Ramping Up

Night fell.

"Hehehe~~ Xiao Yie,"

"Alright, alright, don't get too excited; we still have school tomorrow."

Soothing his agitated sister and pulling her into his embrace, the two beautiful girls in pajamas drifted off to sleep on the luxurious bed.

Hmm, Finally, things have quieted down.

On the nightstand, the catfish, looking like a mere doll, closed its eyes.

Although he intended to make use of Amame Ei, Akihi Yu had no intention of setting his friend up: besides bestowing upon her the most precious healing ninjutsu in this world, he had specifically staged this little drama to leave this clone—named 'Earthquake Catfish' by the Island Nation government—by her side as a bodyguard.

He had even taken a slight risk, using a 'wager' to ensure Madam Nagisa would accept Amame Ei; that should be enough.

Having set an instruction for this clone to 'obey Amame Ei,' Akihi Yu withdrew his focus from it.

?

The moment his attention returned to his main body, he felt his neck tighten.

Tilting his head to look, what met his eyes was the beautiful face of Akiyu Sora. In her deep sleep, the girl lost her usual 'arrogance,' leaving only a fragile vulnerability.

Don't put your hand on my neck, hey~~

Rolling his eyes, he moved the girl's arm away.

Although many people think that cuddling while sleeping is romantic, If you are actually pinned down by arms and legs all night, you'll need to hire a massage therapist the next day.

However, no sooner had he moved it away than the girl wrapped herself around him again, this time using both hands and feet.

This.

Forget it, forget it.

With mana protecting his body, it was impossible for his blood vessels to be compressed or restricted.

Akihi Yu simply closed his eyes and continued his:

Training.

There was no helping it; his golden finger was that 'every time he uses ninjutsu in combat, he can accumulate a certain amount of proficiency.' Conversely, if it wasn't combat, the proficiency gained was extremely low.

This was why, despite using 'Illusion Technique' the most, it hadn't leveled up yet; whereas Earth Release, after one major battle, had been the first to break through to C-rank.

If he wanted other ninjutsu to break through, he needed to increase the intensity.

That's fine too; fighting with others is an endless joy.

Chuo Ward, As the name implies, it is located in the very center of the 23 wards of Tokyo.

Together with Minato Ward and Chiyoda Ward, it forms the heart of the Island Nation.

This is the center of the Island Nation's economy, information, and commerce. The Bank of Japan, the Tokyo Stock Exchange, and others are all located in Chuo Ward.

Every day, vast wealth flows here—wealth so immense that ordinary people, working from the Stone Age to the modern era without sleep, could never earn it. The famous 'Ginza' is the landmark area here: stocks, dividends, champagne, luxury cars, Bentleys, Rolls-Royces, and the deep cleavage hidden in the psychedelic atmosphere of the night. No, that's socialites.

Unlike the carnal, flashy, and debauched nature of Shinjuku's 'Kabukicho,'

The 'socialites' of Ginza value elegance, erudition, and temperament. Like top-tier luxury goods, they are toys exclusive to the big shots.

And outside this area of brilliant lights and material desires lies a vast expanse of piers formed by land reclamation: countless container cranes operate on the shore, gathering goods from all over the world, transforming them into banquet decorations, wrist ornaments, and the echoes of endless strings of numbers.

In the words of the people from neighboring 'Minato Ward,' the entirety of Tokyo, aside from Minato, Chuo, and Chiyoda, is nothing but the countryside!

Bunkyo Ward?

Schools should be located in 'remote' areas.

Shinjuku? Shibuya?

They are merely places where 'ordinary people' claim to enjoy luxury; they are not fit for high society.

However, all of this prosperity is built upon the countless piers of Tokyo Bay operating day and night.

A large number of 'wage earners' from Chuo Ward need to take boats back to their homes in 'Koto Ward' at night. After all, these dock workers could never afford to live in the gold-plated land of Chuo Ward.

At the busy Harumi Pier, fishing boats shuttled back and forth, bringing in various catches, making a figure standing by the pier, dressed in a trench coat and wearing a bowler hat, unable to stop swallowing hard.

"So many fish,"

"Yes, yes,"

"I could eat until my stomach is wide open--"

This figure was shrouded in a 'trench coat' popular in the last century, wearing a bowler hat from the same era, looking like a hitman from the heyday of the American mafia families. Watching the massive amount of catch being unloaded on the pier, he couldn't help but drool.

How long would it take to eat all of this~~

Hoo, At that very moment, a layer of white mist emerged silently upon the pier.

The mist did not merely spread in all directions; it was incredibly dense. In the blink of an eye, it covered a radius of several hundred meters, causing the people on the nearby fishing boats, who were in the middle of unloading cargo, to shout in panic.

"Heavy fog today?"

"What kind of hellish weather is this?"

Just as the workers were complaining, the man in the trench coat standing at the edge of the pier turned abruptly.

"Something's wrong!"

"This scent."

"Watch out, there's an enemy--ah!"

The seawater by the shore surged violently, and two pillars of water swept across, instantly tearing the trench-coat-clad man, who had been unable to dodge in time, into three pieces that tumbled onto the pier.

From within the mist, a figure holding an umbrella emerged from the water, their gaze landing on the three tattered pieces of the trench coat on the ground.

"Stop pretending,"

"I know you're fine."

Swish, swish.

No sooner had the words fallen than two black shadows suddenly darted out from the tattered trench coat.

Whoosh—

A wooden staff, whistling through the air, smashed down toward his head. Before the staff even arrived, the gale force pressed the surface of the sea into a depression, forcing the figure holding the umbrella to retreat and dodge.

Swish.

A flash of silver light appeared before his eyes, and the sharp blade was reflected in the pupils of Kishida Jun, who stood beneath the umbrella.

Clang!

The umbrella moved forward at high speed to block, the sharp blade striking the surface of the canopy with the sound of clashing metal and a spray of sparks.

Tap, tap, tap.

Borrowing the momentum to retreat a few more steps, Kishida Jun stepped out ripples on the sea surface. As he steadied his figure, his gaze swept over the two figures hovering in mid-air, each half a person tall.

The opponents looked like weasels, yet they stood upright like humans, one clutching a large wooden staff in its paw, the other gripping a sickle.

This appearance is...

"Kamaitachi?"

Facing his tentative inquiry, the weasel holding the wooden staff grinned.

"Wrong, we are the Kamaitachi Brothers!"

"I am Itaro,"

"I am Jirotaro,"

The weasel holding the sickle also revealed a human-like 'sneer'.

"Guess where our little brother is?"

?!

Boom—

A massive force erupted violently from beneath his feet. Although Kishida Jun leaped to dodge at the first possible moment, he still looked somewhat disheveled.

Most crucially, he had been forced to land on the pier!

"I am Santaro,"

The third weasel, empty-handed with a straw rope wrapped around its waist from which a clay pot hung, emerged from the water.

"Human, we smelled the stench on you a long time ago!"

"Squeak, squeak, squeak, trying to ambush us Kamaitachi Brothers?"

"In your dreams!"

The three weasels—no, they should be called 'Kamaitachi'—flew through the air, forming a triangle and surrounding Kishida Jun in the center.

This number... this is troublesome.

Facing three supernatural creatures, Kishida Jun frowned.

"Wait, we can talk about this—"

"Squeak, trying to stall for time?"

'Santaro', with the clay pot hanging from his waist, sneered. From the fur beneath his neck, he picked up with his claw:

A stone fragment hanging from the straw rope.

"Your target is the Sessho-seki on us, right? Human!"

"And our goal is very simple, which is—"

Swish.

The Kamaitachi brother Jirotaro appeared behind Kishida Jun like a gust of wind, his sickle slashing down violently.

"Your flesh and blood!"

Splurt.

The sickle sliced through the water flow Kishida Jun had created, drawing a spray of blood.

Wind Style: Wind Cutter Jutsu.

So fast.

With no time to think, thick mist poured from his body. Going all out, the fog Kishida Jun generated became so dense that one could not see a meter ahead.

But—

"Break for me!"

A howling gale erupted from the mouth of Santaro, sweeping away all the mist and revealing Kishida Jun as he retreated.

Wind Style: Typhoon Passage.

This technique was specifically designed to disperse the Hidden Mist Jutsu.

?

"Die, human!"

Wrapped in visible swirling winds, Itaro leaped high into the air, clutching a large wooden club, and brought his weapon crashing down.

BOOM!

The club slammed into the pier, sending earth and stone flying and blasting a crater the size of a bathtub into the ground.

Wind Style: Turbulent Air Dance.

As Kishida Jun, his body shrouded in flowing water, dispersed, he raised his fingers:

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!!

Streams of water whistled out like bullets, shooting toward the club-wielding Kamaitachi.

At the same time, he opened the umbrella in his other hand, covering it with flowing water to act as a massive shield, blocking the attack from Jirotaro.

Not bad.

Akihi Yu, who was controlling the Kamaitachi Brothers, nodded inwardly.

This Kishida Jun was a talent.

Unlike Tanimura Wataru, who hid in the sewers all day, Kishida Jun constantly searched for traces of the Sessho-seki. Whenever Akihi Yu released a target, he would arrive immediately to engage in a fierce battle.

In terms of both initiative and willpower, Kishida Jun was far superior.

Even when not in combat, he constantly trained his water-control abilities; his diligence was enough to make even Akihi Yu sigh in admiration.

Under the siege of three "equal-level" clones, Kishida Jun was actually managing to hold his own.

No, this is too troublesome!

Huff, huff, huff...

After just a few minutes, a panting Kishida Jun leaned against a shipping container.

Blood dripped from his body as he gritted his teeth, staring at the three Kamaitachi before him.

"Despicable, three against one!"

"We aren't human, so why should we care about being despicable?"

Itaro, shouldering his large wooden club, lifted his chin.

"The Kamaitachi Brothers move as one."

"Whether the enemy is one or ten thousand, the three of us always act together!"

Jirotaro licked the blood off his sickle, his gaze roaming over Kishida Jun's entire body.

"Human, I want to see how much more blood you can shed while relying on your 'vessel' to fight."

If I keep fighting like this, I'll lose. No, I'll die.

Kishida Jun's body was covered in wounds, and the situation was precarious.

Itaro possessed immense strength, his club wrapped in gale-force winds that left a massive crater with every strike; Jirotaro was lightning-fast, his sickle capable of launching wind blades, making him a nightmare in both close and long-range combat. But the most troublesome part was:

His gaze fell on Santaro in the distance.

The ceramic jar hanging at the creature's waist contained the Purple Cloud Ointment!

During the fight, it wasn't as if Kishida Jun hadn't managed to wound Itaro or even Jirotaro.

But whenever Santaro pulled out the ointment from his waist and applied it to the other two, their wounds would heal visibly to the naked eye.

The Kamaitachi Brothers.

As a student with excellent grades, Kishida Jun had spent this period burying himself in various myths and legends, so he had naturally read about the Kamaitachi: they always acted in a trio, with the first tripping the victim, the second cutting them, and the third applying ointment to heal them.

Therefore, although the Kamaitachi were quite notorious, they were not considered "evil demons" in the legends of the Island Nation, as they were merely prone to playing pranks.

However, now that he was truly facing the Kamaitachi Brothers, he certainly could not expect them to heal him.

If he kept fighting, the odds were heavily stacked against him.

No, even if he wanted to run.

"Squeak, squeak, squeak, wanting to hide in the sea?"

The three Kamaitachi blocked the path toward the ocean, looking at Kishida Jun with cold sneers.

"Human, stop dreaming."

"Kill him!"

Following the order from Santaro, Itaro, who clutched a wooden club, and Jirotaro, who held a sickle, lunged at Kishida Jun once again!

They had Santaro's ointment to treat their injuries, so they were not afraid of trading wounds.

And this human, just as they had said before:

How much more blood could he possibly lose?

Thud!

His entire body slammed heavily into a shipping container.

Having been struck by Itaro's wooden club as if he were a baseball, Kishida Jun was embedded into the metal wall of the container, only managing to stand by leaning on his umbrella.

Is this the end?

Akihi Yu, who was controlling everything, frowned.

Indeed, although this boy named Kishida Jun was trying very hard, fighting three at once...

He wasn't a Genin from Konoha, where everyone carried cheats and possessed secret techniques.

"Is that it?"

The "Santaro" directing the battle waved its claws with boredom.

"Finish him, Jirotaro."

"Leave it to me."

Jirotaro, holding the sickle, arched its back and prepared to push off the ground.

The next second, It transformed into a blur, lunging forward at a speed difficult for the naked eye to track!

It's my turn to--?!

Pfft, pfft, pfft~~

"Wh-what...?!"

Beside Kishida Jun, The speeding Jirotaro stopped, its sharp sickle frozen in mid-air.

It wasn't that it wanted to stop; its entire body was covered in frost, restricting its movement.

"Demons are just demons. You don't know what is written on the container behind me, do you?"

The battered Kishida Jun raised his head, Where was the look of someone cornered on his face?

He dragged the tip of his umbrella across the container behind him, and from the torn metal, white gas erupted, drenching Jirotaro's head and face.

Combined with the water that had splashed onto it during the previous fight, the sickle-wielding Kamaitachi was almost instantly frozen into an ice sculpture.

"It's liquid nitrogen."

This was a fishing pier, and deep-sea fishing required freezing fish for preservation.

Beyond direct flash-freezing, there was also the method of placing fish in ice-mixed seawater for partial freezing.

The liquid nitrogen in the container served exactly that purpose!

Bang!

Clatter, The umbrella struck the frozen "Jirotaro" with immense force, Shattering it into thousands of frozen chunks of flesh.

?!

"Ahhh, Jirotaro! I'm going to kill you!"

Itaro, holding the wooden club, howled and charged toward Kishida Jun, swinging his weapon.

"Itaro, don't be rash!"

Santaro's warning came too late. Facing Itaro, who possessed formidable strength but moved with sluggish speed, Kishida Jun merely dodged nimbly to the side. At the same time, he swept his umbrella behind him, instantly submerging Itaro in a gushing spray of liquid nitrogen.

"Only you are left."

Blood-stained from head to toe, Kishida Jun raised his umbrella and pointed it at Santaro, who was in charge of the command.

"So, are you going to run?"

"Squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak—how could that be—"

The next second, Santaro suddenly opened his mouth and took a deep breath.

This inhalation was so terrifying that even the mist surrounding the battlefield began to flow toward him, and Santaro's body size expanded rapidly in tandem.

After expanding to his limit, Santaro slammed his palm against his belly.

"Sky Refining Bullet!"

An air cannon the size of a house

erupted from his mouth.