Recite a Haiku
"Recite a haiku. Do it well, and I'll let you live... eh, psych."
"Hisui, watch over her. The kid looks up to you."
"Ah, yep."
Kasumi's mouth had uttered Hisui's name. Hisui was the only one from the generation after mine who'd passed every trial. It'd only been a little over a year since she'd cleared the exam, so she wasn't operating as a full ninja yet. In other words, she was an Apprentice Ninja.
Once you pass the exam and become a ninja, you usually go through two or three years as an apprentice. Sure, you learn the basics of Inbeop and ninja karate during the trials, but this period polishes up the rough edges you couldn't finish or never even got to.
Well... I skipped all that and got fielded after just one year instead of three. Of course! I'm a genius, after all!
Anyway, following Kasumi's orders, I went to see Hisui before leaving the northern lands. Since she was training under Kasumi, she lived in the same place, so it wouldn't eat up much time.
It wasn't far before a jade-furred fox beastkin girl caught my eye—grinning ear to ear the moment she spotted me. Hisui.
"Lady Kokuyo...! I heard you're heading out on a mission!"
"Yep."
"I'm so jealous. Hisui wants to become a proper ninja who can stand on her own as soon as possible! It's already been a year..."
Just like Kasumi said, this kid followed me way too closely. She'd even picked the ninja name Hisui because I'd just slapped my exam number onto mine as my codename... Her number back in the trials had been 131, apparently.
"L-Lady Kokuyo... I heard you got fielded in under a year. But Hisui..."
Her ears drooped low. Just moments ago, she'd come running up with that beaming smile, and now she was moping. Quick mood swings on this one.
But it was pretty damn cute, so I ruffled her head.
"Eep."
"Eh, just keep at it at your own pace, right? No need to force yourself to match me."
"B-But Hisui wants to be like you, Lady Kokuyo! You're so cool—the Shinigami of Inari!"
Nah, it's fun but... kinda embarrassing, that nickname. Smells like middle-school edgelord vibes, y'know?
Of course, thanks to the perception alteration, the shame's pretty diluted. And in the heat of battle, with adrenaline pumping, it fades even more... so yeah, I call myself the Shinigami too sometimes. Still, every now and then I wonder if I'm not being a bit childish. Without that genjutsu, I'd probably be kicking my blankets every night. Or hell, before that, I wouldn't even cope with all the murders I'd committed.
"You'll be away a long time this time... won't see you for ages."
"Yeah, probably."
"Next time we meet, Hisui will be a true ninja! Um, Lady Kokuyo... if that happens, will you..."
"Team up for a mission or something?"
"...Yes!"
I told her sure, and her face lit up like sunshine again. Heh... this one's gonna wrap people around her finger someday. Ah, is this what Kasumi meant when she said I lacked in that department? Hm, gotta take notes. A ninja should learn what he can from his juniors too!
"Anything you need on the way back? Morning Mist aunty was craving something sweet."
"It's Kasumi of the Morning Mist. She'll get mad if she hears you..."
"Pfft, whatever. She's not here."
"...Puhuhu, anything with fried tofu works for Hisui."
You too, huh? These sly fox bitches all have this weird obsession with fried tofu snacks. Well, like I said last time... guilty as charged.
"I'll be back in two years. Better have ditched that apprentice tag by then? I'll tag-team a mission with you like you asked."
"Yes... definitely!"
With that promise sealed, I left Inari Village.
...After grabbing a few inari sushi from the village food alley, that is. Nah, but seriously, they kept yapping about tofu snacks, and now I'm craving 'em too. What is it, like fox beastkin version of mint choco mala tanghulu skewers or something?
To head south to the land of the tail-less ones, you gotta take the mountain paths. The north is all mountains, ice fields, or deserts anyway... seriously barren place to live.
Anyway, somewhere on a mountain trail heading south. A girl with jet-black hair and blood-red eyes was trekking along. But this beastkin girl walking the northern lands had no tail—the one every local should've had. Heck, she even had human ears from the southern folk.
......
....
Eh... yeah, it's me. Kokuyo, the fox beastkin ninja from Inari—the one you write as Shinigami and read as Kokuyo.
Why's a fox beastkin like me in 'human' form? Inbeop: Henge.
We're still in beastkin territory, but I gotta blend into human lands eventually. Beastkin like us tend to draw eyes down south, y'know.
But that wasn't the only reason. One more thing...
Flutter flutter, wingbeats started echoing around me.
Aha, took the bait...?
"Hey, human passin' by! Halt right there!!"
"Yeah, stop right there!!"
A voice boomed from the cloudless blue sky overhead. Avian beastkin. Wonder what flock of birdbrains these are? All bird heads look the same to me.
"You! Ya know this is kestrel beastkin Black Kestrel turf you're crossin', punk!!"
"Hand over everythin' ya got!!"
"......"
What the hell's with that speech...? They sound dumber than dirt.
Calling themselves kestrel beastkin of the Black Kestrel tribe... yeah, looks like a straight-up kestrel flock. About ten of 'em dove down and landed.
Their wing-arms shifted to something closer to human hands. Not ninjutsu or anything—just basic beastkin shapeshifting anyone can do. I can toggle my claws on and off too, same deal. Don't use it much, though; knives feel awkward in claws.
"Human girl! Pretty little thing!!"
"Strip those clothes off!!"
"Makin' me hard!! Bear my chicks!!"
"......"
Loudmouthed bunch. Well, before the fun starts... might as well munch on the leftover inari sushi.
I rummaged in my pouch and bit into one. Tasty. Back in my old life, I'd pick triangle kimbap over this any day—never even glanced at inari sushi. Wonder why it's so damn good this time around.
"Whassat?! Gimme!!"
"Ah......"
"Inari sushi? Ya know good eats, huh? I'll take it!!"
One kestrel bastard snatched it from my hand and shoveled it down his gullet.
...The fuck? Lost your mind? Balls of steel or just blind?
Do I look like some pushover mark...?
......
Oh right, I'm disguised as human right now.
"Hey."
"Human! We didn't say ya could talk!!"
"Cheeky bitch!!"
"Wanna die?!?"
What're these idiots...? Buncha riotous birdbrains.
Truth is, I was wandering in human form in beastkin turf 'cause I was thirsty for blood anyway. And these clowns had to go and steal from a fox beastkin? Fucking kestrels...
"You lot... think I'm human?"
"If ya ain't human, what're ya?!?"
"Never crossed your tiny minds I might be using Henge?"
"Henge...? ...Oh."
Hm, the birdbrains seemed to catch on, huddling and murmuring. Then they piped up again...
"Uh... you're a Maneki ninja, right?"
"Gettin' polite all sudden?"
"Uh... we'll give ya all our money, so please just let us off once..."
"Do I look like one o' those moneygrub cat ninja bitches to you?"
The Maneki clan were cat beastkin ninjas. Famous for their "money talks" mindset—pay up, and they'll look the other way. Those greedy fucks might, but not me.
The kestrel shits huddled again, gasping. Then...
"Ahahat, you're a Mujina ninja, right? Have a drink and let's fire off some guns together?"
"Hey."
"Y-Yes...?"
"Do I look like one o' those ragtag tanuki beggar bastards to you?"
"Ah..."
"Hey, know what inari sushi's called in ninja lingo?"
"Uh... well, see..."
"Inari zushi."
The kestrel faces soured hard. Obviously. Cats take bribes with cash, tanuki loosen up with booze... but foxes? No mercy.
"Kuhuhuhu, keehee, ahahahat."
"Fuck..."
"Yeah, you're all getting wiped out. Just decided."
I dropped the Henge. Human ears vanished; two fox ears popped up atop my head. And the tail on my butt...
"Female, fox, black fur..., red eyes...!"
"I-I heard o' this... th-that's Inari's... Shinigami!!"
"Run, run fer it!!"
The kestrel shits shifted arms back to wings and bolted skyward. Think I'd miss?
I'd been waiting for playthings to bleed. And foxes never let kestrels who snatch their tofu live, right?
Inbeop: Water Prison <Droplet>
Water-orbs prisons formed around the fleeing flock. Kinda like that ink-water prison jutsu from some ninja manga.
Difference? Auto-targeting. Liquefies ambient moisture around the target and traps 'em. Some airheaded bitch who was draining water from bodies figured out at the last second you could use vapor for water jutsu too—and whipped this up. Usable enough.
Originally, the water spheres doggedly chase the target till they drown... but this time, tweak.
Know this? Wet feathers ground birds. They secrete oil from preen glands to waterproof, sure... but limits exist. And these ain't waterfowl—they're raptors. Outcome's obvious.
I released the droplets. The sky-fleeing flock plummeted to earth.
Splat!
"Cough, cough...!!"
"Whoa, fell from that height and you're all alive? Good job."
"Urgh..."
"Recite a haiku."
"Fuck that!!"
Shunk! Merciless blade cleaved a kestrel skull. Two, three, four... down to the last one.
"Eeeeeek!! Ninja?! Why a ninja!?"
"Wanna try a haiku? Nail it, and maybe I spare ya?"
"Whoa! Fer real?! But... whass a haiku...?"
"Five syllables, seven, five. Three lines."
"I-I'll try!"
I accepted the ninja-kestrel's challenge! Here's the haiku the kestrel shit recited.
"Utterly terrified."
"Inari's Shinigami."
"Please, spare my life."
......
....
Blue hellfire that scorched to the bone engulfed the last one's flesh.
"Kweeeee!!!"
Dumbass. Telling 'em to recite a haiku? Means "get your last words out before you die."
Eh, didn't I say I'd spare ya? Know the one thing you never trust from a ninja? "I'll let you live." Ninjas massacre, dummy.
Keehee, ahahahat. Hope more morons like these jump me on the way south. Gotta kill the boredom somehow, right?
With that, the fox girl flashed a grin, shifted back to human guise... and pulled another fistful of inari sushi from her pouch.