Chapter 1 Shuji and Itachi
Shuji was a ninja.
Itachi was also a ninja.
"Uchiha…Itachi?"
Shuji looked at the boy in front of him, dressed in a dark blue short-sleeved shirt and shorts…it shouldn't be called a boy, it should be called a child.
At eight years old, his tender face still bore traces of baby fat, but his dark eyes were like deep pools, devoid of any childlike liveliness or innocence.
"Yes, Shuji-senpai," the child replied softly.
Although he had been in possession of this body for half a month and had mastered everything he needed to learn,
he had accepted that although he was only fourteen, he was already a ninja and had been killing people for several years. However, he was still unprepared for taking a child out to kill people.
Even if this person was Uchiha Itachi.
He didn't show any abnormality on his face, but simply took out a mission scroll, intending to explain the mission details, when he smelled a sweet fragrance.
It was nine o'clock in the morning, and several sparrows were hopping on the eaves, chirping crisply. The air was filled with the scent of morning dew and earth, a pleasant aroma that soothed the soul. The sun was shining brightly and warmly.
Shuji followed the scent to a confectionery shop. The owner was diligent, opening early and currently making mochi dumplings.
"Uchiha—cough, I'll just call him Itachi." Shuji's Adam's apple bobbed involuntarily.
"Yes, senpai," Uchiha replied calmly.
"Want something to eat?"
Itachi finally looked up, a hint of surprise in his eyes. He followed Shuji's gaze.
Confectionery shop, dumplings…
Itachi hesitated. "This… Shuji-senpai, the mission…"
"Dumplings, they seem freshly made." The boy turned towards the confectionery shop, taking a step forward, muttering to himself, "Freshly made food is the best, and what I ate this morning wasn't enough… It's early in the morning, eating more is fine…" His senpai
was a Chunin, the leader of this mission; since he had made the decision, it wasn't good to object.
Thinking this, Itachi followed Shuji into the confectionery shop. After sitting down, Shuji ordered four skewers of dango, all three-colored, and two cups of tea to cleanse his palate.
The three-colored dango were served in a small blue dish, emitting a warm, sweet aroma. The glutinous rice balls were translucent, with pink cherry blossom flavor, green matcha flavor, and white original flavor neatly arranged, each adorned with finely sprinkled icing sugar, shimmering enticingly in the sunlight.
Shuji rinsed his mouth with the tea, and when he put down his cup, he noticed only two skewers of dango left.
He blinked, confirming he wasn't mistaken, and then looked at Uchiha Itachi across from him—Itachi's fair cheeks were slightly puffed out, a touch of icing sugar still clung to his lips, and his usually calm eyes were now slightly narrowed, revealing a hint of satisfaction.
"Boss, two more skewers, please," Shuji couldn't help but smile, pushing the remaining dango towards Itachi.
Seemingly embarrassed, Itachi lowered his head slightly, but still reached out and picked up a skewer of dumplings.
The dumplings were sweet and chewy, good. A
sip of tea followed, very good.
Shuji let out a pleasant sigh.
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Itachi put down his teacup with satisfaction, the barely perceptible glint in his eyes still lingering.
Shuji unfurled the mission scroll and began to explain: "This mission is to wipe out bandits. There are no portraits of the individuals, only that they originally raided the border of the Land of Rivers. When pursued by the Land of Rivers, they crossed the border into the Land of Fire."
"When the Daimyo's residence received the news and dispatched soldiers, they fled to the Land of Rain."
"Just when neither country intended to take any further action, the bandits reappeared on the border of the Land of Rivers, and the Land of Rivers entrusted this mission to our village."
"According to the intelligence transferred from the Land of Rivers, there are no ninjas among the bandits."
"However, they were able to evade capture very skillfully several times, without suffering any casualties."
"The number of bandits is between fifteen and twenty."
"Because there is no expectation of engaging ninjas, the mission is classified as C-rank. Considering the considerable number of them, the reward is 50,000 ryo."
After briefly explaining the mission, Shuji pushed the scroll towards Itachi, gesturing for him to read it as well.
"Although this is a temporary team, let me explain my abilities. I'm a ninja specializing in ninjutsu, proficient in both range and power. This mission doesn't require consideration of combat."
The original owner was from a border operations squad. During his last patrol, he encountered a large force from Kumogakure. Two of his teammates were killed, and he was the only one who escaped with severely wounded intelligence. He was then sent back to Konoha for treatment, and the one who woke up wasn't the original Shuuji, but the current one.
He wasn't sure if his situation was possession or awakening. In any case, he possessed all the memories of this body from the past fourteen years, as well as over twenty years of memories from an ordinary person in another world. Shuuji didn't want to dwell on these things; it was pointless.
After recovering for half a month, he planned to find a mission to do rehabilitation exercises and reintegrate into this world.
Because the mission description involved dealing with ordinary people, the difficulty lay in tracking them down. He originally planned to do it alone, but the village still assigned a team member.
"Senior, don't worry about me." Itachi straightened his posture and introduced himself earnestly. "I can use ninja tools, I know a little genjutsu, and I also know some fire release techniques. If you judge that I will affect the mission, you can abandon me at any time."
His father had said that Shuji was a very excellent ninja.
"Although it's a C-rank mission, the fact that he can team up with a Chunin and a Genin at least shows that his strength is top-tier among Chunin, with no obvious weaknesses."
Uchiha Itachi disagreed with his father Fugaku on some issues, but when it came to judging the strength of ninjas, he completely trusted the Konoha Guard Captain's judgment.
Hearing these "mature" words, Shuji's eyebrows rose slightly.
"Since you say so, then you will completely follow my orders for this mission, is that alright?"
"Yes, senior." Itachi nodded in response.
"Also, regarding the mission reward..." "
Senior, you don't need to consider my share. It's already an honor for me to learn from you." Itachi acted very modestly, but for the Uchiha clan, this mission reward was indeed insignificant.
But this did not conform to Shuji's principles.
He tapped the table lightly, his tone calm yet authoritative: "Since we're going on a mission together, let's not talk like that. The reward will be split 60/40. As a Chunin and captain, I'll take the extra 10%, but you won't get a penny less of what you're entitled to. Is that arrangement alright?"
"Yes, senpai," Itachi replied softly.
(End of Chapter)