First Time for Everything, Including Killing

A group of people was lying in ambush in the woods by the road ahead.

These people bore deep hostility toward the team. The moment White discovered the ambush, he informed Chiyue.

"Stop."

Chiyue called out to Mikoto and the Employer.

"Little brother, why are we stopping?"

The Land of Fire's Daimyo Residence was getting closer and closer. The Employer wished he could grow wings and fly there immediately, yet Chiyue was telling them to stop now.

"There are enemies lying in ambush."

After glancing at the Employer, Chiyue said to Mikoto:

"Sister Mikoto, I'll take the left. You take the right. End this quickly."

"Yes!"

The two quickly split up and charged into the woods on either side of the road.

Facing enemies and an imminent fight for the first time, Mikoto was somewhat nervous.

It was obvious from how tightly she gripped her kunai that her fingers had turned slightly pale.

"Damn it, we've been discovered! There are only two brats escorting that guy. Kill them!!"

Seeing the team split apart, with Chiyue and Mikoto charging toward the woods on either side while the Employer remained where he was, the ambushers realized they had been exposed.

Killing was an unavoidable part of a ninja's growth. Neither Chiyue nor Mikoto could escape it.

They were not dressed like bandits, but more like samurai raised by certain people.

After realizing they had been exposed, the people hiding in the woods stopped concealing themselves. They leaped out one after another, drew their samurai swords, and charged at Chiyue.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"

Chiyue rapidly formed hand seals, launching a fireball over half a meter wide at several of the hired samurai.

"Not good, run!"

The samurai had not expected Chiyue to disregard all propriety and throw a Great Fireball at them the moment they met.

A violent explosion rang out, mixed with agonized screams.

Chiyue raised a hand and fanned the air before his face as the smell of roasted meat spread through the woods.

"Pah! Who the hell said the Great Fireball Technique couldn't burn people to death?"

Looking at the mess covering the ground and the charred corpses, Chiyue felt that he would not want to eat barbecue for the next few days.

As for nausea, discomfort, or even vomiting, none of those reactions appeared.

A few ordinary samurai had been dealt with by a single ninjutsu. It was easy and efficient.

The only imperfection was that two of them were still alive, lying on the ground and howling in pain.

Shaking his head, Chiyue threw two kunai and ended their lives before running toward the other side.

Compared to Chiyue's overwhelming violence, Mikoto's battle was much more troublesome.

She was not as strong as Chiyue, and with her nerves, she had not considered that even an ordinary C-rank ninjutsu posed a fatal threat to these common samurai.

Quite a few corpses lay on the ground. Some had their throats slit by kunai, while others had their hearts pierced.

In the woods, Mikoto held a Ninja Sword with her head lowered.

Blood still dripped from the Ninja Sword, and quite a bit had splattered onto her clothes as well.

"Sister Mikoto."

Chiyue walked over and called to her. Mikoto, who had been clutching the hilt tightly and remaining silent with her head down, lifted her face.

A pair of blood-red eyes looked directly at Chiyue. Within each eye was a single tomoe trembling slightly.

It was clear that the owner of those eyes was in an extremely turbulent emotional state.

Had she awakened her Sharingan because this was her first time killing someone?

Mikoto was nearly eleven years old. Awakening her Sharingan at this age already placed her among the better talents of the Uchiha Clan.

Those who awakened it at seven or eight were merely rare exceptions.

Most members of the Uchiha Clan awakened their Sharingan after the age of ten, with twelve or thirteen being the most common period.

Chiyue was a complete exception.

After all, he had not awakened his eyes on his own. He had a cheat.

"It's all right. The enemies are dead."

Chiyue raised his hand, pulled Mikoto into his embrace, and patted her back to soothe her.

Under Chiyue's comfort, Mikoto's emotional turmoil quickly settled.

"Chiyue, my eyes..."

"That's right. You've awakened them. From today on, you're a true genius girl of the Uchiha Clan."

Chiyue smiled and made a joke.

Mikoto finally relaxed completely.

"Let's go. I don't like seeing these corpses."

The aftereffects of killing for the first time would take Mikoto some time to overcome.

"Little brother, are you two all right?"

When he saw the blood on Uchiha Mikoto, the Employer was startled. He thought she had been injured.

"We're fine."

Chiyue smiled and shook his head. "They were just a few ordinary samurai. They couldn't hurt us. Employer uncle, let's continue on our way."

The forests of Konoha contained all kinds of animals. Those animals would take care of the corpses in the woods.

"Sister Mikoto, when you first awaken your Sharingan, there'll be some discomfort. If you keep the Sharingan active for too long, your eyes will become sore, and your mental energy and Chakra will be rapidly depleted."

Along the way, Chiyue told Uchiha Mikoto about the symptoms that came after awakening her eyes.

After experiencing the samurai's ambush and attack, the team arrived at the Land of Fire's Daimyo Residence before noon without further incident.

Having successfully escorted the Employer to the Land of Fire's Daimyo Residence, the escort mission ended perfectly.

Although the reward for this escort mission had been somewhat low, Uchiha Mikoto had awakened her Sharingan because of it. Chiyue felt that this was more worthwhile than earning more money.

Once they returned to the village and she adapted to the Sharingan, Uchiha Mikoto's strength would continue to grow rapidly.

One tomoe, two tomoe, Three-tomoe Sharingan—every evolution of the Sharingan greatly enhanced the strength of the Uchiha Clan.

If one awakened the Mangekyo and then transplanted an Eternal Mangekyo, the increase in strength would be an enormous leap.

The two did not linger on the road and returned to the village at dawn, traveling as fast as they could.

For some time afterward, Chiyue and Uchiha Mikoto would only take on a mission after intervals of several days.

Minato was so jealous of their freedom that it made him anxious!

Ever since becoming Jiraiya's disciple, Minato had discovered that he no longer had any time to rest.

He and his two teammates followed Jiraiya all over the world.

"Jiraiya-sensei, why did the village send us to monitor Amegakure's movements?"

Minato could not understand this mission.

It was clearly a time of peace, yet the village had assigned their team a mission to monitor the ninja of another village. Were they not afraid of provoking conflict?

"Actually, your teacher also can't understand why the Old Man sent us to carry out this mission."

Minato and his two teammates had grown weary of the Land of Rain's environment and terrible weather. Jiraiya despised it even more.

When they went to other countries, he could occasionally go sightseeing and find suitable places for research.

But in the Land of Rain, there was nothing but rain.

Research?

Not a chance.

Why didn't they give this kind of mission to Orochimaru? Isn't he good at infiltration?

Jiraiya complained inwardly, but a smile appeared on his face as he explained to Minato:

"I think it has something to do with Amegakure continuously expanding its military strength."

"Why?"

That should have been Amegakure's own business. It should not have had much to do with Konoha.

Could it be that Konoha wanted a hand in Amegakure's military expansion as well?

Minato was talented, perceptive, and possessed first-rate combat awareness. Most importantly, whenever he encountered something he did not understand, he humbly sought guidance. This greatly satisfied Jiraiya.

He had chosen the right disciple.

Not to mention that Minato might be the savior foretold in the Toad Sage's prophecy.

That was why Jiraiya paid exceptional attention to Minato's training, clearly more than he did to Minato's teammates.