"We had no choice. We couldn't let word get out."
"If they escaped, the countries around here would send ninja to wipe us out."
Faced with the question, the Scarred Man admitted it outright.
Sure enough, when the Scarred Man saw Naruto nod at those words, he immediately pressed his advantage, tears and snot streaming down his face.
"We were driven to it by hardship. We only resorted to this because we had no other choice."
"My lord, seeing how honest I've been, and what a pitiful man I am, couldn't you spare me just this once?"
His logic and delivery were so carefully polished that Naruto actually froze for a moment as he listened.
Had he not witnessed it himself and roughly deduced the brutal methods these bandits had used before, someone else might genuinely have let the man go.
Why?
Because Naruto had clones in the Land of Waves, and Haku was there too, yet none of them knew there were bandits here. That could only mean this was either the gang's first time robbing a passing caravan here, or every caravan they had robbed before had been wiped out.
Combined with the man's practiced reasoning and patter, Naruto simply couldn't see this as his first offense.
"Fuck, have the Bandits gotten this competitive now?"
Looking at the fierce hope of survival in the Scarred Man's eyes, Naruto continued, "With brains like yours, being one of the Bandits is a waste of talent."
At that, the Scarred Man was overjoyed, looking ready to pledge his life to Naruto.
But Naruto's next words instantly plunged him into icy despair.
"But you crossed the line, both as a person and as a bandit."
The Scarred Man blanched. He kept begging for mercy, even as he tried to edge toward the