Chapter 40: 3.2
To read up to 15 chapters ahead: https://www.patréon.com/SlyOW
-------------
Jonathan didn't look reassured in the slightest, but I couldn't just try to make him feel better.
Turning to the rest of the team, Chris had just finished giving a brief introduction to God's Game, when one of the newbies, the youngest of the bunch, asked, "I see two instances where we could have to save all three of the Ame Orphans. Either when they were children and attacked by a couple of Shinobi, or when the first Akatsuki was destroyed, facing Hanzo, Danzo and Obito. Which one is it?"
Chris, who obviously hadn't watched Naruto, didn't know what to say, so I stepped in, "Considering the number of people, most probably the second. Was Obito involved though? I don't remember that."
The teen nodded, explaining surprisingly calmly, "Obito wants Nagato to unlock the powers of the Rinnegan, and kills the rest of the Akatsuki before they could join the Ame Orphans and help them. Depending on when and where we are, we might have to face him. But despite his OP Kamui, he is still very young, so he isn't as much of a danger as Hanzo the Salamander and Danzo Shimura."
I nodded, giving the teen a second look. He was a valuable newbie, who knew how to keep a cool head and make himself useful.
Not every newbie was that wise, however.
One of the physically fittest newbies got to his feet, looking at us in disdain as he said, "Alright, nice tricks, but I have a game to get to. Sure, that trick with the light from that girl was impressive, but you can't fool me. What do you want, money?"
He was tall, bald and had dark skin. He looked quite athletic too. Adding to the football jersey he had on, he probably was a football player.
Most of the newbies had been convinced by Chris' explanation, as Sarah had helped by displaying one of the spells she had learned, Healing.
However, this guy was an exception. Not willing to waste any time on him, I grasped the air, and used Force Choke on him. The eyes of the surrounding newbies got wide open as I lifted him off his feet from several meters away, leaving him to gargle pathetically.
Looking at him, and the rest of the newbies, I said, "This is not a joke. You have been sent into God's Game, or it might as well be the Devil's, as it will do everything it can to kill you. And right now, that everything is highly trained killers who can kill you with a touch."
I let go of the man, who crashed to the ground, coughing as he held his neck. His face now had a distinct trace of fear as he looked at me.
I looked down at my watch, and seeing we had already reached the last few seconds of the timer, I added, "Even if that wasn't enough to convince you, it won't take long before we are attacked, and then you will be forced to believe."
I pointed at the teen, and beckoned him with my finger. At the same time, our watches made a bip, signifying the start of our mission.
As soon as it did, a man entered the room. He looked quite peculiar, not because of his long dark robe, but because of his cat-like pupils, and the markings on his face.
His gaze wandered the room, before settling on me, his expression complicated.
After a moment of stillness, he suddenly bowed his upper body, exclaiming, "I'm sorry! I know I am asking a lot, especially since we were the ones to approach you for a cooperation, but our leaders are in danger. Please help us save them!"
So God did not just give us random identities. This was important, as with identity, came power and responsibilities. From his words, we were probably supposed to be another mercenary team.
Gauging my words carefully, I replied, "We came to you because we believed in your leader's ideology. Alright, we will help. What happened?"
Of course I was going to agree. They were not part of our mission, but they were important nonetheless, as they were going to be our support for this mission. This was slightly better than anticipated, as we wouldn't have to face everything by ourselves.
The man straightened his back, his face still grim as he said, "We heard that Konoha's Anbu is heading for the meeting point between our leaders and Hanzo. And the whole alliance we made with Hanzo felt fishy from the beginning. We think it is an ambush."
I looked around the room, and said, "Alright, we're going to help. However, most of my team are newbies, and won't be of much help."
He sighed, nudging towards his back as he said, "Any help is appreciated. To be honest, most of the Akatsuki are recent recruits who were never trained… hum, maybe I wasn't supposed to say that…"
I patted my armored chest and said, "Don't worry, I understand. How about this? My newbies will team up with yours and stay in the back, while I accompany you in front. Knowing Konoha's Anbu and Hanzo's style, we surely will encounter opposition on the way."
Whether because of God's machinations or our made up reputation, he did not doubt my words, immediately stretching out his hand as he said, "That would be great! I'm Kyusuke!"
I shook his hand, replying strongly, "Alexander."
At that he tilted his head, curious, "Alexander? Where do you come from?"
I smiled and pointed at the veterans in my team, "Chris, Sarah, Erik and Jonathan. We all come from a land far away. But now isn't really the time to dwell on that, is it?"
Kyusuke nodded dimly, "Yes, you're right. Follow me."
He turned around, running to warn the others, while I sent a deadly stare at the newbies that were still sitting. In this situation, I believed fear to be the best binder for our team. Was it not for my test, I wouldn't have minded leaving them behind, but I needed them all to be alive.
As we left the room and followed Kyusuke, I realized we were within one of the large towers making up Amegakure, the Village hidden in the rain, where the Akatsuki base was located. So we were probably right within their headquarters.
We soon reached a large room, where the rest of the Akatsuki had already gathered. Kyusuke, who was in the lead, looked at a large bald man with a wart in between his brows, and ordered, "Daibutsu, lead them to the armory to get some weapons, they will be helping us."
The large Buddha-like man nodded silently, looking at our group briefly before turning around. But seeing none of my teammates moving, I coldly lashed out, "Newbie, go get yourself a weapon, now!"
The originally frozen newbies scrambled off, leaving only the four veterans with me.
Looking back at the Akatsuki, their members were looking at us with curiosity, probably because of our foreign looks and equipment. A few of them looked at me with resentment too, for some reason.
Kyusuke was curious too as he took a look at my sword, and commented, "That's a lot of gold. Is it any good?"
I looked down at my sword in confusion, before realizing what the problem was. Knocking on my armor, I explained, "This isn't gold, it merely has the same color. It is much tougher."
Kyusuke nodded, although he still looked curious. He was a Shinobi, he knew better than to ask about a stranger's techniques and equipment.
Turning to the side, I asked, "Erik, you're not getting a weapon?"
The martial artist shook his head, raising his clenched fists as he said, "I'm better with my fists."
I nodded, that was good as well. I doubted he would be able to give much of a fight anyway, as the ninjas we were about to face were elites, and definitely much stronger than him, be it in skill or physique, so bringing a weapon might just slow him down.
Right now, I only considered Chris, Sarah and Jonathan to be useful to the mission, in that order.
It didn't take long for Daibutsu, the tall member of the Akatsuki, to come back with the newbies, who were now armed with a bunch of weapons. It was mostly swords and kunais, which I'm sure they had no idea how to handle.
However, while they looked uncomfortable with the weapons, I realized now that they were pretty much all in rather good shape. If I had to bet for a fight between my newbies against the Akatsuki's, I would actually bet on my team.
Not sure whether that's a good thing or not.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone