"Captain, let's take a break!" Uchiha Huo rubbed his stomach and shouted toward Saitama up ahead.
This was an area deep behind Konoha's front lines. Saitama's squad had been assigned to inspect the region's safety since it contained a backup supply route, which meant security was relatively tight here.
"Fine, fine—we'll rest for a bit!" Saitama signaled for Uchiha Huo to relax before leaping up into a tree and sitting on one of its thick branches.
"This is so boring. I wonder when HQ will give us another mission." Uchiha Huo sat by the roots of a large tree, grumbling under his breath.
"Shut up! A ninja's duty is to carry out their given task. Don't go meddling in things that don't concern you!" Uchiha Yan, sitting across from his older brother, snapped at him harshly.
"I was just thinking out loud! Seriously, patrolling back here all the time *is* super boring. Don't you think so too, Captain?"
Uchiha Huo tried shifting focus onto Saitama, knowing once the captain spoke, his idiot brother wouldn't keep teasing him.
Saitama didn't respond immediately, staring at Uchiha Huo with a blank expression until the younger man felt chills run down his spine.
"Alright alright, I get it!" Uchiha Huo quickly gave in, then turned sideways and rested his chin in both hands.
"Let's take a five-minute break, walk the patrol route one more time, then head back." Saitama checked his watch—he and his team had already been out for most of the day.
"Sweet!" At hearing they would return soon, Uchiha Huo visibly brightened while Uchiha Yan remained expressionless.
...
"Whoosh!"
A figure darted through the forest as Saitama scanned different points around them. Even though this was far behind Konoha's frontline, vigilance was still required.
"Did you guys hear something?" Saitama twitched his ears slightly, puzzled. He thought he heard crackling flames, but couldn't be sure.
"Hear what, Captain?" Uchiha Huo stopped walking to listen carefully, but caught nothing.
"West side."
After identifying the direction, Saitama announced.
"Whoosh!" Without hesitation, he quickened his pace toward the west. If his memory served correctly, there were a few families from the Land of Fire living in that direction.
Here, although not far from the border, due to the presence of a vast forest, some ordinary civilians from Fire Country lived off hunting.
The sound kept growing louder and clearer in his ears. A sense of foreboding steadily rose within Saitama.
"Swish!"
Leaping past a massive tree blocking his view, Saitama saw roaring flames burst into sight. For a brief moment, killing intent flickered in his eyes before vanishing completely.
"What the hell is this? What's going on?!" The Uchiha brothers had followed closely behind Saitama and now also bore witness to the scene. Uchiha Huo could barely believe it—this was way behind the front line! Who dared cause trouble this deep inside Konoha territory?
Before them raged towering infernos as row after row of wooden houses burned slowly into ash. Clearly visible were several corpses lying before the homes, already being charred black by the flames.
"Damn it to hell!"
[Swoosh!] Saitama tightened his grip on the sword, his murderous intent unmistakable.
"They can't be far—they only started causing trouble in this area recently."
Uchiha Yan observed the surroundings carefully and then made a judgment based on his experience.
"After them! I'll show these bastards what happens when they mess with my territory!"
Saitama was furious that enemies dared to destroy things near the area he patrolled. He was equally shocked they had the audacity to create such chaos while bypassing the defensive lines!
"Captain, since they dared do this, their strength must be..." Uchiha Yan warned, though he completely trusted Saitama's abilities.
Ignoring Yan's words entirely, Saitama's heart burned with rage.
The enemy tried to cover their tracks, but their methods were way too clumsy. Nothing escaped Saitama's sharp eyes. A few quick observations were all he needed—he immediately figured out which way they'd gone and took off after them.
...
"Jantz! How does it feel? Ha! Destroying stuff in the Land of Fire feels pretty exciting, right?"
A horse-faced ninja spoke to his companion. They were only two people, yet the horse-faced one showed absolutely no panic.
"Rongfay, this is actually behind Konoha—keep this up much longer and we'll inevitably get caught eventually, sigh!"
The other ninja seemed somewhat worried about their own safety, frowning as he spoke to Rongfay.
"Pfft, why bother worrying so much? After we got separated from the captain, I knew there'd be no going back anyway. So why hold myself back? Killing a few is already making profit!"
Rongfay didn't care at all, his face filled with pure madness in his final moments.
"Previously when we encountered Konoha ninjas, we had no choice but to go against the grain and keep moving deeper into Konoha's rear. I wonder what the captain and the others were up to now!"
Jantz sighed, fully understanding their current situation. Though Konoha's ninja hadn't discovered them yet, it was only a matter of time—especially with how recklessly they were acting.
"Come on, let's keep going deeper—don't think too much! Maybe we can still escape pursuit by Konoha."
Rongfay gestured for Jantz to continue forward, taking steps himself to move ahead.
[Zzzzzip!] A piercing whistling noise shot through the air, making both men stiffen.
[Fleeing? Where do you think you're running to?!]
Before he even arrived, Saitama's voice, filled with rage, reached the pair's ears.
Just as fear gripped them, they spotted a streak of blue-white lightning closing in fast from behind. Immediately, they sped up desperately trying to escape.
[Shua!]
Saitama landed several meters in front of the two men, leaving scorched black marks upon the earth.
"A Konoha ninja!?" Rongfay frowned slightly. Although he always expected being discovered was inevitable, he honestly felt like he hadn't played around enough yet!
"Just one person?" Jantz noticed Saitama had come alone, revealing a glimmer of hope on his face.
"You brat! Daring to block us alone—looking for death!" Rongfay shouted, quickly exchanging glances with Jantz.
To locate the enemies faster, Saitama had sped ahead at high speed, separating him slightly from the Uchiha brothers, allowing him to catch up first.
"Kill him!"
Rongfay gritted his teeth. The opponent was alone and looked quite young—probably just a chunin. There were two of them here, so they could definitely kill him and escape!
With that thought, Rongfay sprang into action, raising his blade high and charging toward Saitama. Behind him, Jantz followed closely with a massive axe in both hands, his eyes locked onto Saitama, brimming with murderous intent.
"This is really asking for death!" Saitama exclaimed as he saw the two rushing at him without hesitation.
He had originally assumed that only a team with immense strength and guts would dare to do something like this behind Konoha's territory. Now that he'd caught up, though, it turned out they were just a pair of nobodies.
"But that doesn't mean you get to live!"
Saitama placed his hand on the hilt of his sword, a cruel murderous intent spreading across his face. His eyes locked onto the enemy's weak points, arcs of electricity flickering across his body.
"Swish!"
"Slash!"
"Crack!"
"Huh! Huh!"
The two crashed to the ground simultaneously, their weapons shattered beside them. One clean slash from Saitama—and both had lost their hands!
"Ahhh! Damn you, Konoha ninja!" Blood poured continuously from where his hands used to be as Rongfay writhed on the ground, cursing Saitama.
The other ninja couldn't bear the pain—and had already passed out cold, completely still. Judging by how fast the blood was pouring from his wrists, he wouldn't last much longer.
"Hehe. Playing around here, huh? Is it fun?"
Standing over the still-struggling ninja, Saitama crushed one severed hand underfoot.
"Hehe. You must be furious, huh? Still—this is actually a lot of fun!"
Knowing there was no hope left, Rongfay showed no sign of backing down verbally.
"Great. I think the next part will be fun too!" A smile spread across Saitama's face, revealing nothing of his inner fury.
Watching Saitama's grin, alarm bells rang in Rongfay's mind. A terrible premonition washed over him.
"Konoha ninja, if you've got guts, just finish me off quickly!"
"I will. Don't rush."
Saitama kicked hard, striking the enemy's chin.
"Crunch!"
His jaw snapped free from the rest of his facial bones, unable to open or close anymore!
"Mmm... ahh... ha!"
Fear appeared in the enemy's eyes. He seemed to foresee what would happen next, struggling even more violently.
[Crackle, crackle!] With lightning crackling in his palms, Saitama sent arcs of raw lightning surging into the enemy's severed wrists, stopping the bleeding while creating a stench of burnt flesh. The injuries looked even worse now!
"Sss!"
Having stopped the bleeding, Saitama watched the enemy writhing under his boot.
[Creeeak!] Still channeling lightning through his hands, he kept launching shocks repeatedly across the enemy's entire body.
"Ahhh!"
Despite continuous screams of agony, the enemy couldn't break free and could only twitch slightly beneath Saitama's crushing weight.
"Just kill me already!" Covered in electricity that inflicted relentless pain without delivering the mercy of death, the enemy cried.
[Crackle, crackle!]
Saitama increased the intensity of the current, earning louder cries of pain from the enemy in return.
"P-please… kill me…"
The enemy was charred all over, his eyes seemingly blinded, unable to see properly. He could only turn his head in the direction he remembered Saitama being and stammered, trembling.
"How infuriating!"
Saitama swung his sword in a single slash, ending the enemy's life, then a streak of lightning struck the unconscious enemy.
"Ahh!" The enemy jolted awake from the shock. As soon as he came to, pain surged through both his hands, and he rolled around on the ground.
Repeating the exact same method, Saitama inflicted the same punishment on this enemy once again, and finally ended it with another decisive slash.
"Swoosh!"
The other two members of the squad arrived belatedly, landing on a nearby tree branch.
"Captain?"
Uchiha Huo cautiously called out to Saitama but dared not get too close.
It wasn't just from the smell reminiscent of grilled meat, but also from the sight of Saitama smiling calmly beside the two unrecognizable corpses.
"Yeah, it's over."
Saitama exhaled deeply, regaining his composure and signaling them to come help clean up the bodies.
Enemy corpses were still valuable during wartime—as long as their brains were intact, intelligence could be extracted.
Uchiha Yan approached, took out a scroll, and skillfully sealed the bodies inside.
"Let's go. We'll deal with that place back there."
Saitama motioned for them to follow as he headed toward where the victims' house had been.
Normally, Saitama wouldn't have reacted so emotionally to an incident like this, but this morning when he passed by those families, he had exchanged a few words with them. Now they'd been killed right under his nose. It made him feel terrible—powerless and defeated deep inside.
"Alright."
Uchiha Yan gave a solemn nod, while Uchiha Huo quietly murmured his agreement. They too had some memory of those families and felt just as bad as Saitama did.
Returning to the crime scene, Saitama looked around. The fire had nearly burned itself out. What once stood was now dust—every building around, gone without a trace!
"Huo! Take care of the burial!"
Saitama called out to Uchiha Huo, knowing he had mastered Earth Release techniques, which would serve useful now.
[Earth Release - Earthquake Palm Technique!] Uchiha Huo slapped his palm onto the ground. Chakra surged into the earth, creating creeping cracks spreading forward, breaking open the rubble's foundation, and flipping earth blocks to cover it all.
"Let's go!"
Without even turning his head, Saitama walked away. He had done everything he could. These dead civilians wouldn't return to life, but at least he felt slightly better.
The other two didn't say anything more, silently following behind Saitama as they prepared to return and complete today's patrol mission.
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