Calm before the Storm
IV
The mission had been compromised.
Honestly, this did not surprise Jiraiya. He knew it was bound to fail with this team. The goal was simple but the stakes were high, and yet most of the members focused on their misplaced pride.
So, why did he bother to stick with them?
The ‘Sensei’ side of him wanted to see if he could show these kids that the world was not only black and white. The world and its inhabitants had a lot to offer if they were willing to just sit down and listen. At the same time, he wanted to understand their mindset. What drove them? What fueled their hatred? Yes, he did his research in this area, but he always preferred firsthand experience over written documents.
The ’Shinobi’ side of him, on the other hand, wanted to leverage the failure. All the parties involved knew that this mission was a critical one. And all the members of the task force were aware of this fact, even though most of them did not act like it. So, if the mission was compromised because of certain task force members, which it had, then they would be held accountable… which in return would put their leaders in a very sticky situation.
A sticky situation that the kingdom could use as a bargaining chip somewhere down the line.
Of course, he had no intention of letting Rizevim go. He was like Danzo. He knew many secrets but it was not worth the trouble that he was sure to bring. That was why, Jiraiya had a backup plan, he always did.
Jiraiya made a deal with Diehauser Belial. The champion of the Rating Game would give him his full support in assassinating Rizevim. Yes, he was aware that the son of the original Lucifer fell into the ‘Super’ class, but so was he. Jiraiya was confident that he could take down Rizevim with the help of ‘Worthless’, Diehauser’s unique clan ability.
Of course, Diehauser’s help did not come for free. In return for his complete cooperation, Jiraiya would pass him his findings regarding the death of Cleria Belial with the condition that Diehauser would never mention this deal to anyone.
“I will send you the coordinates, wait for me there.”
The small rectangular card in his hand started to crumble, indicating that the order was received from the other side, “I really hope this works.”
If this plan of his failed, then the other option was to call for reinforcements from the kingdom; Jiraiya really did not want to resort to that.
Another explosion, a bit further than the last one.
Jiraiya took a deep long breath. It was hard to fade out the screams and harder not to take any actions, but he was used to it. One could say, he was quite experienced when it came to dealing with situations such as this. Steeling his nerves, he started to move through the shadows once again.
Xenovia Quarta and Irina Shidou.
Jiraiya knew those two girls would compromise the mission, but he did not know that they would do it in such a spectacular fashion.
When in a team, Jiraiya always prioritized teamwork. Without it, power, knowledge, and even experience would fall short. This was not a theory that he came up with. He learned this from his own experience, repeatedly. With that in mind, Jiraiya gave a bit of a pep talk to the members and have them do some light but fun team-building activities. Unfortunately, most of the members were not so keen on improving their teamwork. There was less cooperation and lesser chemistry between the members. Yes, some gave it an honest try but it was not enough.
Jiraiya knew that if he had enough time, he could have knocked them into shape. Unfortunately, he had his hands full. So, he decided to cut his losses.
He went for the most troublesome ones. He asked Xenovia and Irina to be replaced with someone more mature. He did not need someone powerful or experienced, but someone who would understand the severity of the mission. Of course, he did not directly reach out to Michael about this. He let Naruto handle the matter since he had more free time than him.
Fortunately… well, considering their current situation maybe it was unfortunate that his request went through.
Xenovia and Irina were to be replaced with Vasco Strada.
So why did they not send Vasco from the start? Again, this was about finding the ‘Holy Swords’. Xenovia and Irina wielded Excalibur shards and because of that fact, they were more capable of sensing and tracking other shards. Unfortunately, this skill of theirs could not outweigh their lack of maturity.
Of course, when he broke the news to them, as expected, they were very vocal in their displeasure regarding this change. Roygun did not help with her smug look during that time. But Jiraiya was in no mood for babysitting anymore. So, once again, he put his foot down and told them to take the argument to their superiors.
After that, he personally escorted them to the airport where they were supposed to wait for Vasco to arrive. The idea was Vasco would have a talk with them before they would leave the city.
Who knew that they would disobey such a direct order? They sneaked out of the airport to look for the Excalibur Shards themselves.
Jiraiya did not know what was going through their heads at that time. The task force was there for weeks. True, finding the shards was not their main priority but that did not mean they were neglecting any traces. Honestly, Jiraiya already had an idea of where the shards could be. And as he had expected, the enemies had set up multiple traps for them. He had informed Baraqiel about this and both decided not to go after the shards for now since there was a high risk of alerting Rizevim.
But that did not matter now since those two idiots ruined it all. Not only did they get caught, but to make matters worse, the enemies now had two more Excalibur Shards. And with all the shards in their possession, they started some bloody evil ritual of some sort. And unfortunately… or as expected of any villains, they decided to start the ritual in the city.
The usual cliché moves all the bad guys loved to pull off.
Thankfully the location of the ritual was not in the middle of the city but that did not make it any less dangerous to the thousands of powerless humans living in the city.
The curtains were raised and their team was forced to participate in the play. At least now Jiraiya had a clear eye on the enemies. Stray exorcists and fallen, along with some well-known criminals, who were backed up by Kokabiel’s forces. Unfortunately, Kokabiel still had not shown his face yet.
Jiraiya was not new to situations like this… where his enemies would get the upper hand. The question was could he turn the table? Yes. But it all depended on his counterattacks… depended on how fast and how effective they were. Of course, he had some ideas but to pull them off he needed Baraqiel’s cooperation. The Fallen General was powerful and experienced, of that he had no doubt, but Jiraiya was not sure if he would listen and follow his plans. Much to his delight, Baraqiel was very much open to suggestions.
The idea was simple, divide and conquer.
Baraqiel and Tobio would charge toward the ritual’s location. Their goal was not to be the ‘Hero’ but to rile up the enemies, to learn about their motives and what the ritual was about. And then, they were to subtly relay the information to other members. Depending on the situation, they could go all out and stop the ritual by themselves, or they ought to wait for reinforcements. The decision was up to them.
Kuroka and Roygun, on the other hand, were to blend in with the city. Right now, the enemies were all over the city causing nothing but chaos and destruction. Either they had a plan or they were using this whole situation as an excuse to quench their bloodlust. Regardless, this gave them an opportunity. Before the enemies became aware of their full force, and before they regroup, it was best to reduce their numbers. And that was Kuroka and Roygun’s job. But they were also to make sure to keep their identity a secret for as long as they could.
Basically, he was asking the two ladies to go around the city and ‘Assassinate’ all the ‘Roaming’ enemies that they could find.
As for Dulio, he was to meet up with Vasco. After confirming his safety, they were to immediately head toward the ritual site and assist Baraqiel and Tobio.
Jiraiya had to give it to Baraqiel, he quickly caught on to his hidden goal. Jiraiya did not want their enemies to realize the fact that they were all together in a team. If Rizevim were to find out about this, he would surely bolt.
Then again, it was all for naught if those two captured idiots did not keep their mouths shut.
One of the cards in his pocket started to heat up, stopping Jiraiya in his tracks. He took it out and activated it.
“The secondary target is moving toward the primary one. Location attached.”
Jiraiya blinked once and listened to the message again.
So, what did he tell the team about their part? Of course, he lied to them, even to Kuroka. It was not a matter of trust but of secrecy. The fewer people knew about his deal with Diehauser, the better.
He told them that he and Diehauser would go out and look for Kokabiel since there was a possibility that he was the mastermind behind this current mess. But in reality, they were going after Rizevim since he was the primary target. Who knew that Kokabiel would be going after Rizevim? This made zero sense.
Jiraiya let out a humorless chuckle before taking out an empty message card, “I will distract Kokabiel. When you have your eyes on Rizevim, activate the teleportation scroll for me.”
The moment the card in his hand started to crumble, he set out for the new location.
Thankfully, the location Diehauser had sent was quite far from the city. It did not take long but when he reached his destination, he knew something was very wrong.
Azazel had provided Jiraiya with Kokabiel’s complete bio. So, Jiraiya had a clear picture of how powerful the traitor was. But what he was sensing now was not matching what he had read in the report. He knew Azazel did not lie to him. He could not afford to. So that meant, somehow, Kokabiel received some really good external help. Whatever it was, it significantly increased Kokabiel’s power.
Who helped him… that remained to be seen.
On the other hand, he was not alone. He had a fully armed battalion with him. And from the looks on their faces, it seemed like they were going to war.
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It looked like he and Kokabiel had the same goal… to kill Rizevim. Or Kokabiel had a rendezvous with Rizevim. If it was the second, then whatever they planned to do next would not be pretty.
So, the question was should he wait and see what Kokabiel was up to? Or take out Kokabiel now before moving to Rizevim?
A few seconds… that was all it took for him to decide his next course of action.
Jiraiya closed his eyes and solidified his connection to his ‘Astral Clones’. He quickly cast a few spells before leaping to action.
Kokabiel was a war veteran. And it showed.
The moment Jiraiya got out from the shadow, Kokabiel created light-based swords and had his wings out. He had six pairs now instead of five. And the wings were not completely black as shown in the report. They had a purple hue to them.
“He is probably at the peak of ‘Ultimate’ class.”
Kokabiel sensed the danger but could not pinpoint him because of all the clones that started to come out at the same time. It took the traitor a few fractions of a second to realize that the clones were a trap. It was more than enough.
Jiraiya was in the midst of his soldiers, cutting down their numbers before they could even realize what was happening. No flashy moves, no overpowered spells; just a single stab to the head using a few enchanted holy tantōs.
It took the enemies four whole seconds to notice his presence.
“Scatter!”
Now, it was time for the flashy spells. Jiraiya took out two scrolls and threw them above, and at that exact moment, two katanas appeared in his hands. The movement was so fast and fluid that the enemies thought that he just took out the katanas and completely missed his real attack.
“Above!”
Other than Kokabiel but again he was slightly late to react.
The scrolls touched each other and exploded, releasing hundreds of heat-seeking holy-elemental fireballs. The explosion gave him the perfect opening to go for his next move.
But he decided against it when he felt the holy attacks getting too close for comfort. It seemed that Kokabiel did not even care that his attacks would take down his own people as well. Then again, he expected a move like this from him.
In a flash, Jiraiya was back to his initial position.
The screams… this time they were coming from his enemies. Even so, it was not a pleasing experience. It never would be.
“Retreat.”
The soldiers did not need to be told twice. But Jiraiya had to give it to them. Many of the soldiers helped the wounded ones. And from the posture, he could see quite a few wanted to stay and get a piece of him. But in the end, no one defied Kokabiel.
“Jiraiya, the head of Military Affairs of Avalon Kingdom,” Kokabiel faced him, wings all spread out, “I always thought that your powers and accomplishments are nothing but exaggeration coming from a backwater kingdom,” He then looked at the retreating soldiers, “It seems I may have to reevaluate you.”
“Azazel was right, he is the talkative and egotistic type. Perfect.” Jiraiya took a relaxing posture, “I took down seventy percent of your battalion within five seconds, right under your nose. And this is the only compliment you are going to give me?”
Kokabiel smiled. Instantly, his power level skyrocketed. The purple aura became more visible, “Just because you took down some bottom feeders does not mean you are at the top of the food chain.”
The light sword Kokabiel created was faster than before, and so was his speed. In an instant, he was right in front of Jiraiya with the sword piercing through his chest.
“You are just above average… nothing special.”
Jiraiya coughed up a mouthful of blood, his body swaying. His gaze met Kokabiel’s cold and amused one. With slow shaky breaths, he grabbed Kokabiel’s outstretched arm with both of his hands.
And then, his body exploded.
Shadow clones shared only memories with the users when they were destroyed or dispersed. The technique could be abused, yes, but it had its limitations. Astral clones on the other hand were able to share memories and emotions via telepathic link… in real-time.
Jiraiya adored and abused this technique.
He came out from the shadows and dispersed all of his other clones. This trap would not work again. But it did its job. He grinned and looked at the two full vials in his hand.
Blood. Check.
Flesh. Check.
He sealed the two vials and took a battle stance.
It was true that he and Naruto massively upgraded Youjutsu. It was completely different from what it was before. But even then, it still could not match the full potential of their previous world’s Ninjutsu. That was why, in serious fights, Jiraiya did not rely on Youjutsu.
He took a deep breath. The short shirt kimono, the mesh armor, and the red haori dispersed leaving his upper body bare. He took another long breath. He could feel the flow of life energy entering his body and the essence of that energy transforming into something that he was very familiar with.
In this world, this technique was called ‘Touki’ but in the previous, it was called ‘Sage Mode’. They had their similarities and differences, and each had its ups and downs. But Jiraiya being who he was, combined the best of these two ‘Forms’ to create an upgraded version.
‘Primal Mode’.
“You filthy rat!” The fire caused by the earlier explosion dispersed in an instant as Kokabiel took flight.
Kokabiel was enveloped by a grey-black aura along with that sinister purple one. The purple aura was covering his left arm, the arm that should have been burnt to a crisp was recovering quite fast. Now that he was in his ‘Primal Mode’, Jiraiya noticed a few things. First, whatever that purple energy was, quantity-wise, it was not much. But even then, it was dominating Kokabiel’s vast amount of energy indicating that its potency was off the charts. Second, he could not verify that energy’s origin, even though he was connected to the very nature itself.
Jiraiya frowned and jumped to another location when Kokabiel tried to skewer him again.
“So, your undressing was not just for a show,” Kokabiel sneered, “I hope you don’t think that this will make any difference. Your petty little tricks are just that… tricks. They are worthless,” Kokabiel slowly rose into the air, wings spread out again, “Against true power.”
A symbol appeared in front of Kokabiel. A circle on top of which two snakes were biting each other’s tails. It took a moment, but Jiraiya finally saw the full picture. The way the snakes were positioned, it created a symbol.
The symbol of Infinity.
“Ahh~ The look on your face,” Kokabiel let out a full-blown laugh, “You finally understand. No matter what tricks you have on your sleeves, they amount to nothing against the might of the Beast.”
Jiraiya took a deep calming breath. Ophis, the Infinite Dragon God, the Beast of Infinity, would not give Kokabiel any special treatment. He was sure of it not because he knew Ophis, it was because he knew Kokabiel had nothing special to offer. That meant someone was able to replicate Ophis’s energy. Or Ophis finally had decided to make a move. Neither of these two scenarios sat well with Jiraiya.
Naruto needed to know. Now. Sending this information to one of the Astral clones sitting in the kingdom, Jiraiya took a battle stance.
“Do you really…”
In a flash, Jiraiya was right behind Kokabiel. He could see the expression slowly changing on Kokabiel’s face, his body posture shifting as well. But surprisingly, it was the purple aura that was the fastest to react.
But not fast enough.
Jiraiya punched the back of Kokabiel’s head with full force. Kokabiel was flung away. His wings tried to adjust his stance but the moment he slowed down, Jiraiya was already on top of him. His right leg aimed at the sky. Then he brought it down. And he made sure to hit Kokabiel’s head.
Jiraiya was already on the ground before Kokabiel’s body could reach there. The two strikes before should have crushed Kokabiel’s head. He could see why his attacks failed to kill his opponent. His head was fully covered in that purple aura. He was not sure if Kokabiel was manually controlling this energy, or if it was an automatic behavior to protect the possessor. But one thing he could sense was that bothersome energy was not limitless. But its potency was no joke.
That just meant he had to strike harder.
His feet were firmly placed on the ground. He felt his bones strengthening, his muscles stretching. He rotated his body slightly, his right arm going all the way back.
The moment Kokabiel’s head came to his reach, he struck.
The sky, the land… the nature itself was shaken by the force. But what brought a smile to Jiraiya’s face was when he heard that ‘Crack’.
Once again, Kokabiel was hurled off. Jiraiya jumped and followed Kokabiel’s uncontrollable flying body. He was impressed. Even in his current predicament, Kokabiel managed to fire the feathers from his wings as projectiles. But this did not stop Jiraiya. His hair started to move on its own and many strands of it shot out and removed the feathers coming toward him.
“You are not the only one who has an automatic defense mechanism.”
Jiraiya pulled both of his knees to his chest, intending to strike Kokabiel with a double kick to his head. But then he sensed the concentration of Kokabiel’s own aura and the abnormal behavior of the purple one. He immediately fell back.
Not a second later, the place Kokabiel was at exploded releasing many energy beams in random directions. Even though none of them reached Jiraiya, the attack forced him to make some distance and break his momentum.
That attack would have hurt him.
“You filthy rat! When I am done tearing you apart, I will violate everyone that you love,” Kokabiel took flight once again.
The purple aura was healing his face, but Jiraiya could sense that the borrowed power diminished quite a lot. Meaning the last strike surely took a huge toll on Kokabiel’s borrowed power. But his opponent was not aware of this crucial fact.
“And I heard that you have quite a few lovers for me to go through.”
Jiraiya sighed. He wondered if there was a manuscript of some sort for the villains. Otherwise, why would everyone say almost the exact same thing, “And our king will roll out the red carpet for you when you make this request.”
The deranged grin on Kokabiel’s face only increased, “When I take the empty throne of our father, not even your king will be able to stop me.”
Outwardly Jiraiya showed no emotions, but he caught onto the two words, “Empty throne?”
“Of course, you don’t know. As if any of you would know something so important,” Kokabiel looked at him mockingly, “Did you not think something was amiss? That our father was not showing his face no matter what. Even when the balance of the world is breaking,” Kokabiel started to laugh maniacally, “He is dead! He had been dead since the last Great War! And his throne is right up there, empty… and up for the taking!”
Many situations started to make sense now but at the same time, many red flags started to emerge. Among them, one red flag, one question stood out the most.
Were the angels after Naruto’s eyes?
The Biblical God was dead – this was a revelation of catastrophic proportion. And the questions this issue raised would surely break the fragile bond they had with the Biblical Faction.
Kokabiel thought that Jiraiya lost his focus on him. That was why he dashed toward him with his swords out. His anticipated expression turned into an enraged one when Jiraiya took out two bladed tonfas and blocked his sword strikes.
Unfortunately for Kokabiel, Jiraiya never lost sight of him. Rather, he was now very motivated to finish this battle as fast as possible.
A fraction of the purple aura combined with the grey-black of Kokabiel's own started to condense. It took the shape of a small snake and lunged at Jiraiya, its aim was his neck.
Jiraiya did not need to move as many strands of his started to strike back, rapidly. It was as if the snake was cut and stabbed thousands of times before it even reached halfway.
When the snake dissolved into thin air, Jiraiya pulled both of his knees to his chest and then kicked Kokabiel. It was too fast for Kokabiel to react. While Jiraiya knew it did not hurt him, it gave him the opening to move away from Kokabiel. And for extra insurance, he threw some smoke bombs.
Close-range combat with Kokabiel was dangerous since Jiraiya did not know how the purple aura would react.
He refused to call that aura Ophis’s blessing. If it truly was, Jiraiya would have no chance against Kokabiel.
“I had enough of your trickeries,” Kokabiel took to the sky, this time he made quite some distance from him, “Let me exterminate you like the pest you are!”
Hundreds of Light-based spears started to appear in the sky. Not only the numbers were increasing but their sizes were as well. As for Jiraiya, he subtly looked at the newly filled vial in his left palm.
Energy signature. Check.
Jiraiya took a new stance. Honestly, he just positioned his body in a way so Kokabiel could not see his left arm. He unsealed the previous two vials which appeared on top of his left palm.
“You are very strong Kokabiel, stronger than I expected.”
Kokabiel sneered at him, “I guess the saying is true that everyone understands their worth during their last breath.”
A pitch-black orb appeared on top of his left palm, no bigger than a ping pong ball. Then contents of the vials started to come out and coat the orb.
“You are a fierce warrior, Kokabiel, the berserker kind. You can’t really expect me to go head-to-head when my fighting style differs vastly from yours.”
“True, no one expects a rat to face a lion,” Kokabiel chuckled as he raised his arm. The spears stopped growing, both in numbers and sizes, “As I kept saying, your trickeries are no match against raw power.”
The moment the color of the orb completely changed from pitch-black to a rosy one, it descended and touched the palm of Jiraiya’s hand.
“You are mistaken about one thing Kokabiel.”
Jiraiya felt the dryness in his eyes increasing. His senses sharpened to the point it started to affect his mind. But he did not lose focus on the objective. He zeroed in on the target and gave the command. Immediately the orb in his hand disappeared and appeared at the targeted location.
“I am not a trickster… I am an assassin.”
Kokabiel opened his mouth, but instead of saying anything, he gasped. With a confused expression, he touched his chest. He opened his mouth again but before he could utter another word… he exploded.
From inside out.
And as if a switch had been flipped, all the spears disappeared and the sky gained back its original dark eerie state.
Jiraiya looked at his left palm. A moment later, he folded his fingers to make a fist, “Nameless Art 06: Silent Scream.”
Jiraiya was good at the art of spying. But later he found out that in this world he was also good at another area.
The art of killing.
He hated… loathed this fact. But he could never deny its usefulness.
“Duality of man,” Jiraiya let out a dry chuckle before taking out the message card. Diehauser had sent him a message a few minutes ago.
“I have found Rizevim,” Jiraiya frowned when he noticed the hesitation in Diehauser’s voice. And then, he heard the next part.
“I mean, I found his corpse.”