52: Clash

Mimi awoke the next day to a most unfortunate sight.

Apparently, the barrier around the Dungeon Portal had turned back to normal as the sun rose over the horizon, allowing both light and sound to pass through the barrier once again.

And that bastard Mishima had been crouched there, mere inches from the barrier, watching her as she slept.

"Ah, kitten, you're awake! That was really rude of you to just shut off the barrier in my face last night, you know? My heart is broken! How are you going to make it back to me?" He said with the fakest sorrow in his voice that Mimi had ever heard.

She glared at him as she sat up and covered herself with her cloak, even though she was still fully clothed. Just sitting in front of him was enough to make her feel exposed.

"Did you seriously watch me sleep? What is wrong with you?!"

"Who am I to ignore the allure of such adorable beauty? It'd be a crime not to admire it!"

"Ugh..."

'This idiot really thinks he's smooth... does he really not understand how his actions look from an outside perspective?' Mimi thought with disgust.

She glanced at Pakura, who was sitting placidly on the ground behind Mishima.

'I suppose when you have a mind-controlled partner who worships the very ground you walk on then you might start to forget what real human interaction is supposed to be like.'

As the minutes went by Mishima tried to strike up another conversation. At first Mimi tuned him out as usual but after a few moments she remembered Number #1's words. That she might be able to pry some secrets out of him if she actually engaged in conversation with him.

"...and that's why I think it would be in your best interests to-" Mishima droned on while she wasn't listening. She interrupted him.

"How did you even find me, anyways? I hadn't spoken to anyone about my identity, and I lived in the middle of nowhere. It makes no sense that you just happened to run into me." She questioned him. She didn't know if that was too overt or not, but she hadn't exactly had the time to practice social manipulation while being both despised by her community, and being only ten years old.

Mishima grinned at her and dramatically spread his arms wide.

"Luck!"

Mimi was thoroughly unimpressed.

"Luck? Seriously? Come on, nobody is that lucky."

'I should know. I feel like my luck-boosting Wish hasn't done anything for me in my whole life...' She thought to herself.

Mishima pressed on, however.

"No, really! It was all Luck. Pakura spotted you when we were in Ishigaki Town and we followed you out here. It was a pure chance encounter. We're practically destined to be together, you see?"

Mimi frustratedly scratched her head and glared at him.

"Would you give it a rest already?!" She shouted at him, "Do you not realise how disturbing you are? You're a murderer! And you tried to tie a mind-control device around my neck! Why on Earth would I ever willingly let you get close to me? I may as well step into an unmarked white van with an old man who's offering me strange pills while calling it candy." She spat.

Mishima froze.

A moment passed in eerie silence before he put his arms down and his expression turned almost completely blank. He turned around and seemed to hold his chin in thought.

"That's not... how this is supposed to go..." He muttered, quietly enough that without her enhanced hearing Mimi wouldn't have been able to hear him.

"She's just a damn extra, she's not supposed to be aware of stuff like that. This is my fantasy. I'm supposed to get every girl I want. Is my Hero's Charisma too low level to pass the skill-check or something? This doesn't make any sense..." He continued, apparently unaware that Mimi could hear him.

She opened her mouth to speak, to ask him about his thoughts, when suddenly the atmosphere of the clearing shifted.

Something was different, and everybody from Pakura to Mishima, and even Mimi behind her barrier felt the change in the air.

Mishima's head gaze snapped up to the treeline while Pakura jumped to her feet and moved closer to her brother.

'Huh? What's going on? What's that... shaking?' Mimi wondered.

She wasn't left wondering for long, however.

Mishima's eyes went wide as he called out to his sister.

"Pakura! Dodge left, now!"

Before a shockwave tore through the ground in front of them, the earth where they had been standing erupting like a heatless volcano.

- - -

Mishima's eyes narrowed as he scanned the treeline for any sign of the attacker. He couldn't recognise the attack used against him at a glance, since it was just a powerful blast of kinetic energy. It could've been anything from an Almighty Push from a Rinnegan user to The Force from Star Wars, and he had no way of telling until he drew his opponent out of hiding and witnessed them use the attack again.

Clapping his hands together he wove a string of fireballs between his palms, launching them forwards into the forest to force the hidden attacker out of hiding. Next to him, Pakura did the same, doubling the number of shots fired.

The Scorch Release fireballs effortlessly burned through the vegetation. The unique properties of the chakra caused any living plants to instantly wither and crumble as the moisture within them was flash-boiled into steam.

Mishima heard someone swear from behind the rapidly-dwindling cover and his eyes caught a rustle of movement, heading right from the position he was burning. With a more clear target he focussed his flames into a larger sphere and tossed it in the direction his foe was running. 

[Scorch Release: Evaporation Blast]

The orb flashed a bright orange for an instant, before suddenly detonating right as it reached the treeline.

*Bang!*

Mishima didn't have time to revel in the fruits of his attack, however. His Danger Sense chimed in his head and he quickly leapt to the side as some of the blast from his own technique was suddenly pushed back towards him, partially deflected by another shockwave of kinetic force.

He clicked his tongue as the steam from the blast covering the area slowly cleared.

'So they can use it defensively too. Good to know...'

As the haze cleared the results of his attack still managed to satisfy him somewhat. Although most of the blast had been deflected, the initial explosion had destroyed a large, circular area of forest, expanding the clearing enough that he could now see his opponent.

A black-haired boy around the same age as him stood surrounded by ruined trees with his fist extended out in front of him. He was panting slightly from exertion and sweat dripped down his forehead.

"Hah! Come on, did you really think a sneak attack would work on me?" Mishima taunted.

The other boy didn't answer and instead just pulled back his fist. He didn't throw a punch yet though, he just kept it there next to himself. Presumably for defense, Mishima guessed.

As the boy turned and adjusted his stance, Mishima caught sight of an emblem on his foe's shoulder. A simplified red and white fan that he recognised in an instant. He grinned.

"Oooohhh, an Uchiha, huh? Real scary. Gonna hypnotize me with your fancy eyes, extra?"

The Uchiha boy grit his teeth and looked away for a moment. He seemed embarrassed, Mishima realised.

"Oh man, don't tell me... You don't have the Sharingan, do you?" Mishima theorised.

The boy's face grew slightly red as he glared at him.

"Hah! You dumbass! You Wished to be an Uchiha and you didn't even inherit the eyes! What a waste!"

"Shut up!" The boy spoke for the first time, "I'm not even ten years old, you bastard! The war's only just started and I haven't had a chance to get into a stressful situation that would awaken it. Better than I can say for you; you can't even get one in the first place!"

Mishima scoffed.

"Oh please, you think I need that shit? I could beat Itachi Uchiha in my fucking sleep. Well, if he's even been born yet anyways."

Mishima was happy to keep talking. All he had to do was keep the fool busy.

- - -

Ichiro was pissed off. Sure, he hadn't awoken the Sharingan yet, but the asshole didn't need to make fun of him for it in the middle of a battle.

Ichiro was the first Reincarnator to arrive at the scene where Number #11 was trapped. He'd split away from his scouting platoon in secret to come and help out Number #11... and to get into the Dungeon. He couldn't lie to himself, that was the main reason why he wanted to come here.

He was well aware that System-born powers and equipment were a huge advantage to hold in this world, and the Dungeon would give him a good chance to expand his list significantly. Killing Mishima was just a bonus to him since he wasn't really invested in the whole revenge thing that Sub-Group A1 had going on.

Still, he knew well enough that a Reincarnator who could kill another in cold blood was a serious threat to everybody's safety, so he would still put in the effort to deal with the murderer.

When he'd arrived, he could see Mishima facing away from him talking to a cat-eared girl who was inside some kind of barrier. Number #11, he assumed. Since he had a chance while the guy was facing away, he pulled back his fist and charged up his attack for a few seconds before striking forwards.

[Kaishin]

The air itself cracked before his fist, splintering like glass as the shockwave of his attack rolled through the terrain.

This was the power of his first Wish. A power from another world. He had been surprised when the Great System let him choose it, but the god-like being had clarified that he would need to train the power for decades if he wanted it to become as strong as it was in the hands of its original owner.

Still, the power that it currently held was far greater than any Ninjutsu currently in his collection, and it required zero chakra to cast. A good thing too, as his chakra capacity was a little lower than he'd like it to be.

Unfortunately, while the shockwaves were fast, Mishima's so-called 'Danger Sense' that the other Reincarnators had warned Ichiro about proved that it was just as potent as they'd claimed. Mishima dodged out of the way of the attack and even found the time to call out to his female companion, allowing her to dodge it too.

Moments later, after dodging a volley of fireballs that streaked into the forest behind him, Ichiro had been forced to block a huge explosion that might have vaporised his blood if it had hit.

[Gekishin]

His shockwaves managed to part the blast around him and send some of it back at Mishima, destroying the trees around him and revealing his location to his enemy.

Now, Ichiro and Mishima were in a stalemate. Ichiro's attack couldn't hit Mishima, but Mishima's attacks couldn't break through the shockwaves that Ichiro used to defend himself.

The two continued to stand opposite one another. Mishima continued taunting him, and some of his remarks managed to get under Ichiro's skin, but the murderer didn't make any other moves.

'Is he stalling for something? Wait... Where did Pakura go?!'

Ichiro realised what was happening just barely in time. He dodged to the side as a stream of fireballs shot out from the forest behind him. He'd forgotten for a moment that he was fighting two opponents, and Pakura had very nearly made him pay for that mistake with his life.

Turning around, he lashed out with a punch towards Pakura's position. That air cracked once again as a weaker, uncharged Kaishin blasted the girl backwards. To the side, Mishima's face showed clear surprise and recognition. 

"Pakura! Oi, you Uchiha bastard! That attack... How the hell did you get your hands on that? I know those damn cracks, that's that fucking Devil Fruit that the white mustached guy from One Piece uses!" He shouted.

"Come on, you don't even know his name? That's Edward Newgate, White Beard to you, idiot!" Ichiro shot back.

Mishima spat and threw a volley of kunai and shuriken that Ichiro was forced to dodge as Pakura struggled to her feet a few dozen meters away.

"I don't fucking care what he was called, I want to know how you got that fucking power!"

"Does it matter? Not like you'll ever get your hands on it! [Kaishin!]"

Ichiro fired another shockwave at Pakura. If he couldn't hit Mishima, he'd aim for the bastard's ally instead. But right after the next attack hit, blowing Pakura away a second time and prompting Mishima to throw more weapons at him, which he dodged, Number #11 surprisingly called out to him.

"Wait! Pakura is being mind-controlled by that collar around her neck, it's not her fault that she's being forced to work with Mishima! Please don't hurt her too much!"

'Huh?!'

Ichiro's gaze snapped back to Mishima.

"You're fucking mind-controlling people?! Is that what you were going to do to #11 before she sealed herself behind that barrier? You're fucking twisted, man! What the fuck is wrong with you?!"

"Tch... This is my world, extra! I can do whatever the fuck I want! And I'm getting tired of this stupid fight... I didn't want to waste too much of my chakra on someone as insignificant as you, but fuck it; I'm not going to let you or anyone else take my rightful harem from me."

He clapped his hands together again, and Ichiro prepared another Gekishin to block the incoming Scorch Release.

A mistake.

The chakra gathered between Mishima's hands was denser than ever before. White light peeked out from between his fingers as his hands slowly parted, a cone-shaped mass of chakra revealed as Mishima took careful aim at Ichiro.

'No...! Particle Style?! How the fuc-' Ichiro realised as Mishima's chakra crescendoed.

"Die."

[Particle Style: Atomic Dismantling Jutsu]

A perfectly smooth, transparent beam of white light fired from Mishima's hands. Ichiro desperately pumped chakra into his legs and Body Flickered to the side, barely avoiding the attack. He couldn't risk trying to block something that could reduce even a Susano'o to nothingness. It would most likely just destroy the shockwaves of his Gekishin and erase him from existence.

With the Body Flicker Jutsu, he managed to avoid the initial blast of the attack.

However, Mishima had learned from when he wasted his chakra firing this Jutsu at Renji over a year prior. Even after Ichiro's Body Flicker ended and he landed dozens of meters away, he had to immediately use it again as instead of cancelling the attack, Mishima suddenly swept the beam horizontally, cleaving through the forest like a giant blade.

And Ichiro made a mistake with this second Body Flicker. Due to how rotation works, a straight object will always be moving faster towards the tip, compared to base. In this case, Mishima's Jutsu was swinging faster the further it got from him, and Ichiro had tried to move diagonally away from Mishima to escape the beam...

Putting him right in its path for a second time when his Body Flicker ended, and this time it was moving even faster towards him. Mishima was beginning to breathe hard, his chakra draining faster than predicted, but it didn't matter. Just a little more, and Ichiro would caught by the annihilating power of the beam.

'Shit! I miscalculated!' Ichiro panicked.

He scrambled, trying to weave the hand signs for another Body Flicker Jutsu, as he wasn't skilled enough to cast it with one sign or less. In his panic, he fumbled, wasting chakra without Body Flicker activating. 

The beam got closer. In under a second, he would be dead. His eyes itched like crazy and time seemed to slow down slightly from his perspective. He didn't have time to think about this development, but it bought him a few mental seconds to try and evade the attack.

Thinking desperately, he pulled a bunch of kunai strapped with Explosive Seals around the blades themselves out of his pouch and threw them at the ground in front of him. These particular seals were a more directional explosive, much weaker than normal, but the blast was directed entirely at the ground without any risk of it splashing back and hitting him.

The beam closed in as he threw himself into the crater. A searing pain tore across his back before he landed, the beam passing just over his head after brushing against his spine.

He didn't know how much damage he'd just taken, but he'd survived for the moment. Rolling onto his back to try and see his foe turned out to be yet another mistake, as more pain shot through him from the act, clouding his vision for a moment. Through his hazy eyes, he could see Mishima running towards the shallow crater, kunai drawn and held in a reverse grip.

Mishima leapt into the air, stabbing downwards with the kunai to seal Ichiro's fate at last. Ichiro tried to move, to roll out of the way, or even tilt his body slightly, but the pain in his back was too great and he was paralysed from the sudden pain-shock.

Then...

Just as Mishima's blade descended upon Ichiro, a gloved hand burst from the soil beneath the wounded Uchiha, before immediately gripping the boy's shoulder.

And Mishima watched on in shock as his opponent was dragged down into the ground as if it were made of water, and his kunai uselessly stabbed into nothing but soil.

Just like that, Mishima found himself alone and confused on an empty battlefield.