The Right-Half Destroyer

A gloomy cave without a trace of light, unnaturally damp and oppressively stuffy air, walls covered in moss and mold... Ever since he awoke again a month ago, everything around him had remained exactly the same.

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

The square, enclosed space he occupied was extremely cramped. Apart from the barred iron door in front of him, every side was solid earth. Inside the room, there was only a low bed and a toilet... There was no doubt about it: this was a dungeon.

Since he had remained in a cell where sunlight could never reach, even after a month had passed since his rebirth, the information he could obtain was extremely limited. In short, he currently knew only a few things. First, his name was "Yuhara." Second, this was the world of "Hokage Ninja." Third, the man who controlled or owned this dungeon was named Orochimaru.

The whole situation was baffling. Even if a dead person could open his eyes again, theoretically, shouldn't he have woken up in one of four places—a hospital ward, a morgue, a crematorium, or a cemetery? Why a dungeon? And why a prison in another world?

Yet no matter how hard it was to accept, facts were facts. A month was more than enough time for him to prepare himself mentally... Even if he had been forced to accept it, acceptance was still acceptance.

As if guided by muscle memory, he reached his right hand behind his waist. With a faint metallic clink, he drew a pitch-black, short, dagger-like wedge-shaped metal weapon from behind him—a kunai.

His eyes had long since adapted to the darkness. Using the metal's reflection, he once again confirmed his current appearance: a young man with light-gray, medium-length hair and lead-gray eyes that gleamed like metal.

Or perhaps "middle school student" would be more appropriate?

Though he was disheveled, his approximate age could still be judged... He seemed to be only fourteen or fifteen.

This clearly wasn't him, but... it really was him.

For the time being, he would have to use the name "Yuhara."

Since he was imprisoned here, "Yuhara" was naturally a ninja in this world. Unfortunately, he hadn't retained even the slightest bit of the original owner's memories, so he had no professional knowledge or skills.

While Yuhara was thinking about how to escape his current predicament, clear footsteps suddenly echoed through the long passage outside his single cell. At the same time, an unusual atmosphere began to stimulate his senses. A cold, cruel air spread from the end of the passage.

It seemed as if some enormous, slippery animal was slowly leaving its nest.

Then the steady footsteps abruptly stopped. A figure blocked the entrance to the cell... The footsteps had sounded as if they were still some distance away, yet somehow, the person had suddenly appeared there.

A pale hand held an oil lamp. Beneath the quietly dancing flame, constantly twisting shadows were cast onto the wall behind him.

A man with long black hair, pale skin, and purple eye shadow appeared outside the cell. His hoarse, dry voice, tinged with a low laugh, followed:

"Not bad vigilance."

For someone desperately lacking a sense of security, his vigilance could hardly have been poor...

The person standing there was none other than Orochimaru, one of the most renowned and powerful ninjas in the shinobi world.

"Your name... If I remember correctly, it was 'Yuhara,' right?"

"Hmm. Judging from the strength of your Chakra, your abilities are only at the Chunin level. You came from a wandering Ninja Sect in some small country, and that Ninja Sect is now nearly wiped out... But that isn't surprising. Most small Ninja Sects in the shinobi world meet the same fate."

"What's strange is that until more than ten years ago, you were constantly hunted by the Sand Village, one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages. That's also why I never managed to gather any particularly useful information about that small Ninja Sect. I only know that you specialized in a Secret Technique called the 'Art of the Holding Magnet.'"

"Of course, all that, as well as your former identity, is unimportant... Now, you have only one identity: my 'test subject.'"

When facing a mad scientist, the terror of being treated as nothing more than an object was one thing. But if that scientist could recite every "lab rat's" name, background, and current condition by heart—regardless of whether the rat was important or not—that was an entirely different kind of terror.

More importantly, Orochimaru was telling the truth. A test subject was merely a test subject. In front of Orochimaru, Yuhara couldn't even speak normally. He could only lower his head and pretend to listen.

Fortunately, Orochimaru seemed merely to be passing by. After chatting for a couple of sentences, he left.

Yuhara naturally had no idea how the original owner had fallen into Orochimaru's hands, but one thing was certain: he would soon be forced to participate in one or more of Orochimaru's experiments. Even worse, every one of Orochimaru's experiments was lethal.

Rebirth was certainly worth celebrating—unless he died again not long afterward. During the final years of his original life, he had struggled through severe illness. Since he had miraculously received a second life, he would never give up, no matter what.

Therefore, without a doubt, Yuhara needed an escape plan.

The problem was, how was he supposed to escape? For a moment, he had no idea where to begin. Acting blindly would only get him killed faster. Setting aside the fact that he didn't understand any ninja skills at all, even if he could bring out the full strength of this body, how could an ordinary ninja possibly escape from Orochimaru, one of the Three Legendary Sannin?

After examining himself once more, Yuhara arrived at the same disappointing conclusion: he couldn't see any status panel, he wasn't wearing some kind of ring, and he couldn't hear any system sounds.

Well, that was normal. The things he had imagined were a little too unscientific...

Yuhara then began sorting through more realistic matters.

Although he hadn't retained this body's memories, fortunately, physical things didn't simply vanish. He could feel a special energy circulating within his body. That was probably the legendary Chakra. But how was he supposed to use this special power? It didn't seem like something he could figure out by blindly experimenting.

This was truly...

A man caught in a situation, trapped within that very situation.

Before he realized it, two hours had passed. At that moment, another female ninja dressed in black and wearing a mask arrived outside Yuhara's cell.

This ninja was named Hotaru. She was the actual manager of the prisoners in this dungeon, and her most important task was usually to deliver food to the prisoners so they wouldn't starve to death.

But she hadn't come to deliver food this time, because she directly opened Yuhara's cell door.

"Check your ninja tools, then come with me." After the door creaked open, she said this to Yuhara.

"...What's going on?" Yuhara asked instinctively. Clearly, opening the cell door didn't mean he was being released.

However, she only looked at him without answering his question.

"All right..." Yuhara stood up and obediently followed behind her.

In the cells they passed, the half-dead prisoners showed little interest in the occasional passersby. When the two reached the end of the passage, a relatively spacious, wide, circular area came into view.

The female ninja stepped aside, gestured for Yuhara to enter, and said, "We're here."

Under the powerful light overhead, patches of dried brown stains covering the floor and walls stood out painfully. In an instant, Yuhara understood what kind of place this was—a fighting arena, or more accurately, a "beast arena."

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

The gate at the entrance closed again behind him.

Yuhara wasn't alone here. Someone was already waiting on the opposite side of the arena... It wasn't difficult to guess what would happen next. The cruelty of this world was being displayed in the simplest and most brutal way possible.

The lights overhead illuminated every corner, but made it impossible to see what was above. Someone was clearly watching everything from up there, though, because Orochimaru's voice soon rang out from above:

"The rules are simple... Only one of the two will walk out alive."

Such causeless and meaningless slaughter clearly didn't fit a modern person's understanding or values. However, Orochimaru's voice was also the signal for the battle to begin!

Before Yuhara had made any mental preparations, the person who had just been standing across the arena had already rushed in front of him in the blink of an eye.

Physically, the man was clearly much sturdier than Yuhara. Yuhara especially wanted to "forfeit" at that moment—having a heavyweight fight a lightweight? There was no fairness whatsoever.

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

Yuhara had no time to let his thoughts wander. The man rushed in front of him at incredible speed, abruptly stopped, and quickly swung a blade forward with one hand. The sharp edge swept horizontally toward Yuhara's waist.

The unfairness only intensified. The enemy was carrying a regulated weapon with a blade eighty or ninety centimeters long. By comparison, the kunai in Yuhara's hand could at most be considered a small spike.

Yuhara's mind was that of a weak modern man, and he understood nothing about combat techniques. Thus, his body and reflexes seemed to move before his conscious mind. Facing the enemy's surprise attack, he pushed off with his right foot, rapidly lowered his center of gravity, bent his back sharply, and leaped backward. Though he looked unsteady, he still managed to evade the attack.

A ninja's reflexes seemed to be different from those of an ordinary person.

Still shaken, Yuhara slowly raised his head and looked at his opponent. His gaze met the man's ferocity, madness, and killing intent.

Though he had never wanted to participate in this sort of battle, Yuhara now understood that he had to protect himself... Since this was a fight, he had to do something.

With that thought, Yuhara drew a kunai from behind him. After aiming at his opponent for a few glances, he threw it forcefully with one hand! He had to admit, his aim was quite accurate. The kunai flew straight toward the man's head at high speed.

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

In the next instant, the enemy rushed in front of Yuhara again. He stepped forward and hooked Yuhara's ankle in an extremely direct move.

Yuhara could no longer dodge flexibly.

From their brief exchange, the enemy had already reached the correct conclusion: Yuhara was a complete amateur! Therefore, he could afford to attack more boldly and take greater risks.

After restricting Yuhara with that reckless move, the enemy immediately swung another slash at his neck... This time, Yuhara could no longer retreat to evade it.

Death was suddenly within arm's reach! After realizing this, Yuhara couldn't tell whether his mind had emptied or begun operating at high speed. In any case, his breathing steadied, his heartbeat accelerated, and his adrenaline surged!

At the critical moment, the cold gleam of the blade reflected clearly in Yuhara's metallic eyes as it hacked toward him... At that instant, within such a short distance, lay the boundary between life and death.

At that moment, the opponent's movements suddenly seemed to slow in Yuhara's eyes.

Suddenly, Yuhara thrust his left hand diagonally upward at a speed far beyond that of the opponent's swing. He extended all five fingers and clamped them tightly around the long blade aimed at his neck. His pale knuckles held firm, while his burning fingertips slowly sank into the edge as if they could melt steel.

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

It could advance no farther.

The scene froze in a stalemate.

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

Yuhara still had to do something.

Just as he thought this, a strange sense of connection spread outward from him.

Yuhara instinctively waved his hand. The kunai he had thrown earlier, which had already fallen to the ground, suddenly flew back at a speed far greater than before. Like an armor-piercing round, it effortlessly pierced through the enemy's right abdomen from behind... It was a strike to the kidney, which in theory could instantly deprive someone of their ability to resist even more effectively than slitting their throat.

The sudden pain caused the strength in the man's hand to loosen. Before he could react to what had happened, Yuhara's lowered right hand had already hooked two kunai from the ninja tool pouch on the man's leg.

Immediately afterward, Yuhara's arm rose swiftly. He first drove one kunai deep into the enemy's right thigh, causing the opponent, who was already dropping weakly to his knees, to stagger forward. Then, when Yuhara's arm passed over the enemy's shoulder, he gripped the kunai with its point hanging straight down and suddenly exerted his full strength, stabbing it viciously into the right shoulder, between the collarbones.

Like a water pipe suddenly torn apart by a construction excavator, a massive amount of blood sprayed from the wound.

Blood splashed across Yuhara's body. The peculiar stench of it stimulated his senses, while its sticky touch and bloody smell jolted his mind awake. After completing that round of attacks, he immediately released his grip and retreated backward.

Only after creating a sufficiently safe distance did Yuhara stop and cautiously observe the enemy's condition.

Gravely wounded, the enemy's body swayed several times. He first fell helplessly to his knees, then lowered his head and stared at the wound in his abdomen, apparently unable to understand how he had been injured so badly.

Then he seemed to find the answer. Before collapsing face-first onto the ground, he murmured softly:

"Controlling shuriken..."

Unfortunately, that was the wrong conclusion.

Orochimaru, watching silently from above, began to laugh.

He now understood why the Sand Village had hunted that unknown clan.

"Magnet Release..."

"Heh heh..."

It seemed he had obtained some excellent "experimental material."