173: Dragon Hunt (1)

Chapter 173: Dragon Hunt (1)

—

When Toga, who had turned into a cat hours ago, entered Eusha city, Hisashi's eyes widened.

With his draconic senses, he could smell something.

'It's really them.'

Floating a thousand metres above the surface, Hisashi sniffled with his nose.

He remembered Neji and Nejire's scents from before, and those two scent signatures were around here. Especially Neji's, it was all over the city as if he was running around.

"He survived… "

Hisashi's lips twitched in anger and… satisfaction. Two contradicting emotions, but Hisashi accepted both.

He wanted to launch down, look for Neji and kill that bastard of a child, but he didn't know where that boy was yet. He had to wait until the cat found the hiding place.

For whatever reason, AFO asked Hisashi to inform him immediately if he found Neji's location. But why would Hisashi do that? Neji wasn't that strong, even though he might have some tricks up his sleeves (since he did survive death). So why should he share his prey with that quirk stealing bastard?

Neji was his prey, that brat will die by his hand alone.

Though since Hisashi already regretted killing Neji too early last time, he didn't want to do that this time. He wanted to play with his prey, even though that's not his style. In that case, what better way to play with Neji than to make his older sister drag him down?

Nejire Hado. She was the sidekick of the Dragon Hero Ryukyu, the same hero who was currently under Hisashi's mind control. This offered an opportunity to Hisashi.

He slowly grinned, his teeth widening as he chuckled. 

This will do.

He wanted to see how Neji would fight Ryukyu while his sister tried to hold him back. Even though Neji might have somehow survived last time, he wasn't that strong anyway, so if he were to be actively held back, Hisashi was certain it would be something pleasant to watch.

Hisashi looked down, laughing. "I want to see you in despair… kwuaha!"

Hisashi laughed, raising his head at the sky, his voice sounding like thunderclaps, loud and scary, as he controlled his urge to just blow every building of this city one after another.

—★—

[A sudden quest has been generated!]

[Quest, "Dragon Hunt", has been generated.]

[Dragon Hunt: You have been hunted by a dragon once, the most prominent dragon in this world, but managed to survive somehow. Now, with powers much greater than before, you have become the hunter instead.

Objective 1: Absolutely crush Hisashi Midoriya.

Bonus Objective 1: Kill Hisashi Midoriya and steal his quirk.

Bonus Objective 2: Defeat Hisashi's subordinate, Ryuko Tatsuma.

Bonus Objective 3: Kill Ryuko Tatsuma.

Reward 1: Perk- [Predator], Item- [Dragon Armour], [10-levels worth of exp], HP Potion x20, SP Potion x30.

Objective Reward 1: Passive Skill- [Dragon's Heart], [10-stat points], [1x Quirk Exp Card], Title- [Dragon Hunter], Tier Potion- 2x

Objective Reward 2: [3-levels worth of exp], [Affection+] with Ryuko, HP Potion x5, SP Potion x8.

Objective Reward 3: Power Gauntlet x2, X-Ray Glasses.]

[Y/N]

This quest was generated in front of Neji the moment Rumi drank the bottle of Tier Potion.

That's how he was alerted of the things that were about to be uncovered soon.

Though the appearance of Toga was unexpected, he wasn't surprised, she could be his second Pokemon.

The reason he wasn't surprised was that he could 'see' through the walls when Toga was running, and he could also see her 'real form' that was hiding within the cat-body. 

That's because the moment he saw the quest, he mixed his «Appraiser - Level 3» and «Body Reader - Level 7» with his «Eyes of the Lord».

«EL» levelled up again, reaching Level-4, as the aforementioned abilities mixed with «Danger Sense» and «Scan» that were within «EL». Because of that, just by focusing- Neji could 'see' using echolocation, as if he was using his eyes, along with a spiritual vision that let him see people's 'other forms' (ex. Kimi's Byakko Form and Momo's Phoenix Form), which also worked with echolocation.

With echolocation, he could see Hisashi flying in the sky as Ryukyu reached beside him, stopping mid-air.

"Be careful, everyone." Neji said. "A meteorite is coming."

The girls couldn't even prepare for his words before something crashed on top of the building, breaking the rooftop, then the second floor, as it dropped to the first floor.

"Kroaaar!"

Now the roof is clear with light illuminating the living room, the girls coughed and waved their hands to clear the dust.

Neji also waved his hand, but his wave wasn't 'simple'. Utilising Weather Manipulation, as a burst of wind cleared the dust away.

—

As the dust cleared.

Nejire found herself being hugged by Kimi, along with Momo, to protect them from the debris.

Though she wanted to say, 'I have a stronger body now, there's no need for this-', she couldn't do so as her eyes looked past Kimi's shoulders.

"T-that's…" her voice couldn't shake more. "Ry- Ryukyu?!"

She wasn't happy seeing her lovely mentor, no- if anything, she couldn't be more horrified.

Clearly, from the unusual red eyes, Ryukyu wasn’t looking like her usual self. To further prove her point, Ryukyu would never have crashed on top of a mansion like this. She didn't look like she was thrown here by any villain, she looked like she launched down voluntarily.

"DIE!"

The pro hero yelled, her voice breaking the sound barrier as many things within the mansion were flung away.

But the sound couldn't touch any of the girls, as Neji created a huge yellow barrier ahead of them.

"Nejire," said Neji, turning back as he pushed his mask on his face. "I am gonna beat her up if you don't mind."

Of course she minded, what was this bastard saying?!

But clearly, he wasn't going to listen to her.

'Beat her up… At least he didn't say he would kill her. It's fine then… I guess.'

Now that Nejire knew what her brother has been living through. He couldn't help but take all the burden of the world on his shoulders, unable to share because he believed (and he was right for that time being) that nobody would support him with his decisions.

Even so, even if he did say he would do something more than just 'beat her up', her little brother was more important than her mentor anyway… it wouldn't have mattered, although she would admit she would be sad for a long time.

"Just… go easy on her, okay?!"

That was all she could yell out as Neji covered his face with a mask and jumped at Japan's No-9, Dragon Hero- Ryukyu.

—★—

"What the…"

Hisashi was shocked.

"What a bad older sister. I understand, she's the one behind this spoiled brat. I was right when I decided to kill her last time."

Hearing the conversation inside the mansion, he couldn't help but grow angry and irritated.

He thought the Nejire girl will give Neji a hard time, drag him down even, and therefore allow an entertaining sight for him.

But what was this?

That girl clearly spoiled her little brother a bit too much, so much so that she didn't even mind him beating up her mentor.

"She needs to die."

She needed to die, for sure. Along with the other three girls in the room. One, he recognised, was Neji's girlfriend, one was the Pro Hero- Mirko, but he couldn't recognise the other girl. 

But from the looks of it, she was also close to Neji. Meaning, she also needed to die.

"Hnn… They'd win against Ryukyu since that Rabbit hero is there-"

-Bam!!!

Hisashi's eyes widened as he was interrupted, seeing Neji punch Ryukyu in the face with a force that shouldn't belong to the boy.

“...Is he using his Shockwave to empower his punch-”

Hisashi was interrupted again.

The next scene, as it unfolded, made Hisashi realise-

“...”

Something was wrong.

—★—

Neji had a motto about his girls.

"It's fine as long as they're alive."

It's fine for him to beat them up as long as they don't die.

Of course he won't abuse them, but for training purposes or any other scenario (such as this one), he wouldn't mind beating them up until near death.

He can just heal them later on.

-Bam!!

Ryukyu's dragon neck twisted as Neji punched her face, making her body fly back and hit the wall, breaking it as she landed on the huge balcony of this rich mansion.

He would prefer the fight to happen outside since Hisashi would come down soon enough.

If this was from before, he would have put his girls into his inventory first. But now- now, he was strong.

Rumi's yell came from behind.

"Oi! Neji-"

"Nope, she's mine!"

Neji rejected her, already knowing what her offer would be. She wanted to test her power by beating Ryukyu up.

'So much for being childhood friends… then again, not like I am the one to judge.'

"You!" Ryukyu yelled, getting up from the ground as she growled. "My master assigned me a job, and I am going to fulfil it."

"Oh, I am sorry." Neji jumped in the air, his body enlarging as he used his quirk, «Big Show». "I don't like talking to mind-controlled people!"

"Mind Controlled".

That's what her [Current State] said.

However, mind-controlled or not, she was a mere Peak Tier-5.

Neji's body, now 18 feet large, slammed down on top of Ryukyu.

Ryukyu tried to defend, but Neji also increased his 'weight' using his Gravity Manipulation quirk, so he quite smoothly crushed on top of her.

"Auughk!"

The mini dragon yelled, feeling the body that was almost as large as hers crash on top.

Neji got up from above her immediately while she grunted, widening her mouth and charging a Dragon's Breath.

"Oh, not that please."

Neji said, kicking the ground as he vanished from everyone's eyes, coming under Ryukyu's chin as he threw an uppercut with One-For-All 100-Percent.

-Bhoo~

The air twisted.

-Bang!

"Keuk!"

Wind blasted around, creating a tornado, as it sent Ryukyu flying in the air.

Neji didn't move anymore as he saw the notification-

[Objective-2 has been completed!]

Proving the notification, Ryukyu's body returned to normal midair, as it then dropped downwards like a rag-doll, stopping just above the surface as Neji used his telekinesis.

She was unconscious.

But this wasn't the end.

As he twirled her body towards Nejire in the back, he heard a voice come from above him.

"I have to say, I didn't expect this." Said a deep, melancholic voice, making Neji look up to find a long red-haired middle-aged man floating with two draconic wings behind him.

The Catastrophic Dragon, Hisashi was here. Neji's 24-hours Fusion cooldown hadn't ended yet.

"Were you always working under Shigaraki? You might know him as All for One. Did he give you a copy of his quirk, or are you perhaps his son? I do see some similarity in your hair and terrible personalities."

He sounded betrayed, melancholic and sad.

"I guess that's why he wanted me to bring him along once I 'found' you. He wanted to gang up on me with you, didn't he?"

Neji, realising the misunderstanding that was happening, grinned softly.

"Oh maybe, I can't say." Neji smiled softly, rising in the air. "Let me formally introduce myself. It's Neji Hado, your idiotic son's killer."

Neji reached out a hand, mockingly asking for a handshake as red scales started to cover Hisashi's body.

"Shameless child. Shigaraki will pay, but I will teach you a lesson that even your soul wouldn't forget." He slowly grinned, now completely covered in draconic scales. "I heard you like dragon breaths a lot?"

"Oh, I do, yes." Neji answered with a smile, watching as Hisashi started to charge a breath. 

"You seem to know a lot about me, mister. In that case, since I am feeling so grateful today, let me show you something that your son liked a lot back in the day too." 

Neji vanished from his spot, causing the beam that Hisashi released to fly far in the sky, as he appeared beside Hisashi in an instant, his arm pulled back as white energy crackled around it like electricity.

«Jump Up» - Activated

«Surge» - Output 100%

«One-for-All» - Output 100%

With that reality breaking power, Neji swung his arm.

"UNITED STATES OF SMASH!"

With an attack, moving at Mach 51, that Izuku Midoriya worshipped back in the day–

-Bamm!!!

–His father was thrown kilometres away, into the sea of Eusha's bay.

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Master4thWall Note: From researching a bit, I found All Might’s peak speed was ‘Mach 29’. After some calculations since Neji has his own stats outside One-for-All, it appears Mach-50 is Neji’s top physical speed, and since his shockwaves provide him speed a bit above the speed-o-sound, Neji’s current top speed is at Mach-51.