"What a waste of a life." I muttered through my blood-soaked mouth. The taste of it had long since become familiar to my tongue. My body lay down on a wet bloodied land. Scattered anew with corpses, every single one killed by me. My broken sword lay aside, its sheath still tucked into my waist. The half-torn kimono I wore still vehemently hung over me. The fresh cuts made on me were too deep. A lot of blood had been lost. This is the end.

Looking back. Was it all worth it? To sacrifice everything I ever had, for a meaningless pursuit of strength? Tears welled up in me. Memories flashed through. I have lost count of how many shinobi I had cut down. I had even lost count of the dead in this battle. Pain coursed through me. The cuts were indeed deep, and even more blood flowed through. My final battle. I was all alone, again, amidst the innumerable number of corpses. Alone till death, it seemed.

"I have nothing." I muttered again and raised my tired arms above, my palm hiding the moon. Taking in a deep breath, I realised, my body only had a couple more breaths left. I felt bitter. If only I had realised sooner. All this death and destruction. Meaningless. The old man was right after all. I knew it in my heart. Only, a massacre was required to make me truly believe in it. How pathetic.

It was better to not have lived at all.

I laughed, only for tears to well up. And just like that, I took in a weak last breath. The end of a fool's life. One who left only corpses in his wake.

'What is going on?'

I looked at my palms, confused. None of this made any sense. These hands looked smaller, this body felt lighter. Lying on this soft bed, looking around. I realised this was someone's home. I never had one in my life. I grabbed my head as a splitting migraine hit me. With it came a sudden influx of memories. Memories I wasn't supposed to have, memories of this body, not mine. The migraine kept getting worse, I grabbed my head harder as I tried to make sense of this all. At some point, I fainted.

I woke up again as sunlight peeked through the room. I sat down on the bed and looked at the ceiling. I took a deep breath and decided, I have to make sense of this. Sitting down in a meditative posture, I tried to assimilate all these memories. Konoha. Uchiha. Senju. Village. Peace. War. So many strange notions. Could the Senju and Uchiha really have formed peace? I could hardly believe any of it. I cut down all of the Uchihas. If not all of them. The Senju would have taken it upon themselves to annihilate the rest of them. How did they survive and grow strong enough to rival the Senju?

More than that, it seemed I was now in some distant future. One where the shinobi clans have formed into a village together. How nice? I wondered. Hashirama was the man behind all of this. He is revered to be the strongest shinobi to have ever lived. Maybe he hadn't gone down my path? I reminisced my past life. After all I've gone through, someone or God himself decided it would be nice to throw me a bone. It would have been better if the kid had continued on to live, not me. What can I even do other than kill? This kid had to go on and die, letting me take over his body. None of this made any sense.

'I'm tired'

I opened my eyes only to be greeted by darkness. A whole day had passed. This kid had no parents, both of them had died in a war it seemed. The kid had struggled a lot, and cried a lot. He had been alone all his life. Only, everything was taken away from this kid, whereas I threw everything away. The people I killed, they too probably had a family. How many lives did suffer due to me? Guilt crept into me. I pushed hundreds of kids onto such a life. I took everything away from them.

I spent another day in the same bed, with only my thoughts. Was it really fine for me to live? I deserved to die. But someone dragged me in here. Taking in a deep breath. Various emotions flashed through me. Tell me old man. What would you do here? What would he say?

I remembered the last time I ever saw him. Still sporting the same smile on his face.

Flashback

The wounds are too deep. Picking up the dry cloth, I started to tie it around his injuries. He got a deep cut on his chest just beside his heart.

"Why are you healing this man again?" I heard the old man, sitting beside me, observing us. The wind gently blew as the trees and the crops swayed with it. It's quite hard to find a farm around here. Tightening the cloth a bit, I was done with the most dangerous injury, now onto the minor ones. The old man seemed to have boundless patience and kindness, I realised he had asked me something. Right. Why am I doing this again? I stopped cleaning the injured man's wounds and looked ahead, the sun was setting. Time sure flies fast.

"Well." I scratched my head."He asked me to." I said continue cleaning his wounds. The one on his arm seemed quite nasty, have to be quick. Still, these cuts seem half-assed, this man wouldn't have survived against someone like me. Lucky, I guessed.

The old man grew a pleasant smile. "You've grown kind, Musashi."

Hmm. Have I? I wondered. Memories of me cutting down several men flashed through. Looking back at the old man, he had the same smile on him. "I'm a monster, old man." I said, shaking my head. Focussing back at work. I noted some more turmeric was needed. The man started to flinch while applying more of it to his wounds. Pressing him down by his shoulder."Easy. It's a good sign if your wounds burn. They are healing." I said in a very gentle voice. The man relaxed, but still slightly groaned. Now all that's left is to cover the wounds. Picking up the remaining dry cloth, I started to cover them up.

The old man waited patiently until I was done healing him. Dusting my hands, I got up and picked my sword which lay on the ground. The wind blew again, caressing my hair with it. "I'm done here, take care of him, old man." I said, fitting the sword onto my waist.

The old man sighed."I will take care of him." He dragged his old body closer and looked at the injured man.

"What's his name?" He asked.

"I don't know." I said.

The old man smiled again."Where to next?" he asked. Curious about my path ahead.

Now I remember. I have a big battle coming up."It's quite big this time. The whole clan wants a piece of me." How did I ever forget rousing up the Uchiha? I pondered as I looked at the sun setting. A battle at night then?

"You could run away, Musashi." The old man sighed.

"Maybe, I should." I mumbled. We both knew, this could very well be my final battle. Running away wouldn't be too bad. Who would want to fight hundreds of angry Uchihas?

Basking in the final warmth of the sun. I decided to leave.

"No matter what happens. I would like you to live on." He looked at me with eyes containing compassion.

"Take it all in" His gentle voice reverberated through. He seemed to be at peace. I thought he was strong, possibly the strongest. Huh? Isn't that what I'm chasing after? I pondered. Walking past the old man, I realised this might be farewell. And I never knew his name.

"I never knew your name, old man." I asked, already quite a distance past him.

"Ashura" His whisper somehow reached my ears. Ashura. Where have I heard it? I pondered as it felt familiar. Shaking my head, I realised. It doesn't matter. The Uchiha are right up ahead. Hundreds of them. Bloodthirsty and mad at the thought of revenge. I could turn back, I should run away. That would be the best decision here. I kept moving ahead for a while. The sun had set and darkness had taken over the lands.

Taking in a deep breath, I looked up at the sky. The moon peaking through. Showering me with its light. So many stars bright up ahead.

Running away doesn't sound like me now, does it?

Flashback end

"Live on. Take it all in." I mumbled.

It was never about the killing. I realised. I lay down on the bed and closed my eyes. Taking in deep breaths. The old man, Ashura was strong. He was truly invincible.

I've decided. I will live on. I will try and take it all in. Tomorrow, I will see Konoha for what it is.

Hmm.

Now I remember, I was supposed to be a genin here. And Genin had work to do. Here I was wasting away days when a genin should be doing his duty.

Well, It doesn't really matter.

Like that, I drifted off to sleep.