Welcome back to the Smoke and Mirrors AU.

----------------------------------------

Hattori had long since discovered none of the system-born humans had knowledge about it. In fact, they treated everything related to it as some sort of elaborate joke. And the appearance of two new humans? Well, of course, that’s just how the world worked.

To them, anyway. Hattori stressed about the day someone figured out something was weird when some children popped up out of nowhere. He didn’t want to be known as the freak who could summon children.

So, Hattori sat on his information about Seigo’s death. For one day, then two. At the start of the third, team Mei had returned to the Compound. It was three more days before Hattori saw the remains of Team Yuta on the horizon with his Bochigan.

This time, when Hattori looked at their outlines, he felt as though… they looked back at him. It would still be several minutes before they returned to the Compound proper, but everyone was here at the moment. He called them all to the center of a small clearing that had been formed through countless spars and clashes of Nin, Tai, and Kenjutsu.

He wore a heavy look on his face as he spoke. “Team Yuta is on the horizon. I can only see the presence of two people.”

The bodies of everyone around him stilled. “Two? Where’s the third?”

Hattori mumbled something loud enough for everyone to hear. “I don’t know.”

Several tense minutes passed before two people entered the clearing. The first thing Hattori took note of, with the property of the Bochigan that slowed his perceived time, were their faces.

Yuta Yanmaru. Asahiro Yanmaru.

Both of their eyes had the familiar deep, blood red glow he had seen in his reflection countless times. “They both awakened it?” Hattori couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride, though it was stifled by the sobs of Hanae.

He watched silently as the girl ran towards the two, blocking them from getting to him.

“S-Seigo-san!” She stuttered, her eyes too filled with tears to really see, her voice too shaky to speak. “Where is he? Yuta-san, you protected him right? He’ll come over soon, right?”

Yuta and Asahiro glanced at eachother.

“No.” It was Asahiro that spoke first. “Seigo Yanmaru died in the line of duty. I’m sorry, we must talk to the Clan Head. Immediately.”

Yuta immediately vanished and reappeared beside Hattori, Asahiro following suit. The three entered the small cabin and left the others outside to grieve. Inside the small cabin, Hattori sat on the bed and waited for the two to debrief him.

“The Escort Mission, to protect the political Ju D. Hopps, was going just fine at first. We traveled for a few days north-east, then eastward for several more.” Asahiro’s voice cracked

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“It was there we encountered several Shinobi. We couldn’t ascertain their identity. They wore standard gear; Samurai armour, and tanto-blades. Each brought along a single storage scroll.” With that, Yuta brought both out and unsealed them. There was a cloud of smoke that dispersed slowly.

In the smoke were two sets of minorly damaged Samurai armour, with the steel plated tinted a deep red. Hattori nodded at Yuta to continue.

“I disposed of them quickly.” He pointed at two small blade wound entries into the black fabric underneath the armour plating. The simple Tanto-strike the Yanmaru Kenjutsu style had perfected.

“We believe they were working as assassins under false intelligence. The Hopps Caravan decided to leave early on impulse. We had only gotten there for less than a minute. These two assassins came for the head of Ju and his wife, believing there to be no Shinobi escorts present.”

“The Caravan claimed their bodies for research the next time they stopped in a town.” Asahiro finished. “That was when we crossed into Uchiha territory. The Caravan guide had suggested it. The journey would take days less time by civilian speed if we crossed through.”

“We were apprehensive at first, but she convinced us. Within minutes, an Uchiha on the same level as you, Hattori-san, began their assault on the Caravan.”

“Me, Yuta, and… and Seigo-san were forced to reveal our presence. The man juggled all three of us with ease. Our Kenjutsu was useless. Our Taijutsu was disassembled.”

“Our Ninjutsu was overwhelmed. The man, that damned Uchiha,” scowled Yuta, “was capable of things we have never seen.”

“He walked on Trees, on walls – as if they were normal flat ground. At one point, we engaged in combat over a narrow, but somewhat deep river. It was up to our ankles, and he stood on the fucking water.”

“His Fire-release Ninjutsu was otherworldly. Compared to it, our Endan no Jutsu and my Boruto no Jutsu were worthless. He spouted flame larger than both of the Yanmaru houses combined in a single burst.”

“Ju D. Hopps, and his family, were all slain. We had no chance to do anything against that monster. Even then, he was playing with us. His sword was pierced through Seigo’s guts before we even understood what was happening.”

“It was then,” Yuta continued the story, “when I vowed to slaughter every last one of those demonic Uchiha, that I awakened my Bochigan. Asahiro’s awoke soon after my own. The man’s face had gotten serious then. His eyes shifted to a brighter red than ours, with three tomoe spinning in each.”

“And the world shifted. Things changed, inexplicably, and reality began to differ from what we saw, and what our Bochigan saw. You, Hattori-san, are why we were able to win at all. You always told us not to trust our eyes, but our Bochigan.”

“It was that dimensional perception property, the one that outlined his real body, that let me strike him dead. We then had to flee, racing at top speeds towards Yamatari. We had to report the mission as a failure before we returned.” Asahiro choked down a sob. “We had to visit those nobody city-goers before we could come home.”

Yuta withdrew a small, leather-wrapped bag from the pouch in his thigh. “These are the ashes of Seigo Yanmaru’s eyes. After our Dojutsu had awoken, that fucking Uchiha had tried to steal them.”

Hattori sighed, looking between his two Clan members, the armour on the floor, and the ashes that supposedly contained Seigo Yanmaru’s eyes. “You weren’t able to retrieve the body?”

“No, Hattori-san. Apologies.”

“Correct, Hattori-san.”. Asahiro muttered, bowing slightly when he noticed Yuta do the same.

“Alright. Fuck, alright. You know where the graveyard is. Bury the ashes we do have there, and mark it.” Hattori waved Yuta and Asahiro off, but they did not leave.

“This matter with the Uchiha, Hattori-san. We cannot ignore it.” Yuta mumbled. His eyes were somewhat glassy.

“Was this compound the Branch, around an hour north of here, or was it much further?”

Asahiro replied for Yuta, who’s eyes seemed to gaze a thousand kilometers away. “Much farther, Hattori-san.”

He took a deep breath, in and out, before replying. “We cannot chase the matter right now. The Uchiha Main Branch, where Seigo died, is too strong. For now, we’ll have to take this issue up with the Side Branch. It’s about an hour north. I’ll let you know when we will deal with it.”

The two nodded before leaving. Hattori could only curse his luck. Of course, it would be Seigo who died. It was just days prior to his leave that he had been researching Ninjutsu further than the rest had. He was close to something. Hattori wished he could’ve been inside the kid’s head, known what he had known.

Regretfully, Hattori realized all he could do was send a prayer up at his grave.

“Seigo-san,” he mumbled quietly. “Is there peace in the Pure Lands?”