Master of Illusions

The ink tiger let out a long roar, snatched up a bandit, and bit straight through his neck.

"What the hell is that?!"

Some of the bandits began to panic when they saw the tiger. They had heard all along about how powerful ninjas were, but today was the first time they had truly witnessed a ninja's strength.

Seeing Sai make his move, Ye Wuyue lost interest in continuing to play around.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

A massive fireball spewed from Ye Wuyue's mouth, burning all the bandits in front of him to charcoal. The remaining few were bitten to death by the tiger Sai had drawn. Of the bandits, only the leader whom Ye Wuyue had kicked away was still alive.

After being kicked away by Ye Wuyue, the bandit leader had crashed into a rock in the distance. After seeing what Ye Wuyue and the others were capable of, he clutched his chest and struggled to his feet, intending to flee.

But how could he possibly escape at his speed? Ye Wuyue caught up with him in two Shunpo steps.

"E-Esteemed ninja lords, I beg you, let me go! I really haven't done anything evil! I only became a bandit because I had no choice, just to earn enough to fill my stomach! Please, just treat me like a fart and let me go!"

The bandit leader burst into tears and mucus, repeatedly kowtowing to Ye Wuyue and the others with a look of anguish.

"Whether you've done anything evil or not, you can tell us the truth yourself."

Three tomoe slowly appeared in Itachi's eyes. As his Sharingan spun, the bandit leader immediately stopped moving after seeing those eyes, and his gaze became vacant.

Sai immediately turned his head away, making sure his eyes did not meet Itachi's.

Itachi naturally noticed the little movement, but he paid it no mind.

After being controlled by the Sharingan, the bandit leader slowly confessed to the crimes he had committed.

"I became a bandit after gambling away all the money in my family. Before leaving home, I robbed my neighbors of all their wealth. Then, afraid they would send someone after me, I killed their entire family.

"After that, I found a bandit gang on Little Hot Spring Mountain and joined them. Because I was ruthless and well-traveled, I managed to seize a great deal of money every time. I was soon chosen by Boss Black Iron as a minor leader and led my brothers in robbing merchants passing by.

"This time, we've already robbed three groups of merchants traveling through here."

"What happens to the merchants you rob?" Itachi asked.

"We kill all the men. We take the women up the mountain and lock them up for the brothers to enjoy," the bandit leader said blankly.

A cold glint flashed through Ye Wuyue's eyes. As far as he was concerned, no matter how many times people like this were killed, it would never be enough to vent his hatred.

"How many of you are there in total? Are there any ninjas?" Itachi continued asking.

"There are a little over a hundred of us. There are no ninjas, and even our boss is just an ordinary person," the bandit leader replied.

After the bandit leader finished confessing everything, he suddenly grabbed his head with both hands and slowly twisted his own neck until it snapped.

"Letting him die just like that is going too easy on him," Ye Wuyue said.

"They're still holding hostages. The sooner we go, the sooner we can rescue them. There's no need to waste too much time on scum like him."

After obtaining the information he wanted, Itachi deactivated his Sharingan and took out the map included with the mission scroll.

"This group of bandits should be on this mountain. The mission of wiping them out will be left to you two. I'll help finish off anyone who escapes at the foot of the mountain. But if anyone makes it to me, that means you've failed this mission, and Sasuke will have to return to the Ninja Academy and take the course all over again.

"You'll also have to rescue all the hostages safely. Understood?"

Itachi pointed to a mountain marked on the map as he spoke to Ye Wuyue and Sai.

Only then did Sai dare to turn back. When he saw that the three tomoe were no longer in Itachi's eyes, he finally relaxed.

"Understood!" Ye Wuyue and Sai replied in unison.

The two of them then followed the route marked on the map toward Little Hot Spring Mountain.

But... this was only what Sai saw.

From Ye Wuyue and Itachi's perspectives, Sai was running circles around them alone, his hands flung behind his back.

Ye Wuyue found the sight rather amusing, but he still held back his laughter.

He had now witnessed just how terrifying a master of illusions could be.

In fact, Sai had already fallen under Itachi's illusion before Itachi activated his Sharingan. It had only been a simple illusion that caused a slight discrepancy in Sai's sense of direction. Then, when Itachi activated his Sharingan to interrogate the bandit leader, Sai thought he had turned his head away to avoid Itachi's Sharingan. In reality, he had turned his head directly into Itachi's gaze.

After that, he was completely hypnotized by Itachi and fell into his illusion.

"Let's leave him here, big brother. Leave these bandits to me. If he follows me, I won't be able to fight freely."

Ye Wuyue tightened his grip on his Zanpakuto and spoke to Itachi.

Itachi nodded, then summoned a crow.

"Take one of my summoned crows with you. If anything unexpected happens, I can use it to reach you quickly."

After being summoned, the crow circled above Ye Wuyue's head.

"But if you fail this mission, I really will make you return to the Ninja Academy and repeat the course," Itachi said with a smile.

Ye Wuyue smiled at that.

"Don't worry. There's no chance of that happening." With that, Ye Wuyue ran toward Little Hot Spring Mountain with Itachi's summoned crow.

Left behind, Itachi watched Sai continue running circles nearby and fell into thought. He knew that the Root ninjas were all branded with the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal by Danzo, making it impossible for them to reveal anything about Root or Danzo.

But... sometimes, compared to obtaining the enemy's true information, making the enemy receive false information of your own could be even more useful...

Ye Wuyue used Shunpo all the way to Little Hot Spring Mountain, the place the bandit leader had mentioned. He saw the bandits' stronghold, with two bandits guarding the entrance.

"Transformation Technique."

Ye Wuyue formed hand seals, and his entire body transformed into the appearance of the bandit's minor leader.

Ye Wuyue then swaggered toward the entrance of their stronghold. Since the bandits still had innocent hostages, Ye Wuyue did not intend to force his way in directly.

He had originally planned to use Kyōkō, but since it would make movement inconvenient, he switched to the Transformation Technique instead.

"Greetings, Third Leader!"

The two guards lowered their heads and greeted Ye Wuyue when they saw him.

"Good." Ye Wuyue nodded and walked into the stronghold.

"Third Leader, where are the other brothers?"

One of the bandits noticed that Ye Wuyue was alone and asked him.

"We hit a wealthy target this time. They're carrying the loot behind me. I had something urgent to handle, so I came back first."

The bandit suddenly looked enlightened.

"Oh~ I get it. When Third Leader says he has something urgent to do, you mean you want to go to the prison cells, right?" The bandit gave a lecherous grin and asked Ye Wuyue.

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