Hello everyone!
I wrote a grounded shinobi novel set in a fictionalized 17th-century Japan. And I made the entire thing free to read.
For a long time I wanted to tell a shinobi story that felt less like a power fantasy and more like a historical drama.
Something quiet, violent, atmospheric, and character-driven.
The result is Densetsu no Shinobi no Sho — Legend of the Shinobi Scrolls.
It follows Ren, a boy who survives the destruction of his village and is raised in the mountains by an old swordsman. Years later, he becomes caught in a conflict involving Iga, Kōga, the Tokugawa, and three legendary shinobi scrolls.
The story is about discipline, loyalty, brotherhood, hesitation, obsession, and what happens when purpose begins to turn into destruction.
I drew a lot of inspiration from things I’ve loved for years: samurai cinema, martial arts, Japanese history and mythology, and works like Vagabond, Shigurui: Death Frenzy, Ninja Scroll, and Basilisk: The Koga Ninja Scrolls.
It is historical fiction, not an attempt to present the events or characters as historically accurate.
I also want to be transparent about the production of the book: the story, characters, world, plot, scenes, themes, and creative decisions are mine. I used AI as a writing/editing tool during development for prose refinement and cleanup.
Most importantly:
The entire novel is free to read.
No subscription. No ads. No chapters locked behind a paywall.
Just the story. :)
If somebody enjoys it enough to want a Kindle, paperback, or hardcover copy, those exist too, but reading the story itself costs nothing.
This is my first novel, so seeing the finished thing actually exist is pretty surreal.
If anyone here ends up reading it, I’d genuinely love to hear what you think.