Zero wandered aimlessly down the road, his eyes filled with despair as he thought about what he just learned.
Seeing his family again was now completely impossible. They sacrificed their souls for him...but learning this information just left him in a state of limbo.
THUD!
Walking into a random, run down small house in the middle of an open field, Zero sat down and leaned against a wall, covering his face with his palm as he did so.
"Then...what is the point of all this? Why was it so important for them to sacrifice so much...just for me?"
Zero hoped that Yamatano-Orochi would answer his questions, but he received nothing but silence from the creature.
'It's always something. From the moment I was born, others controlled me as they saw fit. I killed...and killed...and killed endlessly until she reached her hands out to me. Me... who was nothing but a murderer. So why...'
With shivering hands, Zero unsheathed Kusanagi, turned the tip of the blade towards his stomach and stabbed himself repeatedly.
"...can't I just die?! Why can't the world just leave me alone?! I do nothing but destroy! Just let me go...please...just let me rest...my mind is tired..."
Unfortunately, Yamatano-Orochi healed Zero within moments. This wasn't mercy or empathy or any other feeling of pity, the snake just had to keep Zero alive, no matter the cost.
Zero stabbed himself in the heart and even tried to decapitate himself, but nothing worked. Orochi's regeneration was just too strong.
'...but yet...'
Zero pulled Kusanagi out of his stomach and whipped the blood off the blade, slowly running down his fingers along its edge as he continued, '...I love it so much. Murder is all I know. It's what's...comfortable to me. Without Snow, it's the only thing that fulfills me...but now, I can't get her back. And murder...I know it's something wrong. I love it...but I understand that those around me fear me because of it. To them, I am nothing but a criminal.Then...'
With the whole side of that cottage covered in blood, Zero got up, grabbed Kusanagi and-
"You sure lived a hard life, son."
WHOOSH!
In a flash, Zero drew Kusanagi and slashed down at the figure that suddenly showed up next to him.
CLANG!
The figure stopped Kusanagi with a finger, breaking the blade as he chuckled.
"Hehe, you young ones are so lively nowadays."
Zero jumped back and went on guard with the broken blade in his hand, his eyes focused on the strange man in front of him.
"Who are you?"
This man was completely unassuming. He was elderly, hunched over, wore a simple green robe and had a cane in his hand. The only thing "off" about his physical appearance was the third eye in the middle of his forehead.
But the aura the man gave off was ancient, enigmatic even. He was sure, similar to Takemura, this man was still in his physical prime despite his elderly appearance.
"Hoh? Didn't that little snake tell you? Hm...let's see, these days he's taken to calling me 'old fox'...ring any bells?"
Zero immediately understood what the old man was referring too. Yamatano-Orochi had mentioned that he was just a temporary resident, as he was holding the spot for 'that old fox'.
"I remember. So you're the one that my family bargained their souls for? What could you have possibly told them for them to sacrifice themselves like that?"
Even though he was in a fickle emotional state, Zero had to quickly control himself to register what was currently happening.
The old man raised an eyebrow as he heard this.
"I don't have much time here, so I'll make this short, young one. Listen well. You were to be condemned to an endless existence of being a war slave for us due to your actions in life. Essentially, you would have been a soulless husk made to obey our commands until the end of time. Your family, especially your daughter, believed that you could be better. She believed that you were a hero. Your wife then proposed a plan..."
Hearing the word "Hero", shook Zero to the core. His daughter was the apple of his eye. To think she believed someone like him, could somehow be a hero.
"...she said that if given the chance, you can be better. So instead of being a soulless husk roaming lower worlds, she suggested we give you a real opportunity to prove yourself. And being in my old age, well, I agreed. I enjoy a good bet."
With a flick of his wrist, the cane in the man's hands transformed into an ordinary looking, long-shafted katana with a gray hilt, yellow pummel and black sheath.
Extending the blade towards Zero, he continued, "Now that such issues are out of the way. Let's truly get this thing started. I am Okhwang, otherwise known as the King...and I will personally take your family up on their suggestion. Throw away that worthless blade and take hold of this one. When you do, well...I won't spoil the fun. I'll let you decide."
Zero wasted no time as he sheathed Kusanagi and calmly laid it down on the ground.
"Thanks for the help, Orochi."
Now that he had some information on what really happened to his family, Zero felt a bit more motivated to continue existing within this world.
Zero, reached forward, grabbed the katana and-
[An unknown amount of time later.]
"So this is the infamous Dragon Of The Rain, huh? Doesn't look all that special to me. A bit different from the pictures...but i'm sure that it's him. I wouldn't wanna be in his position when Lady Chiyo gets her hands on him for killing her son."
Several Suna shinobi could be seen taking a tied-up unconcious figure back to their camp in the Land of Wind.
Of course, this figure was Zero. It seemed as if he had been out so long that enemy shinobi took notice of his identity and captured him.
Another Suna shinobi replied to the first one, saying, "Hell yeah, I can't wait for the reward! My family would be set for years."
Holding Zero over his shoulder, the shinobi continued as he laughed, "Hehe! You're my cash cow, Mr.Dragon!"
Another day passed and the group traveled over the border between the Land Of Wind and Ame, eventually arriving in a valley surrounded by the desert on all sides.
In this valley were multiple shinobi, all of which were at least chunin or higher.
The moment they laid eyes on Zero's face, they all jumped to their feet and drew weapons, completely on guard against him.
The shinobi laid him in the middle of the camp and went to a tent not too far away, quickly returning with a middle aged woman that moved calmly between her agitated comrades.
Her gaze was dark as she laid eyes on Zero laying seemingly defenseless on the ground.
"That's him, alright. The one who killed my son and daughter-in-law, the Dragon. Sigh, so young but yet so ruthless. Tch. Where is his sword?"
The shinobi that held his sword immediately ran forward and delivered the blade to her, causing her to scoff.
With a twitch of her finger, the sword and Zero's body mysteriously moved.
She seemed to be controlling them somehow as she caused Zero to get on his knees while holding unsheathing the sword, holding it at his own throat right after.
"My family barely had intact corpses left when you killed them. As revenge, the same sword you killed them with, will be the same one you kill yourself with."
Just as the tip of the weapon drew blood from the skin on Zero's neck, the teen suddenly woke up, breaking free from the woman's control as he jumped backwards, sheathing the blade as he got into a low stance.
As his eyes darted between them and landed on the middle aged woman in front of him, he squinted at her and calmly said, "Suna shinobi...a technique that's used to control others...an older woman, yeah, I know who you are. Chiyo, the puppet master. Tch. So they finally sent you after me, huh?"