At the sight of those gleaming blades, fear showed on the villagers' faces. Some of them had even begun to waver.
After all, not everyone had a wife and children.
"All right..."
A short, elderly man who seemed to be the villagers' leader stepped forward.
"Honorable samurai..."
"Please, don't draw your weapons..."
"We've hidden the women and children deep in the mountains, quite a distance away."
"A round trip would take at least half a day."
When the old man seemed about to reveal where his wife and children were, the villagers beside him grew anxious.
"Village chief!"
But one stern look from the old man silenced them all. Clearly, he was a man of great authority in the village.
"If you gentlemen go yourselves, you may not be able to find the way. It would be better if I led you."
The old man seemed to have run out of options.
"Let me lead you there..."
"Heh heh heh."
The samurai leader sneered.
Anyone who had survived long in this chaotic age was bound to be shrewd.
"I can't trust an old codger like you..."
The armed samurai's gaze shifted. He didn't suggest splitting up his men.
There were only a little over ten of them, after all. If they split their forces in half, they might not be able to keep the village's able-bodied men in check.
"So we'll wait here, brothers..."
"Old man, be sure to bring those women over to us."
At his words, the samurai exchanged glances and burst into arrogant laughter.
The village chief was the only one who looked crestfallen, as though his plan had just been seen through.
Neither side noticed the sparrow perched in the treetops. Its tiny eyes gleamed with a distinctly human-like intelligence as it took in everything below.
Just as the samurai dismounted, preparing to camp at the village entrance,
a tall figure suddenly appeared before the band of wandering samurai.
Compared to the samurai, whose average height was under five foot five, Sarutobi Hiruzen, standing over five foot seven, was quite conspicuous.
At this point, Sarutobi Hiruzen hadn't yet shrunk to the five-foot-two height he'd have later in life.
"Hey! You there!"
"What school of ninjutsu are you from?!"
Seeing how tall and muscular the man was, the samurai leader knew he wasn't some impoverished commoner. His close-fitting outfit made him look more like a ninja trained by a particular school or a powerful clan—perhaps even a loyal death warrior.
At the leader's signal, the other samurai drew their blades and watched the somewhat elderly but imposing man warily.
In this age of chaos, any stranger could be the one to end your life.
Faced with more than ten armed samurai, Sarutobi Hiruzen paid no attention to the danger around him. Instead, he began assessing this world.
"They're all physically ordinary."
"Judging by their clothes and language..."
"This seems to be ancient Japan."
Sarutobi Hiruzen analyzed calmly.
"Hey! You old man!"
"I'm talking to you!"
The samurai leader saw that the man was completely ignoring him and speaking in an unfamiliar accent instead.
He immediately strode forward impatiently, intending to seize Sarutobi Hiruzen.
"Old man?!"
The words hit a sore spot for Sarutobi Hiruzen, instantly souring his mood.
"Are you talking to me?!"
The people around him didn't see Sarutobi Hiruzen move. One moment, the tall man was standing there; the next, he had the samurai leader's sword in his hand.
Before the tall man's arrogant expression could even change, the sharp blade had already opened the samurai leader's throat.
Blood spurted from the severed artery, passing close by Sarutobi Hiruzen.
Strictly speaking, this was his first time killing someone. But the Third's memories of the battlefield kept him from feeling the slightest discomfort.
Instead, Sarutobi Hiruzen felt his blood begin to race.
For a ninja, killing was practically an instinct carved into his bones.
"Run!"
"The boss is dead! Flee!"
Seeing their leader killed so cleanly, the other samurai weren't fools. They knew better than to fight someone like this.
And as a loose band of wandering samurai, they had no desire to avenge their leader.
But Sarutobi Hiruzen, now caught up in the rhythm of killing, had no intention of letting them go.
With the leader's sword in hand, Sarutobi Hiruzen moved lightly through the group. Every samurai present had his throat cut without exception.
His speed and the fluid transitions between his movements were almost artistic.
He darted among them, killing each one with precision.
The villagers stood dumbstruck, watching the scene. They swallowed hard and stared at the imposing, gray-haired man with fear.
"Sir..."
"Honored sir..."
In the end, the village chief was the bravest. Fighting down his fear, he thanked Sarutobi Hiruzen.
"Thank you for coming to our aid."
Sarutobi Hiruzen casually tossed aside the sword and looked at the elderly man in ragged clothes.
"Where is this place?"
"So, the Sengoku era..."
Sarutobi Hiruzen sat in a crude hut, with tea and the most lavish meal the villagers could manage laid out before him.
After talking with the village chief, he'd learned the era and region he was in.
It was around the sixteenth century, in Japan.
In other words, this was the Sengoku era that later generations of Japanese people praised to the skies.
"The Warring States you mentioned is quite an apt comparison, sir."
"The situation here really is rather like the Warring States period of the Seven Kingdoms across the sea, in the Great Tang."
"Unjust wars are everywhere..."
"Soldiers and samurai keep roaming through and looting our village."
"We can barely go on living..."
The village chief seemed to have received some schooling. He even knew about the history of the Tang dynasty next door.
Sarutobi Hiruzen ignored the village chief's tale of woe. As the Hokage of the ninja world, he'd seen every kind of brutal war.
Instead, he kept wondering what kind of story would take place in Japan during the Sengoku era.
The best fit would undoubtedly be a monster world like Inuyasha...
But when I asked the village chief, he didn't mention any signs of monsters.
And if there were monsters everywhere, this would have to be at least a Three-Star world.
After talking with the village chief for so long, Sarutobi Hiruzen felt thirsty. He picked up the tea in front of him and took a sip.
"About the monsters you asked me about earlier..."
The village chief suddenly brought up the subject again.
"We don't have many legends about monsters around here."
"But there really are man-eating creatures."
Sarutobi Hiruzen became interested. This sounded like a supernatural incident.
The village chief's expression grew grave.
"Or rather, man-eating demons!"
"Recently, women and children in the village have been eaten."
"That's why we hid them deep in the mountains."
Sarutobi Hiruzen's expression turned inscrutable.
"So that's what happened."
Before you continue