Bandits

Centered on him, invisible ripples of perception silently spread outward.

The Nine-Tails' chakra flowed slowly through his body, empowering his sensory technique as a source of strength.

It extended his already vast sensory range even further.

Within a radius of twenty kilometers, every living being carrying chakra was impossible to hide, scattered across his field of vision like points of starlight.

His consciousness swiftly swept across those fluctuations—the town's residents, the guests in the inn, hares and birds in the woods... but he couldn't find those two familiar chakra signatures.

He had sensed Nawaki's chakra countless times. Although that kid hadn't trained very seriously, the Senju Bloodline gave him an enormous amount of chakra, making him highly recognizable.

As for Orochimaru's chakra, there was even less need to mention it. It was as distinct as a firefly in the night.

But neither was within twenty kilometers.

"Not in this range... Have they already completed their mission and started back?" Mirai opened his eyes and muttered softly. "Or are they farther north in the mountains?"

He stayed a while longer to make sure he hadn't missed any suspicious fluctuations before getting up and returning to the inn.

Early the next morning, Jiraiya pushed open the inn's front door and walked in.

He carried the faint scent of a hangover, and there was an obvious lipstick mark on his face.

Seeing the three already seated in the front hall, he greeted them boisterously. "Morning! Sleep well last night?"

The moment he finished speaking, he noticed Mirai's complexion—his eye sockets were slightly darkened, and faint bloodshot veins showed in the whites of his eyes. He clearly hadn't slept much.

Jiraiya raised a brow. "Oh? Didn't sleep well, kid? What did you sneak out to do last night?"

"Nothing." Mirai picked up his cup and took a sip of water. "I'm just not used to sleeping in a different bed."

"Not used to the bed?" Jiraiya leaned closer, a knowing smirk curling his lips.

"Don't tell me you snuck out in the middle of the night to watch the pretty girls at those dance halls do their seductive dances? Tsk, tsk, going bad at such a young age—"

"Jiraiya," Mirai said expressionlessly, pointing at his face. "There's still a lipstick mark on your right cheek. The one who went to a dance hall to watch girls dance was you, wasn't it?"

Jiraiya's smile instantly froze.

He hurriedly wiped his face, and sure enough, a faint streak of red came off on his hand.

Then he gave a cough, frantically rubbing at both sides of his face as he mumbled,

"I must've brushed against it by accident after drinking too much yesterday,"

but he couldn't hide the embarrassment on his face no matter what he did.

Minato held back a laugh nearby, while Zhili's mouth twitched subtly as well, but neither of them said anything.

Jiraiya cleared his throat and forcibly dragged the conversation back on track.

"Alright, alright, enough messing around. We're heading north today. Once we pass through the forest ahead, we'll reach the canyon where the bandits are holed up.

The target is a band of around thirty thieves. They shouldn't be too tough to handle."

He glanced at the three youngsters. "But let me make this clear first. Even if they aren't experts, your first real battle is completely different from training.

You three had better be careful when the time comes. Stay alert and follow the plan!"

"Even a lion uses its full strength when hunting a rabbit! One moment of carelessness could mean death!"

"Yes!" the three answered solemnly.

The farther north they went, the colder the wind became.

After passing through the forest, their view suddenly opened up, revealing a long, narrow canyon stretching before them.

They could vaguely make out crude wooden watchtowers and tents scattered deep within the canyon.

Jiraiya crouched behind a large boulder and jerked his chin forward.

"There, that's the place! The intel says there are about thirty bandits. Their leader is a Chunin who defected from some small hidden village. He's got more than a dozen Genin and samurai under him, and they've captured quite a few civilians as laborers."

He leaned back against the boulder. "By the rules, you three handle this yourselves. I won't interfere.

Unless you're about to die, I'll only watch—and grade your performance while I'm at it. Any objections?"

The three exchanged looks, but none of them objected.

If Jiraiya said he wouldn't intervene, then he truly wouldn't—this wasn't laziness. It was standard practice for a guiding Jonin, allowing rookies to grow through real combat.

Mirai turned back, his gaze sweeping across several watchtowers at the canyon entrance. "I'll scout ahead with Shadow Clones."

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

He formed a hand seal—"Poof! Poof!"

Two Shadow Clones appeared. They nodded to Mirai's original body, signaling that they had received their assignment.

Then they lowered their bodies and slipped into the canyon along the mountain wall.

The bandits seemed to have grown comfortable over a long period of peace, showing no sense of vigilance at all. The Shadow Clones infiltrated with ease.

Jiraiya watched the scene and nodded.

Rather than blindly trusting the intel, he had chosen to use Shadow Clones to investigate first?

Not a bad choice!

Once a Shadow Clone dispersed, it could transmit everything it had seen and heard back to the original body.

Mirai quickly received feedback from one of the Shadow Clones.

This clone had crept along the cliff wall, spotting scattered tents, piled-up supplies, several lazy figures patrolling with sabers on their shoulders, and a few extinguished campfires in the corners.

"Their vigilance is terrible," Mirai said quietly. "The people in the watchtowers are all dozing off, and the patrols are just going through the motions."

Zhili frowned. "What about the civilians mentioned in the intel?"

"The other Shadow Clone is still searching."

The other Shadow Clone continued deeper into the canyon. After circling around several tents, it found a crude cage made from thick wooden stakes beneath a rock wall at the canyon's deepest point.

More than a dozen figures huddled inside. Most were women. Some were wrapped in rags, while others wore nothing at all.

They were squeezed together, their eyes vacant, as though they had already been tortured until all hope had been stripped away.

The Shadow Clone stood outside for two more seconds before deliberately dispersing into a puff of white smoke.

On the other side, Mirai clenched his fist.

"I found where the civilians are being held, beneath the rock wall at the deepest point," he said, his voice lower than before and heavy with suppressed fury.

"There are more than ten women locked in cages. They aren't wearing clothes, and it looks like they've been violated many times."

Minato's smile vanished, and Zhili's expression turned cold.

"Every single person in there deserves to die." Mirai rose to his feet. "Minato, handle the outer watchtowers and patrols. Take out anyone capable of fighting.

I'll intercept any ninja who comes after us. Minato, come support me as quickly as you can.

As for Zhili, go rescue the people by the cages. It'll be more convenient since you're a girl."

Zhili fell silent for a moment. "...Understood."

Minato nodded. Three Shuriken had already slid from his ninja tool pouch into the spaces between his fingers. "I'll attack from the front and draw their attention."

With the plan set, the infiltration began.