Within a small forest surrounded by short mountains, you will find a shinobi wearing a large brown coat with the hood obscuring it's face, although, judging from her silhouette she seems to be a young female. The cloaked individual is currently holding up a black bladed tanto, standing in a defensive position.
She is going head on with 3 assailants who seem to be shinobi judging by the symbol displayed on their grey armour. They are the shinobi from the Origawa clan, who have been chasing the cloaked shinobi for a fortnight. They've finally managed to catch up to her but it was a success gained by paying a heavy price, they had 10 shinobi in their company but by using a series of assassinations, the cloaked shinobi was successful in Eliminating 7 of them, leaving the 3 she's currently facing.
It has been roughly a month since she escaped the cave along with her young lord and ever since then she has come to blows with numerous shinobi from the Origawa clan. She deduced that in a week she'll finally be able to escape the land of Kō. Kō is a country run by a [2nd CLASS] noble, the civilian nobility are considered a group of rich and powerful individuals, who use their wealth and status to escalate the era of warring states.
These group of wealthy individuals answer only to one person and that is the Person ruling over the nation, the daimyo. The main reason there is constant warfare between the lands and their lords is because each Noble Lord uses the shinobi clans as their personal weapons, to fight and kill for their interest. The reason she is currently facing so many of her enemies in the country of kō is because the shinobi clan that fights for the lord of Kō, is none other than the Origawa clan. After finishing off her assailants she quickly vanish into the distance, after making sure she erased all traces of her presence.
Since it was getting dark and she has been running for half a day, she decide to take a rest to recuperate. After finding a clearing in the forest, she hunted down a boar and made a quick meal out of it using a lot of meat, before devouring it, leaving the remainder of the boar to slowly grill on the fire, she then proceeded to feed the little bundle she's been carrying around all this time. She was feeding him Alpine milk, for shinobi whose job description entails uncertain death, there are many mothers who die before their children could grow up to be a year old.
The remedy they came up with to not stunt a shinobi child's growth due to insufficient breastfeeding, is to harvest milk from an Alpine tree, a type of chakra tree which grows in harsh and mountainous areas. The milk extract from such tree, has enough nutrients to be a perfect replacement for Brest milk and it works, even though It is as bitter as citrus peels, it still gives the baby all the vitamins and nutrients needed at that state of growth.
Jacob has spent the past month familiarising himself with his infant body, everything that happened so far has been nothing but a blur to him, being reborn with all his past memories placed a major strain on his body and mind but adolescent brains are known for their cognitive adaptability. That means when babies Are born, they are born with all the neurons they will ever have. Assuming normal development, a healthy baby will emerge from the womb with 100 billion neurons, nearly twice as many neurons as adults, in a brain that's half the size.
The massive number of neurons is necessary for the tremendous amount of learning a baby has to do in its first year of life. The reason they don't go into a coma like state similar to Jacob, it's because they don't get 80 years of experience and knowledge in various fields, crammed into their brains the moment they are born. At this moment his brain is just trying to relearn everything he experienced in his past life. Hence the constant blur state.
It was just a few days prior when Jacob was able to regain his self-awareness and the moment he did the first thing he realised was that, he is in the body of a newborn, the second thing being, he definitely made it to the naruto universe if the speed he is currently travelling at is anything to go by and plus he has witness a few fights between the blonde woman that's been carrying him and various samurai looking warriors. As they made camp for the night, Jacob was finally able to investigate the floating azure lotus that has been hovering in front of his face for the whole day. Reaching out to the lotus as soon as he touched it, everything went blank.
Jacob regained vision and found himself in the most picturesque garden he has ever seen, there were many different types of flowers littered all over the garden's beautiful field. Within the garden there was a huge tree, surrounded by a still blue pond. Seeing this strange occurrence Jacob didn't know what to think of the situation.
Without knowing what to do, Jacob decided to investigate this strange place, it's a garden with no creatures whatsoever, not even a bird's chirp, Jacob thought to himself, there has to be something more to this place than meets the eye. This whole place is a stretch of green field as far as the eye could see except from the area where the tree and the pond is, you can't find nothing else within sight, Jacob decided to start his investigation there. So he got up from his sitting position and decided to walk towards the tree.
Approaching the shoreline of the pond and looking down he noticed that he looked exactly like he did before he died, bald and all, peculiar but plausible, he thought. Jacob started searching around for clues on how and why he got into this dreamlike garden when suddenly he heard a feminine voice Speak <~ You have finally found your way here huh!?, took you long enough~> looking around to locate the speaker, he heard her speak up again only this time it sounded closer <~ Why are you humans derilous half the time you are conscious *shakes head*...Stop looking around idiot!...I'm standing in front you ~> Jacob looked straight ahead at the tree and still saw nothing which got him feeling confused <~ Down below genius *rolls eyes*~>
Looking down he saw what looked to be a little girl wearing a light green dress with a golden halo on her back, their was something weird about the girl though for example her height, she was roughly 60cm tall too short for a girl her age or any human in general and plus her eyes showed high intelligence and experience making him feel like he was looking at a old woman rather than a tiny girl.
If anything she looked more like how the fairies of legend were described, unequal beauty with a tiny the body, yep exactly like a fairy. Not knowing what to do in this situation, Jacob decide to go with a question taking a couple steps away from the fairy girl he asked "who are you?" After he asked his question there was a short pause of awkward silence before the tiny fairy started laughing hysterically.
SFX: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Looking around and trying to figure what was so funny. Jacob still didn't understand what was going on so he asked again a little bit irritated this time "uhmmm tiny fairy, if you are done laughing, can you answer my question already." Looking up from her laughing posture, she suddenly quieted down when she saw the look of irritation in his eyes, then she slowly floated to jacob's eye level before saying <~hmm you really don't know huh....I mean I look different but I should still be recognisable, right!?.~> She sighed with a very disappointed face. Jacob now was at a even more lost for words but getting his thoughts straight he continued with "I'm sorry if I offended you but I really don't know who you are, as a matter of fact, I don't even know what.....you are.?"
The tiny fairy gave Jacob a very irritated glare before speaking through gritted teeth <~you created me from scratch, every program, every software and every processor but now you're telling me you don't recognise your own creation, talk about incompetent....humph~> as soon as Jacob heard those words, light bulbs started going off in his head, he looked up at the pouting tiny fairy who is trying her best not to look his way before stammering out the words
"You.....are...GAIA.?" Hearing the words from Jacob the tiny fairy had a tiny victorious smirk on her face obscured from Jacob's view but she still pretended to be angry by answering <~since you decided to forget me then I'm not talking to you...*silently* big dummy hmph~>
Jacob thought, now isn't that some petty shit but she didn't know that not talking to him or answering his question, is the same as confirming his guess, which gave him a lot of relieve because now he knows that he is not trap in some illusionary realm. "So you are indeed GAIA but what happened to you, you look very different, you look way more advan- ARGHHHHHH" suddenly Jacob let out gut-wrenching scream almost like his soul was being split in two.
GAIA immediately forgot about her earlier grudge and ran towards Jacob <~MASTER! MASTER! What's wrong....you look very hurt..how can I help MASTER! MASTER! Answer me....*sobs*~> she looked like a teenager having a mental break because she was actually in tears Jacob wasn't even registering what she was saying because of the immense pain he was feeling but a few moments later he recovered and regain some focus before laying on his back in exhaustion and started taking heavy breaths like he just did a marathon running up and down MT. Everest.
After catching his breath Jacob sat up and whispered to himself " I remember everything now, the cosmos, the void, the golden flames and.....the wishes." He looked at the crying GAIA and patted her tiny head saying " I'm ok now it was just a little pain nothing to worry about" GAIA looked up at her master and said with teary eyes <~*sob*Don't ever scare me like that again I was so worried that something happened to you, just few minutes after meeting you again *sob*~> Jacob thought to himself looks like that otherworldly being made her a bit too advance, I mean if it wasn't for her tiny size, you wouldn't even know she was an A.I. She just seems like any young teenager, I mean she has emotions for god sake.
After laying on the green field for a few minutes, Jacob and GAIA readjusted themselves and started talking about their situation. GAIA started with her history saying <~I was originally something you created cuz you were too lazy or unbothered to do calculations and calibrations during your many experiments. when I was first initialise I was even worst than apples A.I. assistant: Siri but because of the 'garden of Eden' program you installed in my core I was able to grow and develop on my own.
50 years after you died I was finally able to gain emotions even though they were minor emotions like confusion and fear it was still a great accomplishment. 100 years after that I was finally able to gain my own personality using your past hobbies as a foundation for it. 2961 years 7 months and 12 days after your death, Earth imploded and the next thing I knew I was reborn in this mega-advance version of garden of Eden, with all my past knowledge and new knowledge that I have yet to assimilate with, if it wasn't for that I would have already contacted you when you were in the womb~>
As she was going through her explanation she was making holographic projections with her hands to help Jacob understand her better. When she was done speaking Jacob had a look of contemplation before he asked "how much do you know about the things that happened to me after I died" she answered <~ well I don't know anything about what occurred to you, when you died. The only thing I know is that you made 4 wishes and I was one of them and since I'm a conscious being now, the being who granted your wishes made me the key to access all of them~> Jacob nodded at that with a look of understanding.
Then he asked "what is this place? *points to the surrounding*" to which she answered <~this place is the mega-advance version of the 'garden of Eden' program and since we are both connected by soul you can call this place a portion of your mindscape ~> after figuring out his current situation Jacob gave a long sigh because now he has to figure out his next step, which was to find a way to survive his current journey with his babysitter, *sarcastic* exhilarating!!!.
His afore mentioned babysitter is currently in a very unusual predicament because she is surrounded by what looks to be mountain bandits but in this war-torn era even bandits could've been former [C CLASS] shinobi and she is currently being surrounded by 15 of these so-called mountain bandits they all had red bandana's wrap around their heads, looks like it is a new formation of a [TIER:1] shinobi clan.
Sayuri has been travelling and battling for the past months barely having slept at all because she was carrying a baby and the moment she decides to take a rest and recuperate he is hounded by bandits but I guess it can be considered another beautiful day in a shinobi's lifestyle.
She was currently deliberating how to get the bandits to retreat without alerting them to the presence of the baby within her cloak. She knows she can't kill them all because she was too fatigued and besides bandits are just rogue shinobi with nothing to fight for.
so if she kills a few of them the rest will quickly retreat but if they are aware of the baby in her presence then she would have to kill them all because it could be a nuisance if they decide to tell anyone about it, mainly the Origawa clan, who knows maybe they were sent as scouts by the Origawa clan but before she could finish with her deliberation the bandits started dropping like flies and within a few minutes all 15 of them were laid on the ground, dead and from the looks of it, they all died within one move.
Being wary of her uncertain saviour, she held her tanto with a reverse grip with the sharp edge facing the tree-line, since it was dark she could see nothin beyond the tree-line, which made her very wary of the mysterious person that save her, after a while and not seeing any response from said individual, she decided draw her saviour out, by saying " You seemed to be a powerful shinobi...and yet you're hiding in the bushes. Is the powerful shinobi scared of facing a little girl." she said with a cocky smirk and vigilance in her eyes, looking around to spot any motion.
To be honest her statement was not very provocative no wonder after saying that, there was still no sound of movement, that's until she suddenly heard *munch**munch**munch* a chewing noise coming from behind her, she immediately turned around and was shocked at what she saw.
Sitting by her roasting boar, was a man who looked to be in his mid twenties with a scar over his right eye and wearing Origawa clan's shinobi armour but what surprised her even more is, that same man is currently mowing down on a boar thigh whilst there was a small red bundle resting in his free hand, which happened to be her sleeping young lord.
Panicking and scared for her young masters life, she immediately threw kunais at him and then proceeded to lunge herself at him ready to hopefully decapitate him and save her young master but the results were unfavourable, the man just disappeared, flawlessly dodging all those attacks and softly landed on a tree branch in a sitting position continuing to chew on his boar thigh whilst inspecting the baby in his hand.
Before Sayuri could attack the scarred shinobi with paper bombs, she was stop by what the scarred man said "You are attacking me with no reservation on who I'm holding in my hands right now.....Let's say your attacks where to succeeded, you will kill me of that I have no doubt but what you don't realise is, you will also be killing the young master so relax I'm not gonna harm you and especially not this baby, if I had any ill-intent I would've killed you along with the bandits or when you first left the caves a month ago"
That made her stop dead in her tracks and realise the error in her judgment and immediately went on a little episode of self-blaming within her mind. She was taken from those thoughts though by what the scarred man said next "don't beat yourself up for being inexperienced, you can barely fight a [C CLASS] shinobi and survive. I would've been surprise if your reaction was any different." Those words caused her to calm down and rethink her predicament, after a short pause she asked him " if you don't mean us any harm then who are you and why are you wearing shinobi gear from the Origawa clan?"
The man stop chewing his boar thigh and stared at the sky with a look of longing and regret before focusing his gaze back on Sayuri and answering with "well my name is Kai, born as one of the many orphans within these chaotic lands and as for why I'm wearing Origawa clan symbols, it's simple really, that's because Toshirō Origawa is my lord, making this child here *points* my young lord. So like I said before, I mean you and this child no harm. I just wanted to see how he looked like and dare I say he looks a lot like his mother."
He paused for a bit then continued with " I know my words don't put your mind at ease but I have something that can clear up all the tension and misunderstanding in the air" saying that he reach into his back pouch causing Sayuri to raise her tanto still in its reverse grip, he then pulled out a small rectangular badge with a lotus tree inscribed on its surface plus a letter hidden in a brown envelope with the seal still intact.
Throwing the items at Sayuri he said "these are the guarantees my lord and lady gave me incase you were distrustful of me. That lotus tree badge is held only by lady Harumi and if you are her servant you'll know this to be true, as for the letter it was given to me by lord Toshirō, you being the intended receiver" after he finished talking Kai just went back to chewing boar meat and cooing the sleeping young lord.
After opening the letter and seeing that it's her lords hand writing she relaxed by just a little, because in this day and age anyone's hand writing could be forged but when she read through it, she finally let loose the breath she didn't know she was holding because the letter described a lot of private matters that assured her that the letter was from lord Toshirō and this Kai shinobi is lord Toshirō's right hand man and best friend, the lotus tablet which she has seen only on lady Harumi, was just the cherry on top, an extra assurance of sorts.
Finally being able to truly relax she slumped on the ground landing ass first and then proceeded to lean her back on a tree. The frustration and fatigue of the past month came baring down on her immediately, causing her to instantly doze off.
Kai just looked at the sleeping Sayuri and had a wry smile on his face thinking out loud " young lady don't you think you a little bit too trusting leaving yourself so expose in front of someone is not the shinobi way but I guess you deserve it, because it is commendable how you managed to get so far with your limited strength whilst carrying our young lord." he lightly chuckled then leaped down from the tree, after making a soft landing he placed the baby in her arms and started weaving hand signs:
Sayuri woke up to the smell of cooked rice and roasted vegetables, quickly opening her eyes she found a big bowl full of rice and another right next to it filled with boar stew, smelling mouth watering and looking very delicious. That's when she saw Kai walk in through the door carrying the young master saying "oh morning" which she reciprocated and Kai carried on saying "since you are up you should eat some breakfast and get as much rest as needed because we will be leaving in no less than 4 hours and we will not be having any rest or cooked food till we leave the land of kō which is a week away." she just nodded to that and went along and got herself a big serving of break fast which she devoured and even had seconds.
After eating and packing up their camping supplies Kai pulled out a sealing scroll and many ninja tools came out of it when he opened it, he then said "let's restock our tools and sharping our swords" after restocking and with a few hours still left to spare they decided to plan out their path of advancement.
Kai started off with "there is a fork in the routes leading to the border of kō 3 days journey from here, one of the routes lead to kān and the other to chō." Sayuri then added " so your saying we should choose which land to escape to..?" Kai then said "that's exactly what I'm saying but be that as it may Kān is a no go area for us" surprised, Sayuri enquired "what do you mean "no go area"?" To which Kai raised an eyebrow and responded with " oh right I forgot you've never done any missions outside the clan borders" Sayuri blushed from embarrassment, Kai just pretended he didn't see anything and carried on saying " Due to your inexperience you probably don't know that half a year ago, the Ashikaga clan came under the employment of the lord of kān."
Sayuri gasp and the whispered "Ashikaga?" Kai then said "Yes!.....Ashikaga. The shinobi clan that loathes the Origawa clan the most and vice-versa" as if she has been enlightened Sayuri said " I finally get why you said kān was a no go area, now that it's the Ashikaga clan's territory, going there will be the same as staying in kō which means-" Kai cut in by saying " yeh that means, chō is our best choice at the moment because there is little if not zero shinobi wars going on in its borders and the shinobi clans there are all [TIER:2] or below. Now I'm not saying there is no danger at all because there is always danger around you. What I'm saying is, the danger is so minuscule that it can be considered a perfect place to raise the young master." He looked up from the makeshift map on the ground and asked " what do you think?"
Sayuri just said "Since you know the land better than me and have more experience, why don't we follow your orders from now on I'll just be responsible for feeding and looking after the young master." She said whilst playing with the now awake young lord. Kai scattered the make-shift map and then said "it's a deal then, you'll look after the young lord and I'll look after the journey" patting off his dusty hands Kai made sure everything was packed, restocked and ready. After and hour of resting the two shinobi and the baby disappeared from that place, leaving behind no evidence of them ever being there.
Kai, Sayuri and Hirōshi are currently on a fast track route to the land of chō hoping to find a good place to settle and raise the young master. Chō is a land ruled by a [3RD CLASS] noble it's Main sorce of income was the export of chakra metals since the land is full of mountains that contain chakra metal ores. Our trio don't know what they'll find in chō, they are going there for salvation but who knows whether they'll find what they are looking for or something much worse, it all depends on their luck I suppose but in this war-torn era luck can also be a form of skill.