Who are you?

Part 36

Years passed in the blink of an eye. Tadashi was an adult now and a well-known warrior in their land. Their once small village was now a prospering city. The other clans rarely opposed them these days, so the only fights they took part in were mostly with bandits and clans from other nations who were foolish enough to attack them.

But none of it mattered. Not anymore. His eyes have finally been opened to the truth. The dark truth about the man he served dutifully all these years. He would make sure that he would pay.

It all started about a year ago. He began having strange dreams about a mission he had years ago. The mission was to eliminate a small clan that planned to lead a coup and a few other clans against them.

The clan had been causing them trouble for a while by attacking merchants and supplies they needed. Now, they were joining forces with a few other clans, planning to weaken and attack them.

They've been trying to track them down, but the clans have left their settlements and are always on the move, making it impossible to track them. But they finally managed to find their hideout.

They immediately organized the biggest army they could and set out to attack. A huge fight ensued, and they lost many capable men, but Tadashi managed to get to their leader and drive his sword through her, and they won.

But something always bothered him about that day—something about the fight. He knew it was not due to the leader's gender, despite the rarity of female leaders. He didn't know what it was, no matter how many times he remembered memories of that night.

He barely remembered how they killed everyone in the hideout and set it on fire. Just that it happened. But he started having dreams of that night over and over again.

He finally decided to visit the remains of that place. Maybe being there in person would help him get a clear image of what happened. So, he faked a solo mission and left their village. No one had a reason to suspect him.

It took him a whole day to get there. But there it was, the ruins. Before burning the place down, they were sure to take all the valuables, so there was no reason for anyone to raid the place for valuables.

Tadashi slowly walked into the ruins, the events of that night dancing before his eyes. He could clearly see where he ran his sword through the man with the long beard or where he mercilessly killed the teenager who dropped his sword and made a run for it in fear.

He didn't show a single ounce of remorse because he believed that if any of them survived, they would regroup, gather power, and attack them. So, no one was spared besides the untrained children and civilians they usually took.

He walked past the remains of a tent. Where the large red tent stood, there were only ashes and coal. Their fire jutsus, combined with specially imported oils they used, ensured that nothing remained.

He followed the same path he had taken that night, following the steps he remembered only because he saw that dream over and over again. He finally reached the place where he first encountered that woman: in a clearing where she was commanding the troops.

His memories were getting more apparent. The scent of fresh blood. The shocked and broken look in the woman's eyes as he descended upon her. How she was trying to talk to her, but he didn't give her a chance.

The few words she managed to get out were blurred in his memories. He couldn't even make out how her mouth moved from his memories, despite everything else in the dreams being so transparent.

She followed the path their fight followed. It was as if she was leading him somewhere. The way she moved during their fights, constantly backing up and making him chase her, at the time, he believed her to be moving him away from others and trying to isolate him, but now that he was following the path, he knew that it couldn't be the case.