The plan was simple. The System made it simpler.
[Mission - Iwagakure goods
Task: Recover Iwagakure Cargo (0 / 1).
Optional: Team Survival (0 / 3)
Rewards: 4000 EXP, 50 000 Ryô, 3000 EXP split among Dosu, Kazu and Kin, +50 Reputation with Otogakure, +20 Reputation with Orochimaru, +100 Reputation with Jumiboro Clan]
The blue text hovered at the edge of Ryugo's vision as he pressed a palm to the sun-baked stone. Vibrations translated into a tactical map in his mind, four hostile markers blinking steadily. Three hundred meters east.
"Sensei...", Dosu spoke in an uneasy voice, knowing fully how terrifying he could be, "Why the sudden stop?"
Ryugo's eyes didn't open. He was checking his readout, a habit that kept him sane.
[Status: Ryugo Jumiboro | Lv. 84 Otogakure Jonin (1 200 / 4 000)
Chakra Capacity: 5 (B) | Chakra Control: 7 (A) | Spirit: 5 (B)
Speed: 6 (B) | Strength: 6 (B) | Stamina: 6 (B) | Perception: 5 (B)
Perk: Gamer's Mind (SSS), Cursed Seal of Heaven (A)
Skill Proficiencies:
Hidden Art: Jumiboro Kenjutsu Secret Technique - Resonating Blade (210) (A)
Ninjutsu: Sound Dampening Field (115) (B), Acoustic Location Pulse (135) (B)
Genjutsu: Auditory Phantasm (88) (C), Petrification Gaze (65) (C)
Kenjutsu: Otogakure Kenjutsu Style - 12 Forms (165) (B)
Taijutsu: Serpent Fist Style (55) (C)
Miscellaneous: Stealth (142) (B), Strategy (65) (C), Logistics (55) (C), Poisoncraft (57) (C), Wilderness Survival (70) (C), Antidote Synthesis (50) (C), Trading (53) (C), Eloquence (40) (D), History (25) (D), Flute (10) (E)]
A simple sheet.
Clean.
He was a specialist, not a monster.
Not like him. Orochimaru was the absolute power in Sound, a monster that had bitten him and made him...a vessel. But as strong as he was, Orochimaru held little interest in the reign of Oto. That's where the Council of the Sound, composed of officials and clan elders, played their roles.
Orochimaru handled experiments, and the Council of the Sound handled the rest: the logistics, the funds, the grim upkeep of the village's many "survivors." They issued the missions. And the Otogakure shinobi would complete them.
The System just helped Ryugo complete them.
"Four hostiles. Two chunin, two jonin. Weary. Their movements suggests one of them is injured. Team Gamma likely engaged and failed", Ryugo reported, his voice a controlled instrument.
This mission should have been a breeze. Team Gamma should have seized the Cargo, and they would have to silence the survivors, if they scattered. Not only did it fail their mission, the escort seemed almost intact. This was the difference between Iwagakure, one of the five major hidden villages, and Otogakure, which was more of a network of Orochimaru's pawns and homeless clans.
Ryugo stood, "Kin, open with disorientation. Zaku, Dosu, eliminate chunin on mark. Kazu, you take the one on the left. I take the two jonins. Execute."
Ryugo was not your average shinobi. He was a gamer, one who had survived one of Kabuto's soul experiments, transmigrating in this cursed world with memories of the plot. Out of all villages, he had been reborn in one without foundations, little resources, and no one to rely on besides monstrous villains.
Fortunately, as an heir of a noble clan of Otogakure, he was given more freedom. After grinding missions, he was given the opportunity to set up a team, and he chose a set of talented genins.
Kin, a genjutsu specialist using bells and poison.
Zaku was a ninjutsu specialist. His arms resembled the creations of Suna puppeteers, for his arteries had been replaced by tubes capable of releasing powerful chakra sound waves.
As for Dosu, he was the most balanced. He wielded a self-created Oto weapon allowing him to complement his taijutsu with sound-based ninjutsu, making him very dangerous in close combat.
They moved. The Iwa team entered the kill zone. A single, dissonant chime from Kin's bell sawed at the air.
[Status Effect: Disoriented - Applied to 4 targets]
"Now"
Zaku's Decapitating Airwaves (C) and Dosu's Resonating Echo Drill (C) fired.
Two chunin markers on Ryugo's mental map winked out.
[XP +120]
[XP +110]
The earth wall erupted. The remaining jonin markers, now highlighted red for aggressive intent, braced behind it.
Ryugo flowed up the canyon wall. He drew his katana.
The lead jonin glared as he broke free from Kin's genjutsu, "Tricks and noise!"
"The sound is the trick", Ryugo murmured. He needed a boost. A prickling, addictive heat blossomed at the base of his neck. *Cursed Seal of Heaven: Stage 1 - Activate.*
A surge of violent, dark chakra flooded his pathways. His status flickered.
[Chakra Capacity: 5 (B) → 7 (A)! Chakra Control: 7 (A) → 6 (B)]
Power at the cost of finesse, one of the few perks that came with the first stage of the Cursed Seal of Heaven.
[Gamer's mind in effect...Preventing side-effect 'Orochimaru Hand']
It was painful, but the soul damage was fully prevented by his gamer's mind perk.
Sword Sound Jutsu - Resonating Blade (210) (A)
His chakra stimulated his blade. The vibrating blade emitted its thin, lethal whine. This was his clan's specialty, a hidden art of the kenjutsu branch, allowing its members to see the frequency wave of their blades and adapt them to what they struck, increasing their sharpness, durability and overall destructiveness.
It struck the earth wall.
The rock didn't just crumble; its structural integrity hit zero. It dissolved into resonant dust.
Two more flickers of his wrist. Twang. Twang.
The sonic frequencies, amplified by the cursed seal's raw power, found their marks. The lead jonin clutched his throat, a critical hit.
[You have killed a Lv. 80 Jonin. EXP +480]
The injured jonin, who was behind, did not stay idle. But before she could react, Ryugo had already crossed the distance.
She rose her kunai as an attempt to defend, but her movements froze.
[Petrification Gaze (65) (C)]
A mere C-rank genjutsu, which he was training to improve, showed its immediate effect. She did not even tremble before the jutsu, her mental defenses weak.
*SWOOSH*
[You have killed a Lv. 60 Jonin. EXP +360]
[Mission Complete: Cargo Recovered. Bonus: Team Survival (Confirmed)]
The cursed seal receded, leaving a familiar, acidic ache in his bones. The blue notifications faded.
Silence, broken by Zaku, "They were weak!"
Ryugo retrieved the scroll case, the Council's cargo.
[Item: Silver Union Scrolls (Council Protocols), Explosive Tags (x200), Kunai (x100), Shurikens (x1000), Fine Leather (28 pieces), silver (20 ingots),...]
"We're done," Ryugo said, turning.
The mission was complete.
The Council would be pleased.
Orochimaru would remain indifferent, so long as his experiments were funded.
And Ryugo would get stronger, one simple, efficient kill at a time, guided by cold blue text and fueled by a cursed gift.
As for his subordinates, they had long since exceeded their original strength. All three just leveled up.
[Dosu - Lv. 32 (↑) Genin]
[Kazu - Lv. 22 (↑) Genin]
[Kin - Lv. 26 (↑) Genin]
Usually, genins were between Lv. 10 and 25. Dosu and Kin had already reached chunin standards, and Kazu was slowly catching up with them.
At this stage, Otogakure had only been created 10 years ago.
Also, there was still three years left before the attack of Konohagakure from the information Ryugo had uncovered and his calculations. His reference was the attack of the nine-tails, which he linked with Naruto's age.