Chapter 157: A new colleague?

The classroom buzzed with a mix of excitement and anticipation. The week marked the last stretch before the impending break, and Iruka-sensei's words hung in the air, setting the tone for what was to come.

"Alright class," Iruka-sensei's voice rang out, commanding attention. "As you all know, this week is the last week before our break. I will be giving you your homework and individually assigning you a specific task to work on your difficulties, which I want you to complete during your break."

A collective murmur of mixed reactions rippled through the room.

"Oh~~~~~~~~~," a drawn-out sigh of mixed emotions escaped from one student.

"That is all! You are all dismissed! I will see you all after lunch," Iruka-sensei announced, finalizing the instructions.

As he concluded, he gathered his pad and exited the classroom, accompanied by Mizuki, who followed suit.

"Man!! And I was thinking of spending my entire break doing nothing," one disgruntled student complained audibly.

"Me too! I thought I could just chill for a full month," echoed another voice, capturing the shared sentiment.

Conversations like these flourished within the room, capturing the diverse range of reactions to the homework announcement.

"What will you be doing?" the question traveled through the classroom airwaves.

One student responded with enthusiasm, "Me... let's see, I will be going to my favorite restaurant and then blah blah...." Choji's words flowed as he outlined his ambitious gastronomic plans, fueled by his ample savings.

"I see... good luck with that," came a casual reply, tinged with a hint of amusement.

"Thanks! You want to come too?" Choji extended an invitation.

"No, that's okay. Enjoy yourself..." The inward monologue revealed the true thoughts beneath the polite words. "I'd be eating rice for months if I used my money to buy all of what he said. We have to find someone else." Is what the boy who talked to Choji said as he passed by Homura, alongside another classmate.

Homura, turning his gaze, directed his attention towards Shikamaru, curiosity urging him to ask.

"What is that about?" He said pointing out at a seemingly tired Naruto in the row ahead.

"Ha… Well, that's probably because Iruka sensei, said that he would have to spend his break at school; or something like that *YAWN*" Shikamaru declared as he proceeded to yawn, seemingly disinterested.

"Are his grades truly that bad?" Homura asked.

"Eh, don't know. Probably has something to do with the prank he pulled out 3 days ago." Shikamaru said as he looked away.

"Again?" Homura said to no one in particular as he was quite surprised that Naruto had time to pull another prank.

They would soon be graduating, it was strange for Naruto to bother wasting his time with something so inconsequential but Homura had no idea what had brought Naruto to pull a prank outside the academy.

But ultimately, Homura, had no real intention to find out.

So he turned around and looked at Shikamaru.

"What will you be doing?" Homura queried.

Shikamaru's response came in his characteristic laid-back manner. "...I have to accompany my old man around our forest for two weeks yawn. After that, I am pretty much free."

The internal musings of someone in the know provided an insightful perspective. "These guys don't seem to be working on their clan jutsus yet."

"Why are you asking that? You got something in mind?" Shikamaru's inquisitive tone posed the question.

"Me?! No! I was just thinking that Naruto may have no one to play around for a while. I have to help at the clinic during my break....there's really nothing more," Homura responded, concealing any underlying intentions.

Homura always wanted to have someone around Naruto in case of trouble, especially since the incident that occurred within the backhills few years ago.

But Shikamaru's plan for the break were already made, and Homura has little time to play around with Naruto all the time.

Too bad, that most kids are always busy and Naruto interacted with few children within the class. It could easily prevent him from doing something stupid.

Not only that but Homura was also curious about Shikamaru's training, Shikamaru was too lazy to train most of the times and his father was always busy it seemed.

Technically this was also a great opportunity for Homura, but thinking that snooping on Shikamaru was a bad idea to learn his clan secret technique, especially if he was going to train with his father.

Not only did Shikamaru usually trains near the Nara clan's grounds, his father, Shikaku Nara, had a rather important position within the village aside from being jonin.

Ninjas with the rank of Jonin within the village were few. Most who managed to attain the rank of Jonin were not only strong but were also ninja of incredible talents and served as military captain for the village.

It would be incredibly stupid for Homura to attempt to try anything such as spying on Shikamaru or other children clan leaders.

Not because they were somehow being protected by clan members, far from it. Knowing how shinobi act and how much the village was understaffed at all times, it was a ludicrous idea. Some clans may have members on standby but it was hardly for such kind of purpose.

Besides, Homura had already confirmed that most families let their children as they please within the border of the village, as much as the show may have poorly portrayed it. The village was relatively safe, it only became less safe during events but even then more patrol units would be dispatched.

Nonetheless, for Homura it was a shame that the shadow binding technique was not a jutsu that could easily be copied.

"...That is quite harsh too," Shikamaru acknowledged with a hint of understanding.

"Yeah..." The simplicity of the word encapsulated the shared sentiment.

Soon after Homura looked once again towards Naruto, his eyes reflecting his conflicted thoughts.

"I wonder if I can somehow manage to track him, C, can do that if Naruto has a piece of my DNA on or around himself… but the clinic is too far away. It wouldn't work." Homura thought as he had the ability through C to keep track of his own DNA. But although it seemed useful, in practice it was rather useless. It was an ability that he rarely used because his DNA was around the entire village. C could more or less tell the age of DNA discarded, but DNA took a really long time to breakdown, even if he could tell the age, just like any normal being, Homura, sheds genetic materials on a daily basis. But the worst offender was that the range wasn't that wide. It was an ability best used for Homura to map out areas or areas he has never been to through contact with other people or animals.

Thus, he mostly used it when he went hunting or fishing.

"*Sigh* There's nothing I can do, I have other things to do…besides I want to start with my new training regimen as soon as possible. " Inwardly thought Homura as he remember the data he collected from the Uchiha clan.

If he wanted to become stronger at this point, he had to master the sharingan, thankfully he still had bit more time before graduation, but he was now much closer to graduation.

He had no more time to waste.

And so, in the midst of student chatter and the classroom's bustling atmosphere, a chapter of anticipation came to a close, setting the stage for the break to come.

*Several months later*

A long-haired boy with a determined expression was seen deep in his training near the riverbank.

His training method seemed quite peculiar – he was holding a rubber ball in his hand.

But no matter how many times he failed and pick up the ball once again, he continued to try once again.

Undeterred by each failure he experienced.

The purpose of this exercise was to increase the volume and density of chakra he could output, making it stronger and more potent.

The boy's hands trembled slightly as he focused all his concentration on the rubber ball. He could feel the chakra flowing through his body, trying to burst the exterior of the ball. But no matter how hard he tried, the ball remained intact. Hours passed, and the boy's determination didn't waver. He continued to push himself, determined to succeed.

But despite his efforts, the rubber ball remained whole, and the boy dropped to his knees in exhaustion. He let out a frustrated sigh, feeling defeated once again. Today was no different from the countless previous attempts. He was unable to achieve the breakthrough he so desperately sought.

As he caught his breath, he looked around the training field, feeling a mix of emotions. He was disappointed in his lack of progress, but he also felt a sense of determination to keep trying. He knew that mastering this chakra exercise could make a significant difference in his abilities as a ninja.

With a renewed resolve, the boy picked up the rubber ball again and stood up. He knew that it would take time and effort, but he was determined not to give up. He would keep training, keep pushing himself until he finally achieved his goal.

As the sun continued to rise, casting a warm glow over the training field, the boy took a deep breath and prepared to try again. He knew that with each attempt, he was getting closer to mastering this technique. And one day, he would succeed in rupturing the rubber ball and unlocking the true potential of his chakra.

However, 2 hours later and the boy was no longer so optimistic. As he lay on the sweat and dust-covered ground.

Homura: "This…This is imp-possible."

He was so tired that he could barely breathe he had exhausted all kinds of energies inside him, even those that were just conceptual ones.

Homura: " (This jutsu is simply crazy…Namikaze Minato must have been insane to think of such a ridiculous jutsu like this. It goes beyond normal applications of chakra.)"

Homura was trying to learn the jutsu developed by the 4th Hokage, Namikaze Minato, Homura's classmate Uzumaki Naruto's father and beloved hero.

Even to this day, there was no child that hadn't heard the name of Minato Namikaze in the village, well that wasn't actually true, it was simply something Homura believed.

However, one could not fault him to believe as much, the 4th Hokage died young and died inside the village protecting it from harm, so it wasn't an event that happened in some far-off land or some unknown battlefield, it was within reach of the walls of the village.

And Konoha's residents loved him for his drive for managing to protect them and mourned his sacrifice.

So although no one would dare to badmouth a Hokage in public, since the Hokage were the last bastion of defense.

Unknowingly, Homura was also not able to do it.

Thus he could only voice his misgivings about the jutsu the 4th Hokage invented inside his head, but he was right about one thing.

The rasengan was that seems simple on paper, but in practice, it was utterly impossible for most to master.

The fact that he had to spin and try to manifest chakra outside of his body was a hard thing to do, it required an incredible amount of concentration and chakra control.

To begin with, this jutsu was complicated to pull even on a fundamental level.

Most ninjas are only able or train themselves to release chakra from the tenketsu from their hands and feet. So having a jutsu that requires one to release chakra directly from the tenketsu inside one of their hands as they mold chakra is not an easy feat. Explaining why Naruto made use of a shadow clone to help him perform the jutsu.

Since shadow clones are copies that even have their own chakra network, Naruto technically used 3 hands to try to pull the jutsu off.

Making it even harder to believe that the 4th Hokage, made a jutsu that not only requires so much training and ability to create it, but also had large chakra density and could maintain itself after being performed.

As someone who had been studying ninjutsu for half of his life now, it was a genius idea since the jutsu could technically be as big as possible, there was no real upper limit to it and one could also apply nature release to it to create a different phenomenon since it was just the manipulation of raw chakra and shape control to its extremes.

…It was pure genius, that encompassed most of the basic rules of ninjutsu perfectly. If one could master those principles and apply them, it was a powerful jutsu that anyone could use. The only real downside was, that it was a jutsu that works better for those who have denser or more chakra than most people, which put a clear stop to most to even bother learning.

Since the destructive power would be lacking for someone with small chakra reserves, and it would be more effective to use lower-rank ninjutsu. But the fact the jutsu could be used at any moment without the need for hand seals was still a major advantage for shinobi warfare; since battles can end in an instant.

No wonder it was classified as an A-rank ninjutsu, it meant most could never hope to achieve. Homura now realizes that learning C-rank ninjutsu with elemental release was nothing to the challenge he faced.

He only got past the first part of the jutsu training method 6 months ago and he was still not able to move forward without any sight in mind of when he could master it.

H: "(C, at which rate is the number of cells in my body that have been spliced and modified with Haruno Sakura's cells? And the full report of the Uchiha series of DNAs?)"

C: " Understood. 27 percent for Haruno Sakura and 71 for the complete Uchiha DNA set.

H: "At the rate I am growing… I will be in my late teens for Sakura or early 20s until most of the cells inside my body carry some sort of mutated gene with hers and about 13 to 15 for U cells. "

Homura soon got up after thinking about his prospects.

Though soon after he took off the clothes he had left on his body and started washing his body in the nearby river.

After he was done washing his body he dried himself with a towel nearby and then went near a the tallest tree around.

As he stood near the tree, he put his hands together forming a hand seal, followed by closing his eyes as he tried to rotate his chakra and focused on gathering that said chakra and expel it through the tenketsu points on his feet.

Homura: "Now!"

He soon ran towards the tree scaling it down, as he ran towards the top.

Sadly as he was less than 1/3 of the way his right foot slipped and he was forced to kick the tree with his other leg in order to do a backflip and land on the firm ground.

Homura: "C"

C:"16.32 feet"

Homura: "Tch! This worse result than yesterday…"

C: "Answer. By 2 feet and 27 inches."

Homura:"…*sigh*"

To that, Homura just sighed and scratched his head slightly amused by C's answer, and went on back to work.

Since the system truly could not get a clue, there was nothing he could do.

Homura found that it had the option to use him as a framework or others to create a personality, it wouldn't be a real personality but more like the idea of one which Homura denied.

He didn't want to have another version of himself or others inside his mind, that was a bit too creepy.

Besides he had been used to C, it didn't have a proper sense of humor but it was a good straight man or straight A.I.?

Not that Homura had become a comedian, but it was more natural now to keep things as they are currently.

Before he would get mad or depressed to be reminded of his errors or shortcomings but it had been a long time now.

And with age, did come more maturity and understanding.

Or it was the trauma he suffered on the head last year, due to one of Naruto's pranks, or the fact that he read one of Doctor Ueno's dirty books by mistake and since then he has been reading them in secret.

It was really hard to say but it was definitely a change.

Not only that but working at the clinic was also a lot of trouble but four months after he started the doctor took him under his wing and Homura followed the doctor even when they had late classes for Shinobi who tried to change or take a different path.

Not everyone was like Haruno Sakura who had the Hokage teach them personally.

It seemed that the general way to go about it was to learn from one of those small clinic doctors or a retired one, then take a series of tests and study. Once it is done there's a major exam conducted in the village, like a less exciting chunin exams. But it was one among several.

Those who have a personal master, can also directly take the exam under recommendation, and so on and so on.

You didn't technically have to be from the leaf, but the land of fire in general but that was a bit complicated since they weren't actual citizens and there's the thing about rules set for spies.

Not that it had any effect on Homura he was not from outside the village or a spy, he wasn't exactly well known but many knew him quite well in his area.

Since he worked for Doctor Ueno, he has seen and helped care for many patients under the doctor's supervision or other staff which was mostly a well-endowed nurse that Homura met the first time he went to the clinic.

Okada Kaoru was her name.

She was a mature beauty with short brown hair and light brown eyes bordering on ember, and giggle physics to not be lost on her, Homura who has a dynamic type of vision it was hard at first to not notice her when she was around.

Since he has been used to fighting so much and tries to keep himself to not lose focus at all times.

At this point in time, the number of battles he had fought inside his head was over 60,000.

It helped that time passes much slower in what was basically a dream.

Though some of the fights that he fought were no longer about winning but try to replicate techniques and battle strategies.

It seems that if he falls asleep with his sharingan still activated he can also have access of it inside his dreams though they last much shorter.

The difference between a one tomoe sharingan and the 2 tomoe was night and day, Homura thought that it was like going from SSJ1 to SSJ2.

Not that it provided a boost in in physical power but details that he never realized were better than before, he could also see chakra and react to taijutsu much better in real life.

He was slowly approaching the level of combat prowess he displayed within his simulation.

The progress he displayed was night and day from before.

Sadly, he was stuck at a 2 tomoe sharingan.

It seems there is no way to evolve a sharingan through training, one can try to master it by practicing day after day like what Homura tried to do, but the final push that had him go beyond his limitations was the thrill of battle he felt that day.

Putting his life on the line and wanting to take his frustration on someone seemed to be the catalyst, that allowed him to go past his limits.

More battle experience.

He had fake battle experiences back then, but what pushed him over the edge was a real one that he could lose and a single moment of intense emotional duress as well as the danger that allowed him to seal the deal.

Since one of the ways one can increase their mental energy is with experience.

Battle experience is especially enriching in that regard, as one puts their life on the line, and learns new things as they grow in battle; it makes one more aware of their shortcomings.

Like the people who decided to become medical nins.

They don't all seem to be from a specific age group.

Though after a certain age, ninjas either simply quit or take on missions that are more in their area of expertise.

Unless of course, they are recommended for a mission, especially by someone or the Hokage themselves.

By watching so many people train in their medical practice, Homura was able to learn one thing, no, two things.

A two-tomoe sharingan doesn't seem to reveal much in helping in the practice of medical ninjutsu, and that medical ninjutsu is really, really hard.

Talent for it is not enough, one has to put time and know

Healing oneself is even harder.

Maintaining chakra control under pain for healing or with one hand injured is not something that can be done by most.

Shinobi can try to adapt their brain to ignore pain or push it back, but there are still limits to everything.

Plus, if one is really bad at healing people things would get complicated.

Such as the case with the healing mystic palm.

If you're not applying enough chakra to an injury, then you are basically doing nothing, using too much and you may put the victim in a comatose state.

And every injury is different, so a good medical-nin must be experienced and intelligent enough to assess what they are doing at all times.

That's why it is so difficult to become a medical ninja if even the most basics of all medical ninja jutsus out there that is needed to become a proper medical ninja are so complicated.

It was no wonder, Doctor Ueno did make Homura take a test even before trying to see if he was fit to work as his assistant.

Homura is considered, but in truth, he is not smarter than most people in his previous life he was above average and considered to be somewhat smart.

It never took him that much effort to learn.

But in this world, chakra helps boost one's psyche.

So he is quite smart in general but not to the level that could be called a genius, but he is further helped by supercomputing skill that allows him to further process information better.

Sadly, it doesn't make him think more critically or anything that requires truly the mark of a genius; the ability to think things outside the box most people put themselves unknowingly in.

However, to the world outside he is seen as a genius regardless when it comes to his mental faculties, but his chakra control is not that great still.

So when he asked Doctor Ueno, can undoubtedly use the healing palm, so he had to have been somewhat of a shinobi, to help him train in the tree climbing exercise the doctor agreed.

Though unknown to the doctor it wasn't training to become a medical ninja, but to learn the Rasengan.

That's why he has begun training in the tree climbing exercise and has continued doing it every day even if there was just a small reward to have. since he thought that could help him master his control ahead of time, but he understands now why academy students aren't taught that kind of thing.

Since his chakra pool is not really that great when compared to an adult or even someone in their early teens, it takes a long time for him to gather chakra and the amount he has of chakra although is considered high for a cadet, ultimately isn't that much.

Even after months of training, he could not master it.

When in the original series, Naruto and his teammates were able to do it in less than a month.

But the rasengan, did require that someone has an understanding of how one is able to control their chakra in the same way as the tree climbing exercise, at least for the first step.

As someone who wants to better his chakra control, the jutsu that was the apex of shape transformation was the safest bet; even if he ultimately failed to master it.

However, it wasn't long until Homura ran out of stamina and fell to the ground safely but exhausted beyond belief.

Homura: "*Huff* Huff (This is really hard… too hard.)"

His lungs were trying their best to breathe as much air as possible as he lay flat.

He had exhausted all the energy he could muster but unfortunately, his record was not beaten, but it wasn't a pill too hard to swallow.

As it stood, every time he was about 10 feet while climbing a tree for the tree climbing exercise Homura pretty much just dashes forward at full speed without using chakra.

So it wasn't much of a shock.

Homura:"I need to go back soon…"

After less than 30 minutes of resting, Homura finally got up once again and took a shower in the river nearby.

He then wore a new set of clothes and tied or rather bound his long chromatic flowing hair in a long white wrap.

"Time really flies by…it's sunny now," He said as he covered his looked towards the sky. He could see nothing but a bright yellow sun and a bright blue sky.

When Homura came to train it was dusk but now the sun was fully visible in the sky above.

He barely had any time to train, in between different types of work.

After he was done with the work at the clinic he would continue with his work near the junkyard although to a lesser degree, but during long breaks and the weekend he could put in some good work and was good enough at tinkering that he didn't make as many mistakes as in the past.

But his own personal ventures did in fact suffer.

Though as he thought about the differences in his life currently, he arrived at the clinic on time as the new place he trained wasn't too far off, and since today was Saturday there was a need to rush.

Since it was their busiest day, the day most of the scheduled visits would occur for older folk or younger children with their parents.

As Homura entered the clinic, he was greeted by Doctor Ueno, who was busy organizing medical supplies on the shelves. "Ah, Homura, you're here. Perfect timing," the doctor said with a warm smile.

"Good morning, Doctor Ueno. What can I help with today?" Homura replied, feeling at ease in the familiar environment of the clinic.

Doctor Ueno nodded appreciatively. "That's great to hear. By the way, I have a surprise for you. We have a new medical assistant joining us today."

Homura's eyes widened in surprise. He hadn't expected this news. "A new medical assistant? That's unexpected."

It wasn't weird for a master craftsman to have many apprentices, but Homura wasn't a regular assistant either.

Far from being paid, he didn't have to spend long hours at the clinic either. So it wasn't too surprising that the doctor would have another assistant. Aside from Homura there were already 2 other assistants though, those didn't stay for too long. It was more of an internship for them, so that they could move on to greater things.

Due to this rapid turn out, Homura, who had been working at the clinic the longest, always felt tired and annoyed to have to remember new faces and names. Especially, since no matter who came after him, he'd still have to take orders from them even though he wasn't technically their assistant.

Regardless, it was something he could help.

He couldn't work all day long and wasn't paid, not only that he wasn't even a medical ninja or ninja so he wasn't allowed to help anyone without approval or be ordered to.

Even though he had all those demerits, he still had to show up every day which was a pain at first;; but it was all worth it since he had the chance to get close to a lot of things that he would have been unable to.

But the academic new year had barely started and they already had a new recruit. Those new recruits often made mistakes as it took some time for them to get acclimated with their new surroundings, and he since it was someone older than him, it would be difficult for him once again since he would become the "senpai"…having an older "kouhai" was complicated and stressful.

Doctor Ueno chuckled. "Indeed it is. She's a promising young recruit, and I think she'll be a valuable addition to the clinic. You should go and meet her."

Homura: (She? A girl…I hope she's cute and pretty. Last few were men…) he thought to himself.

Curious, Homura followed Doctor Ueno to his office. As they entered, Homura's surprise turned into astonishment as he saw none other than Saya waiting inside. She grinned mischievously when she saw Homura's shocked expression.

"Saya! What are you doing here?" Homura exclaimed.

Saya laughed and jumped up from her seat, giving him a playful punch on the shoulder. "Surprise! I'm the new assistant. Can you believe it?"

Homura couldn't believe it indeed. He had never imagined that Saya would become a medical ninja, let alone join the clinic where he had been working so diligently. But he also knew Saya well enough to understand that once she set her mind on something, there was no stopping her.

"That's...unexpected," Homura said, trying to find the right words.

She was still an academy student.

Homura didn't need to study for most written tests because he had C, but Saya was not so lucky. Dividing her time further even if she was quite smart could make her grades drop.

Doctor Ueno chuckled "Since you two were recommended to me by Iruka-kun, I thought you two would know each other, so I kept it a surprise."

"Oh, boy," Thought Homura as he finished hearing the Dr. Ueno out. Though, Homura, hearing the doctor's reasoning couldn't help but feel slightly shaken by the implications the doctor's explanation brought up "Saya, are you sure you can handle this? It might be too much for you now, there's not much time left before we graduate from the academy."

Saya grinned and crossed her arms. "Hmph! Don't underestimate your big sister's ability, everything a younger brother can do a big sister can do better."

Hearing her response, Homura, couldn't but feel slightly more reluctant at the both of them having to work together. Thinking that it was probably time to call it quits. Though, he couldn't say that so he just nodded and put up a brave front.

Saya then took a more casual posture and looked at Homura once again, "But you know…" she said.

Both Homura and the doctor's reaction changed as the tone of her voice was now serious.

"I've been thinking about it for a while now… My mother was a medical ninja and she had the ability to heal others. I may not have known her, but I thought it would be a great way to maybe understand her a bit better and to contribute to the village... I also want to help those in need, like you and my mother did."

Homura: "Saya…" that was the first time Saya said something like that, she rarely mentioned her parents none of the orphans did much back when they lived at the orphanage.

It was something they usually avoid to not make the younger kids sad but to think she had been holding that close to her chest all this time was surprising to Homura.

Underneath her usual jovial, she was still a child that missed or wanted to know her parents just like all of them.

Though it also stung him that she thought that Homura had a desire to help others, his motives were less than pure. In fact, they were quite impure but he could not so easily divulge them.

Not even to people close to him.

Doctor Ueno smiled approvingly. "That's a commendable decision, Saya. We're happy to have you on board. With your determination and skill, I'm sure you'll be an excellent medical assistant."

Homura: " Yeah. That's great, congrats. I'm sure you'll do great…(If Saya learns medical ninjutsu that's one less worry, if her mother was good at it, she will probably be good at it too. Though I guess I won't have a cute Kouhai that I can boss around or use to skip work… I will be the one being bossed around one more time sigh)"

Homura nodded, realizing that he needed to be supportive of his friend's choice, which felt kinda weird he never had felt that way before.

Sure it was slightly annoying to have to have to share the doctor with someone, but if it was Saya he never truly minded.

Saya: "Thanks, Homura. Let's work together to become great medical ninjas for the village in the future, so that we can everyone happy." she exclaimed enthusiastically.

Homura: "I see, that's great…hahaha. (Is it me or she is becoming slightly even more tomboyish?)"

Saya was not one to do things as half-heartedly as Homura, so he had no doubt in this particular field she would easily outclass him.

So much for someone so-called a genius.

Homura couldn't help but feel a mix of emotions.

He didn't really care much about the village or any intention of putting it above on a pedestal like they were taught at the academy.

He'd rather only protect those he cared about.

Because for as much as he had changed, he could completely forget the promise he made to himself that day.

It was his duty to see that retribution was carried even if it wasn't done by his hands so for that, he had no choice but to leave the village at some point and get strong enough.

Unlike before where he lacked focus, the Homura now was a slightly more mature one.

Doctor: "By the way Homura-kun, can you go once again to the Yamaka flowers and get the ingredients on this note? "

The doctor said while handing Homura a note.

Homura: "(Geh?!)"

Homura was taken by surprise all of his previous maturity was nowhere to be seen on his face as he had a look that said he was shocked but he soon recovered.

How could he not, he hasn't exactly made amends but at this point, it was a bit far too late, and on the weekends a certain someone he didn't want to meet if he could help.

There were two shop owners that seemed to have a grudge against him, one was Tenten's father and the other one was his classmate, Ino Yamanaka.

Homura: "S-sure, sensei leave it to me."

Homura said while flashing a confident smile, but deep down he wished today of all days it was the patriarch was the one at the counter, but knowing his luck that wasn't probably going to be the case.