Hunting the Murderers in Broad Daylight

At daybreak, they packed their gear and prepared to head to the next mission site to continue wiping out bandits. The gloom from yesterday had been swept away, and the fine weather lifted their spirits as well.

"Stop. There's fighting to the west." Uchiha Ming immediately led the team westward into the forest. The sounds of battle grew clearer, and everyone concealed themselves as they observed the situation. Judging by their masks, several Root shinobi were surrounding and killing three rogue ninja. Uchiha Retsu looked to his teacher questioningly, asking whether they should help. Uchiha Ming remained silent and gestured for them to hold their position. Before long, the three rogue ninja were killed, though one of them took a Root shinobi down with him before dying. The surviving Root shinobi had all suffered varying degrees of injury and were tending to the bodies and their own wounds. Uchiha Ming signaled for everyone to leave, but Uchiha Yo made a gesture that stunned them all—ambush! Uchiha Ming revealed an approving smile. Uchiha Retsu and Uchiha En looked utterly bewildered, but at their teacher's signal to attack, the two entered their assault positions in a daze.

"Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique." Three low cries rang out as a skyful of shuriken flew toward the five surviving Root shinobi. Then a flash of lightning shot forward through the shuriken toward the crowd. After that came three cries of "Earth Style: Underworld Swamp!" The ground beneath the shinobi's feet liquefied into a vast swamp, as did the ground behind and to their right. One severely wounded shinobi was immediately turned into a pincushion by the shuriken. Although two injured shinobi deflected several shuriken aimed at their vital points, they still sank into the swamp. The lightning had arrived. "Sword-Leaping Flame!" "Dance of the Crescent Moon!" The remaining two shinobi were separated from their heads. The battle was over.

Uchiha Retsu and Uchiha En wanted to use Fire Style to destroy the scene and burn the corpses, but Uchiha Yo spoke up. "Cut off all their heads and only burn the heads. Leave the bodies as if we didn't have time to deal with them. Search the three rogue ninja and see if they had anything worth being hunted over. We'll deliberately leave flaws behind, then set traps in the direction we came from. If the enemy doesn't have many people, we'll kill them here. If there are too many, withdraw immediately once they trigger the traps. I know you all have questions. I'll give you my answers afterward. For now, please trust me." Uchiha Ming did not say a word throughout, clearly acquiescing to this course of action. Though Uchiha En and Uchiha Retsu were still completely confused, they trusted their good brother. They quickly finished their preparations and found a sealing scroll on one of the rogue ninja. There was no time to check what it contained; they could only sort it out later.

Before long, a team of Root shinobi indeed arrived. After investigating the area, they pursued east as expected and triggered the traps. The traps launched a barrage of shuriken, some of which precisely activated other mechanisms. At the same time, a skyful of cross-shaped shuriken shot out from the direction of the previous battlefield. Several shuriken carrying explosive tags flew into the group from the left, followed by explosions. Two smoke bombs fell from above the trees, creating a cloud of smoke. Then came "Fire Style: Dragon Flame Technique!" "Wind Style: Wind Blast!" "Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!" The three-man combination technique—Fire Style: Flame Tornado! When the smoke and dust cleared, broken walls and severed limbs littered the ground. The six-man squad had been completely wiped out. The battle had taken only two seconds, with traps and ninjutsu linking together in a dazzling sequence. Uchiha Ming had not acted from beginning to end. Uchiha Yo said, "Clear the battlefield. We need to leave this place quickly and head toward the bandits. Hurry. Make up the distance we lost during this time. It would be best if we finish the mission directly and move on to the next place." Once they had cleaned up the battlefield, they set off. This time, they used Fire Style to burn both battlefields clean.

Traveling at high speed, they finally reached the second mission site. Uchiha Yo said, "Teacher, please act this time. Before the third mission, I'll explain everything to you all. We don't have much time now. The Root shinobi may trace us here." Uchiha Ming nodded. Before long, flames rose from the bandits' stronghold. After a burst of cries, only the crackling of flames echoed through the mountains.

More than a dozen Root shinobi arrived at the two previous battle sites. There was nothing there but two patches of fire-blackened earth. "Captain, it seems both squads were wiped out. No traces of battle were left at the scene. Everything was burned away by the fire," one Root shinobi said. However, the Root captain shook his head. "These two scorched patches are the greatest evidence. The flames were not ordinary wildfires, but traces left by Fire Style ninjutsu. At least three people used Fire Style to burn these two locations. Although both places are scorched, the degree to which the soil was burned differs. That means the people who used the ninjutsu were not the same person—there were at least three of them. The ground beneath our feet should have first been struck by powerful Fire Style or a combination technique, then damaged further by Fire Style. The center is hard, with not even wild grass roots remaining. There are no intact stones beneath the surface either. All signs indicate that this was likely a Fire Style combination technique used by at least three people, with great destructive power, or a Fire Style technique with extremely strong area damage. The latter is less likely. If they possessed such a powerful ninjutsu, they could have ambushed the other squad at the original battlefield. There would have been no need to go through the trouble of luring them here. Search for nearby squads of three or more. Prioritize Fire Style users." "Yes." The others dispersed. Beneath his mask, the captain muttered, "Dou, I'll find the true culprit for you."