The forest of Shinsenkyō never slept. That morning, it was forced awake by the sound of metal clashing against metal.
In a small clearing, Sagiri was thrown backward, her heels dragging through the dirt, creating small trenches. Her chest heaved, sweat dripping from her sharp chin. Her katana trembled in her grip.
"Too slow," Ren's voice was flat, cutting through the air like a knife.
Ren stood ten meters away. The black iron staff in his hand wasn't raised in an attack stance; it was resting casually on the ground. There wasn't a single drop of sweat on his body.
"You think too much before you cut, Sagiri," Ren criticized, taking a slow step forward. "You think about technique, you think about morals, you think about whether your enemy deserves to die... Your sword is dull because your head is too noisy."
Sagiri gritted her teeth. "It's not just about cutting! Yamada Asaemon are taught to respect the lives we take"
"And that is why you are weak," Ren interrupted.
Suddenly, Ren vanished.
It wasn't magic. It was a burst of pure speed leg muscles compressed by Tao energy releasing all at once. Sagiri didn't even have time to blink before the black iron staff stopped one centimeter from her neck. The wind from the swing sliced a few strands of her black hair.
Yuzuriha, watching from a tree branch while eating a wild peach, stopped chewing. Her eyes widened. 'He's getting faster... No, he's getting more efficient. Yesterday his movements were raw, but today... they flow like water.'
Ren pulled his weapon back. He looked at his own palm, frowning slightly.
"Still not enough," Ren muttered to himself.
There was an itch inside his brain. Not a physical itch, but a memory itch. Every time he swung the weapon, he saw a faint image of a movement far more perfect. An image of a Golden Monkey swinging a pillar that held up the sky, crushing an army of gods with a simple twist of his waist.
His human body was desperately trying to catch up to the memory of a "God" embedded in his soul.
BOOM!
Ren's thoughts were shattered.
A massive explosion shook the ground, followed by a plume of black smoke rising from behind the rocky hills to the north. The vibration was strong enough to knock Yuzuriha off her branch (she landed gracefully like a cat, of course).
"This energy..." Sagiri straightened up immediately, her fighter instincts taking over. "It's hot. And full of killing intent."
"The Fire of Iwagakure," Yuzuriha added, her playful smile vanishing. "There's only one crazy person who can create a Ninjutsu explosion that big."
Ren smirked. The boredom of the repetitive training evaporated instantly.
"Let's go," Ren commanded. "Let's see who dares to make a racket in my backyard."
The valley behind the hill had turned into a small hell.
Trees were scorched black. The earth was overturned. In the middle of the chaos, a small young man with messy white hair was fighting for his life.
Gabimaru the Hollow.
But he wasn't fighting one enemy. He was surrounded by three Doshin gigantic gatekeeper monsters wielding massive spiked clubs.
Gabimaru moved agilely, dodging club strikes that pulverized boulders. His hands were engulfed in flames (Ninpo: Hibashi), burning the face of one giant. But the monsters didn't care. They were creatures without pain, meat puppets that only knew how to kill.
"Dammit... they regenerate too fast," Gabimaru thought, his breathing heavy. He was running out of stamina.
One Doshin managed to catch Gabimaru's leg while he was in mid air. The giant slammed the ninja's small body into a cliff face.
CRASH!
Gabimaru coughed up fresh blood. His ribs were definitely cracked. Before he could recover, the shadow of a giant club blocked out the sun above him.
"I'm dead," Gabimaru thought pragmatically. He didn't fear death, but he regretted that he wouldn't see his wife's face again.
But the impact never came.
A figure landed between Gabimaru and the giant. Not with an explosive sound, but with a heavy, dense thud.
Ren caught the spiked club which was three times the size of his body with just his left hand raised above his head. His feet sank inches into the ground, but his knees didn't buckle even a millimeter.
Silence.
The three giants stopped moving, confused. Gabimaru looked up, his empty eyes now filled with confusion.
Ren glanced back slightly, looking at Gabimaru through the corner of his glowing golden eye.
"You're too loud, Ninja," Ren said coldly. "You're ruining my morning view."
The Doshin whose club was being held roared in anger. It tried to pull its weapon back, but Ren's hand gripped the iron spikes as if squeezing a foam pillow.
That was when Ren felt the "Flow" again.
The moment his back muscles tightened, he didn't need to think. Memories from a past life took over. This is how you hold the Ruyi Jingu Bang. This is how you channel the weight of the earth into the tip of the staff.
[Synchronization Increased: 1.8% -> 2.0%] [Memory Unlock: Basic Technique - Heavy Mountain Strike.]
"Break," Ren whispered.
He released the club, and with a fluid spinning motion, he swung his black iron staff upward, smashing into the giant's chin.
It wasn't just a physical hit. There was the weight of a "mountain" behind that swing.
CRACK BOOM!
The giant's head didn't just snap back. It exploded into a red mist. The wind pressure from the attack sent a shockwave upward, splitting the clouds in the sky.
The headless body collapsed, causing a small earthquake.
The other two giants roared in fear an emotion they shouldn't possess. They tried to step back, but Ren was already bored.
"Dragon Tail Sweep," Ren muttered.
He extended his reach, spinning 360 degrees with the black iron staff.
SWOOSH!
The two giants went silent. A second later, their upper bodies slid off their waists, falling to the ground with a clean, brutal cut.
Ren exhaled a long breath, white steam escaping his lips. He straightened his back, rested his weapon on his shoulder, and turned to face Gabimaru.
Sagiri and Yuzuriha had just arrived at the edge of the crater, frozen in awe at the one sided slaughter.
Gabimaru stood up shakily, clutching his ribs. His eyes were wary. As an assassin, he knew the man in front of him was far more dangerous than the three giants combined.
"Who are you?" Gabimaru asked, his voice hoarse but steady. "You're not an executioner. You're a prisoner... like me."
Ren walked closer until his shadow covered Gabimaru's small frame.
"My name is Ren," he answered. "And don't compare me to you. You fight because you have to survive. I fight because I decide who gets to live."
Gabimaru stared into those golden eyes. He looked for an opening, a weakness. But all he found was a bottomless abyss of power.
"What do you want?" Gabimaru asked again. "You saved me. Do you want the Shogun's pardon? Or do you want me to owe you a favor?"
Ren laughed. A low, baritone laugh that echoed in the silent valley.
"Saved you? Don't be so arrogant, kid. I was just clearing the trash that was blocking my path," Ren leaned in. "I don't need a pardon from humans. And I certainly don't need favors from a half dead ninja."
The atmosphere was tense. Sagiri held her breath in the distance.
Gabimaru narrowed his eyes. "Then I'll be going. I have a wife waiting for me. I need to find the Elixir and leave this island as fast as possible."
Ren stared at Gabimaru for a few seconds. A gaze that stripped the soul bare.
"A wife, huh?" Ren scoffed, losing interest. "So your heart is tied to a memory back home. How boring."
Ren turned his back on Gabimaru.
"Go," Ren waved his hand dismissively without looking back. "If you followed me, you'd just be a buzzkill. I don't need a gloomy man who constantly talks about his feelings."
Gabimaru was stunned for a moment. He hadn't expected to be let go so easily.
"But remember one thing, Gabimaru," Ren's voice dropped an octave, his dominance aura pressing down on the air around them, making it hard to breathe. "This island is mine. If you find the Elixir first... don't drink it until I say so. Or I'll rip a way out through your stomach."
It wasn't an empty threat. It was a promise.
Gabimaru nodded briefly, acknowledging the hierarchy of power.
"Be careful, Ren. The Tensen... they are not human," Gabimaru warned before he leaped away, disappearing into the dense forest with incredible speed.
After Gabimaru left, Yuzuriha jumped down to Ren's side, followed by Sagiri.
"You just let him go?" Yuzuriha pouted, crossing her arms. "He's strong, Ren-kun. He could have been a useful meat shield."
Ren looked at the direction Gabimaru had gone, then shifted his gaze to the two women beside him.
"A wolf doesn't run with a dog," Ren replied metaphorically. "Besides..."
Ren stepped closer to Yuzuriha and Sagiri, casually draping his arms around both of their shoulders, pulling them in. The two women gasped, surprised by the sudden contact.
"...I prefer the company of beautiful flowers over a gloomy guy who misses his wife. Right?"
Sagiri's face turned bright red, while Yuzuriha giggled, clearly amused.
"You really are a player," Yuzuriha teased, but she didn't push his arm away.
"Let's go," Ren pointed his chin toward a massive gate visible in the distance through the fog. "Warm up is over. It's time we go say hello to the owners of this island."