Right-Half Destroyer

The dark, lightless dungeon, with its unusually damp and stifling air, and walls covered in moss and mold... Ever since he woke up a month ago, his surroundings had remained unchanged.

He should have been dead, but for some reason, he had opened his eyes once more.

The square, enclosed space he was in was very small. Besides a barred iron gate at the front, the other sides were thick earth walls. Inside this room, there was only a low bed, a toilet... Without a doubt, this was a dungeon.

Because he had been confined in the lightless prison, even though a month had passed since his rebirth, the information he had obtained was very limited. Simply put, he currently only knew a few things: First, his name was now "Yuhara"; second, this was the world of "Hokage Ninja"; third, the person controlling or in charge of this dungeon was named Orochimaru.

Things were a bit unbelievable. Even if a dead person could open their eyes again, wouldn't their location theoretically be one of four places: a hospital room, a morgue, a crematorium, or a graveyard? Why a dungeon, and even a prison in another world?

However, no matter how hard it was to accept, facts were facts. A month was enough time for him to complete the necessary psychological adjustment... Even if it was forced, it was still acceptance.

As if by muscle memory, he reached behind his waist with his right hand, and with a slight metallic clink, he pulled out a special wedge-shaped metal weapon, as short as a dagger and entirely black – a kunai.

His eyes had long since adapted to the dim environment. Using the metal reflection of the tool in his hand, he confirmed his current appearance again – a young man with light gray, medium-length hair and metallic, lead-gray eyes.

Or perhaps "middle schooler" would be more fitting?

Although he was disheveled now, his approximate age could still be judged... He looked about fourteen or fifteen years old.

This was clearly not him, but... it was indeed him.

He would have to use the name "Yuhara" for now.

Since he was imprisoned here, "Yuhara's" identity in this world should logically be that of a ninja. However, unfortunately, he retained not a single memory from the original owner, so he possessed no specialized knowledge or skills.

Just as Yuhara was contemplating how to escape his current predicament, clear footsteps suddenly echoed from the long corridor outside his single cell. Simultaneously, an abnormal atmosphere began to stimulate his five senses, a cold, cruel air spreading from the end of the passage.

It felt like some large, slippery animal was slowly leaving its den.

Immediately after, the continuous, rhythmic footsteps abruptly stopped, and a figure blocked the cell door... The footsteps had sounded some distance away just moments ago, but for some reason, the person suddenly appeared here.

An oil lamp was held in a pale hand, and with the quietly flickering flame, constantly twisting shadows were cast onto the wall behind.

A man with long black hair, pale skin, and purple eyeshadow appeared outside the cell. A hoarse, dry, and slightly low chuckle followed:

"Good vigilance."

For someone extremely insecure, vigilance could never be lacking...

The person who appeared here was none other than the renowned ninja of the ninja world, Orochimaru.

"Your name... I recall it's 'Yuhara,' right?

Hmm, in terms of chakra strength, you're only Chunin level. You come from a small country's exiled Ninja Sect, and now that sect is nearly wiped out... But that's not surprising; most small ninja sects in the ninja world end up this way.

What's strange is that until more than ten years ago, you were still being hunted by Sunagakure, one of the Five Great Ninja Villages. Because of this, I haven't collected any special intelligence on that small sect, only knowing that you specialize in a Secret Technique called 'Art of the Holding Magnet.'

Of course, these things and your past identity are not important... Now you have only one identity: my 'Test Subject'."

Facing a mad scientist, the fear of being treated as less than human is one thing. But if he could recall the name, origin, and current situation of every "guinea pig," whether important or not, that was another kind of fear.

More importantly, Orochimaru was telling the truth. A test subject was just a test subject. In front of Orochimaru, Yuhara couldn't even speak normally; he could only lower his head, appearing to listen.

Fortunately, Orochimaru seemed to be just passing by, so after a few casual remarks, he left.

Yuhara naturally didn't know how the original owner fell into Orochimaru's hands, but he was certain that he would soon be forced to participate in one or even several of Orochimaru's experiments. Even more unfortunately, all of Orochimaru's experiments were deadly.

Rebirth was certainly cause for joy, unless one died again shortly after being reborn. In the last few years of his original life, he had struggled with severe illness. Therefore, since he had miraculously gained a second life, he would not give up under any circumstances.

So, undoubtedly, Yuhara needed an escape plan.

The question was, how to escape? For a moment, he felt completely lost. Acting blindly would only hasten his death. Setting aside the reality that he didn't know any ninja skills, even if he could unleash the full potential of this body, how could an ordinary ninja escape from Orochimaru, one of the "Sannin"?

He checked himself again and arrived at a repetitive and regrettable fact: he couldn't see his status panel, didn't have any rings on him, and couldn't hear any system notifications.

Well, this was normal; what he was imagining was a bit too unscientific...

Afterward, Yuhara began to organize more realistic matters.

Although he hadn't retained the memories of this body, fortunately, physical things didn't disappear. He could feel a special energy circulating within him; that was probably the legendary Chakra. But how to use this special power? This didn't seem like something he could figure out by randomly guessing.

This was truly...

A person caught in a game, within the game itself.

Unconsciously, two hours passed. At this time, another female ninja, dressed in black and wearing a mask, arrived at Yuhara's cell.

This ninja's name was "Hotaru," and she was the actual manager of the prisoners in this dungeon. Her most important daily task was to deliver food to the prisoners to prevent them from starving.

However, she wasn't here to deliver food this time, as she directly opened Yuhara's cell door.

"Please check your ninja tools, then follow me." After the creaking sound of the cell door opening, she spoke to Yuhara.

"...Is something wrong?" Yuhara instinctively asked, as opening the cell door clearly didn't mean he was being released.

However, she just looked at him without responding to his question.

"Alright..." Yuhara stood up and obediently followed behind her.

As they passed by the other cells, the half-dead prisoners showed no interest in the occasional passersby. When the two reached the end of the corridor, a relatively spacious, circular area presented itself.

The female ninja stepped aside from the entrance, gesturing for Yuhara to enter as she spoke, "We're here."

Under the strong light from above, the dried brown patches on the floor and walls were particularly striking. In an instant, Yuhara understood what kind of place this was – an arena, or simply put, a "fighting pit."

However, Yuhara had no choice but to hesitate or refuse. He could only take a deep breath and step inside.

The large door at the entrance closed behind him once more.

Yuhara wasn't the only one present. On the other side of the arena, someone had already been waiting... It wasn't hard to guess what was about to happen. The cruelty of this world was displayed in a simple, brutal manner.

The lights overhead illuminated every corner of the space, but obscured the situation above. It was clear someone was watching everything, as Orochimaru's voice soon echoed from overhead:

"The rules are simple... Only one of the two can survive."

This kind of meaningless slaughter, devoid of cause and effect, certainly didn't align with modern people's understanding. Yet, Orochimaru's voice was the signal to begin the fight!

Before Yuhara could even prepare himself mentally, the person who had been standing across the arena was suddenly in front of him in the blink of an eye.

Physically, this person was significantly more robust than Yuhara, making him desperately wish he could "forfeit" right then and there. A heavyweight fighting a lightweight? There was no fairness to this match whatsoever.

Unfortunately, besides himself, no one cared about fairness, because this wasn't a competition at all.

Immediately after, Yuhara couldn't afford to indulge in such thoughts. The opponent charged at him with incredible speed. After stopping abruptly, he swiftly swung a blade forward with one hand, the sharp edge slicing horizontally towards Yuhara's waist.

The unfairness escalated. The opponent wielded a regulated blade about eighty to ninety centimeters long, while the kunai Yuhara could produce was barely more than a small awl in comparison.

Yuhara's mind was that of a weak, modern person, completely ignorant of combat techniques. Thus, his body and nervous reflexes seemed to act before his conscious thought. Facing the enemy's surprise attack, he pushed off his right foot, rapidly lowering his center of gravity. While bending his back significantly, he leaped backward... Though it looked clumsy, he managed to dodge the attack.

Ninja reflexes, it seemed, were quite different from those of normal people.

Yuhara's heart pounded with lingering fear. He slowly raised his head to look at his opponent, his gaze meeting the ferocity, madness, and killing intent in the other's eyes.

Despite not wanting to be in this fight, Yuhara now knew he had to protect himself... Since it was a fight, he had to do something.

With that thought, Yuhara pulled a kunai from behind his back. After sizing up his opponent for a moment, he threw it with all his might using one hand! He actually threw it quite accurately, and the kunai flew in a straight line at high speed towards the opponent's head.

However, such an attack was too linear. The enemy merely tilted his head slightly and dodged it.

The next moment, the opponent was in front of Yuhara again. He took a step forward and, in a very direct move, hooked Yuhara's ankle.

This prevented Yuhara from dodging nimbly.

Through their brief exchange, the opponent had reached a correct conclusion: Yuhara was a complete novice! Therefore, his attacks could be even bolder and riskier.

After using a forward lunge to immobilize Yuhara, the opponent immediately swung his blade again, aiming for Yuhara's neck... This time, Yuhara couldn't retreat to dodge.

Death was suddenly within arm's reach! Realizing this, Yuhara couldn't say whether his mind went blank or began operating at high speed. In any case, his breathing steadied, his heart rate accelerated, and his adrenaline levels soared!

At the critical moment, Yuhara's metallic eyes reflected the cold glint of the incoming blade like a mirror... In that instant, mere inches separated life and death.

At this moment, in his eyes, the opponent's movements seemed to slow down.

Suddenly, Yuhara thrust his left hand diagonally upward at a speed far exceeding the opponent's swing. He extended his five fingers and firmly gripped the long sword aimed at his neck. His pale knuckles held their shape rigidly, his burning fingertips seeming to sink into the blade's edge as if they could melt steel.

The sharp blade seemed capable of severing Yuhara's fingers the next moment, but...

It was held fast, unable to advance.

The situation reached a stalemate.

However, if this stalemate continued, the one holding the weapon would inevitably have the advantage.

Yuhara still needed to do something.

As he thought this, a peculiar sense of connection spread from him.

Yuhara subconsciously swung his palm, and the kunai he had already thrown, which had fallen to the ground, suddenly flew back at a speed far exceeding its previous trajectory. It then pierced the opponent's right abdomen from behind as easily as an armor-piercing bullet... This was a "kidney shot," theoretically capable of incapacitating someone instantly, more so than a throat slash.

The sudden sting caused the opponent's grip to loosen. However, before he could even comprehend what had happened, Yuhara's lowered right hand had already hooked two kunai from the opponent's leg pouch.

Immediately after, Yuhara's arm moved rapidly upward. He first used the momentum to deeply stab one kunai into the opponent's right thigh, causing the enemy, who was already weakly kneeling, to stumble forward! Then, as Yuhara's arm moved past the opponent's shoulder, he held the kunai with the blade pointing vertically downward. He then exerted his full force, driving the kunai fiercely into the opponent's right shoulder, between the collarbones.

Like a water pipe suddenly ruptured by an excavator, a large amount of blood instantly gushed from the wound.

Blood splattered onto Yuhara. The distinct smell of blood stimulated his senses, and the viscous texture and bloody odor sharpened his focus. After completing this round of attacks, he quickly released his grip and retreated backward.

After creating a safe distance, Yuhara finally stopped, cautiously observing the opponent's condition.

Severely wounded, the opponent's body swayed a few times. He first collapsed to his knees powerlessly, then looked down at the wound in his abdomen, seemingly unable to comprehend how he had been so grievously injured.

Then, as if finding the answer, he softly muttered before collapsing:

"Damn shuriken..."

Unfortunately, this was a misjudgment.

Orochimaru, observing from his high vantage point, chuckled silently.

He now understood why Sunagakure was hunting that unknown clan.

"Magnet Release..."

"Heh heh..."

It seemed he had acquired some excellent "test subjects."