Slaughter

Early the next morning.

Akiyama Shun was woken up from a deep sleep by Tsunade.

"You brat, stop sleeping. We're out of money."

"...Fine."

After Akiyama Shun spent ten minutes retrieving some cash from the casino next door, the two successfully hit the road.

"You brat, what are you thinking about?"

On the way, Tsunade noticed that Akiyama Shun kept looking up at the sky, as if he were pondering something.

"I'm thinking about Shizune."

"Shizune? Why are you thinking about her? Shouldn't you be thinking about the daughter of the Yuhi Shinku family?"

Tsunade stared straight at Akiyama Shun, attempting to catch a glimpse of some gossip on his face.

Akiyama Shun simply sighed.

"No, I'm just envious of Shizune. She doesn't have to take care of you while we're out on missions. It sounds amazing."

"You wretched brat, how can you say such things to your teacher!"

Tsunade intended to land a punch on Akiyama Shun, but her fist stopped in mid-air, and her expression immediately turned serious.

"We've arrived."

At this moment, the two had reached the mountainside of a desolate mountain. Within their line of sight, a bandit stronghold sat not far away.

After exchanging a glance, the two jumped into the trees to begin their observation.

"I specifically chose this mission. It's simple: disperse this group of bandits so they stop harming the surrounding villages. Of course, killing them all is also fine."

"According to the intelligence, they are just a group of ordinary bandits, but you shouldn't count on information about common villagers. To have been arrogant in this region for so long, there might be a ninja among them. As for what level of ninja, that's uncertain, but you can rest assured there won't be any Jonin."

"Since the mission is primarily to train you, whether we wait until nightfall to attack or go in right now is up to you."

After finishing, Tsunade looked at Akiyama Shun, waiting for his choice.

Akiyama Shun didn't think for long before calmly giving his answer: "Then let's get it over with early so we can head back. Let's go now."

Akiyama Shun's confident display brought a faint smile to the corner of Tsunade's mouth: "You're quite confident, but as someone with experience, I'll give you some advice. In this kind of one-versus-many situation, it's best to resolve it through assassination."

"Don't worry, Teacher Tsunade, I know a lot about assassination. In fact, my Chidori was designed with assassination in mind from the very beginning."

"..."

Akiyama Shun's earnest expression left Tsunade at a loss for words.

Chidori?

Assassination?

Tsunade thought of the dense, crackling sound of electricity whenever Akiyama Shun used Chidori, which was no different from him shouting, "I'm coming for you!" However, having seemingly adapted to Akiyama Shun's style of speaking, Tsunade didn't say anything more.

"...As long as you're happy. Be careful. I will be watching from the sidelines the whole time. If any accidents occur, I will save you in time."

Though she said that, Tsunade was actually feeling quite nervous. She knew full well that she suffered from hemophobia, and in this kind of slaughter and combat, it was impossible not to see blood.

Her entire body began to tense up. If Akiyama Shun truly ran into trouble, she had already resolved to endure a few cuts while suffering from her hemophobia to forcibly carry Akiyama Shun away.

Akiyama Shun nodded and lowered his body.

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

As his words fell, Akiyama Shun's figure vanished from the tree branch.

Watching Akiyama Shun rush forward, the smile on Tsunade's face gradually faded, replaced by a hint of worry.

She had truly selected this mission for Akiyama Shun with care. Because there was a possibility of a ninja appearing, the mission carried uncertainty. Such uncertainty was not uncommon in missions, and she wanted Akiyama Shun to become familiar with handling emergency situations.

Secondly, and most importantly, Akiyama Shun had never killed anyone!

As a ninja, especially one with Akiyama Shun's talent, he would inevitably have to kill and go to the battlefield in the future. Tsunade did not want his first time killing to be on the battlefield. If that were the case, he might suffer from maladaptation due to the shock of his first kill; on the battlefield, even a momentary lapse could cost him his life.

Tsunade did not want those she valued to die on the battlefield, so she wanted Akiyama Shun to experience this feeling in advance. These bandits, who harmed everyone far and wide, were the perfect whetstone for Akiyama Shun!

Inside the stronghold, two bandits walked out laughing and chatting, seemingly preparing to go on patrol.

However, the moment they opened the door and took their first step.

"Squelch!"

Blood splattered, and one of them was sliced in two by Akiyama Shun using the White Fang Blade!

The warm blood sprayed onto Akiyama Shun's face. Killing for the first time, Akiyama Shun's mood didn't fluctuate much; it was merely a novel experience.

"Ah—"

At this moment, the other bandit reacted, his mouth wide open, letting out a low cry. Before he could let out a loud shout, his head had already flown off.

"That's two."

Akiyama Shun kept count in his heart, then gripped the White Fang Blade and charged into the stronghold.

Some bandits gathered around the campfire, waiting for the food in the pot to cook, turned their heads at the sound. They were startled to see a person covered in blood, holding a short blade, charging straight toward them.

However, they reacted quickly, scrambling to grab their weapons and prepare for defense.

The weapons these bandits wielded were mediocre, mere common iron implements, and were not even in the same league as the White Fang.

As one bandit swung his blade at Akiyama Shun, Akiyama Shun began to channel chakra into the White Fang, slicing through the bandit and his blade in a single stroke!

Scanning his surroundings rapidly, he saw about eight bandits attacking from different angles.

Akiyama Shun remained calm and began to weave hand seals with speed.

Three Shadow Clones appeared by his side.

They charged toward the surrounding bandits, preventing Akiyama Shun from being completely encircled.

"Damn it! It's a ninja! A ninja from Konoha!"

Upon seeing Akiyama Shun use ninjutsu, one bandit caught sight of the forehead protector on his head and shouted out in alarm.

His cry significantly dampened the morale of the surrounding bandits.

There was no helping it; the gap between ninjas and ordinary people was absurdly vast, and Konoha was renowned throughout the Ninja World as one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages.

As common bandits, they harbored an innate fear of ninjas from the Five Great Shinobi Villages.

"Whoosh!"

At that moment, the sound of something cutting through the air reached him. The instant he heard it, Akiyama Shun's body moved on its own.

His right hand reached into his ninja tool pouch, pulled out three shuriken, and flicked them toward the source of the sound.

"Clang! Clang! Clang!"

Following three consecutive sounds of metal striking metal, six shuriken fell to the ground simultaneously.

"Don't panic! The brat doesn't look that old; he's probably just a genin who just graduated from the ninja academy. He doesn't know any real ninjutsu! With this many of you, you can hack him to death with a flurry of blades!"

A bald man with a scar on his face stood on a wall, shouting at the crowd of bandits. His shout did indeed manage to barely maintain the bandits' morale.

However, the bald man turned and ran the moment he finished speaking.

Doesn't know any real ninjutsu?

Hack him to death?

What a joke!

He was a genuine ninja, and with his experience, he could naturally tell that Akiyama Shun was holding a chakra blade and that the ninjutsu he used was the B-rank Shadow Clone Technique.

Who would fight him?

Hack him to death? Even if a hundred more ordinary bandits came, they wouldn't be able to deal any damage!

Bye-bye!

Akiyama Shun saw it at a glance: this man was the leader of the bandit group and a genuine ninja, though likely nothing more than an average genin.

Leaving his Shadow Clones to deal with the small fry, he used Body Flicker to give chase.

However, the bandit leader was clever. After running into a cave, he triggered some sort of mechanism, causing a boulder three men high to drop down, blocking Akiyama Shun outside before he could enter.

Seeing this, Tsunade curled her lips into a smile. If she wasn't mistaken, there must be a secret passage inside the cave that would allow the bandit leader to escape safely.

Body Flickering to the side of the boulder, Tsunade looked at the rock and laughed, "Chidori consumes too much chakra. Since we have this opportunity, I might as well teach you my signature Nintaijutsu..."

Before she could finish her sentence, Akiyama Shun had already completed the ninja swap.

Swapping out [Hatake Kakashi (Youth)]

Swapping in [Tsunade (Young)]