Chapter 2

Atsuya didn't even bother trying to confront that gang. He could only rely on the physicality of his body without being able to use chakra. It was impossible for him to take on so many ninjas at once. He couldn't even distinguish the level of those guys; it was basically suicide to try to face so many at once.

So as soon as he heard their voices, he didn't think of anything else but to run. Since he didn't know the area well, Atsuya decided to run in any direction, as long as it was away from those ninjas who hated him and pursued him with every fiber of their being.

Sigh... What did I do to deserve such bad luck?

Atsuya could still hear the voices of his pursuers amidst the tree-filled terrain and quickened his pace even more when he heard that they had called for reinforcements to kill him by any means possible and dashed into the middle of the forest.

"You won't be able to run for long, kid. I'll gut you," one of them shouted.

"Run all you want, even if you call for help from them. I'll still kill you even if it's the last thing I do," another threatened.

...even running at his full speed, Atsuya could only flee for so long. His speed could barely be considered that of a genin, and those ninjas pursuing him were obviously much stronger than him. Even though neither could use chakra, the difference in physicality was stark.

With every passing minute, Atsuya felt they were getting closer.

[𝐃𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐧 -𝟐𝟎𝐇𝐏]

A kunai struck his left arm, and Atsuya cursed as he ran. He had allocated the pain to 50%. Even though the pain was reduced, he still felt it and desperately tried to slow their advance by throwing most of the kunais he had in his inventory in the hope of buying enough time.

As they yelled, Atsuya managed to distinguish some information based on that. There was something or someone living in the direction he was heading, and they were trying to prevent him from reaching there.

Until he spotted some people walking with spears and some swords in front of what seemed to be a village. There were no real walls or anything like that, just some wooden fences. But Atsuya didn't care and wasn't intimidated at all.

"Stop, stranger, and identify yourself," a guard adopted a stance and stood guard after seeing someone running frantically towards them. Atsuya wasted no time and quickly explained his situation after slowing his steps and beginning to walk towards the ninjas.

"Help, I'm being chased by some crazy guys," he informed the two men in front of him, who looked at him cautiously and carefully checked Atsuya's injuries, which seemed to have a severe wound on his bloody arm.

But they didn't have time to argue with Atsuya because his pursuers arrived right behind them, fully armed and roaring as if they were war drums. Atsuya's misunderstanding that he didn't belong to the Tatsushiro clan accidentally caused a conflict between two hostile populations.

"We finally caught up with you, you bastard. Today my blade will taste your blood," a guy with scars on the left side of his face grinned as he menacingly licked his blade.

"Today we'll avenge our comrade who died at your cowardly attack and bathe our blades in your blood to appease Kenji's soul," he laughed threateningly as if it were a fact that they were a bunch of easy targets to be taken down.

The guards didn't initially understand what was happening. A bloody young man suddenly appeared before them asking for help, and the next second they were accused of colluding with this young man they didn't even know to murder their comrade. Both tried to explain the misunderstanding that had arisen and that they didn't know this outsider, but they didn't accept this flimsy excuse.

Atsuya wasn't naive either. He pretended to be hurt by the words of his "friends" who "pretended" not to know him and were abandoning him. "You heartless bunch. I give my life for this clan, and you dare to try to discard me like this? You send me on a suicide mission to kill them, and then you don't admit we're together? Well... Well done!" Atusya eloquently roared angrily at his "friends".

Hold on a minute, friend.

We don't even know each other, right? You just showed up now, right? We've never seen you before! How are you part of our clan?

Don't incriminate us for no reason, please! Both pleaded in their minds.

They understood that this young man wouldn't let them escape and looked at the boy in front of them with hatred. "WE'RE AT WAR, ENEMY ATTACK!" They roared into the dark sky with all the force they could muster. The guy who seemed to be around 23 years old with short black hair, a strong and tall body, narrowed his eyes at Atsuya and threatened him. "You'll pay for this, kid," and kept an eye on Atsuya who didn't care and stood by their side.

"How can you talk to me like this, brother? We're blood brothers, we should always help each other!"

"Blood brother, my foot! Damned outsider."

"That hurts my fragile heart," Atsuya never took his eyes off his pursuers all the while. Even though he was standing next to his newfound blood brother. It seemed he wouldn't attack him immediately since the situation was tense. And his pursuers were surrounding the town and waiting for more people to arrive.

This isn't going to end well for me... I need to find an opening to escape. Watching various different people emerge behind his back, some with bows, swords, and spears. Atsuya felt a pressure and began to feel uneasy with everything that was happening. His crappy luck was really something. Every minute that passed, the situation only worsened and spiraled out of control.

"TODAY IS THE DAY TO DRINK BLOOD, KILL THEM ALL. ATTACK!"

'Damn it!'

He threw the only smoke bomb he had stolen and threw it on the ground and ran towards the city.

"ATTACK!"

"DEFEND OUR HOME, KILL THE INVADERS!"