Massacre

Early the next morning.

Akiyama Shun was woken from a deep sleep by Tsunade.

"Get up, you brat. We're out of money."

"...Fine."

After Akiyama Shun spent ten minutes getting some money from the casino next door, the two of them set off.

"Hey, brat. What are you thinking about?"

On the road, Tsunade noticed Akiyama Shun kept looking up at the sky, as if he were deep in thought.

"I was thinking about Shizune."

"Shizune? Why were you thinking about her? Shouldn't you be thinking about Yuhi Shinku's daughter?"

Tsunade stared intently at Akiyama Shun, hoping to catch a glimpse of some juicy gossip on his face.

Akiyama Shun merely sighed.

"No, I was jealous of Shizune. She didn't have to look after you while we were out on missions. That must be great."

"You little brat! How could you say that to your teacher?"

Tsunade had been about to punch Akiyama Shun, but stopped her fist in midair. Her expression immediately turned serious.

"We're here."

The two of them had reached the halfway point of a barren mountain. From where they stood, a bandit stronghold sat in the distance.

They exchanged a glance, then leaped into the trees to observe.

"I deliberately chose this mission. It's simple: break up this band of bandits so they stop harming the surrounding villages. Of course, killing them all is fine too."

"According to the intel, they're all ordinary bandits. But you can't expect much from the intel ordinary villagers provide. Since these bandits have been acting up in this area for so long, some of them might be ninja. We don't know exactly how strong they are, but you can rest assured there won't be any jonin."

"Since the main purpose of this mission is to train you, it's up to you whether we wait until nightfall to attack or go in now."

When she finished, Tsunade looked at Akiyama Shun and waited for his decision.

Akiyama Shun didn't take long to think it over before calmly answering, "Then let's get it over with and head back early. We'll go now."

Akiyama Shun's confidence brought a faint smile to Tsunade's lips. "You're pretty confident. But as someone who's been around, let me give you some advice: when you're outnumbered, it's best to deal with them through assassination."

"Don't worry, Teacher Tsunade. I know all about assassination. In fact, when I designed my Chidori, it was meant for assassination."

"..."

Akiyama Shun looked so serious that Tsunade didn't know what to say for a moment.

Chidori?

Assassination?

She remembered the dense crackling of electricity when Akiyama Shun used Chidori. It was practically the same as him shouting, "I'm going in!" But she seemed to have gotten used to the way he talked, so she didn't say anything more.

"...Do whatever you like. Just be careful. I'll keep an eye on you from the side, and if anything goes wrong, I'll save you right away."

Despite what she'd said, Tsunade was feeling a little nervous too. She knew she had hemophobia, and there was no way a bloody fight like this could take place without anyone bleeding.

Her whole body tensed. If Akiyama Shun really got into trouble, she'd already decided she would take a few hits and drag him away, even if her hemophobia kicked in.

Akiyama Shun nodded and lowered his stance.

"Then I'll leave it to you, Teacher Tsunade."

As soon as the words left his mouth, Akiyama Shun vanished from the branch.

As she watched him charge ahead, the smile on Tsunade's face gradually faded, replaced by a trace of worry.

She had chosen this mission for Akiyama Shun with great care. The possibility of encountering ninja made it unpredictable, and that sort of uncertainty was common on missions. She wanted him to get used to handling emergencies.

More importantly, Akiyama Shun had never killed anyone!

As a ninja, especially one as talented as Akiyama Shun, he was bound to kill and go to war someday. Tsunade didn't want his first time killing to be on a battlefield. His inexperience could leave him struggling to cope, and on the battlefield, even a moment of hesitation could cost him his life.

Tsunade didn't want someone she cared about to die on the battlefield. She wanted Akiyama Shun to experience this beforehand, and these bandits who terrorized the region were the perfect whetstone for him!

At the stronghold, two bandits stepped outside, chatting and laughing. They seemed to be heading out on patrol.

But as soon as they opened the door and took their first step—

"Splurt!"

Blood sprayed through the air. One of them was cut in half by a single slash from Akiyama Shun's White Fang Blade!

Warm blood splashed across Akiyama Shun's face. His first time killing someone didn't affect him much; it was just a somewhat novel experience.

"Ah—"

The other bandit reacted too, opening his mouth wide to let out a low cry. Before he could shout, his head went flying.

"That makes two."

Akiyama Shun kept count in his head, then charged into the stronghold with the White Fang Blade in his hand.

Some bandits were gathered around a bonfire, waiting for the food in the pot to cook. When they heard the commotion, they turned and saw a blood-covered person charging at them with a short blade. They were startled.

But they quickly recovered and grabbed the weapons beside them to defend themselves.

The bandits' weapons were nothing special, just ordinary iron. They were nowhere near the same level as the White Fang Blade.

As one bandit swung at Akiyama Shun, he began channeling chakra into the White Fang Blade and cut the bandit—and his weapon—in half!

He quickly scanned the area. About eight bandits were charging at him from different directions.

Akiyama Shun stayed calm and swiftly formed Hand Seals.

Three Shadow Clones appeared beside him.

They charged at the bandits from all sides, keeping Akiyama Shun from getting surrounded.

"Damn it! He's a ninja! A Konoha ninja!"

One of the bandits saw Akiyama Shun use ninjutsu and noticed the Forehead Protector on his head. He shouted in alarm.

His cry visibly dampened the spirits of the bandits around him.

There was no helping it. The gap between ninja and ordinary people was enormous, and Konoha was famous throughout the Ninja World as one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages.

Ordinary bandits like them were naturally afraid of ninja from the Five Great Shinobi Villages.

"Whoosh!"

Just then, something cut through the air. The instant Akiyama Shun heard it, his body moved on its own.

He pulled three Shuriken from his ninja pouch and casually hurled them toward the sound.

"Clang! Clang! Clang!"

After three consecutive clashes, all six Shuriken dropped to the ground.

"Don't panic! The kid looks young. He's probably just a freshly graduated Genin from the Ninja Academy. He doesn't know any ninjutsu. With this many of us, we can hack him to death!"

A bald man with a scar on his face stood on the wall and shouted to the bandits. His words did manage to keep their spirits up, barely.

But as soon as he finished speaking, the bald man ran off.

Doesn't know any ninjutsu?

Hack him to death?

What a joke!

He was a real ninja, and his trained eye could tell that Akiyama Shun was wielding a Chakra Blade and using the B-rank Shadow Clone Technique.

Who would fight someone like that?

Hack him to death? Even a hundred ordinary bandits couldn't scratch him!

See ya!

Akiyama Shun immediately recognized the man as the leader of the bandits. He was a genuine ninja, though probably no more than an ordinary Genin.

Leaving his Shadow Clones to deal with the other riffraff, Akiyama Shun used the Body Flicker Technique to pursue him.

The bandit leader was clever, though. He ran into a cave and, somehow operating a mechanism, caused a boulder three times a man's height to fall. It blocked the entrance and trapped Akiyama Shun outside before he could enter.

After seeing this, Tsunade smiled faintly. If nothing unexpected happened, there had to be a secret passage in the cave that would let the bandit leader escape.

She used the Body Flicker Technique to reach the boulder. Looking at it, Tsunade smiled. "Chidori uses too much chakra. This is the perfect chance for me to teach you my signature Nintaijutsu—"

Before she could finish, Akiyama Shun had already switched ninjas.

Deployed: Hatake Kakashi (Young)

Switched in: Tsunade (Young)