Wandering Ninja

In the autumn and winter of Konoha's forty-sixth year, the air itself seemed thick with the smell of rust and ashes. Within the Land of Fire, the relative peace of the past had long since vanished. As conflicts between the great nations intensified, lapses appeared in border control. Countless bankrupt farmers, scattered deserters, and sinister rōnin took desperate risks, becoming bandits and robbers who ravaged the countryside.

Even more unsettling was the sharp increase in wandering ninja and rogue ninja. These desperate outlaws possessed extraordinary power yet operated beyond the restraints of ninja villages, making them far more destructive than ordinary mountain bandits. Whether for money, release, or hidden motives, they spread across the Land of Fire like a plague.

Black smoke from burned villages often rose along the horizon. Displaced refugees dragged their families along, their faces numb as they migrated toward the large cities or Konoha, places they believed to be safe. The roads were filled with weeping and despair.

As a temporary team member, the rank of missions Kyohaku Uchiha accepted had quietly risen as well. What began as border patrols gradually became missions to eliminate bandits from designated regions. Everyone understood that this was the final chaos and darkness before the outbreak of war. Konoha had to do everything it could to maintain stability behind the front lines.

The mission briefing this time was simple: a bandit group of around twenty men occupied an abandoned mine east of Kikyō Castle, harassing nearby villages, robbing merchant caravans, and employing cruel methods. The mission was rated C-rank, and the opponents were expected to be ordinary bandits.

The temporary squad was still led by Chunin Furukawa, with Genin Kenta and Kyohaku as its members. After several missions, Furukawa and Kenta had long put away their initial contempt and doubts toward Kyohaku. In their place was a complicated mix of reliance and faint fear. This silent, pale young medical ninja was cleaner and more decisive in battle than any combat ninja they had ever seen—one might even call him... ruthless.

The three quietly approached the abandoned mine. The air carried a faint smell of blood and the sour stench of rotting garbage. Chunin Furukawa made a hand signal, indicating that they should split up and scout.

Kyohaku melted into the shadows like a ghost. His sensory abilities far surpassed those of his teammates, and he quickly noticed something unusual—the several hidden sentries around the mine had been arranged with considerable skill. This was no work of a disorganized rabble. More importantly, he sensed an extremely faint chakra fluctuation being deliberately suppressed!

There was a ninja!

He immediately warned Furukawa with a simple birdcall signal.

Furukawa's expression tightened as he quickly moved closer. Kenta followed nervously.

"There's a chakra presence inside. At least one person. It may be a wandering ninja," Kyohaku said in a low, concise voice.

Furukawa's heart sank. The mission intelligence was wrong! A ninja appearing in a C-rank mission sent its danger level soaring. He rapidly weighed whether to withdraw at once and request reinforcements, or...

Just then, a shrill scream suddenly came from within the mine, followed by furious curses and the clash of weapons!

"This is bad! They may be killing prisoners!" Furukawa's expression changed. His sense of duty as a Konoha ninja instantly overwhelmed his consideration of the risks. "Prepare to assault! Kenta, take the left flank! Kyohaku, support from the right! Prioritize treating survivors!"

With the order given, Furukawa charged out first, and Kenta gritted his teeth and followed.

Kyohaku vanished from where he stood. Rather than rushing directly toward the right flank, he silently sank into the ground with the Mayfly Technique, rapidly approaching the deepest part of the mine from another direction—the center of the chakra fluctuation and screams.

The mine was dimly lit, and the sight within was like hell. Several people dressed as villagers lay in pools of blood, their fates unknown. The bandits surrounded a man who appeared to be their leader. He was not a burly brute but a thin, sinister-looking man with a scar across his face. Blood still dripped from the kunai in his hand, and he radiated chakra at the clear level of a Chunin.

"Damn it, Konoha's dogs have sharp noses! They found us this fast!" Hearing movement from the cave entrance, Scarface spat and glared viciously at Furukawa and Kenta as they rushed in. "Brothers, kill them!"

The bandits howled as they charged. Furukawa and Kenta immediately fell into a bitter battle. The bandits were numerous and fearless, and with the narrow terrain working against them, they were suppressed for a time.

Scarface sneered and did not join the assault. Instead, his gaze swept over the fallen villagers, as though he intended to silence them. Yet the moment he raised his kunai—

The ground beneath his feet suddenly softened like quicksand without warning! A pale hand shot out and seized his ankle with perfect precision. A tremendous force pulled at him, trying to drag him underground!

"Earth Release? Damn it!" Scarface reacted quickly. His battle experience was abundant, and he immediately concentrated chakra beneath his feet to stabilize himself while viciously stabbing downward with his kunai!

Thud!

The kunai struck the arm, but it made a dull sound as if it had stabbed tough leather! It did not even fully pierce through!

Scarface's pupils shrank sharply, horror rising in his heart. What kind of defense was this?!

In the instant he lost focus, Kyohaku's figure fully emerged from the shadow behind him like a specter. His other hand formed into a blade with two fingers, wrapped in highly condensed chakra, and stabbed straight toward the vital point in Scarface's back! Silent and swift as lightning!

The sense of mortal danger made Scarface's hair stand on end. He let out a strange cry and desperately twisted his body, trying to avoid the vital strike while flinging several shuriken backward.

Slash!

Kyohaku's fingers missed Scarface's heart, but they sliced effortlessly through the muscles of his back like a hot knife through butter, sending blood spraying. Kyohaku casually dodged the shuriken with the slightest sideways movement.

"Bastard!" Scarface endured the pain and lunged forward before rapidly turning around. His hands flashed through seals. "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" A massive fireball roared toward Kyohaku, instantly illuminating the dark mine.

Facing the surging fireball, Kyohaku's nearly Three-Tomoe Sharingan slowly turned, yet he neither dodged nor retreated. He merely raised his right hand, palm facing forward.

Buzz!

A highly condensed, spinning chakra shield instantly appeared before him. The fireball struck the shield like waves crashing against a reef, exploding with a roar and scattering sparks everywhere, yet it failed to shake the shield in the slightest!

"What?!" Scarface stared in stunned disbelief. His full-power attack had been blocked so easily? What kind of monster was this guy?!

In the instant he froze in shock, Kyohaku moved. His figure seemed to blend into the scattered sparks, and when he appeared again, he was already right in front of Scarface!

So fast!

Scarface saw only a pair of incomparably cold eyes gleaming with an eerie red light, and a pale palm rapidly filling his vision.

Kyohaku's palm pressed precisely against Scarface's forehead.

"Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes Technique!"

It was not a complex visual inducement, but a powerful Genjutsu blasted directly into the opponent's mind through direct chakra contact!

Scarface's body abruptly stiffened. His eyes instantly lost focus, as though he had seen the most terrifying sight in the world. He froze in place, unable to move.

Kyohaku did not pause in the slightest. The kunai in his other hand had already traced a cold arc.

Slash—!

Blood sprayed.

The terror on Scarface's face froze forever as his body collapsed limply to the ground.

From Kyohaku's appearance to the end of the battle, the entire process took less than ten seconds. An experienced wandering ninja at the Chunin level had not even forced him to use a second ninjutsu.

On the other side, Furukawa and Kenta had just finished off the surrounding bandits. Panting heavily, they turned around in time to see Scarface fall, along with Kyohaku standing there with his kunai sheathed, his expression as calm as ever and his breathing completely undisturbed.

For a time, only the crackling of burning torches and the two men's heavy breathing remained in the mine. They looked at the pale youth, then at the wandering ninja's corpse on the ground, and felt a chill shoot from their spines to the tops of their heads.

Clean. Decisive. Efficient. Ruthless.

This was how Kyohaku Uchiha fought.

Kyohaku did not look at them. Instead, he walked over to the injured villagers, crouched down, and once again let green medical chakra glow from his hands as he began emergency treatment, as if the brief slaughter moments earlier had never happened.

Furukawa and Kenta exchanged a glance. They both saw the same shock and lingering fear in each other's eyes. This temporary teammate was far more frightening than they had imagined. And the world outside was becoming, like this mine, ever more dangerous and ever more insane.