How and why did things end up like this?
What on earth is going on?
Why do I have to fight a ninja squad just because things happened to go that way?
I literally just fought a cult group about two weeks ago.
Why is it a ninja squad next — am I some kind of comic book movie hero?!
"Wof. Here, take this."
Mineha casually hands something over to me while I'm wrestling with complicated feelings inside.
"Huh, this is a kunai?"
I take it. It's a kunai. No matter how you looked at it, it was definitely a kunai.
So we're going full ninja here, huh. They might even have shuriken.
"Hey. You like knives, right?"
"Like is a strong word... well, I don't exactly dislike them."
Is a kunai even a knife?
Oh well, I'll take it. Including my memories from my past life, this is the first time I've ever held a kunai.
"Warrior Kaede. I request an intelligence briefing on the enemy."
"An intelligence briefing, you say?"
"Yes. What kind of Relics do these black-clad figures primarily carry, and what fighting style do they use? Tell me."
"You... you actually worry about stuff like that?"
"Fairy child Mineha. Fighting blindly is not a sound strategy. If you can obtain information about the enemy, it allows you to gain an advantage in battle."
"Indeed. The Nameless hold a special Relic. It is called the 'Ninja Arts.'"
Wait, so that's literally a Relic called that?
Aren't they being a bit too vague?
Why is there no Relic for 'Magic' or 'Sorcery', but there's one for 'Ninja Arts'?
"What kind of Relic is that?"
"The Ninja Arts are a special Relic. At their peak, one can freely manipulate fire, water, wind, and earth, and utilize superhuman physical abilities and a wide variety of assassination techniques to slay one's enemy."
"Seriously... does every single one of those black-clad figures have it?"
"Hahaha. Certainly not. There is a clear proficiency level to the Ninja Arts Relic. At the peak, its power is indeed comparable to a True-Class God, but one must endure long, harsh training and accumulate real combat experience to reach that point."
Hehe, they really are ninjas.
"What a weird Relic."
"Indeed."
"How strong was the one Miss Kaede defeated? What level of proficiency?"
"If they are strong enough to be sent into the field, they have mastered one of fire, water, wind, or earth, and their physical abilities are considerably enhanced."
"In terms of monsters, what rank would they be?"
"Let me see. From lower to middle Silver-rank, perhaps. However, the main force heading your way includes some strong ones. I'd say from lower to upper Gold-rank."
"Upper Gold-rank!?"
"That would be the elite Jonin. The Nameless are ranked as Genin, Chunin, and Jonin."
"So they really are ninjas."
When I said that, Miss Kaede looked confused. Huh?
"What do you mean? Ninjin?"
"What? No, they're ninjas!"
They're ninjas, right?
But Miss Kaede tilts her head.
"We are the Unnamed Clan, we are. We do not say… 'carrots.'"
Ninjas!
Why carrots?
"You. Don't just say weird things all of a sudden."
"Human child Wof. Please use proper nouns only after they have been established."
"No, but, well… there's ninjutsu, and lower-ranking ninjas, and they're shinobi, right?"
I was flustered from being told off by both Miss Mineha and Miss Ranzia.
They're ninjas! There's no way they're not!
But Miss Kaede gives a faint, wry smile.
"And what, pray tell, is a 'shinobi'?"
"Huh?"
"Oh, never mind. Come on, let's go beat up these black-clad guys already!"
"Yes, let's go."
"My apologies, Sir Wof."
And so the three left the temple ruins.
I… trudged along after them.
Somehow, I felt a little left out.
Something feels off, doesn't it?
With complicated feelings, I went from floor 50 to floor 51.
I braced myself for an ambush, but it was just a regular monster.
Floor 52 was the same. Still, we let our guard down not at all.
Especially me. I was harboring a certain resolve in my heart.
Floor 53, unchanged as well.
Only Kaede-san rested her hand on the sword's handle.
"It should be soon."
Floor 54. The moment we set foot in the ruined village, the air went cold.
"So there you are."
"Foolish beyond measure, to think they could deceive us from above."
Both of them seemed to sense something too.
And when things are like this in ninja stories, shuriken come flying.
"Watch out! Shuriken are coming!"
I offered that warning, and once again Kaede-san made a strange face.
"What is a 'shuriken'?"
"Huh?"
"I do not use such a sword."
Kaede-san drew her blade as she spoke.
And then, figures clad in black appeared all at once.
Every last one of them was brandishing kunai and swords, and some were swinging chain-sickles.
The man in black with the best build at the front spoke up.
"Prepare yourself. One-Stroke Bisection."
"You lot still haven't learned your lesson, have you."
Kaade-san smiled wryly and made her guard ring.
"Run your mouth. You're all going down together."
"Wait just a moment!"
I cut into the conversation.
"Lord Wof?"
"Who the hell is this brat?"
"Let me ask you something. Is it true you don't have shuriken?"
I could tell from the ninjas' reactions the moment I asked.
They gave me that vacant look, like "What is that even supposed to mean?"
"Th-then
caltrops
how about those!?"
Same reaction.
"Smoke bombs? Grappling cords? Kuji-in protective seals!?"
They all wore the same expression.
I was struck with a terrible shock.
You guys aren't ninjas!!
"Kid. What have you been saying all this time...?"
"Lord Wof. Surely that's enough."
"You. What is really going on?"
"Child of man Wof. Now is not the time for comedy."
"S-sorry..."
I apologized.
Kaede slowly drew her sword.
The other side wasn't ninjas either, and the Nameless Group took their stances.
"The fun was about to be cut short. One-Slash Double-Cut — was that your doing?"
"How rude. I don't stoop to such petty tricks."
Sorry.
"However, Lord Wof is the witch's apprentice. I won't deny that you may have some sort of scheme."
Those words sent violent tremors through the Nameless Group.
"What?! The witch!"
"The apprentice of the witch who destroyed our village..."
"Who swept away the Jonin... the witch's... apprentice!"
"Who defeated the former head... the witch's...!?"
"W-witch... dark... shadow...!"
From their reactions alone, I could piece together all sorts of things.
"Ah yes, the disciple." The man in front gave a slight nod.
"—I heard through the grapevine that the witch had taken on a disciple, but I'd laughed it off as just a rumor... So the disciple really does exist. The witch's disciple, eh? Very well... I'll need a stratagem..."
"Wait—"
"But I won't lose! I won't be defeated! It's been a hundred years since I've had an encounter like this. Witch's disciple — I'll take you down!"
"Why!?"
"Here I come!"
Suddenly, they all charged at me at once. Why!?
I hurriedly pulled out my knife. It had a nice clean blade, but what was it again...
"Naive!"
With a single flash from what was unmistakably a ninja blade, the man in front sliced my knife clean in two.
"Wh—!?" I frantically grabbed my next knife. A simple one, practically brand new.
"Even more naive!"
It was cut cleanly in two again, and I was being backed into a corner.
You've gotta be kidding me. And the worst part — he'd deliberately aimed only for the knife.
Wait, this is bad! Where's my next knife!?
"Die!"
"I shan't allow it."
Kaede stepped in swiftly and caught the man's blade.
After a brief clash of their guards, she deflected his sword and cut him clean in two.
"M...magnificent..."
For some reason, he collapsed in two halves with a satisfied look on his face.
"............"
"Wof-dono, are you unharmed?"
"Yes, though my knife is done for."
I lost two in the blink of an eye.
The other nameless ones were also falling to Mineha-san and Landia-san.
The last remaining nameless girl spat out words with her dying breath.
Long black hair with white-streaked twin tails.
Large blue catlike pupils. Fair skin. Young in appearance. And black-and-white cat ears and tail.
A cat-person, then. For some reason, she had a crescent-shaped white cloth draped over only the left side.
"Don't get cocky... beyond here lies the main force... Lord Booma is there..."
Huh? Something about this cat-person girl was ringing a bell. I felt like I'd seen her somewhere before.
"Wait, more importantly — Fujimaru!?"
"A Jo-nin... of Booma... Daitaro... will... crush you all..."
The cat-person girl who looked so familiar breathed her last.
And it wasn't Fujimaru Kotaro but Booma, a.k.a. Daitaro.
Looks like things had gone sideways in all sorts of ways.