---A couple hours later---

- Hah! Hah!....Phew...Look! That's the entrance!...(Takao)

Takao fell to the ground due to being incredibly tired and being forcibly dragged away by Homura, in order to find the so-called secret passage.

-...that's a hole...and a very small one at that!

Takao showed Homura, his secret passage which...technically could be described as such...but calling it a hole or a very small tunnel, was far more accurate.

Simply put, it was a hole in a  rock formation that had a small tunnel, that lead to an abandoned old shed.

The tunnel was quite small, only children over the age of 8 or 10 would probably fit inside.

-(By the looks of it, it had to be made by someone or something. But it is unlikely that it was formed naturally,)- thought, Homura.

From Homura's perspective, that simple analysis was all that was needed to reach a satisfying conclusion...but he knew nothing of geology so his opinion was utterly worthless.

If he had used his skill to calculate the probability of such a rock formation happening naturally, he would have come closer to the truth. However, he had very little foresight or used his skill to its utmost capacity.

If he did, he would have found out that calculating the probabilities of events and information, are only among the least of the things that he could do.

He really needed to ask and experiment with the incredible cheat-like ability he had, and not just how it worked, but what he could do with it.

If he did, he would have found out that he and his skill were one in body and soul.

So, he could use this to his advantage to do a lot of things.

Such as using his DNA to track objects or people as long as their own chakra did not interfere or the DNA sample was not destroyed and so much more.

By now, he could have been able to mold chakra or realized that he had the ability to deduce how some ninjutsus are performed, due to having perfect records of anything in the show, and auxiliary information such as and well as knowing all the hand seals needed for most techniques....and a godd*mn computer that is leagues beyond a normal a supercomputer!

The speed at which his brain would be able to comprehend everything and come up with solutions to the missing information that he lacked was terrifying!

The only things that would be impossible for him to surmount at the moment would be the amount of time needed, chakra and every problem that comes with it, affinity, and very specific knowledge of some of the inner workings of how certain techniques are performed, and overall talent.

True, he would still need more information since his skill is not omnipotent, and could come up with over a million possible answers, but that number would have drastically decreased if he could somehow get his DNA to parasitize a person when performing a jutsu or simply asking someone to teach him theories behind the principle of ninjutsu.

If he did, it would not have been impossible for him to be much more ahead than he was at the moment in his training.

But he never had such thoughts, because his overall misunderstanding of what his skill could do and his lack of interest at the moment in the subject of ninjutsu has twisted his perspective.

Or at least, it hasn't forced him to dig deeper into what he could do.

For the moment, all Homura could think about was to get stronger, physically wise, and get accepted into the academy the same year as Naruto. So as to not be stuck in the academy, due to failing the entrance exam and be stuck there during all the major arcs.

Because if he didn't succeed then he would be pretty much screwed!

It was the worst possible scenario available to him...that or not becoming a ninja at all because not only he would have wasted his gifts, but also would be a sitting duck for everything happening in the future.

Forget about even trying to leave the continent or defecting from the village, or even the war!

He would be beyond saving, especially since he had not seen the end of Boruto and only knew that the village had another 30 years or so of "peace", before things would truly go to sh*t!

Not only that, but the fate of the entire continent was also a mystery to him; so leaving the village was also a risk.

However, currently Homura had no such big thoughts about his current predicament.

The tiny tunnel that could theoretically avoid him getting detected in order to get inside the Uchiha clan area was the only thing on his mind.

It had to have been abandoned quite a few years back or the owner died and no one bothered checking the place out.

Which was kind of weird and out there, as well as too good to be true...but not beyond the realm of possibilities.

Things like that happen a lot, even in his previous world.

It would be normal for the same thing to happen in the Uchiha clan, especially in a world full of wars and deaths as in the shinobi world...but things right now with this clan and the village were heading towards a sh*tshow, to say the least...it was normal for Homura to be quite skeptical about this god-given safety net or it was the beginning of his downfall.

The perks that he could gain would be tremendous but not without downsides.

So, he was trying to judge the pros and cons as hard as he could, and examining the whole area.

But, what really intrigued the boy was the small shed that was next to the rock formation which was just near the reach of the Uchiha clan site.

What exactly is the story behind it? Was it a trap? Were the adults truly unaware of it? Was the ANBU too? Or was it just simply a stroke of good luck that he had met Takao?

If he had met the boy earlier he would not have had to try so hard.

With this passage, he could even attempt to get the DNA of people who had awakened the sharingan, even though those individuals are probably under greater surveillance, but it was still better than the alternative.

Since at least with them, he was 100% sure of what he was getting at, unlike the kids whose DNA he had stolen.

There was no given proof they had the potential to awaken the sharingan in the future.

The only ones who he knew had the potential or had awakened it was Sasuke and Shisui...the rest were an enigma to him, and that was why he had to try so hard as well as get as many samples as he could in case he would fail

Quantity is not always better than quality, and the probability of having a lot of duds was far greater...but it was now all in the past now...there was no way he would go through the trouble to do that again.

And getting DNA samples from adults or dead bodies would be another can of worms that he had no interest in getting involved with.

Especially now that he had less free time than before, and not counting the higher risks for the sake of fewer rewards.

It would be overall far crazier to go through such a plan, especially as things would only get more complicated the more time passed.

Even someone as dense and airheaded as Homura could easily understand the downside of going through such a plan.

- Takao...You...Did you carry me?...or drag me?...on the dirty floor?...

Homura, could not help but wonder after inspecting the tunnel and remembering what grandma Akane had told him about his clothes, being very dirty to the point he had to let her wash them.

Not that he was aware of the severity of the state of his clothes, since she had already taken off his clothes by then and was wearing something completely different when he woke up.

- Euuuuh...ahh...Hehehe! (Takao)- weird sounds and laughter, was all Takao could muster.

- Right~~~, I did say that I owed you one...-Said Homura, trying to sound playful and happy...but it was obvious to anyone with a brain that the boy oozed off malevolence. No matter how hard he was trying to pretend otherwise.

He was simply unable to genuinely smile or laugh unless it was someone else's expense or at least on command, this is how distorted the boy's character was or simply put, how much of a little piece of sh*t he was.

Which was one of the reasons why sister Kasumi was trying so hard to reform this little demon.

She had decided that would be one of her life goals.

Since, from her perspective, the boy was far wiser beyond his years for his own good and tried to instill morals as well as good habits; so that he would grow to be a decent person in the future and not the rascal that he was turning himself into year after year.

Not that Homura knew any of that, in fact, the more he pretended to have morals or decency, the more she got mad with him.

He did not know it at the time or even now for a matter of fact, but sister Kasumi was the closest thing to family that he had in this world.

When Homura was reborn, his mind was not fully integrated with his infant body.

He would cry and have panic attacks because he would subconsciously remember the fire in the destroyed hospital room, which he was left to die in; whenever he went to sleep at night.

It was not always that it would happen, but it was vivid enough that he would have the same recurring nightmare several times and wake up the other infants.

So, she had him sleep in her room to calm him down.

This only stopped when he regained more and more control over his new body and managed to piece himself together.

But unbeknownst to either party, Homura had locked away a lot of memories of when he was an infant, subconsciously.

But the effects of being powerless and afraid had better hold onto his psyche than even he himself was aware of, and still guide many of his decisions to this day and were not part of his original personality.

The primal fear of death that he experienced that night, was forever ingrained deep within himself and had made him far more selfish and oriented towards his own survival than he would realistically have been otherwise.

It was further exasperated by the fact that he knew that an upcoming war was soon looming over his shoulders and an unknown bleak future ahead awaited him, if he did not take control of his destiny with his own 2 hands.

- Huh? !!! N-no! I-I (Takao)

Takao was immediately put off. Because by now he knew that every time that Homura would smile something bad would occur! Simply put it was a bad omen!

For him of all people!

- No, really I am grateful to you! Huh? Why are you retreating?

Homura was trying to appear as natural as possible as he was approaching Takao, but that had the opposite effect.

The boy could not help himself but slowly retreat with each step Homura took without breaking eye contact under fear of what could happen.

- You don't look grateful to me at all! STAY BACK!!!(Takao)

-No need to be shy about it! I just wanted to give you a hug remember we're best friends after all.-said Homura trying to sound sincere but fell on deaf ears.

- Yeah! But I never heard you say it yourself! It just confirms that you want to hit me again!!!(Takao)

-....*smirk*

Homura stopped advancing...and pretending and gave Takao an evil grin as to confirm the boy's suspicions.

- Damn it! I knew it! Well I am not going down! I will take you down, Itsuki!(Takao)

The boy prepared himself to launch a wave of shuriken towards Homura...at least that was what was supposed to happen if Homura did not use Takao's little speech, to grab a bit of dust from the ground and blew it in his eyes, after the boy turned his head around as he managed to grab the shurikens inside his ninja-tool pouch.

- MY EY-ARHG!!!

*Boink!*

Homura, landed a hit right in the center of the boy's skull.

- HAAAA! IT HURTS!!!!!!!!(Takao)

Takao leaving dancing around and holding on to his head due to Homura's fist of fury.

- Rule nbr. 12 of being a shinobi...never lose sight of your target...after today you will always remember it! Be proud, Takao.

- Damn you! Don't pretend this was a lesson! I will make you pay one day Itsuki!!!(Takao)

Although Takao was enraged, he did not run away or had any ill feelings towards Homura, they had spent so much time together and their personalities were far more alike than Homura would admit; so the 2 were always on good terms.

- *Sigh* stop moving. Here! Take this bottle of water and drop it on your head, it should dumb down the pain a little!

- Whatever! But I won't thank you! I will still have my revenge some day!(Takao)

Takao splash the water inside the gourd over his head immediately.

- sure, sure. How does it feel?

-hah...A bit better. But it still hurt like hell! You owe me big time!(Takao)

-How about I treat you to ramen next time? Will that be enough? I know a great place that I can bring some for next training session.

-R-really!?? YAY!!!(Takao)

Takao started jumping around like all that had transpired prior to this and the several threats never existed.

He truly was a child through and through, he could not hold on to anything for too long and would quickly move on to the next thing that caught his eyes.

Leaving Homura glad...about how easy to manipulate Takao was.

But underneath it all, he was happy about being friends with someone like Takao.

He reminded him a bit of Naruto...a part of him regrets that he cannot introduce the 2 to each other, he felt that they could become fast friends...and the shenanigans that they would get themselves into would probably be hilarious to watch.

Both these boys believe too much in their own hype for their own good, which always got them into trouble.

-(...Hm? Now that I think about it...Just how much a big sleeper am I? This guy dragged me through mud and whatever else is inside this hole and I didn't wake up...feels unreal...Gotta do something about that. Can't just let myself get stabbed to death because I was sleeping. I have to be more careful...But regardless of that, this passage will be great for me in the future. At least one thing is for sure, I won't have to worry about ever meeting Sasuke if I take this route...seeing that he has no friends...what a weird kid.)- Thought Homura while looking at the entrance of the so-called secret passage.

Now, that his life was getting on track, he wondered what awaited for him in the future.

Chapter end