Yuto woke up the next day, walking into the kitchen and seeing his grandfather cooking something on the stove. He had been living with his grandfather for three days now, and he hadn't once seen him pick up a utensil until now. Yuto walked over, looking at what was in the pan on the stove top.
"I never knew you cooked," Yuto said, surprised.
His grandfather let out a grunt, but Yuto was used to his grandfather being grumpier than usual in the morning.
"My intuition tells me someone's grumpy", Yuto said in a teasing tone.
"You brat!!" His grandfather chastised
"Aren't we supposed to be training around this time?" Yuto asked.
"Ahh, yes, I meant to tell you that yesterday, but you were at dinner with the Uchiha family."
"Go grab your blade, we'll depart shortly," the older man said.
Yuto tilted his head at that. "We're leaving the village?" Yuto asked.
The older man nodded, "Yes, it is time that you experience what it means to be a shinobi. Call it a camping trip," his grandfather mysteriously said.
Yuto was surprised and a little nervous, seeing that he had never stepped outside the village the entire week he had been in this new world. Yuto had no plans of leaving the village until he became a registered shinobi. He realized how fast everything had been moving for him. He had already gained all of Yuto's previous memories and learned the introductory level of his grandfather's kinjutsu, so he had the necessary skills to complete regular D-rank missions, but he remembered what happened when Team 7 left the village for the first time. So, finding out he was going out of the village, he was a little nervous, but he knew with his grandfather there, he probably wouldn't die. His face turned indifferent as he shrugged his shoulders.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever, old man."
Yuto walked down the streets wearing his burgundy hoodie with his black combat shorts and some open-toed sandals. His sword was strapped to his back, and the rest of his items were in a scroll. He had made sure he packed some shinobi replenishing bars, a basic medical kit, an extra set of shuriken and kunai, as well as some explosive tags in his large kunai pouch on his lower back, though he had no idea how to use them. His grandfather was right next to him in his usual white kimono and Japanese sandals with a traveling bag on his back. They approached the village gates, handing the chunin village gate guards the approved documents allowing them to exit the village.
During his long hours of study, he discovered that not everyone could just walk into the Fire Country, let alone the leaf village. They had to have approved documents proving that they weren't a spy. There is a small background check after presenting the documents; the village gate guards would check the documents to see if they match the information in the database. Simply presenting things like social security numbers or birth certificates will be enough for you to be validated, but this only applies to civilians.
If you're a shinobi, you'll have to present your shinobi serial number and the necessary approved documents from the kage. While he didn't read about it, he suspected the foreign shinobi in the village were assigned regular patrol teams. As for entering the fire country, foreign shinobi can enter the country freely for tasks like escort missions, depending on the mission details. But some shinobi breach the border patrol to complete missions that are required to be done covertly. The only reason shinobi may find themselves fighting other shinobi in a different country is if their missions interfere with each other or personal grudges, and mainly the bounty's. While the job of a shinobi pays well, some get greedy, hoping to catch a big fish. Yuto hoped he wasn't unlucky enough to get a bounty put on his head.
He walked down the path, exiting the village as he looked down at the giant map in his hands. He realized why it was called the fire country and not the fire city. The shinobi world was huge, with population rates higher than those in his previous world. The fire country was bigger than modern-day China. It took civilians between weeks and months to travel to other countries. Traveling on the millions of roads, and not to mention the frequent stops at tourist cities. It's why most merchants traveled by carriage.
They arrived in a clearing of trees, crouching over a map on the grass.
Yuto glanced at his grandfather before speaking.
"You never explained why we were leaving the village," Yuto said.
"You're going to kill a man," his grandfather said, not holding back.
"I'm going too..... kill," Yuto said, shocked as his face took on a look of worry.
His grandfather sighed, "It's better if you freeze up now than on a mission, where your life will be on the line."
"I took on a mission. Though I'm not an active shinobi, I can still take missions at my leisure as my shinobi registration is still active".
Yuto shuddered, looking up at his grandfather. He felt like puking at the thought of it, but he didn't have any food in his stomach. He didn't want to spill blood; he didn't want to kill. He hoped he could live comfortably as a medic Nin, and then some make high-level seals for the village and retire. He thought he had found a way to escape the battlefield, he lied to himself, he was naive enough to convince himself he could escape the path before him. he knew he was a coward, and he was fine with that. He spent all his time reading up on shinobi tactics, principles, skills, chakra adaptation, chakra control, chakra augmentation, chakra natures, chakra forms, and blade patterns, along with kinjutsu tactics and kata. He worked just enough that he could survive on low-risk missions and either get a chunin field promotion or take the exams after becoming a genin.
He wanted the easy way out. He spent all of his time lying to himself and everyone else around him, pretending to be an arrogant but talented shinobi with a bright future, but it was all a lie; it only served to distract him from his cowardice. he forced himself to believe it. He had only been in the Naruto world for 7 days, getting full of himself, thinking he could just brush his problems off and push forward. He had done it dozens of times already, telling himself he would get better, get stronger, gain more confidence. What a joke he was. His act was a mask to hide his fear, not to make his accomplishments look decisive.
His grandfather looked at him with an expectant look. Yuto clenched his trembling hands and looked at his grandfather.
"I won't do it!" Yuto said, with an unsure look on his face.
The older man tilted his head. "Just what are you afraid of?" "You'll just kill some bandits and return to the village."
"I, I, don't want to kill. I want to heal people," Yuto lied. He didn't give a shit about healing people; he just didn't want to fight.
"I never knew my grandson was such a pussy" his grandfather said, a frown on his face.
"Huh," Yuto said, his face twisted into a mess. His eyes were watery, and the bags under his eyes became more pronounced from his failed attempts to suppress his emotions.
"Every emotion you're feeling right now. You're not allowed to feel them. Those kinds of emotions should be left to women and children," the older man said, clearly disappointed.
"But, why?" Yuto asked, for the first time, acting like a child, he wanted to use his 10-year-old conscious as a shield, he was afraid to kill and die, he wasn't afraid to fight, but he was terrified of becoming a heartless killer. He feared he would lose his humanity.
"I think you know that answer," his grandfather said, letting out a deep sigh.
"Yuto," he said, saying his name for the first time. Yuto looked up still with a contemptuous look on his face.
"You must first take a deep look at yourself and understand who you are as a person and the kind of man you want to be."
"I won't hold your hand; it would only hasten your death if I did."
"You will kill a man today, whether you like it or not," his grandfather said in a stern tone.
Yuto didn't speak after that. He knew he couldn't argue with his grandfather; he wasn't interested in taking a beating.
They both landed in another clearing of trees, seeing a small group of three men. his grandfather's face became focused, closing his eyes. Yuto barely felt the small use of chakra from his grandfather, determining that it was a seal-less sensory ninjutsu.
"Two civilian chakra levels, one at the genin level, I presume that's the leader," he said.
Yuto gave his grandfather a nervous nod, trying his best to keep himself together.
"You'll go out alone, you'll receive a lashing if I don't find your results acceptable," his grandfather said, a serious look on his face.
Yuto shivered at the newly added pressure. While he only knew his grandfather for three days, he was still his grandfather and his teacher, and could discipline his disciple however he pleased. he gave a nod and took a deep breath, closing his eyes to gain his focus and calm.
He hopped off the branch, pulling his tanto out while he descended, his burgundy hood flapping in the air. He landed on the ground before quickly hiding behind a tree. He panted, his back pressed up against the tree, his blade in front of him.
"Did you hear that, boss?" said one of them.
"Yeah..., go check it out, I think it came from over there," he said, pointing in the direction where Yuto was previously.
The man nodded before walking over slowly, clutching a small dagger in his hands. He looked down at the footprints on the ground, crouching down to inspect the marks.
"someone was h...."
He didn't get to finish his sentence as he turned, seeing Yuto's tanto blade descending on him. The man sprang up from the ground, clashing against Yuto's blade, only for the cheap metal of his dagger to be torn in two and plunged into his neck. Yuto looked away, afraid to look at what he just caused. The other man was already upon Yuto, angered by his friend's death, as he swung a fist at Yuto, a layer of chakra covering his hands. Yuto swiftly weaved through a few strikes before jumping into the air, delivering a chakra-enhanced kick into the man's neck, making a loud snap.
He breathed heavily, but not because he was tired. He was so overwhelmed by what he just did in not even a minute. He was just reacting to his instincts from spars. He didn't enter the battle planning to kill; he just did. he knew what his task was, but he didn't do what he did to complete the task; he was just trying to survive. While he couldn't care less about the pieces of trash he just killed or the leader standing in front of him, he couldn't help but think about their families and children. He realized he was in a battle, seeing the leader charge at him. The man withdrew the cheap katana from his waist, slicing down. Yuto blocked the strike with his tanto before skillfully slashing his tanto a few times, landing a deep cut on the man's abdomen. The man jumped back, flying through a few hand seals.
Yuto was taken aback by this, although he knew some bandits knew how to perform shinobi techniques. He spewed out a small, pitiful fireball that engulfed Yuto. The flames dispersed, leaving a log in Yuto's place. The man looked around frantically, holding the gash on his stomach while clutching his katana in his other hand. The man didn't get the chance to contemplate what happened any longer as a blade pierced through his chest. He glanced backward, seeing Yuto clutching the tanto with his eyes closed, afraid to look at the sight of a dying man.
"Look at me, shinobi," the man said, frowning at the cowardice.
Yuto hesitated but opened his eyes, seeing the blood rolling down the corner of the man's lips. The man dropped to his knees, Yuto's tanto sliding out of his back.
Yuto looked up, seeing his grandfather's grim face.
"Come, we'll bury the bodies before leaving," his grandfather said.
Yuto said nothing, looking at his blood-soaked blade.
"So this is what it means to be a shinobi."
[Be sure to give me your power stones]