The next day, before dawn had even broken.
Nawaki and the others had already set up an ambush on the only path the bandits would take.
Since they didn't know exactly what time the bandits would leave the village, they arrived very early.
After several hours of patient waiting, everyone's bodies were already soaked by dew.
But none of this could distract their focus.
As the sun began rising from the east, a large group of people could finally be seen marching forward in full force.
Their movement was highly organized and quick-paced.
Being noticed by the Daimyō of the Land of Fire meant they still possessed some level of skill.
"Get ready, they're coming."
Nawaki gave a low shout, his expression serious as he stared ahead.
Even a lion gives its all when hunting a rabbit. He refused to allow any mistakes during the mission.
Another few dozen seconds passed, and the group slowly drew closer.
"Go!"
At Nawaki's command, they charged out from hiding, being the first to rush forward.
While still midair, his hands came together forming hand seals.
[Water Release: Water Colliding Wave!]
A water dragon rose from nowhere, enveloping Nawaki in a spiraling column of water as it surged upward.
Then, it spread outward like a waterfall. It crashed down fiercely into the heart of the bandit ranks.
"Quickly, dodge!"
Seeing the rushing water heading their way, the bandits panicked greatly.
For such a large-scale water technique to erupt from flat ground must have consumed an incredible amount of chakra.
They screamed in panic and scattered in all directions.
Those who couldn't dodge fast enough were either swept away by the current or blasted far away.
Only a few individuals managed to raise Earth Flow Walls to block Nawaki's attack.
Minato hurled a huge number of kunai, then his figure instantly vanished from the spot.
Wherever the Flying Thunder God technique brought him, countless lives were reaped.
To Minato, chaotic battle scenes like this felt like a fish in water.
Konan soared high with flapping wings; the bandits were like targets directly beneath her.
Some with enough strength could dodge her paper senbon, but couldn't hit her.
Those without sufficient ability were directly impaled by paper senbon, turning them into blood-soaked pincushions before exploding into crimson mist.
The scene became extremely bloody, leaving Nonou's team members quietly stunned.
They never expected someone so small and innocent-looking like Konan could be this brutal.
Yahiko performed steadily again, combining water techniques with taijutsu as he moved through the crowd.
He didn't walk away empty-handed in terms of kills.
Dealing with these people, Nagato didn't even need to use Rinnegan abilities.
Relying solely on an unending barrage of elemental techniques, Nagato kept everyone at bay.
"Pain, your strength isn't bad."
Nonou's opponents weren't strong, so she still had time to talk to Nagato.
"You're not bad either."
Nagato replied with feigned politeness.
He was barely trying, while Nonou was already pushing her limits.
There was absolutely no comparison!
"Same here."
Nagato clearly missed the humility in Nonou's tone, responding with cheerful laughter.
Others also used various methods, charging and attacking toward the bandits one after another.
These bandits were all ninja, though their strengths varied widely.
The weak ones were merely Genin, while the stronger ones reached Jonin-level power.
After being attacked, they began counterattacks under their squad leaders' organization.
Looking at Nawaki and others' clothing, they realized they were being hunted by Konoha's Anbu.
There was no way this would end peacefully now—their only hope was to fight with everything they had.
"They're from Konoha Anbu."
"Let's take 'em down!"
The bandit leader charged at Nawaki while shouting, not lacking in courage, that much was clear.
But not everyone shared his resolve and bravery.
Their ranks were already thinning after Nawaki's Water Release attacks.
And on top of that, Minato cut through them like a shinigami rising from hell.
Realizing they were outmatched, the bandits started thinking about retreating.
You wanna fight? Do it yourself! Ain't dying today!
Now's the time to look after my own life. What's Big Bro worth to me now? A damn joke!
Once the first one ran, others followed—second, third...
In the end, they were just a bunch of rabble.
"Don't let any targets escape!"
Nawaki exchanged a blow with the leader before calling out to the rest.
"I'll go chase them."
Nonou slit the bandit's throat with a casual flick of her blade, then sheathed it behind her back.
With a single leap, she darted off toward the fleeing enemies.
Lion and Nonou's captain had just finished off his opponent too.
Without hesitation, he immediately split off in another direction to pursue the remaining bandits.
"Kid, you've got some skill."
"No wonder you dared attack us with such a small team."
The bandit leader clashed with Nawaki without falling behind, instantly gaining a surge of confidence.
What he didn't know was that Nawaki had been mostly focused on observing the battlefield.
Earlier, he had merely countered casually, not even using his weapon.
It could be said the bandit leader was moderately strong—but nowhere near Nawaki's level.
"You don't think I've given it my all yet, do you?"
Nawaki sneered coldly, pulling out Samehada from behind him.
Without any flourish, he swung it straight across.
If it landed fully, even if it didn't kill outright, Samehada would drain every drop of his chakra.
"Bullshit talk."
Unaware death was already upon him, the bandit leader kept mouthing off.
Samehada hadn't even reached him yet, but the howling wind it carried warned him of impending doom.
This strike from Nawaki was both fast and heavy.
"Ahh~"
No way to dodge.
Struck full force by Samehada, the bandit leader flew through the air, several gaping wounds torn open across his chest and abdomen by the sword's sharp backward spikes.
Had he not blocked with his weapon, that single blow would've ended him.
Even so, he was in terrible shape—his chakra nearly drained, lying flat on the ground, pale-faced, almost unconscious.
Samehada extended its tongue with satisfaction, revealing rows of teeth.
O-oh...!
"Pathetic."
Nawaki barely glanced back at the body as he pushed off the ground, rushing forward to finish the bandit leader off.
He didn't waste another look, gripping Samehada tightly as he dashed toward another group of bandits.
With their leader dead, the remaining bandits lost what little will to fight they had left.
Already far outmatched, they were even less capable now.
The battlefield gradually turned into a one-sided slaughter.
Under relentless assault from Nawaki and his team, bandits fell one after another.
Nagato incinerated several nearby bandits with a Fire Release technique, then briefly scanned the area.
The outcome was already sealed; without thinking, he headed toward where Nonou was.
Even he didn't understand why he did it himself.
Maybe it was concern for his teammate—Nagato told himself that was the reason.
Nonou remained within his sensor range.
With several quick leaps, Nagato left the battlefield and entered the dense forest.
Along the way, he occasionally passed the corpses of bandits lying on the ground.
Each had been struck in a vital area—killed instantly.
Nonou's methods were ruthlessly efficient, but for an Anbu agent, this was standard practice.
After all, killing was their main purpose.
Anbu stood for "Assassination and Tactical Squad."
"Let's see where you can run now."
Nonou had chased the last three remaining bandits quite far.
These three were no pushovers—they had avoided direct confrontation all along.
They were already far from the battlefield, yet Nonou kept tailing them like a persistent fly, irritating them endlessly.
"Damn it, let's just take that woman down first."
"Running like this won't solve anything."
A bandit with a thick beard glanced back and saw Nonou still closely pursuing them.
"It's still too risky—we haven't put enough distance between us yet."
The bald bandit was cautious, fearing they'd be caught by more enemies if they hesitated even slightly.
This female Anbu wasn't much of a threat alone, but the Water Release ninja was out of their league.
"If we keep running, they'll track us down no matter where we go."
"Are we just going to be target practice?"
The last bandit, who had buckteeth, also supported the idea of eliminating Nonou first.
If they acted fast enough, killing Nonou would allow them to escape smoothly.
"The three of us taking her down? Easy as hell."
"What's there to hesitate about?"
The bearded bandit stopped in his tracks, determined to deal with Nonou first.
The bald one had no choice but to follow suit.
If he tried to run alone, his two companions wouldn't let him.
"That's the spirit. Hesitating like that makes you look weak."
The bucktoothed bandit grinned viciously, already imagining squashing that nuisance behind them like a bug.
"Ready to die yet?"
Nonou suddenly halted her steps, facing off against the three bandits not far ahead.
Her heart pounded slightly, but she didn't falter in voice.
Earlier, she had briefly fought these men—three together still hadn't matched her then.
"I'll send you to your death first, you stinking bitch."
The bearded man moved first, hurling multiple shuriken through the air toward Nonou.
Then all three leaped forward, swords drawn, launching themselves at Nonou in a powerful charge.
They aimed to eliminate her quickly.
"Wanna kill me? Try harder."
Dodging the incoming shuriken, Nonou drew her long blade from her back.
Using the Chakra Scalpel against them would be difficult.
As the three attackers closed in, Nonou immediately found herself in a desperate struggle.
Under their relentless assault, she was reduced to defending herself.
Soon, wounds appeared across her body. If this continued, she might truly perish here.
"I thought you were something special."
"One person dares chase us down? Fool—he doesn't even see death looming."
"Just because tigers hide their claws doesn't mean we're weaklings like you think."
The bearded bandit loved to talk trash while attacking relentlessly.
His arrogant gloating was disgustingly repulsive.
Gritting her teeth through the pain, Nonou refused to fall.
She firmly believed that if she could just hold on a bit longer, reinforcements would arrive.
"Push harder, she's almost done."
The bald bandit looked serious and kept glancing over Nonou's shoulder.
His impatience grew—the more fiercely Nonou resisted, the more uneasy he became.
"What's the rush? It hasn't even been that long."
The bucktoothed bandit seemed almost ecstatic. Every time he slashed another wound onto Nonou's body, he grew even more excited.
"Let's see how much longer you can last."
The bearded bandit seized the moment Nonou lowered her guard, stabbing toward her chest.
Trapped and outnumbered three-to-one, Nonou had no space to dodge.
All she could do was try her best to avoid critical injuries.
Puchi!
The sound of a blade piercing flesh rang out.
The long blade stabbed through Nonou's abdomen, followed by a harsh kick.
Her body convulsed as blood erupted from her mouth and she flew backward.
Everything in front of her eyes turned pitch black—she was nearly at her limit.
"Am I really going to die here?"
Before Nonou even hit the ground, this thought surfaced in her mind.
She had barely escaped from Root, finally breaking free from Danzō's grasp.
Even if she still had to carry out bloody missions in Anbu, it was still better than being trapped in Root.
There was still hope she could quit Anbu someday and live a normal life.
She hadn't even grown up yet, hadn't married, hadn't had her own child.
Her journey through life was still so long!
Crash!
Nonou crashed onto the ground, struggling to rise again.
She truly didn't want to die, but her body was already giving up on her.
"Die!"
The bandit's voice drew closer, his cold blade aimed directly at her throat.
Filled with regret, Nonou closed her eyes as if resigning herself to her fate.
Fine. Maybe in my next life... things will be different.
Ohhh...
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Dang!
A crisp metallic clang echoed in her ears.
The pain she had anticipated never arrived.
She quickly opened her eyes, and a silhouette—not particularly tall—emerged before her.
That fiery red hair shone so brightly.
Finally, someone had come to rescue her.
It was Pain!
"Are you okay?"
"Just wait a moment. Let me handle these three first."
Without turning around, Nagato spoke into Nonou's ear, his words carrying a slight edge of killing intent.
"Okay."
After uttering that single word, Nonou's entire body slumped.
She collapsed onto the ground, completely drained of strength.
Only helpless tears continued swirling in her eyes.
"Another fool who doesn't even know death when he sees it."
"Has he even finished growing his hair?"
"Now trying to play hero and save the damsel."
The bearded bandit had been pushed back by Nagato and muttered curses under his breath.
The other two beside him already sensed something was off.
This red-haired kid moved too fast, possessed too much chakra.
Nagato saw no point in wasting words on them. These men weren't worth his breath.
Sending them to the Shinigami would be enough.
Nagato hurled the kunai he'd used to block the earlier strike, then extended his palm outward.
[Universal Pull]
Instantly, a powerful invisible force erupted from his core, pulling them in with immense strength.
"Ahh—"
"What kind of technique is this?!"
The bodies of the three bandits floated uncontrollably toward Nagato with incredible speed.
People always feel indescribable fear when facing the unknown.
They flailed their limbs in desperate attempts to escape.
Yet they looked like puppets dancing under Nagato's control.
Even if this was only a basic usage of Universal Pull, how could these three weaklings possibly counter a Rinnegan ability?
After all, even Naruto couldn't resist the pulling force of Universal Pull when he was in Nine-Tails Chakra Mode.
"Damn it."
As the trio got sucked closer, Nagato swept his hand forward with a flash of chakra light.
The three bandits fell flat on the ground instantly, blood pouring from their throats and staining the ground crimson.
All of this happened within just a few seconds.
Earlier, the bearded bandit's arrogant taunts had now become a slap on his own face.
But it didn't matter anymore—he had already paid for it with his life.
Dying under the power of the Rinnegan might even be considered an honor for him.
If it weren't for the urgency of time, Nagato wouldn't have chosen to reveal his special ability.
Truly, he didn't know what conventional ninjutsu theory could explain this pulling force.
Besides, revealing the Rinnegan wasn't something he could do freely—it was a direct order from Kawaki.
He hoped Nonou wouldn't grow too curious; otherwise, he would find himself in a difficult position.
Nonou stared in shock, flat on the ground, her mind blank.
She'd expected Nagato to win, but not this effortlessly.
Three bandits who had driven her to the brink seemed as helpless as infants before him.
No, worse than infants—as helpless as ants before an elephant.
What true strength did Pain possess?
And what kind of face lay hidden behind that mask?
Her curiosity about Nagato skyrocketed even higher.
She felt this red-haired youth was like a mysterious treasure waiting to be uncovered.
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