Chapter 10

After washing up, he lay on the bed and began refining chakra. He could now do it anytime, anywhere, without needing a specific posture.

The afternoon's training still left him somewhat tired. A few team members came over to talk during it, and he responded to them all amicably.

"Today, Lin and I will take you out of the village to carry out a simple mission."

"The purpose is to temper your courage. Being a ninja is no game!"

Hearing Uchiha Sen's words, Saitama finally understood the hint Uchiha Nagisa had given that day.

He had expected this already, and his heart remained calm.

Shisui stood quietly to one side, his face maintaining an attentive expression. He seemed not to have fully grasped the meaning behind those words.

"Pack your ninja tools, bring your necessities, and leave the village at once to carry out the mission!"

After Sen and Lin finished their instructions, they turned and left.

Saitama carefully counted the kunai and shuriken in his hands. After taking them out and wiping them clean, he briskly tucked them back behind his back.

The two followed their seniors out through the village gates, their hearts filled with anticipation—this was their first mission outside the village as ninjas.

As core members of the Konoha Military Police Force, the Uchiha clan had always found it easy to enter and leave the village.

The four figures swiftly passed through Konoha's gates.

Breathing in the fresh air outside the village, Saitama felt more refreshed than ever.

"The target is a group of bandits roaming the border villages. There may be rogue ninjas among them." As they traveled, Uchiha Lin explained the mission details. "At most, they should possess genin-level strength. But Sen and I will only observe and keep records. Unless you fail, we won't step in."

He looked meaningfully at the two juniors.

"Understood!" Saitama had expected as much.

Only then did Shisui realize what was special about this mission, and his gaze began to wander uncertainly.

Was he not ready yet?

After traveling east for two days, the group reached the mountainous region in the southeastern Land of Fire.

Looking down from the high ground, they could see a crude, temporary camp in the distance—this was the bandits' hideout.

"Now it's up to you."

After Uchiha Sen and Lin exchanged looks, they both vanished into the shadows.

Saitama stared at the camp, deep in thought.

Shisui likewise studied the terrain cautiously.

"What's the plan?" Saitama asked first.

"Eleven people by my estimate. There may be hidden sentries as well," Shisui replied.

"We need to get closer and scout."

Seeing Saitama agree, Shisui was about to respond when he discovered that his companion had already moved first.

With chakra attached to his feet, Saitama used the forest for cover and silently approached the camp. A dense stretch of woods lay between the high ground where they had been and the bandits' camp.

Shisui quietly followed, his footsteps as light as a cat's, making not a sound.

The two dark figures moved soundlessly through the forest, stopping only when they were half a li from the camp.

The intelligence said there were ninjas among the group, and Saitama was unsure whether they had any sensory-type ninjas.

This was already the limit of a safe distance. Going any closer might expose them.

"Next, we need to circle the camp and scout out whether there are any hidden posts."

Saitama looked at Shisui gravely. Lives were at stake; there was no room for the slightest carelessness.

After agreeing on their scouting directions, the two split up.

Saitama, acting alone, began scouting the assigned area.

Only the rustling of leaves could be heard in the woods. The bandits in the camp remained utterly unaware of the danger closing in.

Half an hour later, the two completed their reconnaissance of the perimeter.

Whether through overconfidence or carelessness, Saitama had not found a single hidden sentry.

"How was it?" Saitama asked quietly when Shisui returned.

Shisui frowned and shook his head. "Strange. I didn't find any hidden sentries. Or maybe they're simply too strong for me to detect."

"Same here." Saitama rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"What do we do now?" Shisui seemed somewhat hesitant.

"The intelligence says there are ninjas among them, but their strength should be limited."

Saitama stared at Shisui without finishing his sentence. There were eleven known enemies, and there might be an ambush lurking in the dark.

"Should we sneak over and take out a few first?" Saitama proposed.

"Sure." Shisui was quite confident in his own strength and agreed at once.

The gloomy sky foretold an approaching downpour.

At the edge of the camp, a man wandered around before finally stopping beneath a large tree to relieve himself.

He never noticed the pair of eyes watching him intently from the darkness.

As the sound of running water began, a fallen leaf drifted down.

The man turned back alertly. Seeing that it was only a leaf, he resumed.

After finishing, he even gave himself a satisfied shake, a relaxed smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.

The sound of a blade slicing through the air rang out again, but the man still did not turn around.

A dull sound of metal piercing flesh rang out. This misjudgment cost him dearly.

Saitama pulled the kunai buried in the enemy's back free and casually wiped the blood from it on the man's clothes. Lightning Release chakra wrapped around the weapon, paralyzing the nerves the instant it struck. The clean execution made no sound at all.

He glanced at the tents in the distance and dragged the corpse into the shadows of the undergrowth.

Saitama realized expressionlessly that when the kunai churned through organs, when warm blood poured from the groove in the blade, when his prey stopped twitching, his heart did not stir in the slightest.

In this world where the strong preyed on the weak, he had no other choice. Rather than let others slaughter him, he might as well become an asura. A fine rain began to fall, and fierce winds swept through the forest canopy, as though playing a prelude to this hunt.

The corpse at his feet was only the beginning. An ordinary strongman like this posed no threat to Saitama.

He moved toward the camp like a ghost and soon spotted two bandits gorging themselves beside a bonfire. They were chewing on chicken stolen from a village, completely unaware that death was drawing near.

Within the rain-shrouded forest, the boy's small body blended perfectly into the shadows. From two meters away, he suddenly sprang forward, locking one man's throat with his left arm while thrusting with his right. The kunai pierced straight through the bandit on the left's throat.

Only when blood and bits of meat spilled from the dead man's mouth did the bandit on the right realize something was wrong. He had barely let out half an alarm before the cold blade tip severed his vocal cords.

"What's going on?!"

A hulking man with a sword rushed from the nearest tent, his two-meter-tall body like an iron tower. The camp instantly erupted into commotion.

Two companions lay in pools of blood, while the small, half-crouched figure beside them—Saitama—left him unable to believe his eyes.

Saitama slowly rose to his feet, blood still dripping from the tip of the kunai held in reverse grip.

"Damned brat!"

The burly man roared, charged forward three steps with his long blade raised high, and brought it down with a howl of wind!

Boom!

The ground split beneath the strike, but Saitama had already flashed several steps away. He was merely an ordinary man with nothing but brute strength, not worth mentioning in ninja Saitama's eyes.

Clang!

The instant the kunai collided with the enormous blade, Saitama spun and delivered a side kick, sending the man's hulking body flying. The battle between such mismatched builds was decided in an instant.

Before the burly man could climb back up, a flash of cold light pierced his throat. He twitched while clutching at the wound, then quickly fell silent.

Fourth, Saitama counted inwardly.

The commotion around him drew more and more enemies, while sudden screams erupting from the other end of the camp announced Shisui's move. They had to end this quickly—the real ninja could appear at any moment.

The three bandits who had newly surrounded him held massive weapons, their faces vicious. Saitama drew a long sword from his back with a reverse grip; kunai were no longer advantageous in a head-on clash.

"Where did this little bastard come from?!" the lead bandit barked, glaring at the corpses littering the ground.

Saitama tightened his fingers, making the sword hilt creak faintly. "Think of me as... someone here to judge you."

"You're courting death!" The bandit chief swung his blade furiously. "There are three of us, and we're supposed to fear one brat? Chop this little whelp up and avenge our brothers!"

The three figures rushed him with curses, swinging their cumbersome weapons through sheer brute force. Saitama pushed off the ground, his body tearing through the air like an arrow—

Slash! Sshk!

The sword flashed like lightning as Saitama wove through the crowd, his blade carving wounds into the enemies' bodies that would never heal.

As the afterimages faded, Saitama was already standing behind them.

Dull thuds sounded one after another as they fell. Without looking back, he sprinted toward the source of the screams—Shisui was waiting there to regroup.

Every step was filled with vigilance. Saitama knew danger lurked throughout this area. Along the way, he encountered several enemies with wounded limbs, sprawled on the ground and wailing. Out of mercy, he decisively ended those suffering lives.

Including the seven he had dealt with earlier, only one target remained now.

The clash of metal shattered the silence. Shisui was fighting fiercely against a small ninja dressed in fitted black clothes. That attire reminded Saitama of the ninja image in his memories.

Quietly approaching the battle, Saitama chose to hide and observe. Shisui held the upper hand, forcing the black-clad ninja back step by step.

Using the shadows as cover, Saitama gradually approached the heart of the battlefield.

Shisui's blade tore through the air, opening a bloody gash across the black-clad ninja's chest. The man staggered back in panic, only to unwittingly send himself into Saitama's ambush range—he was hidden behind an ancient tree to the rear.

"Sanfei! If you don't come out now, I'm going to die!" the black-clad ninja roared, clutching his wound.

"Useless trash!" With that rebuke, the ninja named Sanfei suddenly appeared at Shisui's flank.

Shisui's expression did not change, as though he had long anticipated the existence of this enemy.

"Deal with this one first, then handle the other." Sanfei's tone was grim. The suddenly vanished sounds in the distance made him uneasy.

"Move!" The black-clad ninja gripped his weapon again despite the pain.

A dull sound of a blade entering flesh suddenly rang out.

"Isn't it a little rude to discuss killing me right in front of me?" Saitama softly said as he twisted the blade buried in the enemy's back, supporting the man's gradually collapsing body with one hand.

A gurgling sound came from the black-clad ninja's throat as his life rapidly drained away with his blood.

"What?!" Sanfei's pupils contracted sharply.

Seizing the instant his enemy was distracted, Saitama completed this deadly sneak attack. While both ninjas had focused their attention on Shisui, death had quietly descended.

Hearing the sound, Sanfei instinctively looked toward the black-clad ninja and caught sight of his companion collapsing. He hurriedly turned his gaze back to Shisui, only to realize with a start that Shisui had changed positions at some point and now formed a pincer attack with the suddenly appearing boy.

"Hmph, so you had backup!"

Sanfei directed his harsh words at Shisui. He regretted not showing himself sooner to join forces with the black-clad ninja and eliminate this nuisance. Now the situation had reversed, leaving him at a disadvantage.

He licked his cracked lips, fully aware that the moment between life and death had come.

But they were only two green boys. He was still confident that he could escape—or even kill them.

Clang—

Sanfei drew the strange, oversized blade on his back. Its vicious shape resembled an executioner's guillotine.

"Don't you dare underestimate me!" he snarled, raising his chin.

Before his words had even faded, Saitama and Shisui attacked at once.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Three steps became one as flashes of cold steel crisscrossed toward Sanfei's throat.

Clang!

Clang!

The twin blades struck from both sides, colliding with the massive blade and throwing off sparks. Though Sanfei was forced steadily backward, he always managed to use the giant blade to block his vital points, revealing no opening.

Bang!

Catching the gap as Shisui withdrew his attack, Sanfei lashed out with a whip kick like a scorpion's tail, sending Shisui flying several meters until he crashed through a tree trunk and finally stopped.

"Tch, is that all?"

Sanfei sneered and turned his attack on Saitama, swinging the massive blade with a shrieking gust. Without their coordination, Saitama was forced back again and again, the web between his thumb and forefinger splitting from the impact of their clashing blades.

Amid his stream of filthy insults, Sanfei failed to notice that Shisui had pushed himself upright against the tree trunk.

Bang!

Saitama suddenly spun and landed a side kick on his waist and abdomen, his left hand clamping around Sanfei's sword-wielding right wrist like iron pincers—

Sshk!

Blood sprayed in a torrent!

"Urgh!" Sanfei cried out and dropped his weapon. He barely managed to twist Saitama's wrist in return and use the leverage to lean backward, the blade narrowly grazing past his Adam's apple.

He stumbled back to a safe distance, just in time to avoid Shisui's follow-up slash. Looking down, he saw the torn flesh on his chest; a ten-centimeter wound was steadily pouring blood.

"Nice teamwork." Shisui stood beside Saitama. Seeing their opponent's miserable state, a smile flickered across his lips.

Saitama was as reliable as ever!

"Let's do this together and finish it early so we can go home."

Saitama weighed the sword in his hand. This guy called Sanfei really had some skill; his reactions in battle were remarkably quick.