To Kill is to Erase

Despite brainstorming further, the problem seemed unsolvable for the time being. Suguru decided to rest.

Team Hitomi planned to get another C-rank mission tomorrow. Suguru had a gut feeling that something was going to happen this time.

He wanted to be at his best to make sure he could avoid dying out of nowhere.

Thus, he made sure to eat a good dinner, sleep early, and even hold off on going to his lab. When morning came, he was well rested.

Suguru woke up refreshed, ready to spring into action at a moment's notice.

When he met up with his teammates in front of the mission center, they waited for Hitomi to arrive. It was only with their sensei that they grabbed their mission from the shinobi behind a large book.

"Oh, it's the Nekonins~" The bookkeeper teased.

Team Hitomi had earned a small fortune from retrieving Tora several times. The Daimyo's wife was very generous with her donations, after all.

This was the main reason the bookkeeper knew who they were and even gave them a nickname.

Yumiko's brow twitched when she heard the name, Nekonins. Rolling her eyes, she stepped forward and spoke.

"We're looking for a C-rank mission. May I have a look at the list?"

"Sure," The bookkeeper replied, "There are a few that might interest you."

Yumiko glanced over the list of missions and took a minute to think. While Yumiko was thinking, Suguru took a moment to recall what he remembered of the original timeline.

'If Itachi joined the Akatsuki, Orochimaru should have tried taking his body around this time.' Suguru blinked, 'This means that Kisame should receive Samehada soon as well...'

Suguru also had a vague memory of Hanzo dying this year too.

'I can't capitalize on any of these,' Suguru thought.

Eventually, Yumiko made her choice. To guarantee a fight, she chose a bandit extermination mission. Seeing this, both Isao and Suguru nodded.

Unlike the previous mission that Hiruzen assigned, this one didn't have many strings attached.

They could rest easy, especially after the scary possibility that Suguru had put forth last time.

"Has everyone restocked on their supplies?" Yumiko went through her checklist. "We're going to be fighting for the first time. I hope both of you are prepared."

Isao scoffed playfully, "Of course,"

Suguru just smiled, glancing briefly at Hitomi. The latter noticed his gaze and returned a smile. This soothed Suguru's tumultuous emotions.

'So there's no secret plot. That's good. I don't have to risk my life.'

***

After leaving the village, Team Hitomi ventured North for a few hours. With their speed, they reached the general location of the bandit camp when the sun was directly overhead. From here, Yumiko activated her chakra field and they began combing through the forest in search of their targets.

After another hour of searching, Yumiko finally located the bandit base.

"The numbers are accurate. There are no deviations from the mission's details as far as I can sense. No enemy shinobi..." Yumiko nodded. "We'll proceed as practiced."

Suguru stretched his back as he walked forward. His demeanor shifted from the quiet boy that many were familiar with into a shackled wild beast.

His eyes were calm, yet they hid a feral bloodlust cultivated after fleeing from Kuromaru time and time again.

"It's finally time I stretch my wings,"

Suguru disappeared from where he stood, flickering rapidly.

His destination was the center of the bandit camp.

Isao and Yumiko flickered closely behind him.

When they appeared in the middle of several grown men, Yumiko's eyes flashed. The hand signs she had been weaving culminated in a significant outward flux of chakra.

'Demonic Illusion: Terror and Silence!'

A wide-range Genjutsu was cast throughout the camp. Suguru and Isao hurriedly disrupted their chakra. The technique still had an aspect of friendly fire that Yumiko had yet to master.

Seeing the dazed bandits standing around, Suguru chuckled at their vulnerability. Isao smirked in reply to his quiet chuckle.

Then, they began their killing.

Suguru took the Northern area while Isao took the Southern tents. The duo dashed away from Yumiko and swung their kunai, slitting throats one by one. They only had a few seconds before Yumiko's jutsu lost its effects.

When five seconds passed, Yumiko put her hands together again.

'Genjutsu: Daze!'

The bandits who were stirring into consciousness, once again lost control of themselves. Due to their decreased number, Yumiko was now able to focus more power on each of them.

Suguru and Isao thus killed with ease.

They killed dozens by the time they were finished. Isao was breathing heavily, and Yumiko couldn't help but cover her nose.

The scent of fresh blood made them queasy.

As for Suguru... he had dissected corpses. He even consumed a living human by melting into their body and assimilating their very essence.

He grew curious as to the nature of the human body just moments after death.

'It seems like using Living Corpse Assimilation at this time is still viable,' Suguru placed a hand on a bandit's head.

'His brain is still functioning, albeit barely. Since I slit his throat, it will continue until it loses all its supplied oxygen. His heart and the rest of his organs still don't know that he is technically dead. How intriguing.'

The human physique of the Narutoverse differed ever so slightly.

Suguru then wondered how the bodies of powerful shinobi died. Of course, Orochimaru was an exception. But, shinobi like Kisame, Naruto, and Guy would be interesting subjects to observe.

'Unfortunately, Vampiric Gaze will no longer work. Inhaling Maw should be able to extract a little more chakra, but not enough for my needs.'

Suguru realized that he had to avoid killing in the future. It would be more wise for him to drain them all first, and use that process to kill them.

Returning to the center of the bandit camp, Suguru reported his success to Yumiko.

"All bandits on my side have been eliminated..." Suguru's voice trailed as he tilted his head.

Yumiko shook her head and hands, "I—It's nothing. I just didn't expect such a strong scent."

"Yeah," Isao flickered beside them, "It's disgusting."

Hitomi appeared next. "You'll get used to it. I'm surprised that you're not affected, Suguru."

Suguru tilted his head in the other direction. He made up a lie on the spot.

"I watched my parents get butchered by bandits looking for food and fun. This isn't new to me."

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