NARUTO RONIN TRAIL: REINCARNATE WITH THE POWERS OF MALENIA

After a few long minutes in absolute silence, the man found a cave, his legs no longer responded, and his tiredness was evident due to how fast everything happened.

The cave was a small shelter, hidden among the rocks. Deep enough to feel safe. The man entered and let himself fall against one of the walls, his breathing was ragged. And he could barely move.

Now that the adrenaline was dissipating, his body began to take the toll of overexertion, his muscles burned and his wounds throbbed a deep, unbearable pain. One he had not felt until now.

He looked at his hands, he was shaking, The drops of blood from the ninjas that covered his skin mixed with the dirt. He was a mess, he let out a dry, humorless laugh.

He had died once. He had come back to life in this strange world. But his body was still human, weak and mortal, definitely not invincible.

Slowly his consciousness began to fade, his eyelids grew heavy, and blackness enveloped him. His body slid down the wall and fell to the floor.

At last, he had fallen, his exhaustion was such that without realizing it he slept indefinitely, and while he slept... he dreamed, he dreamed of blood, he dreamed of screams, he dreamed of a woman wrapped in gold. He dreamt of the weight of a curse that he still did not understand and more importantly he dreamt of the name of someone who had betrayed him.

The dream began a silent abyss where not even his breathing existed.

In the darkness, he could hear orders shouted in a language he recognized, dry gunshots breaking the silence, and screams suffocated by blood.

-Voices?

No, it was childish laughter. Sounds of boots echoing on a metallic floor. Echoes of boots echoing on a metallic floor, footsteps in narrow corridors.

And then... A blinding glow that enveloped everything. The world took shape.

The light of spotlights shining on a wide concrete hall, no windows, no colors, just cold and hardness. A training camp surrounded by high walls and electrified fences.

There, his childhood had passed. He and other children, children who did not know the meaning of "home" or "family". Children who only knew how to obey orders, train, and kill.

There were no families or toys. There were only children, like him, training endlessly under the watchful eye of men in dark uniforms. his life began, and it was molded according to the ideals of a killer.

The days at the training complex were sunless and moonless, gunfire, beatings, cold and hunger were his daily companions.

Running until the legs gave out. Lifting weights until bones creaked. Enduring pain until the mind ignored it, regardless of the missions that were imposed by their superiors.

All that mattered was to be better than yesterday, a succession of relentless tests.

Although their appearance to the common people showed that they were only children, to those adults who lived with them daily in their training and care, they knew something that the rest of the people did not, they were not common children. they were soldiers.

They infiltrated dark buildings, and eliminated targets with precision, without mercy. Without remorse, every time they went out, they came back with blood on their hands, you're just a bunch of desperate kids.

But among all those children, among all those faces marked by the same misfortune... Only one mattered.

- Him. -

His friend. His brother in everything but blood, they looked almost alike: two slender but strong bodies, two pairs of calculating eyes, two souls marked by the same destiny.

- "Tied again." - Said the boy, his words full of mockery. He didn't need to turn to know who was standing next to him.

The man saw his reflection in the eyes of his only friend, breathing heavily, with a knife in each hand, his friend was smiling in front of him.

Both were covered in sweat and dirt, surrounded by shattered targets, the knife throwing test was over, each with knives in their hands as usual, they had tied.

The hit count... even.

-You can't be better than me, you still can't beat me, huh? -mocked his friend with a tired smile, dropping his knife.

The man who was now only a boy just exhaled through his nose, smiling barely, without replying. They didn't need words, he just dropped his knives.

For as long as they could remember, they had always been together in everything, from the moment their hands were big enough to hold a knife, they learned to kill together.

From the time their bodies could bear the weight of a gun, they learned to shoot together and likewise, when their muscles endured the pain of blows, they learned to fight together, And when their souls were marked by the blood of their first missions... They learned to survive together.

The days in the compound had no names, There were no Mondays or Sundays, No vacations or rest. Only training, every dawn, a new test, Racing to collapse, Hand-to-hand combat until one was unconscious, Disarming and assembling weapons in less than thirty seconds, Precision shooting in the dark.

And when the daylight faded, the tests only got crueler, Sleep deprivation, Pain resistance, and Psychological torture to eradicate fear.

Even through it all... They always had each other. Together, they were unstoppable.

Every mission, every kill, every bloodstain on their hands, they faced it together, There was no doubt. There was no fear. There was no remorse.

But there was something deeper that they never dared to say aloud, a buried desire, a longing that burned within them....

That night, as the compound slept, they gazed at the sky from the rooftop of the tallest building, lying on the icy concrete, they saw the stars for the first time in years. On one of the few nights where there was no training.

His friend broke the silence first.

-Do you think we'll ever be able to... not do this? -he asked, staring up at the sky.

The man did not answer.

-I mean... what if we escape? If we find a place where no one is looking for us. Somewhere quiet, where we can be normal.

The word sounded strange. "Normal."

The word was almost strange. What did it mean to be normal?

The man looked up at the stars, wondering what it would be like to be a normal person. What it would be like to wake up without being ordered around. Without the need to kill. Without the obligation to survive every day.

-Maybe. -Her voice sounded more hopeful than she expected.

Maybe they could, Maybe they could be more than killers, Maybe they could live, Together.

But this was only a child's dream, something that only mere children wished for, considering the great cost of leaving their place in the ranks, a dream that as the years went by became more fragmented.

One of the hard nights the stars in the sky were covered with blood.

The world became distorted and memories twisted. The night was filled with screams and blood, and the last thing he saw before waking...

Was the image of his friend, holding out his hand... with the other one stained with blood.

____________________________________

He gasped.

The cold air of the cave greeted him like a blow. His body was covered in sweat, and his chest rose and fell violently. His hands were shaking, but it wasn't from the cold. For a moment, his mind was still trapped in sleep.

He brought a hand to his face, feeling the warm skin, felt the heat from the lights of the compound, feeling the scars, The memories still burned inside him. his friend's voice echoing in his head. The stars. The fire. He still felt the weight of the weapons in his hands.

He exhaled with difficulty. He wasn't there anymore. That world no longer existed. He took a deep breath. He wiped the sweat from his brow.

No matter how much the memories hurt. Now, he had to survive.

He stood up, ignoring the pain in his body. He still had a long way to go, and whatever was waiting for him outside...It would be no more unforgiving than his own past.

author's note: remember to visit my website if you want to support my work. there you will find advanced chapters. patreon.com/SlipperyRaccoon

hi guys, i'm writing a new story together with another fabulous writer, based on the world of warcraft world, don't forget to follow and support us: https://www.webnovel.com/book/32177396408454205