Chapter 52: Killing
Two months passed. Because Yamamoto Ryusei's injury had delayed their progress, their squad was still taking D-rank missions while other squads were already on C-rank missions. The resentful gazes of his teammates made Ryusei a little restless. Seeing Senju Tobirama approach, he took the initiative to speak. "Teacher Tobirama, we've been doing D-rank missions for so long. Can we please do a C-rank mission? We've had enough of picking up trash and catching cats."
When Ryusei had recovered from his injuries and rejoined the team, Hashirama's "surprise" was to take out the Shikkotsu Forest summoning scroll and have him sign the contract. So now, Ryusei also had a giant summoning beast. He was already so strong; it seemed like a waste to still be doing D-rank missions.
The other teammates all nodded in agreement with Ryusei, hoping to switch to a C-rank mission.
The missions in the ninja world were divided into five ranks from high to low: S, A, B, C, and D. D-rank missions were the non-combat tasks Ryusei's team had been doing for the past two months, such as picking up trash, farming, and finding lost cats.
C-rank missions involved fighting with ordinary people but not with other ninjas, mostly consisting of escort and protection tasks.
B-rank missions involved fighting against Chunin-level or lower opponents, such as eliminating less powerful rogue ninjas or assassinating important figures.
A-rank missions involved fighting against Jonin, such as eliminating powerful rogue ninjas or personnel protected by Jonin.
S-rank missions were quite rare and basically only occurred during wartime, such as assassinating a village's Kage or obtaining crucial intelligence.
Tobirama looked at the expectant gazes of his students and nodded. "Alright, let's do a C-rank mission then. Let's go and see what C-rank missions are available now."
They arrived at the mission hall.
After rummaging through a pile of missions on the counter, Tobirama selected one and said to the staff, "We'll take this one."
The staff member immediately processed the paperwork for him, and Tobirama then led his students out of the village.
Tobirama ran in front, with Ryusei and the others following behind. As he ran, he explained, "This mission is to deal with a group of bandits. They don't have any ninjas, just a few wandering samurai from the old era. They're not difficult to handle. This time, you have to complete it on your own. I will not interfere."
Ryusei and his teammates nodded repeatedly. Hiruzen said with a grin, "No problem, Teacher Tobirama! Just watch me!"
Tobirama smiled but said nothing. His students had never seen blood before. He was looking forward to appreciating their unsightly expressions when they did.
On the way, Tobirama taught them how to choose a campsite, how to stand watch at night, how to choose a route, and so on.
After traveling for three days, they finally arrived in the evening. Tobirama stood on a mountain and pointed to the mountain opposite them. "That's the bandits' hideout from the intelligence report. You can handle it yourselves from here."
Hearing this, the teammates all turned their gazes to Ryusei. Feeling their eyes on him, Ryusei looked at the village below the mountain and said, "Let's rest here first and recover our strength. Torifu, you and Hiruzen go hunting. Danzo, take out the mission intel so we can look at it again."
Torifu's eyes lit up. He immediately agreed and went hunting with Hiruzen.
For the past few days, all their meals had been cooked by Ryusei, and the taste, needless to say, had completely captured them. Akimichi Torifu, in particular, couldn't help but drool whenever he thought of Ryusei's cooking.
The group found a rock and spread out the intelligence report. It stated that this group of bandits had existed for several years and had been extorting passing merchant caravans. The caravans had always paid a toll, but recently the bandits had become more and more excessive. The last time, a caravan's goods were all stolen, and several people were killed. The enraged caravan owner had come to Konoha to post a mission, wanting their lives.
Ryusei said to Kagami and Danzo, "Tell me what you think of this intel."
Danzo pointed at the report. "These bandits have existed for two years and have coexisted peacefully with the caravans. But they've only recently become violent. This means something has gone wrong with the bandits. The original leader must have been overthrown."
Kagami nodded. "He was probably overthrown by an outsider. If it were an internal power struggle, it wouldn't have led to such a major conflict with the caravans. That would only be counterproductive. And someone with the strength to overwhelm that group of bandits would basically have to be a ninja or a highly skilled samurai."
Ryusei nodded and looked at the village before them. "Later, we'll go to this village to gather some intelligence. This village is so close to the bandit gang; they must have some connection. It's even possible that some of the bandits are from this village."
Kagami and Danzo both nodded in agreement. Before long, Torifu and Hiruzen returned with a dozen pheasants. Seeing the pheasants, Ryusei told Danzo to go to the nearby pond to pick some lotus leaves. He and Yuki then went to the river to kill and clean the chickens. They found a hollow that would hide the firelight, built a fire, wrapped the chickens in lotus leaves, coated them in mud, and threw them into the fire to cook.
Taking this opportunity, Ryusei created a shadow clone and said to Kagami and Hiruzen, "Let's send some shadow clones to the village to gather intelligence first. After we've rested, we'll go directly to the bandit's lair and take care of them."
Kagami and Hiruzen both created shadow clones and followed Ryusei's clone to the village to gather information.
Arriving at the village, the three clones didn't split up. Instead, they found a relatively well-off looking house and slipped inside. It had just gotten dark, and the family was still eating dinner. It was just a husband and wife, but the table was laden with large portions of fish and meat, much better than what ordinary peasants ate.
Seeing the three suddenly appear, the man of the house immediately drew a sword from under the table and slashed at them. Ryusei's clone grabbed the man's hand, punched him in the stomach, and then covered his mouth to prevent his scream from getting out. The woman was knocked out by Hiruzen. Not a single sound was made.
Ryusei's clone said directly to Kagami's, "From his reaction just now, this man must be one of the bandits. Time is short, let's just use genjutsu."
Kagami's clone activated his Sharingan. As the man's eyes met the Sharingan, his gaze soon became vacant.
Ryusei's clone let go of the man and asked, "Are you one of the bandits from around here?"
The man nodded directly. The clone asked again, "Then how many of you are there in total? Where are you located? Is your leader a ninja?"
The man recounted the bandits' situation in detail. There were only about thirty of them in total, all from the village. They were ordinary peasants during normal times and became bandits whenever a caravan came by. The hideout on the mountain was just a front to deceive people. The bandit leader, who was also the village chief, had been killed by a rogue ninja a few days ago. That rogue ninja was now the new village chief and the new bandit leader.
Kagami's and Hiruzen's clones exchanged a glance, somewhat surprised. This village had about fifty households. If more than thirty people were bandits, then at least half the men in the entire village were bandits. This village was a bandit's nest. Did they have to kill all these people?
Ryusei's clone had the man reveal the names, locations, and whether his accomplices had killed anyone before, then killed him directly. He then went to a few other bandits' houses to verify the information before dispelling the shadow clones.
Meanwhile, back with the main body, the beggar's chicken was ready. Each person took a mud ball and cracked it open. The fragrant aroma wafted out. Torifu, unable to bear the heat, bit directly into the chicken, hissing from the burn but unwilling to let go.
The others, seeing how deliciously Torifu was eating, also began to eat. But a moment later, Hiruzen and Kagami suddenly cried "Ugh!" and threw up. Although Ryusei didn't vomit, his face didn't look good either, and he lost his appetite for the chicken in front of him.
Danzo asked with some confusion, "What's wrong with you guys? Why did you throw up? Is the chicken not good?"
Tobirama, eating a chicken leg, said, "Your shadow clones killed someone, didn't they?"
"Killed someone?" Komiya Yuki looked at Ryusei in shock. "Weren't you just going to the village to gather intelligence? How could you kill someone?"
The scene instantly fell silent. Even Akimichi Torifu, who loved meat the most, stopped eating and looked at the three of them, waiting for their answer.
Ryusei recounted all the information he had just received from his shadow clone. Komiya Yuki, Shimura Danzo, and Akimichi Torifu were all stunned into silence. Tobirama, however, maintained his usual indifferent expression, as if he had already guessed it all along.