A Bountiful Harvest

At the command, Uchiha Mirai and the other two vanished from the spot.

Just as they had practiced, the three split up in three directions and made their way toward the stronghold.

With the Sharingan's enhancement, Uchiha Mirai could still clearly see his surroundings despite the thick darkness of night.

One, two, three...

After confirming the bandits' positions, Uchiha Mirai strode over openly.

The bandit standing watch saw Uchiha Mirai suddenly appear and was just about to shout when he lost consciousness to a genjutsu the next second.

Ding! Congratulations, host, you have successfully plundered a reward: Constitution +0.5!

"There really isn't a limit!"

Having received another reward, Uchiha Mirai could not help but curl his lips into a smile.

Death was like the wind, always at his side.

The slaughter began.

Ding! Congratulations, host, you have successfully plundered a reward: Constitution +0.5!

Ding! Congratulations, host, you have successfully plundered a reward: Mental Power +0.5!

The system notifications kept sounding, and Uchiha Mirai's attributes began to change continuously.

Since Uchiha Mirai had not deliberately concealed himself, the stronghold had already descended into chaos.

After the initial panic, all the bandits in the stronghold surged toward Uchiha Mirai.

"It's that guy! Get him together and kill him!"

Watching the bandits charge at him in a swarm, Uchiha Mirai held his forehead and laughed. "Do you all want to dance too?"

Uchiha Mirai charged into the bandits' encirclement and slaughtered his way left and right.

He was like an incomparably graceful dancer, every strike accurately harvesting a fresh life.

In mere moments, the bandits suffered grievous casualties.

Yet they had not even touched the corner of Uchiha Mirai's clothes.

"Damn it, this guy's a monster! A monster!"

"He'll kill us all! Run!"

"He's a Konoha ninja! Those two bastards never sent us any warning!"

"Move! Don't block me! Run!"

Under Uchiha Mirai's slaughter, the bandits began to flee in defeat.

"That won't do."

These were all experience points for increasing his strength. Uchiha Mirai had no intention of letting even one of them go.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"

"Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"

"...

Uchiha Mirai rapidly formed hand seals with both hands, swiftly reaping the bandits' lives.

After a while, the screams faded away.

The bandits had been slaughtered to the last man by Uchiha Mirai.

"This is truly unexpected."

Shinku Yuhi, who had been silently watching the stronghold from afar, could not help shaking his head.

He had originally thought that Uchiha Mirai would use a sneak attack and deal with the bandits one by one.

But he had not expected this guy to choose a direct frontal assault instead.

As expected of a ninja from the Uchiha Clan. Their actions were always so unexpected.

When he reached the center of the stronghold, Uchiha Mirai saw Asuma Sarutobi and Kurenai Yuhi.

Both of them were filthy, and their expressions were extremely ugly.

It seemed... they had suffered quite a bit.

At that moment, seeing Uchiha Mirai completely spotless, both Kurenai Yuhi and Asuma Sarutobi felt somewhat ashamed.

If Uchiha Mirai had not drawn away most of the bandits, they would probably have been even more miserable.

"What is this supposed to mean?"

Uchiha Mirai frowned at the dozen or so elderly, weak, sick, and disabled people crouching before them.

"Mirai, they've already surrendered."

"Even if we don't kill them, they aren't much of a threat, right?"

Kurenai Yuhi explained.

"Have you forgotten what Teacher Kurenai said earlier?" Uchiha Mirai said coldly. "Mercy toward enemies will get you killed."

"Hey, why are you so cold-blooded?"

"Are you going to make us kill all these old people and children?"

Asuma Sarutobi demanded loudly.

The elderly, weak, sick, and disabled people squatting on the ground also began to cry in unison.

"You two, come here."

Uchiha Mirai spoke blandly.

A terrifying aura surged from him.

Having just killed dozens of people, he made both Kurenai Yuhi and Asuma Sarutobi unable to meet his eyes.

"Mirai, I... I'll listen to you."

Kurenai Yuhi lowered her head and admitted her mistake. Asuma Sarutobi clenched his fists, yet he also dared not defy Uchiha Mirai's orders.

Just as the two were preparing to leave, an unexpected change occurred.

The bandits on the ground grabbed dirt and flung it at Asuma Sarutobi and Kurenai Yuhi.

"You little brat really are ruthless!"

Two clouds of white smoke rose up. Two old women among the crouching crowd twisted their faces viciously as they attacked Kurenai Yuhi and Asuma Sarutobi at the same time.

"Not good, they're ninjas!"

Asuma Sarutobi and Kurenai Yuhi's expressions changed.

Neither of them had expected that two ninjas who had used the Transformation Jutsu were hidden among these seemingly harmless elderly, weak, sick, and disabled people.

"We can't dodge!"

Asuma Sarutobi and Kurenai Yuhi closed their eyes in despair.

At such close range, with the enemy launching a surprise attack while they were completely unguarded, they had no chance to react at all.

Squelch!

Squelch!

Two sounds of blades piercing flesh rang out. Uchiha Mirai struck after them yet arrived first, slashing the throats of the two ambushing ninjas with the long blade in his hand.

As the two bodies hit the ground, the system notifications sounded in Uchiha Mirai's mind once more.

Ding! Congratulations, host, you have successfully plundered a reward: Chakra +1!

Ding! Congratulations, host, you have successfully plundered a reward: Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!

Ignoring the voices in his mind for the moment, Uchiha Mirai looked at Kurenai Yuhi and Asuma Sarutobi. "You handle the rest."

Although killing the remaining people himself would earn him rewards, a few attribute points were nothing compared to helping Kurenai Yuhi and Asuma Sarutobi adapt to being ninjas as quickly as possible.

After all...

For a long time to come, they would be his teammates.

A Bountiful Harvest

Under Uchiha Mirai's gaze, Kurenai Yuhi and Asuma Sarutobi picked up kunai and killed every remaining bandit.

After finishing everything, Kurenai Yuhi carefully walked over to Uchiha Mirai.

"Mirai, I won't do that again. Please don't be angry, okay?"

"I'm not angry. As long as you remember today's lesson, that's enough."

Uchiha Mirai gently stroked Kurenai Yuhi's head.

He was not particularly angry about what Kurenai Yuhi and Asuma Sarutobi had done.

Unlike him, Kurenai Yuhi and Asuma Sarutobi were only in their teens, and it was their first time experiencing something like this. It was normal that they could not bring themselves to do it.

As long as they learned their lesson, that was enough.

"Mirai, thank you for this."

"From now on... I'll listen to you."

Asuma Sarutobi said, still shaken.

If Uchiha Mirai had not acted just now, he might already have been dead.

"Hm? What did you say?"

"I said thank you. From now on, I'll listen to you."

"Louder. Didn't you eat?"

"I said thank you for saving me! From now on, I will never disobey your orders again!"

Asuma Sarutobi shouted.

Uchiha Mirai patted Asuma Sarutobi on the shoulder. "I still prefer your old arrogant and unruly self. Please go back to that."

Asuma Sarutobi gritted his teeth. Sure enough, there's no way to get along properly with this bastard...

As they spoke, Shinku Yuhi also hurried over.

He gratefully patted Uchiha Mirai on the shoulder.

If Mirai had not acted in time, this would probably have become troublesome.

"You teach those two a lesson first. I'll go rest over there for a while."

Uchiha Mirai walked by himself to an open patch nearby, sat down, and opened the system panel.

Name: Uchiha Mirai

Constitution: 45

Mental Power: 42

Chakra: 29

Kekkei Genkai: Sharingan

Ninjutsu: ... Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!

Other: ...

Compared to before, his Constitution had increased by 7 points, his Mental Power by 8 points, and his Chakra by 1 point.