What Do You Mean, I Fought the Bandit King? And There Are Newcomers

Rain poured down, pelting the leaves like a waterfall spilling from the sky.

The water gathered on the leaves before dripping onto the rain cloaks beneath the trees.

"This rain is so wet. It's really annoying."

Asuma wiped the rain from his forehead.

Although the cloaks were waterproof, they clearly weren't as effective in such a downpour. Besides, Asuma was a Fire Style ninja, and rain this heavy had practically rendered his Fire Style useless.

"Asuma, save your strength. We still have a mission to finish later."

"Okay, Kurenai. No problem."

After Kurenai spoke up, Asuma settled down.

A long silence followed, broken only by the white noise of rain striking the leaves.

The three were currently on a mission involving bandits. They were in the dense woods on the western side of a low mountain, only two kilometers from the bandits' hideout. The torrential rain concealed them, providing natural cover.

There were seven bandits, not many, but they had leather armor, spears, and horses, making them a band of light cavalry. No, they should be called horse bandits. That was why someone had paid to issue a mission against them.

Against such mobile enemies, they had to make sure none escaped. The rain had gathered all the bandits inside their modest hideout on the mountain's southwestern side, and waiting until dark to make their move would be safer.

Given the three's strength, the bandits would have struggled to withstand a frontal assault, but this was their first mission of this kind, so Tamaki preferred to play it safe.

He had considered other methods, such as poison, but in this weather, and with the so-called hideout consisting of only five rooms and a stable, killing one of them and transforming to take his place or secretly poisoning them from the shadows might be noticed. The people were too close together.

If I had Transparent Release, this kind of mission would be much easier. Although Transparent Release barely stands out among the Shinobi World's powerful bloodline limits, for most ninja, it's an excellent one.

With nothing else to do, Tamaki let his thoughts wander.

Before long, the sky went completely dark.

Tamaki rose and said to Kurenai and Asuma, "Get ready to move."

"One more time, the plan: Asuma and I will go in and assassinate them. Kurenai, prepare your Genjutsu. If anything goes wrong, hypnotize everyone immediately, and support us against anyone who slips through the net. Also, check the fire oil and start a fire if necessary. Take the horses if we can; if not, leave them."

"Understood." ×2

"Move!"

With that, Tamaki opened the Gate of Opening and the temple point on one side, then charged straight toward the rooms, taking every precaution.

A few flickering leaps brought him to the bandits' hideout. Without making a sound, he gently pushed open a door. Inside were two burly men.

He drew a Kunai in a reverse grip and set to work, slashing twice in an instant. There was no unexpected scene of them waking up; Tamaki killed both men in their sleep.

There were two more in another room, and the process was the same.

On the other side, Asuma did the same and took care of three.

After coming out, the two regrouped. Tamaki noticed that Asuma looked terrible. He knew why, but paid it no further attention.

After exchanging a few gestures and looks,

Tamaki pulled out a fire oil bomb. Asuma forced himself to focus and formed Hand Seals to use Ninjutsu. Though Fire Style was difficult to use in this weather, lighting the fire oil was no problem.

Whoosh—

The flames began to burn, and for a moment, they were unstoppable.

"A fire? What's going on?!"

A figure clutching his neck stumbled out of one of the two rooms Asuma had cleared earlier.

"One of them's still alive? Put him out of his misery." Tamaki looked at Asuma, signaling for him to act.

Asuma fought down his nausea and pulled a Shuriken from his ninja tool pouch.

Before long, the fire had nearly died out. The two checked the situation again, and after confirming that nothing was wrong, went to regroup with Kurenai.

The next day, on a road more than ten li away, the four rode along with two horses per person.

Kurenai had not taken part in the fighting herself. Although she had seen the corpses, the shock was not too great.

Asuma had done the killing himself and suffered a greater psychological shock, but he was a ninja from a prominent clan, after all, and was merely less talkative.

This was something Asuma could only work through himself. Tamaki, meanwhile, had received the navy man's memories, which made him better able to handle such things.

Faced with the three silent youngsters, Sakumo said little. It was simply a step every ninja had to go through, and it was also why he had brought the youngsters on this mission.

"There are a few more missions here for you to carry out."

Sakumo said little else, simply continuing to issue orders.

Over the next half month, the three members of Team Sakumo dealt with four groups of bandits and robbers in succession. Their numbers grew with each group, and the most recent had nearly seventy people.

The leader of this band called himself the Bandit King. The three had only managed to deal with them through transformation, poison, and various other means.

Because the Bandit King's title was so brazen, it was no surprise that something happened to him: the three youngsters forcibly deleted his Shinobi World account.

When they found him, he was preparing to escape through a tunnel. Unfortunately for him, he was a step too late.

As they killed the Bandit King, Tamaki joked inwardly, Do you think this is the Four Blues, and you've taken down fifty-six of the Four Emperors?

After several such expeditions, Asuma had visibly regained his spirits.

Kurenai had been through it too, and her gaze had grown considerably more resolute.

Sakumo was very pleased with their transformation.

"The Chunin Ninja Exams are in two months. I'll sign you up this time. I don't expect you to pass; just go and see what they're like."

"Sensei Sakumo, do you really think so little of the three of us? With our strength, isn't becoming Chunin only natural?"

"Asuma, becoming a Chunin takes more than strength," Kurenai couldn't help interjecting.

"That's right, Asuma. If strength were all we had, we couldn't have dealt with so many bandits."

"Asuma, confidence in your strength is a good thing, but Chunin serve more as the backbone of the Shinobi World. They have to carry out Jonin orders and assign missions to Genin. For a Chunin, experience is more important than strength."

"All right, all right, I get it," Asuma replied listlessly, brushing them off after all three had contradicted him.

Amid the three's laughter, they returned safely to the village.

Asuma: So am I just here to be laughed at?

Their return to the village was uneventful: they met the Hokage, submitted their missions, then dispersed for a break.

Sakumo also said he wouldn't take them out of the village again over the next two months. Those had been the only bandit groups of any size in the surrounding area lately, and the other missions outside the village were mostly escort and transport jobs. The round trips took too much time.

Rather than waste time on the road, they would be better off training while they were young and their strength could still grow quickly.

Sakumo gave them three days off. They would gather afterward for extra training.

That afternoon, Tamaki returned to his family's medicinal herb shop.

"Mom, I'm home."

Tamaki called out before he had even entered.

Hearing Tamaki's voice, Futate Shizuka came running out and hugged him.

Feeling Futate Shizuka silently weeping as she held him, Tamaki understood that she had been worried about him, afraid he would end up like Nishu Hayashi in the household shrine.

Even so, Tamaki couldn't say he would stop being a ninja.

The very fact that he could be a ninja had already left her on tenterhooks.

Tamaki said little. Gently stroking his mother's back, he said, "Mom, I'm hungry."

"Come on, let's eat." Futate Shizuka said no more. She wiped the corners of her eyes a couple of times and pulled him toward the kitchen.

"Okay."

From the time Tamaki returned until the meal ended, his aunt did not disturb mother and son. When Hikari came back, the whole house grew lively again.

After Ichite Ki returned, Tamaki had another talk with him.

There was nothing special; he simply asked about Tamaki's progress in training.

That night, Tamaki entered the space again.

As soon as he arrived, he saw the shinigami and the navy man gathered around three new... people?

The first was an eight-year-old boy wearing a crew-neck T-shirt, light blue jeans, and a pair of sneakers.

The second was a boy in simple clothes—or rather, a farmer's outfit—with broad, rough hands.

The last was a potted plant!

"What's with this potted plant? Tell me, which of you brought it in?"

"Are you crazy? You've been coming here for years. When have you ever seen us bring anything in?"

"Wait, did someone really transmigrate into a potted plant?"

"Honestly, I don't think a potted plant should come first either. Shouldn't it be an animal first, then a plant, and finally an inanimate object?"

"What potted plant? You two, hurry up and apologize to Lord Fusang." The shinigami, standing to the side, gave each of the two a hard knock on the head.

"Fusang?!"

"Isn't that the God Tree, the Three-Legged Golden Crow's home? We're going to soar now!"

"Unfortunately, have you forgotten the condition for activating our cheat?"

"No! I finally met a big shot who could take us soaring!"

"Look on the bright side. If a big shot like that came in here half-dead, a few good-for-nothings like us couldn't bring him back to life anyway."

"What do you mean?"

"Tonight's arrivals aren't much stronger than us. It'll take too long to explain, so let's just share."

With that, he gathered everyone—everyone plus the tree—in a circle and began sharing memories.

After they finished sharing,

"Wait, you came here without even knowing where you are?" Tamaki looked at the eight-year-old version of himself.

"I really don't know." He scratched his head sheepishly. "The last thing I remember before closing my eyes was what seemed to be a landslide. But I figure there probably aren't any supernatural powers there. It's most likely an ordinary urban world. After all, I haven't seen any all these years."

"If it really is an urban world, you've got it easy. Your life isn't in danger, and although you're still an orphan, it's only 2004 over there. Even if you can't buy stocks or lottery tickets, buying some Bitcoin will be enough. With money and leisure, life will be endless fun. Maybe you could even make a foray into show business."

With that, they paid him no more attention. An urban world was no use beyond giving them a little more soul power. They turned to the farmer.

"So it's that place. Who knows whether your talent is any good? If it isn't, you're finished."

"Oh, I see you already have a way to die."

"Wait, how did you adapt so quickly?"

"If you'd done farm work all your life and suddenly found out you had a cheat, you'd adapt just as quickly."

"But you've had some rotten luck. Your parents died young, and you depended on the village chief for food, yet you actually got so hungry you ended up here. Though the village chief is very poor too."

"So I can only count on the Awakening ceremony at six and see if it can change my fate. It's hard to get by over there without a Martial Soul or Innate Soul Power."

"I wonder if Blind Douluo will be the one to perform your Awakening."

"No idea."

With that, they all looked at the potted plant.

"As for this potted-plant brother, he's actually Fusang's great-great-great-great-great-grandson, a Fire Spirit Tree known as Little Fusang!"

"Fire Spirit Trees are commonly found in places rich in fire spiritual energy. Ordinary fire cannot burn them. Commonly used for—indoor heating in winter. The branches are effective and can be carved into various shapes for your selection. They can also be made into potted decorations in a variety of styles. Interested parties, please inquire with the Fire Spirit Sect of the Lu Kingdom."

When he finished, they all bowed their heads and covered their faces.

Transmigrating into a tree was bad enough, but he had even been made into a potted plant. And because the craftsmanship was so shoddy, his roots had been severed, sending him here.

"We've been complaining for ages. How come this one hasn't reacted at all?"

"He probably hasn't developed spiritual intelligence yet. I wonder if it's a world we know."

"There are so many xuanhuan worlds. It's hard to tell without meeting a main character."

"Speaking of which, if he has no spiritual intelligence, will he just stay here, or will he log off? And if he logs off, can he come back?"

"No idea, but the soul power of the five of us should help this potted-plant brother develop intelligence faster, right?"

"Let's hope so."

In the Fire Spirit Sect of the Lu Kingdom in a cultivation world, the disciple on duty guarding the warehouse of potted Fire Spirit Trees suddenly noticed that the leaves of one plant had turned completely red, making it look as though the whole tree were on fire.

At the same time, the plant was frantically absorbing the spiritual energy around it. It actually absorbed nearly half the energy originally supplied to the entire warehouse.

Upon discovering this, the lowly disciple did not linger and went straight to find the steward.

The legend of the future Immortal Lord Fusang had begun.