Leaving the Village
The next day, Uzumaki Hane arrived at the Hokage's office early and explained his purpose to Tsunade.
Tsunade fell into deep thought. As Uzumaki Hane's teacher, she naturally knew that Uzumaki Hane's current strength was already quite good. What he lacked was experience. Sending him out to train would indeed be of great benefit. However, Uzumaki Hane could be considered one of Konoha's major fighting forces at the moment, and she was a little reluctant to let him leave.
Tsunade thought for a long time before saying, "Yu, I've agreed to your training trip. However, I have a task for you: you need to gather intelligence on the Akatsuki along the way. Of course, I don't mean you have to specifically investigate them; your strength isn't enough yet. Jiraiya will be in charge of that. You just need to keep an eye out for them." Then, Tsunade handed over the Akatsuki intelligence that Jiraiya had gathered to Uzumaki Hane.
After bidding farewell to Yamano Koromo and Tanaka, Uzumaki Hane set off alone.
Uzumaki Hane advanced through the forest. Having gained the opportunity to train away from the village, she felt a long-lost sense of freedom, a feeling Uzumaki Hane deeply missed. Since arriving in this world, she felt she had never felt so free. Looking back on her time in this world, knowing its future trajectory and the impending great war, she had always felt a deep sense of crisis. So she had been constantly training and fighting, training and fighting... Since arriving in this world, she hadn't even had a chance to properly see it.
Uzumaki Hane shook his head, as if trying to banish the thoughts from before. After all, he was still too weak. Even against Kage Level ninja, he might not be able to hold his own. There was no time for leisure. Uzumaki Hane began to recall the battles between those powerful figures in the future, and Uzumaki Hane fighting spirit surged again, casting aside the negative thoughts from before.
Uzumaki Hane continued forward when suddenly a wild laugh came from ahead. Uzumaki Hane climbed to a tree branch ahead and saw a group of bandits surrounding a caravan of merchants. The bandit leader had killed the caravan's guard leader, and all the guards were terrified and dared not attack again. So the bandits laughed wildly.
On a whim, Uzumaki Hane landed in front of the caravan.
"Who goes there?" the bandit leader shouted, looking warily at Uzumaki Hane. The surrounding bandits also pointed their weapons at Uzumaki Hane.
Uzumaki Hane didn't seem to mind, saying, "I was just passing by."
Do you know who we are?
"Do you want to die?"
"Kill him."
The surrounding bandits immediately began cursing. The bandit leader looked at Uzumaki Hane's Forehead Protector and recognized him as Konoha ninja. He stopped his men and politely asked, "May I ask what business this Konoha ninja has?"
Seeing an opportunity, the leader of the merchants quickly called out, "Sir ninja, we are willing to hire you. Please help us drive away these bandits."
Upon hearing this, Uzumaki Hane looked at the merchant and said, "This seems quite good."
Hearing their conversation, the bandit leader's expression changed, and he said coldly, "If you don't leave, don't blame us for being impolite."
Uzumaki Hane smiled upon hearing this, looked at the bandit leader, and said, "Why are you being so impolite?"
A murderous glint flashed in the bandit leader's eyes as he said, "Looks like you're going to take the punishment. Don't think we're afraid of you just because you're a ninja. I've killed ninjas before. Brothers, charge!" With that, he brandished his broadsword and slashed down at Uzumaki Hane's head.
The merchants were caught off guard by the bandits' immediate attack and cried out, "Be careful..." They knew that Uzumaki Hane their only hope, and if he were defeated, they would surely be killed by the enraged bandits.
Unconcerned, Uzumaki Hane stretched out her right hand and grabbed the bandit's knife.
A sneer flashed in the bandit leader's eyes as he thought to himself, "He actually dares to try and grab my precious sword with his bare hands? How presumptuous! I spent a fortune to forge this sword; it's incredibly sharp. Watch me chop off his hand." He increased the pressure on his hand, a bloodthirsty smile spreading across his face, as if he could already see blood splattering everywhere in the next moment.
The bandit leader slashed his blade hard at Uzumaki Hane's palm, splashing red liquid, but the liquid seemed rather strange. Before the bandit leader could think further, the liquid splattered onto his arm, causing him excruciating pain as if burned by flames, and he let out a scream.
Uzumaki Hane remained unmoved, the lava on his palm flowing down the blade towards the bandit's arm.
The bandit leader noticed that the precious sword he had painstakingly acquired was becoming scorching hot, with melting phenomena appearing on its surface. He then realized that it wasn't liquid at all, but lava. Indeed, the bandit leader recognized it as lava because he had witnessed a volcanic eruption, and the terrifying lava from that eruption had left a deep impression on him. What kind of monster could create lava? Terrified, the bandit leader dropped the sword and retreated hastily.
Seeing the bandit leader retreat, Uzumaki Hane produced a lava Kunai and shot it into the bandit leader's throat, ending his life. All of this happened in an instant. The other bandits were still rushing towards Uzumaki Hane when their leader suddenly collapsed and died, startling them into stopping in their tracks, hesitant to move forward.
At this moment, one of their leaders shouted, "Don't be afraid, everyone! He's only one person, he's no match for us. Let's kill him together and avenge our leader!" Hearing this, the bandits, seeing so many of their own, felt a surge of courage and rushed towards Uzumaki Hane, while the leader who had just shouted began to retreat.
The merchants behind Uzumaki Hane, seeing the bandits charging towards them, shouted, "Be careful..."
Uzumaki Hane them, Yu quickly transformed his right hand into lava and swung it at the bandits, unleashing countless Magma Senbon. The bandits screamed and fell to the ground, including the fleeing leader.
When the merchants saw that Uzumaki Hane had so easily dealt with all the bandits, their shouts abruptly stopped, and they were momentarily speechless.
In just a few minutes, the merchants' emotions were in turmoil. However, they thought that Uzumaki Hane must be a powerful ninja, as he had dealt with the bandits so easily, and now they were all safe.
The leading merchant approached Uzumaki Hane and said, "Sir, ninja from Konoha, we are merchants from the Land of Rice Fields. Thank you for your help this time."
Uzumaki Hane waved his hand and said, "No need." His figure flashed and he disappeared.
Uzumaki Hane and didn't think much of what had happened, continuing her journey.