Baku then began explaining the situation in more detail. He described how these bandits had appeared several weeks ago.
He noted that they didn't initially attack violently. Instead, they established their presence and made demands.
Kuita and Nao nodded in understanding; this much they had known when they were given this mission.
Next, Baku spoke about the demands. "Extortion," he stated.
"Their primary demand is money— a significant sum, far more than our village can easily spare."
He described how the bandits enforced their demands.
"To enforce their demands," Baku continued, "the bandits carry out acts of intimidation and minor destruction."
This included threatening villagers, raiding homes, stealing personal belongings, and damaging crucial things like equipments.
Kuita and Nao listened to the full situation but didn't show much surprise.
They had encountered their fair share of missions like this and understood how these low-level bandit groups typically operated.
However, the same wasn't the case for the other three new Genin.
Shin and Sato, while their mouths were still stuffed with food from Baku's hospitality, spoke up.
Shin exclaimed, "Kuita-san, we should quickly go and eliminate these Bandits! How can they do this to innocent villagers!"
Sato nodded vigorously, still chewing, giving a faint munch.
Kaiji also felt bad for the villagers, but he didn't say anything aloud.
He knew that since his team was here now, this bandit group's reign of terror would soon be over.
Kuita addressed the two emotional Genin. "You two," he said calmly, "first eat and then speak."
He then looked at Baku again. "What about their leader?!" he asked.
"The leader of this Bandit group is actually never comes personally," Baku replied.
"But he sends patrols to the village periodically to collect their 'Tribute' and remind villagers of their power, keeping the population in constant fear."
Then Nao asked a crucial question. "And what about their hideout's location, do you know anything?" She inquired.
Baku nodded. "Yes, we do!" He affirmed.
Baku explained the location of the bandits' hideout.
"On the west side of village," he said, "around two hours of walk, a old but now broken shrine is their Hideout."
When Kuita and Nao nodded, seemingly accepting this information, Kaiji asked a question that came to his mind.
"But how did you know about their Hideout?" he asked.
"I mean, were these Bandits this stupid to let villagers know about their hideout?"
Kaiji genuinely felt it was too easy. How could bandits not even manage to keep their main hideout a secret?
Before Baku could reply, Nao spoke up, anticipating Kaiji's thought process.
She said, "General idea, after watching where they go or knowing landmarks, these are simple details that make the hideouts of Bandit groups easy to find."
Kuita also nodded. After all, even if bandits were weak compared to ninjas, that didn't mean all of them were stupid.
But bandits still weren't perfect, and often not as careful as trained shinobi.
Baku nodded towards Kaiji and explained the situation from the villagers' perspective.
He begins, "As Kunoichi-sama has said, we actually didn't follow them."
He clarified, "But after bandits raid, we able to see which direction they leave in."
He continued, "And they always leaves towards the old shrine area in same pattern all the time."
He described the surrounding area.
"And around the west side of village, in a 30km area, no place or village is present aside from that old shrine which is only two hours of walk and closest to the village."
Kaiji, upon hearing this detailed explanation, nodded in understanding.
The pattern and lack of other options made their destination obvious.
Then Kuita got up from the chair and said, "Alright, we are going now."
It was still daytime, early afternoon, around 11 AM.
Kuita thought it was better to complete the mission and go back to Sunagakure as fast as they could.
The entire team stood up and got ready to go to the bandits' hideout.
Kaiji, Shin, and Sato, who were already frustrated because of the tiring travel in the intense heat, wanted to take that frustration out on the bandits.
With that, the team walked to the west side of the village.
Their destination was the supposed Old Shrine, where they would take care of the bandit group.
They took a few water bottles with them for the walk.
They walked towards the direction of the Old Shrine.
They weren't using Body Flicker Technique, choosing to conserve their energy as much as they could for the potential fight.
After walking for around two hours, they reached their destination.
Not too far from where they stood, they saw what was left of a broken shrine.
Sato asked a question. "Kuita-san, did all bandits usually hide in a place like this?" He inquired.
Kaiji and Shin also looked towards Kuita, curious to hear his response, although this wasn't something extraordinary.
Kuita nodded and said, "Yes, usually this kind of places are bandits' hideouts."
He then pointed towards the broken walls and parts of the roof that were all that remained of this old shrine.
He explained, "This is the best hideout place for bandits, because it's an abandoned and a bit spooky place."
He added, "And it's close enough to go to Village and come back for them."
The three new Genin nodded, understanding the logic.
Then Nao spoke up. "Alright," she commanded, her voice firm, "take out your weapons and be ready!"
All of them then took a Kunai in their hands.
They walked slowly towards the shrine without making any sound.
Once they got a little closer to the shrine, they heard chatters from inside, a low chatter that carried on the desert wind.
They looked inside from a broken window and saw that the bandits were drinking and chatting.
They overheard the conversation. The bandits were talking about how their life had been good the moment this new leader came.
They were getting a lot of money and resources from Sunaka no Sato village.
Kuita keenly observed the number of bandits inside. He then spoke to his team in a low voice.
"There are around 12 to 15 Bandits inside," he reported.
He assessed the situation for his team and stated, "This number is large enough to intimidate and overwhelm an unarmed civilian population."
He then offered reassurance, "But you three don't worry, this is manageable for trained ninjas."
The three new Genin nodded. Their eyes were burning with the desire to take their accumulated frustration out on these bandits.
Kuita and Nao chuckled lightly at their expressions.
They really didn't look like newly graduated Genin on their first mission.
Then Kuita gave the final command. "Alright, Let's go!"
***