My name is Uzui Tengen and this is my story.

I grew up in Kanezaka, Japan in a family that had served the Shimada Clan for generations as their bodyguards, servants, and even mistresses. Fortunately, I was not born from a mistress but to two very successful ninjas, who although not loving, did care for me as a valuable asset.

From a young age, I was told that I would be a confidant and bodyguard to the heir of the Shimada Clan, Hanzo Shimada. And for that reason, my parents both started training me from the age where a kid should be a kid.

In the mountains, I was trained to be the best ninja I could be, and that included learning everything from ninjutsu to swordsmanship to medical triage. The thing that frustrated both of my parents was that I was not very well-suited to be a ninja.

I did not like the whole sneaking around thing, the silent assassination, the waiting for days on end to find the perfect moment to assassinate someone. No, I very much preferred to just get the job done even if it meant getting loud.

That's why I liked learning swordsmanship the most out of everything. Because there is something fascinating about two people clashing over and over with a sword, knowing that one bad move is all it takes to win. But as the Shimada Clan is a family of ninjas, I too had to be a ninja. So, even though I didn't like it, I did it, and I was good at it. So good that I finished my training at the age of 10 and that's when I met the heir of the Shimada Clan, the boy who I was supposed to guard with my life until I was no longer needed, Hanzo Shimada.

Luckily we were the same age so he took to me rather quickly. He wasn't at all like I thought he would be. He wasn't arrogant nor did he mistreat the people around him or the people under him. Rather he was nice to everyone and treated everyone with respect. He walked around the town talking to the people and never once treated them poorly.

The only thing that I could complain about was how much pressure he had on his shoulders and the seriousness that created. He was always serious, and almost never cracked. As if he knew he would only day inherit the clan, and knew what he would have to look forward to.

But it's not like he wasn't talented and that's the reason for the pressure he was feeling. On the contrary, he was extremely talented in everything. From a young age, he had shown a natural aptitude for leadership and had an innate understanding of tactics and strategy. He was a prodigy in martial arts, swordplay, and bowmanship. It was almost pointless for me to be his bodyguard.

His younger brother, Genji Shimada, on the other hand, was as carefree as could be. He had none of the pressure that his older brother had so he spent most of his time not training, playing games, and messing around. I envied him because I knew that's what a kid should be doing, and I wanted to be his bodyguard so I could do the same. But so is life.

Two years prior, the Omnic Crisis had begun and was a problem worldwide but was especially so in Japan, where omnics were more widespread. And because of that, the Shimada Clan had been busy protecting Kanezaka from both the omnics and their rival clan, the Hashimoto. The clan wasn't actively participating, by that, I mean sending out their people to other places and helping, but rather hunkering down and holding down the fort.

But because of that, the Omnic Crisis wasn't really too much of a problem for the Shimada Clan, at least compared to other cities and parts of the world, and the only thing that was worrying was the Hashimoto Clan trying anything. Or more importantly, the Hashimoto Clan trying to assassinate Hanzo or Genji. And let me tell you, they tried.

About a month into my being a bodyguard for Hanzo, I was asked by him to go with Genji to the arcade. Hanzo had some lessons with his father and wanted me to guard Genji in the meantime. Not being able to refuse, not that I wanted to, I went with Genji to the arcade where he asked me to play with him. And I being the lowly bodyguard I was, could only accept.

So, Genji and I played games for a few hours and we became friends. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to beat him at any game because he was a prodigy at video games, it was quite frustrating. Anyway, after a few hours of being in the arcade, I saw that the sun was about to set, so I told Genji it was time to go back. Reluctantly, he agreed and we were about to go back when I felt something.

I pushed Genji to the ground while pulling out the wakizashi I had hidden on my back, and managed to deflect the arrow that was aimed at me. Seeing this, I pushed the alarm button on my watch that would tell all the Shimada Clan members that one of the heirs was under attack as well as my location.

Then another arrow came for me which I also deflected before two more came and I had to duck. That's when a group of masked men entered the arcade before rushing in our direction. Quickly making sure Genji was okay, I then rushed to meet the men, successfully breaking their momentum.

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Because of my sudden rush, I was able to kill the first one by slicing his throat, and the one at the back by throwing a kunai that lodged itself deep in his eye socket. Seeing this the other men regained their senses before rushing to kill me while two of them continued going for Genji.

Seeing the two men go for Genji, I knew I had to do something so I threw my wakizashi at one of them, killing him before pulling the chain attached to it and killing the other on the comeback. As to why my wakizashi had a chain, well it's because I knew my small body might hold me back one day, so I decided to add it for extra reach.

Anyway, the other men seeing their comrades die even while I was surrounded, decided their mission had failed, and was time to retreat. So they threw down a smoke bomb before running away. Unluckily for them, I've always had very good hearing and I was able to track them through the smoke, killing them with kunais.

After this, Hanzo and the head of the Shimada Clan appeared before me to check on Genji, and I as a bodyguard had to bend down on one knee with my head lowered before the clan head. But seeing as I had protected his son and he had not gotten so much as a scratch, he thanked me and promised me a reward, which later turned out to be a katana and a wakizashi made by the best bladesmiths in Kanezaka.

And because of the attempted assassination attempt on Genji, he was made to train harder which he hated. But the Shimada Clan also wanted retaliation for the attempt, even if many of the clan elders didn't like Genji, it was still an affront to their honor. So, they sent out a squad of men to the Hashimoto Clan's seat of power and caused enough damage to make the Hashimoto Clan feel it.

Of course, that wasn't the only assassination attempt that I thwarted in the years leading up to the end of the Omnic Crisis, I had to have thwarted about 50 different assassination attempts that ranged from ninjas to snipers to poisoned food. I thwarted the poisoned food one because I accidentally walked into the chef poisoning the food and stopped him.

After the Omnic Crisis, business was booming for the Shimada Clan. After all, nothing is greater for business than war and the aftermath of it. Drugs, arms, weapons, military equipment, you name it, the Shimada Clan probably had their hands in the shipping and selling of it in Japan. And even though I didn't really like that the Shimada Clan was a criminal enterprise, at least they weren't as bad as the Hashimoto Clan.

But as I continued being a bodyguard for Hanzo, over the years I began to hate the Shimada Clan more and more. And that reached a tipping point for me when I turned 18, and I was finally given my first mission outside of guarding Hanzo.

I was tasked with taking down a Shimada Clan drug den that went rogue because they wanted to strike out on their own. And seeing as I turned 18, the clan leader decided to give me the opportunity. So, I traveled to the city the drug den was located in and did recon of the surrounding area. And just walking around the nearby area of the drug den was when I came across the reality of just what the Shimada Clan was.

Homeless junkies in alleyways looking for any way to score, mothers who made their children wait while they did favors for money to drugs, and teenagers in school uniforms getting hooked.

I always knew we sold drugs but actually seeing the consequences of that made me sick. So, with a cold fury, I stormed the drug den and took them all out with ruthless precision. After killing them all, I decided to pile up all the drugs and burn them. Once that was done, I went back to the Shimada Clan to report my success.

After I reported my success to the clan leader, he stared at me for a few moments. As if he sensed my anger, he asked if I had plans to leave the clan. Stunned by his words, I regained my senses before asking if he would let me leave the place alive, to which he replied a simple no. That's when I bolted, deciding to not kill my way out and potentially die there.

But for some reason, there was no one chasing after me and I managed to leave the castle with no resistance. Looking back at the castle, I reminisced on all the memories I had made before I turned and left for good.

The next month or so I spent living in the forest until one day I came across an abandoned shrine in the mountains. Curious, I looked around before finding the doorway collapsed, but with enough space for me to enter, so I did. The inside of the shrine looked like a standard Japanese shrine, except this one had the image of a black cat on it which made me come to realize that they worshipped some kind of black cat-related figure.

The only other thing besides that was an open chest in the middle and seeing as it was open, I didn't feel like it was sacrilegious. I opened it further and saw a scroll inside. Opening it and reading it, the scroll contained something called a Breathing Technique which was an ancient technique only passed on to those chosen by the Black Cat.

As I read the technique it almost felt like this was meant for me to find, so I took it and decided to both clean and repair the shrine, out of respect and thanks. Cleaning and restoring the shrine took me a couple of months since I didn't have the best tools, but once done it was back to top shape. And out of respect once more, I prayed and paid my respects to the Black Cat.

The next 6 years were spent in isolation in the mountains where I would train in the technique, my swordplay which had changed into a two-sword style that fit with the technique, and I would live in the shrine. It was hard at first but training in the technique took up all my time and I was determined to see it through.

Sometime in the first year, a black cat appeared out of nowhere and started to live around me. Seeing as I was in the Black Cat shrine, I did find it a little odd, but I thought it was just pure coincidence and took care of her. She spent most of her time lazing around and watching me train, and I came to care for her, more than I cared for my parents.

Sometime during the 7th year, I decided I had been in isolation long enough, so I put on some of the clothes that I had stolen over the years, got my swords, and my cat who I named Kuro, and left the mountains.

At first, I didn't know what I wanted to do with my time so I decided I would just wander the world and keep honing my swordsmanship in the meantime.

Now, 3 years later, I was still doing the same thing.

And that's my story so far.

~

"Cool." said Uzui.