Iron and Soul (4)

I thought that training to become a shinobi was rough, especially with Madara as my sensei.

The first few days I spent training with Muramasa added a new perspective to the overall view I had of training: the older and tougher the sensei, the more vicious and yet fruitful results you get out of this sort of experience. I got bruised way too many times during these days, but it would be a lie to say that progress had been too slow to make it worth it.

Lesson 0 was pretty much him nagging me on my sword's name, saying that I had to name it something because it was a sword that I planned to keep for the time being. He mentioned his sword-making skill, but remarked I had no reason to get a new sword if the one I had was already quite strong and fitting with my current fighting style. Thus, after some pressure, I ultimately conceded and named the sword Hebikiri-maru, or 'Snake Cutter'/ 'Snake Slayer' due to the fact its first serious kill was the removal of the Reibi.

First thing first, my posture had to be altered just slightly. Experience and some proper foundation allowed me to have a somewhat acceptable starting stance, but it wasn't exactly proper within a high-paced fight. It was stiff, it was shaky at times and- Muramasa started to poke me around with a stick. He wasn't truly beating me with it, but, due to how big he was and how fast and strongly he could move, the 'poking' was quite intense.

Beyond that first uncomfortable lesson, the rest was quite similar to how I trained while handling kunai and other melee weapons for Shinobi. I was eager to see the difference and… that came to be when Muramasa sparred with me. The old man, which I had reputed as too old to fight anymore, promptly beat my ass with the practice sword without him putting too much effort into it. Cue me sitting down as Nashiro, bearing a sheepish look on her face, helped me treat the few bruises that hit me on my back.

I used this little retreat from that unexpected defeat to ponder what happened and what to do next: it was clear that the old man still held a degree of mastery over swords and fighting with those, which meant he wasn't utterly depleted when it came to potential fighting capacity. Then I compared my defeat to him with his close defeat with the assassin that had been sent to deal with Nashiro, realizing slowly but steadily why the battle had taken such a different route.

While I was a shinobi to the core, I stuck with the samurai's doctrine during that spar. The missing-nin that attacked Muramasa was keeping away from engaging in a direct confrontation, thus having not to suffer the potential defeat by being within Muramasa's range of action.

So no, my defeat was not enforced by a difference of strength or speed- but of technique. Technique that I was severely lacking and that I had to catch up with as quickly as I could. I didn't expect this to be something that would have been solved within a few days, but as I asked for a second spar, two things happened. First, I wasn't getting pushed around as intensely now that I had no reason to underestimate the old man; and Second, I was the one yielding before I could have been outright bruised up like before.

The reaction Muaramasa showed at this last bit was… intriguing. He chuckled and started to pat my head, quite strongly, and saying that I was 'learning'. I couldn't exactly tell him I was already accustomed to taking an L if necessary or that would have gotten me a few awkward questions to answer. Speaking of awkward questions, I really didn't expect to have quite a chatty 'helper' in this sort of situation.

Despite Nashiro being the ward that had to be guarded, it was becoming clear to me that there was more than just protecting her. The girl was, for a short lack of term, keen to make conversation when she was bored. It wasn't the same as a young child pestering their parents, but more along the lines of 'I have a lot to say, but I am not good with strangers and get talkative with people I was comfortable with'. And I was fine with this as the girl didn't seem like she had much of a social life anyway.

To a degree, Nashiro reminded me of Ina, except more sheltered and particularly aimless with her likes. She was nonetheless an amusing individual due to how shy she was, but quite earnest to learn new things and 'have friends'. This caught me a bit surprised since the girl behaved like she already had friends before but… at the same time no. A lie? No, the girl genuinely believed I was her first friend ever, which meant that she could have been suffering a form of amnesia. Hence why I decided to pull Muramasa aside to get some more answers out of this situation while Nashiro was busy bathing in a nearby lake we stopped by.

"Uh?"

"I said 'what is your goal?', sensei," I remarked calmly. "Because I can tell this girl has something off with her mind and I know you know something about it."

"Her mind? You may need to be a bit more precise on what you are referring to-"

"She has amnesia. I can tell by the way she behaves around new things… which in truth her body knows are not new," I interjected flatly. "Look, I get it. People are after the two of you, but if I am guarding her, I would like to have some insight on how big of a mess this one is."

"...Geez, aren't you a noisy brat?" Muramasa rebuked and I snorted.

"Just when something may be a bit more complicated than a mere escort mission," I admitted dryly. "So, what's going on here?"

"The girl was born as the heiress to a clan that predated the Sage of the Six Paths," Muramasa started to answer, leaving me surprised with that boast. Before Hagoromo? Really? "I know, it sounds absurd but that's what I was told. I knew the girl's father, a really good man- really strong. And his passing came out of nowhere, especially when the one behind it was some sort of priest they took in. White hair, red eyes, an ominous look that was enough to creep me out- I don't know why he came for her family, but I know that Nashiro is the only one left and that the bastard wants to use her for some ancient ritual."

...That didn't exactly give me much to think since this didn't sound like Jigen and this priest… was not a canon character. Even looking into any OVAs or Movies led me to no correlation with people I was aware of and, thus, I knew I was dealing with uncharted territories. Again.

"So, the goal is to protect her… and?"

"Their ancestral home has special barriers which would act if someone tries to hurt her. I want to bring her there so she can no longer live in fear of being captured or worse."

I nodded at that simple plan, but there was one last detail which would give me a big hint to confirm if this was indeed non-canon stuff or something remotely tied to it.

"And this place is?"

"Mount Koryu."

Did I hear it from somewhere? I can tell it's familiar but… where did I hear it?

"I don't know where it is, but I can tell it's a mountain."

"At least you have some knowledge rather than being a foolish apprentice!"

"Bwah!" I lamented, squawking with fake anger. "Sensei, I'll have you know that, if you teach me right, I will show you I can decimate whole armies and be the strongest samurai ever!"

Her lips twitched in a scowl while I merely smiled at that.

"Come on, you know it's true."

"Over my grave, brat."

...That's one way to jinx his long life away...

"So, what are we looking to find here?"

My question was met with a loud hum from Muramasa.

"Well, we are running out of food for any long treks, which is why we need to get the reserves furbished before resuming our trip."

I nodded at that reasonable topic, but I also found out there was another reason why we were making a stop. It was subtle, and yet I picked it up a few minutes into the chore of guarding Nashiro as we wandered within the settlement.

The girl's eyes glowed with intrigue as we checked all the way around, barely stopping as she seemed more interested to see all of the place without wasting much of the time we had while staying there. Everything was going quite great as we paused by a nearby park as Nashiro wanted to play with some kids that called her 'Neesan' and all of that spiel.

I stood there as a guard, eyes open and looking for any potential issues since I had a feeling something bad was coming towards us. I couldn't sense anything chakra-wise, but I had this gut feeling that trouble was soon to come up and… I was sorta right. Except the issue didn't came running or flying… but digging its way through underground and then emerging quite close

Oh, that's a big Dragon made of rocks….

…

Wait, what the hell?!

It was pure chaos. Kids dashed away to try to get to their parents or back home, while Nashiro looked as shocked as I was at the sight, swiftly moving to stand behind me as I readied my sword at the sight. I was stunned since now I had a glimpse of a memory of what I was facing right now, and I wasn't sure if I liked it.

I think this was somewhat tied to the plot of a game and… it was one of those I didn't get to play. I remember it had some interesting new designs but the plot came out half-baked and stiff, and many just forgot about it. One thing I sure remember was that this Dragon, this Genryu, was a tough bastard to beat down due to its resistance to normal chakra.

Luckily for me, I just had something that produced a stronger version of that.

"Dark Style: Cutting Shadow!"

The half-moon blast struck the beast right into its chest, ripping through some of the stones there and revealing some energy keeping the whole thing together. The monster roared in pain and surprise at that move, forcing it to stop any potential attack aimed at us.

"Nashiro. I need you to find some shelter under the trees over there. I will take care of the scary monster fast, okay?"

She didn't look pleased with the plan, but nodded as I was finally free to kill off the beast. I rushed rapidly towards its exposed chest, slashing through its core and allowing the sword to absorb some of that energy and… the effect was immediate.

"Earth Style: Deadly Spiked Tree," I muttered before stabbing the sword on the ground and getting what I had in mind to unfold.

Large rocky spikes emerged from the ground, slammed onto the monster through its armor and then 'expanded' by forming new spikes through the first ones' edges until it formed a gritty stone tree which had utterly paralyzed the beast and given me the chance to handle the last hit needed to kill it. I jumped up, above its head, and then unleashed three swift Cutting Shadows which shredded into the monster's skull and… ended it. A gem emerged from its head as I concluded by landing on top of its exposed brain by stabbing into it with my sword, the blade absorbing the new energy inside and further 'filling up' one of the few more batteries within it.

The dragon soon crumbled, the gem confirming to be its core as I held onto it before putting it in my bag. I jumped off the crumbling structure, the rocks falling down to the ground and lying there, no longer driven by the dragon's power. With the beast felled, it was time to get back to Nashiro and… she was running towards me.

"Nashi-Uff," I was surprised by the attempt to tackle me, but I realized it wasn't joy urging her to rush at me. It was fear.

And the source of that fear was a single individual. White robes, a black hat atop his white hair as red eyes stared at Nashiro in amusement as the man slowly made his way towards us. It was the priest, the guy Muramasa mentioned to me.

"Tatsushiro Nashiro-sama~, I am happy to see you are well and safe," The priest hummed. "But now, your little escape comes to an end and-"

"Yo, how about you stay away from her, priest-man?" I lamented with an annoyed voice. "I mean, you are stalking a girl that has yet to reach adulthood and then you talk like a creepy molester. How about you chill a bit, fool?"

The man paused, his smile still there but his eyes betraying the growing confusion he held at my words.

"Apologies, this is a matter that you shouldn't be concerned about," He hummed, raising a palm towards me. "Please, stand aside."

Something reached for me, like a squeezing frame which wrapped around my head and… suddenly vanished when I briefly activated my Sharingan, breaking through it. Did the bastard just try to mind-control me to make way?!

"Impressive. What is your name… Samurai-san?"

"Well, I would normally answer to polite people, but you see, I don't like you, so, how about you pick that question and stuff it you know where?" I rudely shot back, really not feeling up to exchange any pleasantries with this guy.

I had bad experiences, but this was the first time I had to deal with an Orochimaru-like bastard. And it was a chilling situation because I remember how terrible of a human being Orochimaru was, so someone with that sort of vibe was just a disgusting individual in my eyes, regardless of his appearance and slightly different personality.

"Understandable, and my name, if you wish to know, is Ashihei."

"You are still a creepy priest to me," I replied flatly, causing him to chuckle. "And what's that with the giggling, you bastard?"

"Oh, youths. So hopelessly idealistic and yet so naive and foolish."

I nodded, yet held back a grimace as I perceived something was… wrong. He is too happy to find an obstacle that already stopped one of his powers. And it felt like this was… a trap.

"Ah, creepy priests. Always trying to pass as some sort of condescending pricks, and yet being the first ones rushing to children-"

"I am not after Nashiro-sama because of her body, but what it holds inside."

"...I think you are making things worse the more you explain," I quietly pointed out and Ashihei snorted.

"Once again, a fool and-"

"You know what, I am done entertaining this 'Manifesto for Priestly Molesters'," I interjected with an annoyed look. "So, since neither Nashiro-chan or I feel interested in this mess, I'll give you a parting gift."

"Oh? And that is-!" The Cutting Shadow from Hebikiri-maru detonated on his face before he could finish that sentence.

I didn't say anything as I merely picked Nashiro up, sheathing my sword and ran back to Muramasa. I would normally not run away from a little fry, but it wasn't him I was running from. The whole discussion had been a trick, one that I picked up from the growing feeling that something like the Earth Genryu. Multiple of those actually. The bastard had tried to buy some time so that the cavalry could come in and cause us issues. I could handle a single Genryu, but multiple of those actively trying to kill me? That was not something I wanted to know if I could beat or not.

Muramasa was done by the time we reached him, and he looked confused but quick to get the bags and follow me out of the settlement as we hit the road again. We didn't stop until we arrived at the next village, and we learned there that the town we had visited had sighted multiple 'flying lizards' over its perimeter. It wasn't attacked by them, but it was clear now that this priest somehow controlled the other Genryu and was trying to use Nashiro as a catalyst to create the Ultimate Genryu.

It had been a close call since Nashiro had been approached while I had been distracted with the dragon, and hadn't the bastard not stopped to entertain some chase rather than capture her at once, then she would have been taken by him. I knew this wasn't going to happen again if the priest survived that hit, which is why I wanted to have the dragon girl trained with a special ability which could help her deal with that sicko.

A self-defense technique in case the creepy priest returned for more. And I think the Rasengan will fit the job quite well~.

AN