CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
Zero struggled to stand as he looked around, his eyes immediately catching sight of multiple figures fighting within the forest.
Blood, aided by the pouring rain, flowed through the trees as these people killed each other violently without hesitation.
The two sides wore similar clothing, but there were a few differences.
One side wore a headband with a circular pattern upon it while the other wore one with four lines going vertically down the front.
These headbands seemed to be a form of identification for the two sides.
On Zero's head, was the latter. And unfortunately, he was on the losing side.
Noticing Zero standing up from the pile of corpses within the forest, warriors from the "enemy" side that were closeby immediately charged at him, throwing knives and bladed tools as they closed the gap.
'The way they fight...shuriken...kunai...short swords...they are ninja. Tch. Can't i get a bit of rest?!'
CLANG! CLANG!
Zero deflected the tools flying at him and immediately charged at the shinobi, clashing blades with the closest one.
"Looks like you rain village shinobi still have some life left in you! Die!"
Zero didn't even respond as he heard the man's words. Since they decided to deem him an enemy, he had no reason to speak with them.
SWISH!
In a flash, Zero sheathed his katana and unsheathed it once again, bisecting the shinobi in one move before the latter could even react.
But this machine of death didn't stop there.
Zero moved with incredible skill and agility as he decapitated and dismembered every ninja in the vicinity that wore the opposing sides headband.
That's when one of them jumped back and formed a hand sign, blowing a large fireball out of his mouth.
"What the-"
WHOOSH!
Slashing the fireball in half with his blade, Zero assumed that he had nullified the flames...
BOOM!
Only for the fireball to explode around him, causing his body to be sent back in a cluster of flames.
'I can't die until I figure out what's going on here!'
Using the momentum from the explosion, Zero rolled through the forest in the blood and water on the ground, using them to douse the vicious flames.
Ignoring the pain coming from his burns, Zero immediately tried to overclock his body, hoping to even the playing field a little bit.
Unfortunately...Zero quickly realized that he lost the power to do so. Even his precognition was gone.
'Tch! Then my skill will have to be enough.'
Looking around the rest of his "allies" still fighting for their lives, Zero took a deep breath and took his sword from his waist, gripping the sheathed blade tightly within his fist.
'Just need to kill the ones in front of me Then...the tables of this fight will be turned.'
Taking a low, almost crouched stance with his blade at his side, Zero focused his gaze on the four shinobi rushing him down with incredible speed.
'Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!'
'Fire Style: Flame Bullet!'
Two of the shinobi formed several hand signs and shot powerful attacks out at Zero, hoping to take him down with this attack.
SLASH! SLASH! BOOM!
In a flash, Zero cut through the large water dragon and dodged the flame bullet, causing it to explode and destroy several trees behind him.
The other shinobi immediately appeared next to him, ruthlessly slashing down at him with their swords.
CLANG! CLANG!
Zero easily deflected the slashes and countered with a 360 degree spin that beheaded both shinobi before they even realized it.
Locking on to another ninja trying to form hand signs behind him, Zero rushed her down and cut off her arms with a single swipe, his gaze cold as he heard the woman's bloodcurdling screams.
"I get it now. Without hand signs...you can't perform your techniques. How limiting."
SLASH!
Cutting off her head as she fell to her knees, Zero immediately sensed something coming and dodged, his eyes locking onto the kunai that barely missed him.
But, something was strange.
There was something attached to the handles of the kunai.
A long piece of red and white paper inscribed with strange letters.
"What is-"
BOOM!!
The explosion blew Zero back several meters, damaging his body severely in the process.
"Che. That kid was dangerous. After his little slaughter...we might have to retreat."
The shinobi that seemingly killed Zero instantly went to go find his body, only to be blocked off by the rest of the ninja that were on Zero's side.
"What?! How are all of you already here?!"
Drawing his short sword, the shinobi tried to attack but suddenly felt his head slipping off his shoulders.
'Huh?'
The last thing the shinobi saw was Zero sheathing his blade, his teenage body terribly scarred by burn marks as he took a deep breath.
When the shinobi from the rain village saw Zero, one of them stepped forward and laid his hand on his shoulders, the sound of his voice muffled because of his rebreather.
The rebreather seemed to be a common accessory among the rain village shinobi.
"You should've told us you were good with a sword before, kid. You volunteer refugees usually die as soon as the battle starts. But...you kid, you're special. Come, when we go back to the village, we'll make you a true shinobi."
As much as Zero wanted to just kill them too, at this point in time, it wouldn't make any sense. He seemed to have gone back in time or maybe he was reincarnated in another world.
Maybe even an alternate dimension.
Zero couldn't tell.
All he knew was that he needed as much help and information as he could.
Fortunately, his skills were a perfect match for the type of missions shinobi undertook.
"I understand. Lead the way."
Zero gave a simple response and followed the shinobi back to their village, the group passing by several other battles as they made their way back.
The rain seemed to be never ending in this place.
No matter how long they traveled or where Zero looked, the sky was overcast with gray clouds.
'It being called the rain village is more literal than I thought it would be.'
In time, they came upon a large lake that separated the rest of the land from the village itself, the only connecting portion between them being a singular bridge.
The shinobi didn't seem to care about said bridge though. They just ran across the water as if it was land, causing Zero to raise an eyebrow as he saw this.
'Interesting. It isn't speed that's holding them above the surface. It's some sort of technique.'
Zero though, just ran across the water, only managing to stay upon the surface by running across the water so lightly that sinking was almost impossible.
Even though he was severely weaker and slower than his previous self in his original world, using techniques such as this was child's play.
When they got into the outskirts of the village, they reached a checkpoint which was guarded by several other rain shinobi.
Seeing only three rain shinobi and a refugee coming back from a mission...the others were surprised.
"Captain Jito, you left with a whole platoon. What happened? Was the enemy so powerful?"
Captain Jito was the man that had spoken to Zero earlier about making him a shinobi of the village.
He was a man of average height, had short spiked hair and he always carried a large broadsword on his back.
"While we were fighting Suna and Iwa, Konoha was lying in waiting for our forces to weaken. Then they struck. We couldn't resist a seige from all sides and our numbers quickly dwindled. The three of us would have been dead too if it weren't for the skills of this refugee here."
Looking at Zero, the ninja at the checkpoint opened a book and ran his fingers down the pages, stopping at a certain picture.
"Here he is. Number 505, a refugee that came here from the Land Of Rivers. His parents were killed by Suna shinobi and he entered Ame to escape their clutches. When he turned 15 years old, he volunteered to be part of the war in order to repay Lord Hanzo's mercy and to take revenge on Suna. Those are his records. Jito...do you trust him?"
Captain Jito laid his hands on Zero's shoulders once again and chuckled, saying, "I already checked to see if he was using transformation jutsu, or if he was under genjutsu. He should have had a mind sweep before entering the village the first time and a few times after that so we know he's not a spy. Most of all, he saved our lives. So I trust him."
Hearing Jito's words, the shinobi nodded and closed the book, pointing behind him as he said, "Then you guys can go in. Our sensor has finished checking all of you. Keep up the good fight, men."
After passing through a tunnel for a short time, they eventually arrived at a large opening overlooking the industrial village hidden in the rain.
This place was highly industrialized with electronic screens littered all across the village. It seemed modern, but archaic at the same time.
"Kid...I never got your name. What should I call you?"
"Zero. That's the name I gave myself when my family died."
Nodding a little bit and reaching in his pockets, Captain Jito responded, "Zero it is, then. Here, eat these capsules. They will heal your scars. For now, just go home, or hang around the village if you don't have one. When I get Lord Hanzo's approval to make you a shinobi, i'll come find you."
WHOOSH!
The three Shinobi jumped away, leaving Zero on the overlook above the village looking at their retreating backs.
Sitting on a railing, Zero took a deep breath and looked up into the sky, tears running down his face as he thought about his family.
'Snow...I miss you and our little princess. But if you never let me rest...how can I find you again?'
Now that he had some time to rest, the reality of the situation hit him head on. His family was not here and the only lead he had were the words, "the battle isn't over yet."
What would he do? What would his goal be in this new world? He had no clue.
Coincidentally, this was when he lowered his head and his eyes fell on the katana in his hands.
Unsheathing the blade, Zero noticed a strange string of letters inscribed in the blade.
"Yamatano-Orochi, 8-headed serpent demon of legend. This is my final gift to you, my love."
The letters flashed purple as Zero read them, causing him to fall off the edge as he fell unconcious.
This was the beginning of Zero's journey in this world of shinobi.