I don't own solo leveling or Naruto
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"So this is the place."
Sasuke looked up from his phone at the high rise apartment building. Lee sent a message that Minho's room number was 206 so it was likely on the 2nd floor. He wasn't gonna go through reception because that would likely come with a gaggle of questions as to his intentions. Lee had also sent him a message that agents were patrolling the area quite heavily and since he had direct access to their systems finding out this type of information was easy for him.
He quite easily bounded over the fence and scaled up two stories and climbed into an unsuspecting somebody's balcony. He gave them quite the scare.
"Oh my god! Where did you come from!" The old lady shouted.
"I jumped up here and I'm looking for room 206." Sasuke explained calmly.
"You jumped? Up here?" The old lady looked over the ledge over her balcony and then back at Sasuke in befuddlement. "Are you a hunter?" The only logical answer coming to mind for the young boy appearing out of nowhere and supposedly jumping 2 stories.
"Yea."
"I see."
The silence between them was long and awkward and the longer it stretched on the 'pressure' she could feel from the boy became more unbearable and noticeable.
"So? Room 206?"
"Ah, yes of course! Um, i-it's 6 doors down the hall." She answered, her voice raspy from the sudden dryness that overcame her.
Sasuke nodded, 'I'm on the right floor. That's convenient.' he noted and made his way through the old lady's apartment. The old lady was left bemused and befuddled by his presence and finally let out a breath as soon as he left her apartment.
Sasuke quickly found room 206 and clasped his hand around the knob and tried to open the door, but found it locked. He looked up and down the hall to find any wandering eyes and when he was satisfied that no one was watching he slammed his hand on the ground and summoned roots that trickled under the door.
Closing his eyes he was able to get a mental image for the path that his roots were following and instantly worked the mechanisms of the door from the inside. He opened his eyes when he heard the soft click of the door unlocking and retracted the roots. Opening the door and walking inside he found the apartment expectantly vacant.
In only a few paces he reached the main room, which didn't leave much of an impression. It was like any typical living room with a couch, coffee table, a bunch of magazines on top of it and a TV mounted up on the wall. The walls were peach in color with a single light hanging from the ceiling. Everything in this place contributed to the feeling that someone barely lived here.
"He doesn't come around here much does he?" Sasuke voiced his thoughts and started exploring the apartment further. He wasn't sure what he was hoping to find, maybe something that he could use to gleam a little bit into the man's psyche.
The apartment felt hollow, untouched—more like a staged space than a place someone truly lived in. Its barren silence reminded him of his own empty flat back in Konoha, where not a single item ever felt personal or new. On the kitchen counter, an empty picture frame rested awkwardly, as though placed there without purpose.
He picked it up, unsettled by how out of place it seemed. His eyes drifted to a small table beside the TV, where photos of a dog frolicking in the grass had been neatly arranged. Ordinary, domestic… yet strangely lifeless. Crossing the room, he slid the empty frame among them, and the unsettling truth struck him—it fit seamlessly, as if it had always belonged there, part of a home that never truly existed.
'So why was it on the kitchen counter?'
Sasuke's gaze swept over the apartment again, and his first impression held—everything was perfectly in place, except for this one picture frame.
Memories of the night he had left Konoha stirred in his mind. Back then, he had placed a photo of Team 7 face down on his drawer, marking it as the end of their bond as teammates, as family, in his heart. Banishing those thoughts, he returned his attention to the empty frame, reasoning that it must belong to someone important to the C-rank hunter.
He recalled Lee mentioning a sister trapped in Eternal Slumber. 'Could it be possible that a photo of her was here?' His onyx eyes shifted to ruby red as he examined the frame more closely. Despite the dim lighting, he detected faint smudges of foreign fingerprints—definitely not his own. 'Did he slip this photo here to hide something?'
A sudden vibration in his left pocket broke his focus. Sasuke pulled out his phone to see Lee calling. Without hesitation, he answered.
"What's going on, Lee?"
[Oh man, that's a relief. I didn't think you'd answer.] Lee's relief was almost audible, though he hesitated, unsure how to start.
"Why?" Sasuke's tone was flat.
[Uh… well, you never picked up my calls back at the sports festival. Or when you disappeared for weeks before the school break.]
"Ah. I see," Sasuke said flatly. He vaguely recalled the sports festival—the day Jinah had dragged him out for milkshakes, followed by his meeting with Chairman Go. Later, he'd checked his phone and noticed seventeen missed calls from Lee. His phone had been on silent. As for the other times, he'd simply been in the hospital… or busy. It didn't seem worth mentioning.
"Anyway. Why are you calling?" Sasuke cut to the point.
[Oh, right…um, there's been a report about six blocks west of you. Minho was cornered by five field agents in a high-rise parking garage. End result—five agents died, and Minho fled the scene. Current whereabouts unknown.]
"Five dead, huh." Sasuke's voice didn't waver. His gaze lingered on the empty picture frame. "Thanks, Lee. Did you look any further into his past? I suspect his sister is important to him."
[Yeah, one second…] The sound of frantic typing came through the line. […Here we go. His sister has a son—Kyo Jisoo, ten years old, living with a guardian named Seo-yeon. There's also an older cousin, Kyo Min-jae, who went missing three years ago right after graduating university. Man, this guy… he's had it rough.]
"Yeah. He has." Sasuke ended the call abruptly, without a hint of farewell.
He instantly looked for the nearest window and jumped out. Leaping across rooftops at mach speed he was quickly able to reach the parking garage in mere moments.
Traversing a mere two and half kilometer distance was nothing for him especially with his new and improved mana control. While mana already granted him superhuman physical attributes he could now direct that energy as well to any areas of his body that he wished— strengthen his arms and legs.
After their training session, Hae-in had questioned him on his smell. He had explained to her that he was now using mana instead of chakra.
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"Chakra?"
"Yeah, it is the mixing and melding of both physical and mental energies that exist naturally in the body." Sasuke explained to her.
She took a seat on the bench next to him and threw a towel over her head. "I think I heard about chakra a while ago. It was related to a religion called buddhasium but I imagine your world sees it differently."
"Hn, that'll be interesting to look into," Sasuke downs the rest of his water and puts the bottle away. "I'm still not sure how chakra and mana are different from each other yet." He had set some aside to read after this training session.
"Well, I could help you with that." Hae-in offered.
"You could?" Sasuke tilted his head.
"Uh-huh," Her lips turned up into a smile. "I know a thing or two."
"Well then, teach me more, Master Cha."
"Okay," She stretched a bit before she thought up the first thing that she could think to say on the matter. "Well, the first thing to keep in mind is that mana is not entirely an internal source of energy. It comes from the gates—monsters to be more specific. So, from that point it's already different from your chakra energy."
"Kil Nari did tell me that scientists have observed an increase of mana in the atmosphere the more magic beasts are killed."
"Uh, yeah." She became awkward for a moment—knowning the mention of Master Choi's dead assistant probably still weighed on his shoulders, no matter how much he tried to hide it.
He went on a for a while explaining how chakra worked before she gave him a few tidbits on mana that he had no clue about. Such as his vitality and his body's natural recuperation rate being increased exponentially. She explained that didn't mean he could now regrow limbs or fight for hours on end, but serious injuries like a broken leg or muscle tears would recover in a couple of days by just resting.
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The parking garage was silent and filled with cars as he made his way to the crime scene.
"Well, I wonder what you're doing here!" Sasuke paused at the familiar voice reaching his ears.
"Oh, it's you, eggplant." Sasuke grumbled at the purple haired agent.
"Yeah, it's me. Fancy seeing you here. Just to let you know… this is a crime scene." He placed his hands on his hips with a knowing smile.
"Are you going to stop me?"
Taeshik held his hands up, "Go right ahead. Maybe you can glean something before the paramedics and supervisors get here."
"Hmhp." Sasuke snorted at his lame bow.
Sasuke spared him a glance and then walked over to the rudimental caution tape that had been set up by Taeshik to close the area off. Five bodies were on display with pools of blood slowly drying up and being sucked into the concrete floor.
"How'd you get here so quick?" Sasuke asked, making his way beyond the caution tape.
"I was in the area when the call came through and I could ask you the same thing," Tae-Shik raised a brow at the young Uchiha. "Reading into Association communication channels… That is illegal, you know."
"Hn." Sasuke grunted, crouching beside the first body.
Slashes and lacerations to the throat and muscle tendons in the arms and legs. Stab wounds into the guts were also presented on the body. Each strike was a death blow meant to eliminate a target's bodily functions and then let them choke and gurgle on their own blood. It was a cruel method to make them feel helpless and feel the pain of life leaving the body. Similar wounds were present on all the other corpses.
"Minho is a C-rank with Tank classification, right?" Sasuke asked, examining the other bodies with his Sharingan, burning the image of carnage in his mind.
"Yeah. I'm guessing you're coming to the same conclusion I did then?"
"Hn. This wasn't the work of a Tank but an Assassin or a high-speed fighter-class hunter. Does he have help?"
"Looks like it." Tae Shik replied, leaning against a pillar and waiting for Sasuke to finish.
'These cuts… They remind me of the same slashes I saw on Kil Nari's neck that day.' He thought. He still harboured a lot of guilt for that incident and he made sure to never forget that his recklessness led to the loss of a good person's life. It's why every action he takes is with careful consideration of the consequences.
He spared the man propped up against the pillar a glance and internally fumed. The circumstances of this scenario were far too familiar and his hunch that Taeshik was responsible for the death of Minho's squad was cementing itself in his head much more.
"Hey, why do you think Minho ran away from the hospital?"
"Beats me." Tae shik shrugged his shoulders.
"I see that all the evidence points at him being the culprit of that massacre and him running away is only more proof of that being the case, but..."
The image of Minho screaming out Taeshik's name in rage flashed in his head. "...I like to have at least one alternate theory." Sasuke stretched his arm out and roots tied Tae-Shik up against the pillar.
"Hahaha. This is funny! You think I did something?" Tae-Shik laughed as a borderline sociopathic sheen glossed his eyes.
"..."
Sasuke was silent, hypnotic red eyes betraying nothing as his green aura became visible to the naked eye. Tae-Shik, surrounded in his purple aura, fought against the pressure exerted by the roots on his body.
"If this were in a dungeon things would be different. This is the real world." He said, his voice becoming strained due to the force of the roots wrapped around him.
"Come on, think this through. Things are going to get more messy if you follow through with this." Tae-Shik laughed even more, not so much as begging to be freed but laying out the cards for Sasuke. "What do you think happen—"
"That day we met…" Sasuke cut him off. "Were you the one that killed her?"
"Her? I got no clue who you're talking about. I haven't killed anyone." Taeshik answered with a sardonic and patronizing smile.
Sasuke just narrowed his eyes.
"I replayed it a couple of times in my head that day…" He said. "Everything was so circumstantial—just like today."
Taeshik coughed as he felt his breath start to become constricted by the pressure. "Are you serious? C'mon kid, are you sure that's what really happened in that head of yours?" Tae-Shik managed to squeeze out as he struggled to breath in more air.
For a long second Taeshik thought that Sasuke would follow through with his bloodlust and end him, but the distant sirens reaching earshot caused him to cease his action.
"You might be right."
The agent collapsed to his knees, coughing and gasping for air and holding onto his paining chest. That was the cue for Sasuke to leave and motioned to do so. And like the ninja was he disappeared into the shadows before Taeshik could get a single word in.
Rising to his feet, Taeshik let out another laugh filled with mirth, "I don't think I've ever wanted to kill someone as much as you, Uchiha Sasuke."
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As Sasuke leapt through the city at a leisurely pace, his mind consumed with thoughts on why he didn't just crush him right then and there.
'If this were in a dungeon things would be different. This is real life.'
If he was in the dungeon he could have just killed him and be done with it but he was right. Things were different outside of the dungeon, he wouldn't just get away with something like that. He would be hunted down and be forced into prison for killing scum like him.
It's then that he decided. "Fine. You want to make it a game of evidence then I'll find him before you do."
Landing on a lamppost he fiddled for his phone and went through it to ring up Lee. "Hey, Lee, I need you to send me the address."
[Address?]
"Minho's nephew. Where does he stay?"
[Ohhhh, I'll send that right away.]
Sasuke could hear Lee typing away on his keyboard and not a moment too soon his voice cracked through the speaker.
[There you go. Sent!] He said happily as Sasuke's phone rang with a notification. "Got it. Thanks, Lee." Sasuke said curtly and cut the line before Lee could get another word out.
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Jin-Chul sat perfectly straight across from Seo-Yoen. Ji-Soo's caretaker was completely stone-faced in front of the Association Chief as the silence dragged on between them.
"So," Jin-Chul broke the silence. "What can you tell me about Minho?"
Seo-Yoen's eyes flickered for a fraction of a second before settling back into neutrality. "He's not the man the news makes him out to be," she said, guarded.
"That's what I'm here to find out." Jin-Chul replied evenly. "If you help me then we can help him." His tone held no trace of threat or impatience, as if her hostility didn't even register.
A small voice interrupted. "Aunty?"
Jisoo peeked around the doorway, curiosity etched on his face. "What's going on? Who's the mean-looking guy?"
"Oh, Jisoo…" She rose and walked to him, crouching to meet his gaze. "You don't need to worry about all that. Just go play with your toys, okay?"
She played with his hair a little bit which caused the young boy to push away with cute laughter.
"Alright, okay! Just stop that. I'm totally not a little kid."
"Yeah, sure." Seo-yoen giggled. "The big tough man needs to go save princess Blazer, okay?"
Ji-Soo scowled, feigning annoyance, but it melted quickly as he grew serious.
"Aunty…" He said slowly. "If something's wrong… you'll tell me, won't you?"
Seo-Yoen blinked at him before looking into those innocent eyes that held nothing but concern and maybe a little bit of fear.
"Of course I will, baby." She pulled him into a tight hug, her own eyes stinging. "Of course."
Ji-Soo ran off to his room as she made her way to her seat.
"Cute kid." Jin-Chul remained as blank as ever.
"Thanks."
"So, about Minho?" The Association Chief asked.
"What do you want to know?" She said, lips pressed into a thin line.
"What kind of person was he? Is he someone capable of all this destruction?"
"Of course not!" Seo-Yoen shouted before turning downcast. "Minho… He's one of the kindest souls I've ever met. Sure he's clumsy and a little awkward but he means well. He takes on too much, thinking everything is his fault and constantly beats himself up about it."
"He sounds like a very selfless person." Jin-Chul commented.
He leaned forward, elbows on his knees, ready to push into harder questions even as Seo-yeon's composure began to crack.
"Do you have any idea where he might go in a crisis?" he asked.
The young woman shook her head. "No idea. Despite being his oldest friend, he rarely opens up to me…" She admitted. "Not since his sister went into that coma… years ago."
Jin-Chul hummed. "Our background checks we ran mentioned that his awakening was responsible."
"Yes." She said quietly, "And he blames himself for it everyday. It's why he can't bear to be around his own nephew for too long. It hurts him too much."
"Our checks also detailed that he provides you two with substantial financial support from his raids." Jin-Chul tapped his chin, the picture of Minho sharpening in his mind. "From what you've described, it would make no sense for him to do anything that jeopardizes his family's stability. This whole incident feels… out of character."
Seo-yoen's head snapped up, hope flickering in her eyes. "Are you saying you believe me?"
Jin-Chul sighed and shook his head. "Not yet. Minho is still our prime suspect. But this has given me something to chew on and consider for the case."
He paused. "Has he been in contact with you recently?"
"Uh…" Seo-Yoen hesitated, and Jin-Chul instantly recognized the tug-of-war inside her.
"You can tell me, miss. I'm here to help, remember?" He said with a softened expression, trying to be reassuring.
She nodded, gathering her courage."He was here yesterday. Just before the news hit."
"Really? What for?" Jin-Chul pressed.
"He was playing with Ji-soo when I came home from work. Everything looked normal." Her expression softened at the memory. "But… I couldn't read him. I always know what he's feeling, even when he's trying to hide it—but yesterday? Nothing. And when that happens, it means he's carrying something huge."
"Allegedly murdering his entire strike squad would qualify," Jin-Chul deadpanned.
Seo-yeon shot him a piercing glare.
"Sorry," he said quickly, hands raised. "Please continue."
"He just seemed… troubled," she said quietly. "Like he was scared."
"Scared of something?" Jin-Chul narrowed his eyes. "Or someone?"
Her silence said enough.
Jin-Chul looked away, gears turning. "When he shuts you out like that, do you know what he does? Where he goes?"
"Usually he goes to the hospital to talk to his sister or goes on a raid with his private strike squad." She answered.
"Usually?" Jin-Chul raised a brow. The question was already clear without it being said.
Seo-yeon rubbed her arm, thinking hard. "Well… he did have an older cousin. Kyo Min-jae. They lived together during Minho's first year. Min-jae went missing three years ago." She looked unsure. "Maybe that means something?"
"Not much to go off, but thank you, miss." Jin-Chul rose smoothly and walked toward the door. He paused with his hand on the frame. "One more thing."
Seo-yeon straightened slightly. "Yes?"
"I want to believe that Min-Ho didn't want to do this," Jin-Chul said, still facing the door. "But my job is to work with evidence, not hopes. I trust you understand."
"I understand." Seo-Yeon replied solemnly, watching the chief step outside.
Jin-Chul crossed to his car, reaching for the door handle when a voice drifted down—cool, detached, unmistakable.
"That was a dull interview." Sasuke said, perfectly perched atop a streetlight.
"They usually are." Jin-Chul replied without surprise as the young Uchiha flipped gracefully to the ground. "How and why are you here? Last I checked, you weren't an agent."
"Will it suffice to say I was in the neighbourhood?" Sasuke said lightly, shrugging.
"It won't," Jin-Chul said without missing a beat.
The young teen just exhaled. "Then you'll be glad to know your prime suspect caused a ruckus downtown."
"I was informed," Jin-Chul remarked, stepping into his car.
"Four men down," Sasuke continued. "And the wounds? Not consistent with a tank. More like—"
"The work of an assassin or a speed-type fighter," Jin-Chul finished for him.
Sasuke's frown was immediate. "...Correct."
"As I said," Jin-Chul repeated, shutting the door, "I was informed."
The engine rumbled. Jin-Chul pulled forward—barely a meter—before Sasuke dropped onto the hood.
The brakes screeched.
"Are you insane?!" Jin-Chul roared out the window.
"Maybe," Sasuke said with a smirk, peering through the glass. "Where are you off to?"
"That's need-to-know." Jin-Chul snapped. "And you don't. Now get off my damn car, brat."
Sasuke didn't budge. He held Jin-Chul's glare calmly, almost bored, while the chief's patience thinned by the second.
Then, finally: "Okay."
Sasuke hopped down, tension evaporating like it had never been there. Jin-Chul watched him for a suspicious heartbeat before driving off.
Sasuke stared after the receding car."That's two down." he murmured, a faint green glow pulsing in his palm.
'The neat thing about root magic? If I focus, I can feel even the smallest fragment. Break off a small piece into someone's clothes… drop one in their car… it doubles as a tracker.'
He already had one on that annoying eggplant from the parking garage— and now he had one on Jin-Chul.
"All that's left," Sasuke said, closing his fist and turning toward the city, "is deciding who to follow."
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The rain pelted down the docks as the car rolled to a stop. Seven was the first to step out. He walked around to the passenger side and yanked Min-jae's door open.
"After you, doc," he said with his usual lazy disinterest.
"Thanks, Seven."
Min-jae stepped out, opening his umbrella against the downpour. He turned back to the still-occupied car.
"Come on, Minho. We've arrived. There's a lot to do."
"Huh?" Minho blinked rapidly. "We're already here?"
"Yeah, idiot." Seven muttered, irritation creeping in. "Now get out. I'm getting soaked here."
He stalked off toward the building with Min-jae following behind. Minho quickly climbed out of the car and chased after them. Minho caught up with them and Min-jae was kind enough to offer some cover under his umbrella.
"Thanks." Minho breathed.
"Don't mention it." Min-jae said with a tired smile—warm, but distant in a way Minho hadn't felt before.
The trio reached a building not far from the docks. It was a fishing company called Haejin Marine. A processing plant—where fish were gutted, cleaned, frozen, and sold to suppliers. Under the stormlight, it looked more like an abandoned fortress than a workplace.
The moment they stepped inside, the air hit Minho like a physical blow.
The stench of blood, seawater, brine—thick and metallic—invaded his senses. With his mana-sharpened perception, it was overwhelming.
Seven eyed him for the corner of his eye. The unenergetic man sneered. "You can't even control your senses?" He shot Min-jae a sideways glare. "Is he really worth all this trouble?"
Min-jae didn't react. "He's my cousin," he said calmly. "After everything he's done for me, this is the least I owe him."
Seven just rolled his eyes. "Whatever."
"Sorry," Minho held his nose. "I wasn't expecting for the smell to be that strong."
"It's okay." Min-jae reassured, but Minho clarified. "No, it's not just that. I feel different… Stronger."
For a moment, Min-jae didn't respond. He simply kept walking, his face unreadable. Not cold—not hostile—just distant, like a mask had slowly replaced the cousin Minho remembered.
Minho furrowed his brows at the retreating back of his cousin. 'I can't get a read on him like I used to. After three years missing I suppose that's to be expected but…'
His fingers tightened around the umbrella handle.
'Is the man I consider brother… still in there.'
They reached an elevator and stepped inside.
"So?" Minho started. "Going up?" he joked.
"No." Seven answered with no humor. He pressed a button in the panel "Down."
"Down?" He blinked.
"Underground facility." Min-jae said, evenly. His body tensed and expression darkened as if preparing himself. "The fishing company is just a front for the real stuff we do down here."
"Real stuff?" Minho repeated, brows knitted together.
"Yeah," Seven said right as the elevator dinged to signal their arrival. "Whatever you see down here, you keep to yourself. Otherwise I'll be forced to kill you." He gave Minho a lazy side-eye.
Minho gulped. 'He said that way too casually.' He thought. But despite his lethargic disposition, the large tank knew that Seven would follow up on that promise.
Rows of massive test tubes lined the room—filled with swirling mana fluids. Colossal pods holding magic beast corpses floated in suspended animation. Mana reactors hummed with crystalline light. Robotic arms whirred, dissecting carcasses with inhuman precision. High-end arcane tech—stuff Minho had only ever seen in sci-fi movies—blinked and pulsed all around him.
"Follow me, Minho." Min-jae said, already stalking off into the facility.
Minho followed, every step filling him with apprehension and dread. Everything here was strange and didn't fill him with any calm. 'Was that a person?' Minho widened his eyes, as he stepped toward the hanging black veil. A faint rasping sounded from behind like someone who hadn't tasted water in days. The sound unnerved him.
Minho swallowed hard, fingers trembling as he slowly peeled back the veil.
Then—
A hand wrapped around his wrist, pulling him back. Minho's feet left the ground.
He hit the floor with a painful thud. Seven stood over him, barely bothered, rain-colored eyes flat and unimpressed.
"Sorry," he said, though his tone carried zero regret. "Didn't think you'd go flying off like that."
"What the hell?!" Minho snapped, cradling his wrist as he staggered upright. "What was that for?!"
"Don't go poking around where you shouldn't." Seven said, ignoring his cries. "Sheesh… you're like a little kid. Making me waste energy just to keep you from doing something stupid."
Min-jae watched Minho pick himself off the floor, not once moving to help. "Min-jae…" Minho said, voice low, hurt bleeding through. "What is all this? What exactly are you doing down here?"
"I'll explain once we reach my office."
That was all the explanation Min-jae offered, turning away and walking off. Minho thinned his lips, clenching his jaw as he followed after him. Seven trailing behind both of them, watching Minho with much more scrutiny.
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That's it! After all these months I'm back. I've been held up with irl stuff and suffering from a healthy dose of writer's block ngl. But now I'm back. This chapter had like 6 different drafts and each one I introduced a new character but I felt like that didn't fit so I just reworked it from scratch until I got this version.
Anyway, enough with the yap! I hope you enjoyed the chapter.