Chapter 3: Setting a Small Goal
Kael surveyed his surroundings. The place didn't match any of his memories.
Before him stretched a vast, barren plain, dotted sparsely with withered, yellow foxtail grass. Above, the sky was a brilliant, cloudless blue.
"Where am I?" he wondered aloud, a wave of uncertainty washing over him.
He'd been inexplicably thrown into the Shinobi World and immediately hunted by a Jashinist fanatic. He had survived, but now he had no idea what to do or where to go next.
Returning to Clearwater Village was out of the question. If those Jashinists were still there, going back would be walking right into a trap—a completely idiotic move.
Just then, the Earth Dragon beside him began to stir restlessly.
The fog of confusion in Kael's mind was as thick as ever, but the Earth Dragon's agitation was a clear warning sign. This was the Shinobi World, and danger was everywhere.
"What's wrong?" Kael asked, gently patting the creature's body to soothe it.
His expression suddenly flickered through a rainbow of emotions. He could actually understand what the Earth Dragon was trying to convey.
Perhaps because of the System, a faint mental link had formed between them. Even though the Earth Dragon couldn't speak, Kael could communicate with it on a basic level. The message it had just sent was simple and clear.
"There's someone in the tunnel below!"
A profound sense of the absurd filled Kael. Was he really communicating with an earthworm? He quickly pushed the thought aside, his face growing grim.
"It's that Jashinist!" he snarled, his face dark. "That son of a bitch! What kind of grudge do you have to hold to crawl through that dark hole just to find me?!"
Kael quickly scanned the area but found nothing sharp enough to be a weapon. He settled for picking up a rock the size of his head and walked toward the dark opening the Earth Dragon had emerged from. He crouched beside the hole, holding the rock, his eyes glinting with a coldness he'd never felt before.
He had never killed anyone, had barely even been in a fight, but this cultist had pushed him too far. If he didn't kill this man, the rage in his heart would never be sated.
The Earth Dragon mimicked him, coiling its body up next to him. It somehow managed to look even uglier.
Kael rolled his eyes, feeling a strange mix of annoyance and comfort. Despite its intimidating size, the Earth Dragon was timid and mentally immature. Its favorite thing to do was imitate Kael, its "father."
While waiting, Kael focused his mind and called up the System panel. He wanted to try and synthesize another Summoning Beast before the fight. Even with the Earth Dragon, Kael's complete lack of combat experience left him feeling uneasy about the life-or-death battle to come.
The System was simple, with only one interface dominated by a synthesis window. Below it were the system notifications. Kael's eyes drifted downward.
His eyebrows shot up in surprise, then immediately furrowed. He hadn't realized that synthesizing a Summoning Beast required chakra. And if you didn't have chakra, it consumed your life force instead.
No wonder I feel so weak. I can barely stand while holding this rock. It wasn't because of the drowning after all... he realized. A shadow of worry crossed his face.
He had no chakra, which meant creating another Summoning Beast was impossible for now. His body felt completely drained, as if he'd been hollowed out. Powerless as he was, how was he supposed to face a relentless, bloodthirsty Jashinist?
"Screw it! I'm not running this time," Kael muttered fiercely. "If I don't kill this bastard, I'll never be able to move past this!"
Shhh, shhh, shhh...
The sound of clothes scraping against the tunnel walls grew louder and clearer. Kael could even hear faint groans of pain; the cultist was obviously having a rough time with the jagged rocks.
Kael shot the Earth Dragon a look. Its massive mouthpart slowly opened, snapping menacingly toward the entrance of the hole.
Closer!
Kael's expression hardened. He slowed his breathing until it was almost silent and slowly raised the rock. The Earth Dragon flattened itself against the ground, its back arching slightly like a threatened cobra. It slowly raised the upper half of its body, head swaying back and forth as if warming up.
When a dirt-caked head finally poked out of the hole, the Earth Dragon, already coiled and ready, struck first. Its massive mouth opened to twice its normal size, like a serpent's, and instantly enveloped the man's head.
It was a perfect ambush.
The cultist instinctively flailed, slapping at the Earth Dragon's slimy body in a desperate attempt to free himself.
"Die!" Kael roared. Seeing the cultist's upper body exposed, his face twisted into a ferocious snarl. He strained to lift the heavy rock over his head and brought it crashing down onto the man's chest.
"Urk!"
A muffled grunt came from within the Earth Dragon's maw. The Jashinist's limbs went limp. The Earth Dragon shook the lifeless body in the air for a moment before spitting it out.
The world fell into a profound, almost surreal, silence.
Kael stared at the corpse with a complex expression. This man had hunted him relentlessly and nearly killed him. But this was the first time he had taken a life, and a sense of dread crept into his heart.
He looked at the desolate landscape around him, and his mood turned just as bleak. He was alive, but once again, he was lost.
Sensing Kael's despair, the Earth Dragon brought its head close to his cheek, nuzzling him gently.
Kael managed a faint smile. The presence of the creature beside him was a small comfort, at least giving him the illusion that he wasn't completely alone. The chakra—or life force—used in the synthesis had created a unique bond between them, like a blood tie, an unbreakable connection.
After staring into space for a while longer, Kael finally snapped out of it.
"First... I need to figure out what era this is. I should find the nearest town. Right..."
"First, I'll set a small goal for myself—become a shinobi!"
In a small town, Kael stood thoughtfully on a bustling street.
"So, the Hidden Hot Water Village already exists? And it's been around for a few years, I hear."
"This country is famous across the Shinobi World for its hot springs. Ninja from every village come here to relax. They really do call it the land where war is forgotten..."
"The current leader of Konoha is the Third Hokage. The locals don't know much more than that... But I'd guess that compared to the Five Great Shinobi Countries, the Hidden Hot Water Village was established much later. Based on the anime's timeline and the info I've gathered, it should be around year 30-something of Konoha's history..."
Thinking of the Hidden Leaf Village, Kael shook his head with some regret. Joining Konoha was impossible. He was a citizen of the Land of Hot Water. Even if he managed to make it there, they would surely search his memories to ensure he wasn't a spy. If they discovered his memories from another life, he was sure he would die a horrible death.
"So, my only option is to try and join the Hidden Hot Water Village and find a path to becoming a shinobi. When in Rome, do as the Romans do. I'll lay low and build up my strength for now. Reincarnated with a system... isn't that the standard setup for a protagonist?"
Kael's resolve hardened. He cherished this second chance at life and was determined to do whatever it took to survive in this world.