Chapter 194: Leaving the village (Part 3)

"This is so exciting! I can't believe we're finally getting to explore the world outside the village!" Naruto exclaimed, his voice brimming with enthusiasm, his eyes wide with anticipation.

"Well, you did ask for a real mission... but why are you still hyped up about leaving the village? It's already been more than half an hour since we left," Homura responded, still in disbelief by Naruto's enthusiasm.

" (And I thought that I was a country bumpkin...,)" Tazuna silently thought as he took a sip of the small flask bottle he was holding in his left hand.

"(...That guy...,)" inwardly thought Sasuke, as he wondered if Naruto thought this was a field trip instead of a mission as he carefully examined the terrain. 

"(...A mission outside the village, huh...)" Kakashi thought to himself as he wondered how long they should take.

The others within the group were walking in silence as they made their way, only Homura and Naruto who were a few steps ahead were still talking, mostly due to Naruto commenting about everything he found interesting.

"We're finally doing real ninja work! No, more cleaning gutters, finding lost pets, or helping oldies farming!" Naruto declared.

" Farming is an honest job... and I... don't really think those kinds of missions are over for us," Homura reported to Naruto in a bored tone as he looked around carefully.

The road ahead and the bright blue sky in front of him, giving slightly a headache as he tried to absorb the information ahead. Due to C internal workings operating, he was currently forging a new map and the overall surroundings.

So far, nothing seemed to be amiss. 

Which made him want to see if the soil outside was any different and if the vegetation benefitted from it by taking a few samples. Not only that, but he wanted to see if there could be some fauna that could be used for medicine; since most of what was available in the village shops came from merchants and a few clans that were privately cultivating in their lands.

Homura's soon pivoted towards a small shop outside the village as he managed to identify a type of worm that is often used in a basic medicinal ointment concoction.

"(I wonder if Karin's dad will still have some of thos-!)" but before he could he could finish that thought he was brought back to reality by a very familiar voice.

"Jeez! Why do you have to be such a party pooper!? If we can ace this mission, our lives will be full of awesome missions! Which means more pay! Which mean more ramen!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Awesome, huh?"Homura responded with a slight hint of sarcasm, as he never thought anyone would describe ninja work as awesome. Though the prospective of higher pay was without a doubt attractive to a broke Homura.

Which had plans to invest in buying a cheap mass produced chakra blade, but gave up due to price concerns. 

Regardless, if it extra money meant leaving the village...it was rather not optimal, seeing he had to leave a clone behind to make sure it took care of his "stuff" but seeing that the clone still hadn't released himself nor could be seen in the village publicly, due to Homura's departure; he could only imagine how hard it got for the other him to move around.

Everything that was happening stunk. 

In this mission he was likely to face rogue ninjas, which was something every ninja would have to face at some point in their career, but Homura still had a few more months of training that he needed to go through for him to complete a few training regiments for him to be able to polish his skills further.

Still, this event he was on track towards was happening far too soon. He believed he had still about a week of regular missions before this particular event took place. Right now he could only regret having to take a mission outside the village, and his knowingly adherence to it.

He thought he could expose Tazuna lies, by masking this B to A rank mission into a C rank mission, but that would mean a very important event needed for Naruto's development. 

Without the land of waves arc, Naruto would probably not become the version of himself that he knew of, which could spell his death or worse.

Having to take so many things into consideration was maddening.

Knowing the future but being unable to fully change key aspects of it was tiresome, thus why he wanted to leave team 7 as soon as possible but it was too late and Homura was prideful.

Too prideful to admit that he even missed those boring and safe missions.

In fact, Homura preferred their previous set up. Although the prior missions they had taken were boring, had low pay, involved menial work that sometimes took the entire day and were uninteresting.

The fact they never truly left the confine of the village was an advantage for him, he could work and train on his own.

The current mission would take about a minimum of a week, officially about 4 days though Ninjas usually had about 2 weeks or more to report to the village unless they were told report regularly.

This was due to some missions some times taking longer due to logistics before a party is sent to assess the state of the team or mission, though if events went according to the manga...the likelihood that this current mission could be their final one was not beyond their scope.

However, shinobi grew much stronger through conflict, and conflict was brewing ahead to Homura's knowledge.

He hoped it would make him strong, especially since one of the enemies they would face had a kekkei genkai. 

It was Homura's chance to find out that if he could gain haku's power by incorporating the DNA of Haku who could not only control ice but make it.

Some ninjas could sometimes gain abilities others' bloodline affinities by incorporating their DNA into themselves, and although the process rarely saw any results; Homura had a physique that allowed genetic material of others, the time to truly test that genetic gift was now ahead. 

At least if they managed to come back alive. 

"I can't believe the old man actually agreed to it. Maybe he is finally starting to recognize my talent, don't you think?" Naruto uttered as he begin to brag about many things for the past couple of minutes to Homura's chagrin.

Homura simply nodded as he had been doing for a while, though his visual memory was close to perfect his auditory memory was far from it, thus he had no idea what Naruto was talking about half of the time as he was tuning out.

"Remember how he recognized my effort as he handed us the mission?" Naruto said as he tried to seemingly rewrite reality.

"Hm...I do not remember that going that way(and I have have a good memory)... But isn't the Hokage a busy person? Why does he personally handle the distribution of missions?" Homura asked looking at Kakashi behind him, though he deliberately left out the fact that he knew Naruto was technically the village's most vital asset and weapon or why the hokage would allow him to leave the village, a reality that could have been a factor in the decision.

"The Hokage is the cornerstone of our entire institution," Kakashi explained, his tone calm yet slightly authoritative, as someone that knows a lot about the topic in question. "He doesn't hand out every mission personally—much depends on his schedule. Sometimes, he delegates the task to his retainers. However, certain missions are more sensitive than they appear on paper, and in such cases, it's crucial for the Hokage to manage them directly to avoid any misunderstandings and maintain a level of secrecy."

Both Sasuke and I immediately grasped some of the implications behind Kakashi's words, the gravity of the situation settling in.

"Really? I didn't know Gramps was kinda shady...Why can't he tell about it to others, they work for him anyway," Naruto admitted, his expression a mix of surprise and confusion. "And here I thought he was just some old man who survived for a really long time or was really powerful a long time ago."

"Naruto, it's not that simple and don't disrespect Lord 3rd so casually," Kakashi interjected with a tired voice, the same tone he often used when reprimanding Naruto.

"Ah! Sorry!" Naruto quickly apologized, his tone sincere, as he realized his mistake of talking about that to a jounin.

"Hokage-sama may be up there in age, but he's still the strongest shinobi within the village," Kakashi continued. "He helps maintain peace just by his presence alone."

All present were quite surprised by his words.

Some like Naruto somewhat doubted, but others realized that what Kakashi had said was true and the fact they still felt no danger in his presence was a skill in itself. 

"It might not seem like it to you," Kakashi added, "but Lord 3rd is one of only five people in the entire world who holds the title of Kage. In fact, since beginning of the village he has taken the mantle of the village twice,"

"R-really? That Gramps?!" Naruto exclaimed, disbelief clear in his voice. "He didn't seem that tough to me."

"You shouldn't underestimate the 3rd, Naruto," Homura chimed in, his tone more serious than usual. "Sure, he might be weaker now than he was in his prime, and he may even seem a bit senile due to giving long speeches whenever he can. But at one point, he was called the Shinobi Professor, or even the God of Shinobi. He could use all sorts of powerful jutsus, and he was hailed as a legend in the shinobi world. People used to be ordered to run on sight if they encountered him on the battlefield because of how deadly he was...or so I heard"

"Woah! Really? That old man? That's kind of unbelievable," Naruto said, his eyes wide with astonishment, struggling to reconcile the image of the old Hokage with the fearsome reputation he apparently once had.

"...How do you know all that?" Sasuke asked, still processing the information.

"It's basic knowledge that a shinobi should gather intel on anyone that could benefit the mission or their understanding of a mission, Uchiha-san," Homura said looking at Sasuke who was quite annoyed by the way Homura tended to refer to him since it was laced with a bit of sarcasm as Homura explained. "And if the rumors I dug up are true, your name is an homage to the Hokage's late father, Sarutobi Sasuke."

"Nonsense! There's no way that's true!" Sasuke protested, clearly in disbelief and slightly angry as he looked towards Homura who was walking ahead of him.

"Calm down, calm down…" Kakashi interjected, trying to diffuse the tension. "I don't know if what Homura said about your name is true, but Lord 3rd's late father was indeed named Sarutobi Sasuke."

"....." Homura

"...." Sasuke

The silence was broken by Tazuna.

"I knew the old man was quite important, as the leader of you guys' village but if what the brat with graying hair said is true, does it means that he is still an active ninja at his age? " Asked Tazuna.

"Graying hair?! I am going to k*ll that b*stard!"Homura thought inside his head as he pretended it didn't affect him by putting on a fake smile. 

"Homura's description of the 3rd Hokage is mostly accurate," Kakashi continued. "He was hailed as a genius in his prime, an extraordinary shinobi, and among the few pupils of the 2nd and 1st Hokages who were considered legends in their own rights... Regardless, it's pretty impressive that you know all that, Homura."

"!? I, I mean... it is important to know all that, as a genius, I might one day become the hokage myself," Homura declared in a hasty mess. 

"What?! Since when are you trying to steal my goal?!" Naruto yelled as he confronted Homura. 

"I am an a genius, so becoming Hokage might be one day forced upon me, even if I don't want it personally. It's something I have to consider even if I don't want to," Homura interjected as he tried to distance himself from Naruto.

"Tch! Fine! It doesn't matter anyway!" declared Naruto as he took a deep breath.

"huh?!...That's pretty mature of you," (Homura)

" I am mature! Besides, if I become hokage I have to be the strongest anyways! So, I only have to bec-! I mean I am already pretty much stronger than you! So there's nothing to fear," he pointed towards Homura as the party continued moving.

Hearing Naruto's somewhat cohesive argument, even if the hokage didn't necessarily have to be the strongest ninja within the village, made Homura slightly at a loss for words.

"T-that's not really h-!?" (Homura)

Suddenly, Homura felt a strange sensation, as if I were being watched. "(Weird… it feels like someone is watching me quite intensively)" He looks from the corner of his right eye towards Kakashi, Tazuna and Sasuke, but they seemed to not particularly focus on him and Naruto "(… no, I'm definitely being watched by someone)," he muttered under his breath, trying to keep his voice steady as he casually looked around, scanning our surroundings for any signs of danger.

Homura pretended to be casual, but Sasuke seemed to be in the same boat as him, his previous demeanor was only also seemingly part of an act or at least something started to bother him as well.

His eyes were alert, subtly darting around, while Naruto remained completely oblivious to it all, still caught up in the conversation.

They continued walking and talking for several kilometers, the tension slowly easing as they moved forward, until we came upon something that sent a chill down my spine—a puddle of water, seemingly out of place on the otherwise dry path.

Homura tried to rationalize it all as he converse with Naruto but was doing background analysis. Only to find C reassembling pieces of information hidden in the psyche of his previous life's memories, the mention of them being attacked by goons of Zabusa. 

Though the information was lacking since it did not seem that the episode or manga passage was not fully on point since Homura seemed to have watched several anime episodes and played games more than read the manga all throughout. In fact, about one third or fourth of the anime he had completely skipped and what he knew were basic plot summaries learned in games or through statements on the internet.

Still, he did manage to somewhat gather a few pieces of information though their faces was omitted as it was not available as well as their skills.

"(I see... it could be those guys...it says that they have horns?...must be a mistake...but there could always be more than what was shown to us)," he realized, recalling that the main threat of the arc lied only to Zabusa and Haku. Meaning whoever they were, they would be no match for a jounin such as kakashi within their midst. 

As they kept walking, they passed by the puddle of water.

It didn't seem to be out of place since it was a small puddle, though the bright blue sky would disagree and the weather pattern as well. Unfortunately, Homura was not a truly detail-oriented person and thought nothing much of it.

Soon as they passed by it, failing to notice and object slowly emerging out of the puddle, to soon reveal the partial features belonging to a face of a masked individual prop out.

His eyes, were seemingly devoid of emotion besides bloodlust, as he stared at the group walking ahead. The cold stare turned even more vicious as he readied himself to act.

By the time the group were about 20 meters away, Homura thought that maybe he had been wrong all along as nothing seemed to pass. 

That perhaps the stares he felt belonged to wild animals looking for a prey, which was not a farfetched as the wild was full of those types.

Only to be extremely wrong.

Soon, events beyond their wildest fears transpired.

Suddenly, a figure shot out of the pond and another rushed towards them with alarming speed. A hooded figure hurled something into the sky.

"!"

"What the—?!"

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto shouted, his voice tinged with panic.

In what seemed like an instant, the figure in the sky threw a chain that wrapped tightly around Kakashi. The chain was a retractable shuriken-styled chain, running between the two gauntlets worn by the assailants.

Everyone present was shocked.

They could barely breathe as all of it had happened so fast, and without anything that could serve as a warning, leaving the group of genin and Tazuna beyond flabbergasted.

Not knowing that the spectacle would be any worse as the two brothers quickly set themselves on the right and left a few steps away of Kakashi as they both pulled the bladed chains towards themselves which dug further at Kakashi in what seemed to be an instant.

His pained face as the bladed bits dug into him soon dug deeper until, a gruesome event transpired in front of our heroes.

Before Kakashi could react, he was split into bits as the makeshift bladed chains tore through him and blood gushed out his disassembled corpse.

The horrific scene unfolding so quickly that none of the party present had time to fully process the following events or could believe their eyes.

"Huh?!!!" Naruto let out a dumbfounded look as he could not cope a.

Which made him their next victim as he seemed to be fully engulfed by what he had just witnessed.

In a blur, the assailants reappeared behind Naruto, moving with incredible speed while we were all still reeling from the sight of Kakashi being sliced in half.

"Hehehe!" one of the assailants chuckled darkly.

"Now it's your turn!" the other one sneered, as they prepared to strike Naruto, who was still frozen in shock at what he had just witnessed.

"(K-Kakashi-sensei!?...!!)" Naruto stammered, his voice shaky with fear and confusion as he felt and heard the two rogue ninjas behind his location.

But before he could fully process what was happening, he heard a voice behind him.

"Don't worry, you're going to join him next," one of the Demon Brothers threatened, his voice cold and menacing.

"!?(A foot?)" Naruto gasped as he felt something moving towards him. His body instinctively tensed, pushing him towards the ground just as the Demon Brother with two horns on his headgear missed him with a clawed gauntlet.

But it wasn't just Naruto who was shocked. The eyes of the Demon Brothers widened in surprise as they caught sight of a silhouette suddenly appearing out of nowhere, knocking Naruto to the ground and then delivering a powerful kick to the face of the Demon Brother who had tried to stab Naruto.

The force of the kick sent the assailant crashing into the trunk of a nearby tree. All eyes then turned to the figure who had intervened, a figure who turned out to be none other than Homura, who was just about to land after his swift attack.

"(Sh*t I missed the other one!)" Homura thought to himself as the events unfolded.

Naruto was the first to notice that something was different about Homura. As he caught a glimpse of Homura's neck and the left side of his face, he noticed that veins were bulging prominently, giving him a fierce and almost unrecognizable appearance.

"(What—what happened to him?)" Naruto wondered, his concern growing as he saw the change in Homura.

But Naruto wasn't the only one who had regained his composure. The remaining Demon Brother, who had been about to swing his clawed gauntlet towards Homura's jugular, noticed something strange. Homura's eyes seemed to shift in color, about to turn crimson before darkening again, as he noticed two objects flying between him and his foe.

As Homura landed, the one-horned Demon Brother's hand was stopped in mid-swing by two shuriken that had missed his arm but, for some reason, had caught his attention. His eyes narrowed as he realized what had happened.

"(Strings! That brat...)" the Demon Brother thought, realizing that the shuriken had been tied to wires, which were now being pulled by none other than Uchiha Sasuke, who was straining to keep the man from moving any further.

Sasuke, pulling at the strings, was visibly struggling to hold the man back, but inside, he was slightly shaken by what he had just witnessed.

"(W-what was that?!)" Sasuke wondered, as he still focused most of his mind into the enemy he had within his grasp. 

He had known what Homura was capable of during their time at the academy, but he never expected him to be this fast. The realization left Sasuke slightly shocked, doubting whether he could surpass Homura's current speed in a one-on-one fight.

However, as Sasuke was processing everything, Homura took the opportunity to strike. He moved in with his right arm, aiming a punch straight at the enemy's face. But just as he was about to land the blow, the Demon Brother's gauntleted arm extended towards Homura, the claws reaching for his heart as the man smirked beneath his mask.

"(At this distance, even if he's only grazed, he'll be poisoned and die in a couple of minutes)," the Demon Brother thought, confident in his attack as he freed himself from his gauntlet. But Homura was quick, pivoting his body at the last moment, avoiding the surprise attack. His jacket and the clothes on his torso were slightly shredded, but he had managed to avoid a fatal blow.

"(Damn, I was going to end this in three strikes)," Homura thought, frustrated by his failed plan. He had intended to hit his opponent in places in the body that easily allow for blood to becomes coagulated; as he was currently was running simulation of his enemy movement patterns from the little he had witnessed.

Homura had meticulously planned to end the fight with three precise strikes. He intended to punch his foe squarely in the face, follow up with a blow to the stomach to activate his hidden dagger, and then apply the paralyzing agent smeared on the blade. His plan was to finish with a punch to the chest, ensuring his enemy's breathing would become erratic, allowing the poison to spread quickly throughout the body. However, he had failed.

"Damn, I was going to end this in three strikes," Homura thought with frustration.

One of the Demon Brothers, seemingly the leader, motioned with two quick gestures of his left hand fingers. "Get up, we're ending this now," he commanded.

His brother nodded in agreement, and the two of them darted toward Homura. Homura responded in kind, taking out a kunai from his right pouch, determined to finish the fight once and for all.

"This time, I am going to make sure I finish this!" Homura resolved.

The Demon Brother charging at Homura felt a similar resolve. He wanted nothing more than to kill Homura in their next clash. He raised his clawed gauntlet in an attacking position, ready to tear his opponent to shreds.

"I'll rip that brat to shreds... however..." the Demon Brother thought, but then he caught a glance at his brother, his orders firmly in mind. This made him focus on Homura once again, steeling his heart as the emotionless killer he was trained to be.

As the two were about to clash, the Demon Brother threw something beneath his feet, creating an explosion of smoke that enveloped the area.

Homura swung his blade, confident that he could strike his foe, but instead, he felt the blade hit something too shallow to be human. As the smoke cleared slightly, he realized he had struck two pieces of wood.

"Substitution?" Homura thought, his breath catching in surprise. He had initially believed the cloud of smoke might be laced with poison, but it became clear that his foe had another intention entirely. The kunai in Homura's hand dripped with blood, but the shallow cut made him realize he had made a grave mistake.

"Wait, if I'm not the target, then...!" Homura's mind raced as a flash of realization hit him.

Images of Naruto, Sasuke, and Tazuna filled his mind. It quickly became apparent who the Demon Brothers' real target was. While Homura remembered the Demon Brothers from his memories, he didn't know them personally. However, he did know who they worked for, making the target clear.

"Crap. I have to save him..." The urgency of the situation sent Homura into a near-blind panic, his anxiety so intense that he could barely contain it.

Under normal circumstances, Homura would have stayed put until the smoke cleared, as he had been taught. But the gravity of the situation made him abandon his plan. He darted back toward where he believed Tazuna was, driven by an almost primal need to protect.

"Faster! I have to save him!" Homura thought, the worry on his face uncharacteristic for someone who had only known Tazuna for a couple of hours.

As he exited the smoke cloud, ready to dart toward Tazuna's location, Homura was met with a sight that left him utterly dumbfounded. The two Demon Brothers were lying on the ground, seemingly knocked out. Sasuke and Tazuna stood a few steps away from Kakashi, who stood over the unconscious assailants with his usual calm demeanor.

"K-Kakashi-sensei... y-you're alive?!!!" Naruto yelled, his voice trembling with relief, as he stood a few feet away from Homura, safely distanced from the lingering smoke.

Hearing Naruto's voice, Homura was pulled back to reality. For a moment, he had believed he was under a genjutsu—just like any ninja would suspect when something defies their sense of reality. But no, it made no sense for him to be under a genjutsu.

"Right... that's right... this is how it should be," Homura thought, his breathing finally beginning to slow.

Now that he had time to think, Homura couldn't understand why he had been so worried. The Demon Brothers were weak and foolish; they couldn't have killed Kakashi without extensive planning, and even then, it would be a long shot. Homura had been surprised when they attacked Kakashi, but it was expected. However, when the attackers turned their focus on Naruto, Homura lost control over his emotions. He even unveiled a technique he hadn't planned on revealing to others—an incomplete version of something he tried to imitate by observing Guy and analyzing data on someone named Shura.

"I'm sorry about that, Naruto," Kakashi said, his voice calm and reassuring.

Watching Naruto run toward his sensei with a relieved, happy expression, Homura finally felt himself calming down completely. The veins bulging on various parts of his body relaxed as he formed the bird hand seal with both hands, a sign that he was letting go of the intense chakra buildup.

Sigh "To think... I showed such a technique and even almost used the Sharingan because I was trying to protect Naruto..."

Homura looked at Naruto, who was now animatedly talking with Kakashi, his face beaming with happiness. Strangely, seeing Naruto in this state made Homura feel a pang of nostalgia—a feeling he couldn't quite comprehend.

Just knowing that Naruto was safe made Homura feel oddly nervous yet relieved at the same time.

"I don't understand... what is he to me?" Homura wondered.

Homura had never given much thought to Naruto. Sure, he considered Naruto a friend, but not someone who compared to the people closest to him—Sister Kasumi, the father at his orphanage, Saya, and the others. Naruto was just a friend, not someone he considered family. So why did he feel this overwhelming need to protect him? It didn't make any sense.