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"Were these people really that arrogant? Even their sentries were this careless?"

When they reached the mountain bandits' stronghold gate and saw how scattered the patrols were, Nawaki sneered as well.

"Don't underestimate them. They may be somewhat unprofessional, but we can't let our guard down. If something goes wrong, we could die. Be careful later. Don't get careless and end up being killed instead."

Uchiha Kiyoshi had actually guessed that Orochimaru was likely watching from the shadows, but he still didn't tell them about Orochimaru. Instead, he hoped to put some pressure on them and prevent careless mistakes.

At the same time, Uchiha Kiyoshi reminded them of several details, including something he had thought of during the day.

"You two need to pay attention as well. This is your first time killing someone, so you may feel unwell afterward. Keep that in mind. Don't overlook it."

Uchiha Kiyoshi did not explain why he had said "you two" rather than "us." Nawaki did not notice that detail either. He nodded, indicating that he understood. Only Sarutobi Saku was quick-witted enough to notice it. He glanced at Uchiha Kiyoshi, deep in thought.

No wonder Kiyoshi's face was still a little pale when he came back this afternoon. Had he killed someone? That bandit they interrogated?

Still, it was fortunate that Kiyoshi reminded us. Otherwise, Nawaki and I really might have had problems.

Seeing that Nawaki might not have taken it seriously, Uchiha Kiyoshi patted him and warned him again. "Pay attention. You absolutely must be careful. Don't make a mistake when you kill someone for the first time."

Seeing how seriously Uchiha Kiyoshi had told him twice, Nawaki took it to heart. He knew Uchiha Kiyoshi would not harm him. Since he had warned him, there had to be a reason. At worst, when the time came to kill someone, he would stay as far away from the others as possible.

After warning the two of them, Uchiha Kiyoshi began preparing to act.

Forming hand seals, Uchiha Kiyoshi used the newly learned Earth Spike Jutsu while he could still focus completely.

"Pfft! Pfft!"

After two muffled sounds, two bandit sentries were pierced through by Earth Spikes. They did not even have time to cry out before losing their lives. Impaled atop the spikes, they did not even fall to the ground.

Although Uchiha Kiyoshi had some psychological issues, he could still attack opponents two major realms below him. There was another situation as well: when he ambushed enemies, he could still launch an attack with the first strike. These were all things Uchiha Kiyoshi had revealed during his hunting trips at the Ninja Academy.

"Action!"

At Uchiha Kiyoshi's command, Nawaki and Sarutobi Saku darted out from opposite sides. With an easy leap, they vaulted over the fence and entered the stronghold.

At this time, the Matsuoka Brothers were all in the "restricted area," making it the best time to act. They would wipe out their underlings first, then deal with the leaders.

According to the plan, the three of them were each responsible for one area, killing every bandit there.

Uchiha Kiyoshi had already adapted to killing, so he showed no mercy. He killed several minor bandits in just a few moves. It was not as nauseating as last time. He suppressed the sick feeling and continued toward another area to clear it out.

In ten minutes, Uchiha Kiyoshi completed his task. Not a single bandit remained on the entire western side.

Uchiha Kiyoshi once again suppressed the nausea and headed to Nawaki's area. He was not worried about Sarutobi Saku. He was only afraid that something might go wrong with Nawaki, because with Nawaki's personality, Uchiha Kiyoshi could not be sure. Uzumaki Naruto, who had a similar personality, had reacted strongly at first.

When he arrived where Nawaki was, Uchiha Kiyoshi breathed a sigh of relief. Nawaki was fine, but he had clearly been affected by killing. He could not quickly finish off even three bandits who were only slightly stronger than ordinary people.

His whole body must be weak and limp.

Uchiha Kiyoshi had experienced that feeling before and immediately recognized Nawaki's symptoms. Without wasting time, he stepped forward and directly helped Nawaki kill the bandits.

To help Nawaki adapt more quickly, Uchiha Kiyoshi was especially brutal. Even he himself was affected somewhat.

In the end, the three gathered in a small room. All three were pale and extremely weak.

Sarutobi Saku had killed normally, then returned after finishing his fight. Although Uchiha Kiyoshi had killed before, it had not been long ago. To be honest, his resistance was only so-so. On top of that, to help Nawaki adapt, the methods he used to kill those last few enemies had been somewhat cruel, so his complexion was terrible as well.

Nawaki had it the worst. It was not only the nausea after killing. The way Uchiha Kiyoshi had killed those people at the end had truly shaken him. He vomited for two or three minutes before barely recovering.

"Here, drink some water. Only four people are left. Bear with it."

Uchiha Kiyoshi took out a canteen from his Ninja Tool Pouch and handed it to the two of them.

"Our movements were fairly quick just now, and we did not make much noise. It looks like those four leaders haven't noticed yet. This is a good chance for us to recover first."

The three of them had indeed acted efficiently, and the disturbance had been small. Even on Nawaki's side, although he had faced off against three bandits for a while, the area Uchiha Kiyoshi assigned him was far from the "restricted area," so it had not drawn the attention of the four inside.

The Matsuoka Brothers had encountered a fortuitous opportunity when they were young and obtained a warrior training manual. Though warriors were not part of the mainstream like ninja, they knew this was their chance to change their fates. Through grueling training, they achieved some results. Since the four were stronger than ordinary people, their mentality became twisted once they gained power, and they gradually began burning, killing, and plundering.

More than two months ago, the four brothers encountered a severely injured Rain ninja. Working together, they actually killed him and obtained quite a few good things, including a method for cultivating Chakra. After training for a month, the four barely managed to refine Chakra. Although they could not use Ninjutsu, Chakra's enhancement of their bodies still greatly increased their strength.

This only made their mentality even more unbalanced. After discussing it, the four decided to fish for prey around Konoha!

A month ago, the four formed a force and came to Ryūgetsu Village, where they burned, killed, and plundered without wiping everyone out. They hoped the villagers would go to Konoha to issue a mission. Then, they would kill the ninja who came and obtain more Ninjutsu that way.

Over the past month, they had continued cultivating Chakra. Afraid that Konoha would notice them too early, they had kept out of sight and always claimed to be warriors. They were not stupid. Once they were regarded as ninja, the mission rank would be at least B-rank. They had no ability to deal with one, much less several, Chunin.

Unfortunately, they were destined to fail this time.

About half an hour later, the three had mostly recovered and began moving again. Led by Uchiha Kiyoshi, they arrived at the so-called "restricted area."

There was nothing special about the "restricted area." There was no Barrier or anything of the sort. It was merely a large plot of land that had been marked off.

The Matsuoka Brothers' location was easy to find as well. There was only one building in the entire restricted area, so they had to be cultivating inside.

Uchiha Kiyoshi climbed onto the wall and roughly surveyed the area.

All four Matsuoka Brothers were in the courtyard, cultivating and refining Chakra.

Uchiha Kiyoshi took the chance to sense them. The four truly did not have much Chakra, only around one or two Ka. They were probably not young, and their bodies had already developed. Combined with their warrior training, they had managed to refine this much Chakra after only two months.

However, with no one to teach them, the four probably had not learned Ninjutsu yet. Even the Three Basic Techniques were not something one could figure out and learn so quickly alone.

After roughly assessing the situation and judging both sides' strength, Uchiha Kiyoshi decided there would be no problem and gave Nawaki and Sarutobi Saku the order.

The three formed hand seals at the same time.

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"

"Water Release: Water Arrow!"

"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"

The three Ninjutsu were completed almost simultaneously and flew directly toward the completely unprepared Matsuoka Brothers.

The results were quite good. Under the sneak attack, even with Chakra reinforcing their bodies and their decent reactions, the brothers suffered serious injuries after taking several Ninjutsu head-on.

(To explain this: Chakra could greatly enhance physical abilities for a short time. This was a major component of a ninja's combat strength, especially for Genin and Chunin. Chakra also greatly increased the body's resistance to Ninjutsu. Otherwise, it would be far too unreasonable for all those Fire Release techniques in the original story to fail to burn people to death.)

Uchiha Kiyoshi immediately targeted the two oldest brothers and charged forward.

Matsuoka Seiichi and Matsuoka Seiji were indeed warriors. They had combat experience, and they actually traded blows evenly with Uchiha Kiyoshi.

On the other side, Nawaki and Sarutobi Saku faced two injured opponents, making things much easier.

Nawaki, who had the most Chakra, especially kept using Ninjutsu. He countered Matsuoka Seishi, who could not use Ninjutsu, too effectively. Nawaki was also the first to complete a kill.

After dealing with his opponent, Nawaki helped Uchiha Kiyoshi hold back Matsuoka Seiji, greatly reducing Uchiha Kiyoshi's pressure.

Against warriors like these, Ninjutsu showed its greatest power. Nawaki could even suppress Matsuoka Seiji in battle, and his performance was no worse than Uchiha Kiyoshi's.

Sarutobi Saku quickly dealt with Matsuoka Seizo as well and joined Nawaki's battle.

Seeing that the situation was hopeless, Matsuoka Seiichi's eyes turned red as he glared fiercely at Uchiha Kiyoshi.

When he saw Matsuoka Seiichi run to one side, Uchiha Kiyoshi hurriedly followed to prevent him from escaping. But just as he caught up, Matsuoka Seiichi suddenly turned around. His vicious gaze even sent a chill down Uchiha Kiyoshi's spine.

Matsuoka Seiichi grinned at Uchiha Kiyoshi, a hint of madness showing in his eyes.

Not good!

The thought rose in his mind, and Uchiha Kiyoshi had no time to do much else. He shouted a warning to Nawaki and Sarutobi Saku.

"Boom!!!"

The entire courtyard was caught in the explosion.

Outside, Orochimaru reacted sharply and hurriedly rushed forward.

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