Leaving the Village

"Mm, ordinary training was about enough. Their abilities were more than sufficient for higher-difficulty missions now. Sakumo, take them to experience that."

In the Hokage's office, Sakumo had brought Kakashi and me to report our recent progress to the Third Hokage.

That probably meant taking someone else's life.

"I understand."

The Third Hokage took out a scroll and handed it to Sakumo. It was probably our mission.

"Recently, people have reported a band of thieves near the village. They specialize in robbing travelers and merchants. According to the intelligence, there may be Chunin among them. But that shouldn't be a problem for you."

If they were only Chunin, Kakashi and I could handle them. Even if there were Jonin, it wouldn't be a problem.

"Should we leave any survivors?"

"If they're rogue ninja from Konoha, keep them alive. If not, there's no need."

"Understood."

After accepting the mission, we left the Hokage's office and went home to prepare for our mission outside the village.

"You're leaving the village for a mission today, right?"

Dad didn't have a mission today. Enjoying the rare leisure, he had chosen to sit at home and drink tea.

"Yes. The Third Hokage and Teacher Sakumo said it was time for us to train outside the village. The mission is to wipe out a band of thieves. There may be rogue ninja among them."

"In the blink of an eye, you've become a ninja like us... With Big Brother Sakumo there, I'm not worried about your safety. But you understand what this training is for, right?"

To get used to killing.

"I understand."

"Then are you ready?"

"I..."

Seeing that I hesitated for a long time without saying anything, Dad set down his teacup, shifted to the side, and patted the sofa as if telling me to sit down.

"Qingyue, being a ninja isn't glamorous at all. We do the dirtiest, most exhausting work. Although there are more escort missions and the like now, at our core, we're just useful blades.

When I was young, my teacher told me to treat myself as a tool. Ninja didn't need emotions; they only needed to be used however others wished, like objects. Having that idea drilled into me from childhood, I quickly became a Jonin. As far as I could remember, I had always carried out missions that took other people's lives.

It wasn't until later, when my companions around me died, that I finally realized I had emotions. But by then, I had already gone numb.

Qingyue, what I want to tell you is that you should make every decision yourself. Wielding a blade takes the lives of others, but putting it down means you will be preyed upon. When you choose to swing that blade is up to you.

You don't need to turn yourself into a tool. You're a living person. You're my and your mother's child."

I roughly understood what Dad was trying to say in his roundabout way, but as someone from the modern world, what troubled me now probably wasn't the same thing he was worried about.

Dad was worried that after taking someone's life, I would gradually turn myself into a tool.

But what I feared was the act of taking a life itself.

In this world, taking someone else's life seemed to be a perfectly ordinary thing.

For people from the modern world, most of them had never even killed a wild chicken with their own hands.

But since I had come to this world, I absolutely couldn't remain so naive. Besides, I had promised Rin that I would protect the life we had here.

There was no peace without bloodshed, nor was there protection that harmed no one.

After packing some emergency supplies, I tied my forehead protector around my left upper arm and fastened my ninja sword at my waist.

"I'm heading out, Dad."

"Mm. Come back safely."

At the village gate, Kakashi and Sakumo were already fully prepared and waiting for me.

"Are you ready?"

"Ready."

"Let's go."

After submitting the paperwork to leave the village, I finally stepped beyond Konoha's gates for the first time and into the world outside.

Since the mission wasn't particularly urgent, we didn't travel at high speed.

Sakumo led Kakashi and me along at a leisurely pace, explaining matters related to missions and employers as we walked.

"In most cases, ninja must place the mission above all else. After all, completing commissioned missions directly represents Konoha's reputation. If that reputation is gone, fewer and fewer missions will be entrusted to us, and the village will decline as a result.

"We've always been called the strongest ninja village, and we have many ninja with great strength, so our reputation in the outside world is quite high. After accepting a mission, what we need to consider isn't whether what we're doing is right or wrong, but how to complete it. Do you understand?"

The implication was probably that we might receive some extremely unfair missions in the future.

For example, a wealthy landlord might exploit villagers until they revolted, then hire ninja to put down the unrest.

What should we do then?

If we turned around and dealt with the landlord instead, people would say we took the money and killed our employer. Our careers as ninja would be over immediately.

If we helped the landlord, we would have to attack ordinary villagers who had done nothing wrong, perhaps even take their lives.

Could I really do that? No, I definitely couldn't. An evildoer who had committed countless crimes would be right in front of me, yet I would have to help him commit more evil. That simply made no sense.

But what could I do?

While I was thinking, we had already arrived at the foot of the mountain where the thieves' cave was hidden.

This place wasn't particularly well concealed, but it was located along the only major road through the area. Anyone coming this way would have to pass their base, making it an extremely convenient location.

"Alright, according to the intelligence, the thieves are inside this cave. There will be ninja among them, so we can't treat them like ordinary bandits.

"None of the three of us are good at sensing, so we can only use a Shadow Clone to scout ahead. Kakashi, leave this to you. Once they notice you, create as much chaos as possible and use smoke bombs. I don't need to explain the rest, do I?"

It was a simple tactic. We were all close-combat ninja. Although Sakumo and Kakashi were poor at sensing, they were sensitive to killing intent and similar presences, so they could find enemies even in the smoke.

As for me, I had Observation Haki and Battle Aura protecting me. I could wait until someone randomly attacked me, then counterattack.

"Understood!"

"Good. Begin!"

After a series of hand seals, Kakashi created a Shadow Clone. Carrying several smoke bombs, it rushed into the cave.

Shadow Clones really were convenient. It could scout the path, throw the smoke bombs, and then get taken out in the process, allowing us to directly learn the enemy's numbers and the surrounding terrain.

Unfortunately, the cave could collapse and let the thieves escape. Otherwise, we could have simply sent in a Shadow Clone with a few Explosive Tags and blown up this "illegal structure."

My first mission outside the village, taking someone else's life... I knew they were thieves, a group of villains who deserved to die. I also knew this wasn't the modern world; this was a world where one had to take from others to survive, but...

My hands wouldn't stop shaking. My heart raced, breathing became difficult, and it felt as though something was lodged in my chest. It felt like stomach acid could surge up at any moment.

It was like the panic after causing a huge disaster.

"Enemy spotted! Eight people in total!"

"Move!"