The plan turned out to be pretty barebones, all things considered, but to make a short story shorter, we would be making our way down to the beach to get on a couple of boats.

We would try to avoid making any noise while we were at it, and we would be moving slowly enough that we wouldn’t accidentally injury the King during transit. I would be riding along with the King, in the beat-up looking wagon that Korega and the others had used in their rescue attempt while continuing to work on his Petrification.

Kakeru and I were already situated in the wagon, just waiting for the others to move out. I had managed to level Status Removal up to level six in the meantime and it was now doing six points of damage to the Petrification with every cast, and I had enough mana to charge it up to eighteen points of damage with a triple-cast. My basic mana recovery was just over ten mana per second now, while Meditate boosted that up to twenty-five per second. My maximum mana was sitting at just over seven hundred now, so I was making significantly more progress with each cast.

My recovery wasn’t the problem here though, it was the cast time, it took fifty seconds until I could use it again after each cast. It was only an estimation but judging by how much damage I was currently doing to the Petrification and the rough size of ‘six’ durability I would say that the petrification had at least five-thousand durability? Probably more?

That was roughly three-hundred Status Removals at eighteen points of damage.

That was what, four hours of constant Status Removals at the current damage? It would speed up a great deal after another level or two as well. So I halved it and said it would take two hours until Kakeru was cured. It was a very rough estimate at best, but it would have to do.

I felt the wagon begin to move.

“How are you doing, Kakeru?” I asked cheerfully.

“I breathe without issue now,” Kakeru said honestly.

“Good to hear,” I said simply, “We have a couple of hours left before you’re back in fighting shape though, so don’t go doing any flips or anything.”

Kakeru huffed out a laugh, but my thoughts had taken me elsewhere. Why hadn’t I tried to unlock acrobatics or parkour? They were probably passives, right? Dammit.

“Sora-kun, I’ve just realized that I have yet to thank you,” Kakeru said seriously. “You have undoubtedly saved my life.”

I think that was the first time he had actually called me by name, aww, I knew he liked me under that Stoney exterior of his.

“Don’t worry about it, buddy.” I said easily, “I wasn’t going to let you bleed out in there.”

“Even so,” Kakeru said amused, “I owe you a great debt, and should we survive the night I will do my best to see it repaid.”

That was the goodwill I was hoping for, I needed a way of getting exp, and sparring with his guards might be a good way to do it.

“How about once this is all over, you get your soldier guys to show me how to fight properly?” I asked hopefully, “I’m going to need to get a lot stronger if there are all these crazy ninja guys running around turning Kakeru’s to stone.”

“Consider it done,” Kakeru said easily, amused at the simple request.

“Thanks,” I said happily. “Say Kakeru, where do you think these ninjas came from anyway? The bad ones, not the Konoha ones.”

I made sure to clarify just in case.

“They are a group of wandering shinobi mercenaries most likely.” Kakeru said thoughtfully, “They carried no village symbol that I recall. Shabadaba has hired many ninjas before at my behest for many reasons over the years, he has always tended to hire those not attached to the larger villages.”

“Is there a ninja village on this island somewhere?” I asked curiously.

Kakeru shook his head.

“No,” Kakeru said simply, “Although many ninjas do pass through here, I have received several in my castle over the years, acting as ambassadors to the daimyo’s on the main continent, but there is no hidden village within the Land of the Moon.”

Interesting.

“So these naughty ninjas are pretty much only here because they are getting paid, they don’t have a secret grudge against you or something?” I wondered. “Chafing under Kakeru’s stone fist?”

“No,” Kakeru said amused, “I don’t have any connection to these ninjas at all, and no grudge exists to the best of my knowledge.”

I nodded thoughtfully, thinking about how that could be used to my advantage. If they were just doing it for the money, we could try to assassinate Shabadaba, and then they would have no reason to continue the mission. Wait didn’t one of the ninjas accidentally kill the client near the end of the mission anyway?

We could probably offer to pay them off, I might even be able to get a bodyguard out of this somehow, which would be useful, at least until I was strong enough to make a difference anyway. I might be able to get Kakeru to pay for one of them.

I couldn’t remember much about these ninjas, other than there was three of them and one of them could turn things to stone. I don’t remember them being particularly evil, but they had certainly killed people during their mission, namely the King.

Then again I’m fairly sure each of the Konoha Genin ended up killing someone during this mission, so neither of the ninja teams could claim to have the moral high ground there. Were the bad ninja close to each other or were they just working together for this mission? I vaguely remembered that they all wore similar wigs, which showed some kind of uniformity between them.

I suppose it didn’t matter they would probably all end up dying anyway.

The trip down the mountain to the beach was a slow one, as we were doing our best not to make much noise. It took maybe an hour all up until we reached the point where we would have to ditch the wagon and I felt the wagon slow to a stop, as it was unable to be pulled through the thick grouping of trees in our way, let alone the sand.

Kakeru was looking much better now, Status Removal had even leveled up twice more, and I had managed to get the petrification all the way down to both shins, the boosted effectiveness of the spell coming in strong.

Kakeru was even sitting up on the seat now, I was so proud of him.

I was still sitting cross-legged on the floor of the wagon, and my ass was starting to hurt when the door opened to reveal Korega and Michiru, who had been both riding on the front of the wagon while it was in transit.

“Father,” Michiru said astonished, “You are looking so much better now!”

Korega seemed to agree given how high his thick eyebrows had risen to his hairline.

“This is as far as we can go with the wagon,” Korega said seriously after he had recovered. “It is only a small walk to the shoreline from here, and we should find the boats nearby, I am sorry Kakeru-sama, but we will have to carry you from now.”

Kakeru waved the comment off easily and the three of us helped him out of the wagon, with Korega taking most of the man’s weight.

“You need to lay off the sweets, Kakeru.” I said dryly, “When was the last time you got some exercise anyway?”

Korega made an offended noise at the comment, while Michiru just stared at me in disbelief.

“I have been putting on weight recently,” Kakeru said bemused, “I might need to start getting out more often after this is all over.”

“Kakeru-sama!” Korega grunted as we got Kakeru up onto his back. “You are perfectly healthy for a man of your age, do not pay any mind to him.”

“A man of his age, huh?” I said amused, “Are you saying he’s old, Korega?”

Korega stilled for a moment as he realized what he had done.

“I didn’t-” Korega started horrified.

“Be calm, Korega,” Kakeru laughed, “I am old, I was not offended.”

“How old are you, anyway?” I asked curiously, as another soldier helped Michiru tie his father’s legs together at the knee, being incredibly careful with his feet.

Korega breathed sharply out of his nose but didn’t take the bait this time, I smiled.

“Sixty-four as of this year,” Kakeru said thoughtfully, from his perch on Korega’s back.

“Hah, you’ve got another thirty years in you at least, I can’t believe you were trying to get out early back at the mountain,” I said cheekily.

Kakeru rasped out a laugh.

“Another thirty years?” Kakeru said amused, “I certainly hope not, that is an exceptionally long time and I have seen more than enough already.”

“Kakeru-sama!” Korega said alarmed.

“Father!” Michiru admonished him.

I snickered, Kakeru had a surprisingly good sense of humor.

When we finally started moving towards the shore, the trees started to thin out and the sand on the ground overcame the grass entirely. Kakashi and Lee were at the front of our group, while Sakura and Naruto were holding both of the wings. The rest of the soldiers were surrounding Korega, Kakeru, Michiru, Hikaru, and myself.

Kakashi signaled for us to stop right at the edge of where the forest ended, and we waited for several minutes before he pointed in a direction, obviously enough that everyone noticed. We started heading out, but just as our part of the entourage was level with the tree line the other ninjas arrived.

They leaped out of the tree line further up from us, crossing a massive distance in an instant before landing next to the boats.

I played the leap over and over in my head in awe, seeing somebody move like that was incredible, it was the first thing I had actually seen like it. I had felt Kakashi move very quickly back at the chamber, but I hadn’t seen it.

The soldiers pulled us back into the tree line and we all crouched down, making sure to keep the trees between us and the ninja. Kakashi and Lee had already been seen, so they made no move to return to the trees. Naruto and Sakura revealed themselves a moment later by moving straight out to stand beside their teammates.

“Kakeru-sama.” Korega said tightly, “We should assist them.”

I frowned at that, that sounded like a terrible idea, but the soldiers all made noises of agreement, they clearly wanted to fight. They would probably only get in the way of the ninja though, and I didn’t hear what Kakeru said to them as I had already moved closer to the tree line to get a better angle to watch from.

Team Seven and Lee had moved towards the other ninja and where seemingly exchanging some words that none of us had any chance of hearing from all the way over here. The negotiations seemed to break down pretty quickly though because the shortest member of the other group tossed something into the sand about five meters away from the leaf ninja.

It was far enough away from them that they didn’t even have to move when it exploded violently. Team seven spread out immediately and sprinted around the explosion towards the other ninja without fear. I stared at them all as they moved at speeds I had never witnessed outside of cars or motorbikes.

It was incredible.

The largest ninja went after Naruto, while the shortest one went after Sakura. Kakashi and Lee both went after the guy who I thought might be the petrification guy. I managed to Observe the three of them during the fight and read through their stats.

Name: Ishidate

Title: N/A

Gender: Male

Age: 29

Level: 176

Next Level: 11.39%

Health Points - 1530/1530

Chakra Points - 1120/1120

Vitality 153

Strength 205

Speed 260

Perception 101

Intelligence 109

Chakra 112

Status Effects: N/A.

Emotions: Excitement, Amused, Impatient.

History: Ishidate is a member of the Uemon Clan, a group of wandering ninja mercenaries that hold no allegiance to any of the hidden villages. The Uemon Clan routinely brings in new recruits, either willingly or by force. Ishidate was one of the few members born of two members of the clan and is one of the last three remaining members alive.

Oh wow, this guy was fast.

He was actually faster than Kakashi despite being a much lower level, although I couldn’t visually tell the difference in their speeds, both of them were vanishing between exchanges. He was also a little bit stronger than Kakashi as well, but It wasn’t by much. This guy was clearly a hand to hand specialist of some sort, but I’m fairly sure Kakashi trained regularly with Gai though, so I don’t think he was going to have much trouble with this dude.

Lee was trying to keep up with them both and was clearly struggling, I hadn’t seen any sand explosions yet either, so he was probably still wearing his weights. This was exactly the kind of fight where you should take them off, Lee.

Come on man use your head.

Name: Kongo

Title: N/A

Gender: Male

Age: 33

Level: 153

Next Level: 27.31%

Health Points - 1800/1800

Chakra Points - 740/740

Vitality 180

Strength 260

Speed 155

Perception 80

Intelligence 76

Chakra 74

Status Effects: N/A.

Emotions: Bloodlust. Glee. Anger.

History: Kongo is a member of the Uemon Clan, a group of wandering ninja mercenaries that hold no allegiance to any of the hidden villages. The Uemon Clan routinely brings in new recruits, either willingly or by force. Kongo was one of the members brought into the clan by force at a young age and is one of the last three remaining members alive.

Kongo seemed to also be a melee fighter, although he had apparently specialized in strength rather than speed, which made sense given how big the guy was. ‘Brought in by force’ though, that didn’t sound very nice. An unwilling recruit of the Uemon Clan huh? Was this my bodyguard in waiting? Kongo was kicking the crap out of Naruto, physically dominating the poor kid, but he kept getting back up for more. Naruto’s health was still at over half full, so I thought he was still doing okay for now.

Name: Karenbana

Title: N/A

Gender: Female

Age: 22

Level: 137

Next Level: 73.37%

Health Points - 1400/1400

Chakra Points - 1350/1350

Vitality 140

Strength 110

Speed 190

Perception 80

Intelligence 90

Chakra 135

Status Effects: N/A.

Emotions: Anger, Worry, Excitement.

History: Karenbana is a member of the Uemon Clan, a group of wandering ninja mercenaries that hold no allegiance to any of the hidden villages. The Uemon Clan routinely brings in new recruits, either willingly or by force. Karenbana was one of the members brought into the clan by force at a young age and is one of the last three remaining members alive.

Karenbana, what a bizarre name, she seemed to also be a melee fighter?

I guess they all were, she was fast, but not nearly as physically proficient as her teammates. If she ever got to the same level as Ishidate she would be extremely fast, she was only slightly slower then Lee was right now. Another unwilling member of the Uemon Clan, and another potential bodyguard.

Sakura was struggling against her, fighting defensively with two kunai out, and her health was dropping steadily with each exchange, she was already down to 634/900. Karenbana was much better at hand to hand apparently, and far too fast for her to keep up, although Sakura did manage to land the occasional hit on her.

Did Sakura have her Tsunade level strength yet?

Her strength stat was only at eighty, but the strength thing might have been an active skill of some sort, wasn’t that how she won originally, by punching the other ninja hard enough to one-shot her?

They were also slowly moving towards us throughout their battle.

The overall fight between the two ninja teams abruptly changed as Kongo stopped messing around and smashed Naruto up into the air before leaping up after him. The height on the jump was amazing, and the force of the ax kick Kongo hit him with sent him straight back down onto the beach. Sand exploded in every direction at the impact and I could see Naruto buried upside down, unmoving.

Observe said he still alive but stunned and his health was sitting at 980/2100.

Kongo immediately switched targets and started going after Lee, freeing up Ishidate to focus entirely on Kakashi. I noted that Kakashi still hadn’t moved his headband, apparently, it wasn’t yet time for the Sharingan to make an appearance. I turned back to check on Sakura, but her health had dropped down to 460/900, and she was bleeding from all of the cuts on her arms and chest.

I started getting nervous, the Konoha ninja were getting their asses kicked and all it would take is a single moment for one of them to land a killing blow. Wasn’t Naruto supposed to go Kyuubi mode and start kicking everybody’s ass? He was still stunned, according to observe and he didn’t look like he would be getting up for a while yet.

Fuck it.

I leaned around the tree and aimed at Karenbana, waiting for her to stop moving for a moment. I had been nonstop training Line Spear, and I was hoping it would be strong enough to do some damage. It could go most of the way through a tree now.

Sakura’s health had dropped down to 325/900 before I finally got a chance to take the shot.

“Line Spear,” I said quietly.

I was aiming for Karenbana’s ankle, but my zero luck came in strong as I ended up hitting her in the knee instead. Line Spear went straight through her kneecap and out the back of her leg before impacting the sand behind her. It was obscenely fast, and the line of mana disappeared less than a second after it connected, dissipating in the air. Karenbana let out a scream of pain and then leap backward towards Kongo, she landed lopsided, unable to put any weight on that leg.

Kongo gave up chasing Lee after he booted him halfway across the beach and grabbed his teammate by the arm, god damn his hands were big, they looked like crabs even from this distance. Ishidate glanced over at them before breaking off from Kakashi. I couldn’t help but noticed that Ishidate’s emotional state had changed from ‘Excitement, Amused, Impatient.’ to ‘Furious, Murderous, Disgusted.’, the guy didn’t like Kakashi very much.

Ishidate snapped something angrily to his teammates and they dashed back into the trees, retreating with blinding speed. Kakashi made to follow them before turning to glance our way for a moment. I felt a bright roiling presence appear amidst our group and spun around to see Ishidate with his hand around the back of Michiru’s neck.

“So this is where you rats were hiding,” Ishidate said darkly, from the middle of our group. “I’ll be sure to come to kill you all later, please be patient.”

Ishidate vanished at the same time as Kakashi appeared next to our group in a swirl of leaves and sand.

Your level has increased by 7!

I couldn’t even take any pleasure in finally leveling up, because Michiru was gone.