Konoha, village entrance.
After submitting his leave-of-absence permit, Takada Fujiwara said in a very gentle tone.
"Brats, keep up!"
With that, he flicked forward and dashed straight ahead.
Uchiha Jin looked at the lush forest outside the village, exchanged a glance with Nara Shikaichi and Kakashi, and used a Body Flicker Technique to follow closely behind Takada Fujiwara.
Unlike the era of Naruto Uzumaki, tree-climbing and Water Walking were compulsory subjects in the Ninja Academy during this period.
Especially since the three of them knew Takada Fujiwara was most likely testing their mettle, none of them dared to slack off, and they all tried their best to keep up with his speed.
Led by Takada Fujiwara, the group leaped back and forth among the tree branches, naturally moving at an extremely fast pace.
Two hours later.
Takada Fujiwara turned his head to glance at the three boys, and seeing that their breathing was starting to grow rapid, he made a hand gesture and stopped under a large tree.
"Hmph, not bad!"
"I'm quite satisfied with everyone's strength, so we'll rest for half an hour before hitting the road."
"Take this time to let me introduce the mission."
Takada Fujiwara sat cross-legged against the large tree, took a scroll out of his ninja tool pouch, handed it to the three boys, and slowly began explaining.
It was a very traditional C-Rank Mission: wipe out a group of bandits!
Uchiha Jin's eyes flickered; having transmigrated here, he knew very well in his heart that these bandits were actually tolerated by Konoha. On one hand, it allowed novice ninja to see blood, and on the other hand, it also replenished the village's finances.
Ninja were not soldiers of any kind; they were merely assassins who took money to get things done!
However, these high-level topics had nothing to do with a small fry like him, so he just sighed inwardly and began to ponder this mission.
The leader was a Chunin!
Intelligence indicated he was a rogue ninja from Kirigakure, backed by five Genin, though they were merely wandering ninja not even on par with the ninja students of the Five Great Nations. Aside from them, there were twenty-six wandering samurai, and over fifty ordinary civilians.
Just as Uchiha Jin was thinking, Takada Fujiwara clapped his hands and continued.
"Alright."
"You already know the mission. Next, you should first discuss a battle plan. To foster your growth as quickly as possible, I will not participate unless we encounter a life-or-death crisis."
"I'll give you a piece of advice: you'd better pick a captain first. A squad cannot function without a leader!"
After saying that, he crossed his arms over his chest, showing no intention of participating any further.
Nara Shikaichi spoke up first: "I'm okay with using my brain, but I can't be a captain who makes decisions."
This was a common flaw of the Nara clan; they could only serve in supporting roles.
Hatake Kakashi, on the other hand, had a blank look in his eyes, acting just like a walking corpse, and couldn't be bothered to fight for any captain position. Seeing this, Uchiha Jin felt stuck between a rock and a hard place.
He really wanted to coast by!
However, both of his companions were in this state, and the Uchiha were a proud clan, so to maintain his persona, he could only defiantly speak up: "I'll be the captain!"
[Ding, congratulations to the host.]
[You have taken the first step in altering a cannon fodder's destiny, and obtained 10 Fortune Points.]
Uchiha Jin's mouth twitched.
However, after thinking about it, he understood. As captain, he could initially influence the squad, so that was probably how the Fortune Points came about.
Taking a deep breath, he continued: "Plans and whatnot are completely unnecessary. Nara Shikaichi will use the Shadow Secret Technique, and I'll use the Sharingan to scout out the enemy's location together, and then we'll just charge in as a group and kill them."
That's right.
As proud members of the Uchiha, they didn't need any tactics. They were just a bunch of robbers; they could just rush up and butcher the enemy.
Nara Shikaichi had black lines all over his forehead.
He suddenly regretted not fighting for the captain position. How could he have forgotten that Kakashi had lost his drive from the blow he suffered, while Uchiha Jin was a brainless brute who only knew how to kill?
Still, there was no help for it!
He had been the one to willingly step down from the captaincy just now, and if he opposed Uchiha Jin's decision now, wouldn't he be blatantly offending someone?
Anyway, they were just a bunch of bandits, and Takada Fujiwara was providing secret protection, so he chose to remain silent.
Takada Fujiwara: "..."
Although he didn't speak out loud, he still had black lines all over his forehead.
Brutes!
Yet, considering things much like Nara Shikaichi, he truly couldn't say the boy's plan was wrong right now. At the very least, they were all elites from Konoha's ninja clans, and facing a band of thieves didn't require overly complex strategies.
However, the problem was—
The main purpose of this mission was to let them see blood and incidentally temper this new team!
If they recklessly charged in like this, what kind of teamwork was there to temper?
Only Kakashi remained silent, looking as though he didn't care about these matters at all.
Half an hour later.
The group arrived at the foot of a mountain. Through the lush forest, several bandit lookout posts could be seen.
Uchiha Jin half-squatted on the branch of a large tree, activated his Sharingan, and said to Nara Shikaichi, "Kakashi, you keep watch. Shikaichi, move out with me."
Of course, reconnaissance would mainly rely on Nara Shikaichi!
Although the Sharingan could detect the flow of chakra inside a human body, it could only see people within the field of vision, whereas large-scale scouting required the Nara clan's Shadow Secret Technique.
Nara Shikaichi nodded. His hands began forming hand seals, and strands of shadows spread forward from the ground.
Because it was strictly for scouting, the extended shadows were naturally very thin, but even so, it still taxed Shikaichi quite a bit.
For one thing, the range was large; for another, he was far too young.
Five minutes later.
Having finished scouting, Nara Shikaichi wiped away his sweat, drew a simple topographical map of the enemy's lair on the ground, and meticulously marked the locations of all enemies.
Uchiha Jin touched his chin, then made his decision: "Kakashi will act as the vanguard, charging straight into the enemy's lair to wipe out the leading ninja."
"No problem." Kakashi nodded.
Uchiha Jin looked at Nara Shikaichi: "You will act as backup support, using the Shadow Secret Technique to prevent any enemies from escaping."
"Understood." Nara Shikaichi did not object.
Uchiha Jin made his conclusion.
"I am responsible for maintaining overall control and wiping out the wandering samurai."
"If you run into danger, I'll step in!"
Proud to the point of arrogance, even overbearing—this was the very nature of the Uchiha.
Hearing this, Nara Shikaichi and Kakashi only nodded slightly, their eyes devoid of any surprise.
The Uchiha were just like that; everyone in Konoha was used to it!
Besides, this tactic was quite reasonable, and even they couldn't pick any flaws in it.
"Alright, move out!"
Uchiha Jin clapped his hands, got to his feet, and immediately drew a kunai.
Swish!
With a single flicker, the three of them killed their way toward the bandit lair.
Kakashi wielded his father's short sword, White Fang, his bewildered gaze turning sharp as he lunged straight into the deepest part of the lair like a bolt of lightning. Nara Shikaichi remained in the outer perimeter, deploying the Shadow Secret Technique to restrict the movements of the ordinary bandits and using his shadows to crush their throats.
Uchiha Jin wasn't idling either. Facing this group of wandering samurai, he didn't even use ninjutsu, killing them using merely a kunai.
As Konoha, the head of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, the gap between them and these wandering samurai was simply too vast. Even though these men were a whole cycle older than him, the disparity in their true strength was still immense.
Ten minutes later.
Through his Sharingan, Uchiha Jin could see that all operations were proceeding smoothly. Neither Nara Shikaichi nor Kakashi had gone soft-hearted; even as children, they could kill without burden.
This was completely unimaginable in his past life, and seeing this, he couldn't help but let out a soft sigh.
What a—hellish world!
Just as he was feeling emotional, Kakashi's voice suddenly rang out.
"Jin, stop him!"
Before you continue