The Journey — (Naruto x Solo Leveling Fanfiction)

I don't own solo leveling or Naruto.

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Walking beyond the black and yellow tape set up by the police officers Woo Jin Chul made his way to the chief detective on the scene. As he made his way over, he passed by forensic specialists analysing the crime scene and photographers taking photos of the deeply torn steel walls, blood, and dismembered limbs.

"Detective Baek." He called, offering the taller man a handshake. Detective Baek was a burly man wearing a brown fedora and a dark trench coat that hung at his ankles with an unkempt beard. Detective Baek accepted the handshake but immediately set his face to grim. "You're probably wondering why I called you here," Jin Chul nodded, he was curious because police work wasn't normally his something Association agents were called for despite being good investigators. "Well, I'll be the first to admit, sir. This is more in line with what you deal with," Beak commented dryly. "What happened here?" Jin Chul muttered under his breath.

"Something supernatural, that's all I got." The detective shrugged his shoulders. 'Well, he's not wrong. There's definitely a strange energy here.' He narrowed his eyes, suspiciously expanding his sensory range to encompass the entire warehouse facility.

Dt. Baek motioned for the Association's Chief Investigator to follow him, "The residents complained about strange noises coming from this warehouse. When two patrol officers went to investigate, they came across this scene." They stopped and observed the giant scratch marks that ripped a couple of giant electrical cables running through the building. Jin Chul kneeled, "It's lucky that those boys got here so quickly, otherwise we would be looking at a horrible electrical fire." The bearded man said in relief and Jin Chul wordlessly agreed.

His keen hazel-orange eyes glanced up and traced the rough clawed-out steel markings. He knew immediately that whatever did this had to be a monster of some kind. Perhaps there had been a dungeon break in the area, so he whipped out his portable magic detector to scan the building.

"Nothing…" he muttered with a deep furrow of his brows in confusion. It was strange that he wasn't detecting any massive concentrations of mana in the air, because usually when dungeons break the gate remains open until the monsters that escaped have been killed. If there's a loose monster running around in the city, it could only mean two things, and both were very worrying to consider.

The first would be that the gate is too far away for this magic detector to pick up and that was worrying because this latest version could make accurate readings within a two-block radius. The second is that these creatures were intelligent enough to conceal their presence from humans and evade high-level magic detection systems spread throughout the city. This worried the investigator because it would go against everything, he knew about monster behaviour around humans and that was…

Monsters always attack humans

He turned back to the detective, "If it won't be too much, I'll need all the forensic data that has been collected and photos as well." He requested and his fellow countrymen nodded. "No problem! This isn't a normal homicide, that's for sure." He said morbidly and walked off to the rest of his officers, leaving Jin Chul to his thoughts.

'I severely doubt it's a monster, so it's probably a hunter that can undergo a beast-like transformation like S-rank hunter Baek Yoonho.' He mused. He would have to look through the archives to find someone like that because he couldn't recall ever hearing of someone like that. He thought it was only possible for S-rank hunters to transform their bodies completely. Regardless, he couldn't rule out either possibility because monsters are living creatures, meaning, they are capable of evolution, which was worrying. Or a potentially powerful hunter on the loose who just murdered 3 people, he knew which one was worse and what it could mean.

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In an eerily dark tunnel, a weak, thin, and frail man could be seen taking slow deliberate steps forward. His feet were covered in dirt, grime, and sewage while wearing what used to be a white lab coat but could be glorified rags that covered his body as of that moment. He stumbled out of the tunnel and into the shallow waters where excess sewage was dumped, making him even more repulsive to the nose.

Raising his head and peaking through his stinky wet brown hair, his equally murky green eyes spotted a laminated name tag with a smiling man on it floating in the dirty waters. He picked it up and the name tag read 'Dr. Kyo Min-Jae'. His face contorted into brief confusion before the scrawny male slapped away the card making the sewage water distort the murky reflection it somewhat made up of the disgruntled man. One could say that this shell of a person that somewhat resembled the youthful and exuberant young male on the name tag.

The man started to giggle lightly before his giggles turned to chuckles and then became full blown manic laughter. He crashed his back into the disease infested waters and at this point not caring for the possible diseases he could catch being halfway submerged. He stared up at the crescent moon in the sky with an excited glint in his eyes. It was clear that whatever state he was in he wouldn't bother him because he seemed almost euphoric.

"What comes next is gonna change this world!" he proclaimed with a smile of pure ecstasy.

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"So this is cross-country, huh?" Sasuke commented. He was out on the sports fields with a bunch of second-year students that didn't seem too thrilled to be there. "Yep!" He widened his eyes when a person enthusiastically jumped on his back and gave him a good ruffle of his hair. Understandably annoyed he didn't think twice about flipping whoever it was over onto their back and holding their arm in submission.

"The heck was that for and who are you!" the Uchiha grounded out. The considerably more lanky boy stared up at him in surprise and then laughed, "Man, you first years sure are something these days, aren't you?" Sasuke, not amused, tightened the hold making him squeal in pain, "Name." he demanded sternly.

Everyone watched on with a mixture of shock, intrigue and concern. "It's Bai Yong-sun! Can you let go, geez!" Yong-sun squeezed out and Sasuke relented with a huff. Getting up and brushing off his sports clothes he held out a hand for Sasuke to shake to make amends for starting off on the wrong foot, but he just, meanly, stared him down.

Pulling his hand away, "Haha, I think we got off on the wrong foot," Yong-sun was met with a look of contempt, "The name's Bai Yong-sun, third year and captain of the cross-country club!" he said happily. "What about you?" the captain asked expectantly.

"You already know I'm a first year student so I'm guessing you know who I am," Sasuke answered unamused. Yong-sun smiled, "Quite perceptive, I see. Well, I guess I shouldn't beat around the bush should I, Sasuke Uchiha? I'm happy to see first years joining the fine craft of long-distance running!" he shouted, striking a pose and everyone else watching visibly cringed at the sight, but seemed to be used to his antics as they didn't comment either. "Rumours spread about quite fast and I'm happy to have such a polarising character join our adventure. Soon we'll have the biggest club in the school! No, the whole world! Bwahahahaha!" he laughed diabolically and left poor Sasuke wondering how things escalated so quickly.

"Uh, I only picked this one because I thought it wouldn't be too much work." Sasuke explained, 'Although, I'm beginning to have doubts about that… ' he lamented internally, judging from the guy's vibrant demeanour. It reminded him of Rock Lee or Naruto when he was competing with him.

Yong-sun visibly deflated from those words, but soon found himself, "No matter! We can still make things work! Soon enough you'll be able to live cross-country, you'll be able to breathe cross-country, you'll be able to love cross-country!" Yong-sun declared, pulling him into a hug and for some reason Sasuke struggled against the lanky boy's hold. "Can you smell that, Sasuke?" he asked. "Can definitely smell something." Sasuke's nose wrinkled against his deodorant heavy chest. " Good! That's the smell of you taken cross-country to that next level! I can just see it," he whimpered with tears coming to his eyes.

He quickly composed himself, wiping his tears away, and went to address everyone there. He detailed the outline of what they would be doing for the next hour and a half of club activities. All of them seemed to either visibly deflate or cringe at the itinerary set out for them on the first day. Once they were halfway through the drills set out they all collectively agreed that the captain was a slave driver or something like that. Some got the feeling he got some sort of a sadistic kick out of seeing them suffer, with him smiling happily after every drill he put them through. However, one student had no such complaints and was seemingly bored the whole time judging from his unbothered, aloof expression. The sheen of sweat that covered his forehead was wiped away and he thought to himself that this had been a good warm up for the sparring session he would have with Hae-In after this.

Yong-sun surveyed the exhausted faces of everyone except Sasuke Uchiha. The exercises that he'd put everyone through would have even professionals winded, but he didn't even seem to be the slightest bit. That was definitely unnatural even if he was blessed with naturally great stamina. The reason why he knew Sasuke Uchiha beforehand was because of what happened two weeks ago with a Gate opening up on campus grounds and him, crazily or stupidly enough, entering the dungeon. He survived the ordeal of course and his treacherous feat spread through the entire school like a virus and he wouldn't be surprised if it'd reached the news at some point. Tangent aside, Yong-sun had heard of the teen but never seen his face so when the sports faculty manager handed out the list of new club members to all the captains he immediately spotted his name and it came with an ID picture as well. He knew having him in the club would be an incredible asset for the sister school sports day in three weeks time. But he was a little suspicious about the boy's ability to race through all the drills, no sweat, literally!

'Maybe it wasn't a miracle he survived the dungeon? If that's the case it would be unfortunate,' he lamented, running a hand through his fleshy pink hair.

He called everyone over and congratulated them on their performances out there, highlighting Sasuke the most. Informing them about a sports day event in the three weeks with their sister school and assured them that the coming sessions wouldn't be nearly as intense. He then dismissed everyone for the day.

"Wait up, Sasuke!" Yong-sun called out to the retreating raven. "Hn." he grunted in annoyance, "What!" Sasuke snapped, harshly. However, unbothered, the captain pressed on, "About that sports event. You know that awakened humans in schools are not allowed to compete in competitive sports events of any kind, right?"

Sasuke shook his head, "Well, they say it's because the mana coursing through one's veins inherently makes them superior to a normal person by a wide margin regardless of physical condition between the two. It's an unfair advantage so they're not allowed to compete. So, you understand what I'm saying right, Sasuke?" he questioned. "I think I do. To be honest you're the only one to suspect me of being awakened. You're quite sharp, weirdo." Sasuke walked away without further comment and Yong-sun didn't bother him.

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Sasuke after getting changed out of his sweaty sports uniform into his comfortable casual wear made his way to the saloon car waiting to pick him up. He stepped into the vehicle and immediately frowned when he saw Choi in the back seat grinning ear to ear.

"So? How was your day?" he asked glowingly. "Fine." he bit out, "Any reason you're here to pick me up?" he asked, causing the S-ranker to pout unhappily. "Aw, what? I can't want to spend time with my ward? You're hurting my feelings Sasuke!" he cried crocodile tears, but Sasuke, no for the first time that day, was unamused. "I never said that, it's just you never meet directly unless it's important or at the mansion. So, I'm sceptical but curious on what you have to say," he explained.

Choi smiled, "Well, you should keep being curious because there's something interesting I want to show you." he said mysteriously. Sasuke had a look on his face promoting him to continue, but he remained silent which miffed him. He decided that the fire mage would come out with it whenever he wanted or he'd catch on like he always did.

It was a good half an hour before the car had come to pull over to the side of a moderately busy street. Looking out the window Sasuke couldn't find anything out of the ordinary to clue him in as to what Choi was up to. As they both stepped out of the car Sasuke was immediately privy to the comments of the normal bystanders around them.

"Is that Choi Jong-In?"

"Woah! He's so much cooler in person!"

"Quick! Ju-Sae take a picture!"

"Who's that kid next to him?"

Sasuke glanced up at the taller of them and wondered if he was doing this on purpose. Waving to the many fans of his that swiftly swarmed them for autographs and photos. This didn't annoy the Uchiha particularly but he couldn't deny the irritation he felt with the various flashing cameras and obnoxiously hyper people that admired the fire magician.

It wasn't long until they made their way across the street to a seemingly ordinary building. It didn't stand out to the Uchiha and maybe that was the point. However, it begged the question to Sasuke of why he asked the driver to park across the street of the intended designation instead of right next to it. All the fans could have been easily avoided.

"Huh?" Sasuke uttered as soon as the S-rank hunter pushed through the doors of the bland building, hit by a wave of powerful mana. He glanced at him briefly alarmed but quickly composed himself.

"I'm surprised you didn't pick up on it sooner. I thought you were perceptive, Sasuke?" Choi playfully teased. Sasuke ignored him, "What is going on here, Choi? And what's with the ridiculous amounts of mana here?" he questioned, baffled.

"This is a subsidiary building owned by yours truly. Its purpose is to store and house the many, many magical items and weapons I've picked up on my journey as a hunter. And I open its doors to you." the redhead explained, proudly.

Sasuke blinked down, eyeing the building filled with columns upon columns of either swords, axes, shields and various types of armour. "Wait, why didn't you take me here to get a sword that day? Just from looking I can tell most of them have better stats than the one I have, currently." Sasuke wondered, but Choi just walked forward, "It didn't really come to mind at the time. You're the second person in my guild to see this collection to be honest," He answered nonchalantly.

"Why show me this now? What can you possibly gain?" the teen pressed on for answers. Choi just looked exasperated, "Why are you so suspicious? Maybe it's just a nice gesture?" he replied with a cadence of annoyance to his normally smooth voice.

"It's because you and I are the same." Sasuke replied cryptically, leaving a quizzical look behind those glasses of Choi. Sasuke was familiar with the ilk because he was exactly the same way, power hungry. Using any advantage to get ahead of the competition and Choi's competition was the other guilds in the country. Just in the same way that Itachi Uchiha is his competition and only goal in life.

"We both want power."

The fire mage chuckled, "Is that so? Am I so easy to see through?" he wondered more to himself than asking Sasuke that question. "Not really." Sasuke said but didn't elaborate any further. "What do you mean by that?" Choi asked.

"You're kind as well," he answered easily, without a doubt in his mind.

'What is he on about? Why's he being so cryptic?' Choi wondered.

"So? Is there anything here that's more my size? That is why you brought me here isn't it?" Sasuke changed the subject. He was standing next to a glass display of capes. This brought the fire magician out of his thoughts, "Of course let me lead the way."

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Sasuke stood in front of a full length mirror admiring the lightweight tactical body armour, mostly black and white in colour. He wore dark open toed sandals and a thin purple belt that had a sheath for a sword.

"That looks great on you, Sasuke!" Choi clapped his hands, admiring the armour, "It's made from the most flexible monster hides out there and reinforced with grade A mana fibres that are resistant to most elements below the A-rank level." He explained the general make of the armour and what made it special.

Sasuke turned around to see his back on the mirror and frowned, "What about the back?" he asked, examining something he didn't seem to be happy about. "What about the back? Is there something wrong with it?" Choi questioned, confused.

Sasuke didn't answer but instead his hair got longer and changed colours along with his muscle mass expanding slightly and even more noticeably his skin changed to far darker shade than its usually pale tone. But the biggest surprise to Choi Jong-In were the giant fleshy hand wings that burst from his back and through the fabric of the armour like a hot knife through butter.

'What's this? I never knew he had this transformation, it's releasing nearly 15 times the amount of energy than usual and there's something very sinister and evil about that form.' Choi's sensitivity to the magical forces were so acute that he was able to pick up on the drastic shift in the teenager's monster transformation. 'Has he been hiding this form from me this whole time? This skyrockets his potential from B-rank to A in no time!' he exclaimed internally. It seemed he was a beast-type hunter just like Baek Yoonho. Maybe he'd been wrong in his assessment of Sasuke being an assassin-type hunter, but then again no assassin has fire or lightning magic and no magician can move like he can. Sasuke Uchiha has ridiculous physical attributes along with rare elemental magic (lightning magic) as well as a monster mutation.

"You really are an anomaly, Sasuke Uchiha!" Choi Jong-In grinned from ear to ear.

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Yo! I'm back again! I haven't left this story just yet, but I've just been busy with projects and assignments and stuff. It's been really hectic.

Even still I wanted to release this chapter so let me know what you guys think. I'd really love your thoughts