Two months.
That's how long I've been reborn. Two months since I died as a fool — an assassin betrayed by the very organization I served with my life. My loyalty was blind. It got me killed.
Now I've returned in the body of a child, reborn into a Shinobi clan. Or what my old world called "ninjas." I don't know what brought me here — a god, a demon, maybe something worse — but I'll find it. One day.
⸻
I followed the bald man through another tunnel. The stone felt colder here, tighter. Eventually, it opened into a massive circular chamber. Ten large doors lined the edges, each sealed shut. In the center stood the others — maybe thirty kids total.
Wait. Thirty?
There were a hundred of us. Where the hell did the rest go?
My eyes scanned the room.
The first kid I noticed had sharp, spiky hair—white, but not quite. More silver, like a blade under moonlight. He looked pissed. Loud, twitchy, impatient. The type of person that doesn't live long. His temperament didn't match his face. Too wild. Too unstable.
A liability.
Then my eyes caught hers.
A girl — around my age — stood with her back straight, long black hair falling like ink across her back. She was staring. Right at me. The second our eyes met, she looked away. I hadn't seen her before. Not in the isolation chambers. Where the hell did she come from?
Before I could think further, the old man's voice broke the silence.
"Well…"
He dragged the word out, amused.
"This is entertaining. Thirty of you unlocked your Ki just by reading those old, dusty books."
So this was it — the top thirty. The ones who made it.
I wasn't ahead after all. I was just one of the few who survived.
"Old man!" the spiky-haired kid barked. "Just get to the damn point! What's the first trial"
I braced for the man to knock him out like he did with me — but he didn't.
"Are you really in such a rush to die?" the man asked.
The boy flinched. No comeback. Just silence.
A smirk tugged at the old man's lips. "Alright then. Let's begin."
He raised his voice. "You're probably wondering where the other seventy are. Simple. They haven't unlocked their Ki. They have one month left. If they fail…"
He didn't finish. He didn't have to.
I remembered what the book said — awakening your Ki is like lighting a fire inside soaked kindling. If you fail to control the spark, it explodes. Your body, your veins, your heart — they all burn from the inside out.
I wouldn't be surprised if some kids died trying.
It's why some choose to live as regular citizens. They lack the confidence to take the risk. And sometimes, they're right.
"The first trial is survival," the man continued. "You'll enter one of those ten doors. Inside each is a different test. The doors rotate their contents. No two trials will be the same. If you survive, you pass."
He pointed toward a weapon rack lined with simple steel.
"Before you go, choose a weapon. Something to call your own. If you survive, you keep it. If you die, it stays behind."
"The first ten, step forward."
⸻
Three hours passed.
Group after group entered and exited — bloodied, silent, and pale. Some didn't come back at all.
Finally, he called for the last group.
My turn.
My heartbeat was calm. Focused.
In this last batch was silver-hair — the loud one — and the girl. Seven others. Boys and girls. Some shaking. Some ready. Some lying to themselves.
As I approached the weapons rack, the boy stepped toward me.
"I remember you from a few months ago," he said. "Good reflexes. Make it through this, and we'll duel. Name's Kuro. Number thirteen."
Thirteen, huh?
So he ranked higher than me.
"Number thirty-four," I replied. "Address me as such."
His grin twitched. "Yeah. Got it."
He turned, heading toward his door.
⸻
I entered mine.
Immediately, I knew this wasn't the same cave system. The walls here were different — not jagged stone, but smooth, polished slate. Flat. Cold. The air was still, the kind of stillness that presses on your ears.
Only two candles lit the room.
And then — I felt it.
That wave of killing intent.
My body stiffened. My heart raced. My Adrenaline spiked.
A blade sliced past my face.
It barely missed.
I dove to the side, rolled to my feet, my kunai drawn.
A silent attacker. Of course. A Shinobi. I couldn't see him. I couldn't hear him. Only his intent.
He wants me dead.
That's all I need to know.
Another blade came for me — a short sword, aimed at my ribs. I blocked it with my kunai, sparks flying. He vanished again. Like smoke.
Fine.
So we're playing that game.
Another kunai flew. Grazed my arm. Sharp pain bloomed.
Then another.
And another.
I dodged most of them. One knicked my shoulder. One scraped my thigh.
Too fast. Too calculated. But they followed a pattern.
I backed into the corner. A wall behind me — good. He won't strike from behind.
But I couldn't see shit.
I needed more.
Wait.
Ki — it enhances the body. What if I focused it into my eyes?
Before I could try, another close attack came. Again, I blocked. Parried. And for the first time — I saw him.
A glimpse.
He wore all black. Masked. Like a ghost. No wasted movement. His eyes sharp, inhuman.
This was no child.
While he stood still for a moment, I retaliated. A flurry of slashes — fast, direct, instinctual. He blocked every single one… and disappeared.
But I saw it now.
There was a rhythm. A pause between each of his strikes. Predictable.
I closed my eyes, inhaled sharply, and pulled Ki into my eyes.
A rush of warmth flooded my vision. Then — clarity.
I opened them and saw him — hiding in shadow, preparing his next throw.
A memory surged in me — in my old life, I never missed a throw. Muscle memory took over.
I threw the kunai. Hard. Precise. Infused with Ki.
It struck his shoulder. Dead-on.
He staggered, shocked, but kept moving. Still alive.
Tough bastard.
He lunged again, slower this time. I blocked his strike with my short sword — then pressed in. A relentless assault. Steel on steel. My blade slashed through his abdomen. Blood sprayed everywhere.
He swung one last time.
I deflected. Sliced through his arms.
Then his neck.
His head landed first, then he collapsed.
The silence returned — deeper, heavier. The only sound was my breathing.
My first kill in this world.
And still, I felt nothing.
Just like before.
I sat down, catching my breath as the door slowly creaked open.
Trial one… complete.