Book One: The Rise of the Blue-Haired Devil.

      To be honest, the time on the road flew by. I chatted with Izuna on absolutely all kinds of topics. He turned out to be a very interesting interlocutor. On the second day of the journey, we were at the end of the convoy. I didn’t even notice as we approached the huge arena.       - Michiko, wait. — Uchiha spoke up, stopping a few metres away from the arena. I looked at him in surprise, stopping moving my legs. — You know, I’ve always wanted to have a little brother in my family. I’d like to have you, but I can’t. The members of my clan wouldn’t understand me. They despise Hugo, and my father won’t allow it. I am strong enough to shut up my whole clan, but my father will not allow it, and my brother will be against my decision. — said the boy with sadness in his voice. — You need to understand one thing. In this place,” he pointed to the arena, “people either die or become someone else. Either legends or monsters come out of the arena. There’s no other way. You are very cruel by nature, but you have a good heart. Don’t waste your kindness. You’re going to face some serious challenges, but I’m sure you’ll get through them. I will always be happy to see you. Good luck to you! — Izuna added with a smile on his face.       I was completely shocked by his words. This man had managed to become attached to me in just two days. It was amazing. The Uchiha lightly hugged me before pulling away, poking me in the forehead with two fingers. The action embarrassed me, causing my cheeks to blush. No one had ever embarrassed me like that in my previous life, but here we were… After that, we went inside the arena.       The convoy walked through corridors, the walls of which were engraved with expensive finishes. About every five metres, beautiful chandeliers hung from the ceiling. Not every rich person could afford such a pleasure, and considering the number of other various expensive accessories I had noticed, it could even be argued that the owner of this arena was far from a simple merchant, but someone much higher up. After a while, we came to a luxurious door, on the front of which were two large dragons made of gold. In their eyes shone two blue diamonds. The dragons were literally burning us with their gaze. There were two people standing at the gate. They wore masks on their faces, their clothes looked very light and loose, and in places they had metal plates attached to them for partial protection. Izuna said nothing to them, simply handing them the scroll he carried in his bag the whole way. One of the guards accepted the charter, proceeding to read the document. After a few minutes, they allowed us to pass through the gate. We entered a spacious room. A huge hall that could accommodate over a hundred people at once without anyone getting in each other’s way. The room was about five metres high. A red carpet, obviously of considerable value, led the visitors to the throne, on which sat a fat man. He looked to be about thirty-five years old, but his excess weight made him look about forty-five. The man was talking to a servant, and next to him was a girl who had her head bowed down, her long black hair completely covering her face. In her hands was a tray. On the three steps were glowing shards that remotely resembled glasses. Before the arena owner noticed us, I managed to hear a few phrases of dialogue between the two people:       - Riko, are you suggesting that I forget about this incident? — The arena owner asked with displeasure in his voice.       - Sir, this girl has just joined me. She hasn’t had time to fully adapt here yet. It won’t happen again. — spoke the man whose name was Riko. He spoke in a cold and confident voice. Rico was an older man, in his late fifties. He possessed a lean build. His face had aristocratic features. His pink coloured hair was well styled on the right side and his eyes gave off green. He wore formal clothes: black trousers, the same colour bowtie and jacket and a white shirt. He was now wearing a white apron, which Rico, I realised, had put on to avoid getting dirty during the dirty work he’d been doing recently. I could tell by the rag in his hand, which had a red tinge in places, not typical of white cloth.       - It’s not enough. She must apologise. — Spoke the man with an unfriendly smile on his face. I could catch his lewd look even from a distance.       - Sir, you have quite a number of concubines. If you don’t have enough, I can order more. — said the head servant, intercepting the gaze of his interlocutor. The man was clearly trying to defend the girl’s honour.       - I’m not interested in the others. Either this girl will come to my bed tonight voluntarily, or tomorrow I will give her to the slaves, and they will not be sorry for her. This conversation is over. You are free to go. Clean up the rubbish later. I have visitors now. — The rich man cut off the dialogue when he saw us. Rico hurried away, taking the girl with him. There were still a few guards left in the room, standing between us and the arena owner.       - Greetings, Baron. I have brought the goods according to our contract. — Izuna said in a cold voice. I realised that my friend, like me, had the most repulsive feelings towards this man. This Baron simply gave no choice to the girl. A painful death with forfeiture of honour or just forfeiture of honour, what could be the right choice here? There is no way to avoid the horrible here. I think if I were in that girl’s shoes, I’d try to escape from here.       - Izuna-san, I’m glad to see you. Let me see the merchandise. — said the happy fat man as he stood up from his seat. — Did someone attack you on the way? — He was surprised to see the bandaged wound on the second Uchiha’s neck.       - No, just a slave who managed to take my partner by surprise. — The sharingan wielder replied, trying not to show his hatred for his partner.       - And who was so cunning that he was able to catch an experienced ninja? — Baron asked with interest.       - It’s that white-eyed bastard over there! — Ren answered for his partner, pointing his finger at me. He was obviously pleased with what he had done, because he thought that I would get what I deserved for this deed. The rich man approached me, looking me over from head to toe with interest. He stopped his gaze on my eyes. He stared at them for a few seconds, as if he were trying to find something in them that might not have been detected at first glance.       - An interesting specimen. — He said at the end of my “inspection”. The Baron took a quick glance at the other slaves, then gave an order to one of his guards.       - Send this fellow to a separate cell. Those three young men to the market, and the rest to be wasted. — commanded the big fella. — I’ll talk to you later. — he said, addressing me personally. He winked at me, then turned to the ninja. — I’ll pay the contract. — He said, looking at Izuna. At the same moment, two bags of gold appeared at the feet of the members of the great Uchiha clan. As the local guard led me away, I listened intently to the conversation between my friend and the Baron.       - But this child has too much potential. The clan head demanded a thirty per cent premium. — The Uchiha tried to raise the price.       - No. I won’t pay you that much. The contract didn’t stipulate anything like that. — The Baron replied calmly.       - But… — Izuna wanted to object, but did not have time, because the rich man interrupted him.       - Either you take the money and leave, or you are left without it at all. — said the fat man.       - Are you threatening the members of the great Uchiha clan? — Ren said with a hint of anger as he reached for the weapon in his belt pouch.       - No, I’m warning you that if you don’t comply, I can kill you or sell you into slavery. That is the law of the daimyo of the five great countries. — the Baron clarified calmly.       - Let’s leave. — Izuna said coldly, picking up two sacks from the floor.       I heard nothing more, for I was led out of the hall. It was not long enough to be led along the corridors, which were quite different in this part of the arena. The walls were black. No, they weren’t painted some pretty colour… they weren’t painted at all… It was the rotten colour of a crumbling building. Mould was visible in places, and there was an unpleasant smell of rotting flesh in the air. I was already used to this stench in my previous life, so my brain didn’t even react. We reached the door, after which my attendant kindly opened the cell for me, shoving me in there with his foot. I was no longer surprised by such insolence, however it was unpleasant to hit the wall. I hadn’t got used to the pain in this world yet. It was different. I didn’t feel any pain from hitting the wall, but an unpleasant sensation spread through my body. It’s very hard to describe. It was as if I felt the heat from the contact of the impact without experiencing the painful side of the situation.       My cell was not much different from the corridor. There was only a small window that let light into the room, through which perhaps only a snake with not a single bone in its body could escape. The small passage was closed by three thick iron bars, which could not be bent by an ordinary man. It would be easier to destroy the entire wall than to move those bars apart. On one side of the room stood something that looked like a bed. In fact, it was a stone tile, probably two and a half by one and a half metres square, attached to the wall by iron chains that were already starting to rust. There was no pillow or blanket nearby, which made me realise that I could easily die of cold in this place in winter. There was a small hole in the floor by the opposite wall, which was meant to be a place to take a dump.       I waited for several hours until I was taken out of the cell. This time I was led down a different path. I had carefully memorised the path from my room so that I would be ready to get the hell out of this place at any moment, but I needed more information about the entire arena to make an escape plan. As I expected, they led me out into an open part of the action venue meant for gladiatorial fights. About a hundred kids, older than me, stood in a row in front of the Baron, apparently waiting just for me. I looked round at them all, already guessing what awaited me. I stood at the edge, and then the arena owner began to speak.       - Hello, everyone! My name is Mitsuko Tenga. I am the second most powerful man in the Water Country after the Daimyo. To all people, I am simply the Baron. Each of you has managed to interest me in one way or another. You have all fallen under the programme to create daimae protectors, but not all of you will survive. Each daimyo has decided to take only one ninja protector to be the head of his guard. In exactly one year’s time, the richest and most powerful people in the world will come here. At that time we will hold a selection among you, which will consist of one-on-one battles. The battle will be fought until one of you kills the other. You will fight until someone buys you, or one of you is left. Over the course of a year, you will train. You will undergo hellish training, during which some may die, unable to endure the strenuous physical exertion. Forget self-pity and prove to the world that you are worth something. Tomorrow your training begins, be prepared for anything. — Tenga gave his fiery speech.       While saying these words he was looking at only one person in the crowd… Me. He was literally testing my reaction to his speech. Towards the end, the Baron hummed in approval as I didn’t change my face throughout his monologue, which apparently pleased him. After that we were taken back to our cells. I decided to go to bed early, knowing that tomorrow the real fun would begin.