4 Arc 1 - I am a cat!

Twenty kilometers minimum, the distance will most likely be greater. From the height of the sun I calculate that I will still have another four or five hours of light. In those four hours I have to get to the forest, find a good shelter for the night, and hopefully some food.

The human being travels about five kilometers per hour walking, jogging that distance increases to eight kilometers. Running a human being travels on average about 15 kilometers per hour.

If I was still in my old body I'd be lucky to make it to the forest before nightfall.

Lucky for me this is the body of a shinobi.

I do some basic stretching exercises.

I took a deep breath.

"Let 's go!"

I start jogging.

I am increasing my speed little by little. I want to see how fast this body is without active chakra boosting.

In a very short time I reached an amazing speed, it almost feels like I am flying. I'm barely touching the ground!

"Ah!"

I almost tripped!

When I was in school, my gym teacher taught me that when I run I have to keep my arms at about a ninety degree angle and swing them, he said it helps with balance. But at the speed at which I'm moving it feels like my arms are nothing more than a hindrance, almost instinctively I lean my torso forward and let my arms hang behind me. This posture is much more streamlined and comfortable.

I'm ninja running!

Now I understand why shinobi run in this position! When I was a child this position seemed cool to me, when I became a teen it started to seem stupid.

"Tree!"

Shit!

I run towards the tree and using it as a foothold I jump back and do a perfect flip. I land on my feet.

I just did a wallflip!

I nearly crashed face-first into a tree!

"That was close. But wait-" I look at the tree in front of me, I look to the right and see more trees, to the left more trees. "I've already reached the forest!" I look back and see the vast plain.

"How fast did I run? And I wasn't even boosting my speed with chakra!"

I am fast!

Like really fast. Faster than a horse fast. Awesome!

I go a bit into the forest and analyze the surroundings. I don't see anything strange, no dangerous animals nor people, I return to the edge of the forest.

"That wallflip was sick! I wanna see what else this body can do!"

I am curious!

First I do a handstand. I walk with my hands a few steps. My balance is amazing!

I remove my left hand. Handstand with one hand! I remove a finger, then another, and another! I'm holding all my weight on two fingers!

I got up with a flip.

"Okay, I can continue playing around later. Now to explore the forest!"

I go into the forest. Trees, trees and more trees.

As I walk through the forest I carefully observe my surroundings, I don't know what animals are around these parts.

On the plains I was calmer, my field of vision was wide. I could see any threat coming from far away. In the forest my vision is obstructed by the many trees and bushes. But of course there is also the advantage that I am more protected from the sight of possible enemies.

And what enemies concern me?

First of all bandits.

Crime abounds in this world, from corrupt nobles like the Freys to scum like Gregor Clegane. This is a world where the strong prevail and the weak resort to licking the boots of the strong to survive.

The rich and powerful get rich by using those below them and then disposing of them when they are no longer useful.Those who were not born with a goldspoon in their mouths and do not want to serve the rich resort to crime, the number of bandits, thieves and murderers in this world is astronomical.

Although I have the body of a warrior far superior to any man in this world, I do not want to fall victim to a group of bandits before I have a chance to live.

I'm not sure of my location but bandits are universal, they exist on every continent. Depending on the continent I'm on there will be other threats, like Dothraki in Essos and Wildlings in Westeros.

Until I find some village I won't know where I am. Wide plains and dense forests don't tell me much. I could be in Essos in the Dothraki Sea or I could be in some region of Westeros, or maybe even one of the unknown continents.

The weather is somewhat warm, similar to autumn in Spain. It's not cold but it's not hot either. It is a very pleasant climate to walk in the forest.

"-!" Wait a minute! I stop moving and scan the surroundings. I don't see anything strange, I take a few steps and stop. I look at my feet puzzled. I walk a few steps again, watching my feet.

Everything is normal except the sounds, or rather the lack of them.

"I am a cat!"

When you walk through the forest you make noise, you step on twigs and leaves. But not me. I move like a cat, every step is silent.

"This is the stealth of a shinobi! Hahahahah" I can't help but rejoice. I laughed with delight. My new ability is great!. Shinobi are naturally very stealthy, they are professional assassins and thieves after all!

Riku Senju's muscle memory is amazing! I wonder what other skills I'm going to discover-

"!!!"

What was that?

My body tenses and my hair stands on end.

Instinctively my posture changes, I crouch down slightly.

I scan my surroundings, listening for any sound and I hear it.

A faint growl to my left.

I turned my head ever so slightly and I saw him. Gray fur, big fangs, eyes fixed on me. A wolf.

I've always loved documentaries, whether it's about animals or history, I've seen hundreds of them. And one thing I've learned about wolves is that they always hunt in packs.

Without losing sight of the first wolf, I surveyed the surroundings. Two, three, five, eight wolves.

They are not in the same place, each wolf is at a certain distance from the others. But their position is not arbitrary, they are surrounding me.

"A rabbit in a wolf's den huh" I mumble under my breath.

My options are fight or flight, escaping would be out of the question if I were an ordinary man. A wolf can run at 60 kilometers per hour! The human being hardly reaches 15 kilometers running, that is the average. Olympic-level athletes can reach speeds of 40 kilometers per hour for short periods of time. The fastest man in the world reached 45 kilometers per hour.

I am a shinobi, at least I have the body of one. I haven't calculated my speed yet, but I know I'm faster than Bolt, and that's without using chakra to increase my speed.

If I fight I run more risk of being hurt.

In the middle of nowhere with no supplies and wounded my chances of survival are very low.

"Decisions decisions."

My heart beats very fast.

Every inch of me is trembling, but not from fear.

This is-, this emotion, is excitement!

I am not scared. Which is weird as fuck, I should be terrified. I'm excited.

The adrenaline running through my body, the tension before the conflict,...

Shit!

Riku Senju must have been a battle freak, an adrenaline junkie.

And because I have his body, so am I!

I hear something behind me, crushed leaves.

My body is on autopilot. I wait a few moments and spin kick backwards.

Crack!

My kick hits the wolf that was trying to ambush from behind right in the head. The wolf flies through the air a few meters and crashes into a tree. The sound when I hit his head was bones breaking. A part of me flinches but I have no time to waste.

Before the pack can react, I run at full speed in the direction the wolf that tried to ambush me came from. It doesn't take them long to hunt me down. I run zigzag through the trees. I hear them behind me, they're not far away. I'm not going to do something stupid like turn my head and look back. I don't want to crash into a tree! I'm going to trust my hearing and my instincts, Riku's instincts rather.

I channel chakra into my legs increasing my speed. Before long I am nothing more than a blur among the trees.

It should be impossible for me to be able to navigate through the trees at this speed, but just like when I kicked that wolf into the air, my body reacted on its own. I don't have to concentrate too much, I am aware of every obstacle, I hear every sound, I see every detail. My perception is amazing!

Every sense is super sharp. I can hear a squirrel at more than 40 meters away, the flow of-!

"Water!" I changed my direction. In any survival situation, finding water is vital, streams and rivers are nature's supermarkets. Drink and food!

In a few minutes I stop.

In front of me there is a river! It's not a stream, it's a river!

It is wide, at least 30 meters and the water- the water looks super clean! Never before have I seen a river that is not polluted! This is water in which you can bathe without fear of coming out of the water with a dozen diseases.

Before getting too close to the water I examine my surroundings, I don't want to encounter any more dangerous animals.

Speaking of dangerous animals, it's been a while since I escaped from the annoying pack.

I wonder if it's an omen. A pack of wolves attacks me shortly after arriving in this world. Will the Starks be my enemies?

I approach the water, once on the shore I crouch down and look at my reflection in the water.

Brown hair with golden highlights, emerald green eyes, and tanned skin. My facial features are aristocratic and delicate.

"I am a bishonen!"