Escaping the Net

Early the next morning, after the team rested up, they began clearing out the outskirts of the bandits' territory, advancing inward layer by layer. Though everything went smoothly, they still had to clash head-on with the enemy at the end. Fortunately, the other side had only one self-taught chunin. His attacks were fierce but lacked any real method, and the three easily surrounded and killed him. Their coordination grew ever more seamless. Following the basic principle of ganging up whenever possible and never fighting one-on-one, none of them suffered much injury.

Meanwhile, Root's search team had already reached the second bandit stronghold. The masked captain stood before the ruins, quietly observing the surroundings. A Root ninja reported, "Captain, we checked. There are three teams nearby carrying out missions, but none have more than three ninja proficient in Fire Release. There is one ANBU team, a regular patrol unit, and there are no signs of a battle. We also checked the bandits closest to the site of the attack. There really is a mission posted in the village for them, but no one has accepted it yet. As for this place beneath our feet, it was only taken by a genin team this morning. By calculation, they should still be on the road."

"Oh, now this is interesting. Someone is wiping out bandits in the Land of Fire, yet they aren't Konoha ninja—or rather, they aren't taking missions from the village. The possibility of revenge against bandits is low. The possibility that someone hired killers is high. And they aren't ordinary rogue ninja, either. Normal rogue ninja wouldn't want to offend Konoha's ANBU. They ambushed and lured ANBU ninja to their deaths, then continued doing missions as if nothing had happened. They've got some nerve! Or have they taken us for decorations? Send more people. Find this team stirring up trouble in Konoha and bring them in. How many bandit strongholds are nearby? Send people to stake them out in advance. Report immediately if you spot any ninja."

"We can't keep taking bandit missions. What we did before could more or less mislead them and buy us some time, but if someone keeps clearing out bandits around here, people will make the connection. After all, the place where we ambushed them was too close to that mountain, and the timing was also very close. All they need to do is check Konoha's mission records to lock onto us. If they want revenge, they only need to wait at other bandit strongholds for us," Uchiha En said.

Uchiha Ming pursed his lips in a smile. "No need to worry about that. The bandit missions weren't accepted in Konoha. Only the mission to capture spies was."

"Even so, we shouldn't do them anymore. Since it's so dangerous, we should proceed carefully," Uchiha Retsu said. Uchiha Yo nodded. "Let's finish the spy mission and return to the village. Then we can accept missions in the village before coming back out."

"Then let's go here. We'll surround and capture Iwa spy ninja near the Land of Fire. We can visit the capital tonight. I've never been to the capital in my life," Uchiha Retsu said, picking up a mission scroll. Uchiha Yo and Uchiha En were both tempted. None of them had ever been to the capital. Uchiha Ming smiled. "Do as you please. These missions are yours anyway. As long as they're completed, it makes no difference where you collect the money. No one would dare cheat us out of it." Thus, they headed toward the capital of the Land of Fire, unknowingly evading the pursuit of Root's elite.

"No need to keep waiting. They should be gone. They wiped out three groups of bandits in a short time and offended the ANBU. They won't keep charging headfirst into bandit territory like this. They came to do missions, not to kill themselves. It's been three days. No news means there really is no news. Cunning little rats—don't let me catch you. Withdraw. We can only wait for them to make another move," the masked captain said, waving his hand before vanishing with the Body Flicker Technique.