Just as he was about to advance further into the thicket, "NOO! -YOU STAY HERE, DON'T LEAVE THE CARRIAGES!" A lieutenant screamed, Kudo awkwardly retreated, and though no enemies had breached the encirclement, he paid attention; his hands, however, threw shuriken, taking advantage of enemy openings.
A 100m from the carriages, the elite chunins were in deep battle, "Kill them all!" Sou Hidekiyo roared, his kunai clashing with Fujiwara's short blade, eyes staring holes into the enemy, "Who are you?" Fujiwara asked, after assessing the battle, he knew they would win, but he didn't want to lose men unnecessarily.
"Who knows?" Sou Hidekiyo smirked, exerting more force with his kunai, Fujiwara relaxed his muscles, causing the bandit leader to fall in, but the emerging earth spikes made Fujiwara flicker away.
Flickering towards Hidekiyo, he released a jet stream of fire that set the vegetation on fire. Hidekiyo retreated from the fire, standing a few meters from Fujiwara. He took a whistle and blew into it. Immediately, a sharp sound rang out in the forest.
"What did you do?" Fujiwara asked, piecing something together, "I called for help, that's all. Did you think that we are fools?" With a smug grin, he rushed forward once more.
Near the caravan, although the caravan had 100 men, only 75 were fighting forces, and with some fighting in the forest, a new group showed up, making the battle more intense near the caravan.
"Kill that kid with the shurikens," Fusanobu roared as he charged in with the reserve forces. They had reached out to nearby bandit forces, and with a promise to split the spoils, they had even more manpower.
Kudo, seeing the rushing mass of forces, took a step forward, making a hand seal. 'I need to focus,' his thoughts focused on his trembling hands. "Clear the way!" Kudo furiously shouted, building up a large amount of chakra, "Water style: Great water bullet!" A large water bullet streaked through the air, "Brace!" Fusanobu immediately shouted, the water slammed everything in its way to smithereens and exploded mid enemy formation, washing everything away. The water streaked around the caravan group.
The battle became silent as everyone was finding a foothold, but also shocked, "Damn brat." Fusanobu grit his teeth, and he stepped on shallow puddles, looking at his now ragtag army.
Making the snake hand seal, Kudo crouched down while his allies and enemies were reorienting themselves, "Lighting style: Chasing serpents!" A streak of blue flight flashed, and 'Fuck' Fusanobu thought, trying to leap away, but he was too late, lightning streaks covered about 25 meters, electrocuting everything within, behind him, the lieutenant looked in wonder.
The bandits screamed in agony, being electrocuted to death. A few seconds later, the battle had settled, but a piercing kunai made its way to Kudo, who heaved breathlessly and responded in kind, trading blows with the enemy. "Clang!"
Fusanobu, consumed by hatred, stared at Kudo, his every being radiating loathing and intent to kill. He stood with burn marks, especially on his legs, that looked like charred tree bark. His legs spasmed frequently, making him look like he was about to fall, gritting his teeth, "I will kill you, Konoha scum!"
"Not today. Surround him and clean up the others!" The lieutenant stepped forward, he was just a chunin, and even then, he was not decent, 'I let my guard down, I thought the battle was finished.' Looking at Kudo, he felt a pang of regret; if his village were to lose such a prospect, he would be an eternal sinner.
"Retreat, we will handle this." Kudo nodded weakly at the order, "I won't fall!" Fusanobu charged into the guards; no matter how many times he was stabbed, he refused to fall. Watching this, he recovered and admired his spirit, even if he found it foolish.
A dozen minutes later, the battle near the caravan had settled, and all enemies had been annihilated.
Kudo took steps towards Fusanobu's corpse, and he drew subtle glances in his direction. "I, Kudo Tanehiko, recognize your spirit of battle." Though conflicted, the others looked away, but Kudo nodded to himself, 'I need at least this spirit to fight the battles ahead.' He had thought of himself as someone with grit, but today he saw a greater peak; he felt glad that there was more to flesh out, more limits to break.
A few minutes later, Fujiwara, along with the 5 elite chunins, returned. Though Sou Hidekiyo and his group were strong for bandits, they were still weaker than leaf-trained shinobi.
Fujiwara took note of the intense scorch marks and shot a puzzled look at the lieutenant.
The caravan moved a few meters through the path and set up camp. They had injured people, and some were dead, but they couldn't set up camp at the scene of the battle.
Around midnight, Fujiwara found Kudo by himself, a fire crackling as he stared deep into the fire, an unnerving scene.
"What are you thinking of?" Fujiwara said, after hearing the battle report, he was impressed; he had never thought Murata had it in him, his son was going to become a monster of a shinobi.
"My enemies." Kudo subconsciously replied; however, even as he came, there was not a hint of regret or self-blame in his eyes, just less innocence. His eyes were sharp, piercing even as Fujiwara looked at the child before him, although he thought it immature, he could still understand it as a shinobi.
Fujiwara nodded, "You did good work out there." Having said that, he left. After a few seconds, Kudo stood up, and it was time to face the music. He had avoided his mother, and she must be worried.
Entering a carriage, "Mother, I-" "SLAP!" Kudo flashed a look of shock as he rubbed his hand over the slap, voice trembling, "Mom?"
His mother, bawling her eyes out, said, "Why did you do that? Why do you want to leave me?" Smudging her tears, "I shouldn't have allowed this. What sane mothers do? Perhaps if Murata hadn't pushed for it, our family would still be whole, and I wouldn't have to be by myself or have sleepless nights waiting for you to come back alive or not. I just need my baby, not whatever you have become." His mother cried, her teary eyes meeting his solemn eyes, as he began to cry.
"I don't want to leave you, Mom; I just want to protect you!" He argued, "I don't need you to protect me! I don't want you to die, you are my son, my little boy." Ina grabbed his shoulder, her clenched fist feeling the weight of her hands.
Kudo clenched his teeth, not knowing what to say, his gaze lost a bit of focus, questioning whether he was right or a quieter life with his mother was better.
"No." His voice tense after a few minutes of heavy silence, "I need to do this, I know you are scared, Mom, so am I. I am also scared, but I must do this. And I need you to trust me." His gaze was resolute.