Thrilling Moment 2

After dealing with the bandits, it was time for the thrilling part—dividing the spoils. Ahem, dividing the loot.

This was also why missions to wipe out bandits were uncommon. For one thing, some people would camp the mission board waiting to snatch them up, since these missions offered two sources of profit with relatively little risk.

For another, the Hokage would sometimes hold back some of them for talented villagers to gain experience from. Besides, bandits were not idiots. Unless they truly could not survive any other way, who would become a bandit?

Therefore, during peacetime, there were still very few bandits.

But things were different now. The war had ended not long ago, so there were still quite a lot of bandits.

More importantly, because Konoha had been busy with the war and had no spare energy to deal with them, they had grown wealthy!

For instance, Shiro and the others had earned 500,000 ryo from this one mission alone!

That was already equivalent to the earnings from several B-rank missions!

It almost made Shiro want to become a bandit himself. Of course, it was only a passing thought. He would not actually do it; he was not stupid.

Still, not every bandit group was this rich. The group Shiro had taken out with just a few arrows earlier had had no real valuables, so Shiro and the others had not even bothered cleaning up after them.

Well, the estimated gains were currently written on the scroll. Most of the intelligence at the moment had been gathered by Konoha's Intelligence Squad. Normally, it would be supplied by the client, and unless the mission was especially significant, the Intelligence Squad would not be dispatched for this sort of thing.

But the circumstances were unusual now, so the Intelligence Squad had provided most of it.

And although time was tight, so Shiro and the others had only cleaned out a few of the larger groups, their gains so far, including mission rewards, had already reached 30 million ryo!

They had already earned an Asuma!

However, all the high-value targets had been cleared out by now. There were no more high-profit missions left.

After sorting through the loot, Shiro and the others went to meet up with Shikaki.

One night, five days later, Shiro and the others were gathered around a map in a cave not far from a valley, discussing their plans. Their final target for this trip was in the valley ahead.

The valley occupied a strategically advantageous position, easy to defend and difficult to attack. If there had been more resources nearby, these bandits would never have had the chance to occupy it.

Therefore, even Shikaki had thought for a long time without coming up with a better plan.

The current plan had been proposed by Shiro. It was simple: Shiro would charge in from the front while Shikaki and the others circled around for a sneak attack.

But there was a problem. Shiro would be at great risk. The Projectile Weapon Amulet was never the same as Protection from Arrows. It had its limits, after all. This was merely a counterfeit that Shiro had created through Projection, far inferior to the original.

Although Shiro could project another one, the speed might not keep up. And with Nakamura not joining the battle, it would be difficult for Shikaki and the others to take down the enemy quickly enough to ease Shiro's pressure.

That was because this bandit group had rogue ninja among them and was quite strong.

The plan was therefore extremely risky, and Shikaki did not dare make the decision lightly.

Unfortunately, it was already the best option. The enemy had set warning formations all around the valley, making it impossible for Shiro and the others to sneak in. This was the most effective plan they had.

"Shikaki, decide. We can't find a better way, and we don't have time to waste here with them."

After saying that, Shiro and Taichi both looked at Shikaki.

"..."

Shikaki stared intently at the map without saying a word. Yet from the way his finger kept tapping against it, it was clear that he did not approve of the plan, but he could not think of another one.

In the end, Shikaki agreed to Shiro's plan, because he truly could not think of a better solution.

Nakamura watched from the side without speaking. These were things they would have to learn sooner or later. If they relied on Nakamura for everything, they would never grow.

Shikaki and the others' choice did not surprise Nakamura. After all, ninja nowadays placed greater importance on missions. Even White Fang had not been condemned by countless people because he failed a mission? (It hadn't happened yet.)

Though someone had been secretly fanning the flames and guiding public opinion, without that underlying value system, no amount of pushing by a certain bandage-wearing watch man—the Pot King—would have worked.

Therefore, Shiro and the others really had no other choice. Otherwise, the mission would fail.

Now that they had made their decision, Shiro and the others no longer hesitated.

Shikaki and Taichi quickly headed for one side of the valley. Shiro summoned two small snakes to follow them, then projected five Explosive Tag arrows and stuck them into the ground, waiting for Shikaki and the others.

When Shikaki and Taichi reached the boundary of the formation, one of the two small snakes following them dispelled its summoning and relayed the information to Shiro.

The moment Shiro received the message from the summoned beast, he immediately pulled the arrows from the ground and fired them in rapid succession, destroying the warning formations around the valley.

After doing that, Shiro immediately activated Reinforcement Magecraft and took off running!

He wanted to cover as much ground as possible before the enemy reacted, while also making the glow of his Reinforcement Magecraft as bright as possible to draw their fire.

However, the enemy reacted quickly as well. When Shiro was still 300 meters from the valley, arrows filled the sky and rained down on him!

After Shiro had advanced only around 100 meters, the Projectile Weapon Amulet was nearly depleted. Terrified, Shiro hurriedly deactivated Reinforcement Magecraft, pulled a shield from his bracer at top speed to block the arrows, and projected another Projectile Weapon Amulet.

The shield had been sealed into the bracer after Shiro had removed Kizuna earlier, specifically to buy time in a situation like this. He had also deactivated Reinforcement Magecraft because it was nighttime; without the light, he would be harder to spot, buying him a little more time.

Fortunately, Shiro had always placed great importance on practicing his Projection of the Projectile Weapon Amulet. His projection speed had now improved considerably.

A short while later, Shiro once again became a large blue lightbulb and charged toward the bandit stronghold!

He then rushed another 150 meters before the amulet was depleted again. But the enemy did not have many arrows left, and the distance was no longer far, so Shiro simply raised his shield and charged forward. After all, Shiro did not have much Chakra either, and he needed to save some in case of emergencies.

Meanwhile, under Shiro's cover, Shikaki and Taichi also reached the valley. The two did not split up, instead moving together. According to the intelligence, there were nearly fourteen ninja here!

It was safer for them to act together. Whenever they encountered someone alone, Taichi would activate his Sharingan, step forward, cast a genjutsu, and slit their throat.

When there were two or more, Shikaki would restrain them while Taichi took the opportunity to put all of them under genjutsu, then slit their throats.

That was basically the process.

If everything went smoothly, Shikaki and Taichi could use this to wipe out the enemy completely. Unfortunately, that was only if.

The enemy were not idiots. Seven ninja had already died; there was no way they still had not caught on.

Thus, Shikaki and Taichi were surrounded by two Chunin and two Genin!

As for Shiro, the moment he charged in, he saw one Chunin and two Genin from the intelligence report waiting for him. Dozens of bandits surrounded them as well!

"Heh. Say, if I told you I came to join you, would you believe me?"

"Shing!"

The sound of the surrounding bandits drawing their blades made their answer clear: they did not!

Every one of Shiro's group had fallen into danger!

Thanks to Tianping Xiaohui, Waiyaoyaolin, A Thousand Armies and Ten Thousand Horses Avoid the White Robe, cbvbf, Ai, Kaede, Wanxin Yun'er, Wangxi, Rainy Day Kaede, Book Friend 20171022213613800, and Life Without Chains for the recommendation votes. Thank you all for your support.