I worked… I trained, I studied, I refused to fall a second time.
Seduction techniques, ninjutsu, espionage and assassination principles and codes, a variety of martial arts—I absorbed it all, alongside Yasuna, Shizuka-sama, and the others.
Yasuna was always laughing and cheerful… yet she had suffered the most because of her frail and weak body at the time.
Once, we left her alone in a forest of some African land—with several wild dogs.
The next day, to my shock, she was alive—barely—and all the dog were dead.
That was how it was meant to be.
Seven years of that merciless training forged us into fearsome prodigies, each possessing a unique technique of our own.
Welp!
It truly was a hectic life, but what matters is that I'm alive and well right now. Can't binge anime in hell, can you?
Unlike most other clan members, and even my own parents, I now have a considerable degree of freedom and authority.
I outrank them as a special team executive.
Sometimes I skip patrols and missions just to binge-watch anime.
Mwahaha! I mean, only a few of the adult elites can challenge me anyway.
Totally worth it.
And now?
I'm a first-year in high school!
Banzai! Banzai!
Seijin Shien-sha Kōtōgakkō (Saint's Advocate High) was a prestigious institution located in Uji, a serene and iconic city nestled between the Nara and Kyoto prefectures.
Surrounded by lush green tea fields and ancient temples, the school boasted a perfect blend of traditional Japanese elegance and modern academic excellence.
Its grand iron gates, flanked by cherry blossom trees, opened to reveal a sprawling campus of polished stone pathways, verdant gardens, and imposing academic buildings that whispered tales of brilliance and prestige.
Ah, to think Scott Peterson would one day become a high school girl (Joshiko)... No one knows tomorrow, indeed.
Yasuna will be joining me again as usual—we're kind of like a pair or something.
We've been stationed here as spies and observers. This school—as the name implied—is owned by a major executive of the Saint Organization, the same group that killed Nakamura-sensei.
We suspect it is even owned by the Saints themselves, but just using the face of one person as the chairwoman.
Our clan, in spite of this, has no intention of showing them hostility.
Pfft. I mean, could we even be hostile to an organization like The Avengers?
Still, we need our eyes here.
But if we're not careful, those eyes will be stabbed out with spears.
Even so, another pair would eventually sprout—the Yamigami clan is nothing if not tenacious.
Anyway, I wonder if my friends from middle school will be here too.
Sophia had to return to her country… was it Germany or Russia? I can't remember.
She looked truly heartbroken before she left, trying and failing to hold back her tears.
I comforted her and saw her off at the airport.
But she really shouldn't let things like that make her cry.
I've… literally seen my friends torn apart by wild animals, while begging and calling the same parents who gave them up, or the survivors who couldn't do any better than run away to save themselves.
Ordinarily, life is given only once to each person. I was just extraordinarily lucky to be granted a second one.
And I have no intention of wasting it.
This morning, Shizuka had left a message for Yasuna and me:
"I don't know if we'll be summoned, but six of the Talents have an elimination mission today. They're joining the adults to assassinate a big shot."
"Another dangerous mission?" Yasuna asked, leaning casually against the wall beneath the stairway.
"Every mission is dangerous, as far as I'm concerned," Shizuka replied from within the shadows, her form half-hidden as she revealed only part of herself.
"So… we might be called up?" I asked.
"That is the expectation," she said with a nod. "They suspect a Saint might be present. Just one, though—a fairly young one whom we know very little about."
The gist of it was simple: if things escalated, we might be ordered to launch a joint and relentless attack against the Saint.
Under normal circumstances, the Yamigami clan ninjas were a force to be reckoned with. And with about four dozen of them involved in this mission, a child Saint should not have been cause for much concern… right?
Or so I thought—until I was summoned at exactly 9:11 PM.
On the rooftop of a building, I moved swiftly yet silently.
Reaching a higher building—
[Ninpō: Kage Kakushi].
—I slipped through the wall, flowed through the shadows, and emerged from the top like a mermaid breaching the surface of the sea.
There, I saw my fellow operatives—the leaders of the Talents.
Shizuka-sama—our leader, Benimaru—the nihilistic introvert, Rei—Benimaru's adopted sister who acts like an emotionless machine, Tanaka-nii-sama—the big brother mascot of the team, the identical twins Neko and Zaki—crazy girls who wouldn't mind, but prefer, killing innocents, Kuro—Tanaka-nii-sama's younger brother and comic relief goblin—and our very own, Yasuna the cheerleader.
If all of us were gathered here, it could only mean one thing.
"The entire group of Talents that followed the adults…" Shizuka, clad in a black skintight shozoku with a deep purple scarf around her neck, spoke from her perch atop the rooftop water tank. "They have all been massacred by a single eleven-year-old Saint—Gojo Kowai."
…Fuck...
I had an anime I was planning to binge tonight, for god's sake. Who was this new villain ruining my plans?
Wait.
"Are we gathering here to go fight this person?" I asked. "It sounds like you're telling us to face someone who could single-handedly kill six Talents—something even the elites and higher-ups would find difficult!"
"Hehe. Did it just register in your head, Nagisa-tan?" Kuro laughed. "I bet you were thinking about anime just now."
Argh. Saints are nothing but trouble.
There are other organizations in Japan, but none this nosy!
Now, how am I supposed to get past this massive obstacle in front of me?
…Tsk. I suppose there's no way out of it.
"We'll just have to give it our all… and kill this Gojo Kowai."
Heh. Although, in my previous world, the name "Gojo" carried a certain weight. If I'm careless here, I might just end up dying a second time.