Chapter 53: Weakling
Akimichi Torifu said with some surprise, "So this village is the bandits' nest. What should we do then? Kill them all?"
Komiya Yuki, finding it hard to accept, said in a small voice, "Or we could just kill the new leader, and everything will go back to how it was."
"Impossible," Shimura Danzo said coldly. "They've already had a taste of the sweet life. Even if the new leader dies, they won't go back to how they were before. People will only want more. And the mission requires us to eliminate the bandits, not just kill the leader."
"Then let's kill everyone who has taken a life," Yamamoto Ryusei said after a moment's thought. "And for those who have participated in banditry, we'll cut off one of their arms. That way, they won't be able to be bandits anymore. What do you all think?"
The others all nodded in agreement. Ryusei then assigned their roles. "We're not sure of the strength of that rogue ninja for now. So, Kagami and I will clear out the people around the leader. You all will clear out the others. Try to take care of everyone without making a sound. It's best if we deal with the leader together. If the leader is alerted during the cleanup, Kagami and I will hold him off or perhaps kill him. Remember to be careful and don't hesitate. Our physical conditioning isn't that much stronger than theirs. If we get stabbed with a sword, we'll die just the same."
The teammates all agreed to this plan. Senju Tobirama watched them assign tasks with a slight smile but said nothing.
Ryusei, thinking of the slaughter to come, said to Komiya Yuki, "Yuki, you should eat a little less now. You'll feel better later."
Sarutobi Hiruzen and Uchiha Kagami, remembering the scene of blood spurting out from before, also stopped eating the beggar's chicken.
Akimichi Torifu, seeing the chicken they hadn't finished, asked if he could have it and then proceeded to eat it all.
After everyone had finished eating and rested to recover their stamina and chakra, they extinguished the fire and crept towards the village under the cover of night.
Half an hour later, Ryusei and Kagami, their faces pale from the killing, had dealt with everyone except the leader. But the leader still showed no signs of being alerted. Kagami said with a pale face, "Ryusei, this leader's vigilance is too weak. He hasn't detected any enemies after all this time."
Ryusei was also a bit speechless. "I really don't know how he's managed to stay alive..."
Before long, Hiruzen, Danzo, Yuki, and Torifu all arrived. It was clear from Yuki's and Torifu's faces that they had vomited; both of them were a little weak in the knees.
Seeing that everyone had arrived, Ryusei led the charge towards the leader's room.
"Earth Style: Earth Spear!"
Thump, thump, thump...
Before they even reached the door, many earthen spears shot out from the ground. The group dodged them, and then Kagami, Danzo, and Hiruzen simultaneously formed hand seals and used their ninjutsu.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!" Kagami's cheeks puffed out as he spewed a massive fireball, instantly setting the house ablaze.
"Wind Style: Vacuum Sphere!" Danzo spat out a dozen air bullets, riddling the burning house with holes.
"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!" Hiruzen blew out a great gust of wind, increasing the intensity of the fire several times over and causing the house to collapse.
Hiruzen looked at the collapsed wooden house. Seeing no one come out, he said, "He's probably been burned to death, right?"
Ryusei shook his head. "Not a single sound came out. He's definitely not dead. Be careful, he's probably already escaped through the ground."
"You must be the brats from Konoha!" a voice came from behind them. A middle-aged man slowly rose from the ground. "You really have some courage, coming out to do missions at such a young age. But you're about to die."
"Die?" Ryusei chuckled. "If you had just run away, we wouldn't have been able to find you. But since you came out on your own, you're just asking for death."
The middle-aged man said angrily, "You little brat, you have a big mouth. It seems I'll have to give your mouth a few extra punches."
"Then come and try," Ryusei said, preparing to finish him off immediately.
"Wait!" Hiruzen stopped him. "Ryusei, you can't make a move. If you do, you'll kill him in one hit. How are we supposed to train then? This time, we have to be the ones to attack."
"Huh?" Ryusei looked at Hiruzen with a puzzled expression, thinking he must be an idiot. We're in a life-or-death battle with an enemy right now! Is it really okay to be so childish? Besides, you've already attacked. I haven't even made a move yet.
"That's right," Danzo also said. "This is our first C-rank mission. You can't steal all the limelight."
Kagami, his Sharingan active, also nodded. "This enemy isn't very strong. Judging by his chakra level, he's only about at the Chunin level. Let us handle him. You can be our backup."
Yuki and Torifu also nodded repeatedly, indicating their agreement.
"Don't push it, you brats!" The middle-aged ninja's veins bulged with anger. "I am the man known as the Earth Demon!"
Hearing this generic-sounding title, Ryusei felt that this ninja was indeed not very impressive. He waved his hand. "Alright then, you guys go ahead. I'll watch from here. Be careful not to let him escape."
"No problem." The five of them swarmed forward at once and killed the middle-aged ninja with just a few ninjutsu. It didn't even take half a minute. The middle-aged ninja had never imagined that there would be such a huge difference between a rogue ninja and a Konoha ninja, even though they were both shinobi.
"As expected, a nobody," Ryusei muttered to himself. He looted the dead ninja's body, finding only a few scrolls and a few hundred thousand ryo in bills. "Ptooey, what a pauper."
Ryusei opened the scrolls. Inside were only a few C-rank ninjutsu. He distributed the money, but no one present was interested in the ninjutsu scrolls, so they just took them back as souvenirs to commemorate their first C-rank mission.
Ryusei looked at the villagers who had woken up due to the fire and were now peeking at them through the cracks in their doors. He turned and led his teammates back to their previous camp.
Entering the simple house they had built with Earth Style jutsu, he said to Tobirama, "Teacher Tobirama, the mission is complete. The rogue ninja and some of the bandits are dead. The rest have been crippled. They no longer have the ability to be bandits."
Tobirama nodded. "Then this mission is over. Before you go back, write up your mission logs. You'll have to submit them together when you report the mission. You can rest for today. We'll set off tomorrow. Remember to stand watch."
Ryusei and his teammates decided on their watch shifts and then went to rest.
The Next Day
As Ryusei and his teammates were eating breakfast, they saw that the entire village was hung with white cloth, as if the whole village was in mourning. With a silent sigh, they left.
The journey back was not as cheerful as the journey there. The scenes of killing were still fresh in their minds.
Back in the village, after they had reported the mission and received their payment, Tobirama said, "Go home and rest for three days. We'll take another mission in three days. You are dismissed."
After Ryusei and his teammates parted ways, he walked the dazed and pale-faced Komiya Yuki home.
At Yuki's house, Komiya Yuta and Komiya Ayako saw their daughter's poor condition as she went straight to her room. They couldn't help but ask Ryusei, "Ryusei, what's wrong with Yuki?"
Ryusei told the couple everything that had happened. After hearing the story, Ayako went into the room to comfort Yuki, leaving only Yuta and Ryusei in the living room.
Komiya Yuta did not like Ryusei and kept a stern face the whole time. Seeing this, Ryusei said his goodbyes and went home.
Hokage's Office
Hashirama was using shadow clones to process documents while he himself was reading The Investiture of the Gods. The group of shadow clones all looked as if they had lost the will to live. Seeing Tobirama return, the clones were overjoyed and immediately dispelled themselves, wanting Tobirama to handle the documents.
Hashirama was hit with a sudden influx of memories from processing the documents. He frowned and said to Tobirama, "Tobirama, you're back! That's great! I've been so annoyed these past few days. How was the mission?"
Tobirama looked at Hashirama, speechless. You're annoyed after just a few days? I've been doing this for years and never complained. He replied casually, "It was not bad. They all performed quite well. Although they were a bit green, their teamwork was decent. However, Yuki's combat power needs to be strengthened, otherwise, she won't be able to keep up with the others."
Hashirama thought for a moment. "That is indeed a problem. I'll go back and discuss it with Mito. See if there's a way to quickly improve Yuki's combat strength." He then slipped away and went home.
Tobirama looked at his already-gone older brother, then at the documents on the desk. He sighed and continued to process them.