"Run! Those demons are here again!"
Shangguan Mo was awakened by the frantic shouts. He opened his eyes in a daze and saw countless sallow-faced, malnourished people in coarse linen clothes fleeing the small village as if it were the end of the world. He stared blankly at the scene, having no idea what was happening.
Suddenly, a wave of dizziness washed over him, followed by a flood of unfamiliar memories. His last memory was of picking up his charging iPhone, then a soul-tearing pain wracked his body. Everything went black, and when he woke up, he was met with this scene.
"Land of Hot Water, Clear River Village..." "Demons..." "Where... is this place..."
Shangguan Mo rubbed his throbbing forehead and muttered to himself. He was in a small, verdant village, surrounded by square rice paddies. The people here made their living from these crops. He was an orphan in this village. During the busy farming season, he would help out in the fields in exchange for food and a small wage. Normally, he lived a peaceful life, just like the other villagers.
But today, for some reason, the villagers were fleeing in a mad dash, scattering in all directions.
Shangguan Mo's brow furrowed as he quickly sorted through the new memories in his mind. His expression changed to one of horror. "The Cult of Jashin!"
"Holy crap! This can't be the ninja world, can it?! Am I dreaming?"
His scalp tingled, and a cold sweat broke out across his body.
Smack!
He slapped himself across the face. Instantly, a bright red handprint appeared on his cheek.
"Hiss! Not a dream!"
Once reality set in, he had no time to worry about the stinging pain or the fact that he had been transported to another world. The only thought in his mind was: RUN!
In this body's memories, the followers of the Cult of Jashin were cruel, sadistic demons. Their every appearance was accompanied by slaughter and destruction. In fact, this body's biological parents had been brutally murdered by those very cultists!
Shangguan Mo quickly scanned his surroundings, chose a path that was rarely used according to his memories, and started running. The small village was in chaos. In the distance, the frenzied war cries of the demons and the desperate screams of the villagers could already be heard. He couldn't help but glance back.
The Jashinists' sharp scythes were already stained with blood, and they were swinging them wildly. The terrified villagers were like ripe rice stalks, reaped without mercy, falling in droves.
Shangguan Mo weaved through the fleeing villagers and ran alone down a weed-choked path. The cultists' attention was focused on the large group of villagers. Dozens of them, scythes in hand, were crazily chasing the panicked crowd, seeming to relish their expressions of terror. For the time being, no one paid any attention to a half-grown boy.
This body was weak and short, clearly malnourished. He hunched over and ran quickly through the tall grass, on the verge of escaping the cultists' line of sight.
Just then, a cultist who had just finished drawing a strange symbol on the ground—a triangle inside a circle, drawn with fresh blood—looked up for his next target and froze. In the distant woods, he thought he saw a figure flash by.
"Is that... a villager?"
The blood-soaked cultist paused for a moment, then his blood began to boil with excitement. "That's right! Run! Run for me!"
He shot forward, chasing after Shangguan Mo.
Half an hour later.
The cultist watched the figure ahead of him, whose speed had clearly slowed, and grinned maniacally. "Out of energy, are we? You can't escape my grasp!"
Up ahead, Shangguan Mo had already calmed down. He was searching for a river he remembered from his memories, a plan slowly forming in his mind. Seeing the familiar yet strange forest and land gave him a bit more confidence.
He glanced back, panting slightly. The cultist was about four or five hundred meters behind him, and the distance was closing fast.
"He started nearly a thousand meters away and still hasn't caught me. That means he's just an ordinary person—stronger and with more stamina than me, but not a ninja with chakra. Otherwise, I'd already be dead! Which means... I still have a chance..."
As the danger mounted, his mind grew clearer and calmer.
His feet pounded the ground, kicking up a thick cloud of dust that obscured him from his pursuer. His rough clothes snagged on branches and thorns, and within half an hour, his body was covered in scratches, a shocking sight.
Gradually, he saw the glimmer of the small river. As he got closer, a look of excitement appeared on his face. This body was an excellent swimmer; the previous owner had often come here to catch fish and shrimp for food. The river wasn't wide, only five or six meters across, but it was very deep.
The pursuing cultist's expression changed when he saw him heading for the river. "Damn it! He's going into the water!"
By the time he reached the riverbank, there was no sign of Shangguan Mo, only faint ripples on the water's surface.
The cultist's face darkened as he scanned the river. Suddenly, his expression turned sinister. "Found you, you little rat!"
About ten meters away, a series of tiny bubbles rose to the surface, so small they could have been mistaken for fish. But they were the telltale sign of someone carefully exhaling underwater!
Swish!
The scythe sliced through the water, nearly two meters deep. A moment later, a crimson color bloomed on the surface, spreading rapidly. "Hahaha, try running now!" the cultist laughed, not in a hurry to strike again, instead admiring the beautiful red on the water, seemingly pleased with his handiwork.
Underwater, Shangguan Mo clutched the wound on his arm. From the blood loss, his face was growing pale and his body weak. He had planned to hide and slip away, but he hadn't realized it was low tide! The water was only two or three meters deep, and any movement was easily spotted from the shore.
As he grew weaker and despair set in, he didn't notice that some of his blood was flowing into a jade ring on his left hand. It was something he had bought at a flea market in his past life. He didn't know why, but it had come with him to the ninja world.
Just as his consciousness began to fade, he felt a sharp, needle-like pain in his left index finger. The pain grew more intense, as if the ring was constricting, threatening to sever his finger. He tried to pull it off, but it felt as if it had taken root.
"What's happening? Isn't this ring from my past life? How did it come with me?"
Then, a simple, blank panel appeared in his mind, blurry at first, like a second set of eyes had opened in his head. A few lines of text appeared.
[Synthesis System Binding...][Synthesis System Bound Successfully][Activating Synthesis Interface, Please Wait...]