Chapter 1: Death Was Near When I Awoke
I was dead.
It's true. People think death is the end. But for me, it was the beginning.
There was the smell of blood. I knew that scent. The kind that forms on the edge of a blade in the cold night wind, running with breath spilled onto the earth. I felt it again—for the last time.
But then I woke up.
This wasn't a world I was supposed to wake up in. At first, all I saw was darkness. Movement in the corner of my eye. A ceiling. Wooden. A soft light touched my face. As I breathed, hot air filled my lungs, bringing pain with it. I was alive. But something was wrong.
I could feel it.
My body had changed. My fingers were small. The pain was dull but my limbs felt light, weak. I was in someone else's body. A child's. It felt like I had been reborn—in fact, maybe I really had.
What is this? A twisted dream? The last thing I remembered was the explosion. Noise, light, heat. I had died on a betrayal mission. Broken protocol, no options left, in the blood-soaked final days. I hadn't lived for life—I had lived to avoid death.
But now… things were different.
Rain poured outside. As I tried to move, someone lifted me gently and wrapped me in warm fabric. A tall woman. Her eyes full of concern. She whispered words in a language I didn't know—yet I understood. It was new to me, but strangely familiar.
She called me "Shigeo."
—
Time passed. I had no choice but to accept this new body. Mentally, I was in my twenties. But physically—a five-year-old child. My mind, my senses, my danger instinct, the way I could focus on shadows—those were all intact. But I was in a new world.
Here, they have something called chakra. And I could feel it. Controlling and guiding inner energy—it was just like the ninja training I once knew. But the rules here were different. This world resembled an old anime about a kid named Naruto. I noticed the signs. Some names were familiar. Some techniques, recognizable. There were stories about five great nations—of water, fire, wind, earth, and lightning. I was in the Land of Water. Specifically, in a rural village near Kirigakure, known for its bloody mist.
People treated me cautiously. Because I was different. Kids here never start out aware of shadows like this. But I—I could live in the shadows. They hadn't seen me, but I had seen them. I could open doors in silence. Glide through darkness, walk without sound. My shadow played with me, grew from within me.
But I couldn't look anyone in the eye. How can you understand others if you don't understand yourself?
—
One night, I walked alone into the mountains. It was autumn. Leaves danced in the mist, and no one was around. I sat and looked up at the sky. The sky in this world seemed bluer, colder, more lifeless. Maybe it was because my hands had been stained with too much blood. My soul felt like a ruin.
Why am I here?
Who am I?
In my previous life, meaning came from missions. I would rise again, wait for the next order. Silent assassinations were my path. But here, I had no orders. No one pointed a finger at me. And that freedom terrified me.
If no one shouts at me—
Then who do I live for?
—
Soon, I met the village chief. He looked at me with discontent.
"You're no ordinary child, Shigeo. You're different. You don't belong here. But I believe you came to this world for a reason."
I nodded silently. I knew—he was right. I didn't belong here. But somewhere in this world, there was a place I was meant to be. I had to find it.
That night, I made my decision.
I would set out on a journey.
—
The beginning of loneliness isn't joy. It's the onset of internal conflict. But I knew—this journey would show me who I truly was.
I walk through the shadows.
And I will keep walking until I find myself.
—
(To be continued…)