Aura – The Ninja Basics
To become a ninja, you have to know how to use Aura. That's the bare minimum.
By the time I snapped out of it, shaking like a leaf and thinking it was all over, the area around me had turned into a sea of blood. How many had died? Forty? Fifty? Or... even more?
I didn't waste time regretting that if I'd pulled myself together sooner... Honestly, even though I was the strongest in our group of kids... I didn't have the slightest confidence I could beat that thing—puppet or robot, whatever it was. All I did was want to give courage to that girl who'd somehow mustered it up despite lacking it herself, even if mine was just bravado. So as long as she doesn't give up... neither will I!
Kawarimi
First, I saved the one kid who was about to get sliced by the robot with a straight-up Kawarimi. That's one of the core identities of a ninja. You pre-summon a log with summoning jutsu, then swap it in with Shunshin to flicker yourself or someone nearby out of harm's way. The log stock is limited, so you can't spam it forever... but I had my reasons for using it anyway.
The kid on the verge of getting shredded by that menacing tin can was someone I knew well. It was Shizuku.
"Whoa, I just lost ten years off my life..."
"Shizuku, you... you've been fighting, huh."
"Dang, 'course I have! Sittin' around waitin' to die ain't my style, ya know?"
"......"
"I'm gonna live, gonna survive this place... become a ninja and make sure no one pulls this kinda ugly crap ever again!"
This girl... way weaker than me, but she'd already steeled herself to fight ages ago. Impressive. And unlike me, who was just desperate not to die, she even had a clear goal. No clue how far she'll go... but at least I'm glad I kept her from dying right now.
So...
"I'm joining you."
"Dang, you sure? You were back there puking your guts out, bawlin' your eyes out, throwin' a whole fit..."
"......"
"...and pissin' your pants..."
"Shut up."
Embarrassing as hell—keep it quiet about the piss soaking my crotch. No time to change anyway.
"I'll take the lead attack. You handle support."
"Yeah, with Water Escape? Heh, figures... you couldn't handle Water anyway."
"...?"
"Spewin' it forward, downward... dang, you'd dehydrate yourself, right? Puahaha!"
"......"
I've said it a million times: Water Escape has zero relation to your body's water levels. You pull moisture from the air. She's just a thick-headed idiot.
"Uwaaaah, why doesn't Metal Escape: Iron Manipulation work on this iron lump?! This is cheating!"
Hibana's voice echoed from a bit away. Good, she's still alive too. Come to think of it, since it's a hunk of metal, messing with its movements—or straight-up disabling it—with Metal Escape sounded viable. Terror froze my brain; I hadn't thought of it. But from her reaction, it doesn't work at all.
No way... does that mean Five Elements Escapes Ninjutsu doesn't affect it even a little?
That scrapheap tin can...
...Gotta test it out.
Fox Fire
I conjured a massive Fox Fire and hurled a blaze at the robot. Blue flames engulfed the sinister steel doll... but as expected, no effect.
Even in that inferno of extreme heat, the steel puppet endured without a scratch... just clanking as it advanced toward me. Weird. Elemental wise, fire overcomes metal. A metal lump should've melted under that heat.
If Five Elements Escapes worked, there should've been melting traces... not even soot. Melting metal takes insane temperatures, sure... but Fox Fire can liquefy human bones. That's why examiners made us familiar with Fire Escape from the Metal Trial onward—burn our dead kids' bodies ourselves. Gotta be at least 1650°C; flames were blue...
Yet no mark on it. Hell, not even singe on its ninja costume. Makes no sense. Fire gets underrated 'cause some poor sod got magma-fisted through the gut... but in this world, among what I've learned as a ninja, Fire Escape has the top attack power.
So if Fire doesn't work... no more offensive options with Ninjutsu. That thing must have countermeasures built in...
What now?
"Kokuyo, watch out! The puppet's heading your way!"
"...!"
Nazuna's voice from nearby. This damn tin bastard—does the system aggro on the last attacker...?! I revved up to flee, but pop!... the death machine of steel materialized right in front of me.
Ah, right... if it were slow, kids wouldn't be dropping like flies while running. It's fast. Fast. My mistake... fuck.
The steel blade-hand swung at me. And I'm dead... Or so I thought—
Clang! from the robot's head. A thrown shuriken from somewhere—Nazuna.
The robot's glowing blue eyes, aimed at me, snapped to Nazuna. The blade halted inches from my face.
"It prioritizes the last attacker... Kids, if someone's in danger, throw shuriken to draw aggro! Buys us time!"
Sharp as ever, Nazuna. You figured it out too...! Thanks to you, I'm alive. But it's just buying time. We got 4 shuriken, 2 kunai... minus close-range ninja swords, 6 projectiles total. Scavenge from dead kids' unused weapons... might stretch it. But this metal freak caught me instantly despite my speed pride... how long can we last?
Fundamentally, we need to take it down. Pure survival ends in collapse eventually.
And as predicted, while covering each other... one stray shuriken from someone...
"Kyaaak!"
...One kid died. Lucky... not someone I knew. Couldn't even remember her number or name.
......
...Lucky? What the hell makes that lucky? 'Cause it wasn't a friend, some rando dying is okay... that's my thought process now?
One death toppled Nazuna's plan like dominoes. Hitting a fast-moving puppet with shuriken before you die is hard-mode. One miss adds pressure: My screw-up kills someone else. Kids froze, accuracy tanked. And one by one... more died.
Didn't know that one. The last one... I did know her. And over there, trembling blankly as her turn comes, waiting for the steel blade...
Yeah, don't know her well. Ah, so... lucky...? No, no, that's not it. Can't be lucky. You're an idiot? My shuriken and kunai were gone. No time to grab from corpses. Only my drawn ninja sword left—for close quarters.
With the slaughter machine right there, smart move: snag a weapon from a body and bail. Dodge, that's right.
Instead, I charged straight to block the blade dropping on some kid I barely knew—with my own blade.
Idiotic choice. Didn't I see '193, Ikusa' get bisected, head lobbed? This is pointless; same fate awaits me.
Still...
I hate this me. Kids dying, and I'm weighing lives: friend or stranger? Pathetic, disgusting, haggling over others' lives.
Transmigrated to this alien world sans ties—shouldn't I be some webnovel protag, a bit special? Why so spineless, weak, useless? Relieved when it's not someone I know... this ugly?
Why always injustice? Me, friends, strangers—all precious lives with rights to live here.
Why must everyone... like my past self... die to others' malice...?! Don't wanna die but forced to...?!
Scared to die, sure. Puking, pissing myself, cold sweat pouring—terrified.
But no more watching kids die here, known or not. Won't let it sear my eyes.
So I'll shield this nameless stranger... and cleave this damn tin can. Steel blade? Bring it. My blade shatters, head pops, whatever... I'll cut you.
Ignored consequences. If I swing, it cuts. No regrets—just will.
Clang. White smoke rising from my blade. My resolve, my will to slice this scrap... cleaved the steel puppet's arm plunging at me—and the girl behind.