The Book of Five Rings

Slicing Null

Chapter 2 - The Book of Five Rings

By theMadLad

Beta: Old Man of The Mountain, Kira The Court Jester, Shub-Niggurath

…Years Ago.

Musashi sat alone as he stared at the wall in his empty house. His father had only passed the day before and yet he still felt just as lifeless the day after.

His new life had not been a fresh start, nor was it one without trouble. No—trouble had arrived the moment he was born, with his mother dying in the throes of his birth, and his father being left a broken man ever since.

Was it ever any wonder that he died of a common cold, when he lacked the will to live and fight it in the first place?

But, even with all of his issues, the man was still his father. It was the only connection Musashi had in this new world, and the loss of it pained him greatly.

He was now truly alone.

His small house had never felt so cold. For all his father's faults, he was still very much a loving man, he had loved so much that the death of his wife had left him in utter shambles.

But even then he carried on.

Musashi never had to struggle much in life, even with his family being stuck in poverty, his father still managed to put food on his plate at the end of the day… and for that, he would be forever grateful.

Musashi paid his respects to the small shrine held within his poor house, which was a barren Tamayo memorial altar that had long held the name of his mother, and now his father's as well. There he left an offering, and small prayer before he eventually turned his head to a gift his father had given him before he passed.

It was a book.

He flipped to the cover which read, 'The Book of Five Rings.'

His father had told him that he had gained the book from a mysterious and powerful stranger who had once saved his life one night when he was still young from a wandering Yokai. He offered them a night at his home as thanks, which they accepted before suddenly vanishing in front of his eyes the next morning.

…Leaving only this book behind.

Musashi opened the book, read the name of the titular author… and then dropped it in pure shock.

"When you said I was named after a Musashi who saved you—you never said it was Musashi Miyamoto!" He cried out in pure confoundment.

Who didn't know such an iconic name? But that was the thing, nobody but him would possibly recognize it! Because Musashi Miyamoto was a famous Japanese Samurai not from this world, but from the world of his past life!

The most famous Sword-Saint of Japan, and the founder of the Niten Ichi-ryū School of Swordsmanship who held an undefeated record of 61 wins during duels.

It was not an exaggeration to call them one of the greatest swordsman who ever lived, and they were even considered by some as the strongest in the history of Japan.

But… how?

How did his father obtain something from another world? …and just who was that person who gave it to him.

But, even those pressing questions fell away to a greater feeling they left within Musashi, that of ambition.

He had recognized the world he had been reborn in, it was an anime that he had once watched called Naruto, a strange world where ninjas fought wars with an energy called Chakra… which was basically Magic but with hand-seals.

It was a world full of danger, filled with assassins that ruled military villages that freely killed for commissions of money. Not to mention how each held Tailed Beasts, which were the equivalent of walking animal shaped nukes, or the strange 'Yokai' that he did not remember being in the setting.

Power was necessary to live freely here, but unfortunately it was not so easy to obtain. In this world that was more or less reliant on your birth, or more importantly, your bloodline.

Because that gave access to a Kekkei Genkai.

Those not descended from a special bloodline needed overwhelming talent, or a special jutsu to level the playing field, but they needed both to thrive in it.

Even the protagonist, Naruto, who started off as a talentless orphan hack, ended up not just being the child of the Fourth Hokage, the most talented civilian ninja ever born, but also Uzumaki Kushina, a remnant member of a clan descended straight from the Sage of Six Paths.

Not to mention how he had Kurama, the Nine-Tails, sealed inside of him to help bolster him further… on top of somehow being the reincarnation of the Sage of Six Paths son. Yet even with all that, he was still completely unable to defeat the series' final boss even with the help of the Sage of Six Paths other son's reincarnation, Uchiha Sasuke, without direct intervention from the man himself.

Damn, the power levels of the series really went through the roof now that he thought about it.

Regardless, Musashi had never expected to become powerful in this life… it was simply unrealistic to an impossible degree. He was a pure civilian that held poor chakra reserves, while also lacking a clan to build a foundation from.

He was not from Konoha, where he could go to a school and perhaps gain a powerful teacher that he could learn from with enough talent, before eventually gaining access to the staggering inheritance of the Second Hokage there—with a various amount of jutsu available to be passed on to Shinobi with enough merit… no, unfortunately, he was from the Land of Iron, where he could, at most, become a decently powerful Samurai after years of training.

Perhaps with meta knowledge he could abuse ways to find power through intervening early in special moments in the series or strange events in the filler episodes… but he hardly remembered them in the first place, much less the finer details.

That left Fuinjutsu, which held a massive amount of potential for him. With his mindset and understanding of the world foreign to that of the natives here, even he held a slight fear towards what he could come up with… but that was ignoring the whole myriad of different difficulties he would need to overcome for him to learn the art.

The first being a teacher. There were few sealmasters that could teach him to a level he would be satisfied with, as most were inaccessible, or required him to tie his loyalty to a village, which he did not like. Perhaps Orochimaru would be an exception, but it simply would not be worth the risk working with the man.

…And then there was the second reason, that being the necessary kanji was simply far too confusing for him to deal with. He was not Japanese in his last life, and a language made of logographic characters was immensely difficult for him to even read, not to mention base a whole style of combat and abilities around.

It simply wasn't feasible.

…But now. Now, he had a way. All of his instincts were screaming to him that this was his chance!

And he was going to take it.

So, with those thoughts in mind, he opened the first page:

Hello Reader/Inheritor/Lucky Person, my formal name is Shinmen Musashi-no-Kami Fujiwara no Harunobu. But, it's easier if you just call me Musashi!

I'm what you call a dimensional traveler! …Or, uh, something to do with Kaleidoscopes, I don't really remember!

Anyways, throughout all my travels I've never really considered writing down my thoughts… but lately I feel as if something will happen soon—that I will finally reach my last destination. Not only that, in the boundary between worlds, there's a light field I always end up falling through.

I can't control how I get there, but in it you can see hundreds of entrances to all sorts of worlds there beneath your feet, so I've always just picked one and jumped in thinking that would be the one that finally gets me home.

…But eventually I realized that there were fewer entrances left with each trip. It's no surprise, really. I know that eventually, there won't be a world left that would accept me. I mean, it only figures, right? The Japan I originally came from was long gone…

I'm sure it no longer exists.

And so, I became a wanderer drifting through space-time. I kept barging into all sorts of worlds under the pretense of finding my way home, and kept getting kicked out.

...Sometimes, when I find myself in a really nice world, I even try to settle down there. I know it's just because I don't want to face reality… but can you blame me? My options are dwindling rapidly and I don't want to deal with it.

But in the end, there is no choice but to accept it, right?

That's why I am writing this book, just like that cool old man version of me!

This book is divided into the five volumes of Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, and Void. You could even call it the culmination of the human being called 'Musashi.'

Whoever you are, I hope it serves you well… for it is the story of my life.

…

"Huh."

This changed everything for Musashi. Because just like he recognized the world he lived in… he also recognized who the author was, or more specifically what version of them it was.

The Female Musashi Miyamoto from Fate/Grand Order.

She was someone who reached the state of 'Zero' or 'Void' and even managed to seal away Chaos, a super powered Dyson Sphere Machine God from another universe, during the events of the 5th Lostbelt.

Basically, a super badass who was super badass.

…And now he had her inheritance, her life's work dropped on his lap. He would be an absolute fool not to learn from it. It may not be as flashy as something like the Tailed Beast Bomb or Susanoo, but it was definitely no less, especially at its highest level.

If they were the greatest height of power in this world, then the culmination of the Niten Ichi-ryū to the point of reaching the Void, was without a doubt the ceiling of technique.

Such a thing was, without question, priceless.

But to reach such an achievement would be a feat of staggering difficulty. Even the Female Musashi could not reach the 'Void' until her death. It would be near impossible for him to do the same.

But he had to try.

While others may have powerful bloodlines that allowed them to have the amount of chakra of a civilian ten times over, or have eyes that could see through walls or make giant chakra mechas… he only had his two hands, and a whole lot of diligence.

But that was enough.

Musashi couldn't help but smirk, "If this book is the culmination of Musashi… then perhaps it's time I earn my name."

Maybe it was destiny.

But one thing was for sure, he wouldn't allow the name Musashi to be forgotten. That night he added another name to his family shrine, one dedicated to the benefactor who not only saved his father and allowed for his existence, but also gave him the chance to make something worthwhile of himself in this cynical world.

The next day… he was no longer the same listless boy mourning the death of his father.

No, while the pain was still there, he knew he had to move on. It was just like the other Musashi had said in her book… that in the end, there was no choice but to accept it.

Right?

And now a flame had been lit in his heart, and he wouldn't allow himself to rest until that small ember… grew into a blazing fire.

An ambition so great, that even if all the Five Kage teamed up on him at once with their armies at their beck and call—No, even if Uchiha Madara himself stood against him with a fully powered Susanoo alongside all the enemies of the world…

He would simply take his sword… and cut down anything that dared to stand in his way.

————-

The next chapter will be out soon, however, if you want to read it right now, then it is already available over on Patréon, which you can find over at Pátreön.com/theMadLad

Author's Notes

Sorry for the delay, I've been in a big slump. Fate/Defiance will be uploaded next, and I hope you all enjoyed the minor FGO crossover, as that is the full extent of it! Yes, I actually made it Fate Musashi's inheritance, awesome right? …I simply couldn't resist, she was too fucking cool during the Lostbelt!

Leave a like if you enjoyed it, and comment as well! I love me some comments, tell me if you like the series so far!

Join the discord at, https://discord.gg/AMyqBN2

Also another character pic for Musashi: