Death by Blade

Chapter 1

Looking down the narrow hallway lit only by candles I look down at my body wearing nothing but boxers. Where am I? The last thing I remember I was… dead. 

Feeling a sharp pain in my head the memories of my death begin to all flood back the images of my murderer stabbing me over and over and over again. The sharp dirty kitchen knife going in and out of my chest repeatedly my blood spilling out of me as the sound of my screams in the memory and in real life begin to fill my ears and mind, my fingers clawing at my face in rage and frustration. 

She killed me, my own mother stabbed me in my sleep after tying me to the bed only to leave me to bleed out while she went out to get her next fix. 

Turning to the old red peeling wallpaper wall I raise my hand and punch it as hard as I can over and over again the pain of my cracked and bleeding knuckles just an afterthought as I try to release all of my anger and sadness.

My whole life, my whole FUCKING LIFE I've had to deal with her. The countless beatings she's put me through stealing my cash hell why couldn't I just leave it be? That wasn't even the worst of it; she made me an addict myself just a different kind of addict. My sister gave up on my mother as soon as she turned eighteen leaving the house with no word to either of us.

After she left so did any sort of stability in my life and it consumed me, the dark presence in my body that I had always felt and kept at bay consumed me. I had to do something, I had to regain control and bring back the good memories so I killed them. I killed every single dealer my mother went to and before I had time to stop I became addicted to the art of the hunt and kill.

All my life everything was out of my control but when I was hunting those people everything was in my control to a certain extent. From the planning to the hunting to the fighting and eventually the kill it was all so exhilarating to me and I actually began to enjoy it.

When I realized what I had become I was afraid of myself and what I could do. I was afraid about the fact that I held no remorse for what I did. I traveled around the world afterwards trying to find what little solace I could in other places like hunting animals or religion but nothing worked so instead of trying to change myself I embraced what I was and honed my craft. 

After ten years of practice I became a master hunter and actually enjoyed doing it and decided to come home to fix what I could because through all the pain my mother caused me I still clung to the memories of when she was clean. The memories of when my mother would take me and my sister to the zoo when we were little and when she would take us out for ice cream after coming back from a long shift at the grocery store. 

It was a pipe dream but if I could find peace with what I was what's to say that I couldn't help her? In the end she took my cash and killed me. The predator became the prey irony in its finest form. 

I am dead that is a fact that I am certain of but this isn't hell. I've killed an innumerable amount of people; innocent and guilty alike with no repercussions so I was expecting divine punishment after my death so where am I? Stopping my punch mid air I take a deep breath calming my nerves while looking down the dimly lit hall and behind me at the dead end. Well then there's only one way to go and that's forward. 

Walking down the dark narrow hallway it eventually comes to an end a dark metal door with odd engravings at the end of the long corridor cracked open. Pushing my way inside I stare at the large great hall decorated with torture mechanisms hung on the walls lit by torches filled with hundreds of perfectly preserved dead bodies all hanging from meat hooks piercing through their shoulders. 

"They look… similar." I mutter to myself quietly walking past the rows and rows of bodies until it finally clicks that these people are all my victims. Where am I? 

"Isn't it obvious you're in the afterlife." Turning to the deep booming voice I expect to see a large man instead I look upon a large black snake slithering between the body's blood dripping from it's long fangs. "Don't act surprised boy what did you expect when you watched your mother stab you to death?" The snake asks, slithering in a circle around me as I look at it in surprise.

"I see so you are Death, are you here to take my soul?" I question while looking for any sort of escape. Death doesn't suit me. I enjoy living but there is no escape for me here, I am in Death's world now and there is no escape.

"A presumptive one I see." Death says while producing a hollow chuckle. "Your soul is not what I'm here for, just the opposite in fact. You see Life and I have been in a quarrel and you murdering these people has tipped the balance of our battle. I am here to thank you." Death says while slithering up my body staring into my eyes.

"Tipped the balance?" I question while starting back into the golden eyes of the snake. "I've only killed no more than five hundred people." 

"Yes and some of those people would've done great things in their future but you put an end to that. You were the man who killed the person who would've found the cure to cancer and many other diseases. I thrive off of the souls of the dead and while you humans advance the amount of souls I will be given would be slowed and Life will become more powerful. You have given me more times to relish in these souls and gain an edge on death so I will reward you." Death's tongue flicks the air as if trying to taste my emotions. A reward huh, well then I can't say I've ever expected one but I'm not one to decline a reward. 

"I've examined your life very thoroughly and decided on a suitable reward that I'm sure you'll enjoy. I am giving you the ability to travel to any fictional world you know of and the power to create and change anything you wish. In a sense I am giving you full control over the worlds you go to and of yourself. If you wish to make yourself a god you can do so the only restriction I am putting on you is the fact that you can never come back to this world. Is that clear?" The Snake asks as a smile comes to my face. It's been a childhood dream of mine to go to the shows I've watched and once my addiction came it was just amplified. The thought of hunting such powerful people gave me chills of excitement. 

"It's as clear as day Death but by chance would I be able to create a new body and lineage before I go to a new world? I'd rather have power before I go to the new world." It'd be foolish of me to not use my powers and gain strength and frankly I might be thinking too small. These worlds that I'll be going to will be at my beck and call if I so chose. Why would I only hunt powerful opponents when I can hunt whole worlds? Although I can't make myself too powerful what's the point of becoming so strong that no one poses a challenge, that would be boring. 

"Yes tell me which lineage or powers you wish to have and which world you would like to go to first and I'll have you reborn there. Your body in your past life is no more; you have to be reborn in whichever world you choose. The power to travel to other worlds is a strenuous one so use it wisely." Death says while slithering off of my body.

Well then if I'm to be reborn that cuts out some of the shows that I would like to go to. I want to go to a place where I'll have the ability to train and learn how to use my abilities and have a fairly fast childhood. I've already gone through one and I don't have much of a desire to go through another. In all honesty the Naruto verse seems to be the place for me. There are countless number of powerful people there that I can hunt and train. I should also have more than enough freedom to do what I want depending on where I am reincarnated. 

Strength is gained through struggling and hard work and all the powerful people there will give me incentive to gain strength to be able to beat them when the time comes.

"Reincarnate me in the naruto verse." I say simply as Death bobs his snake head.

"That is a good choice I will reincarnate you there and you cannot choose which family you will reincarnate into. I will choose that. " Death says with a hiss as he slithers around one of the hanging naked bodies sinking his fangs into her neck.

"That is reasonable." Gently tapping my chin I try and think of the powers I want. 

Death said that I have the ability to create and change anything I want with the worlds that I go to so essentially if I want I can make everyone living in the world think I'm a god they'll think it, but that's no fun. Sure I can give myself god-like abilities but I still won't understand how to use them and besides I wish for a challenge not an easy win. If push comes to shove and I'm about to die I'll give myself better powers to survive. 

"As for my powers I want the three Haki from One Piece and once I feel like I need them I will make myself other powers but for now I will focus on mastering my haki and my chakra." It isn't smart to spread myself thin and give me too much to focus on power wise so for now I will focus on my chakra and haki and when the time is right I'll give myself more power.

"That is easy. You will be born with the innate ability to use the three haki you will just have to learn how to use them. Your power can create you new powers but you will have to learn each of them as you create them." Death says while bobbing his head. "Are you ready to be reborn? I already have your new family decided it's just a matter of reincarnating you." 

"Yes, begin the process." I am not worried about being reincarnated. A child doesn't begin forming explicit memory until the age of two so I get to skip the baby part… mostly.

In a speed untraceable with my eyes the snake disappears reappearing in front of me biting me with his fangs as I lose consciousness.