Preparation was definitely something ingrained in Sasuke's core.
Always before a mundane task, such as a mere D Rank mission to chase a certain cursed cat or the fight of his life against his own older brother, Sasuke was ready beyond measure, and this time would be no different.
As soon as he left the bookstore, Sasuke made it his first task to raise funds to facilitate his indefinite stay in this new world. People wandered everywhere, making the nighttime streets of Vale even busier than during the day. With his absurd speed, Sasuke could search someone's pockets, ascertain their financial situation, decide how much to take without harming them, and return the rest before disappearing without anyone noticing more than a breeze.
However, he refrained from doing so.
One thing he noticed as soon as he landed in this city was how technology had developed vastly beyond his home world. The surveillance on the streets by cameras and guards was absurd in comparison, so it would be better to avoid doing anything that might attract the attention of the local authorities.
"I'm pretty sure I saw a metal puppet walking around without even a wire attached to it... Just, how?" Sasuke grumbled, recognizing that his ignorance was more vast than he had initially thought. I definitely need to set aside some time to research these broader subjects
Sasuke had no knowledge of these people's capabilities, nor the extent of this society's technological growth. All the more reason to avoid trouble, especially when avoiding it required no effort at all.
This vigilance, however, is the standard, or is there something else going on here? Sasuke pondered, stopping at the top of a building as he tried to find his way to the nightclub. Did they pick up anything about my arrival?
Kaguya's portal wasn't necessarily extravagant and disappeared as quickly as it had appeared; otherwise, he wouldn't have been trapped in this place.
However, even if it was for a millionth of a second, there was undeniably a visible portal.
So the question was: how unusual was this kind of anomaly?
Sasuke had read a bit about Semblances, the abilities granted by the use of this alternative version of Chakra called Aura, and how they tended to be unique to each individual.
When he arrived in this world, Sasuke dropped into a busy street near that bookstore, but he did so without causing a stir. As soon as he caught the attention of others and noticed that there shouldn't be any people awake, Sasuke retreated after the first sentence directed at him.
The right decision. He clenched his fists at the thought of what might have happened if he hadn't done it in time. I almost killed all those people.
The first thing Sasuke thought of on his arrival was that he was being thrown into a nest of those White Zetsu that could take on the appearance of anyone with precision.
If it hadn't been for his eyes' ability to see Chakra and the fact that these people didn't have a Chakra system inside their bodies, his arrival in this world would have been marked by a massacre and black flames.
Sasuke could only be grateful for his cold ability to analyze even in extreme situations.
Itachi had ingrained that lesson in him the hard way.
Besides, unlike my world, it seems that almost everyone here is a civilian. Sasuke nodded that he had yet to see any of the so-called protectors. Maybe that's why they're heading for extinction.
If they had more people to fight, they would have a much better chance against those creatures.
On the other hand, Sasuke also thought that perhaps not having a militaristic society was exactly what was prolonging the life of this world.
According to Hashirama's story, before villages were formed, clans lived fighting, and that had probably been going on since the end of the Sage of the Six Paths era.
A long time of bloodshed and animosity.
Something similar would be lethal in Remnant.
For that reason, Sasuke decided to suppress his Chakra almost completely.
If these faunus were having panic attacks just by being near him, it wouldn't be strange if those Grimm, creatures he had yet to see for himself, could sense him from outside the walls, and possibly result in a devastating wave against this Kingdom.
Besides conserving and concealing my Chakra, I also avoid causing unnecessary trouble. Sasuke preferred to pass through this world as unnoticed as possible before returning home. But do I still have something like that?
He closed his eyes to try to appreciate how calming the night wind could be, and failed to feel anything but anger when he thought of Konoha and everything that had happened.
Before Itachi's death and the truth about him, whenever Sasuke thought about what to do after achieving his goal, Konoha, his old home, and Team Seven, his new family, came to mind with a certain fondness and nostalgia, as hope for a better future. After discovering the truth, he could only despise that village and every one of its inhabitants living happily and smilingly day after day with the sacrifice of his clan. After the conversation with the Kages, Sasuke came to hate the whole distorted system that had shaped the course of history until it resulted in a situation where it could very well have destroyed the whole world.
Opening his eyes, Rinnegan and Sharingan were there, being fed by these emotions that would never go away until things changed.
Sasuke was going to return to that doomed world and destroy its broken system to build a better one in its place.
But first, he had to find out more about this world to realize his ideals.
No matter how small the doubt, Sasuke no longer wanted to regret his decision.
Fortunately, that goal was one step closer with a lucky encounter amid this recent streak of bad luck.
While searching for the nightclub, Sasuke passed through what seemed to be one of the darkest parts of the city and came across a group of masked faunus carrying briefcases in a meeting with a man in a white suit with orange hair.
Even an idiot like Naruto could understand what was going on here... probably.
Being sure that it was something illegal, Sasuke took the liberty of intervening and seizing the contents of this transaction, hoping that it would earn him a decent amount of this world's currency.
-----
"So," Roman began as he lit one of his cigars, then let out a puff of smoke and smiled at his unexpected customers. "Are you always in uniform out of loyalty or because you don't have any other clothes to wear?"
Every word was said provocatively, his smile ever-present with the growing anger of these White Fang pawns.
"Watch your mouth, human!" The leader of the group snarled, showing the edge of a gleaming blade in warning. "Or I'll rip your tongue out of your mouth!"
Just as he had done several times before!
"Yeah, whatever." Roman flicked his hat, rolling his eyes with an indifferent smile. He wasn't afraid of these off-leash dogs. After all, they were the ones who needed his services, not the other way around. "I only asked because this meeting place is... How should I put it? Painfully suspicious... Like, everything here screams 'criminal transaction in progress'. We could have met at a strip club, you know." His smile grew, almost as lopsided as his sense of humor. "Man, there's one nearby, full of hot faunus that you'd love!"
That did the trick, and immediately the tension went through the roof.
"That's enough!" At the sound of the exalted voice of the faunus in command, all his followers drew their weapons, ready to attack. "One more insult and you'll have to answer to the White Fang!"
Situations like this reminded the faunus present of why they hated humans!
"Jeez, relax. Nobody knows how to take a joke these days," Roman grumbled, but kept the amusement in his tone. "Straight to the point, then. What do the little terrorists want this time?"
A rhetorical question, really, as there was only one reason anyone would want his services.
"Tsk." The leader forced himself to lower his weapon, remembering his orders. "The only terrorists in this world are those who belong to the scum..."
"...Of my race' and 'blah, blah, blah'. Can you go any faster with your hate speeches?" Roman cut the leader off and raised the tension in the air to another level, gripping the cane in his hands tightly just in case things got wild. "The smell in here is terrible... No offense."
He might have been pulling a little too hard, but god, this was so much fun!
"You son of a..." One of the members had had enough and was ready to attack with the intent to kill, but was stopped.
"We have more important matters to deal with than dealing with your nonsense!" The leader really hated this human! "If you're not interested, Roman, just say so!"
After all, there are plenty more willing ones out there!
"Of course, as if I could refuse without putting a price on my head in your little organization," Roman grunted every word, clearly annoyed at having to worry about not going off the rails with these insane animals. At least these bastards have money, and that's all I need to know.
For now.
Very soon, Cinder would annex them to her little group, and things would become much more interesting.
"Good," the leader said, regaining control and showing how all humans should be. Obedient in the face of fear.
That's if they didn't end up being wiped off the face of the planet, as Adam and many others wanted.
"Enough mystery." Roman had more things to do, more to steal, and more strippers to visit. "What do you want?"
As expected, the answer could only be one.
"The only thing anyone could want coming from you." The leader got straight to the point. "Dust, lots of Dust."
That and ruining the Schnee family in the process, as well as diverting the authorities' attention to this fame-loving idiot, thus facilitating the White Fang's operations in Vale.
"Oh ho, now that's interesting." Roman was so good at feigning surprise that he might have become an actor if it hadn't been such a boring job. "I'm pretty sure you stole a crumpled train recently and still need more Dust? Maybe your revolution is closer than expected, huh?"
Not that this was a good thing, since Roman was also human and a target for these extremists.
"Whether it is or not is irrelevant to someone like you." The leader spat, increasingly reminded that Roman was the worst kind of human walking around; the kind who didn't care about anything but himself. "The train's job failed because of the actions of a traitor."
For that reason, there was a juicy bounty on Blake Belladonna's head within the organization.
"A faunus betraying the White Fang? Noooo, something like that exists?!" Roman mocked, expressing false surprise in the most offensive way possible. Seeing the way each of these animals was shaking with rage and their fists clenched so hard you could hear the bones crack, made it worth the possible dance that could come of it, but Roman didn't want to lose a client or his head. "All right, you know how I work. Half now, half on delivery. In untraceable greens, please."
The group leader seriously considered killing Roman, but they needed him... for now. The real leader of the White Fang was counting on them to try to make up for the shipment lost with the betrayal of the Belladonna girl.
Letting anger get the better of them would only serve to play into this scum's hands.
Roman smiled when he saw the stuffed suitcases coming towards him. Although he had a little errand later with that hot, scary bitch, Cinder, it wouldn't hurt to do one job on the side while he still could.
Or so Roman thought.
"I'll take that."
A voice devoid of emotion suddenly sounded, and everyone there felt an involuntary shiver run down their spine.
Sasuke appeared out of nowhere among the men, covered in his black cloak.
"Who do you think..." One of the faunus started to speak but was unable to finish and could only let out a muffled cry of pain. "Argh!"
The kick came so fast that it could only be traced by Roman's eyes!
A fucking Huntsman!
"Shit, Roman!" The faunus leader came to the same conclusion and more. "You framed us?!"
Roman didn't respond to this nonsense; he didn't have time. By the time the attacker's feet left the first target, he had already completed a mid-air spin and connected his heel with him!
Too fast! Roman only managed to raise his arms to defend his head out of pure instinct. And what about this absurd strength?!
It looked like he'd been hit by a Bullhead that was moving several times faster than a bullet fired at point-blank range!
Worse still, Roman couldn't keep his feet on the ground! The force was so much that his body was sent spinning into a brick wall, severely damaging his Aura.
This had never happened before!
So much so that he was disoriented for a second and unable to see the others being taken out of the game.
Everything was spinning and aching, worse than a Tuesday hangover.
If it hadn't been for the pain subsiding and his senses returning, Roman would have been sure that his Aura had been broken with a single blow.
A single fucking blow!
Who the fuck is this monster?! He couldn't help but ask, trying to pull himself up from the broken bricks while his heart was racing so fast it seemed like he was having an overdose. I have to get the hell out of here!
Otherwise, his criminal career would come to an end tonight!
"Looks like you can take a hit." Sasuke hadn't expected anyone to be able to, especially when he had used enough Chakra to place him among the Jounin elite. For those faunus, however, this much was almost overkill. Indicating that this man in front of him was different, probably one of the Huntsmen of this world who had chosen to become a criminal, and that bothered Sasuke deeply. "Considering the conversation I overheard just now, you must not be a person the world will miss, so don't blame me for what happens next."
Time to test a more advanced level of Genjutsu.
While Sasuke had avoided using his Mangekyou on civilians, in his book, trash from society like this was fair game.
After all, no one would care if anything went wrong.
Fear gripped Roman's heart.
This monster wasn't a Huntsman but some kind of vigilante with no morals.
This could only mean the end of the line.
So this was how Roman would die? In a dirty alley and at the hands of a random monster, and not stabbed or burned by that hot bitch Cinder?
The story of my life. Roman almost felt like he was back in the old days when he was still a kid trying to survive. It was a shitty life, but a shitty life well lived, that's for sure.
Still, he wanted to enjoy it more.
I don't want to die... Despair was taking hold of him, and with every passing second, Roman wanted to see his partner in crime one last time. "Neo..."
A cold hand grabbed him by the throat and interrupted his last words, lifting him like he was nothing and pressing him against what was left of the brick wall.
When he managed to open his eyes to see the face of his killer, whom he would make sure to haunt for all eternity, Roman was greeted by a six-pointed red star, adorned with three black lines on the inside.
It shone brighter than dust crystals, almost like a blood moon.
Then there was pain; a lot of pain.
Sasuke let go of the eccentric orange-haired thug as soon as he started screaming and clutching his own head in agony.
This wasn't supposed to happen... He stepped back a little, watching the Genjutsu of his Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan fail. It almost looks like I used Tsukuyomi on him.
Which wasn't the case at all.
The goal of this illusion was simply to control the target to gather knowledge and information, not to torture.
As soon as he used the technique, his Chakra infiltrated the man's body, and there was no connection as there should have been.
There is a thin layer of energy on his body that is acting against my Chakra. Sasuke observed carefully with his Sharingan, analyzing everything. It's almost like watching an immune system attack a virus. He considered using the Rinnegan for a deeper test, but taking into account the basic principle of the technique, the result would be the same, or worse for the target. It seems that Genjutsu is really out of the question.
It wasn't the best scenario, but he could live with it.
Ignoring the endless screams of this man in agony, Sasuke opened the two suitcases to check their contents and couldn't let the satisfaction escape his facial features.
Definitely a lucky encounter.
At least, it was for him.
Taking one last look at the man writhing on the ground, Sasuke seriously considered ending his pain and life. However, there were fresh memories of some more recent moments, where a bunch of enemies had decided to turn over a new leaf in their lives.
Sasuke himself turned out to be one of those people.
Perhaps he will change after a near-death experience. He decided to leave this man to his own devices. It's not like he could cause me trouble in the future, anyway.
After sealing away the two suitcases of money, Sasuke blended into the surrounding darkness before disappearing with a slight feeling of reluctance, but certain that he had made the right decision.
As for Roman, he didn't consider himself a man of faith, nor did he believe in superstition. Even when he saw Cinder's inhumed abilities, he was still skeptical about the supernatural. However, in that moment of pain and agony, he wished that more things were real, like the gods who granted miracles.
However, it seemed that he wasn't even worthy of seeing his life pass before his eyes.
Nothing more than expected.
Considering all the shit he'd done in life, he had some sins to pay for, so he wouldn't be reliving some hot moments with lots of boobs.
All that remained in his vision was endless darkness, swallowing his body into the depths of a sea made only of pain and suffering. In a way, it even felt like he had countless needles piercing him from all sides, draining his blood to weaken him, then fire burning him from the inside out.
Sweating cold and shivering with heat in an incessant dance, pain was the only music that played at this booze-free party.
For what seemed like an eternity, Roman regretted his desire to live and was almost begging that monster to put him out of his misery.
When despair seemed to take hold of him completely, everything stopped.
"W-What?!" Roman leaped to his feet, breathing hard and sweat drenching his shaking body. "What the hell was that shit?!"
Taking a deep breath, he tried to calm down and observe his surroundings. In the alley next to him were the members of the White Fang, all of them knocked out to prove that it had all been real.
"Shit..." He fell into a sitting position, running his hand over his face in an attempt to remain rational. "Seriously, who the hell was that guy?"
All Roman knew about the bastard was that he was a man; his voice and physique were undeniable proof.
After all, Roman knew the female aspect too well to be fooled.
Fortunately, he wasn't dead. His eyes stopped on those useless faunus, devoid of any suitcase of money.
"Great, at the very least they'll say I set all this shit up..." It didn't matter whether he did it or not; these guys would report that it was his fault, so they could get away with it. "I should kill them, but I'm happy to keep living."
The real problem now was that he would be forced to work for half the price.
All because of that monster. Roman clenched his teeth, the trembling of his body returning with force under the influence of the memory of a red star. That could only have been some kind of Semblance.
Just how sadistic did a person have to be to awaken a power like that? Capable of making him feel so weak and powerless?
Not even Cinder could subdue him like that.
"That son of a..." Roman punched the wall next to him and was surprised by the sound of concrete breaking. "Shit, it's all collapsing in here!"
It didn't take long for the upper part of the structure to follow suit and fall towards him.
Roman didn't think twice before jumping to avoid being caught in this small collapse, and his eyes widened as he found himself several meters up. Confusion overtook him and, before he could understand what was happening, he crashed into the building on the other side of the alley, plummeting back to the ground even more angrily than before.
"What the hell was that now?!" Roman stood up almost immediately, completely outraged as he let out curses. "I must be delirious because nothing is making sense!"
Only then did he see the wall he had punched and the huge hole that remained in it.
"Okay, that's weird." Roman wasn't weak, or he thought he wasn't, but he wasn't that strong either. That wall was from an abandoned factory, made of concrete, designed to be sturdy. "And what about that jump?"
Looking up, he definitely wasn't dreaming, as the mark of his body was visibly stamped on the wall as if it were the outline of a crime scene.
Things weren't adding up, and that made him anxious.
"All right, I need a cigar..." Roman lit one immediately, puffing to his heart's content. When he exhaled the smoke, however, it was almost like seeing a smoke grenade explode directly in his face! "Fuck! What the hell is going on here?!"
It even looked like that bastard had cursed him!
With a rush of his hand to shake off all the smoke, his obstructed vision returned as the cloud opened up for him.
"Wow!" He recoiled in amazement, lost in merely trying to understand what was happening. "H-how did I do that?"
Moving his hand again, the smoke followed, as if obeying his commands and slowly taking on whatever form he had in mind.
It only took a few seconds for Roman to understand what was happening, and even less for a satisfied smile to form on his face, to the point where he ignored the smoke constantly pouring out of his mouth like a chimney.
"Semblance!" he almost shouted, his mood returning to normal. "I've finally found my bloody Semblance!"
Roman couldn't help but be elated!
How long had it been since he unlocked his Aura, but no sign of his unique ability?!
"Hahahah! Good, very good!" Ronan laughed with gusto, collecting his precious hat and Melodic Cudgel before lighting a new cigar. I need to test and find out what else this new power can do. Who knows, with this, there might be a chance that he could oppose that sadistic bitch Cinder, and regain his beloved freedom. "But that can wait a little while. For now, I'd better see if those men from Junior can at least carry Dust!"
This was the day Roman saw death and lived to tell the tale, so nothing would be more appropriate than doing what he did best!
After all, if he were alive, he had to enjoy it, didn't he?