Seeing Kōki rush over, Katsuto immediately told him, "Kōki, be careful. That man over there is the chief of this entire stronghold. He wasn't poisoned."
"Yui and I accidentally let him spot us while we were rescuing the villagers. Luckily, he isn't very strong."
"But his sneak attack left Yui and me with minor injuries."
A trace of relief flashed through Katsuto's eyes as he mentioned the bandit chief's sneak attack. Fortunately, they had stayed on guard even while rescuing the villagers. Otherwise, he and Yui would have suffered more than minor injuries.
The explosions just now had come from the chief's attacks. Given their power, a hit would have left Katsuto and Yui seriously injured and unable to fight. If they had been unlucky enough to take a hit to a vital spot, they would have died here.
After hearing Katsuto's words, Kōki looked at him and Yui. Yui had only suffered a minor injury. Flying rubble from the explosion had cut her arm, and blood was still flowing from the wound, but she had no other injuries.
Katsuto was slightly worse off. Besides the wounds from the explosion, he also bore injuries from the bandit chief's punches and kicks.
Kōki breathed a sigh of relief at the sight. Neither was hurt too badly. He didn't want to lose two teammates before even completing his first mission. His current Medical Ninjutsu could heal all these injuries, and after treatment, they would be up and about tomorrow, so it wasn't a major problem.
Suddenly, an angry roar interrupted Kōki's thoughts.
"You three little brats actually destroyed everything I worked for! You damned Konoha ninja!" The bandit chief opposite Kōki shouted at them in a fury. His flying spit, bloodshot eyes, and tightly clenched fists all displayed his rage.
Everything he had worked so hard for had been easily destroyed in an instant by these brats before him. He hated how the ninja of the great nations never bothered to look down at the people beneath their feet.
If Kōki had known what the bandit chief was thinking, he probably would have scoffed. What right did scum who only raised a blade against those weaker than himself have to pity? Someone who did nothing but blame everyone else and wanted something for nothing deserved no sympathy.
"Brats, don't think any of you will leave here alive today. The same goes for those lowlifes behind you. You'll all be buried along with everything I worked for." The bandit chief spoke to them with a crazed expression, then began forming hand seals. But his hands moved so painfully slowly that it was obvious he had no formal instruction and had figured out his Ninjutsu on his own. Moreover, its power only reached the level of C-rank Ninjutsu.
Kōki easily dodged Ninjutsu like that, but he remained focused. Even a lion used its full strength to catch a rabbit. This was his first battle, and he wouldn't be careless.
Sure enough, he noticed that although the bandit chief wore a crazed expression and seemed like a mindless brute, a glint of cunning flashed through his eyes.
"Die, you Konoha brats!" The bandit chief, who had been standing opposite Kōki and the others, suddenly vanished in white smoke and reappeared on a rooftop in the courtyard, laughing again.
"Turn to ash amid this thunder!" It turned out that the bandit chief had long since buried explosive tags in the courtyard. Now was the time to detonate them.
But something awkward happened. No explosion occurred in the courtyard, and the bandit chief looked around in confusion. He was certain he had planted the explosive tags and had indeed triggered them, so why had nothing happened?
"Are you looking for these?"
Hearing Kōki speak, the bandit chief narrowed his eyes and looked toward him from the rooftop. To his surprise, Kōki was holding a stack of explosive tags. The detonation device he had prepared earlier was also lying at Kōki's feet.
"How is that possible?"
The bandit chief's bewildered words drew a disdainful smile from Kōki. "Why do you think I took so long to get here?"
Kōki had rushed to the scene as soon as he heard the explosions. Before entering the courtyard, he had discovered a device for detonating explosive tags beside it, so he had taken a little time to dismantle the device and retrieve the tags.
"Damn you, brat. But don't get too pleased with yourself. I'll have my revenge!" With his plan exposed, the bandit chief knew he could no longer turn things around. He also believed he wasn't strong enough to take on all three of them, so he prepared to turn and flee.
"You think you'll get another chance?"
Suddenly, those terrifying words came from beside him. He turned his head, and a small, childish fist filled his vision.
Yet that small fist struck him in the abdomen with such force that it sent him crashing from the rooftop to the ground. The impact of his fall shattered the ground.
The bandit died on the spot from that heavy blow.
"Repent for what you've done in the Pure Land." Having successfully killed the bandit chief, Kōki let out a breath. The anger in his heart vanished along with the bandit's death.
Katsuto and Yui, who were standing guard in front of the villagers, couldn't help saying happily when they saw Kōki finish off the bandit chief, "Nicely done, Kōki."
By the time Yui and Katsuto had rescued all the villagers in the stronghold, Kōki had searched the entire place again, confirming that not a single bandit remained alive or had escaped.
As they left the stronghold, Kōki also used Fire Style to burn the entire place to ashes. This place of evil didn't need to continue existing.
Once they had returned all the women and children to the surrounding villages, Mamoru Uehara appeared before the three of them again.
"Your plan for this mission was good. You didn't underestimate the enemy just because they were bandits. I can tell you that if you'd launched a frontal assault, your plan to rescue the villagers would have fallen apart. While you were discussing things, I already went inside the stronghold to scout it out. These bandits had quite a few explosive tags, and their chief had some chakra."
"I also suspect they may have been deliberately driven into our Land of Fire by Sunagakure. Ordinary bandits wouldn't have so many explosive tags. The enemy may have thought using ordinary bandits as hidden pawns would be much safer than using ninja. After all, ordinary people aren't much of a threat in a ninja's eyes."
"But there were still some flaws in how you carried out your plan. Yui and Katsuto were too confident in the poison's effects, and you didn't take care to stay hidden while rescuing the villagers. If you'd been careful enough, you wouldn't have been injured." Mamoru Uehara first praised the three of them, then pointed out the secrets concealed within this small stronghold, and finally summed up the flaws in their actions.
After hearing Uehara's analysis, Kōki and the others felt some lingering fear. If the bandits had detonated the explosive tags outright, they would have been in serious trouble. Not only would all the captive villagers have been blown up, but they themselves might also have suffered grievous injuries. Sure enough, in the Shinobi World, even a small bandit extermination mission could conceal a deadly crisis.