Suppressing the Bandits

Hyuuga Nen entered a room and knelt on the tatami. "Teacher, I'm here," he said, looking at Yamamoto Yuuichirou.

After hearing Hyuuga Nen, Yamamoto Yuuichirou gave a slight nod. He looked around the room, took a scroll from inside his robe, and placed it on the table.

"You've been with us for over half a year now. During that time, aside from training, most of your assignments have involved guarding or escorting people. Now it's time to give you a more challenging mission."

After saying this, Yamamoto Yuuichirou slowly unrolled the scroll on the table.

"Suppress the bandits?" The few boys seated around the table saw the large characters written at the top of the scroll.

"Do you know what this mission entails?" Yamamoto Yuuichirou asked, his expression stern as he looked at the boys.

"We do," they answered in unison, including Hyuuga Nen.

"Some of the people who joined at the same time as you had already drawn blood before this. Others met that requirement during the past six months of missions. Only you lot are still rookies."

At his words, the boys reacted in different ways. Some looked excited, others worried or nervous, while a few remained calm.

Hyuuga Nen picked up the scroll and read it carefully. The information on it was sparse, recording only the bandits' numbers, where they had been seen, and what they had done. There was nothing else.

If this mission has been assigned to us, then it can't be too difficult, Hyuuga Nen thought as he studied the information on the scroll.

"I've also assigned a samurai to lead you. But don't think you can rely on him. Normally, he won't step in, even if your lives are in danger. Understood?" Yamamoto Yuuichirou added.

"All right, go get ready. Set out as soon as you're prepared." After saying this, Yamamoto Yuuichirou drank his tea alone, clearly dismissing them.

As soon as Hyuuga Nen stepped out of the room, he heard someone call from behind him. "Nen, I won't lose to you this time. Just you wait!" Miyaichi rushed over, brimming with fighting spirit.

Miyaichi was the person Hyuuga Nen had fought during the assessment six months earlier. Hyuuga Nen turned to look at him and replied casually, "Got it. Go get ready. We'll set out once we're prepared."

"Hmph! The way you talk really gets on my nerves. I definitely won't let Teacher Yuichiro down." With that, Miyaichi turned and left to prepare for the mission.

A few days later, Hyuuga Nen and the others arrived at the foot of a mountain. They stopped to gaze at its slopes, mottled with white and green.

"What do we do now? Charge straight up?" one of the boys asked.

"Let's ask around in the nearby village first. Then we can discuss a battle plan," Hyuuga Nen said after a moment's thought.

The others nodded at Hyuuga Nen's suggestion. He was the strongest among them, so he had become the leader of their temporary team, and nobody objected.

"Then let's split up and meet back here later." With that, Hyuuga Nen headed into the village first.

A samurai in his thirties followed the boys from a distance. He watched them go about their business without saying a word.

Before long, Hyuuga Nen and the others returned and compared the information they had gathered.

"The number matches the scroll: thirteen in total. We don't know their exact strength, but according to the villagers, most of them are probably ordinary people," Hyuuga Nen said to his teammates, holding the scroll.

"Then we'll wait until nightfall to make our move. Does anyone have anything to add?"

When he saw everyone shake their heads, Hyuuga Nen gave his final instruction. "Go get ready and rest for now. We'll move tonight."

In the dead of night, Hyuuga Nen and the others quietly made their way up the mountain. In the distance, they spotted three people patrolling.

"The three of us will deal with the patrol. You two cover us from behind." After saying this, Hyuuga Nen crept forward with Miyaichi and another boy.

Hyuuga Nen silently approached one of the bandits from behind, leaped onto him, and clamped a hand over his mouth. With a short knife in his other hand, he slit the man's throat, then slammed the hilt into the back of his head.

With both vital areas struck, the bandit couldn't even cry out. He collapsed to the ground, twitching, and soon stopped moving.

Miyaichi quickly dealt with his opponent on the other side, but the other boy seemed to be in trouble. He was still struggling with a bandit.

"Help! Help! We've got enemies!" The bandit shouted as he ran toward the mountain. Hyuuga Nen looked in the direction he had fled and saw lights appearing there, along with the sound of commotion.

"Stop hiding! Let's move together!" Hyuuga Nen shouted. He chased down the fleeing bandit and finished him off, then returned to his teammates. Together, they headed farther up the mountain.

Halfway up, Hyuuga Nen and the others saw that all the bandits had woken up and were running toward them.

"Damn it! They're samurai. Get ready to fight!" the bandit leader snarled when he saw them, then charged with his weapon raised.

Hyuuga Nen engaged the bandit leader and realized that he was the only one among them with chakra. The rest were ordinary people. Although the team was outnumbered two to one, Hyuuga Nen's teammates felt little pressure, and the bandits soon began suffering casualties.

"These brats are too strong! Run, or we'll all die here!" Before long, the bandits lost the will to fight and scattered.

Hyuuga Nen could only use samurai techniques, but the bandit leader was no match for him either. Under the pressure of imminent death, the bandit leader dropped his weapon and fell to his knees with a thud.

"I surrender! I surrender! Please don't kill me!" The bandit leader knelt on the ground, raising both hands.

"Our orders are to leave no one alive when dealing with scum like you," one of Hyuuga Nen's teammates said. The others had already finished off the fleeing bandits and were returning. As he spoke, the boy walked toward the bandit leader, looking ready to strike.

At those words, the bandit leader's pleading gaze turned vicious. "Then you can die!" Before he had even finished speaking, he suddenly appeared in front of the boy who had spoken. A kunai appeared in his hand from nowhere, and he thrust it viciously toward the boy's neck.

"Get out of the way! He's a ninja!" their samurai leader shouted anxiously. At the same time, he drew his weapon and rushed over at full speed.

By the time the samurai leader arrived, the ninja had already slashed open the boy's throat.

"Damn it! Why is there a ninja here? Get back at once! I'll handle him!" the samurai leader shouted, then began fighting the ninja.

Miyaichi started to go help, but Hyuuga Nen grabbed him. "You'll only get in the way, and you'll die!" Hyuuga Nen stared at Miyaichi with a grave expression.

At those words, Miyaichi calmed down. He gritted his teeth, stepped aside, and watched the fight.

The ninja used the Substitution Technique, creating an opening for the samurai leader. Then he kicked the samurai leader away and immediately tried to escape while he had the chance.

He ran straight toward Hyuuga Nen, perhaps hoping to vent his frustration after being beaten down earlier.

From their fight, Hyuuga Nen had already judged the ninja's strength to be around Genin level. Still, he was no match for the samurai leader, which was why he was so badly wounded.

Seeing the ninja running toward him, Hyuuga Nen had no intention of meeting him head-on. He simply stepped aside.

The ninja paused in surprise at Hyuuga Nen's movement, then darted past him. He glanced back at Hyuuga Nen before continuing to run.

Watching the ninja's retreating figure, Hyuuga Nen gripped his sword with both hands and slashed forward with all his might. A dazzling blue arc of sword light shot ahead.

As the ninja ran, he heard a sharp whoosh behind him. He turned and stared in shock as a blade of sword energy flew toward him. He tried to dodge, but his wounded body reacted a moment too slowly. The sword energy struck him, carving a deep wound from his arm to his stomach. Blood sprayed as he crashed heavily to the ground.

He struggled to get back up, only for a fiercer blade of sword energy than the last to slash into him. The samurai leader had caught up and unleashed a furious, merciless attack.

Looking at the motionless ninja and the dead boy, the samurai leader wore an unreadable expression. "Congratulations. You've completed the mission." After saying this, his face returned to its usual cold expression.

Although they had completed the mission, Hyuuga Nen and the others showed no sign of happiness. Once they had composed themselves, Hyuuga Nen and his teammates buried the dead boy, dealt with the aftermath of the battle, and headed back down the mountain.