Accepted as a Student

White Fang glanced at Anyo and realized that the boy had recognized him. He said evenly, "I'm out on a mission this time. Since you want to be my student, I'll leave this mission to you as your entrance test. How about it?"

Oh, there's a chance! He's relenting! Anyo replied without hesitation, "Sure."

White Fang continued pointedly, "As my student, you must be prepared to die at any moment. I won't send you on missions to catch cats, walk dogs, or pull weeds."

Anyo froze at his words. Understanding what White Fang meant, he felt himself waver a little. But when he saw disappointment slowly creeping into White Fang's eyes, he gritted his teeth and said, "More than the danger of dying at any moment, I fear being weak."

White Fang nodded, a trace of appreciation flashing through his eyes. Then he pointed below the cliff and said, "My mission this time is to wipe out a band of bandits below this cliff. According to the information, there are thirty-one of them, and there may be ninja among them. Now go and kill them. Don't let a single one escape. I'll wait here until dawn. If you haven't appeared by then, or haven't completed the mission, it means we weren't meant to be teacher and student."

Anyo stared at White Fang in shock. He hadn't expected his assignment to be killing people. For a ninja, killing was naturally commonplace, but he was still a child! Besides, he had rushed out without even a kunai on him. Was he supposed to kill them with his fists?

Anyo spread his empty hands and gave White Fang an aggrieved look.

Looking at Anyo's expression, White Fang said calmly, "Ninja were born from slaughter in the first place. A ninja who can't kill isn't a ninja at all. I was seven when I first killed someone. I vomited for five minutes. From then on, I fully understood what it meant to be a ninja. If you're unwilling to experience it, you won't be able to learn my swordsmanship."

"Uh, I understand all that, but could you give me a weapon?"

Looking at Anyo's empty hands, White Fang suddenly understood. So he was asking me for a weapon when he spread his hands just now. That's fair. Going in barehanded would be asking too much of a child.

White Fang did something astonishing: he handed over the short blade he was holding.

"Isn't this the weapon that made you famous, the White Light Chakra Sabre? You're just giving it to me like that?" Anyo exclaimed in surprise, not taking it at first.

With an air of supreme confidence, White Fang said, "Take it. Whether a weapon is powerful depends on the person wielding it. If you're no good, nothing you hold will help. If you're formidable, even scrap iron can be a divine weapon."

"Ha!" His blood fired up by those words, Anyo laughed boldly, took the weapon, and said, "Well said, Teacher! Wait for my triumphant return."

Calling him Teacher ahead of time, Anyo leaped off the cliff.

Startled, White Fang hurriedly looked down, only to see Anyo running along the sheer cliff face as though it were level ground.

So this child has coated his feet with chakra. He's already quite adept at using it. Impressive. For the first time, White Fang felt anticipation at the prospect of taking on a student. He sat cross-legged and began to wait.

After descending the cliff, Anyo landed directly behind the bandits. Without a doubt, they had never imagined anyone would emerge from here to attack them, so there wasn't even a lookout.

Besides, it was already evening, and they had just eaten. A fairly strong smell of alcohol hung in the air. Holding the blade, Anyo smiled slightly and said, "Looks like this mission will be easier than I imagined. Still, I can't get careless. Even a lion uses all its strength to hunt a rabbit. I can't let myself come to grief over something trivial."

The blade left its sheath. Anyo slipped inside like a ghost. Sure enough, several drunken men lay sprawled across an open patch of ground. Without a word, Anyo struck, slitting their throats with a single cut each and letting them die without pain.

Killing stirred no ripples in his heart at all. After finishing off this group, Anyo specifically targeted places with fewer people. Before long, twenty people had died at his hands.

All that remained was the leader's location.

With so few people left, there was no need for further assassinations. Anyo walked over openly.

At that moment, the two lookouts saw a child approaching and snarled, "Where'd this little brat come from? Get the hell out of here, as far as you can, or we'll catch you and make soup out of you! Haha!"

Anyo looked at them coldly and continued forward without a word.

The two men then noticed something was wrong. This was the heart of the camp, where their leader lived. How could a child have walked here alone, completely unharmed? Had no one stopped him?

Realizing something was amiss, they said in panic, "Stay back, or don't blame us for getting rough!"

Anyo turned a deaf ear to them, holding the short blade point-down as he advanced step by step.

A vicious gleam flashed in their eyes. They drew their long blades and slashed at Anyo simultaneously.

Anyo regarded them with contempt. With a slight turn of his short blade, he deftly flicked their long blades away. His hands thrust like phantoms, driving the blade backward into their hearts in two consecutive strikes. As the two men sank into utter darkness, a thought surfaced in their minds: So fast. So ruthless.

Just as he finished off the two men, nine figures shot out of the house before him at once, fleeing in four different directions. One shouted as he ran, "Don't look back! As many of us as possible have to escape! That child is a demon!"

"You think you can get away?" Anyo formed hand seals and barked coldly, "Bringer-of-Darkness Technique!"

All nine fleeing men plunged into darkness at the same time, unable to tell which direction was which. The boundless darkness magnified the fear in their hearts without limit, and one of them actually died of fright.

The other eight naturally couldn't escape being cut down either. Without hesitation, Anyo slit their throats. Then he found a wooden chest inside the house, intending to put every corpse's head inside as proof.

Just then, fierce flames suddenly erupted throughout the bandit stronghold. White Fang walked out of the flames and said, "I've already seen it. You passed. From today onward, you are my student-the student of Konoha's White Fang."

Overjoyed, Anyo went straight up to him and called out happily, "Hello, Teacher!"

Then he respectfully handed the short blade back.

White Fang made no attempt to hide his appreciation for Anyo. Taking back the short blade, he said, "I'll be home all day tomorrow. Come straight over after you graduate. I'll be waiting."

With those words, White Fang vanished from the spot.

Anyo clenched his fists hard, knowing he had succeeded in becoming his student. Although things had differed from his original expectations, being able to learn that swordsmanship made it worthwhile. As for the trouble that might arise in the future...

Anyo smiled calmly. The village probably wouldn't have much energy to spare for a child. After all, war could come at any moment.