The night was as dark as ink. Heaven and earth were shrouded in shadows. Thick clouds surged, and not a trace of moonlight could be seen. From time to time, a gust of wind howled past, rustling the leaves with an eerie sound like the cry of a night owl.
Standing at the foot of the mountain, Amano Ren looked up at the sky. Feeling the cold wind brushing against his cheeks, he murmured to himself, "Looks like it's going to rain."
The bandits' base was located at the top of the mountain, and there was only one main path leading up. They had taken advantage of the terrain to fortify their stronghold, making it difficult to assault. But for ninjas, breaching such a place wasn't all that difficult.
Led by Orochimaru, the group of four climbed the steep cliff silently, slipping into the mountain stronghold like shadows in the night.
Crouching behind a crude hut, Orochimaru didn't give the others time to assess the enemy's positioning. He made a quick hand gesture—signaling the start of the operation.
The infiltration was just to reduce the risk. The real purpose of this mission was to shed blood—to face cold steel head-on. Orochimaru forbade Amano Ren and the others from using stealth kills to take down the enemy one by one. The objective was to confront battle directly.
Kushina and Hokuseiya hesitated when they saw Orochimaru's signal. The uncertainty was plain on their faces.
Seeing that the two were still frozen in place, Orochimaru frowned slightly but didn't push them. He knew this was a rite of passage for every new graduate from the Ninja Academy. It didn't require them to be cold-blooded—but they had to learn to be indifferent to bloodshed.
Compared to Kushina and Hokuseiya's hesitation, Amano Ren acted with unwavering decisiveness. Mere seconds after Orochimaru's signal, his eyes locked onto a man who had walked to the corner to relieve himself. With a kunai in hand, he dashed silently toward the man.
The muffled sound of his footstep against the sandy ground caught the man's attention. Turning his head, the man glimpsed a blade lunging toward his throat, the weak glow of a nearby flame outlining its shape.
"Enem—!"
The man's eyes widened. The word had barely left his lips before the kunai pierced cleanly through his throat. Warm blood sprayed across Amano Ren's face.
The heat of it touched his skin, and the sharp scent of iron assaulted his nose, churning his stomach. With his arm still outstretched, Amano Ren stared blankly into the man's eyes—eyes filled with despair and hatred.
"Gurgh…"
The dying man made a gurgling noise. The light in his eyes gradually faded.
Amano Ren didn't look away—not until the glow had completely vanished. Only then did he slowly pull out the kunai and wipe the blood from his face with one hand. This was the first time he had killed someone. He had just erased a living, breathing human from existence—yet he felt little guilt. It was like killing a chicken to prepare a meal—cold and necessary.
In truth, he had witnessed far too many brutal things in his youth. He'd seen people cripple one another for a piece of bread. He used to wonder—if the situation had been even worse, would cannibalism have become a reality?
Thud.
The lifeless body collapsed to the ground with a soft sound. Without sparing the corpse a second glance, Amano Ren moved swiftly toward his next target.
Hidden in the shadows, Orochimaru's lips curved into a subtle smile of approval. Meanwhile, Kushina and Hokuseiya stood motionless, staring in shock at Amano Ren, who was now drenched in blood.
Hokuseiya's body trembled. Though he had mentally prepared himself, this was his first time witnessing such gore. When faced with it directly, all his preparation seemed useless.
Kushina's gaze was fixed on the corpse. Its head had rolled to face her side, and under the firelight, its dull, lifeless eyes still seemed to carry a trace of resentment.
Gritting her teeth, she took a single step forward—and then froze, like a statue.
Minutes passed. Amano Ren had already killed several more men, and his actions finally drew the attention of the rest of the bandits.
A furious roar echoed across the mountain stronghold. The bandits poured out like a flood. When they spotted the forehead protector on Amano Ren—the symbol of a ninja—they were stunned. But that shock faded quickly. After all, he was just one kid.
"It's just some brat! What are you all scared of?!" barked a burly man wielding a spiked club.
No sooner had the words left his mouth than a kunai flew through the air and embedded itself into his throat. His eyes bulged in disbelief as he looked down at the handle jutting from his neck, then collapsed.
Amano Ren had more than enough energy left. After killing the man, he pulled out another kunai from his pouch and charged into the fray like a wolf among sheep.
After slashing another bandit's throat, he leapt back just in time to dodge a heavy iron club that smashed into the ground where he'd stood.
There were too many enemies, and they weren't weak. A single mistake could be fatal.
Though his killing intent was rising, Amano Ren still maintained clarity. After slaying more than ten people, he began to feel his stamina waning. He leapt back several times to escape the encirclement, assessed the roughly hundred bandits remaining, and glanced toward where Kushina and Hokuseiya were hiding. He frowned.
Individually, Amano Ren could easily take down any of them. But sheer numbers could overwhelm quality. And this wasn't a solo mission.
As if sensing his gaze, Kushina and Hokuseiya finally remembered they were part of this mission. Kushina stepped forward without hesitation this time. Hokuseiya, after a moment's pause, also slowly emerged from behind the house.
The ground was littered with corpses. Blood flowed freely, forming countless crimson streams across the sand, soaking into the earth. The stench of blood saturated the air.
The bandits, who had initially underestimated Amano Ren because of his age, now looked terrified. And now, with two more appearing, their morale plummeted.
"Even if we die, we'll take a few of them with us!" one of the bandits snarled. The others erupted with rage.
These were men who lived by the blade. Each of them had killed many. Just as Amano Ren had shown no hesitation, they too could kill without remorse.
Boom...
A few bolts of lightning tore through the gloomy sky. The sudden flashes illuminated dozens of fierce, distorted faces.
Facing the wave of bandits, Amano Ren ignored Kushina and Hokuseiya. Forming hand seals, he shouted:
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
A massive ball of flame erupted from his mouth and soared into the crowd.
As it approached, the bandits' earlier bravado crumbled. Fear replaced their aggression.
Boom!
The fireball exploded. Screams rang out as high-temperature flames incinerated more than ten men on the spot. The acrid scent of scorched flesh filled the air.
Seeing the bandits reduced to charred corpses in mere seconds, both Kushina and Hokuseiya turned pale. The remaining bandits, even more horrified, broke ranks and fled in all directions.
"What are you waiting for?!" Amano Ren snapped, kunai in hand, charging toward the fleeing enemies.
Kushina and Hokuseiya exchanged glances. Swallowing their discomfort, they joined the slaughter.
If they couldn't kill, they had no right to call themselves ninjas.
Thunder roared and lightning flashed. Finally, the sky opened up. Torrential rain poured down, extinguishing the flames left by the fireball.
The mix of burnt flesh, blood, and urine created an unbearable stench. But Amano Ren remained unfazed. Tilting his head back, eyes closed, he let the cold rain wash over his bloodstained face. Around him, the corpses lay in silence.
Kushina looked down at the kunai in her hand. Under a flash of lightning, she could see the blood still dripping from the blade. Not long ago, when she killed her first enemy, she had felt sick. But now… she felt nothing.
She turned to look at Amano Ren. His eyes were still closed, expression cold—like the rain itself. A chill rose from her core and spread through her limbs. She shivered. She didn't know if it was from fear—or the cold wind and rain.
"So this is what it means to be a ninja."
Hokuseiya's body still trembled as he stared at the carnage.
"Mission complete."
Orochimaru emerged from the darkness, his hoarse voice declaring the end of the mission.