and as I dodged it, I saw him flying at me, his blade going for my guts. He was trying to eviscerate me.

And as he did, I once again noticed the scar on his abdomen. Remembering how Danzo had neutralized me before, I threw the sword I had picked up at Hanzo.

And as he raised his weapon to shield himself, I used the short moment during which his vision was blocked to arrive in front of him. By the time he noticed me, it was too late as I punched his scar with everything I had.

It felt a little strange, and not like I had punched a human body. But by the time I realized this, the scar was cut open, and something black under the skin exploded.

Only now did I remember what this was. When he was a child, Hanzo had found a black salamander, and he implanted its poison sack within himself. That's what had just exploded.

A much more potent version of the poison Hanzo had been using was suddenly released as our surroundings were filled with it.

The Samurais, who had tried to once again get closer, dropped like flies despite their respirators. Even I felt the effects of it as my body was nearly instantly paralyzed.

Maybe if I had had the Resist Poison enchant still on me, I could have fought it, but without it all my Immunization did was earn me some time. This poison was going to kill me.

Hanzo wasn't in so much of a better spot however, as he too was paralyzed by the poison, and he fell to the ground.

Even now, the stalemate continued as no one else could even get near him. The winner would be determined by the one who would get up first.

Yet, as I fought my own body to get it to stand, I noticed something. Outside the gas, between the ninjas, was a shadow. A shadow holding a gun.

---

[Chris' POV]

After getting the 2000 Points and the Rank D Reward from our second mission, I told everyone I used my rewards for a gun and body stats. Actually, that was only half of the truth.

What I hid from everyone, was that I also bought an enhancement.

[Faint Shadow Beast Bloodline: Acquire the basic ability of a Shadow Beast, Shadow Form, which allows its user to turn into a shadow. User takes twice as much damage, but becomes twice as hard to notice. Costs Rank D Reward and 700 Points.]

Back when I acquired this, I didn't trust Alexander one bit. Although he acted horrified by our plans to dispose of Hunter in our first mission, I had seen enough of humanity's dark side to understand him somewhat.

If he was really so innocent, he wouldn't have killed Becky at the end of the mission to save himself. No one undergoes that big of a change in a matter of hours.

No, I know his type well. I think he was genuinely reluctant at the beginning of our first mission, but not because he was a kind individual, but simply because of society's conditioning.

Alexander was a monster bound by society's rules, his real self trapped deep in his subconscious as he developed a bland personality to blend in society.

And like every monster, he probably didn't do it on purpose. He simply had no other choice. But as he was thrown into God's Game, or it might as well be the Devil's, his true self appeared.

That did not mean he was a bad teammate. Far from that, actually, as he had grown ridiculously stronger than any of us in such a little time. However, I wouldn't feel comfortable doing missions with him without having a trump card.

That mistrust and judgment almost faded away in the past week however, as Alexander proved he valued his team. Sure, it was for selfish reasons, but for someone like him, this was as great of a treatment as I could hope.

Still, I did not tell him about my enhancement, because I saw no reason to. I would only raise unnecessary problems by telling the others I hid an upgrade from them, particularly Alexander. I would be better off pretending I bought the ability after this mission.

Speaking of the ability, Shadow Form came in really handy as I slipped past the enemy troops. Because of the destructive power of the shotgun, I was the number one target for the enemy, past our protection targets and Alexander, of course.

But thanks to Shadow Form and my expertise on the battlefield, I managed to remain hidden as I blew the heads of the enemies. I was almost caught a few times, but in the end I still managed to remain alive.

I even managed to earn points, as although Hanzo's men did not offer any, some of Konoha's did. Their 'Jonin', although hard to kill, rewarded quite the rewards with their deaths.

Probably not enough for me to reach Alexander's strength, but good enough.

Or so I thought, until I found a god-sent opportunity.

The battle was nearing its end, Ibuse had been killed, the Ame Orphans were out of combat, Danzo and the leader of the Samurai were fighting, and finally Alexander was squaring off against Hanzo.

I had heard of Hanzo's supposed strength from Jordan and Johnathan, and I had to say, Alexander really was a monster to be able to hurt him this much.

This wasn't just about strength, Alexander was relentless, he never stopped. His weapon and his armor had broken, his body was covered in injuries, probably filled with poison, and anyone with his enhancements should probably have died a long time ago. Yet, he still fought.

Even better, he managed to deliver a critical strike to Hanzo, which ended up releasing a poison gas even worse than any before, so powerful actually that it paralyzed Hanzo too.

And that, was my opportunity. As strong as Hanzo was, a single bullet would end him.

I wasn't doing this merely for my own sake either, as by the look of things, Hanzo would be getting up soon, while Alexander didn't look like he was getting up. If I did nothing, Hanzo would finish him.

So, I decided to take a risk. I got closer to them than I ever did, where the strongest fighters gathered, and slipping past multiple Jonins, I positioned myself.

A single mistake would get me spotted, and killed by the Jonin, but all I needed was one bullet, and Hanzo would die.

I took aim, and as I did, I saw Hanzo notice me. I smiled, and pressed the…

Suddenly, I felt like a wall had slammed into me as I was sent flying backwards, my Shadow Form disappearing. My finger did pull the trigger, but I completely missed because of the sudden push.

Crashing into the ground, I looked out in confusion, before freezing.

Right past Hanzo, I saw Alexander, still on the ground. However, his right hand had moved, and was extended towards me.

That's the last thing I saw before I felt multiple swords impale me.