With Senju Yoru gone, Senju Mori's attention returned once more to the valley below.
The three young shinobi moved like phantoms, blending into the forest, weaving between lush trees as they closed in on the valley floor.
Mori stood atop the high ground, his gaze calm as he followed their movements—like an eagle observing fledglings taking their first true flight.
The battle—no, the clearing operation—began swiftly and silently.
Hatake Sakumo, moving like a shadow riding on the wind, was the first to eliminate the lookout on the eastern vantage point.
His short blade didn't even fully leave its sheath; a single precise strike with the hilt, and the sentry collapsed without a sound.
Almost simultaneously, Orochimaru used a combination of Clone Technique and a basic genjutsu to draw the southern sentry's attention.
Then, slipping behind him, he silently finished him with a kunai.
The northern lookout fell to Tsunade—she leapt up the cliff with explosive force and brought her hand down in a sharp chop.
"Is that it..."
Tsunade stared at the fallen enemy, her chest rising and falling.
It was her first real battle.
"East, south, north. Visible sentries cleared," Sakumo reported as he appeared beside her, his voice steady as always.
Orochimaru joined them noiselessly, licking his lips.
"Then… let's begin the 'cleanup.'"
With their sentries gone, the bandit camp was like a beast with its fangs pulled.
The stragglers around the outskirts were dealt with quickly.
But when Sakumo burst into the central clearing like a flash of silver, his blade shattering several weapons in an instant—that was when the true chaos erupted.
"W-We're under attack! It's ninja!"
The bandits scrambled for their weapons, but against three properly trained Konoha shinobi, their resistance was pitiful.
Sakumo's blade work was simple yet lethal.
He weaved through the enemy ranks, each strike disabling an opponent cleanly—never killing, but removing the threat with surgical precision.
Orochimaru flowed across the battlefield, using unpredictable Earth Release techniques to take down enemy after enemy.
Of the three, his style most resembled Senju Mori's own.
Tsunade hesitated for a heartbeat when a bandit charged at her with a raised sword.
But when the blade brushed past her golden hair, instinct and training snapped into place.
"Hah!"
Her small frame erupted with a terrifying strength far beyond her size.
Sidestep—evade—strike!
A dull, violent thud rang out.
The bandit's chest visibly caved in as he was sent flying, crashing through a tent behind him.
Her face turned a little pale from killing for the first time—
but her gaze quickly hardened.
She hesitated no longer, plunging into the fray like a tiger among sheep.
Each punch and kick carried bone-crushing force, unstoppable.
Senju Mori watched quietly from the hillside.
He saw Sakumo's precision and efficiency.
He saw Orochimaru's cunning and creativity.
He saw Tsunade's transformation from hesitation to iron resolve.
As expected of children raised in an era of war—
Even without true battlefield experience, they were nothing like the sheltered blossoms that would bloom decades later.
Mori was quite satisfied with their performance.
However, his thoughts were not entirely on the battle.
The scarcity of bandits and rogue shinobi around Konoha was no coincidence.
The Anbu squad led by Senju Yoru had been continuously "recovering" such human scum—
and sending them to that secret underground laboratory beneath Konoha, overseen by Advisor Momoka.
Beyond that, during the previous war, the Security Division led by Hyūga Sōgo and the Police Force run by the Uchiha had also made frequent sorties, capturing a considerable number of foreign spies who had infiltrated the village.
As "living material" for the research on Hashirama's cells, those captives should be more than sufficient.
At that moment, the door of the largest wooden hut in the camp was suddenly kicked open.
The bandit leader—a burly man with a vicious scar carved across his face—charged out wielding an enormous machete.
Seeing the devastation in the camp, his eyes nearly burst from rage.
"You little brats! You're asking for death!"
His equipment was crude but clearly superior to that of the average bandit.
With a swing of his massive blade, a chaotic gust of cutting wind actually forced Sakumo back a step.
It resembled, somewhat, the sword techniques used by the samurai of the Land of Iron.
"Looks like he's a bit troublesome," Orochimaru narrowed his golden pupils.
"Leave it to me!" Tsunade stepped forward, stance firm, eyes locked sharply onto the leader.
The battle was short but fierce.
The bandit leader's strength and experience caused Tsunade some trouble at first.
But with Sakumo's coordinated harassment and Orochimaru's constant interference, she swiftly caught the enemy in a moment of vulnerability.
Boom!
A chakra-infused punch slammed into the side of the machete.
The steel weapon shattered under the blow.
The bandit leader's hands split open, disbelief flooding his face—
and before he could react, Sakumo's short blade swept across his neck.
The battle was over.
The three disciples stood amidst the wrecked camp, breathing lightly.
Dust and blood stained their clothes, but their eyes were sharper and more mature than when they had left the village.
Senju Mori silently appeared beside them.
"Mission accomplished."
He announced it calmly.
"Well done. Each of you displayed your strengths."
His gaze swept over the three, seeing the exhaustion in their eyes, the excitement, and the subtle release that comes after fulfilling a duty.
"But remember the feelings of today—
the tension of combat, and the relief after victory.
These are all part of the path of a shinobi."