Youth Arc: Man-God

That night, we did not continue our journey. We merely cleaned up Hidden Cloud's temporary camp and used it as a place to rest.

There was a faint smell of blood, but there was nothing we could do about it. There might still be other Hidden Cloud ninja nearby, so we could not make a big show of preparing a new shelter.

As for food, we just made do with whatever was in the camp to fill our stomachs.

It was not until that night that I noticed I had nearly crushed my sword hilt. With no other choice, I replaced it with the hilt from another Hidden Cloud ninja's sword.

I had originally wanted to see if there were any better ninja swords, but on second thought, mine had been given to me by the Third Hokage. It should have been among the finest, aside from custom chakra blades and the Kusanagi Sword.

Looking at Furan, who had remained so quiet, I could not help but feel heartache.

"Furan, if something like this happens again, you do not need to listen to me. Fight back if you can. If you cannot, then shout for help to get my attention. Understand?"

"I understand."

It was good that she listened, but now this silly girl had become someone who only followed my orders again.

It seemed there was still a long way to go before Furan could become a normal little girl again. Slowly, then.

"I want to learn."

"Hm? Learn what?"

This was the first time Furan had taken the initiative to speak to me in days. If I could fulfill her request, I absolutely had to. This was one of the few times she had shown a mind of her own.

"The move that turns you into that."

This... I really could not teach her that. Where was I supposed to find a second Mythical Zoan Fruit?

"That would be hard for me to teach. How should I put it... it has to do with people having different... constitutions?"

"Then I want to learn that really fast swordsmanship."

Huh? She accepted that explanation just like that? By really fast swordsmanship, she probably meant the Sword God Style's Light Blade.

"What I'm teaching you now is that swordsmanship. The move I used is called Light Blade, the secret technique of the Sword God Style. The core principle is to slash at the enemy's vital points at the fastest possible speed. But there is no need to rush. You will master it gradually."

"I understand."

Early the next morning, I woke up as usual and gently moved Furan's hand aside. After my daily training, I prepared breakfast and checked the area for enemies.

Once everything was ready, I woke the still-sleeping Furan and continued on our journey.

We carefully avoided Hidden Cloud ninja while picking up our pace.

Several more days passed. We should have covered a considerable distance by then, yet we were still within dense forest.

After all, Furan had not received specialized training. She had plenty of brute strength, but there was no way she could move as quickly as a ninja.

At noon, just as we were preparing to rest under the shade of a tree and avoid the direct sunlight, I suddenly sensed someone else's presence.

"Don't move, Furan. There's someone nearby."

This time, I did not tell Furan to stay silent, but she still cooperatively just nodded without making a sound.

Very quickly, I precisely located the newcomer with Observation Haki.

However, this person did not seem to have intended to hide his tracks in the first place. He merely slowed his footsteps as he continued walking toward me.

Logically speaking, even a Kage might not immediately notice my ability to conceal my presence, yet he had located me directly.

He was clearly quite the expert.

"Stop hiding! I came for you! With that golden-brown center-parted hair, you're Qingyue, the enemy Man-God ordered me to eliminate, right?!"

Wait, wait. Man-God? Wasn't that from Mushoku Tensei?

Could it be that another reincarnator had reincarnated as Man-God and come to this world? And he already knew my information!

Since hiding was useless, I could only deal with him quickly.

After confirming that no one else was nearby, I immediately transformed into my Fenrir form, drew my ninja sword, and gripped it tightly in my hand.

"You're Man-God's apostle? Why is Man-God targeting me? I don't think I've ever even met him."

I would see if I could pry out some information. This involved another reincarnator, after all. I certainly could not bring a corpse back to Konoha and ask others to investigate for me.

"I will not reveal anything about Lord Man-God! He is the only god in my heart. His orders are absolute!"

I learned nothing. Without another word, the man slammed both hands onto the ground, and more than a dozen sharp stone pillars burst from the earth and shot toward me.

He did not even need hand seals at this point? Then Kisame really had it rough, didn't he?

Those stone pillars were not particularly sturdy or fast. After reinforcing myself with Dragon Saint Battle Aura, I easily shattered them with a swing of my sword, reducing them to fragments.

"Brother, Man-God isn't a good person. He gives you good advice so that you'll trust him, but in the end, he'll definitely screw you over until you lose everything!"

That was exactly what Man-God was like in Mushoku Tensei. If this reincarnator had reincarnated as Man-God, he should have had the same personality, right?

Though I was not sure whether one could choose what to reincarnate into, I vaguely remembered making a wish after I died. I had also heard a female voice more mechanical than Hill's.

"Even if Lord Man-God asks for my life, I'll give it to him!"

No way, he had already been influenced this deeply? Most likely, that reincarnator had intervened at the lowest point of his life and helped him turn things around.

"Can you at least tell me why you want to kill me? I don't remember provoking that Man-God of yours, and I definitely don't remember meeting you."

He was Man-God's apostle, and he surely knew my information.

It would be disastrous if I rashly attacked with Light Blade and he caught an opening. When I used that move, my body's defenses became extremely weak.

"Dying in confusion really would be too pitiful. In that case, I'll at least tell you my name! I am Kanasi, the most loyal apostle of Lord Man-God, and a rogue ninja from Iwagakure!"

He had no intention of giving me any information at all. Fine, I would just finish him quickly.

I unleashed my chakra in a burst, pushing Dragon Saint Battle Aura to its limit before coating my ninja sword in Armament Haki.

Those guys in One Piece could all slash out flying sword strikes. I might as well give it a try...

After sheathing my ninja sword, the overflowing Armament Haki turned both the blade and scabbard black. Then I let out a long breath and focused.

One-Sword Style: Misfortune Harbor Bird!

I drew my sword at maximum speed. Combined with Armament Haki and Dragon Saint Battle Aura, I unleashed a black slash wave that shot toward Kanasi at tremendous speed.

"So you really can use those strange sword techniques, just like the intelligence said!"

The Misfortune Harbor Bird slash wave struck Kanasi head-on with a deafening boom. He did not even dodge a slash wave like that? Honestly, even an early-stage Susanoo would not have been able to withstand that strike.

Yet when the dust settled, Kanasi was completely unharmed, and his entire body was covered in black.

Armament Haki? No, it was different. This was...

"The Kekkei Tōta granted to me by Lord Man-God—Steel Release!"

Kekkei Tōta? I remembered that Kekkei Tōta in Naruto was incredibly rare. It required the fusion of three chakra natures.

The only one that immediately came to mind was Third Tsuchikage Ōnoki's Dust Release, which seemed to combine fire, earth, and wind.

As for this Steel Release, judging from what I imagined, it should be fire, water, and earth?

"Die, enemy of Lord Man-God!"

As I thought, Kanasi slammed both hands against the ground again. Sharp steel pillars erupted from the earth and hurtled toward me at the speed of a sports car launching forward!