Encounter with Mountain Bandits

Border of the Land of Fire

The surrounding forest was dense, the rustling of swaying branches accompanied by the chirping of unknown insects, lending this forest a touch of warmth.

From afar, four ninja—one adult and three children—could be seen constantly weaving through the dense woods.

Lady Tsunade was one thing, but did these two guys never get tired from traveling nonstop?

As he traveled, Uchiha Ryu looked at Minato and Feng Xun, who showed no reaction at all, then at himself, already breathing slightly harder, and felt unwilling to accept it.

As a genius of the Uchiha Clan, he could not bear being surpassed by two commoner ninja, especially when one of them was even younger than him.

Tsunade noticed Uchiha Ryu's condition. She said to Feng Xun and Minato, who had yet to notice, "It's getting late. Let's find somewhere to rest first!"

Minato looked up at the sun, which was about to set, and agreed. "Indeed. Then, Lady Tsunade, I'll go see if I can find anything to eat nearby."

After receiving Tsunade's approval, Minato flashed twice and vanished into the gradually darkening sky.

"Then I'll go gather some firewood too." Seeing Minato leave, Feng Xun thought for a moment before speaking to Tsunade.

"No need. You'll be in charge of cooking later." After refusing him, Tsunade turned her gaze toward Uchiha Ryu, who had not moved at all. Her meaning was obvious.

Fine. On the way here, Uchiha Ryu had already learned what relationship this ninja, who was even younger than him, had with the Tsunade Princess before him. So he did not complain. Instead, he volunteered, "I'll go collect the firewood!"

With that, Uchiha Ryu left as well.

Once the two had gone, Tsunade teased Feng Xun, "Well? Your master treats you well, doesn't she? You don't even have to do that rough work."

"Heh." Feng Xun gave a hollow laugh. "If that's the case, then you can cook by yourself."

"Sure! As long as you don't mind." Not only did Tsunade agree immediately, she even looked eager to try.

"Uh..."

He had not expected Tsunade to agree so readily. But recalling her terrible cooking, Feng Xun's face turned green, and he hurriedly shook his head. "Forget it, forget it. I'll do it myself."

The crackling of dry wood constantly came from the campfire. Beside the bright flames, four grilled fish that looked utterly delicious were roasting.

Their golden skin, touched with just a hint of char, made even Feng Xun, the cook, unable to wait any longer.

"Rustle..."

Just as Feng Xun was the first to lose patience and reach out—

Tsunade suddenly kicked over the fire. The freshly grilled fish fell to the ground, their golden skin covered in black mud.

"You crazy woman, what are you—"

Feng Xun glared furiously at Tsunade and was about to protest when he saw her place a finger to her lips in a gesture for silence.

"Keep it down. There's noise nearby. Let's go take a look first." After whispering that, Tsunade leaped onto a branch ahead of them.

Hearing this, Minato and Uchiha Ryu hurriedly followed her.

Only Feng Xun remained behind, staring at the food he had worked so hard to grill, on the verge of tears.

But he also knew what mattered most. After hastily dealing with the traces everyone had left behind, he followed after them as well.

"Ha ha, why don't you run now? Why did you stop?" A bandit leader holding a Langya Saber pointed its tip at an elderly man and the group of commoners behind him, sneering disdainfully.

"Kihara, stop playing around. Hurry up and deal with these old geezers and little brats. The remaining men and women are still useful."

A one-eyed bandit with a katana at his waist spoke uneasily.

His unease was not without reason. The surroundings were simply too quiet—so quiet that it sent chills down his spine.

"Got it, Boss. Don't worry, none of them will get away."

As Kihara answered, he revealed an ill-intentioned smile to the old man. "Old man, sorry about this, but your life just isn't worth much. Don't worry, though. I don't have a habit of torturing people. Once this blade comes down, you won't know anything anymore."

As he spoke, Kihara suddenly swung his blade at the old man.

Bang!!!

Just as the icy glint was about to slash into the old man, a Shuriken suddenly flew in from the side and struck the body of the Langya Saber, knocking the blade slightly off course.

"Who's there?"

Kihara immediately looked around. The other bandits also became alert at once.

"Rustle..."

Other than the friction of branches and leaves, no sound came from anywhere else.

"Ah!!!"

Suddenly, a cry of alarm drew everyone's attention.

A Shuriken that had appeared at some unknown time had pierced through a bandit's throat. Blood gushed out, and against the silent night, it was all the more terrifying.

"Who's sneaking around out there? Get the hell out here!" Kihara cursed angrily, his expression ugly.

"Whoosh..."

Another Shuriken shot toward them, but this time its target was not those fodder bandits. It was the one-eyed bandit leader.

Clang!

The one-eyed leader partially drew his sword, and the hilt happened to block the incoming Shuriken, producing a crisp clash.

"The enemy is over there!" The one-eyed leader pointed toward the front right.

"Damn it..."

Behind the bushes, Uchiha Ryu cursed under his breath. He had never expected that not only would his attack miss, but it would also expose their position.

Time rewound to five minutes earlier.

Tsunade's group of four had discovered refugees being chased by bandits.

"They're probably refugees fleeing from the Land of Rain. We need to hurry over and save them, or they'll be killed." Seeing this, Tsunade urgently wanted to rush out and rescue them.

But Uchiha Ryu stopped her.

"Lady Tsunade, don't act rashly. We're currently on a mission. We can't expose our identities just to save some unrelated refugees.

"And if you go out now, Lady Tsunade, someone with ulterior motives will definitely notice our purpose."

Hearing that, Tsunade shoved Uchiha Ryu aside and glared at him. "In my eyes, human lives are far more important than the mission. Move aside. I'm the Jōnin leading this mission. If anything goes wrong, I'll bear it alone."

Watching the impulsive Tsunade, Feng Xun, who had remained silent at the side, frowned. When he glanced at Minato from the corner of his eye, he found that Minato was looking at him too.

Minato nodded at him. Understanding his intent, Feng Xun pondered briefly before saying to Tsunade, "Crazy woman, it's better if you don't show yourself."

"Brat, are you going to stand by and watch them die too?" Tsunade found it hard to accept.

Feng Xun shook his head. "That's not what I mean. I mean the three of us will go save them, while you stay hidden."

"After all, we're just children. Even if someone with ulterior motives sees us, they won't think too much of it."

Hearing Feng Xun's explanation, Tsunade gradually calmed down. She then said, "All right, be careful. If you can't defeat them, don't force yourselves."

"Don't worry! Brother Minato and I are strong. They're just a few petty bandits—we'll take them down easily." Feng Xun said confidently.

At the side, Uchiha Ryu saw that Feng Xun had not included him and snorted in dissatisfaction. "Hmph, I don't think I'm weaker than either of you."