Chapter 206: 205. Splitting Up

MrProper

"Absolutely not Rei!" (Suzu & Tai)

"Wow, you two are in sync" (Rei)

"Not... The time man!" (Tai)

Suzu and Tai, especially the former, vehemently refused Rei's suggestion to leave him under rubble while they made their escape. Suzu commanded her stone golem to continue digging carefully when...

CRASH!

"Uh?!" (Suzu & Tai)

{The drama outside escalated rather quickly, I'm picking up at least over two dozen chakra signatures...} "You hear that?! There's no debating this, now go!" (Rei)

"Tsk!" (Suzu)

{That last one was very close... just a few meters from this location} "..." (Tai)

The sounds of fighting grew louder with every passing second, but Suzu continued digging, adamantly unwilling to leave Rei behind 

"Suzu... we have to go" Tai was the first to cave in and make the rational decision, placing his hand on her shoulder

"..." The girl ignored him and continued to dig

"Suzu..!" (Tai)

BOOM!

Another explosion echoed in the air as signs of fighting edged even closer, it was obvious they were out of time

"There's nothing you can do..." (Tai)

"Haaa... Damn it!" (Suzu)

Suzu bit her lip in frustration as she slammed her fist into the ground

"Listen, DO NOT come back here, and don't bother looking for me" (Rei)

"?!" (Suzu & Tai)

"If you want to help me, continue on with the exam. Find a Black Needle, get to the objective, that should be your only priority. I'll do the same and meet you there, we can't pass if the whole team doesn't make it" (Rei)

CRASH!

{Damn it, a squad's coming to this area...!} "Now leave! Someone's coming... run towards 8 o'clock, and don't look back!!" (Rei)

"We got it! Come on Suzu!" (Tai)

{We'll reach the location as a team, not apart!}"Just stay alive Rei, you hear me! We'll see each other again, I swear!" (Suzu)

"Just hurry!" (Rei)

SWISH! SWISH!

With great reluctance, Rei's teammates departed just moments before another squad arrived. The entire location overall was full of battle, akin to an active warzone!

Eventually making it into the factory, the Genin grabbed cover from anywhere they could find it. Fighting from the shadows, remaining unseen as a true shinobi should, while striking from nowhere...

{At the rate I'm going, it'll be forever before I'm out. Hell, I don't even know if there is a way out...} "Sigh! What I'd give to be a Kōton1Steel Style user. Damn it, I can't see a thing... Katon!2Fire Style" (Rei)

Rei created a small, match-like flame from the tip of his index finger to act as his lamp

With only one path available, he entered the crawlspace and moved in the opposite direction of his fleeing teammates, slowly slinking through metal, taking no chances as the rubble would completely crush him

"Over here! I swear there were shinobi in this direction!"

{Crap. Since I'm buried deep underneath, they shouldn't be able to see the light...but I'll lower the flame just to be safe} (Rei)

"The only thing I see are these body parts scattered everywhere. Geez! What kind of monster would do this?"

"Who cares. Let's look around and see if any of them have what we need"

These Genin, like many others, decided on a more... practical approach. Sneaking past the conflicting squads both in and outside the ruined factory. Looking for alternative means to acquire the key items for the exam

This squad, now waltzing above a buried Rei, searched the bodies of the very same masked Hayashi ninja torn to shreds by the white-haired young man of unknown origins

"Ugh! This is so gross! Think I saw an eyeball...uwaah!"

"Hmmm...ah shit! Another damn compass! That's all we've been getting since the start! Are we cursed or something?!"

"It's just the first day, it'd be miracle if we succeeded so quickly. Come on, the sun's already down, night is lethal here. We'll form a perimeter here and wait for the conflict to end, it's far too dangerous to go out now"

"If we're lucky, one of the squads out there will have the piece we need"

{Just great. Now if I move, I'll risk them hearing me. Thank God I picked up that special Ōtsutsuki trait, or I'd be in deep shit now. Honestly, Notitia's gonna rub this in my face later...} (Rei)

BOOM! CLANK!

"?!"

"Enemy attack! Get ready!"

{Ah... Shit! Some jackass disturbed the top! Gotta move!} (Rei)

With no time to lose, Rei damned the consequences and crawled as fast as he could! Using his only light source, the flame on his hand as a guide

However...

RUSTLE! TINK!

{SHIT!!} (Rei)

"What?!"

"Hey! There's someone else, underneath us!!"

"Move! I'll take care of it!!"

{No, No, No, No, No! Not good! Come on Raymond, MOVE! You didn't get this far to die under some rundown factory, that's just insulting!!!} (Rei)

FWIP! THOK!

One of the Genin threw a kunai with a paper tag tied to its end and after a few seconds...

{That sound...} "Oh...YOU ASSHOLES!!!!!!!" (Rei)

BOOM!

The paper bomb ignited, rupturing what was left of the structure above Rei! Metal pipes and scraps tumbled down, collapsing the space around him

"...F**king hell" (Rei)

Looking upwards, the last thing he saw was debris descending his way just before everything went black...

"Hey...do you see anything?! We got other company to worry about!"

"No, just a giant gaping hole. Strange, I thought there'd be a body..."

"Worry about that later, we've got work to do!"

"Got it!"

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ZWISH!

The Genin left to fight their sudden attackers, but oddly enough...

There was no trace of Rei...

♦♦♦

Months earlier

"N-No...this can't be right. That experiment was to make me the best... like him"

[Wrong. Our goal was to set you on the path of becoming the strongest]

Just prior to using his third Lifeline for intel on the Chunin exams, Rei had another issue to tackle with Notitia, concerning a topic several years in the making...

"The strongest is without question, Isshiki Ōtsutsuki, albeit at his peak. I only agreed to modifying myself after you guaranteed a way to get to his level for this f**king game. Now you're saying the cells in my body have mutated into something else-?!"

[Yell all you like, but the results in front of you will be the same, no matter how many times you test your blood]

"Urgh!"

Following the events of the Siege, Rei decided to run a check-up on his body's condition. He'd suffered much physical trauma during the event, including self-inflicted from the Black Scroll's third purification. In addition towards his reckless use of In'yōton3Yin-Yang/Shadow & Light Stylevia Kisshōten4Auspicious Heavens, there was much that concerned him

Utilizing the new medical equipment installed in his lab, courtesy of Mori Sp., Rei ran several blood tests to determine the status of his Ōtsutsuki cells...only to discover their rate of progression had proceeded faster than predicted

In spite of his attempt to protect the last of his human DNA with Yin-Yang chakra, the alien side of him had done its work during his time in the hospital

He was now 100% Ōtsutsuki...

{I've held this thought, or rather, the fear of Isshiki's soul coming back to take over. Considering I incorporated his essence with that giant centrifuge-like device of his...} "Notitia... clarify. If his cells have completely taken over, why do I feel the same? I mean, we made modifications to ensure my appearance doesn't change much for anonymity but..."

[You're mistake is assuming that machine functions like Karma. It's a device meant to give his candidates a better chance at adapting to the Karma seal, by forcibly converting their genome, but every child died. You killed him during a time he lacked the proper technical expertise]

"He didn't have knowledge like mine, that's why it worked for me... but even if I'm a mutated version of him, shouldn't I have received a massive boost in power regardless?!"

Aside from his new and improved nervous system from the Black scroll's methods, the lack of major change bothered him greatly. Feeling his strength as inadequate for his age. Comparing himself to ninja like Shisui and Itachi Uchiha, or others with bloodline gifts

Even more so, he held new misgivings for the odd power known as Kisshōten. Since returning from the hospital, Rei has been unable to use it since his last attempt, altering a LIFT pill to save Suzu

This only reminded him of what a complete unknown it was, and whether or not it was even safe to use it...

[Sigh! Calm the hell down. Even without a Dōjutsu5Eye Technique, you really are a fool if you can't see the boons...]

"Excuse me?"

[EVERY Ōtsutsuki gained their unique visual prowess and powers via the chakra fruit sprouted from a Ten-Tails after draining a planet of life. It's how they update themselves and evolve]

"I know that. Are you suggesting I need to eat one if I'm to-?"

[No, idiot! You'll NEVER have to do that]

"?!"

[Whether or not you have the same powers as Isshiki is irrelevant. Can you not see how blessed you are? Those aliens required planets to drain, and fruit to eat. It's taken them thousands of years to get to where they are now, and they're STILL fated to fall by the hands of mere humans]

{Mere humans?}

[But you? You'll never have to do that. With training alone, growth is infinite...you literally have no limits. Whether its draining chakra from a Ten-Tails, or consuming a chakra fruit, you'll never have to live like them... as a parasite]

Rei recalled what he learned about the Ōtsutsuki years ago, the day he first stepped foot into this lab. These aliens were constantly on the hunt for more power, a desire that could easily be attributed to an addiction...the "Ōtsutsuki Will"

Kaguya Ōtsutsuki's grotesque form prior to losing her chakra was a prime example of her clan's obsession...and hubris

[Your mutated genome is unique, there is not a single creature that resembles you. As I stated years ago, not human, not Ōtsutsuki...you're more]

"...This was the plan you came up with. I'm now your so-called, Neo-Ōtsutsuki?"

[That's just a name we came up with, neither of us know what your evolution entails. Hell, just think about what you already have. Like, how in the world did you acquire the In'yōton? For the record, that's a power exclusive to Kaguya's bloodline]

{That's what I'd like to know... though it doesn't matter now since it's not working right}

[We have now clue what kind of being you'll become, but honestly--hehe, I can't wait to find out!]

"..."

[Don't fuss over not being like Isshiki, that guy died a pathetic death. With your gifts and mind, you'll become stronger, better than he ever was. Just keep pROgressing, that's all you'll ever need to worry about. Speaking of which--]

{There it goes again... why is it so obsessed with my improvement?} "Alright, alright... you've made your point. Let's move on to the next subject, the Lifeline, there's lot I'd like to know about the upcoming exams"

[Hold on... now that you're completely alien, you should at least have the basic traits of an Ōtsutsuki. The fact you escaped from the hospital, undetected, proves you can already suppress your chakra like them]

"I thought breaking out of the second most guarded location during the Siege was far too easy. But I didn't know Ōtsutsuki could do that AND use Ninjutsu..."

[Exactly my point, there's a lot they're capable of...]

"Since I never knew--or rather, you never told me about their ability to hide their chakra signature..."

[H-Hehehe... my bad]

"Sigh! Refresh me on said subject, and DO NOT leave anything out this time"

[Okay okay... You already know unlike humans, they naturally manipulate chakra flawlessly. I'm sure you've no longer felt the need to practice chakra control anymore]

{That's why my Ninjutsu against Kyō was so much stronger. I attributed it to the third purification, but it looks like I was wrong...again} "Go on..."

[Their bodies are much stronger with powerful lifeforces, they breathe in space, fly at insane speeds, reincarnation via a Karma seal, and... Oh! Let's not forget my favorite!]

"Your favorite being...?" 

♦♦♦

Present time

"UWAH!!!"

THUD!

"Oooof! A-Agh! Owwwww...!"

Elsewhere... Rei had fallen right on his face. Confused and shaken due to his unexpected survival. He patted himself all over, checking for wounds, and confirming if what happened was reality

Pinching his cheek just to be sure someone hadn't trapped him within a Genjutsu

"This is real...wait? Where the hell am I?"

Rising to his feet, the young man found himself in the middle of nowhere. Not a trace of the previous industrial surroundings the old factory displayed. He'd somehow arrived in a completely new environment

"What the hell, I know its night, but I don't recognize this area at all..."

WOOOO!

"Hm? What's that weird noise--oh...shit. Holy shit, did I actually...?!"

Rei raised his head towards the source of the loud, churning sound stemming from above, only to become dumbfounded once more at the phenomenon before him...

"That's right, Notitia's favorite aspect of the Ōtsutsuki clan..."

VWINNNN!

The air above him was twisted and disturbed, like a tear in the world itself, a black circular hole floated over him!

"Jikūkan Ninjutsu6Space-Time Techniques..."

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