I don't own solo leveling or Naruto
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'That guy's really strong!'
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"So you say there are 8 criminals and 10 hunters and among those numbers there are only 6 C-rank, 8 D-rank and 4 E-rank hunters between those numbers. We're entering a C-rank dungeon so I suppose those numbers are reasonable..." Itachi mused to himself. Anzu had given him a key to releasing the chains detaining the criminals so that they could move around freely in the dungeon.
He was technically the leader of this whole raid operation, but he preferred to take the backseat and observe from the shadows and then act accordingly. It's how he usually fought during his Akatsuki days with Kisame when the opponent wasn't too strong for Kisame to handle. He preferred not exert himself a lot because of various factors at the time and that seemed to be ingrained into him after years of fighting.
"You must be the raid captain. I'm Uchiha Itachi from the Monitoring Division. You heard the explanation. I'll keep a close eye on them so don't worry too much. I'll leave it to you," Itachi said to the tall, brown haired hunter.
"I don't like this at all, but I guess we don't have a choice. My name is Fujimura Kirito," Kirito bowed down respectfully to which Itachi returned in kind.
He then went over to the criminals and released their restraints with the key he was given by Anzu.
"Ah~That's way better!"
"Are you even allowed to treat us like this?"
"Quiet down. We're still on a tight lease thanks to this kid," a spiky red haired man told his fellow inmates. He had large eyes with vertical pupils and had to scars running vertically down his left cheek. He wasn't that much taller than Itachi and had a dangerous glint in his eyes that put everyone around him even his fellow inmates on edge.
"You're right about that, Daku." another one of his buzzcut inmates replied whilst stretching his wrists and arms.
"We're entering the dungeon. All of you must single file from tallest to shortest and enter the gate," Itachi ordered the criminals. They obliged albiet begrudgingly, because they didn't like taking orders especially from a child.
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A dark, damp burrowed tunnel greeted the eyes of the group as soon as they entered the portal. Itachi heard general comments about how cold it was and the minimal lighting available. The air was thin making it difficult to breathe as if they were on a plain of heightened altitude.
Walking forward for a few minutes before a sudden loud bang was heard behind them, seeing the a bunch of thick green bushy vines appearing out of nowhere blocking the entrance.
"Woah! How are we going get out?!" screamed Sakurai Honda, a pink haired male with olive green eyes. He was a C-rank Supporting type hunter, he created low scale barriers capable of shielding allies from monster attacks. He was a healers best friend he could keep them safe from stray attacks whilst they only focused on healing instead of trying to get out of the way from the fighting. Excluding himself he was capable of conjuring barriers around two people at a time if they were within 20 meters of his vicinity.
"Shut it you brat! We're going to do what we intended to do when we got in here and kill the boss. It's safe to assume it's his doing," Kirito smacked his loud comrade in the head because of his outburst. "You're a hunter! You gotta keep your head even in the face of adversity." he lectured him with an annoyed look. Working with known criminals definitely grinded his gears in the wrong way, but after years of fighting he knew that a good hunter adapted and made best of his situation. His team would have to stay calm and alert like he taught them to, but Sakurai really got on his nerves when he burst out like that.
"I'm sorry, Captain! You know I'm a scaredy cat!" Sakurai cried comically whilst rubbing his head from his superiors smack.
"Ha! You guys are priceless! Something like that really got you terrified. That's nothing just wai-" Masashi Koji, the buzz cutted criminal, was rudely cut off by a pinch to the head from Daku, his red headed jail mate.
"Oi! Don't go on saying stupid stuff. We're all going to die if we aren't a coherent unit. This is a situation we all have to deal with so there's no need for hostility," Daku explained to his visibly annoyed jail mate. "So what? You want me to apologize?" Koji had a visibly displeased look as he glared at Daku.
He just smirked and said, "Like I'd ever tell you do something like that. You just like to run your mouth a lot is all," he then turned to their blanked faced overseer and thought back to the deal he made a few days prior to this raid.
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A few days ago
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"Uchiha Itachi, huh? What about him?" Daku asked, the balded headed man in front of him, throwing the file that was handed to him back on the table. He had a large unkempt beard and was wearing a black suit with black sunglasses on.
"We've been very short staffed recently and branch head Onikawa is planning to him. Not too long now he'll be sending him on a rehabilitation mission with prisoners from cell block 1, your cell block," Kobayashi Ren explained causing Daku to raise a brow at this.
"What's so special about this kid, anyway?" he causally sat back in his chair using this chains keeping his hand on the table to steadily rock on it.
"He's the kid that woke up from eternal slumber and is the most sought after hunter in Japan in recent years. It's not controversial to say that his presence in any of the top guilds will shift the delicate balance of power in Japan's hunter society. I'm trying to prevent that imbalance by getting rid of him, without him we can maintain the status quo," Ren told him with a serious tone.
"Killing kids? Gotta admit I never thought you would go so far just 'maintain status quo', but what's in it for me? I'm not going to do this cause I want to. I hope you realize that," he put his hands on the table with a devilish grin. "You brought me to this interrogation room so you surely have something offered for me and you know that I'm stronger than my rank states," he said his orange eyes began to start glowing with every word uttered.
"I'll grant you a reduced sentence and chance for parole. It's the only offer on the table right now," Ren folded his arms as if to prove his point, but red head just smiled at this.
"Not good enough. I want to be absolved of all my crimes. I imagine this is the most opportune time for you to kill this kid, so you can refuse my services and find someone else remotely strong enough to challenge an A-rank hunter in this prison," he went back to rocking his chair again knowing he had the high ranking official backed to a corner.
Kobayashi Ren gave the dirtest glare he could muster at the criminal "... Just get it done I'll see what I can do about that," He stood up and walked out the room,but not before hearing Daku's mocking laughter.
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Present day
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'Let's see what's all the hype about... Uchiha Itachi,' Daku grinned maniacally whilst walking further into the dungeon with the group.