The next morning, amidst the chirping of birds, Logan and Itachi were already having breakfast on the first floor of the inn.
In fact, according to Itachi's previous habits, or rather the habits of Ninjas in general, during missions, they would eat dry rations to save time. Even staying in an inn with a high level of comfort is not necessary in Itachi's eyes. Most Ninjas would choose to travel more and stay in the wild at night.
However, Logan was different after all. Although he has long been integrated into the world of Ninja, he still retained the lifestyle of modern society. Extraordinary times have extraordinary practices, and the two do not conflict.
Logan is the one who pulled Itachi downstairs for a normal meal. The innkeeper's cooking skills were decent, and the miso soup was quite distinctive.
During the meal, Logan noticed that Itachi's expression was somewhat strange, so he couldn't help but ask: "What's wrong? Did you not sleep well last night? Or is the food not to your liking?"
"No, it's not that..." Itachi looked down at the miso soup, which reflected his still somewhat youthful face, "Senpai, it's just... I always feel like you, Hattori, are different from other Ninjas."
"Is that so?" Logan chuckled upon hearing this. He somewhat interpreted the other's words as a compliment and immediately responded, "Of course, I'm different. Even in Konoha, where talents abound during times of war, there are very few of my age who reach the rank of Jonin."
...
Itachi forced himself to maintain a calm expression. After spending a day together, he had developed some resistance to Logan's occasional peculiar remarks. These words are not as arrogant and aggressive as they appear on the surface. On the contrary, they are very gentle and different from the intrigues of this cruel world.
"But Itachi, don't be discouraged. With your strength, it won't be long before you become a Jonin as well." Logan's tone was that of someone with experience, exuding a strong sense of seniority, yet his youthful face still maintained a decent appearance.
"...Thank you." Itachi felt it was better to say less and focused on eating his meal.
After paying, the two packed up their belongings and left the Inazama City, where they stayed briefly, and continued towards the border of the Land of Fire.
journey was uneventful, and they did not encounter any wandering bandits or powerful robbers. Soon, another day of travel passed, and the two are already close to the border of the Land of Fire. When night fell, they found a clearing in a forest and set up camp.
"We'll camp here tonight, and tomorrow we'll be able to reach the Land of Rain." Logan spread out a map. The annotations on it seemed a bit crude to Logan, but it contained all the basic information that Ninjas usually relied on for traveling.
"The Land of Rain is small, and Amegakure a large proportion of it. In other words, when we step out of the border, we will be very close to the destination of this mission." Itachi sat next to Logan, listening attentively, a bonfire was burning in front of the two of them.
""As for what kind of place the Amegakure is, you probably already know. When the time comes, you need to be more vigilant and officially start the infiltration." Logan's words were nothing special, just what others had told him before. In fact, even if Logan didn't say anything, Itachi was still be able to grasp it, but luckily, Itachi is quite cooperative.
There's nothing wrong with relaxing in the Land of Fire, but once outside, they had to be serious.
Two foreign Ninjas had to be careful when lurking in other Ninja Villages, even if it was a chaotic and loose place like Amegakure.
The sky had darkened, but it was still too early to rest. Logan watched as Itachi seemed to be preparing to leave with his ninja tool bag. Thinking of the previous night in Inazama City, he asked, "Going to practice again?"
Itachi stood and nodded when he heard this, "That's right, Hattori, aren't you?" The scene of Logan's return from hard training last night seemed to let Logan earn a bit of respect from Itachi.
"Oh, I'm about the same." Yu Logan also stood up and jumped in place twice. Just now, an idea suddenly crossed his mind.
"Itachi."
Itachi turned around in confusion, and a kunai flew lightly towards him, which he instinctively caught.
"Training alone is boring and may not be very effective. How about we spar?" Logan, who had just finished a few warm-up exercises, looked at Itachi several meters away and said, "It might also help us understand each other better and improve cooperation when we reach Amegakure."
If it were another Jonin, they might not be able to say such a thing. After all, facing an eleven-year-old boy, they might not have the heart for that kind of spar and understanding, or they might not have the face to say it.
However, Logan didn't have such burdens at all. After all, he knew exactly who he was facing now.
"Of course." Itachi's eyes flickered a few times, and his heart was aroused by Logan's words, "I have already heard that senpai has created an S-rank Ninjutsu."
Logan coughed lightly upon hearing this. He doesn't know why, but for some reason, being praised for creating the Chidori at this moment made him feel a bit embarrassed.
His Chidori indeed had quite a reputation within and outside the village. After all, he had displayed the S-rank 'self-created' Ninjutsu when he was just over ten years old. It was hard not to attract attention.
There was even a time when people compared him to Kakashi, but that was many years ago, and nobody mentioned it anymore.
"I've long wanted to spar against the geniuses of the Uchiha Clan." Logan returned the courtesy, but in fact, it was nonsense.
He is not a battle maniac. Who wants to spar with maniacs all the time for no reason? It's tiring, and it's easy to be mentally exhausted. This time was just an exception due to the special circumstances.
"Let's keep it fair, and if you lose, don't say I'm taking advantage of your age." Logan added.
Itachi said nothing and just nodded.
Taking a deep breath, Logan became serious.
The young Itachi in the original work have already been described as strong, but Logan wanted to take this opportunity to see for himself how powerful an eleven-year-old boy, or rather, a child, could be.
"Let's begin." Logan's tone became colder.
Whoosh!
Itachi said nothing, and the kunai that Logan threw before was thrown back by him. The whistling roared loudly in the quiet forest, and the speed was extremely fast, and with the cover of night, it seemed to create a feeling of unavoidable danger.