章 22: Chapter 22: Return
On the other side, Mizutani Shizuko stood by the mountain path, her thoughts racing. She was worried about Aomine and Ryoukai's safety, while also contemplating what she would do if enemies approached her.
Time passed slowly in her anxious wait.
She didn't know how long it had been when suddenly, a hurried sound of footsteps echoed from a distance.
Mizutani Shizuko instantly woke up, her nerves taut to the limit.
'Who is it?'
'Aomine? No, his footsteps aren't that heavy.'
'Ryoukai? No, the steps are too big; these are the footsteps of an adult.'
'It's the enemy!'
In that split second, Mizutani Shizuko reached her conclusion.
At this moment, all the thoughts swirling in her mind vanished.
Without hesitation, she moved closer.
On the mountain path, two bandits were running in a hurry, one in front of the other.
As they ran, they occasionally glanced back over their shoulders.
Fear was etched on their faces, as if they were worried about something chasing after them.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, a whistling sound pierced through the air from the side.
Before the front bandit even had a chance to react, a kunai pierced through his calf.
"Ah!"
A scream escaped his lips, and he stumbled, falling heavily to the ground and rolling a few times in a pitiful manner.
The bandit behind him, seeing this, immediately halted, his heart pounding as he looked toward the direction from which the kunai had come. He soon saw a small girl emerging from the woods.
In an instant, his gaze was drawn to the headband on her forehead.
Not long ago, two demons wearing the same headbands had slaughtered dozens of their comrades. Now, they encountered another.
This thought filled him with dread.
However, when he saw the girl's delicate features, a glimmer of hope arose in his heart.
Without hesitation, he dropped to his knees, crying out, "Please spare me! I was forced to join them; I haven't done anything wrong.
I have two kids at home, about your age. If I die, they won't survive.
They are so small, so pitiful.
Please, for the sake of the children, let me go! I swear I won't do any more bad things!"
As he spoke, he repeatedly knocked his head on the ground, so forcefully that it drew blood from his forehead.
His pitiful appearance stirred a sense of compassion in Mizutani Shizuko. She thought, "Could what he said be true? If it is, then if I kill him, what about the children…"
Just as she struggled with her conscience, and as the bandit's face showed signs of relief, a kunai suddenly flew in from a distance, precisely piercing his throat.
Aomine appeared in front of the bandit in a flash, yanking out the kunai and letting the blood spurt forth.
He then walked up to the other bandit, who was frozen in fear, and calmly plunged the kunai into his chest, ending his life.
"Ao… Aomine."
Mizutani Shizuko looked at Aomine, stammering out his name.
"Don't think too much while on a mission," Aomine interrupted her, waving his hand. "Don't forget the mission requirements."
Without waiting for her to say more, he turned and walked down the mountain.
Mizutani Shizuko stood there for a while before murmuring, "Kill all the bandits."
That was right; the mission requirement was to eliminate all the bandits on Kuro Mountain. Allowing even one to escape would technically be a failure.
It wasn't that Aomine was overly committed to the mission; he wasn't Kakashi. The reason he did this was to make Mizutani Shizuko understand that a mission was a mission.
Thinking too much while executing a mission could easily lead to trouble.
It was foreseeable that for a long time to come, Team 17 would function as a unit, working together on missions. Aomine didn't want to be held back by foolish teammates someday.
So, there were times when being ruthless was necessary.
Of course, this was also a temporary measure.
It was impossible for the village to dictate everything he did. If that were the case, he would end up like a root ninja, becoming a mere tool for missions.
Once he had gained strength, he would naturally be able to make choices.
For now, though, he would just have to obediently play the role of a tool!
...
At the bottom of the mountain.
The three of them gathered once more.
The long-absent Furukawa had returned.
He scanned the three of them, finally saying, "Not bad," before leading them back toward the village.
Perhaps considering the external dangers, Furukawa had no intention of camping outside, planning instead to return overnight.
To this, Aomine wholeheartedly agreed.
If possible, he wanted to stay in the village forever.
Unfortunately, that was simply impossible.
In fact, from now on, he would often have to leave the village to carry out missions.
Now he just hoped that Furukawa would take it easy and not accept too many C-rank missions.
A few hours flew by.
The next morning, Aomine and the others returned to Konohagakure without incident, so smoothly that Aomine felt it was unreal.
'Sure enough, I'm not the protagonist; the world doesn't revolve around me.'
Thinking about how Naruto could easily escalate a task into an S-rank, Aomine couldn't help but feel a twinge of frustration.
'Thank goodness I don't have the protagonist's halo; I won't be so unlucky.'
Aomine silently congratulated himself.
"Alright, go back and rest," Furukawa said as they entered the village, stopping in his tracks. "There are no missions for the next three days, so you can relax a bit."
"Goodbye, Sensei!" ×3
Aomine and his companions responded wearily.
"Okay, off you go!"
Furukawa waved his hand, signaling them to leave.
Aomine bid farewell to his two companions before quickly heading toward the Uchiha clan area.
Once home, Aomine sat in a chair for a moment before finally removing his gear.
Although the mission had only lasted a day, it felt like a lifetime to him.
He had transformed from an ordinary person who hadn't killed a single chicken into a reaper with the blood of over twenty people on his hands.
Though he had convinced himself that these people deserved their fate and even found time to reflect on his teammates' mental states, the memories of those people's final moments kept resurfacing, making it hard for him to concentrate on training.
But regardless of whether he could focus or not, he couldn't neglect his training.
Aomine forcibly steadied his mind and began practicing "Mind Reflection Technique" as if he were a beginner.
This time, the mission hadn't required much chakra for eliminating the bandits, so he still had plenty of chakra left in his body.
This couldn't go to waste.
Thus, he worked on increasing the proficiency of "Mind Reflection Technique."
Watching the proficiency slowly increase on the panel, Aomine found his mind gradually calming down.
Before long, his chakra was exhausted, and Aomine began to refine his chakra.
Once his chakra was replenished, he practiced "Mind Reflection Technique" again.
Just like that, after two rounds of training, it was already noon, and Aomine could no longer hold on. After washing up briefly, he collapsed into bed to sleep.
In his bedroom, Aomine was unaware of what he dreamed of, his brow occasionally furrowing and then relaxing.
plz support me if you can.
patreon.com/Mano99
all the fanfic is 30 chapter a had and you will get 1 chapter everyday.
週次パワーステータス
-- 推薦
ランキング 
-- 推薦
チケット