The Cloud Ninja Attack

Sanhe heard Shisui's words, and an unwilling look immediately crossed his face.

"I'll go after him."

"There's no need." Shisui stopped him and handed the little girl to Miyuki, who had finished her bento.

The little girl kept watching Ryosuke out of the corner of her eye. It seemed she still remembered that he had saved her.

"Teacher Shisui, what do we do now? That man was probably going to meet up with the Cloud Ninja. I'm afraid more enemies will show up here soon."

Miyuki asked, looking worried.

Shisui nodded, but instead of answering Miyuki's question, he looked at Ryosuke.

"Ryosuke, what do you think we should do?"

He was clearly testing Ryosuke's ability to adapt.

"That depends on what you intend to do, Teacher Shisui. Our mission was only to investigate. Now that we've confirmed these villages were attacked by Cloud Ninja, our mission is complete."

"But if we just go back, given Konoha's current diplomatic approach, they'll probably only lodge a protest with the Cloud Ninja. In the meantime, more villages will come under attack."

Shisui nodded, motioning for Ryosuke to continue. Sanhe and Miyuki turned their attention to him as well.

"I don't think you're willing to stand by and do nothing, Teacher Shisui. Besides, we're not ordinary ninjas. We're from the Uchiha Clan, and our creed is to repay blood with blood."

"Ryosuke, you're right. We have to make those bastards pay." Sanhe gave Ryosuke a thumbs-up. Clearly, he liked what Ryosuke had said.

Miyuki's lips curled into a smile too. "You're young, Ryosuke, but you're very mature for your age."

Shisui scratched his head. "Ryosuke's analysis is sound. Since we've come across this, of course we can't let those guys run amok. But my original plan was to send you back to report on the mission and deal with this alone."

It had to be said that Shisui was a considerate teacher who thought things through carefully.

But he had forgotten what the three students he'd brought along were like.

If they had been ordinary rookie ninjas on their first mission, they might already have been eager to return to the village.

But the Uchiha Clan's warmongering instincts had awakened. They needed to prove themselves with the blood of their enemies.

Sanhe and Miyuki had both activated their Sharingan.

Shisui could only smile wryly.

"All right, then. You three rest for a bit while I prepare a few 'gifts' for the enemy."

With that, Shisui vanished on the spot.

Just then, Sanhe's stomach suddenly rumbled.

"Um, Ryosuke, do you have any more bento?" Sanhe asked, scratching his head.

Ryosuke hadn't wanted to indulge him, but he saw the little girl in Miyuki's arms looking just as eager.

He took two more bentos out of his backpack and handed one each to Sanhe and the little girl.

"Thanks. You really came prepared." Sanhe grabbed his bento and began eating eagerly.

"No need to thank me. You only have to pay two hundred ryo," Ryosuke said with a smile.

"What? You're charging us? Two hundred? They only cost fifty in the village!" Sanhe jumped to his feet.

"You can choose not to eat. But if you die in battle later, you won't get that two-thousand-ryo mission reward," Ryosuke said, his smile growing wider.

"You're so devious!" Sanhe complained, but he kept eating.

"You two get along so well," Miyuki said with a smile.

Sanhe and Ryosuke rolled their eyes at the same time. What kind of "getting along" was that?

The little girl laughed too.

The ninja who had escaped from Sanhe soon reached a nearby mountain.

There was a cave on the mountain's northern slope, and more than a dozen ninjas were inside.

They were resting upside down on the cave ceiling like bats.

"C-Captain, we're in trouble! Konoha reinforcements have arrived, and they're very powerful. Raizo and Demon Man are already dead."

He collapsed onto the ground, weeping as he spoke.

"Kumasuke, say that again." Several figures appeared in front of him and hauled him to his feet.

"Captain, they're from the Uchiha Clan. Uchiha..." Kumasuke struggled to speak.

"Hmph. We only meant to weaken Konoha's forces, but we've hooked a big fish instead. If our Cloud Ninja can get their hands on the Sharingan, we'll be even more formidable. Listen up, everyone. Our objective has changed."

"Yes, Captain!"

An echo rang through the cave.

Then more than a dozen figures rushed out of the cave.

"Captain, it's this way. But will they still be where we left them?" Kumasuke asked with a troubled look as he led the way.

"Hmph. You don't know how arrogant the Uchiha Clan are. I've fought them on the battlefield. They're a bunch of reapers. Fortunately, only three kids came this time. We just need to capture one of them and..."

The masked captain had barely finished speaking when someone in the group suddenly screamed and fell from the air.

The others all stopped.

"What happened?"

"Looks like a trap."

"But we've taken this path several times. Could someone have just set a trap?"

"Damn it. The Uchiha must've done this."

The Cloud Ninja began discussing what had happened.

But the captain's eyes lit up.

The presence of traps meant their opponents hadn't left.

He left one man to tend to the wounded, then led the other eleven onward.

Over the next ten minutes, they triggered several more traps.

Even the captain nearly got hurt.

Of the original eleven, only seven remained—and that was without leaving anyone behind to tend to the wounded.

"Captain, whoever set these traps is very skilled. Could there still be a Jonin among them?" Kumasuke asked quietly, already scared out of his wits.

Just the thought of a Jonin from the Uchiha Clan was enough to make his scalp tingle.

But the masked captain had been blinded by the prospect of glory.

And since he prided himself on his experience fighting the Uchiha Clan, he still led his men onward.

This time, however, he took a different route.

Sure enough, there were far fewer traps along the way.

Soon, they arrived beside the village that had been burned to the ground.

To their surprise, they saw the Uchiha kid roasting something over a fire beneath a tree, with a tent set up beside him.

"Looks like they haven't realized we're here yet."

The masked captain smiled.

In his eyes, they had seven people: six Chunin and himself, a Jonin.

Capturing three measly Genin should be a piece of cake.

Even if they were from the Uchiha Clan, that wouldn't be a problem.

Still, he took Kumasuke's earlier warning into account: there might be an Uchiha expert hidden nearby.