Shuji was a ninja.
Itachi was also a ninja.
“Uchiha…
Itachi?” Shuji stared at the figure standing before him, dressed in a dark-blue short-sleeved shirt and matching shorts.
Calling him a young man would have been far too generous.
He was a child—plain and simple.
At only eight years old, his youthful face still carried traces of baby fat.
Yet his pitch-black eyes were as deep and still as bottomless pools, devoid of the liveliness and innocence one would expect from a child.
“Yes, Shuji-senpai,” the child replied softly.
It had already been half a month since Shuji had taken over this body, and by now he had practiced and regained command of everything he needed to know.
He had even come to terms with the fact that, despite being only fourteen, he was already a full-fledged ninja who had spent years killing people.
But taking a child along to kill people?
That was something he still wasn’t mentally prepared for.
Even if that child happened to be Uchiha Itachi.
Shuji showed none of his unease.
He simply pulled out the mission scroll and was about to explain their assignment when a sweet, fragrant aroma drifted past his nose.
It was nine in the morning.
Several sparrows hopped along the eaves, chirping brightly.
The air carried the fresh scent of morning dew and damp earth, and warm sunlight spilled across the street.
It was the kind of morning that naturally put a person at ease.
Following the aroma, Shuji spotted a wagashi shop—a small Japanese confectionery.
The diligent owner had opened early and was already preparing fresh dango.
“Uchiha—” Shuji coughed.
“Actually, I’ll just call you Itachi.” His Adam’s apple bobbed almost imperceptibly as he swallowed.
“Of course, senpai,” Itachi replied in the same quiet, composed tone.
“Want something to eat?” Itachi finally looked up, a trace of surprise appearing in his eyes.
He followed Shuji’s gaze.
A confectionery shop.
Dango…
Itachi hesitated.
“Um…
Shuji-senpai, what about the mission…?” “The dango looks like it just came out.” Shuji had already turned toward the shop and started walking.
“Freshly made food always tastes best.
Besides, what I ate this morning barely counted as breakfast.
It’s still early, so eating a little more shouldn’t…
be a problem.” Shuji was a chūnin and the leader of this mission.
Since his senior had already made the decision, Itachi saw little reason to object.
With that thought, Itachi followed him into the shop.
Once seated, Shuji ordered four skewers of hanami dango, along with two cups of tea to balance out the sweetness.
The tri-colored dango arrived on small blue-green plates, giving off a warm, sugary fragrance.
The glossy rice dumplings were arranged neatly on each skewer—pink sakura, green matcha, and white plain dango.
Fine crystals of sugar clung to their surfaces, sparkling temptingly in the morning sunlight.
Shuji first took a sip of the light tea to cleanse his palate.
By the time he lowered his cup, however, only two skewers remained in front of him.
He blinked.
After making sure he wasn’t seeing things, he slowly looked across the table at Uchiha Itachi.
Itachi’s pale cheeks were slightly puffed out, and a tiny speck of sugar clung to the corner of his mouth.
His normally calm, unreadable eyes had narrowed ever so slightly, revealing a rare hint of contentment.
“Boss, two more skewers, please.” Shuji couldn’t help smiling as he pushed the remaining dango toward Itachi.
Perhaps a little embarrassed, Itachi lowered his head.
Even so, his hand still reached out and picked up another skewer.
Sweet.
Soft and chewy.
Delicious.
Then a sip of tea.
Perfect.
Shuji let out a satisfied breath.
Itachi also set down his teacup contentedly, the faint gleam in his eyes not quite gone.
Only then did Shuji unfold the mission scroll.
“Our mission is to eliminate a group of bandits.
We don’t have portraits or detailed descriptions of them.
All we know is that they were originally raiding settlements along the border of the Land of Rivers.
When the authorities there began pursuing them, they crossed the border and fled into the Land of Fire.
“After the daimyō’s estate received the report and dispatched soldiers, the bandits escaped again, this time into the Land of Rain.
“Neither country intended to continue pursuing them after that.
But the same group later resurfaced along the border of the Land of Rivers and started raiding again.
In the end, the Land of Rivers submitted the mission to our village.
“According to the intelligence they handed over, there are no ninja among the bandits.
“However, they’ve managed to avoid every attempt to capture them.
They’re unusually quick to detect danger, and whenever a confrontation seems likely, they retreat before suffering any casualties.
“Their numbers are estimated at fifteen to twenty.
“Since we aren’t expected to encounter enemy ninja, the assignment has been classified as a C-rank mission.
Considering the number of bandits involved, the reward is fifty thousand ryō.” After briefly explaining the situation, Shuji slid the mission scroll across the table and gestured for Itachi to read through it himself.
“Since we’ve only been temporarily assigned as a team, I’ll tell you what I can do.
I specialize in ninjutsu.
Both the range and destructive power of my techniques are solid, so we shouldn’t have much to worry about when it comes to direct combat on this mission.” The body’s original owner had served in a border combat squad.
During his previous patrol mission, his team had encountered a large force from Kumogakure.
Both of his teammates were killed.
He alone had escaped with the intelligence they had gathered, though he had been critically wounded in the process.
He was sent back to Konohagakure for treatment.
But when the boy finally opened his eyes again, the person who woke up was no longer the original Shuji.
It was him.
Even now, Shuji couldn’t tell whether he had possessed someone else’s body or simply awakened memories from another life.
Either way, he possessed all fourteen years of this body’s memories, along with more than twenty years’ worth of memories from an ordinary man who had lived in another world.
Shuji had no intention of obsessing over the distinction.
There was no point.
After spending half a month recovering, he decided to take a mission as a form of rehabilitation—and, at the same time, to help himself readjust to this world.
Since the mission briefing stated that their targets were ordinary people, combat wasn’t expected to be the difficult part.
Tracking the bandits down was the real challenge.
Shuji had originally planned to handle the assignment alone, but the village had still assigned him a teammate.
“You don’t need to worry about me, senpai.” Itachi straightened his posture and introduced his abilities with complete seriousness.
“I’m proficient with ninja tools.
I know some genjutsu, and I can also use Fire Release.
If you determine that I’ll interfere with the mission, you may abandon me at any time.” His father had once told him that Shuji was an exceptionally capable ninja.
Although this was only a C-rank mission, the fact that the village had paired a chūnin with a genin suggested that Shuji ranked among the better chūnin and had no obvious weaknesses.
Uchiha Itachi disagreed with his father, Fugaku, on certain matters.
But when it came to judging a ninja’s strength, he had complete faith in the eyes of the captain of the Konoha Military Police Force.
Hearing such a painfully “mature” answer from an eight-year-old, Shuji raised an eyebrow.
“If that’s how you feel, then you’ll follow my orders without question for the duration of this mission.
Understood?” “Yes, senpai.” Itachi nodded.
“And about the mission reward…” “Senpai, there’s no need to consider my share.
Simply being allowed to accompany you and learn from you is already an honor.” Itachi sounded perfectly humble.
Then again, to the Uchiha clan, the reward from a mission like this was hardly worth mentioning.
But that didn’t sit right with Shuji.
He tapped a finger lightly against the table.
His voice remained calm, but his tone left no room for argument.
“If we’re taking the mission together, don’t say things like that.
We’ll split the reward sixty-forty.
As the chūnin and team leader, I’ll take the larger share, but you won’t lose a single ryō of what you’re entitled to.
That’s how we’ll handle it.
Any objections?” “No, senpai,” Itachi replied softly.