Confusion

Now, all that Tatsuo needed was fire.

Hiding his fish under some rocks, he walked back into the forest in search of materials.

When he got back, he had had a bunch of stuff. Starting a fire wasn't easy, but he had done it enough times to consider himself a veteran. After some time and effort, a spark finally appeared and the fire quickly grew.

Smiling, Tatsuo gutted the fish and cleaned them before pushing a stick through their mouths and sticking them into the ground by the fire. He waited patiently, and the aroma of cooked fish quickly permeated the area.

"Delicious."

Even though they weren't salted, The fish tasted great. He quickly gobbled them up before drinking some more water from the river.

Staring at the sky, Tatsuo started thinking.

HAd god really heard his plea before he took his own life?

...

Was he reincarnated?

"I hope that this life won't be as boring as the last. If it is, then I would surely be miserable."

————

A week later, Tatsuo could be seen sitting by a strong flame, cooking what looked like a wolf.

During the past seven days, he had found a cave near the river, which became a temporary shelter. He had spent most of his time training his body and hunting for food.

Tatsuo noticed that his body was strengthening at an abnormal pace. He felt strong, and could already beat a wolf one-on-one.

"It has to be the special energy I felt while meditating, there's no other way."

It had to explain it. It was almost like he was no longer human.

Through training, he finally got comfortable in his new body. Although he couldn't do everything he could before, the basics were now solid, and he had built a resilient core of muscle through grueling physical training.

In addition, he had honed his perception and control over his new body by hunting.

"I should start looking for people now. I think I'm ready to defend myself."

Saying this, he caught a whiff of the meat he was preparing, and reached out to get some.

"HELP!"

Suddenly, a scream echoed across the forest and reached his ears. Startled, Tatsuo almost fell off his seat.

"A person?!"

'Should I go? What if it ends up being dangerous?'

In his current state, he wasn't all that confident with his abilities.

'Whatever, I've always wanted to lose at least once anyway. I have nothing to fear.'

Convincing himself, he ditched his food and ran towards the direction of the screams, spear in hand.

He got there quickly and was startled by the scene before him.

A middle-aged man was closing in on a small girl. She looked just about his current age.

Crouching, he started listening in, trying to gather as much information as he could before acting.

Taking a closer look, Tatsuo noticed the man's clothing. He wore a set of weird armor, and held a katana by his hip. He looked like he came straight out of the Sengoku period.

"Help! Someone help me!"

"Shhh... Little girl, no one is going to come and save you. Now, be nice and follow me."

Hearing the man's word's the girl's face paled in fright. Taking a step back, her foot tripped on a tree's root and she fell on her back.

"Please... Please have mercy... Mr. Ninja, please don't do this..."

'Ninja?'

Hearing the little girl's words, Tatsuo became visibly confused. Ninja? What did she mean by that?

The man's expression only became more twisted as the girl begged for mercy. Taking out a kunai, he licked it and laughed out loud.

Deciding that he had seen enough, Tatsuo jumped out of the bushes and launched a surprise attack. His spear headed straight for the man's ribs.

The enemy was not able to react in time, but still managed to place his arm in the way of the attack.

The spear dug into the arm, but did not reach his vitals.

"Argh! Who dares?!"

After drawing blood, Tatsuo let go of his spear and quickly got in front of the little girl.

The man stared at Tatsuo, examining him from head to toe. He made a mocking smile, noticing his age and the ragged state of his clothing.

Pulling out the spear by force, he threw it on the ground and spoke up.

"Heh, kid. I advise you not to anger me. From the way you attacked me, I can tell that you're not a ninja... Is she your relative or something?"

Although he had bleeding wound on his arm, the man remained calm. Tatsuo was put off by this, since it seemed like he was used to receiving such injuries.

"Well, it doesn't matter anyway. You hurt me, I kill you."

Not wasting any time, the man gripped his kunai and sped towards Tatsuo. Tatsuo felt as if though his body had blurred.

'What?! Is he a monster?!'

Although he was surprised by the speed, what shocked him even further was that he was able to see the attack. His senses had become even better than they were during his past life.

Calming himself down, he assumed a defensive stance and waited for the man to arrive. When the tip of the kunai was closing in on his chest, he twisted his body and dodged the hit.

In a single, clean motion, he grabbed the man's arm and placed it over his shoulder before lifting him and slamming his body onto the ground.

Tatsuo heard a bunch of bones break inside the man's body. He had used his own momentum against him. This meant that he used the bare minimum effort, making up for it with skill.

"Cough...Where did you learn such techniques?!"

The man was now coughing up blood as he looked towards Tatsuo in disbelief.

Not giving him any time to get up, Tatsuo swiftly knocked him out.

"Haah... Let's tie him up."

...

"Not so fast..."

Tatsuo jerked his head back to the direction of the man, but what he saw was not what he expected.

Instead of his body, there was now a bunch of smoke and a piece of wood. The enemy was nowhere to be seen.

"How!?"

Tatsuo looked like he had seen a ghost. His brain was still trying to make sense of what had just happened.

Seeing Tatsuo's surprised expression, the man displayed visible confusion.

"You've never heard of Shunshin-no-jutsu? Where the hell did you come from?"

"Shunshin? Jutsu? Just what are you talking about!?"

Tatsuo was dumbfounded. He just couldn't understand how a man literally switched places with an object in the blink of an eye.

'Does magic really exist in this world?'

The pieces of the puzzle were slowly getting together. Tatsuo felt like he was close to discovering where he was.

"You don't even know what ninjutsu is? Hahaha! I never thought I would ever find someone so ignorant. You surprise me, brat."

After laughing, the man's expression turned serious and he started performing weird symbols with his hands. Tatsuo was confused as to what was happening.

Suddenly, his spine grew cold.

The sixth sense that he had honed over flared up, and Tatsuo quickly grabbed the girl before running away.

'I don't know what that was, but I felt something... Something I've never felt before. Was that magic?'

Before he could relax, the man caught up to them and finished performing hand seals.

"Die! Fūton, Daitoppa!" (Wind-style: Great Breakthrough)

'Fū-what? Wait a se-'

Suddenly, a massive wind blast erupted from the ninja's mouth, destroying a chunk of the surrounding forest. Tatsuo quickly covered the girl with his body and suffered the full brunt of the attack.

Dust rose up, and a massive crater replaced the lush vegetation and trees. Tatsuo lay in the middle, his shirt destroyed and his back full of red lacerations.

'What the hell was that?!'

It was all so confusing. He had no idea what was going on, or how to approach the situation. It had to be magic, if not, what else?

Thinking quickly, he stopped breathing and faked being dead.

His skill was so good that the girl under him started wailing, thinking he had died.

"Heh. Now to the good part."

Licking the blood on his lips, the man walked across the crater until he reached the pair. After shoving Tatsuo's body aside, he reached for the girl's arm.

"Well, I was going to sell you immediately... But now I feel like enjoying myself first. No hard feelings."

He ignored her screams and lowered her pants, all the while making a disgusting expression.

...

Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain right where his heart was supposed to be.

"Wha- Argh!"

He had no time to react. Tatsuo had stabbed him with the stone-knife he kept hidden away.

The knife dug into the man's chest, who looked at the boy in disbelief.

"How..."

Still in shock, the man's body fell over Tatsuo, who twisted the dagger in. The cuts he received were extremely painful, but adrenaline kept him going.

After confirming the man was dead, he became unable to maintain consciousness and fell unconscious.