First Battle! (Seeking Follow-up Reads)

Leaving the village, Shita Genichi and his three companions headed northeast, leaping through the dense forest.

This was Shita Genichi's first time leaving the village, but there was nothing particularly strange about it.

The Land of Fire had an abundance of such tall, dense forests.

The four of them did not travel at a particularly fast pace; they rested for an hour at noon and set up camp in a grove by a river when night fell.

At this point, the four had not yet left the Land of Fire.

They split into two groups to take turns keeping watch: Shita Genichi and Hatake Sakumo in one, Uchiha Namiichi and Yamanaka En in the other.

However, the night passed without incident.

The next morning, after eating fish soup and grilled fish, the four set off again. By three in the afternoon, they had exited the Land of Fire and arrived in a small nation.

The Land of Rice!

A small nation that Shita Genichi had never even heard of.

This small country was famous in the ninja world for a specific type of fragrant rice, from which it derived its name.

The Land of Rice had no ninja village, so their missions were always commissioned to Konoha.

Recently, a band of bandits had entrenched themselves in the mountains, frequently descending to plunder the fragrant rice, which was the reason for this mission.

At dusk, Shita Genichi and his three companions arrived at a village located at the foot of the mountains.

Upon entering the village, the four discovered that the villagers were all avoiding them.

Some children peeked out, only to be scolded in hushed tones by their parents and pulled back into their homes.

Before long, the entire village looked empty.

Uchiha Namiichi snorted, "These people—they don't think we're the bandits, do they?"

Shita Genichi looked around, lost in thought.

Yamanaka En asked, "Captain, should we find a villager and ask?"

Hatake Sakumo knew this question had two meanings.

One was to ask in a friendly manner.

The second, naturally, was to use secret techniques or genjutsu to extract information.

According to intelligence provided by the Land of Rice's daimyo office, that band of bandits was hiding in the mountains right here.

Hatake Sakumo did not answer, but instead looked at Shita Genichi: "Genichi, what do you think?"

Shita Genichi replied, "These villagers might be afraid of us, but they are likely even more afraid of those bandits."

"Before hiring us, the Land of Rice probably sent samurai, but they were defeated—perhaps even wiped out—and the villagers here may have been retaliated against by the bandits."

"It is also possible that among those bandits, there are people like us."

Yamanaka En asked, "People like us? Ninjas wearing ninja headbands?"

Shita Genichi nodded, "And I suspect there is an informant for those bandits within the village."

Uchiha Namiichi immediately said, "Then let's find them and use genjutsu to get the information."

This method was direct and entirely feasible.

But Hatake Sakumo did not nod in agreement; instead, he asked Shita Genichi again: "Genichi, what do you think?"

Shita Genichi said, "What Namiichi suggests is perfectly feasible, but we have just been traveling, and our stamina is not at its peak."

"Furthermore, we are not familiar with the situation here or the terrain in the mountains."

"Even if we extract information through genjutsu, it is impossible to get every detail."

"Therefore, I think we should wait for them to come to us."

"We rest, let the bandit's informant send word, and wait for them to come and try to kill us."

Yamanaka En asked, "What if there is no informant in the village?"

Shita Genichi replied, "Since the Land of Rice has dealt with these bandits before, if they are even slightly clever, they would have developed an informant in the village, even if they didn't station their own people here."

Would anyone in the village refuse?

Perhaps.

But faced with the bandits' blades and threats, they would have to comply, whether they wanted to or not.

As they spoke, the four had reached the edge of the village, where a small river could be seen flowing by with a splash.

Hatake Sakumo immediately ordered, "We camp and rest by the river."

"If the bandits come on their own, we will take them out, and we'll leave one survivor to interrogate for information."

"If they don't come tonight, we head into the mountains at daybreak tomorrow."

Since the villagers were so terrified, Hatake Sakumo did not intend to extract information from them; he would simply head into the mountains tomorrow to search for the bandits' tracks himself.

Shita Genichi and the other two acknowledged the order and lit a campfire by the small river.

Shita Genichi and Yamanaka En were responsible for catching fish, while Uchiha Namiichi was in charge of grilling them. With the addition of Military Ration Pill, the four of them had a hearty meal before splitting into pairs to take turns resting.

Before they knew it, the moon was bright and the stars were sparse.

"They're here!"

Shita Genichi, who had been resting with his eyes closed, was suddenly nudged awake by Yamanaka En.

Shita Genichi adjusted to the light, but he neither saw nor heard anyone approaching.

Yamanaka En whispered, "They just came down the mountain, eight people in total."

Shita Genichi nodded, then his figure flashed, and he stood on the surface of the small river, forming hand seals.

Water Clone Technique!

The river water surged upward, condensing into a water clone.

Immediately after, the water clone flashed back to the spot where Shita Genichi had previously been resting against a rock.

As for his true body, it hid within the water.

Back at the campfire, Yamanaka En and Uchiha Namiichi remained on guard, while Hatake Sakumo lay to the side, seemingly unaware that bandits were about to attack.

A moment later, light footsteps echoed from the darkness.

"Who's there?"

Uchiha Namiichi shouted deliberately.

The next moment, the whistling sound of projectiles cutting through the air rang out as several shuriken flew toward the four of them.

Uchiha Namiichi's eyes instantly turned red, and he drew his blade to deflect the shuriken.

Shita Genichi and the others all chose to dodge.

"It's an Uchiha, two of you surround him!"

An exclamation came from the darkness.

Two figures lunged at Uchiha Namiichi, while three others charged toward Hatake Sakumo, Yamanaka En, and Shita Genichi's water clone respectively.

"Go to hell, brat!"

The person lunging at Shita Genichi looked exceptionally ferocious in the flickering light of the campfire.

He held a long blade and wore a ninja headband on his forehead, though he was not a rogue ninja.

Shita Genichi did not recognize the symbol.

But it didn't matter.

Crouching low, Shita Genichi placed his right hand on the hilt of his blade.

As the enemy's long blade descended like a streak of silk, he suddenly drew his sword.

Clang!

The two blades collided and scraped, sending sparks flying.

After Shita Genichi blocked the enemy's heavy, powerful strike, he followed through with a downward slash, snapping the enemy's long blade in two.

The enemy was shocked and leaped backward with all his might.

Shita Genichi leaped forward at the same time, quickly sheathing his blade before drawing it once more in a flash.

Pfft!

Blood sprayed under the moonlight.

The enemy's eyes widened as blood spurted from his chest.

This blade was too fast!

Shita Genichi landed, immediately sensing danger.

A gale swept in from the side with a roar.

It was coming from the direction of the village tail!

The five attackers from before had come from the north, but now the attack came from the east.

The enemy had split into two groups.

Shita Genichi immediately leaped to dodge, but the range of the Wind Release was too vast. The fierce wind cut into his body with a hissing sound, slicing through his clothes and flesh.

Poof!

Shita Genichi's body transformed into a stream of water and collapsed.

"Water Clone!"

Five or six meters away from the riverbank, a middle-aged man's expression changed under the moonlight.

Immediately after, he saw a figure standing on the river, with water swirling and surging around him to form a massive water pillar.

For a moment, the small river was actually cut off.

Rumble!

The water surged onto the riverbank, roaring with overwhelming force.

The middle-aged man's expression shifted; he did not know Earth Release, so facing such Water Release, he could only wait until the torrent was nearly upon him before leaping into the air to evade the most lethal strike.

As his figure landed on the surface of the water, the waves behind him crashed forward once more.

The middle-aged man had already completed his hand seals; he opened his mouth and exhaled, a gale sweeping forth to scatter the waves.

But at that moment, the water behind him coiled back around.

Caught off guard, the middle-aged man was instantly slammed into the water, gulping down several mouthfuls as a searing ache spread through his entire body.

By the time the water calmed, the man breached the surface, only to find the cold blade of Shita Genichi pressed against his throat.