Freelancer in the Ninja World

"???!!!"

"He's Uchiha Sasuke?"

At that moment, Orochimaru's expression was equal parts shock and bewilderment. He never expected that, in a complete fluke, a living member of the Uchiha clan would just run into him like this.

But after giving Sasuke a once-over, Orochimaru lost interest. The boy before him was still tiny—probably not even ten years old. What good would it do Orochimaru to take in a child so young? Even if he was from the Uchiha clan, at that age he could barely have developed the Sharingan. If Orochimaru chose this kid as a vessel, he'd have to figure out how to make the child awaken the Sharingan himself.

Most importantly, some Uchiha ended up in their seventies or eighties still stuck with a single-tomoe Sharingan. What if this boy was one of those cases? Who could he complain to then?

While turning these thoughts over in his mind, Orochimaru couldn't resist blurting out:

"How much?"

Senshi: "???!!!"

Just now, Senshi had only been teasing Orochimaru by casually offering Sasuke. He never imagined Orochimaru would actually ask the price. If the figure were suitable, maybe there'd be a real deal on the table.

Looking utterly surprised, Senshi exclaimed:

"I was just joking, and you're taking it seriously?! He's just a kid—you don't even spare children?"

"Heh…"

Orochimaru let out a cold chuckle, seeming to defuse the awkwardness. Then he added,

"If you've got time to run your mouth here, why not hurry up and bring me the person I actually want?"

Clearly annoyed, Orochimaru turned and left. Inwardly, though, he was considering: if he ran out of other options, maybe raising this little Uchiha wasn't impossible. But right now, he still had Uchiha Obito, who at least had awakened the Mangekyō. Wasn't a Mangekyō user far better than some little kid?

After Orochimaru left, Sasuke remained wary, keeping his eyes on Uzumaki Senshi. Both Orochimaru and Senshi gave off an extremely dangerous vibe. Sasuke had initially thought Senshi was kindhearted, seeing how he saved him. But from the conversation with Orochimaru, it looked like Senshi wasn't exactly a good person either.

At the moment, Sasuke pegged Senshi as someone who knew Uchiha Itachi—an apparent child trafficker. A very dangerous man indeed! Internally, Sasuke grew anxious:

Dammit! I never should've trained near the village outskirts. With our massive power gap, I'd need at least five more years of training—maybe longer—just to have a shot at beating this guy. Right now, I'm not only weaker than he is, I can't even run away! What do I do?!

Senshi, seeing Sasuke all tense and ready to bolt, felt a bit amused. He reached out and ruffled Sasuke's naturally spiky hair—like it was plastered up with gel.

"Relax, I was just messing with Orochimaru. I'm not going to traffic anyone. If you feel it's not safe here and want to go home, go ahead."

Karin's eyes sparkled at the sight of Sasuke's hair getting turned into a messy bird's nest; she let out a soft giggle.

"Hee hee~"

At last, it wasn't only her hair being messed with—someone else was sharing the misfortune. Sasuke, hair all mussed, turned his head away sullenly. But he realized Senshi apparently had no intention of capturing him, so he didn't run off immediately. Shooting Senshi a cold, serious glance, he asked:

"Where is Uchiha Itachi?"

Senshi arched a brow.

"You want to see Itachi?"

Sasuke's tone became icy.

"I'm definitely going to kill him—with my own hands!"

Hearing that, Senshi had a peculiar thought: What if I told this kid the entire truth—like about Itachi's real motives? Wouldn't that ruin his hatred-driven path of awakening the Sharingan? That might infuriate Itachi. The next time the brothers met, Sasuke would still be stuck at a two-tomoe Sharingan, all his drive gone. Itachi would see that "the account had been ruined."

While it seemed entertaining, Senshi decided that might be too mean-spirited. Looking at Sasuke, he said in a mocking tone:

"If you want to get revenge on Itachi, you're still way off. Go home and train harder."

With that, Senshi took Karin and walked away. Sasuke could only glare at his retreating figure in frustration, fists clenching so hard they creaked with tension. He was furious, but he also knew Senshi was right. Itachi had been a top genius of the Uchiha clan, and Sasuke's own talent was clearly behind that. He'd need far more effort to become strong enough for revenge!

Resolving himself, Sasuke vowed:

"Increase the intensity! I have to train harder. This still isn't enough—not nearly enough! I'll add two more hours of training today."

Steeling himself, he wasted no time resuming his punishing regimen.

…

A short distance away, as they walked, Karin suddenly asked:

"Senshi, would I stand any chance of defeating Itachi?"

That question gave Senshi pause. After all, Itachi had his innate gifts, whereas Karin had him helping her cheat, so to speak. Logically, a cheat-powered ninja shouldn't lose to a mere genius, right? Thinking for a moment, Senshi replied,

"Karin, if you actually want to face Uchiha Itachi, you'll need more growth first."

She nodded seriously and asked,

"How much more do I need to grow?"

Senshi put on a solemn expression, held his fist above her head at some height, and said:

"At least this much. You're nowhere near it yet!"

"Hmph! Senshi's just treating me like a kid again! I didn't mean physical height!"

Karin realized he was toying with her. She'd meant "growth" in terms of power, not how tall she was.

"Wait a minute… I feel like I'm forgetting something!"

As Senshi teased her, a sudden jolt of realization shot through his mind. A memory sparked:

The Uchiha clan was once the top noble family of Konoha. They'd been there since the village was founded, building up massive wealth over generations. With the clan all but wiped out, Sasuke was the sole heir to everything. Couldn't that make Sasuke one of the richest individuals in Konoha? Danzo might be good at wringing out money, but not even he could easily seize that entire fortune overnight. Which meant Sasuke, a mere kid, might secretly be Konoha's biggest landowner or something…

"Oh, man!!!" Senshi thought. "I let this big catch slip right under my nose?"

He silently berated himself:

"You've grown complacent, Uzumaki Senshi! That was a prime target for a huge business deal, and you nearly missed it."

Without delay, he spun around to go back for Sasuke.

"Senshi, why do you look so upset?" Karin asked, hopping onto his back and leaning near his ear. Just moments ago, he'd been joking around, and now he looked dead serious.

He answered reflexively:

"I lost my money."

"Huh?" She blinked. "Impossible. Even if pigs flew, you couldn't lose your money. How much did you lose?"

Karin knew he always stored his money in a space-time pocket—how could it ever get lost? Senshi sighed tragically:

"Not sure yet, but maybe a couple billion I let slip."

"…A couple what?" Karin's cute face scrunched in confusion.

…

By the time Senshi and Karin returned, Sasuke hadn't gone back to the village or moved too far away. He was simply training on another precarious cliff, an even "safer" spot, pushing himself to climb relentlessly. Or rather, over-relentlessly.

"Huff—"

Clinging to the rock face, Sasuke thought back to his encounter with that red-haired man who'd casually said he was Itachi's friend—and then bluntly told Sasuke he was nowhere near strong enough. How dare he belittle me?! I'll just train that much harder. In the end, I'll kill that man…

Just then, a dark-red vortex opened out of nowhere, and Senshi appeared right beside him. In the blink of an eye—like a teacher catching a student who'd been dozing off—Sasuke jerked in fright:

"Agh!"

A few loose rocks tumbled from where he'd been gripping. Sasuke glanced over:

"You again?! What do you want now? Changed your mind about capturing me?"

He was certain Senshi must have regretted letting him go and now intended to snatch him. A friend of Uchiha Itachi can't possibly be a good person!

"Er…"

Senshi felt a bit awkward. Seeing Sasuke's hostility, he cleared his throat:

"Relax, I'm not here to abduct you."

He couldn't help regretting teasing the boy earlier—Sasuke now clearly saw him as a villain. The first impression was thoroughly messed up. Nonetheless, he pressed on:

Sasuke eyed him warily, climbing to the top of the cliff just to keep some distance. There he asked:

"Then why are you here?"

Senshi decided to cut to the chase: Sasuke's chief interest was Itachi, after all. Putting on a confident smile, he said:

"Sasuke, you really want to see Itachi, right? I can take you to him—and supply plenty of intel on him, too."

Senshi was tempted to brag that he was one of the top three Info Sages, rivaling Jiraiya and perhaps an Otsutsuki with knowledge from beyond. Indeed, he knew intel others didn't. Senshi's big speech made Sasuke's face freeze. He clenched his fists again, trembling with rage and excitement:

"Uchiha Itachi!"

He wanted revenge more than anything—but he still didn't trust Senshi. Staring coldly, he asked:

"Why would you be so kind? Why help me find Itachi?"

Senshi waved dismissively:

"Even if I took you right now, it'd do you no good. Hear me out."

He rubbed his hands together, adopting a professional, earnest demeanor:

"Sasuke, listen carefully. Standing before you is the greatest mercenary in the current ninja world: Uzumaki Senshi! The black market calls me the 'Nightmare of Bounty Boards,' the 'Mission Terrorist,' the 'Scourge of Ronin.' So far, I've taken countless contracts, all completed in record time with a perfect success rate. I've battled Kirigakure's Tailed Beasts and many other powerful foes—there are simply too many feats to list."

"Putting it simply, so long as you pay me a generous commission, I can handle any job."

Senshi rattled off a string of accomplishments, leaving Sasuke quite dazed. At length, the boy snapped out of it, half-incredulous:

"How much would it cost…to lead me to Uchiha Itachi?"

Seeing Sasuke's reaction, Senshi was thrilled. This might work. But just leading Sasuke to Itachi wouldn't help—Sasuke was too weak. Right now, meeting Itachi would only bring him trauma. Senshi planned a "bundle deal": full-service tutoring plus intel plus an escort to Itachi, maximizing his profit.

After thinking a moment, Senshi continued:

"Going to find Itachi right now means nothing. And your current training is too slow for real growth. If you want to locate Itachi and beat him, you need a powerful ninja to act as your personal tutor, to train you rigorously."

"I can do that—take you to him and train you until you're strong enough to defeat him."

~~~

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