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Your Body Is A Template Chapter 3: The Ocean Beyond The Lake
“Fucking spiders, man… and now I have to sift through this place for any possible loot. Damnit.” I said to myself, mustering up the courage to go into the other buildings.
The mind's eye finally settled on the wretched thing that tried to flirt with me, now dead… She better be dead after all of that. My eyes looked around as I quickly turned and saw her body lying motionless outside in the burned out rubble of her home.
A sigh of relief left me at that. “I am not getting the Jason Voorhees treatment after what has already been done to me.” I said to myself, making a promise to kill her again if it came to it. The temptation to grab one of the few intact hunks of wood and turn her to mush just to be certain was quite strong.
But the desire to get a new sword and some proper clothes was even stronger. If someone found me like this, I would be vulnerable enough that someone might be able to kill me. That and my inner loot goblin demanded something good after all that had transpired.
Opening the door to one building holding my broken sword that only had half of it remaining, I walked in slowly. No mind's eye, no mass of spiders that would swarm me. Just a clean hallway.
Eventually I found what I was looking for. An appreciative whistle escaped me at the massive room that had all kinds of stuff in it. Armor not unlike that of the samurai that was kept wrapped up in that room. I counted three of them. Along with three swords.
Feeling what Kojiro wanted me to attempt, I took what was left of my sword and used a trickle of chakra, a slash against the earthy brown of the three armors withstood the strike without even a sign of damage. Not even a scratch.
The only thing that took any damage was my sword. The taps of metal falling to the floor broke into smaller shards. “What the fuck kind of armor is that? That’s not something I remember from Naruto, either part one or Shippuden.” I said to myself.
Kojiro appeared by my side, bent over examining the suit himself. “I don’t think that Jorōgumo was either… was it?”
I swallowed, my throat bobbing at the realization I didn’t know as much as I thought I did. “No.”
An uncomfortable silence permeated the room as I contemplated how much of the little I remembered from Naruto was relevant now. Itohime spoke of ki and not chakra. The ki when she mentioned it sounded like it was associated with samurai, and I think it was safe to say the samurai wore armor like this that could shrug off a strike that could cut through metal. It wouldn’t be a clean cut but a deep cut all the same.
Yet it broke what was left of my sword. A hand ran over my face before trailing back over my hair. “What the fuck kind of world did I end up in?”
“It doesn’t matter.” Kojiro said calmly. My head snapped towards him.
“The fuck do you mean it doesn’t matter?! If this was the world I watched as a kid on a TV, I could form some kind of plan and survive. This… this I have no idea what I am dealing with.”
“What matters is you now know. What would have happened had you engaged one of the strongest this world has to offer without knowing what you do now?” Kojiro’s voice was calm and soothing, patient as a serene mountain.
A breath escaped me as I began to finally calm down. “… I would have likely died. Alright. I’ll admit you're not wrong. This worked out a lot better than it could have.”
Kojiro gave me a wan smile before I got back to looking around what looked like where the spider bitch hid her ill-gotten gains. The three samurai armors and their weapons were placed near each other, making it rather easy to find them. The weapons I should be capable of carrying myself are either to sell off or to keep one for myself as a weapon.
Ignoring the other stuff for a moment, looking over the three swords with Kojiro’s knowledge and skills in his profession, they were well made. Fingers brushing the sheath of a similarly designed sword to the armor that had lightning emblazoned on it. Grabbing it and pulling the blade free, it slid out nice and smooth without a sound.
My eyes trailed over the sword. It was polished to a gleaming shine, reflecting what little light was around. A crash of more wood outside snapped me out of it before putting the sword back into its sheath. "A burning building with who knows how many enemies around me with a giant smoking sign to say I am here.” My comment was a scolding one.
I am looking at a sword like it was a naked supermodel right in front of me while I have a giant smoke signal going off, tipping anyone off in the area that something happened here. I quickly got to work gathering up what I could. Besides some money, which was only enough to fit inside a small satchel I found, alongside a change of clothes, which were a cream-colored short-sleeved robe and a milky white hakama.
Taking the sash and tying it around the three swords, I looked over towards the samurai armor, having given up on taking any of that with me. While it would have been nice, just trying to lift even a single gauntlet took a monumental amount of effort.
Chakra helped alleviate some of the strength issues, but I could only tip it up off the ground. So whoever could wear that armor was strong as hell, which further made me concerned about just what kind of world I had been dropped into. Itohime did mention ki and that I shouldn’t be using chakra as a ronin or samurai…
So then what was she doing? The fact she managed to kill these samurai told me it was tied to whatever weird power she was using. Those strings she used went through solid matter like it didn’t exist, and the only reason I broke out of it or could cut it was because of chakra.
Walking out of the building, taking what I could carry, I looked back one last time at the building. I wasn’t greedy or anything like that, just taking what would help me survive. It was because I felt bad for all the people she killed and how they may have a family that could at least be given something that belonged to them.
Shaking my head before leaving the abandoned village behind, not having the time nor means to search for so many people, let alone travel everywhere to do so. I would, if given the chance, notify someone who could come and ensure it was taken care of if they seemed trustworthy enough.
That last part was unlikely considering the original Naruto was a shonen series showing the brighter parts of the world was a kill or be killed world. And with how fucked up this world already was in comparison with what I just dealt with, it’s hard to say if that’s truly the case here.
Dropping that depressing line of thought also because I don’t want to remember what just happened and forget those things ever existed.
Only a few minutes of walking into the woods had me pause, hand on my sword. What stood before me was a towering figure in red armor that had a nice shine to it, not unlike that of a sports car.
Not even an inch of skin was exposed as they looked right at me, and I noted the green pheasant beside them. The same bird I had saved.
“Halt. You are the ronin that entered into the village and caused that.” The figure stated more than asked since me being covered in black from what only smoke could cause spoke for itself. Their voice was a man’s, and despite such a simple sentence, their conviction and strength could be felt just from their words alone.
The armored figure nodded towards the pillar of smoke still rising high into the sky. Mind's Eye buzzed lightly, but it wasn’t the constant droning of an alarm but more a mild sense of what might happen. It felt… more accurate if I were to describe it. So the possibility of violence had me less tense.
“Yes.” I said politely, showing respect towards the man.
If a little respect meant I didn’t have to fight, then that was fine by me. “The Jorōgumo has been dealt with?”
Another nod. The figure's helmet leaned down towards the three swords I had on my person. “It killed several samurai, these were the swords I found that could be recovered. Along with their suits of armor like yours.”
“Take me to it.” He ordered, hand resting calmly on his sword. I wanted to refuse when I knew they didn’t fail to notice the number one headband wrapped around my arm.
“You need not worry about anyone attacking you. I swear upon my honor you will be protected if what you say is true.” He said solemnly.
Kojiro formed by my side, staring long and hard at the samurai before turning towards me and nodding. “Very well.”
“We must be quick.” The samurai said with finality.
Nodding to him, I let chakra surge into my limbs before turning back in the direction of the village and rushing back towards it. I idly thought of trying to give the samurai the slip but dropped that thought when I looked back and they disappeared from their spot with the ground forming a crater where they had been.
My eyes only witnessed a brief blur, if you could call it that. It was more like a glitch in a game of a few pixels for a fraction of a second you’d see. They easily moved past me, and anything in their way, like tree limbs or even the trees themselves, was bulldozed over or turned into splinters.
He easily moved past me. The realization I couldn’t get away came at the sight. Unless Kojiro’s skill to lessen his presence was used, which I didn't, due to the fact that I didn’t like my odds of it working. So instead, I pushed myself to go faster. It didn’t matter how hard I pushed myself, I couldn't close the gap.
I was moving at speeds most land vehicles from my old world couldn’t hope to match, and even then I was pushing myself beyond that just to try and keep up.
I finally saw the samurai not because I could keep up but because he came to a stop. The ground cratered under him, and his armor continued to shine as if he hadn’t just gone through trees like an artillery salvo with the subtlety of a meteor cracking the earth open.
He stood stoically before the village with some of the buildings still standing and the burned down one with Itohime’s headless body remaining trapped under the burned wood. The samurai stalked closer, hand on the blade ready to draw it out at a moment's notice.
Wouldn’t doubt that he could kill Itohime faster than she could chant and get her ghost web or whatever the hell she did out. The armored man walked forward, and despite how heavy that suit of armor had to be, like the ones inside were, he moved like it was just casual wear at home.
… And he was faster than me to the point my eyes couldn’t see him.
So much for me thinking I had all the information and instead realized I was in an ocean instead of a large lake and had no idea of the leviathans that dwelled around me.
“You did well.” It wasn’t long after that we were inside of the building that held all the ill-gotten gains Itohime had taken for herself. Whether it was monetary value or just trophies, it was hard to say.
The samurai stood across from the armor arranged against the wall before bowing to the other red armor. I stood off to the side, trying to not look awkward.
“What was it capable of?” The samurai said while pulling something out from a compartment on his lower back.
“She used threads that weren’t normal. They went through solid matter like a ghost.” I was direct and to the point, something the samurai was pleased with.
His armored helmet snapped towards me so fast I almost thought he broke his neck. “Chi? That abomination knew chi… You have done well, ronin. I can see your bravado for wearing a fake headband such as that, isn’t just for making yourself appear more dangerous.”
“Yeah, most definitely," I said, without an ounce of shame, deciding to go with him, thinking it’s fake and not the real thing.
My gaze was pulled towards the small frame that was unfolding into a box that grew bigger once the pieces were in place and a black cloth filled in the empty spaces and then smoothed out, looking more like metal sides than cloth. His hand reached out and lifted the top of it, and it sounded like the material wasn’t cloth.
How the fuck did he…
He then took the red armor after applying some type of energy from his hand that set Mind's Eye off, but I couldn’t quite figure out what it was. The armor shifted and began to fold in on itself like a transformer.
This just further reinforced how little I knew about this world and how different it was compared to the original Naruto series… just what the fuck is this?!
The armor was now still intact but folded in such a way that the samurai could grab it and lift it like the thing didn’t weigh anything at all and place it inside of the container, and then he started to place the sword inside.
“... There was some more armor like that with the original owners under the burned out building," I broke the silence. “I take it you're here not just for the Land of Fire samurai but for the others?”
“You would be correct, ronin. Despite not being samurai of my homeland, they will be given proper respect befitting their stations. They will be given back to their daimyos and clans. Especially when they all gave their lives to aid this land.”
A little odd but not something I would be against. Even if they were enemies, some form of respect given between one another to mourn the dead and lost wasn’t a bad thing.
He took something else out of another compartment that seamlessly blended in with his armor, no visible line to show it was there. “You will be given the bounty for the death of the creature as compensation for helping in the matter.”
“How did you best her incantations?” They gathered up what they could and moved out.
“… I used chakra to break out the bindings she used on me,” I said after a moment of deliberation. The samurai paused before slowly turning to look at me.
“A ronin that uses chakra… this cannot stand. It must be corrected.” He said severely. “You will journey with me and learn the proper ways of a samurai.”
“I don’t get a say in this, do I?”
“… No. Prepare your belongings.”
I wasn’t going to complain about this despite how I normally would. While annoying, it also helped me get a better grasp of just what to expect in this different world compared to the anime, and I might gain access to what this guy was using to move so fast.
"So… if you’re not using chakra, then what are you using?”
The samurai paused before turning to me. Even without their face being visible, I could still feel the judgement dripping off of him. “What all samurai and ronin use. Ki.”
I blinked at that, remembering what chakra was made from. It hit me all at once. “So ki is the physical energy and chi is the spiritual, so chakra is a combination of the two, but instead of being better because of it, it’s still capable but lacks the pure strength each would have.” I say aloud, not even thinking to keep that to myself.
The samurai’s judgment remained, but unlike before, he seemed pleased by what was said. “A good observation. It shows you are knowledgeable on some fundamentals and not a lost cause.”
Ignoring the praise that came with a backhanded insult, I ask the most glaring questions on my mind. “My name is Sasaki Kojiro. May I ask yours… if it’s not too much to presume you will be teaching me, it would be easier for me to know your name.”
I was being far more respectful using what I knew of samurai culture and how ruthless they can be when they think they have been insulted. That and Kojiro’s memories of his Japan showed just how messed up they could be, with both the temperamental ones and those with far more patience but pushed past the point of letting things go. Not all of them were, but that didn’t mean much in the grand scheme of things. People will be people no matter where you go.
“Senjumaru Momoshi. And your presumption is correct. While it is respectable that you managed to kill such a creature on your own, Kojirou, you will see that chakra is lacking just as you saw when trying to keep up with me. Now come, we have much ground to cover after I retrieve the other armor and body of both the creature and the samurai.”
Kojirou appeared by my side instead of looking irritated or having any kind of negative emotion. He is the same calm man he has been since I came here and got him as my first template.
"This is a great opportunity. Do not waste such a gift, Andrew. This could mean the difference between life and death for you.”
And like that he disappeared. Senjumaru didn’t waste any time shifting and tossing the various pieces of burned wood, still hot with embers, yet he showed no sign of discomfort either from the weight of each piece of ruined lumber weighing on the others or the heat coming from them like a furnace.
I watched him do all of this in less than a minute, and he made it look so easy, as if he weren't tossing around parts of a building that easily weighed several hundred pounds without even taking into account the other assorted pieces on top of them.
He gathered up the samurai armor and their bodies, placing them inside of the same container as the others. Which brought up an interesting question… how the fuck was he storing all of that in that container? For starters, the material he originally used to form its flat sides looked like cloth but was now a hard, unknown substance that looked like a mixture between metal and plastic.
Then the fact he carried it on his back similarly to those magazine covers with an Asian person carrying a woven basket. Except there was no way that was light when all that weight was added into it. Nor when taking into account how much his own armor had to weigh… this guy is a monster!
If I fought right now, I don’t think I could win. Who am I kidding? I know I wouldn’t win.
With what I could bring to bear, both strength and skill, it would fail when both pressed against his armor and his physical might.
Once done with that, he had me follow him and didn’t say a word. We moved at a decent pace as he slowed himself enough to let me keep up, otherwise, he would have easily left me behind. Before we left he had oddly enough left some gold coins with the bird as we passed it.
Hours went by with us moving over far too many miles for me to keep track of. I was improving and getting better with using the chakra to enhance myself, my reserves having grown, so I noticed after the few rest breaks we took. Capable of moving further than the previous rush to get back to civilization, which I was still concerned about. No training had occurred yet, and I was resting against a tree sipping some water, contemplating when I should bail on Senjumaru when we get close.
Any place that had a lot of people was bound to be a big no for me with the cursed headband I looked at lying limp on my arm. A step beside me had me turn my hand, reaching for a sword that wasn’t there before I winced, looking up in relief, seeing Senjumaru towering above me.
“Take this.” A sword taken from his lower back that was more thrown at me than tossed.
Catching it before looking it over, noting that it wasn’t the same as those previous three swords in quality but still much better than what I had used as my weapon before.
We both got up, and following the customs that Kojiro had grown up with all his life, we stood across from one another and bowed in respect before we both took a stance.
The big question I had was why Mind's Eye was now triggering even worse than what Itohime managed to do…
Oh shit!
The sword was pulled free and immediately clashed with the samurai’s sword. It wasn’t even a contest when he sent me skidding back several meters, my arms vibrating with pain running up them. He moved fast but not as fast as before. He blurred forward, a blood red smear in the air.
Mind's Eye shouted out another warning, this time much more accurate but still off by a wide margin. Instead of blocking, I redirected the force of the strike off to the side, only to have my counter fall apart from me, almost stumbling from the deceptive amount of force in that strike.
The worst part about all of this was that chakra was being used the entire time. The sword given to me had it running along the length of it, my arms and body reinforced by it. Yet it was for nothing.
Mind's eye and my absurd skill in swordsmanship were the few things that were saving me right now. A horizontal strike that scarred the air and toppled trees was ducked under. Followed up by an overhead swing with more of what had to be ki I could feel coming from him like static from a lightning bolt.
Leaping and rolling to the side, barely evading the strike that split the earth several meters down and traveled far back into the forest out of sight. My eyes bugged out at the damage caused before getting blown away by a grazing strike with my back slamming into a tree.
Air left my lungs in a cough, feeling the sting of the tree bark through my clothes and the pain from my back begging for mercy. Mercy wasn’t coming when I brought the blade up, meeting its enemy. The crunch of wood and air wheezing out of me, followed by his strikes slamming into me.
Each one was blocked, and while I was down currently getting planted inside of the tree, I wasn’t content staying on the defensive. Seeing an opening, my head leaned to the side, avoiding a thrust that would have gouged my right eye, and my sword slashed out, going for a small gap near the faceplate.
He moved just enough to avoid the sword, finding that small opening and instead sparking along the edge of it. He finally relented and backed off while I breathed heavily, pulling myself out of the tree that soon toppled over.
“Your previous master wasn’t a fool. He taught you well… and you have some talent, Kojiro.” He said, watching me breathe in lungfuls of air, and said it like he hadn’t just put me through the worst beating I had ever taken in my life.
“So was that supposed to get me to use ki or unlock it somehow?” I got out finally after several seconds of gasping.
“No. It was a test to see how good your fundamentals in swordsmanship were. You are skilled enough to keep up with me where most just starting out couldn’t even hope to keep up with the speed I used against you. Good instincts.”
You gotta be fucking kidding me…
“The fact you managed to train yourself in chakra is commendable and shows your talent, but ki, when being trained, is done so in a different manner. Ki is physical life energy, we hone it by training our bodies.”
He said, making me start to realize ki may not be as easy to pull out as chakra… but what if I…
Feeling the chakra in me and focusing on my sword, I lifted it up, and the samurai paused in his explanation with me before watching in interest. Taking the chakra and visualizing what I wanted to happen with the sword, the spiritual half of the chakra was severed, remaining in me, while what was ki flowed from my arms into the blade.
My hands clenched the sword with a newfound strength, so strong that I was surprised the handle of the blade could withstand the pressure that was exerted on it. The blow hadn’t visually changed in the slightest, but Mind's Eye told me that was far from the case.
“A shame your master had allowed you to learn chakra. Had you started out with ki training, you truly would have been a sight to behold by now…” The samurai said lamentfully at what he thought was a great loss.
“Then there is no time like today.” A part of me wanted to point out how I had only just been training for the short time since I got dropped in this world. But I wasn’t about to tell him that. It wasn’t out of ill will, more due to the fact that if he figures out the headband on my arm was the real thing, if he is aware of it, he might tell others or try to get it for himself.
I don’t know how far word has spread of this damn thing, but I would rather avoid a fight with a guy who could probably splatter my head with a finger flick.
“Good motivation. Now let’s see how well you can keep up.”
After that, he was upon me after he let me get back up. Unlike before, it wasn’t a one-sided fight. Not completely. I could somewhat keep up with his strikes, meeting them with my own, my arms no longer feeling as much pain traveling through them from each strike, and his sword, while it still knocked mine away, was getting pushed off course just enough for me to take advantage.
While Senjumaru was skilled with a blade, Kojiro’s insights on how he fights made him seem like a child wielding a weapon. He wasn’t inexperienced, but when compared to the skill Kojiro commanded, the man was found rather lacking. He compensated using his ki to increase his strength and speed.
The clang of steel against steel filled the air, with me now capable of putting up a fight. A smile was on my face as I began to actually enjoy this training session. The red samurai made a series of slashes while moving around me in a circle. At first I struggled to keep up while moving with him, the ki that empowered me was in my arms and blade, but that gradually changed.
My legs began to move faster, my reaction increasing when I visualized the blade in my hands and what I needed it to do. I had to fight off a chuckle at Kojiro’s sword autism being what was helping me here.
While he was capable of some decent martial arts to disarm people, like judo, he was above all else a guy that spec’d every single skill point into the sword. Not that I was going to complain, since his unimaginable skill, while watered down with me, was what was helping me grasp and understand this.
I just needed to associate it with a sword, and the rest would come in time. My feet began to blur, easily carving through the surface dirt if I wasn’t careful, almost losing my footing when I first began to channel ki into my legs.
Senjumaru capitalized on my uneven footing. He raised his sword after striking mine, using the momentum of the deflect to bring it up much faster than I anticipated. His speed had picked up even more, constantly growing alongside his strength when he realized I could keep pace with him.
Not because my ki was anything absurd or special. It wasn’t that. It helped, but what made him increase his speed and strength was my skill. I watched and learned from his strikes and even mentally took them apart and put them back together in such a way that they could be used by me.
Instead of dodging the overhead strike with far more power this time, with a flick of the wrist, the blade in hand spun like an industrial fan, gaining momentum before swinging it up. The two blades clashed, followed by the crack of thunder and a burst of wind strong enough to knock grown men off their feet left the clearing.
His blow met mine, and for a brief moment my blade held its own before it was severed and the sword came for the top of my head. Just as I contemplated how I was going to dodge with how close it was, the blade abruptly stopped to my surprise. The wind blew across my face, and had it not been for the ki giving me so much strength, it would have blown me away.
Senjumaru’s sword was put away, and I slowly followed before we both bowed to one another. “A wonderful spar. A shame that this will not last long, you are truly a talented ronin, Kojirou.”
“… And you are an incredibly honorable samurai sensei, willing to teach a lowly one like myself.” I bowed back and smiled at him, thankful for what he had taught me when he didn’t have to.
“Nonsense. You are a diamond found amongst misbegotten things. You have great potential, Kojiro. I would be a fool to not assist you in reaching it, especially when you relied upon the petty tricks of shinobi to get this far. Now we rest properly.”
Just like that, he began to set up a tent, of all things, that was bigger on the inside than it was outside after he took the various parts and pieces from his suit. The crate he had carried all this way was placed on the ground, and considering how it cracked the dirt and sunk partially into it, I don’t think for a second most people could hope to move that thing anymore than they could lift Thor's hammer.
I wasn’t allowed inside of his tent, and if I dared step foot near it, learning under him or not, I would be cut down. While odd and saddening, it wasn’t the first time I had to sleep in the wilderness or get food for myself.
The night went by, and by the time of early morning, the small fire I had made was long since put out, and the birds that I had managed to kill for dinner were long since eaten and the remains disposed of. My katas with the blade were combined with the newly unlocked ki, separating the spiritual element that combined to form chakra.
After my sparring session with Senjumaru, it was far easier to use. Not just my arms, but legs too. Other parts of my body were a work in progress simply due to Kojiro’s skills all revolving mostly around swords. As I had thought earlier, if it can be associated with it, then I can do almost anything.
“Careful Andrew. You may get blinded by your arrogance.” Kojiro warned me as my thoughts shifted to how with ki I could beat most of the characters I remembered from Naruto. “With how different this world is from the one you remember may be the difference between life and death.”
His final comment smothered the growing confidence I had, being reminded of the dangers of this world and how little I truly knew. Nodding to him, I pressed, as always, not wanting to be another casualty in this messed up world I found myself in.
Author’s note: This chapter served as my way of showing just how different this world is to the one Andrew and, by extension, you guys from watching the anime know. Supernatural elements exist here that aren’t just kaiju tailed beasts made from some ancient dimension hopping alien lady. There are horrors that exist here beyond things like that.
You also get a big hint that chakra isn’t the only thing that exists in this world that can allow people to be superhuman.
