Chapter 20: Take Two, Leave One
Ride the thunder train.
Ride the steamship.
In the end, they arrived safely in the Land of Water's Hidden Mist Village—just as planned.
Even though he'd mentally prepared himself beforehand, Uchiha Itachi still hadn't expected the modernization of the Hidden Mist Village to surpass even that of the Hidden Leaf.
"Everyone, gather up. Time for roll call."
"A guide from the Hidden Mist Village will be joining us shortly, so make sure to be polite."
Spoke Aburame Shino. Beside him stood Anko Mitarashi. The two of them were in charge of this school field trip. As for Sasuke secretly tagging along, Naruto hadn't said a word about it to either Shino or Anko.
"Welcome to the Hidden Mist Village, everyone."
"I'll be your guide during this trip. My name is Kagura Karatachi."
Just as Shino finished speaking, a boy walked over. A sword hung from his waist.
In simple terms, he was very handsome—handsome in a way different from the Uchihas, with a sunny, radiant charm.
"It's an honor to meet you, Lord Kagura."
Knowing this boy might become the next Mizukage, Shino was particularly respectful.
"Not at all. It's my pleasure to serve as your guide."
Kagura's expression was one of genuine pride and humility.
While the girls buzzed with excitement, Shino and Kagura exchanged a cordial handshake.
"Kagura Karatachi, one of the Mizukage's close aides—he's about your age too," Anko added, offering tidbits she knew the girls would find intriguing.
"A close aide to the Mizukage… so, someone the Mizukage trusts deeply."
Uchiha Itachi stood to Boruto's left and murmured quietly.
Whether by coincidence or because he heard Itachi's voice, Kagura suddenly walked toward them. Stopping in front of Boruto, he said, "To welcome the son of the Seventh Hokage—the legendary Lord Naruto Uzumaki—and his classmates, is truly an honor."
With that, Kagura bowed in respect to Boruto.
"Hey, no need for that."
"This has nothing to do with my old man. I'm Boruto Uzumaki—just call me Boruto."
Boruto reached out to the bowing Kagura.
"Alright, then you can call me Kagura too."
Kagura shook Boruto's hand with a smile.
In fact, ever since their encounter, Kagura hadn't stopped smiling.
After roll call, Kagura led the group to a bustling shopping district.
There, the group disbanded for free exploration.
"This place is really thriving," Itachi said unconsciously, watching the flow of people all around.
"This port city has become a hub of commerce. Goods from all over the world gather here. And since we've been developing it as a tourist spot, it's only gotten livelier," Kagura explained with a smile.
Itachi simply nodded at the explanation.
"I see... The Hidden Mist is pretty amazing," Boruto said sincerely, clearly impressed.
Rather than explaining it specifically for Itachi's benefit, it seemed more like Kagura was addressing Boruto directly.
"I'm really glad you like it."
"We take great pride in our village."
Seeing Boruto and Kagura hitting it off, Itachi gave a small smile, then quietly slipped into a nearby alley to scout the surroundings of this strangely familiar yet foreign Hidden Mist Village on his own.
Even though the target of his planned kidnapping was just a child who wasn't even a genin, Itachi still needed to carefully assess the village and identify the optimal escape route for after the abduction.
Noticing his departure, Sarada called out and ran over with Boruto in tow.
"Hey, Shuyu, where are you going?" Sarada asked breathlessly after catching up.
"I mean, it's not every day we come to a place like this. Just thought I'd take a look around," Itachi replied with a smile.
"You know, Shuyu… maybe it's just my imagination, but it feels like you don't really have any close friends in our class."
"You hang out with us all the time, but there's this weird distance between us."
Sarada looked at Itachi with genuine concern for this clanmate and peer of hers.
"...That's not true."
Itachi shook his head.
"Alright, alright. This is a rare school trip—we should enjoy it together!"
Boruto smiled and turned to leave—only to bump into a burly man with a frizzy brown afro.
"You okay, Boruto?"
Sarada rushed to help Boruto up from the ground.
"It hurts a little, but I'm fine." Boruto got to his feet and quickly apologized to the man. "Sorry about that."
"Hey, hold on a second. He's the one who bumped into you—why are you apologizing?"
Sarada grabbed Boruto's arm, staring at him in disbelief.
Was this really Boruto?
In her mind, Boruto was not the kind of person to ever apologize.
"Come on, Sarada, we're here for a school trip—not to start trouble."
Sure, Boruto was always up to mischief, but when it came to taking responsibility, he stepped up.
As a member of the school trip committee, it was his job to make sure everyone had a good time.
"So what if I bumped into you?"
"You Leaf brats shouldn't be wandering around our island."
The afro-haired man looked at Boruto with open disdain.
"You know we're from the Leaf?"
Boruto stepped in front of Sarada and confronted the man.
"Of course I do. That gloomy aura of yours gave it away instantly."
The man clearly didn't see the kids before him as any kind of threat.
"I was actually starting to like this village..."
"No, the village is fine—it's just that some of the people in it are garbage."
Boruto had caught on. Whatever the reason, this man was clearly picking a fight on purpose.
"What did you just say?!"
"You little brat—let me teach you a lesson in manners!"
The afro-haired man swung at Boruto as he spoke.
In that instant, Uchiha Itachi activated his three-tomoe Sharingan and cast a genjutsu on the man.
He hadn't forgotten—if any trouble broke out during this trip, the entire excursion would be cancelled immediately.
And with the mission to kidnap Denki Kaminarimon still incomplete, Itachi couldn't allow the trip to be cut short under any circumstances.
What he feared most was failing even such a simple mission and being discarded by S.H.I.E.L.D., losing his chance to keep gathering intelligence for the Hidden Leaf.
The afro-haired man suddenly screamed as if he'd seen something terrifying, shouting "Stay away!" over and over.
Boruto, who had been preparing to use a substitution jutsu, froze in confusion.
"He's... under a genjutsu," Sarada realized, then turned around. "I knew it—thanks, Shuyu."
"It's nothing," Itachi replied. Casting a basic genjutsu like that didn't take much chakra anyway.
"So this is a Sharingan genjutsu... To think it could make Hassaku scream like that."
"Getting caught in a little kid's genjutsu—how laughable."
A man with flowing long hair walked over from behind. He didn't seem impressed by the Sharingan, and acted like an arrogant older brother scolding a foolish younger sibling.
"And who the hell are you?"
Boruto turned around warily, sensing danger.
They were blocked at both ends of the alley. If a fight broke out, they'd be surrounded.
Even Boruto, who had never experienced real combat, understood how bad that situation could get.
"Me? I'm Ichirōta Oniyuzu."
As he spoke, the man suddenly used the Body Flicker Technique.
But there was no escaping Itachi's Sharingan. He immediately pulled out a shuriken and hurled it toward Boruto.
The shuriken landed between Boruto and Ichirōta, forcing the latter to halt his approach.
"So it's not just the Hokage's son—even a little Uchiha punk is no pushover."
"Fine then. Uchiha brat—if you release Hassaku from the genjutsu, I promise we won't cause any more trouble."
Ichirōta backed off a few steps as he spoke.
"Of course I'll release him. If any more trouble breaks out, this school trip I was looking forward to might get cancelled."
If he weren't worried about stirring up a scene and jeopardizing the mission, Itachi could have easily taken out both of these trash brothers in an instant.