Chapter 2: Tamemichi Nori.

I jumped back and tightened my grip around my katana. The creature sprinted forward and the pain in my head told me to roll.

BOOM!

I rolled to the left, dodging the creature's charge. The creature's bladed arm was stuck inside of a tree trunk. Now's my chance! I swung my katana across the creature's back and inflicted some serious damage. Moments later, the pain in my head spiked up and I jumped back. Good thing I did, because what came out of the cut on the creature's back was a sharp spine. The creature finally released itself from the tree and sprinted forward again. I once again rolled and dodged the creature's charge only this time it changed its direction on a dime! I quickly jumped onto my feet but it was too late and the creature's fist hit my stomach once again.

BOOM!

"BLEGH!" Damn, that hurts! The creature punched me hard enough to send me into a tree, causing me to vomit unhealthy amounts of blood. My world was spinning and I felt lightheaded due to blood loss. I gripped my katana and slowly got up. I felt the aches and pains send shocks throughout my body and I think I was bleeding from my head. If I take another blow like that I'm done for.

I got into an offensive stance and the creature slowly trotted forward. I exhaled all of the oxygen in my lungs and inhaled deeply. I sprinted forward again and the creature sprinted as well. Once I got near the creature and once its arm was above its head due to it trying to cut me, I slid like a baseball player and used this opportunity to cut off its left foot. The creature fell as it lost balance and I attacked it again by cutting off the sharp spine protruding out of its back. Once that spine was gone, I quickly stabbed my katana into the creature's head and it went limp.

At least that's what I thought. The pain in my head reached new heights and I knew that whatever was coming, I wouldn't be able to react to it.

FWING!

That was until I heard a sharp hiss pass by my ear. I heard it strike something behind me and I didn't ask any questions and simply jumped forward. Once I turned my back, I felt despair creep into my bones. The creature had returned except it was twice as tall and had 8 blade-like limbs coming out of its head. In the middle of those 8 ropey limbs was a large red eye that stared at me with hatred.

I looked back into the red-eye with fearlessness. I wasn't going to let some monstrosity end my second chance at life. I gripped my katana once again. If I don't kill this thing then my life is over.

"ROOOAAAAARRR!!!!" The creature let out a monstrous roar that made the wind blow. I got into an offensive stance and sprinted forward.

WHOOSH!

The creature tried slicing me with one of its limbs and I ducked under it. I then swung upwards, removing the limb from the creature's head. One out of eight gone. In rage, the creature tried slapping me away but an arrow to its chest halted its movements for a moment. The creature roared in rage and confusion and I used this chance to land a huge blow on its torso.

"HAAA!!" I yelled filled with battle spirit and swung my katana across the creature's chest. My katana, although it was chipped and slightly rusted was incredibly sharp and cut deeply into the creature's chest. I then jumped back to dodge a huge fist trying to crush me like an ant.

"STAB ITS CORE!" I heard someone yell from the trees and I looked to see what they were talking about. Inside of its chest was a blood-red orb that seemed to pulsate. I wouldn't have seen that if I didn't cut so deep! The wound I inflicted was already regenerating so I quickly sprinted forward. The creature, knowing its core was exposed launched its blade limbs at me. These blade limbs were very predictable and I cut them down as I reached the creature's chest.

"GOODBYE!" I stabbed the red core with all of my might and my katana went right through it. The core cracked like grass and stopped pulsating. The creature immediately ceased all functions and I jumped away. I watched the creature just in case it came back but nothing happened. I walked up to a nearby tree and rested below it. As I was resting I heard the bushes behind me rustle, and I immediately got into an offensive stance. What came out of the bushes wasn't another creature but an orange-haired boy with a huge bamboo bow on his back.

"Uh? Hello?" The boy bowed in greeting and I put my katana down.

"Hello." I bowed in greeting as well and the boy smiled. I watched as he sat down under the tree I was resting at and I did the same.

"My name is Nori Tamemichi, what's yours?"

"Shijou Morikage."

His voice sounded familiar. Yes, I think he was the one who told me to stab its core.

"Were you the one who told me to stab that creature's core?" Tamemichi looked over at me and grinned.

"Perhaps. But if I did what do you have to offer as thanks?" What? I looked at Tamemichi's face and he was dead serious. I sighed as I got up.

"Fine, wait here..." Tch. I walked back to where I dropped my makeshift bag and found that my fish was perfectly intact. I picked up the bag and walked back to where Tamemichi was sitting. I looked up at the sky and that fight must've taken me a while because the sun was beginning to set. Soon, I returned and Tamemichi was skinning a large deer. And when I say large, I mean this thing was the size of a black bear.

"Oh, you're back," Tamemichi looked at the large fish in my makeshift bag and laughed, "You must not be from around here."

"That fish is incredibly poisonous..." What?! I immediately threw my makeshift bag on the ground. That fish didn't look poisonous, it looked like an ordinary bass!

"I'm guessing that was your thank you offer?" I nodded and Tamemichi just waved his hand.

"Don't worry about it then." Wow. I thought he was going to pressure me about it. I walked over and sat next to the giant deer he was skinning. I needed answers and he seemed pretty competent.

"So, where am I?"

"You are in Nippon and specifically in the Aokigahara Forest." So I'm in my home country, alright. That begs the question, what year Is it? I know I'm not in modern times due to how I'm dressed and how Tamemichi is dressed. Matter of fact, am I even on the same Earth? Unless this forest's flora and fauna have undergone some rapid mutation, there is no way a deer should be that large, and a bass being poisonous.

"What year is it?" Tamemichi looked at me with a hint of suspicion but answered my question anyway.

"The year is 794." WHAT?! 794? AD or BC? For my mental health, I'm going to assume it's 794 AD but even then I'm still 1,228 years in the past! Ok so, I'm 1,200 years in the past and probably on an alternate Earth. How fun. I guess I should thank Tamemichi for helping me out, I wouldn't have known about that creature's core without him.

"Thank you. I probably would have died without your assistance." I bowed in thanks and Tamemichi smiled.

"Don't worry about it. If I'm being honest, you helped me as well. As you can tell by the bow on my back," Tamemichi pointed to the large bamboo bow, "I'm an archer. If that thing would've fought me I would have lost pretty quickly."

Tamemichi also stood up and bowed in thanks. That was incredibly humble of him. Most people, including the past me, wouldn't admit their weakness in such a humble manner. I sat down under the tree in silence as Tamemichi finished processing the deer. The sun had already set and Tamemichi began to cook the deer over a fire.

"So, where are you from?" I asked Tamemichi who was playing with his small knife. He looked over at me before sheathing his knife. He looked into the fire and I saw a faint expression of sadness come onto his face.

"I'm from Umi Village. How about you?"

Considering I was reincarnated, I don't have a place of origin in this world so I decided to lie.

"Hehe, I'm not from around here. The place I'm from is incredibly secluded, so you've probably never heard of it before." Tamemichi had a look of thought before clapping his hands in realization.

"I know where you're from! You're from Koishi Village, near Mount Fuji!" Huh? How did he deduce that?

"Yeah, how did you know?"

"People from Koishi Village all have the same traits. Black hair, pitch-black eyes, and they are always carrying a katana identical to yours." Coincidence? I think not! The fact that everything he said all lines up means whoever the original owner of this body was, really came from such a village.

"Sounds like you travel a lot?"

"Yeah, my goal is to travel across Nippon to find my younger brother, Hirashige." Find his little brother? This sounds like a plot of an anime.

"Has he gone missing?" I watched as Tamemichi clenched his fists in anger.

"No, he was kidnapped. He was kidnapped by a group of people. The only clue I have on this group is their symbol." Tamemichi dug into his yellow kimono and brought out a piece of paper. On the paper was a drawing of a black moon with a red-eye in the middle. The symbol wasn't familiar and I couldn't think of anything that resembled it either.

"Well surely you can't fight them alone can you?" I wanted to help Tamemichi, as a repayment for helping me.

"No, but I've heard of an old sage who teaches people how to fight! I was going to train under him and beat them all afterwards." Tamemichi's blue eyes were filled with determination and courage. I haven't even known him for a day and I already feel like we've become best friends.

"Then I'll help you fight them as well. There's no way I'm going to let you fight them on your own." Tamemichi shook his head in disagreement.

"I can't let someone I met today join me on a life or death battle, that would be unwarrior like of me."

"I don't care. I want to help you find your brother. Think of it as a repayment for helping me." I smiled and Tamemichi smiled as well.

"I guess there's no way I can say no to such a large repayment for such a small debt." Tamemichi held his hand out and I shook it.

"Welcome to the team, Morikage!"