Chapter-89

Looking into his old friend's eyes, Naruto tossed him, and he rolled on the hard concrete of the building's roof. "You could have been better than this," the teenager said firmly, drawing his sword for the last time that night. "You could have been an ideal that everyone could have followed, but your hatred against the 'pro-hero' has made you go down a dark path." Tightening his grip on the sword, the blonde watched as the hero-killer stood up for the fight.

"You could be too." Without hesitation, the swordsman picked up his last knife from the ground.

"You don't understand... do you know why I worked with you for so long? Because you're the only one with enough courage to put an end to those who thought they were untouchable. But now..." Naruto sighed, putting his hood back on, becoming 'Ronin.'

"Will you kill me or hand me over to the authorities?" Stain asked dryly, aware that in a battle against his former partner, he wouldn't stand a chance. Between the two options, he indicated a preference for the first.

"…" Lowering the sword, Naruto sheathed it. "Take it as a favor. For now, you are free to do whatever you want. But if you try to attack people like Midoriya or Todoroki again, I won't hesitate to rip off your head," Naruto warned as he approached the edge of the building, observing the professional heroes and authorities below.

"I'll keep that in mind." Turning his back to the teenager, Stain put away his knife. "So if this is a favor, I'll return it to you. All for One is active again." Looking over his shoulder at Naruto, he noticed the Uzumaki keeping his gaze fixed on the horizon. "Rumors say he's after the UA students. Shigaraki tried to get me to join his group just to kill those brats. I see those rumors are true. Strangely, he has a great hatred against the boy Midoriya and against you. You must be aware of what can happen if you are with that brat. He is different from the others."

"I know," Naruto replied calmly, acknowledging that the threat extended beyond All Might to Midoriya. He was not surprised; that boy would be the next symbol of peace, a headache for the villains seeking to save themselves future trouble.

"There are also rumors that many people with powerful quirks have disappeared or been kidnapped. The same boy you saved days ago in the train incident had the quirk to make his skin as hard as diamond. It's a great quirk," Stain said seriously, aware that behind this screen, something more significant was at play. "Tough times are coming, Ronin. Watch your back."

"It's never too late to change your path, Stain," Naruto said before leaving, offering an intimate piece of advice. "It's never too late to straighten your path and do the right thing." Finally, Naruto jumped off the building, leaving the serious swordsman to go his own way. They both knew they would meet again.

….

"The mission is clear..." It was midnight in a dense forest, among the trees, a small group composed of an adult, two teenagers, and a child gathered. Hamura Tenko had a map on the ground, and his students listened to the plan about to unfold. "There is a group of mercenaries causing problems for the people of Hawa. The feudal leader assigned the mission to assassinate them. This is a class B mission. Needless to say, be careful," the veteran Jounin explained with seriousness, taking the map before them. "Fado... report," he directed his attention to his dark-haired student, who sat with his head down.

"Their camp is eight hundred meters from here to the northeast, near a river... there are exactly 45 men armed with rudimentary weapons like swords, spears, and arrows," reported the dark-skinned teenager, responsible for espionage and locating the targets.

"Uzumaki and I will attack the targets from the front to be the bait. You two will be behind to finish off those who try to flee," ordered Tenko. Kimi and Takashi followed the order, jumping and disappearing between the trees. Standing, the Jounin looked at the eight-year-old beside him. "Do not hesitate and have no mercy," he said, turning to walk through the dark forest, closely followed by the blonde boy.

Seconds passed as they perched on a tall tree branch, observing the group of mercenaries around a bonfire in their makeshift camp. Some ate a large wild boar roasted over the bonfire, while others rested.

Naruto on the branch saw his master unsheathing his sword, preparing for the inevitable. Frowning, the blonde took out two kunai, holding one in each hand. Without a word, they both acted.

"Ahg!" A scream echoed as blood sprayed when a mercenary was hit by a kunai, revealing a blonde boy with blue eyes.

"They attack us!" The leader, a tall, muscular man with a spear, shouted. He deflected shuriken thrown by the Jounin, leaving mutilated bodies around him.

The mercenaries quickly realized they were losing. Some attempted to flee through the forest but succumbed to shurikens thrown by Takashi and Kimi. Only the leader and a couple of others remained.

"Wait-ah!" One dropped his sword, kneeling in front of Naruto, hands covered in blood and stains on his clothes. "Please don't do it! Don't do it!" He begged for his life, only to cry in desperation when the child approached.

"…" Naruto stopped, looking at the man kneeling before him. Glancing around, he saw only this man and his leader, who was dealing with his teacher. "…" Narrowing his eyes, the little blonde hesitated, lowering his weapons and sparing the mercenary's life.

"Monster!" The man retrieved his weapon, attempting to stab Naruto in the back, but a kunai flew over the young shinobi, embedding in the mercenary's skull, killing him instantly.

"..." With a gloomy look, Naruto gazed at the man who had spared his life, only for him to betray that mercy. Turning around, he met Tenko's hard gaze, the one who threw the kunai to save Naruto from the treacherous attack.

"Do not hesitate and without mercy," were the recorded words of the old shinobi. He looked disapprovingly at the mercy shown by one of his students, focusing on the last man standing, the leader of the troublesome gang. "You are the last..." Retrieving his katana, he raised his left arm with a clenched fist, prompting the three gennin to regroup behind him.

"Damn shinobi!" The leader of the mercenary group could only watch with fury as his men lay scattered around the camp, dead or dying. "That feudal bastard sent them! Right?!" Holding his spear, he tried to use his free hand to stop the bleeding in his stomach from a sword cut left by the Jounin's blade. "They're just monsters like him! We weren't hurting anyone! They just hurt him. We stole that corrupt bastard's messengers and samurai!" He screamed until his throat hurt, tears of frustration and helplessness running down his eyes. Falling to his knees, he began to turn pale from blood loss.

"Our job was to kill you... we don't care about your situation," both Takashi and Kimi looked away in pain as they listened to their teacher. They were hired for this, this is what they were paid for, this is what they lived for. "Now..." Raising his head, the gray-haired man was about to kill the last survivor who struggled to stand up and fight.

"High!" Unexpectedly, a female voice was heard, belonging to a woman with brown hair carrying a child. Running in desperation, the newly appeared woman stood between the Konoha shinobi and the fallen man. "Leave him in peace! I beg you!" Crying hard, she fell to her knees beside the wounded man. "He only protected us when no one else picked him up! The feudal sent samurai to take what little we had! We only defended ourselves! We just wanted to live in peace!" Hugging the baby against her chest, she heard the desolate cry of the little creature.

"Hanare... flee with our son... flee." Little by little, the man with the spear stood up to stand in front of his beloved and his son. With a determined look, he raised his weapon to face the shinobi with hatred.

"Tenko-sensei... the work is done." Naruto unexpectedly took a step forward to stand next to his teacher with a somber and solemn expression. His own companions were surprised when the youngest of the group intervened in the death of his main target.

"It's not..." Ignoring his student, Hamura walked towards the fallen man shielding his family. "This is a mission that highlights that you have to kill the leader of the mercenary group. Leaving him alive will only cause us to lose our pay, and we risk losing future clients when the feudal makes it public that his order was not completed. This could bring economic consequences to our village, and I cannot allow that." Walking up to them, he was going to do it but stopped when someone got in his way.

"This is not correct." With a defiant look, Naruto stood between his teacher and the family behind him.

"We are shinobi... since when is what we do the right thing?" Asked cruelly, the old ninja narrowed his eyes in annoyance when he saw that one of his subordinates hindered the mission. "Get away..." When he was going to walk again, he saw with fury how the Uzumaki brat still did not move. "I said move!" In a quick movement, he grabbed the collar of the blonde's jacket and threw him to the side, making him roll on the floor. "Life lesson, brat. It's them or us. If you're not willing to get blood on your hands, you took the wrong career path by being a shinobi." In a burst of speed, the Jounin pierced the mercenary's chest with his sword, killing him.

"..." With disbelief and pain, Naruto stood up and saw the man fall from the spear. A tense silence formed, accompanied by the crying of the baby in the arms of the woman who watched in horror as her husband was murdered.

"Anata!" In shock, the brown-haired woman shook the man's body, which was unresponsive. "No, please no! Not you!" Screaming with all her might, she could only cry for the death of her husband.

"..." Kimi could only turn around and run away from the place, followed closely by Takashi, who, like her, could not bear to hear the screams of that woman, accompanied by the baby's crying. As for Tenko, he only sheathed his sword to walk until he was next to Naruto, who only looked at the devastating scene in front of her eyes.

Stopping his step, the Jounin stood next to his student. "If you think for a moment that I enjoy this... you're wrong," he said quietly, letting only the boy next to him hear. "In this damned hell we call the world, you must make difficult decisions for the greater good, even if it means...doing this." With a gleam of pain in her eyes, Tenko could only walk back to the village; the mission was successfully completed.

In silence, Naruto could only see the woman crying over the body of the father of her child, with a lump in her throat and tears that threatened to come out. The Kyubi's Jinchuriki could only swallow his feelings and stand up. "I'm sorry... I'm really sorry." That was the only thing the young shinobi could say, just to see something that he would remember until the end of his days.

"Monsters..." was the whisper of the woman who looked up to look directly into Uzumaki's eyes. Her look was only one of hate, pain, and rage, something that Naruto would never forget. In silence, the boy could only turn around to walk and disappear into the darkness of the forest.

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