Dozens of burly men armed with deadly weapons suddenly charged out into the narrow valley pass.
Their eyes were crazed with bloodlust. Clearly, this was far from their first taste of the joy and excitement of quick spoils.
Naruto remained calm, but his eyes were dark and cold.
"Bandits! It's the Bandits!"
"There are at least a hundred of them! We're done for!"
"N-no, don't kill us! We'll give you all our money!"
Faced with this force, the dozen or so civilians driving donkey carts were the first to lose their nerve.
Of course, that did not mean they were cowards.
It was simply how ordinary people reacted to Bandits who lived by the blade.
Before the fighting had even begun, their side was already badly outmatched in both numbers and morale. Uncle Ming's expression darkened as he turned to glance at Naruto, who had led the way.
"Hmph!"
Had Naruto not lacked any sign of smug triumph, Uncle Ming would almost have cut the boy down first.
"Don't panic, everyone! They're just ordinary Bandits! If we fight with everything we've got, they won't be able to beat us!"
But no matter how loudly Uncle Ming shouted, civilians were still civilians. They were used to working for a living and could not overcome their fear of death in an instant to fight the Bandits.
"Captain, what should we do?"
"Captain, why don't you take the Miss and escape? We'll hold them off!"
Some loyal Bodyguards immediately volunteered.
"No! The roads here are rough, and we don't know the terrain. If we flee into the mountains, they'll only catch us!"
Uncle Ming gripped his long saber and stood before the carriage, roaring, "Everyone, if you don't want to die, pick up your weapons and fight back now!"
The chaos outside also