1 Chapter 1

Ippan let out a slightly exaggerated sigh as he slumped in his seat and stared at the rings in his hand. They were stainless steel, plain bands with a little "N" etched into them. Something was also printed on the inside. Both messages were different but equally cryptic. One had "normal world" and the other had "normal self" in English. He got them in a package from his grandfather last night, who apparently passed away at his island resort. Despite all his wealth and fortune the only things Ippan got in his will were these lousy rings. They came with a note that was equal parts vague and infuriating. In it, his grandfather encouraged him to wear the rings himself, that they were the reason he was such a fortunate man; but he left out how exactly they would do that.

Ippan sighed again and looked around the classroom. He still hadn't quite gotten used to his new surroundings. The dark and very old décor of the Hebijo Clandestine Youth Academy was deceptive, as this school was surprisingly modern and well-maintained. It was also only recently converted into a co-ed school, making the girls-to-boys ratio very skewed in favor of the former. Ippan had to admit, going to this school was a good idea for the eye-candy alone. The black-and-red uniforms of this academy were surprisingly skimpy. The tops exposed a slight sliver of midriff and the skirts were shockingly short. He almost went to Hanzo Academy instead. Ippan heard that the girls there were hot as hell, but that academy had been co-ed for much longer, meaning more competition.

He stared once again at the rings and wondered how the hell these were supposed to give him fortune?

On the other hand… Ippan absently ran his fingers along the small, white, mobius-strip insignia on the collar of his uniform; not only marking him as a member of Hebijo's Elite, but also one of Hebijo's shinobi, to those who knew. Being a shinobi-in-training who wields mystic powers to fight and move about the world unseen, he was certainly not skeptical of the idea of mystic artifacts that could grant powers.

Well, fortune favors the bold, I suppose. Without much more delay, Ippan decided to just put on the rings, it would take a lot more than silly jewelry to hurt his pride. They didn't look too bad anyway, and they were plain enough that few people would even notice.

He didn't feel any different now that the rings were on, though something like boosting one's fortune would be more of a passive effect than an active one, he guessed. The effects might not be immediately noticeable. A glance around the room confirmed that nothing had immediately changed. The teacher was still just going on about World War II, and the other students in the class had varying states of interest in the subject.

Ippan began to puzzle over how he could even notice the effects of the rings before realizing that the period was almost over. His next period was shinobi training, perhaps Suzune-sensei would know more about them. At last he heard the bell chimes that marked the end of the period. After the teacher excused the class he immediately left and made his way to the hidden classroom.

As he walked down the hallways and corridors, he couldn't help but get an eyeful of all the girls walking around him. Ippan had always wondered what they fed these girls to make them so damn gorgeous. Every single one of them was more attractive than the last, and only a few of them could (and would) kill him without a second's hesitation.

"Ippan," he heard a familiar voice behind him, and he immediately recognized the voice as belonging to one of the other elite shinobi, Imu. He looked around casually to meet her gaze behind her glasses.

"Afternoon." Ippan gave a slight bow.

Imu was reasonably attractive, with sandy-blonde hair, green eyes, fashionable glasses and not to mention an amazing body. She had a rather large forehead, though, which she got frequently teased for. Ippan felt some attraction to her on a superficial level, but more than anything he considered her a friend. Besides, she only had the hots for Miyabi, and something about trying to seduce someone who is actively pursuing someone else didn't sit right with him.

"I hear Suzune-sensei is going to have a special assignment for you."

"Oh? Well it's about time she gave me something to do. Training drills are getting pretty boring," Ippan replied, putting his hands behind his head as he walked.

"Training drills are extremely important!" Imu scolded.

"Yeah, yeah," was Ippan's only reply.

The both of them made it to the hidden door and looked around, making sure nobody else was watching as they entered, the wall rotating around them and bringing them to the interior of the hidden classroom. Sitting on top of the desk with her legs crossed was Suzune-sensei. Ippan had never been able to get over how gorgeous she was. He likewise had never been able to get over how terrifying she was, and how this fact only seemed to fuel his attraction for her.

"Sensei," Ippan bowed deeply and she nodded in response. The period hadn't started yet so there was still some brief time to relax before training. He peered around the room at the others. Imu was already hovering around Miyabi chatting with her about something important, probably. Miyabi was slightly taller than her peers with white hair and golden snake-like eyes, and a pair of sizeable breasts. Ippan had always been flabbergasted that even the shinobi of this school, students who were being trained to be hired assassins for the highest bidder, were bombshells in terms of their looks. Most of them had huge boobs, too.

Tearing his eyes away from Miyabi for a moment, his eyes fell on Murasaki sitting in the corner of the room hugging that weird, doll thing. "Bebebe", Ippan was pretty sure that's what she called it. Her hair was extremely long and dark purple, and her eyes matched the same hue. She had a huge rack, in fact, the biggest pair he'd ever seen in his life. It was no wonder she had such bad posture, probably just to accommodate those massive things, he figured.

Before Ippan had much of a chance to continue his ogling, the rotating door whirled around.

"Ippaaaaaaan~!" First Ippan felt incredible softness against one side of his face and then the hardness of the floor on the other side. He recognized all too late that the voice belonged to Ryouna, as did the pair of hefty breasts currently smashed against his face.

"What a loser, can't even dodge out of the way of a worthless dog like Ryouna." He recognized that voice as Ryouna's far less pleasant sister, Ryoubi. Something occurred to him just then, however. Ordinarily when something like this happened (and it happened a lot), Ryoubi would have commented on how much of a pervert Ippan was, despite Ryouna obviously taking all of the initiative.

With a slightly adorable, "woof woof~" Ryouna pulled herself off of the boy and ran back over to Ryoubi, waving her supple butt back and forth like there was a tail there. Her skirt was shorter than the rest of the students' so Ippan got a nice eyeful of her frilly, pink panties. In fact, Ryouna's whole uniform was a couple sizes too small, and knowing what he did about Ryouna's personality, Ippan figured that was likely on purpose. He wasted no time in getting up from the floor and rubbing his slightly sore neck from the tackle.

"You getting soft, Ryoubi?" Ippan teased as he straightened himself up. Unlike her extremely voluptuous sister, Ryoubi was as flat as a board, her only real womanly quality being her apparently amazing ass, a detail Ippan only knew because Ryouna had a tendency to overshare.

"The hell do you mean?" she glared at him.

"You usually sound off calling me a pervert for that."

"Why the fuck would I do that? It's normal for my sister to smash her fatass tits against your face."

Ryouna cooed with delight at the insult and hugged Ryoubi's arm, "More please~!"

"All right, you're a stupid whore with a brain the size of one of my bullet casings." Ryoubi seemed to be getting agitated with her sister. Ippan genuinely didn't know if Ryoubi enjoyed insulting her sister as much as Ryouna enjoyed being on the receiving end, she always treated it like such a chore one way or another.

Still, Ippan considered that response to be pretty odd. There wasn't any sarcasm in Ryoubi's tone when she replied to him. She wasn't wrong though; it definitely was normal for Ryouna to do that to him. Ippan idly wondered if it was perhaps the rings that were doing this.

In that moment Ippan realized he had nearly forgotten to ask Suzune about them.

"Sensei," he turned to her. As usual, she seemed completely unfazed by the situation.

"Yes, Ippan?"

"Do you recognize these rings I have on? My grandpa sent them to me after he died."

Suzune straightened her bright red glasses and looked closer at the accessories as Ippan held up his hands to display them.

"Hmm, are you sure you only recently acquired them? They don't seem too out of place for you."

Ippan didn't reply, only nodded. Her response was making gears turn in his head.

"Ippan, you are from the Norizuka clan, correct?" Suzune asked.

"That's right."

"Hmm, I've heard tales that the Norizuka clan possessed two powerful artifacts that could control people's perception of reality. I don't think these rings are what the legend was talking about though, I can't sense any chakra coming from them. And certainly, something with that kind of power would have some sort of energy coming from it."

That sounded reasonable enough, but Ippan also noted, silently, that Suzune's perception of reality included her ability to sense chakra. So, the rings may have been altering that sense as well.

"My guess is they are replicas of that artifact."

"Interesting," Ippan nodded, satisfied, "a shame, the real deal would be a pretty useful thing for a shinobi to have."

Suzune only nodded in response.

He was now nearly convinced that he actually had the real deal in his hands. He began to wonder how exactly they worked. There didn't seem to be anything he really needed to do in order for them to activate; he didn't do anything special when Ryouna tackled him, that was for sure. He decided to experiment a bit, preferably with something relatively safe.

Ippan walked over to Ryouna and immediately slapped the palm of his hand onto her ass, giving it a rough squeeze. Ryouna moaned out immediately and wiggled her rear into his hand.

"That was so mean, Ippan. Please do it again!" This wasn't actually the safest thing Ippan could have done, he just really wanted to do it. Ryouna's ass was amazing. He looked at Ryoubi who was idly messing with one of her long ponytails.

"Ryoubi, what do you think about what I just did?" he asked.

"What the fuck is wrong with you today Ippan? Of course I don't care if you slap Ryouna's ass, that's perfectly normal."

Ippan noticed that both times he inquired about his actions Ryoubi used the word "normal". The rings alter peoples' perception of reality, he wondered if that meant everything he did seemed normal. He decided to take it further, just to make sure.

"And what would you do if you saw someone like Uchika doing what I just did?" Uchika was a well-known pervert at the school and had a pretty bad reputation. He also smelled weird.

"That sleazy motherfucker would have a bullet in his brain before he even got the chance to enjoy the feeling." Her bicolored eyes were on fire with fury at just the idea. But it wasn't the best control case, nobody liked Uchika.

"And what if it was the headmaster of this academy?"

"Bullet. To. The brain." She enunciated very clearly.

"But it's fine if I do it?" just to punctuate his point, Ippan roughly kneeded Ryouna's amazing ass, both out of experimentation and because that ass was possibly addicting.

"I don't care, that's just normal for you," there it was again, that word, and no more fire in her eyes than there usually was. It was time to step things up.

"And how about this?" Ippan shifted slightly so that the sisters were on either side of him and he grabbed Ryoubi's ass as well. He realized all too late that this was a horrible idea, if the rings didn't work the way he thought they did, well…

Bullet. To. The brain.

He braced himself for the suddenness of death, content that he at least got to feel two amazing butts before he died, but it never came.

"Jeez what the fuck is up with you today? I don't give a shit if you grab my ass too. What's the deal with all these dumb questions anyway?" Sure enough, not a lick of fury in her expression, just mild annoyance, and not even with what Ippan would have expected it to be for. At the very least he'd deduced that the rings let him touch other people and it would be viewed as perfectly normal. Average everyday stuff. Like it was just some social norm to let him have his way. And he got the feeling he was only scratching the surface; these things were a pervert's dream.

Ippan wasn't quite done experimenting. He walked back over to Suzune-sensei, regretfully prying his hands away from the two heavenly rears.

"Hey sensei, squawk like a chicken," Ippan ordered.

"No thank you," she replied. So, ordinary mundane commands didn't work.

"How about you flash me your tits?"

The thought of getting to see his sensei's glorious tits was making Ippan's already stiff boner rage even harder. So was the very real possibility of death presented by ordering his sensei to do something like that. Students at Hebijo had been killed for a whole lot less.

"I'd rather not," was her only response. She otherwise continued to read from a little book she was holding. Once again, no death, but the command wasn't obeyed. So, the rings wouldn't let him just tell people what to do, but they also let him get away with asking just about anything since the act of asking was apparently seen as perfectly okay. That information might come in handy later.

Ippan reached forward and start undoing the buttons on Suzune-sensei's blouse, which was already showing off her legendary cleavage and cute mole on her left breast. She made no effort to stop him, even though she had refused to flash him seconds ago, continuing to read like nothing was out of the ordinary. He pulled open the blouse after all the buttons were undone to reveal her very erotic lacy black bra, barely containing her enormous breasts.

"Aww sensei that bra is so cute!" Ryouna wandered up to Suzune and Ippan, looking closely at the undergarment. Suzune was blushing slightly now. Ippan was terrified for a moment, thinking that the jig was up, and a decapitation was coming.

"Thank you Ryouna, though it isn't very professional to say so to your teacher." Ippan supposed that just because it was seen as normal didn't mean that his actions were entirely invisble. Another thing he would take note of. Out of curiosity he let go of her blouse and took a few steps back from Suzune. After a few moments, she began buttoning her top back up again. It seemed like if he made changes to their attire, they would eventually just right themselves once they thought he was done.

Ippan had to admit, this was a powerful tool, but something told him that he still didn't have a solid grasp on everything that the rings were capable of. They could alter people's perceptions and he figured there had to be a way that he could actively make changes to what people perceived as normal. This hunch was based solely on the message inscribed on the inside of one of the rings, "normal world".

Ippan was almost positive that the effects he had seen thus far had been the result of the ring that had "normal self" inscribed on it, as all of these effects centered around perceiving himself as perfectly normal no matter what. So, he just had to figure out how to get the other ring to work. Since it wouldn't be a passive effect, he likely needed to activate it somehow. His studies into how chakra-infused artifacts worked told him most of the time these things had a word that would activate them that he would need to speak. But what could it be?

Then an epiphany struck Ippan like a ton of bricks when his eyes rested on Ryoubi. "Normal". There had to be a reason Ryoubi kept using that word, maybe the rings were trying to clue him in. Maybe he needed to announce the change he made and use the word "Normal".

Ippan quickly tried to think of a change to make, something that would be noticeable so he could confirm his theory but not be too intrusive yet.

It's normal for females to attend shinobi classes with only underwear on, he thought. Nothing changed. Apparently simply thinking the change didn't work, maybe he needed to actually say it out loud?

"It's normal for females to attend shinobi classes with only underwear on." It was a good thing the rings made anything Ippan said seem normal, otherwise explaining to the others why he suddenly blurted that phrase out would be very difficult.

This time, much to Ippan's delight and viewing pleasure, all of the girls almost simultaneously made the same hand seal and they were shrouded in plumes of smoke. After the smoke cleared, they were standing or sitting in nothing but their underwear. Suzune-sensei was also in her underwear. Apparently leading the class technically counted as attending it.

It was kind of a shame that shinobi made their clothes entirely out of chakra. It was certainly more protective than cloth and it could be removed or changed very quickly, but actually watching the girls remove their clothes piece-by-piece would have been an amazing sight to behold.

This was a small gripe, however, for the sight in front of Ippan was equally amazing. His sensei was still in the same lacy set of underwear without any obstructions this time; Miyabi was wearing some rather plain, white underwear that looked more practical than stylish; Imu was in a green camo-print sports bra and shorts; Murasaki was in just a black tank top and what appeared to be a thong; Ryoubi had a set that was striped blue and white; and Ryouna had her cute, pink, frilly panties and no bra whatsoever, giving the shinobi boy a glorious view of her bare tits. It was no wonder those things were so soft. The best part was, despite their collective state of undress, they continued what they were doing without missing a beat.

They weren't acting perfectly normal, Ippan noted, as Imu would blush and wiggle uncomfortably every time Miyabi looked in her general direction, and Ryouna blushed and wiggled happily whenever somebody looked at her, including Ippan. None of them appeared to be embarrassed by their states of undress, but that was to be expected. The danger in having your clothing made of protective chakra was that in combat, said chakra could be stripped away with powerful enough attacks. Shinobi very quickly got over any feelings of shame that came from being exposed, since it was going to happen and very frequently.

Ippan was about to make another suggestion but he was cut off suddenly by the sound of the bell chiming in the distance, marking the time for class to officially begin. His suggestion would have to wait, he was mildly curious as to the nature of the special assignment Imu mentioned.

Suzune remained in her spot, merely putting her book down while Miyabi stood next to the desk in her typical intimidating manner and even her being in her underwear didn't make her seem any less fearsome. Meanwhile, the rest of the students knelt in a neat line in front of them. After a few introductory and boring announcements Suzune finally addressed Ippan specifically.

"Ippan."

"Yes sensei?"

"You've certainly shown your skill in combat trials and just enough knowledge in your exams," the "just enough" she included stung him a little. "I think it's about time we gave you your first real assignment. Imu, please remind the class of Ippan's current grades."

"Yes sensei." After clearing her throat and adjusting her glasses, Imu began to recite Ippan's grades from memory, "Melee combat and endurance were each determined as a B grade, his ranged combat is a solid A grade, and his knowledge of shinobi lore is barely passing with a C. However, the areas he truly seems to excel at are espionage, evasive tactics, and chakra manipulation; all of which are his highest grades at S rank." It was true, Ippan had a knack for going unnoticed. While that would ordinarily be problematic for a high schooler, it was great for a ninja. With these new rings he would probably be even better at it now. Imu then continued to describe his academic profile, which was lackluster, but he wasn't sure what it had to do with anything.

Speaking of the rings, Ippan realized they could let him get away with breaking standard class protocol while Suzune explained his mission to him. He grinned a bit as he peered over to Ryouna's huge, bare breasts right next to him, and slowly moved his hand over to touch one. At last the tits that had nearly suffocated him time and time again could be felt without any restraint and without any thick uniforms in the way. He gave the pillowy flesh a squeeze which elicited a whimper of delight from the fellow ninja.

"Quite," Suzune punctuated Imu's longwinded description. "With this in mind, I think the best mission that I could—" Ryouna let out a moan. "Ryouna, could you please keep it down while I am speaking? It is quite rude."

"Sorry, sensei." Ryouna whimpered. This was amazing, not only was Ippan able to get away with fondling a classmate during class but said classmate would be in more trouble than him for it because she was making too much noise. It was a damn shame Ippan's grandfather had to croak, he'd love to shake the man's hand for giving him such a wonderful gift. He truly did impart the best part of his estate to his grandson after all.

Ippan liked Ryouna though and didn't want her to get into any serious trouble on his behalf. At first, he puzzled over how to play with her without her making too much noise, then he had an idea. He moved his fingers up to her lips and began to poke and prod them lightly. They were unbelievably soft, almost as soft as those tits of hers. Not content to be simply touched, Ryouna stuck her tongue out and gave Ippan's fingers a playful lick as they poked.

"Ahem, anyway," Suzune continued, "I think the best mission I could give you is a simple spy mission. The headmaster has been hounding me for information on some of the other shinobi schools throughout Japan, information that I have been having difficulty acquiring." Ippan nodded, though he was currently distracted by having his fingers licked and sensually sucked by the blonde masochist next to him, shinobi training made him very good at multitasking. He was absorbing every bit of information.

"Your mission will be to infiltrate and assimilate into one of the nearby schools. You will go under the guise of a transfer student and while you are there attempt to uncover the schools' secrets. You will not be going as a shinobi, just an ordinary student, keep that in mind."

As Suzune was explaining these details, Ippan urged Ryouna closer to him. He spread his legs open and brought the blonde masochist between them, letting her delightful springy butt press into the growing bulge in his pants. He left his fingers in her lips, letting her suck on them vigorously as he groped and squeezed her bare chest with his other hand. He was delighting in the way his hand sunk into the flesh, and knowing how much she enjoyed pain, he made no effort to be gentle with the way he was handling her tits.

Ippan looked around to gauge the reactions to the siutuation. Ryouna appeared to be absolutely delighted, and was moving herself up and down to grind her butt into his crotch while noisily slurping on his fingers. Ryoubi simply rolled her eyes in an annoyed but otherwise nonplussed way. Miyabi's expression seemed shocked for a moment, but her composure soon returned to normal. Murasaki didn't seem to notice and was zoning out as usual. Imu looked slightly annoyed but was otherwise unfazed. Suzune had absolutely no change in demeanor. She was blushing slightly, but this seemed to be a result of all eyes being on her while she was half-naked more than anything else. This once again solidified the idea to Ippan that what he did wasn't invisible to others, just normalized.

"In all likelihood, you will end up infiltrating up to three different schools over the next couple of months, but I have yet to decide on which one you will be attending first. You will have two weeks in each school, and in that time, you must gather as much information as you can in any way you can without giving away your identity."

As his sensei continued to debrief him, Ippan had begun to actually move his hips along with Ryouna's, happily dry-humping her amazing ass. He sort of wanted to do more but was unsure about what he could actually get away with.

"Which schools might I be going to?" Ippan managed to ask despite his pleasured grunting.

"Hanzo and Gessen, are the two I'm deciding between now. There are many others out there, however, and any of the shinobi schools we know about are possible options for the third."

"Gessen?" Ippan asked with a bit of confusion in his voice. "Isn't that an all-girls school? How would I manage to infiltrate an all-girls academy as a student?"

"I don't think you'll stand out too much," Ippan was about to feel insulted but then he remembered his rings. He supposed it was actually true, he could go anywhere and he wouldn't look out of place. He wondered if his sensei just banked on an ability he had that she didn't even know he had. Her instincts must have been sharp as a razor.

In the meantime, Ippan wasn't sure he could take the dry-humping much longer. He reached down and unzipped his pants, letting his cock out so it could touch Ryouna's soft rear directly. As soon as he began grinding again, effectively hotdogging against the blonde's ass, she started humming intensely around his fingers, a reaction that elicited a glare from Suzune that silenced her. However, Ippan could feel Ryouna's entire bottom half twitching slightly, and her whole body shuddered briefly before calming down again and returning to her regular hip motions.

Did she just… cum? Though he was mentally reeling from the idea that Ryouna would climax just from being groped and grinded against, he didn't stop, continuing to press against her and even roughly pinching her cute pink nipples now. When he did, he felt her tongue tense up and she let out a few quiet whimpers, clearly in an effort to not make as much noise as she desperately wanted to.

"This mission is extremely dangerous, however, if you are caught you could very likely be killed on the spot," Suzune continued, "thanks to this I can't, in good conscience, send you alone." It wasn't a problem initially with the rings, but now it might have been a problem. Ippan wasn't sure if he could extend the ring's powers to someone else. "I haven't quite decided on who to send with you, yet. I will have the decision made by tomorrow, be ready for it first thing when you arrive."

"Understood sensei," Ippan's reply was jagged and breathy, and it should be no surprise either because in that moment he began to ejaculate himself. This was the first time he had ever done anything remotely like this with someone else, and he couldn't handle how soft Ryouna was basically everywhere. His cum was shooting out in many long and sticky ropes all over Ryouna's back. In the meantime she hadn't stopped moving, seeming to want to milk him dry with her delightful rear.

"All right, it's time for drills!" Miyabi announced suddenly, causing Murasaki to almost comically jump in surprise.

It was in this moment that Ippan realized he was nowhere close to stopping. His ejaculation was lasting much longer than normal, and as much as he would like to assume it was because of how enthusiastic Ryouna was being, he was almost sure this was the rings' doing.

Thinking fast, Ippan spoke, "It is normal for people who are busy doing something with me to be excused from anything else until they are finished. Citing me as a reason will result in no disciplinary consequences."

"Except you, Ryouna," Miyabi immediately corrected, "but you better get in here quick when you're finished." Miyabi then walked out of the room, blushing slightly. She actually looked kinda cute. Thoughts for later.

Soon it was just Ippan and Ryouna in the room, and the latter turned around letting the former shoot the rest of his load onto her frontside as well before leaning down and mashing her tits into his twitching cock. He could see the cleavage ooze slightly with white cream as he continued to unload between them.

"Ah~! It's twitching so much, Ippan!" she exclaimed, giggling. "My butt must have felt really good for you to cum this much."

"It was amazing," Ippan replied, breathily as he finally felt his climax die down. That was certainly much longer than he expected. His ejaculation went for at least thirty seconds, which he was pretty sure wasn't normal. More to the point, all of Ippan's shinobi training couldn't have prepared him for that, so he was out of breath and sensitive.

Meanwhile, Ryouna was quickly dragging her fingers along her breasts and face, trying to scoop up the pearly white spunk that she got covered with and then licking it off her fingers.

"Ohhh wooow~!" she exclaimed after gulping down a lot of it and leaning back on her arms making her breast wobble delightfully. "Your stuff is soooo tasty, Ippan!"

"Have you done that before?" Ippan asked her as they both relaxed a little. Going purely by the way she acted, Ippan wouldn't be surprised to know that Ryouna did stuff like this all the time with all sorts of people.

"Nuh-uh! Sis never lets me play with anyone even though I have always wanted to," she responded. Now that Ippan considered it, that actually made more sense. Ryoubi's trigger-happy nature meant that nobody would have even been able to get close. Ryouna gasped suddenly, as if realizing something, "Ippan! Maybe I can do lots of naughty stuff with you! It's normal for you, after all. I'd love it if you used me however you wanted." She wiggled around in delight.

Ippan wasn't about to turn down an offer like that, "Hell yeah. I'd love to."

Ryouna jumped up in celebration, making her breasts bounce wildly, "Yay!"

"It would probably be wise to head to the dojo though, before Miyabi murders us." Ippan said.

"Okay, we'll play more later though!" Ryouna exclaimed and started skipping off toward the dojo, leaving Ippan alone to collect his thoughts. Since the rings couldn't directly make people do what he wanted them to, Ryouna getting into the hotdogging and groping session he had given her had nothing to do with the rings. It was all her being eager to try something truly sexual for the first time. Certainly, this method wasn't going to work with everyone. Ippan's potential molestees would never get upset with him for putting his dick in strange places, but they wouldn't always be eager about it either.

That gave him an idea for a new social norm he could enact. For now, however, he decided to go and watch the practice drills. Nobody would actually expect him to participate now, and watching his classmates run around in combat drills in their underwear would be a wonderful sight.

The open-air dojo was as big as the school's gymnasium. The floor of the room was a ten-foot layer of thick dirt and a cracked concrete slab beneath it. Ippan knew it was cracked because he could very vividly remember the day that he was sparring with Miyabi and a single downward kick miraculously missed him and instead collided with the ground, blowing a crater through all ten feet of dirt and cracking the concrete below. He immediately recognized that Miyabi was out of his league and used the resulting dust storm to make a quick retreat. Evasion tactics was one of his top grades, after all. The room's perimeter was lined with seven feet of wood paneling, primarily for viewing if not everyone was participating, and this paneling was set a foot up from the dirt.

The resulting ledge made a perfect place for Ippan to park himself as he watched Ryoubi, Ryouna, Murasaki, and Imu smash and slash training puppets to bits in their underwear. Suzune-sensei and Miyabi were standing on the sidelines near Ippan watching the trials unfold. He noticed that none of them had activated their Shinobi Transformations yet, and he wondered why.

"Hey Miyabi, why haven't they transformed yet?"

Miyabi gave Ippan a sideways glance and replied, "Shinobi Transformation is both at the same time our greatest weapon and our cruelest crutch. It makes us more powerful, but it can't make us wiser."

Suzune finished, apparently having heard their conversation. "To put it a bit less vaguely, shinobi transformation does not simply add to our abilities, it multiplies them. Therefore, the more powerful we are without the transformation, the more powerful we will be with it."

Ippan nodded and now that he considered it, he remembered hearing something about that before. Shinobi lore was his worst grade, after all. He was somewhat amused by the fact that neither Suzune, with her sky-high expectations nor Miyabi, the intimidating hardass, seemed to care about him not joining them for practice drills.

"Murasaki! Quit standing around, help your sister!" Miyabi yelled out to scold Murasaki, who wasn't really doing her part. Neither was Ippan, but that was perfectly normal.

He took a moment to ponder about the rings' power to grant him passive normality. It didn't make him invisible, and in fact it didn't even make it so people wouldn't notice him if he was in their presence. It seemed that it just made his presence never seen as out of the ordinary no matter where he was or what he was doing. By the same token, his actions didn't go unnoticed either. Everybody else was very much reacting to him when he was fondling Ryouna's soft body, they just weren't at all shocked or upset by his actions. Ryoubi even rolled her eyes like it was something that happened all the time, like she was saying "here we go again" in her head.

Ippan thought for a second about the rings. The powers the rings granted were two specific ones, a passive "aura" of normality that made himself and everything he did perfectly normal to everyone else, likely the result of the "normal self" ring. The "normal world" ring granted a power to rewrite the standard rules of conduct or alter what was considered normal by society. Ippan idly wondered if both rings needed to be worn in order for either effect to work.

Time to experiment. He hadn't made a rule that he didn't have to join practice drills, so the fact that they weren't getting on his case about it was very much the result of the "normal self" ring's effect. If he took off one of the rings and they start getting upset, he would know that only one of the rings was controlling that power.

He started with removing the "normal world" ring. Nobody was getting upset at him, and the rules he set were definitely still in place, since everyone was still doing drills in their undies like nothing was wrong. This confirmed that both rings were not necessary for the effects of one or the other to be maintained. Curiously, though, even though he wasn't wearing the "normal world" ring, the rules he made were clearly still in effect. He wondered if he could still make rules without the ring. I was certainly worth a try.

"It's normal for Miyabi to do jumping jacks while she is observing the practice drills," he commanded. The thought of seeing Miyabi's tits bounce all over the place while jumping up and down was a pleasant one. Miyabi sadly didn't move an inch, but also didn't react to what he said. So, even though the rules he already made were still being followed, he couldn't make new ones unless he wore the ring. That was helpful information to know.

He then decided to experiment the other way. He replaced the "normal world" ring and removed the "normal self" ring. The moment the metal was no longer touching his finger he heard the sound of fury.

"IPPAN!" Miyabi yelled in a tone Ippan had grown to fear. Thinking fast, he replaced the ring just before she got to him. As soon as the ring was back in place she relaxed and turned back to watching the drills.

The result of that poorly conceived experiment was that the passive normality effect was contained only in the "normal self" ring. Interestingly though, his rule changes seemed to remain in effect even without rings on.

It was definitely a helpful observation that the rules were permanent, and wouldn't stop just because he removed the "world" ring. He supposed that was in an effort to maintain general normality. After all, if the rules suddenly stopped working, a lot of people would suddenly start freaking out.

Ippan put both rings back on though, because he wasn't quite done with them. If he laid down the right rules, he wouldn't even need the rings anymore. Then again he wasn't sure if the effects eventually faded after not having the rings for a long period of time, and he didn't really have a long period of time to experiment with the idea, so he decided it would be safer to just have them both on to be sure, at least while he was awake and doing things.

Ippan glanced over at the clock on the wall to see that the period was almost over. Time flies when you're having fun, he mused. After this period, it wopuld be lunch-time. He heard the familiar bell chime once again echo through the halls.

"Ippan," Suzune got Ippan's attention before he exited through the rotating wall, "prepare yourself mentally for your assignment, I'll have the details for you tomorrow but make sure your personal affairs are in order."

"Understood, sensei." With that he walked out the door… wall? He still was not entirely sure what to call it. The halls leading up to the cafeteria were crowded as always, and he had to bump his way past quite a few people on his way over there. A few of their resulting angered expressions quickly turned apologetic once they saw the insignia on his collar. Being an elite had perks.

"Ippan!" he heard a familiar voice call out over the crowd. A quick look was enough to spot Ippan's best friend Iyoshi Sanji making his way toward him. He was shorter than Ippan by a few inches and considerably scrawnier, not that the shinobi was much of a beefcake himself, with dark blue hair and bright green eyes. The two were childhood friends and Sanji going to Hebijo was one of the determining factors for Ippan's own decision to attend.

"Sanji! How are ya?"

"I uh, I dunno," he replied, matching Ippan's stride and walking beside him. "I kinda decided that today was the day I uh… asked her." He looked a bit nervous.

The "her" in question was his crush since middle school, a nice girl by the name of Tomire Hana. She was reasonably cute but not really Ippan's type. Sanji, on the other hand, was head-over-heels for the girl and spent the last three years working up the courage to ask her out. It looked like today was the day he finally decided to step up to the challenge.

"Well that's good, it's about time," Ippan teased.

"I'm still really nervous about it though, I'm just not really sure how she will react. I mean, there's that rumor that she really likes Saru, and he's like this really athletic guy who's totally handsome, and I'm just some wimpy, nerdy loser. I just don't know." He wasn't wrong. Being a shinobi and a member of the elites had perks when it came to information gathering, being up to speed on local gossip and confirming or debunking school rumors was actually an assignment Ippan had to do regularly. Hana did in fact have the hots for Saru Iji.

What Ippan also knew was that Saru Iji was the scum of the Earth. He had date-raped many of his former girlfriends, then blackmailed them to keep them quiet, usually with photos. If Hana did get mixed up with him it would end poorly for her. Ippan could vouch for Sanji though. He was a nerd and pervert, but he was by no means dangerous to anyone but himself really. If anything, he was too nice for his own good. He was also Ippan's best friend, and he wished there was something he could have done to help—.

I'm a god damn idiot. Ippan really needed to stop forgetting about the rings.

"Listen here, Sanji," in typical best-friend fashion Ippan threw his arm around Sanji's shoulders and leaned in close, "Hana is the girl of your dreams. You've known this for three years straight. And now you've finally decided to go and ask her. I say you ask her. Saru might be good-looking, sure, but I bet he's a scumbag deep down. And since girls typically have pretty keen instincts for that sort of thing, I'd say it'd be pretty normal for Hana to instinctually know how much of a jerk Saru is." There, now she wouldn't be interested in Saru any longer.

"Furthermore," Ippan continued before Sanji could interject, "you are a great guy. Best guy I know, hell, better than yours truly. Like I said, ladies have keen senses for that kind of thing, and normally she would just know you're the right guy for her the moment you asked. And when she inevitably accepts your proposal, I'd normally say she's gonna be the woman of your dreams." Ippan wasn't sure if the last change was specific enough to work, but he hoped it would be. He was almost certain she already was gonna be the best girl for him, but better safe than sorry.

Ippan wasn't lying about believing that Sanji was a better man than him. Ippan agreed to become an akunin, a shinobi that earns the dirty kind of money gotten through stealing, spying, and assassination. Sanji wanted to be a marine biologist. If Sanji knew the kind of oath the shinobi took he would be disgusted with Ippan, and he very well should have been as far as the latter was concerned.

But now Ippan had these rings, and with it he made Sanji's life just a little better even if he didn't know it. Maybe Ippan could get himself a better life with these things. This mission might just be the best thing to happen to him in a while, barring the rings of course. He could use it to do a little soul-searching.