Campfire Dinner

Itachi thought of Sai's background and understood why he had asked such a question.

"Rules are important, but shinobi are people, not tools. Each of us has our own thoughts, and it is impossible to follow every established rule as meticulously as a clockwork instrument.

For small, harmless matters like this, there is not always a need to follow the rules." Itachi explained to Sai.

"Alright, Sasuke has gone to catch rabbits. You'll be in charge of making a fire, and I'll go catch a couple of fish."

After hearing Itachi's words, Sai stood there in a daze for a while. This was a way of thinking he had never heard before.

"Yes." Once he snapped out of it, Sai answered reflexively and went nearby to look for dry firewood...

After leaving Itachi and the others, Ye Wuyue took off his backpack and pulled out several bags of potato chips. He had bought them yesterday, mainly to prevent a repeat of what had happened before.

Why did it feel like he was raising a daughter?

Ye Wuyue sighed, then sent a small amount of Spiritual Pressure into his Zanpakuto. Sensing it, Flowing Fire immediately ran out.

"You're awfully late today. I almost thought you were going to make me wait for nothing all day again." Flowing Fire snatched the snacks from Ye Wuyue's hand.

"There are only a few bags of snacks." Flowing Fire was clearly disappointed when she saw what Ye Wuyue had brought.

"Forget it. Something is better than nothing." Though somewhat disappointed, Flowing Fire still opened a bag and began eating.

"You should be grateful. I have to do missions and support you, yet you complain about everything all day long. I'm only twelve!" Ye Wuyue said speechlessly.

He truly did not know how an old woman who was several thousand years old—no, an old Zanpakuto—could shamelessly demand that a twelve-year-old child feed her every day!

"Give me a break. You may indeed look young, but you're already over thirty years old. Stop pretending to be tender." Flowing Fire shot Ye Wuyue a sidelong glance.

"You're already—" Ye Wuyue swallowed the words that were about to leave his mouth when he saw Flowing Fire slowly raise her fist.

Just wait. Once I become stronger than you, I'll definitely make you experience how I feel! Hmph!

Ye Wuyue turned his head away indignantly and began searching for the rabbits he had seen around here earlier, while Flowing Fire crunched potato chips at the side.

"I clearly saw so many rabbits around here just now. Why are they all gone?" Ye Wuyue scratched his head. He had already circled the area once and had not found a single rabbit.

"Huff... huff..."

Ye Wuyue walked up to a bush, where a deep, heavy breathing sound caught his attention. He turned toward the source and saw two enormous white tusks glaring brightly in the night.

What the hell is that?

Ye Wuyue jumped in fright.

"Oink!"

A piercing boar cry tore through the night sky. Three seconds later, the wild boar, which was slightly larger than Ye Wuyue himself, collapsed to the ground and could no longer make a sound.

"Didn't expect such a big catch."

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In a good mood, Ye Wuyue dragged the boar's corpse back. Fortunately, Flowing Fire had already finished her snacks and returned. Otherwise, she would definitely have wanted roasted meat again.

When he returned to the stream, Ye Wuyue found that Itachi and Sai had already started a fire. Several skewered fish were roasting beside the campfire, and Itachi was sprinkling seasoning over them while Sai watched in confusion, as if he had given up thinking.

"You're back. Big brother grilled a few fish for you. Try one and see if it tastes good." Itachi smiled and handed Ye Wuyue a cooked fish. At this point, he no longer cared about forms of address and simply treated him as his younger brother.

"Thanks, Nii-san!" Ye Wuyue happily accepted the grilled fish from Itachi. "I caught a wild boar over there just now. We can roast it later too."

Ye Wuyue took a bite of the fish and found it quite tasty. He wondered which was better, this or Amaterasu's fried eggs.

"Here, Sai." Itachi handed Sai another grilled fish.

Sai, who had been chewing on dry rations, froze for a moment. He had not expected there to be a share of the grilled fish for him. In the past, he had never been this relaxed while on a mission.

Sai accepted the grilled fish without saying anything. He merely felt slightly uncomfortable, though he did not know why.

After the three of them finished the grilled fish and roasted boar, they each rested. The next morning, they set off again.

At noon, Team 11 encountered the first battle of their mission.

More than a dozen bandits armed with swords stood across from Ye Wuyue and the other two. By now, they regretted it so much their intestines had turned green.

They had merely wanted to rob a passing merchant, but before they could see clearly, they had run into three Konoha shinobi. The three brothers who had charged forward earlier were already lying on the ground.

With his arms crossed, Ye Wuyue looked at the bandits before him. He had no idea whether this group had poor eyesight or truly had guts. A dozen ordinary people dared to rob a shinobi squad; it was hard to believe their brains had not been caught in a door.

"Three esteemed shinobi, we failed to recognize greatness. We'll leave right now."

The bandit leader had some knowledge and knew how powerful shinobi were. With a smile, he offered Ye Wuyue and the others an apology, then tried to flee.

"Nii-san, are these the bandits?" Ye Wuyue asked Itachi.

"They came at us with blades the moment they arrived, intending to kill us. If we had been ordinary people, we would already be dead. Whether they are our mission targets or not, these people deserve to die." Itachi said coldly.

Itachi had no goodwill whatsoever toward bandits who treated human lives like grass. During his previous missions, he had seen firsthand how cruel such scum could be.

"Then that's fine."

After hearing Itachi's answer, Ye Wuyue charged straight into the bandits. At Shunpo's speed, none of them could react.

Only after he kicked the bandit leader flying did the group finally come to their senses.

"Damn it! You're just a brat who hasn't even grown all his hair, yet you dare act so arrogantly? Die!" A bandit raised his longsword and slashed down at Ye Wuyue.

Ye Wuyue did not even look at him. He sidestepped the slash, swept his foot at the bandit's legs and tripped him to the ground, then stomped directly on his neck.

With a crack, Ye Wuyue snapped the bandit's neck beneath his foot.

The remaining bandits surrounded Ye Wuyue. They had never witnessed a shinobi's methods and therefore felt no fear. Even though this child had just defeated their leader and killed one of them, they still did not hesitate.

"Ninja Art: Super Beast Imitating Drawing!"

Sai immediately took out a scroll from behind, drew a tiger on it with his brush, then formed a hand seal with one hand.

An ink-painted tiger leaped from the scroll and charged at the bandits surrounding Ye Wuyue.