"Is this the place?"
The group of four arrived at their mission location, a large mountain on the border of the Land of Fire. A group of bandits had appeared there at some unknown time and were living secretly. Many missing people eventually led to the discovery of these bandits.
The four looked at the crude fence and the thatched huts before them. Akido Jiro said, "There are quite a few houses. Looks like there are a lot of people!"
Yamamoto Kawa nodded in agreement, "Hmm, and there are lookouts and patrols. Just how many people are there?!"
Sarutobi Muraki said, "This mission is up to you. I will be watching you act from the side. You can do whatever you want, but remember, the mission is to exterminate the bandits, kill them all! And rescue the hostages!"
"Yes!" The three immediately began to discuss, and finally decided on assassination. If they were exposed, they would then engage in direct combat.
Finally, Yuhi, Akido Jiro, and Yamamoto Kawa began to infiltrate from three directions, slowly approaching the bandit camp.
Yuhi suddenly appeared in front of the lookout high up. He was so startled he wanted to shout, but Yuhi immediately used a genjutsu on him, directly controlling him.
After controlling the high-altitude lookout bandit, Yuhi approached the person standing guard nearby. She slowly walked behind him. Yuhi watched him with his back to her, completely defenseless. The hand holding her Kunai hesitated for a moment.
Yuhi shook her head, no longer struggling internally: "It's already come to this, what is there to hesitate about? It's just killing people, isn't it? In this world, killing is as normal as can be."
Yuhi pretended to throw out a bandage to wrap around the bandit, but in reality, she manipulated the bandage, which was covered in Divine Ink talismans, to cover his mouth, and then used a Kunai to slit his throat.
Looking at the blood on the ground and the corpse, it was impossible not to feel anything. However, there were still many tasks to do.
Yuhi sighed inwardly, then used the Clone Technique and Transformation Technique, transforming into the bandit's appearance, and continued to infiltrate.
From a distance, Sarutobi Muraki's clone stroked his chin in surprise, "Making the bandage curve to wrap around the enemy, is that a control method similar to manipulating puppet strings? She knows quite a bit."
"Hm? Rat, why are you here? Are you also thinking about that woman we robbed earlier? Don't worry, it'll be your turn soon, hehehe…"
"Crack!" As a crisp sound rang out, Yuhi directly broke his neck from behind him. His neck bent at a strange angle, and then Yuhi held his body, slowly lowering it to the ground.
Yuhi listened to the woman's moans and the man's gasps coming from inside the room. Her face turned ugly as she pushed open the door and walked in.
A naked man saw the person who entered. Just as he was about to say something, he saw his subordinate Rat's eyes turn crimson, and he, too, became immersed in genjutsu."
Yuhi looked at the woman, who was covered in injuries and almost unconscious. She sighed. When she was a man in her previous life, she would get angry hearing about such things, let alone now that she had become a woman.
Yuhi was afraid the woman would scream in fear. So she also hypnotized her. Yuhi walked in front of him, thinking, "Consider yourself lucky. If someone wasn't watching, you wouldn't have died so easily."
Yuhi directly broke his neck. Just as she was about to walk out, she heard shouts from outside.
Finally, someone discovered something was wrong and shouted, "Help! There's an enemy, ah!"
Immediately, a clamor of sounds erupted outside.
Yuhi saw the situation. She didn't bother with any more words, drew her long sword, and directly began cutting down every bandit she saw.
Yuhi killed many bandits, eventually becoming numb to the act.
Yuhi saw Yamamoto Kawa also engaged in slaughter, but as he killed more and more bandits, his hands trembled more, and his face became much paler. Finally, he started throwing shuriken, which made him seem less uncomfortable.
However, Yuhi noticed that his shuriken accuracy wasn't as good as before. Several people who should have died instantly were instead crying out in pain on the ground because of slightly off aim, forcing him to finish them off with another strike.
Yuhi looked at the bandit coming at her with a knife. She directly swung her sword, severed his arm, and then pierced him through with a single strike.
Yuhi pulled out her sword, and the bandit fell to the ground. Before dying, he looked at her with hatred, then his eyes lost their light.
Yuhi saw that most of the bandits had been killed. Akido Jiro went to chase after the fleeing ones. Yuhi also took out a Kunai and threw it at the lookout bandit high up who was under her genjutsu. That bandit, still under the genjutsu, remained standing there blankly.
This Kunai pierced directly into his head. His body fell stiffly, then dropped to the ground.
At this moment, Sarutobi Muraki walked over. He said to Yamamoto Kawa, "Kawa! Do you realize your mistake?"
Yamamoto Kawa covered his face, saying with a slight tremor, "Yes! I didn't do well! I thought killing would be easy, but… I didn't expect to hesitate!"
Sarutobi Muraki sighed, "This is what it means to be a Ninja: to obey orders, carry out missions, and endure everything that ordinary people cannot endure. Killing is commonplace for a Ninja. There will be more such incidents in the future. If your hesitation is discovered, leading to mission failure, how dangerous do you think that would be? Not just for you, but for your comrades as well."
Yamamoto Kawa lowered his head in shame, "Yes! Teacher, I was wrong! I will adapt next time!"
Sarutobi Muraki patted his head and said, "It's your first time. Just be careful in the future."
"Yes!" Yamamoto Kawa lowered his head in shame.
Sarutobi Muraki said to the three of them, "Hmm, the bandits have all been killed by you. You did very well. Now, bring out the hostages. Someone will come to pick them up soon."
Yuhi and the other two brought out the women, one by one, their eyes dull, and then settled them in a room.
Akido Jiro, also pale, asked, "Teacher, what should we do with these bodies?"
Sarutobi Muraki said, "Arrange them neatly in a row, then have the villagers identify them."
"Ah?" Yuhi was greatly surprised.
Sarutobi Muraki asked, "What's wrong?"
Yuhi said with an ugly expression, "Teacher, you should have said so earlier! I wouldn't have chopped them up like this. Some are in several pieces."
Hearing Yuhi's words, Akido Jiro and Yamamoto Kawa looked at the bandits Yuhi had killed. They immediately covered their mouths.
Especially Akido Jiro, several bandits had been flattened by him. Thinking of this, he felt even more nauseous.
But there was no other way; they could only clean up the bodies they had dealt with.
Yuhi could only pitifully plead, "Hey, you two men, help me!"
Both acted as if they hadn't heard her, busy with their own tasks.
Seeing this, Yuhi had no choice but to deal with the bandit bodies herself.
Yuhi dragged the hand of a bandit she had killed, and the bandit's internal organs immediately spilled out, along with some foul-smelling excrement.
Looking at the blood, organs, and excrement all mixed together.
"Ugh…" Yuhi nearly vomited.
The two heard the sound and looked over, their gaze eventually falling on the bodies, and then they both immediately started vomiting.
"Ugh… Wah—"
Yuhi looked at Sarutobi Muraki, but he acted as if he hadn't seen anything.
Yuhi could only create a clone to help with the cleanup. Fortunately, Yuhi slowly adapted in the end.
Finally, after the villagers confirmed them, Yuhi piled their bodies together and burned them all with a Fire Release.
On the way back, all three had grim expressions as they followed behind Sarutobi Muraki. And Akido Jiro and Yamamoto Kawa kept their distance from Yuhi.
Yuhi looked at them speechlessly, complaining, "Honestly, and you call yourselves men! I'm a woman and I can endure it, can't you? How are you going to be Ninjas?!"
[ +1 chapter, 10 power stones (2/5) ] (previous week)