"Guy, enemies at two o'clock."
Deep in the woods.
Shiranui Genma spoke in a low voice, a toothpick clenched between his teeth.
Guy didn't even turn his head. He was already charging forward.
Three figures burst out of the trees, machetes in hand. Before they could even figure out what was happening, the one in front suddenly saw a blur.
Bam!
A kick slammed into his chest.
He flew two meters and crashed into a tree, eyes rolling back as he slid limply to the ground.
The other two froze for a second.
The second kick had already landed.
Bam!
Another one tumbled across the ground and lay motionless in the grass.
The last one turned to run. Guy landed, pushed off the ground, leaped into the air, and spun around.
"Leaf Hurricane!"
Whoosh!
The back of his foot cracked against the man's head.
The man pitched forward, face-first into a pile of fallen leaves.
The whole thing took less than three seconds.
Three men.
Ebisu ran up behind them, rope clutched in his hands, moving with a practiced ease that was almost heartbreaking.
He tied up the first one.
When he was done, he turned to Guy. "Could you go a little easier next time? If he dies, all this work will have been for nothing."
It was wartime.
Captured bandits didn't necessarily have it any better than the dead.
Still, these bandits had killed people, so the three of them had no qualms about capturing them.
Guy grinned.
"They won't die. I held back."
Ebisu rolled his eyes and kept tying them up.
The second.
Then the third.
Once he'd finished, he stood and dusted off his hands. Looking at the three bandits trussed up like dumplings, he wore a somewhat complicated expression.
"That's the third group."
Shiranui Genma walked over and nudged the nearest man with his foot, checking that the ropes were tight.
"Team 6, three captured."
He looked at Guy.
"How many have you got?"
Guy thought for a moment.
"Two in the first group, four in the second, and these three—"
He counted on his fingers.
"Nine."
Ebisu's mouth twitched.
"The three of us head out together, and you take down nine by yourself?"
Guy scratched his head.
"I guess... yeah?"
Genma said nothing.
He took the toothpick out of his mouth, stared at Guy for two seconds, then put it back between his teeth.
"Fine."
Just one word.
But his expression clearly said, Is this guy even human?
From somewhere in the distance, they could occasionally hear sounds coming from other directions.
Today was their first real mission.
The twenty-one students from the Ninja Academy had been divided into seven three-man teams and sent to encircle the bandits' hideout in a fan-shaped formation.
They were numbered one through seven, from left to right.
Ikkaku Umino was positioned at number four, where he could provide support to either side at a moment's notice.
In theory, the best formation would have been to surround the place completely and let no one escape.
But Ikkaku Umino didn't dare.
The oldest of the children was eight, and the youngest was six.
If they formed a circle and spread out, he wouldn't be able to reach them in time if anything went wrong.
A fan-shaped formation at least kept every team within his range.
Guy and the others had drawn Team 6.
The second team from the far right.
Beyond them was Team 7.
Gekko Hayate, Uzuki Yugao, and another kid whose name Guy couldn't recall.
The kid didn't talk much and usually went unnoticed.
But now, Guy suddenly thought of him.
What was his name again...?
"Hey."
Ebisu lowered his voice.
"Isn't it a little too quiet over there?"
Guy came back to himself and looked to the right.
The woods were pitch-black. He couldn't see anything.
Quiet.
It really was too quiet.
There wasn't a sound from Team 7's direction.
"Maybe they haven't run into anyone," Genma said.
Ebisu nodded.
"Could be. We've already run into three groups, so it's not surprising if they haven't found anyone."
He dusted off his hands, stood up, and rolled his neck.
"But now that you mention it, this mission doesn't seem all that hard."
There was a hint of swagger in his voice.
"When I heard Teacher Umino explain it, I thought it'd be a lot more dangerous. But this is it?"
He nudged one of the tied-up bandits with his foot.
"They're not even ninja, just a bunch of ordinary bandits. There are three of us, and Guy alone took down nine."
He pushed up his sunglasses, looking smug.
"At this rate, clearing out the whole hideout will take—"
"Ebisu."
Guy cut him off.
Ebisu turned around.
"Yeah?"
Guy looked at him, unusually serious.
"Don't get cocky."
Ebisu paused.
Then he scoffed.
"Who's getting cocky? I'm just stating the facts."
"Teacher Umino said," Guy replied, "that careless people die the fastest on the battlefield."
Ebisu opened his mouth.
He wanted to argue.
But when he looked into Guy's eyes, the words died on his lips.
He snorted and turned away.
"Yeah, yeah. I get it."
But his tone was clearly more serious than before.
Guy said nothing more.
He turned to Genma.
Genma was looking at him too.
Their eyes met, and Genma gave a slight nod.
Obviously, he also felt that something was wrong.
Without drawing attention to himself, Guy lowered his head and glanced at the system panel.
[Mission: Eliminate the Bandit Gang] [Reward: 100 Monk Points, one random Intermediate Gift Pack]
The system had suddenly issued this mission before they set out.
An Intermediate Gift Pack.
This was the first time he'd seen one.
Every mission before this had rewarded him with a Beginner Gift Pack.
Now this "eliminate the bandits" mission was offering an Intermediate one.
Guy clenched his fists.
What did an Intermediate Gift Pack mean?
It meant this mission was harder than every mission before it.
It meant someone might actually die.
He told himself "might."
But deep down, he knew better.
The system didn't deal in "might."
Only "would" and "wouldn't."
One hundred Monk Points and an Intermediate Gift Pack.
There was no way this mission was as simple as dealing with a few ordinary bandits.
Just then—
"Whoooosh!"
A sharp whistle burst from far off to the right.
All three of them looked up at once.
A signal flare streaked into the sky above the trees, trailing a red tail of fire.
It lit up half the sky.
That was—
"Team 7!" Ebisu shouted.
The location flashed through Guy's mind.
The far right.
The very edge.
The farthest point from Ikkaku Umino.
Team 7.
Gekko Hayate.
Uzuki Yugao.
And the kid whose name he couldn't remember.
The signal flare was still rising.
Red light.
It was a call for help.
"Go!"
Guy was already charging forward.
No discussion.
No hesitation.
Shiranui Genma and Ebisu didn't even exchange a glance before following after him.
Three figures raced through the woods.
Guy led the way.
There was only one thought in his mind.
Please be safe.