Chapter 07

Author note: I found myself being more comfortable with third person PoV so starting from this chapter, I will change the PoV into the third person. Thank you.

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"Do you still want to start your mercenary group?" Akira and Aoki nodded without hesitation.

"I can tell that your purpose in creating a mercenary group before we met was to collect money and gain battle experience. But you have the second right now, and you can collect money by hunting some missing ninjas right now. I bet it would be easy, especially with Aoki's specialty. So, what is your purpose now?" Iroh asked with a hint of curiosity in his tone.

This time, Akira answered the question without hesitation, "We want to create a home for people like us, for those who are struggling to fight for their life, for those who have to survive even inside their own villages. We want to create something like that." Iroh was stunned for a moment and asked again,

"Why not pursue something like world peace?"

"Too much trouble," Aoki replied nonchalantly, making Akira and Iroh snort. "With all of the big villages having grudges against each other, who do you think will lower their pride to make a move first? I don't think any villages would do that, especially if they could not find the personal benefit for them.

The only way for the big villages to lower their head and stand together is when they have common enemies. But the past also proved that something like that is not going to last for a long time.

Just look at the first Kage summit, when Hashirama gave away the Biijus like candy in the name of peace. What is the result? Right after he died, the first shinobi war happened.

Then you have the alliance that destroyed the Uzushiogakure in the last war. The alliances between Kumo, Kiri, and Iwa didn't even last long enough until the end of the war before they betrayed each other.

So, as I said before, finding common ground for peace talks is not easy, and maintaining the peace itself is harder than the first one. So, it is definitely not worth our time."

Suddenly, Iroh let out a loud laugh that surprised Akira and Aoki.

"Both of you are indeed very interesting. When I asked the two soul wanderers before you the same question, the first one answered that he wanted to gain peace and collect as many girls as he could, and the last one wanted to live forever. But you? You want to create a home for people who suffered like you. I cannot wait to see what would your future be."

"You don't want us to pursue world peace just as you said?" Akira asked, clearly interested in Iroh's answer. To his surprise, Iroh didn't even hesitate for a moment to answer his question,

"Not really. If you help the world gain peace, then good for you. But just like what Aoki said before, it would be hard to maintain peace. I have been here since the era of the sage of the six paths.

He said he gave people chakra and taught them about ninshuu to stop the war. But what was the result? They used what the sage taught to start the war, and it was definitely more chaotic than before. That was one of the reasons why Shinigami asked for my help. So, if you asked me if I wanted you to gain peace, not really. I just want to see you live your life without any regrets." He ended his answer with a warm smile.

"You talked a lot about the sage, but what is his real name?" Akira asked curiously. But he only got a mysterious smile from Iroh.

"That, child, is something you have to find by yourself." Akira huffed in annoyance as he got no answer to his question.

"So, after we leave, what will you do?" Aoki asked.

"I will do the same thing I did before I meet you, wandering around the soul world, and maybe spending my time playing Pai sho with Shinigami."

"Will we meet again in the future?" Akira asked emotionally. After all, they spend five years in this realm and they started to treat each other like family. Iroh smiles as he heard a hint of emotion in Akira's voice.

"Don't worry, child. If you didn't do what I told you before I taught you five years ago, then we will meet again after you die. But I think our next meeting would not take that long." He smiles as he started to do hand signs.

"What do you mean by that?" Akira asked confusedly. But before he got his answer, Iroh has already finished what he did and said, "Just remember, this is not a goodbye. See you later, children." Then we were teleported right into the same cave we met him five years ago.

"He didn't even let us say goodbye." Akira chuckled dryly.

"Don't worry, though. As he said, it will not be a goodbye. We will see him in the future." Akira nodded at what his partner said. He noticed Aoki's appearance who is far older than five years ago.

"It is still strange for me to grow this old after just five years, but this was similar to the body I had in my first life," Akira muttered. He is about 180 cm with a long-black hair tied up in a ponytail style. As for Aoki, he is ten years older than Akira, with a height of about 170 cm and short-spiky hair. They both wear casual shirts and masks so that they can disguise themselves as civilians anytime without alarming everyone.

Suddenly, Aoki's shoulder stiffened, and he whispered quickly, "Activate your observation haki."

Akira nodded and did like what Aoki told. Right after he activated it, he could see a little girl protecting a wounded woman, it seems the woman is her mother while being surrounded by five ninjas in the cave's mouth. From the glimpse of the sight, Akira knows that the girl's situation is bad.

"What should we do?" Akira asked in a whisper. Aoki took a second to think before replying with another question,

"What is our only rule?"

"Children and civilians will never be our target." Akira nodded, understanding what Aoki wanted. They would fight for the girl.

"I will try to end the ninjas as quick as I can, protect the girl and her mother." Akira nodded at Aoki's command, but added one more thing,

"Don't kill them yet. We need information. Do that after I rescued the girl." Then he let out his kodachi and gives it to Akira, "Used this. It contains strong poisons that would make people fall unconscious by the touch of it."

Aoki nodded and vanished out of the air. He used one of the abilities he learned from the chameleon clan, camouflage with the surrounding. It was a very useful technique for infiltration and silent assassination like this.

'Well, it's time for action.' Akira muttered inwardly. He hides quickly and checked out the situation outside. Surprisingly, the five ninjas surrounding the girl didn't do anything yet. They took their time to do some villain monologue.

"Your mother is dead now, little girl. You will be our prisoner, and we will make you our plaything for the rest of your life. Be prepared, hehehe.." The leader let out an evil chuckle that frightened the little girl.

As for Akira, he looked at the ninjas with a disgusted expression. He and Aoki are not good people. They stole and killed a lot. But one thing that never comes into their mind is raping. If they have to fight against women, they would just finish them as quickly as possible to avoid that mind coming into their heads.

And now, looking at the rape threat in front of him, he tried so hard to hold himself so he didn't rush forward that would only make the girl's position get worse. Instead, he waited for Aoki to kill the first enemies, and when Aoki did that, he will use his soru to rush forward and rescue the girl and her mother.

He didn't need to wait for long, because as the leader finished his threats, the man that guard their back suddenly screamed,

"AAAARRGHH!!" The scream makes all of the ninjas turn their attention behind, and that moment was the signal for Akira to move.

"WHO IS THAT?! SHOW YOURSELF!" The leader shouted while the rest of them gathered around and took their stance. But Akira didn't even care about that as he moves very fast that the others didn't notice the sudden movement. He grabbed the girl and her mother in his should and brought them back to the cave, ignoring the yelp from the girl and the scream that started to come from the ninjas.

Right after he dropped those two, he started to check the mother's condition.

"W-who are you?!" The little girl shouted, trying to look brave while holding a kunai. Akira's eyes softened at her,

"Don't worry. I will not hurt you or your mother. I am a medic. Let me check her." After a moment of hesitation, the girl nodded slowly, letting Akira do his work. Within a minute he has already checked the woman. He grimaced at her condition, but decided not to tell the girl the result of his full scan.

"Just several broken bones, bruises, and chakra exhaustion. Nothing life-threatening. She will gain her consciousness in a day." He said as he started to heal the bones and the bruises in the body. The little girl let out a relieved sigh after she hears what Akira said.

"And to ask your question, my name is Akira Sou." He opened his mask, letting the girl see his face. "And soon, you will meet my friend who deals with those ninjas that surround you before. So, who are you, little girl?" The girl hesitated for a moment before replying lowly,

"I-I am Karin U-uzumaki."

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Author note:

You can also read:

- Transmigrated Into Anime World as Kiyoko Shimizu's Older Brother up to chapter 41

- Naruto: Ashigaru up to chapter 12

You can read all of it at my Patreon account, pat_reon.com/zwolf1 (Without '_') Thank you for your support! :)