This was a simple job. He had done several jobs like this. Bandits were causing trouble in a village nearby Konoha. They hired a shinobi; they took care of them.
And in this case, these bandits were screwed as Lord Hokage sent him.
Sending Naruto into anything less than an Otsutsuki attack was overkill. He had trained almost nonstop since his encounter with Toneri to reach this summit, where he was confident he could handle Kaguya on his own.
He was thankful Hinata was forgiving. They barely got to enjoy their wedding and honeymoon…
Naruto simply didn't want to leave a chance. If they showed up early…
"Too easy," Naruto chuckled as he finished tying the rope around the last of the unconscious bandits. With a shake of his head before rotating his bandaged arm to work out the kink, Naruto created several clones who immediately began to load the bandits onto their backs. "Take these guys back to the village. Ibiki will know what to do with 'em."
"Okay, boss! Just don't be late getting home!" One of his clones saluted before the group dispersed, quickly vanishing from the small, ruined village the bandits had outposted.
"Yeah, I know," Naruto smiled, ruffling his spikey locks before faintly frowning.
Hinata had been acting peculiarly as of late. She had been waking up sick almost every morning, and she had been nauseated at random times throughout the day in the past few weeks. It was pretty alarming, and he had asked her to see Tsunade. And now this morning, she had something she wanted to talk to him about when he returned from the mission?
Naruto was concerned about what was going on with his newlywed wife.
Still, Hinata didn't want to bother him until after his mission so that he could concentrate. He appreciated that. Not that there was much else to do here. Just check out this abandoned village the bandits had squatted in.
An unfortunate casualty of the Fourth Shinobi War. Some villages throughout the continent were struck hard by the Zetsu Army and the eradication that followed. Or some had been eradicated by a newfound disturbing cult similarly doing despicable acts like that immortal bastard that Shikamaru had blown apart.
Add in the typical bandits and missing ninja, and the issues only compounded.
Regardless, it was a good idea to look around and check the area. Whether for a valuable item that was a long list of lost heirlooms, bandit equipment they could repurpose, or the possibility of information, Naruto had to do his job. Many people moved from the smaller towns outside to the bigger cities or the shinobi villages for protection. For stopping Madara's plan and saving the world from Kaguya, it sure didn't feel like the world was any safer!
Naruto shook his head as he surveyed the abandoned town, stepping into old houses. Immense regret washed over him at seeing the state of the place. It wasn't the damage that bothered him. It was the lack of damage and the dust coating belongings that caused him to wince.
The people likely fled and never had a chance to return home. Or possibly worse…
Refraining from biting his lip or grinding his teeth, Naruto glanced around as he walked through the old home. "The bandits sure did a number on this place… Hm?"
Naruto frowned as he noticed the floor beneath his feet gave slightly more than the previous few steps. Glancing down to see a square rug under his feet, his frown deepened. Scooting the carpet to the side with his foot, he revealed a hidden door to what Naruto could only assume was a basement.
"This looks like a set-up to one of those horror movies Hinata likes to watch and freak me out with," Naruto squinted before snorting, lifting the door before grimacing. "Bah, I'm scarier than anything I can find down there… As long as it isn't a ghost."
He shook that thought out of his head. It was a fear he had when he was younger! In theory, he could deal with ghosts now!
"Huh, neat." Naruto pursed his lips as he walked down the stairs to this hidden basement beneath the house.
The power still worked in the village, thankfully. That was likely the main reason why the bandits were using this place. This place seemed to be a shrine of sorts to horses… And young ladies with weird ears?
Naruto almost thought it was reminiscent of Kaguya for a moment.
"Are those horse ears on the girls? Okay, that's a new one." Naruto glowered before shrugging, scanning the room for anything that could be identified as one of the list of heirlooms they had bounties on.
Unfortunately, some were books, and that was always a pain. However, to his luck, there was a book front and center. Given the peculiar way this book was presented and kept at the center of this shrine, it could be one of the books on the list.
"Uh, Umamusume Legends?" Naruto remarked, confused at the strange title and horse cover. Taking out a scroll that contained a list of lost items, he raised his brow and tapped on the list. "Eh? Don't remember seeing that on there before, but if it is on the list, I'd better bring it back."
Sliding the scroll back into his thigh pouch and withdrawing a storage scroll, Naruto collected the odd book with pursed lips. "What the heck is an Umamusume?" Naruto pondered aloud. With a shrug, he opened the book, expecting it to explain.
"Uh, wait, Umamusume are horse girls? Horse girls idols who race? That's a thing?" Naruto scratched his head before laughing, flipping another page. "Guess I learned something new on this job," Naruto mused as he read the title of the first chapter, feeling a gentle summer breeze flow through his locks. "The Tragedy of Silence Suzuka, the Runaway from Another Dimension… What the…"
Naruto's gaze sharpened, his eyes darting up from the book. He felt the warmth of the afternoon sun beating down on him, and now he was standing in a meadow. In the middle of a beaten path in the middle of a town?
No, not a town. The outskirts of a metropolis city! The deeper he gazed, the towers dwarfed anything he had seen before, and they kept becoming larger! What was this place?! What had happened?
"Genjutsu?" Naruto muttered, harshly squinting as he took in his surroundings. He was susceptible to it, but typically, he could sense something was off instantly, and that wasn't the case.
And Kurama would have purged it in an instant.
No… The demon fox bellowed from within with a snarl. This is time and space manipulation. We're somewhere else.
"Seriously?" Naruto scowled, scrunching his brow.
He hadn't sensed anything! That was not normal!
With a concentrated expression, Naruto glanced around, reaching with the feel of the very world. Locate where he was and where his friends were…
"Uh, Kurama… We have an issue?" Naruto stopped, his expression turning to genuine terror as his gaze darted about.
You can't feel anyone, can you? Kurama hissed, his eyes narrowing. You think it has to do with the book.
"Maybe," Naruto glanced back down at the book in his grasp. Flipping through the pages, scrutinizing every angle of it, even flowing his chakra through the book, he exhaled. "I dunno. Doesn't look like there is anything unusual about it, and I'm not noticing the presence of any seal or similar manipulations. Maybe it's just a conduit, and the room was the actual seal?"
And you somehow didn't notice a single abnormality. Kurama gave a miffed reply, stating the obvious.
"Okay, yeah, I would have. I just don't have any answers for this." Naruto scratched his chin, pondering the situation, turning his attention to the buildings. "Seems like this is just the outskirts of a massive city. It's a long shot, but maybe we can gather some intelligence and…"
Naruto hesitated to elaborate as he felt a presence approaching. His gaze shifted to a young lady striding down the worn path with ease and grace. The girl wearing a red and white tracksuit ran as fast as the wind, her long auburn hair flowing in the breeze behind her.
And she ran directly past Naruto without even noticing he was there.
Did that girl have horse ears? Kurama awkwardly stared before growling. Oh no… I think I know what happened. The book might have actually been a marker of some kind…
"So do I!" Naruto frustratingly grabbed his temples and bit back a curse. "Shoot! Why do all these strange things always happen to me?! Can't something just go as it is supposed to for just once!"
"Excuse me." A gentle, soft tone belonging to a young lady caught Naruto unaware.
"Eh!" Naruto swiveled around and recoiled as a young girl in the same trackwear as the previous girl stared at Naruto with concern.
"Are you… Okay? You're acting weird." The girl tilted her head, a white tuft of her otherwise brown hair shifted over her forehead. The concern was evident in the gleam of her purple eyes.
"Am I?" Naruto nervously chuckled, absently noting that this girl also had what looked like the ears of a horse on her head. And notably, he could see she didn't have human ears beneath her hair. Putting that thought to the side, Naruto exhaled as his figure slumped. "I guess I'm a little bit lost, and that is flustering me. I don't know where I am."
"We're on the outskirts of Tokyo," The girl pursed her lips before her expression mysteriously fell sullen.
"Tokyo?" Naruto refrained from scrunching his brow.
The name of the city didn't sound familiar at all. Not that he suspected that it would.
"It is a pretty intimidating and confusing place. I still haven't gotten used to it." The peculiar girl with a purple bow in her hair responded with a glum demeanor.
Did she…? Naruto mused before awkwardly combing his hand through spiky locks. "Yeah, I'm on vacation and got lost out here. I suppose I must have gotten turned around and have no idea where to go to get back."
"You as well? …I know the feeling. I get lost all the time. Suzuka just showed me a place she liked to run free…" The girl grimaced, joining Naruto in solidarity before she panicked, looking down the road and at the blur on the horizon. "Ah! Suzuka! Oh no! I'll never be able to catch up to her! She's so focused she might not even recognize she left me behind!"
"Suzuka?" Naruto's head snapped in the direction of the previous girl who had blazed past him, her visage disappearing on the horizon.
Kid, isn't that the name of the… Kurama's voice faded, letting his words hang in the air.
"I'll catch up to her," Naruto responded with a stony expression.
"Um, I don't… Aah! Where did you go?!" The young horse girl frowned before she exclaimed, looking around in a frantic frenzy, for Naruto had vanished.
"Catching up!" Naruto called out from the horizon, much to her shock and awe.
Naruto's gaze shifted back to Suzuka as he gained ground and caught up to her in the blink of an eye. She might have been fast for her friend; however, for Naruto… Well, so far the only people faster than he was were aliens, so…
Would that make him an alien wherever here was or…
"Hello!" Naruto waved, noticing the girl was so locked in on the scenery before her that she didn't even notice. His sudden voice snapped her out of her zone and toward him. "So, you left your friend back there and…" Naruto chuckled before blanching at the stoic yet somehow surprised stare as her gate slowed considerably. "Uh, is something wrong?"
Suzuka finally came to a stop, silently observing Naruto for a moment before breaking the tension. "You… Can keep up with me?"
"Um, yeah?" Naruto raised his brow. Her speed wasn't anything special to him…
Kid… Kurama's voice rumbled within him and caused Naruto to recognize the situation.
He wasn't home. He couldn't sense his friends anywhere. In fact, all he saw when he opened his mind's eye to the world were typical civilians and these horse girls…
And seeing Suzuka's surprise…
"Suzuka!" The girl Naruto and Suzuka had left behind dashed over in a blind rush.
"Oh, Spe," Suzuka casually turned toward Special Week before faintly tucking her head. "I apologize for leaving you behind. I must have engrossed myself in the view."
"It's… It's okay." Special forgave, thinly frowning at Naruto before smiling at Suzuka. "I got distracted when you passed by…"
"Naruto," Naruto smiled and waved as attention was brought to him.
"Suzuka," Silence Suzuka respectfully bowed.
"I was distracted by Naruto when you passed by him. I stopped to check on him cause he looked lost and confused. He's on vacation, and he got disoriented in Tokyo and found himself out here." Special continued, motioning toward Naruto.
"Then I suppose it is time we head back." Suzuka nodded in understanding. Then, with a slight smile toward Naruto, she gestured toward the town. "I'm sure we can aid Naruto and help direct him in the right direction. Tokyo can be very confusing to someone who has never been here before."
"I would very much appreciate it," Naruto gave a thankful bow while his mile was running a mile a minute.
And all his thoughts led him to one conclusion. This book in his…
Did the title change? Why did it say How to Become a Umamusume Trainer now?!
What was going on?!