Hey guys, I'm back. Again, I know I had a long break, but uni is difficult and I value my time spent on it over the time I use to write the things I love. I wish there were more hours in the day, or that my course wasn't so demanding, but there aren't more and it is, so here we are. I will endevour to but out more chapters more frequently, but I make no promises on that regard.
But for now, onto the story.
———
Naofumi looked down at the collection of accessories he was crafting. Five in total, each one different than the last, with a buffing effect to boot. He crafted a bracelet for Raphtalia, with the buff of giving her +5 to her agility stat, Rifana got a pair of earings that gave a +5 to her dexterity, and Keel got a necklace for a +5 to her strength stat. He crafted a hairpin for Filo with a +5 to her agility, and finally for Dra, a ring that gave a +5 to her endurance stat.
With the crafting tool his party had got him during their trip to the hotspring town they had departed from 2 days ago, the crafting of the accessories was much simpler and easier than he originally anticipated. If his career as a shinobi ever fell through, he could certainly work as a craftsman or an artisan. If the quality of his work (even if he said so himself) was anything to go off, he'd earn quite the generous amount of money from him.
But he didn't need to think about that right now. He was happy and healthy, even getting the chance to practice with his Wood Style when no one else was around. He was not good at it, nowhere near as proficient as Yuki-san had been with her Ice Style Kekkei Genkai when she was alive. The feelings that particular thought brought up were not pleasant, but Naofumi had seven years to come to grips with the fact that his team was dead. It hurt, but it seemed to hurt less and less every day.
So he wasn't good with his Wood Style, but that could be rectified when he had a chance to talk with Tenzo and get some training and pointers on how to improve. For now, however, he could basically only feel the flora around him. Not all that helpful outside of the plant monsters that had been in Lerno Village.
Naofumi sighed, remembering the feeling of the corrupted chakra of the First Hokage, a million questions running through his head. Such as who would have access to Hashirama Senju's chakra in the first place, and who would be smart and stupid enough to corrupt it. Orochimaru was a stand-out answer, and seeing as Jinpachi Munashi somehow ended up in this world, so the same was possible for any and all-
Naofumi's eyes grew dark, remembering the words of Jinpachi. "No... I died." said the man. "Just last year, actually." Jinpachi Munashi died before he was transported to this world. That meant it was possible for any number of people who died to return to this world. The actual Third Kazekage, any of the currently deceased Kage, such as Hashirama himself, Hanzo of the Salamander.
Madara Uchiha. That possibility scared him the most.
Naofumi realised anyone from his world could be here, and his heart skipped a beat at the thought of his old teammates coming back from the dead, before shaking his head and looking down once more. He had no idea how Jinpachi Munashi was alive in this world, and had no evidence to support the possibility of anyone else being alive as well, barring the chakra of Hashirama, but given Orochimaru's experiments, it wasn't exactly difficult for his chakra to be given a new vessel or host. Hell, for all he knew, it was one of the other 59 children Orochimaru killed during that particular experiment.
Naofumi pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind for now. He could worry about the possibilities of other shinobi in this world later, but the current time needed him focused on two things, preparing for the Waves with his team, and his current assignment to supply relief aid to a village just South of their position. Mirso village was swept with a plague, and Naofumi's job was to supply the people aid with medicine and, with any luck, a way to stop the plague. If he could, it would bolster his already rapidly growing reputation around the smaller villages and towns of Melromarch, and hopefully, would eventually lead to his name being cleared, or even them forgetting the charges and religion alltogether with all the good he was doing.
Deciding he had done enough for one night, Naofumi placed the accessories into a bag and placed them inside the cart, before seating himself on a rock and continued on his watch. He had another hour and a bit to go before Keel took over, so he would spend that time diligently watching over his new family and ensuring their safety.
———
Just before setting out, they came across an old woman and a small boy, warning them that only death awaited them along their road, and that even the village elder had succumbed to the plague. After giving them some food for their journey, Naofumi and his team continued on.
Soon enough, they entered through the gate to the village, the buildings seemingly falling apart and decaying, and without a single person in sight. "It's like a ghost town." Naofumi muttered, looking over the sad excuse of a village. "They need more help than I thought."
Naofumi continued on until he found a person, standing in the doorway of one of the buildings, seemingly the only resident. "Well, what brings you to a god forsaken place like this?"
"I'm a travelling merchant with medicine to sell." said Naofumi, taking in the appearance of the old man. Withered and skiny, without any meat between his skin and his bones, his wrinkles telling that the old man had seen better days.
"Travelling merchant you say?" he asked, before laying eyes on Filo. "Wait, that filolial! Could it be?! Is that the Heavenly Fowl?!" Without even waiting for Naofumi to respond, the man rushed off in a gusto Naofumi had by no means expected. "Doctor! Quick!" he called, as Naofumi followed him.
They came to the building in by far the best condition, the hospital, as it seemed. The old man was already in the doorway talking with someone. "What is it? What's the matter?" asked an unknown voice, which Naofumi assumed was the doctor.
"Our Saviour of the Heavenly Fowl has come for us!" he exclaimed as the doctor walked out, looking where the old man was pointing. "He's right there!"
Naofumi walked down further in front of the doctor. "I heard you had a need for medicine Doc, I'm hoping mine could be of use to you."
"Oh, thank you. I can't make nearly enough for everyone." said the doctor. "I-if I may ask, a-are you really him, the Saviour of the Heavenly Fowl?"
"I didn't come up with the name, but people have called me that." said Naofumi, as the eyes of the two men lit up. "My companions here will unload the medicine we have whilst we talk payment. Let's see if my medicine can be of help."
———
Naofumi looked out upon the sea of sick people. It mad him slightly sick himself to see all the people struggling. The clinic, not hospital, had nowhere near enough beds for the people that needed treatment, so a good 70% of them were lying on the floor, in any space available. It reminded Naofumi of how bad things were during the Third Great Ninja War, where he and his team volunteered at the hospital, distributing supplies and medicines between wards and doctors. Without Tsunade Senju, there were far more deaths in the hospitals than there could have been.
"Good morning." said a voice, drawing Naofumi out from his memories. He turned to see a pretty nurse with pink hair and blue eyes greeting the three of them. "Oh, Doctor, are these people with you?"
"They just arrived." explained the doctor. "They're going to sell us some medicine."
Naofumi got to work instead. "I should probably give them all the medicine myself." he said, as he walked over to the first patient. A middle aged man with dark brown hair, but not enough strength to open his eyes.
Naofumi equipped his Book Shield, seeing as his Small Medicine Shield's Equip Bonus could be accessed from any shield at this point, allowing for not only a small increase in the effectiveness of the medicine, but also a power up to his magical capacity to utilise his Equip Bonus, making it even more effective. After the man swallowed the medicine, he could be seen far more relaxed, as if the weight of the world had been taken off his shoulders.
Naofumi wasn't done.
He spent the next hour going up and down the rows of the sick, giving them the medicine himself and watching in satisfaction as the patients seemed to become more comfortable. But then that was it. Naofumi knew they were by no means healed, and all he had done was treat their symptoms. They would be more comfortable for a few days, a week at best, before being right where they were once more, back at square one.
If only he had studied more medical techniques. Yuki was always the healer of the team, so neither he nor Hiroshi learnt how to use medical ninjutsu, seeing as Hiroshi, as a Hyuga, was their tracked and close quarters fighter, whilst Naofumi worked mid-range and long range as a ninjutsu specialist, and Yuki was at the back, as most of the Ice Style Jutsu she knew were long ranged attacks.
It wasn't until early into the night, after they had finished unloading everything into the supply house that Naofumi recieved his payment. "50 silvers." he muttered, knowing it was shy of the medicine, and didn't even begin to cover the costs of him using his skills, but it was enough in his eyes.
"We can't thank you enough, dear sir. Now, we have staved off the immediate crisis. You were a great help." said the doctor.
"I only treated their symptoms. They'll return to their previous state in no time at all. Is that really enough for you?" asked Naofumi.
"I'm afraid you are indeed corrrect." said the doctor, his head lowered.
"We know we can't let this continue, but..." said the nurse, also looking down in shame. "There's nothing we can do."
"What do you mean?" asked Raphtalia.
"We believe it's the wind from the mountain that's causing the plague in our village." said the nurse, looking out the window at the mountain. "The mountain that's home to the monsters."
"Around a month ago, a large dragon that nested there was killed by the Sword Hero." said the doctor, gaining Naofumi's attention. His student had managed to kill a dragon. That was impressive. "That, at least, was the good news."
"I did hear some rumors a while back." muttered Naofumi, looking out to the mountain. "But how does tha-"
He stopped, as if connecting the dots. He got up, and slammed his head against the wall. Everyone looked at his as if he was crazy. "I'm such a bad teacher. He left the corpse there, didn't he?"
"Yes." said the doctor. "Many adventures came to the village, mainly to see the corpse, as well as gather supplies, which certainly helped the village to flourish immensely. However, one day, one of the adventurers collapsed, and more followed. The flesh began to rot and emitted some kind of poison."
"I thought he was smart enough to realise flesh rotted if left out over an extended period of time. Or even that it was profitable to take all the materials of the beasts you kill for money." said Naofumi, looking out at the mountain. "I should have trained him better. I'm sorry."
"Please, Saviour, this is not your fault." said the doctor, getting nods from the nurse.
"No, as his teacher, I should have done a better job at telling him about this stuff. I take full responsibility." said Naofumi standing up. "Have you contacted the Adventurer's Guild or the Royal Court?"
"We have, but none of the adventurers will take the job on account of the plague, and we're expecting a shipment of medicine in the next coming days, and that the heroes are still too busy to help us, so all we can do now is wait." said the nurse.
"Cancel both of them." said Naofumi, walking to the door. "I'll get rid of the corpse for you, and I'll do it for free. I'll just take the corpse with me to a safe place to dispose of it."
Naofumi had three reasons for doing so. One, it was technically his fault for not training Ren properly about all the fine details of animal killing missions, which he learnt from Aburame-sensei when they began taking C-Rank missions. Another was his Hearts and Minds mission, and how well his reputation would be bolstered for doing this for free. Third was that he had free access to the dragon and all it's materials. He knew it's scales, claws and teeth, as well as maybe it's blood, would fetch a good price for it's craftsmanship potential and potion use. Whilst he was doing so for 'free' and helping out the village, he would be making money off this endevour, as well as gaining new shields and powers.
"Wait! You don't mean to say that you're planning to go out there yourselves, it'll be far too dangerous!" exclaimed the doctor in worry.
"Oh, you don't need to worry about us, we're used to danger." said Raphtalia.
"I just can't find the words to express our gratitude." said the doctor, but Naofumi only smiled.
"My party and I will set out first thing in the morning." said Naofumi. "Until then, it's best that you tend to the people in the clinic. Leave this to us."
And with that, he stepped out of the room, smiling as he heard the last comment of the nurse.
"He really is a Saviour."
———
As he promised, the group began their mountain ascent first thing in the morning. Naofumi had ordered them to wrap clothes around their noses and mouths to try and combat the poison, and he had equipped his Chimera Viper Shield to help combat the posion.
"I know we're dealing with a dragon here..." began Keel, seated atop a crate in the back of the cart. "But why the hell are we bring so much shit?"
"We had to bring the wagon either way, and we can just seal the dragon materials in my scroll when it's all torn apart and sorted." explained Naofumi, keeping his eyes ahead of them in case monsters appeared. "A little more luggage isn't a problem."
"I'd just like to point out that if Filo didn't throw a tantrum, we could have travelled much lighter." said Rifana, looking around at all the unnecessary stuff. "She's elfish and I have no idea what to do about it."
Naofumi looked ahead and smirked. "Bringing all this stuff along might not've been a bad idea after all." he said, pointing forward. The rest of his party looked to see a collection of small monsters blocking their way. "Fighting them all is going to be such a pain and take too long." he said before placing his arm out and chanting. "As Shield Hero, source of thy power, I order thee, decifer the laws of nature and defend my target. Faust Guard." he casts, buffing Filo's defence. "Now then, run through 'em Filo!" he orders.
Filo, not dissapointing in the slightest, mowed right through the small monsters, gaining a level for her troubles. Continuing on, they had no issues reaching the top of the mountain, where the corpse resided. The trees were long dead, all leaves gone without a trace, and the trunks had turned grey, instead of their usual brown. The grass had decayed too, turning into nothing but hard and infertile dirt.
All in all, a sorry sight for anyone.
Naofumi and his team collected their tools, Naofumi a pickaxe, Raphtalia a sledgehammer, Keel an axe and Rifana a large knife. Dra had decided to stay away from the dragon, guarding the cart from any monsters that might try their luck at their supplies. Raphtalia seemed to be struggling with the air more than anyone. "The air here is highly poisonous. If you're having trouble, stay back." he said.
Raphtalia pushed through. "No, don't worry. I'll be fine." she said.
Naofumi nodded, looking at the corpse. If he had any appetite before, he had just lost it. Even as a shinobi used to killing, the smell of rotting flesh never failed to make him queezy and nauseous. "Let's get this over with. Filo, you have the scroll, right?"
When she didn't answer, Naofumi turned back, along with the others, finding he gorging herself on fruits from their adventures in Lerno Village. "I don't know what it is, but looking at it sure made me hungry!" she exclaimed.
"Just try not to overeat." responded Raphtalia.
Naofumi shook his head, even when facing something as disgusting as the rotting corpse of a dragon, Filo somehow found an excuse to eat. He supposed that was simply one of the things that made her Filo.
"Given it's size, this thing is going to be a day's worth of a pain in the ass." muttered Naofumi. "Let's just get to work and get this over wi-"
He stopped cold as he heard rocks begin to move, falling down close to them. He put his guard on high alert and he quickly scanned the area, finding nothing. He turned his attention to the dragon, and all at once, his senses ran into overdrive, screaming at him to get back. "Get back from the corpse!" he yelled as he jumped back, his genin doing the same.
It was the right call, as the dragon began to spasm and move, the once empty eye sockets now glowing red. "Reanimation?" asked Naofumi, looking as blood began to return to the dragon from the pools it formed on the ground, and skin and muscle grew back. It was still very-much dead, but had reanimated into-
"A ZOMBIE DRAGON?! OH YOU HAVE GOT TO BE FUCKING KIDDING ME!"
The reanimated dragon stood on it's feet and roared, apparently not appreciating Naofumi's language. From it's mouth dribbled down droplets of poison, which Naofumi knew had to be avoided at all costs. He looked at it, but the stat magic he apparently had didn't show him anything, no HP bar, no level, no mana, nothing.
"What do we do, master?" asked Raphtalia, and Naofumi looked back upon his genin. the three of them had only just reached level 31, and were by no means capable enough to take on a dragon, even if Naofumi himself had reached level 57 not too long ago.
"Just get away from it!" he ordered. "I'll hold it off." he said, running through a set of hand signs. "Fire Style: Fireball Ju-"
Without warning, Filo jumped in front of them all, fire burning in her eyes. "A dragon! I hate dragons!" she exclaimed, before jumping right up to the dragon's mouth.
"Oh for fuck sake Filo!" yelled out Naofumi, watching as his filolial kicked the dragon in the face. "There has to be a way to take him down. A weak spot, or something." said Naofumi, activating his sharingan and looking over the beast. "I see something in the stomach! That's gotta be a weak spot!" he yelled out.
The dragon, not exactly appreciating being kicked either, roared once more, and emitted a purple gas from it's mouth. Naofumi swore. "Oh shit. Everyone get behind me now!" he ordered, glad Dra decided to stay away again, seeing as he didn't have enough space for all 6 of them in his force field. The dragon launched it's poisonous breath attack, and Naofumi's force field held as true as it could, but couldn't stop all the poison.
Raphtalia began coughing badly, and dropped onto Keel's shoulders, succumbing to the poison. 'Shit.' Naofumi thought, looking back at his genin. 'She doesn't have poison resistance like I do, and we need to stop it here before it does any more damage to the village. What do I do?'
"Now I'm mad!" called out Filo, getting Naofumi's attention, as she once again leapt into action against her natural enemy.
Naofumi scoffed. "Keel! Get Raphtalia to the cart and get her some medicine! Rifana, you're on long range support! I'm going to back up Filo and get her to regroup with us!" he yelled, rushing forward in a ninja run.
Naofumi felt the ground under him shift as he ran, as Filo and the dragon continued trading blows. "Filo! Don't fight this thing alone!" he called out catching the filolial's attention. She turned to him.
And it was that mistake that sealed her fate.
With her distracted, the dragon took the oppotunity to swallow her, clamping down it's undead jaws as blood gushed out of his mouth. Naofumi could only stare in horror as the dragon swallowed Filo, watching as the corpse of the bird travelled down it's throat in a giant gulp. Naofumi didn't even register Rifana screaming out Filo's name, too emotional.
Naofumi did nothing as the dragon unleashed another poison breath attack his way, tanking it head on with no regard for anything around him. He recognised nothing. He felt nothing. He knew nothing.
Only that Filo was dead.
One month. One measly month was her lifespan, filled with pulling carriages and singing songs, running and fight. One where she could eat anything and everything she wanted, and could smile with him and his team as they celebrated victories and good times around the fire as they camped. As he thought of her, more memories came rushing back.
'Again...' he thought, looking down at the ground. 'Am I going to lose it all again? Is this world, any world, going to take everything away from me again?'
{D0 yOU haT3 3veRYtHiNG?}
'Hate?' Naofumi thought, as the glitching message appeared before him.
{d0 Y0u s33k PoWeR?}
'Power?' he continued to question, as the message changed.
{Curse Series - Wrath Shield}
With no more of an explination, the skill tree Naofumi had been honing became red, and corrupted. He couldn't care as it glitched, showing the King and Malty, then Motoyasu and Danzo. 'I hate it...' he thought as anger built up inside him. 'I hate it all!'
The gem on his shield grew red, and he heard the sickening laugh of Malty resonate in his ears. "Hate." he muttered, as his body was envelloped by the corrupted skill tree. As he looked forward he saw no dragon.
His eyes were filled with a familiar sight, a forest, facing down 20 Hidden Mist ninja, the bodies of his three teammates littered at his feet.
And Naofumi's eyes burned, as the sclera of his eyes turned red, and his pupils shifted, the familiar burn of the Mangekyo Sharingan filling his eyes.
———
Hope you guys enjoyed. The next chapter is already planned out, and we'll be following two consecutive storylines from the present and the past, no prizes this time for guessing which ones because it's super obvious, but coming up in like, 4 or 5 more chapters is a really interesting concept into the story that I'm excited to start exploring. I've been hinting at it for a while now, and if you think you know, please keep it to yourself as to not spoil it for others.
Anyway, hope the new chapter comes out sooner than it took this one to, but again, no promises. Anyway, this is Striker777, over and out.