It was early morning, yet the village was already alive — stalls opening, shopkeepers calling out, shinobi darting across rooftops like flickers of shadow. Maybe it was simply a feature of all semi-medieval societies, where daylight was precious and people worked with the sun. Or maybe it was the shinobi culture itself — a place where sleep was optional, and purpose never paused.
Souta was dressed exactly like Neiji from the anime. He was carrying a travel bag and an extremely large rucksack. I was curious but didn't ask. He was already present when I arrived at the gate. "You're exactly on time." I wasn't sure if he meant that as a compliment or a rebuke. "I try to respect time."
He nodded, then turned around to walk out of the village. "Let's go. I have taken care of the formalities." Oh, that's nice. We can leave now, but wait. Aren't we missing something?
I nodded to the gate guards as I passed to catch up with him. "Hey, bro, aren't we forgetting something?" He paused. "What?" I looked around. "We're a 3-man team, remember. You and I count as 2. Even if you are strong." He still kept staring. I huffed. "Where's Rina?"
"Oh, here," he said. And showed me Rina peacefully sleeping in the Rucksack. And with her was the miniature version of the monster I saw yesterday.
Seeing my face, Souta explained. "She wouldn't wake up early."
"I see." I didn't. What do you mean she wouldn't wake up? Is this really alright? How did the gate guards let us pass in this situation? Isn't this basically kidnapping? And is it alright to lug her and her hound around in a rucksack? And since when can hounds change size?
"Don't worry, this is not the first time."
I nodded. My life here so far has been quite normal. Do your job and make your stuff, and sell it. Or help on D-rank Civilian mission. It was the first time that I remembered that this place was full of weirdos.
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She woke up 3 hours into the journey. Now I also understand why I was still a simple genin. My speed of gaining strength had been fast, but these clan-trained shinobi were a different breed altogether. The guy had literally run with the girl on his back, yet he was almost as fast as me. I know he had definitely trained since before he could toddle. But still. Damn. I was stronger than any run-of-the-mill genin, but against the major players, I guess I was still pretty average.
Me trying to use the story will have to wait.
It took us a whole two days to reach the village where the bandits were last sighted. Meanwhile, we had exchanged a bit about our abilities and trained a little. The two had hoped to make a tracking and reconnaissance squad in the end. I was initially just a fill-in for this mission only. My poor performance in our fights didn't help the impression. But when at night I took out several detection tags and explosive tags, I got promoted to being considered for permanence.
As Nobles, they weren't short of tags, but even with their allowances. Thousands of Ryo profit was considerable on each mission. Plus, fuinjutsu shinobis who could look after themselves in a fight were rare. Even though I was the weakest, my bane wasn't raw power. It was technique and experience. And later on, when I learn formations, seals, and barriers. This will turn into a proper elite reconnaissance squad, with Rina for tracking, Souta for scouting, and me for studying enemy barriers, traps, and formations.
Shiro, the Ninken. It was now back to full size and was tracking the bandits by smell as we followed closely behind. Apparently, this was a rare breed. Usually used for undercover missions. I could see how a size-changing dog would come in handy there. The trade-off is inferior combat potential.
Rina raised her hand and signaled. We had found their base. "Byakugan!" Souta whispered, and bulging veins emerged behind his sunglasses. Although I noticed they bulged only on the right side.
"There are 24 of them. No shinobis. There are some inside the big tent who I think are prisoners. 4 men on lookout in each direction. 11 are sleeping or resting inside the small huts. The rest are just loitering in the camp."
Damn. This was like having a map in the video games. All hostels are marked in red, and Rescue targets are marked in green, with the whole base layout opened. This was practically a cheat.
We still decided to wait for nightfall before attacking.
-----
The two of them crept forward quietly as I watched from the foliage. You see, I had trained my stamina and power. I forgot to train stealth. Guess I'm adding that to my training regimen when I get back. Drawbacks of Self-schooling.
When they heard me try to sneak in, they agreed that rampaging elephants had more sneaking capability than me. They will kill the lookout and some of the bandits sleeping in the tents. When the alarm sounded, I would join in.
The two sneaked up on the poor lookout, and Shiro, in his full form, took him out in one sweep. That's the first step complete. They began moving towards the nearest tents.
You know the thing about plans, especially shinobi plans, they have a tendency to do a hard march to hell. Just before Rina could reach the nearest tent. The flap opened, and a sleepy bandit came out for a late-night whizz. Both paused. Rina threw her Kunai while the bandits screamed for reinforcements. "Attack! Atta–ghh". According to those two, we could have taken the camp head on, but unnecessary risks aren't part of Ninja Protocol.
I drew my sword and ran as I saw the whole thing descend into pandemonium. By the time I arrived, 6 of them were already dead, and one tent had somehow caught fire. "Make sure nobody escapes! We'll have to track them down." Souta grunted while executing a clean punch to the head of a bandit.
A big guy emerged from the tent that was gambling, looked around, and locked in on me. Perhaps standing still to survey the field was not a good idea. "AAAARRRGHHH, he charged."
I quickly took a proper stance like I had trained. When he drew close, I swung and tried to sidestep. I expected him to parry and follow up. But what happened was my sword found purchase in flesh as my sidestep failed, and he crashed into me. I was disbalanced but still standing. I looked up to see the sword lodged deep into his chest. It had cut in from the shoulder and had probably cut into his heart. "So, that physique is useful," I muttered.
The training over the past two days had made me underestimate my raw power. I had forgotten the gap that existed between civilians and shinobis. He had parried, but it simply didn't matter. Before I could think more, I saw another bandit approaching. I dislodged my sword and advanced.
This one looked like a swordsman. His thrusts had technique. Unfortunately, I simply bulldozed my way into his neck. I had used the kenjutsu technique for slashing, but honestly, I didn't need to. It was more like target practice. This was not fighting. This was a slaughter.
In the back of my head was the thought of why hadn't no dramatic change had occurred in my psychology with my kills. But I realized. Most of the kill shock left that day I killed that genin in Konoha. I had lost a lot of sleep over him. What was left was just getting accustomed to the flow.
As I cut my fourth one down. "They are running," Rina shouted over the commotion. "Souta, take the ones running South. I'll take North."
"Ren! There's one running to the west, too. You go get him." Souta added. Byakugan for the win.
Makes sense, nobody ran east. That's the side we attacked.
I started chasing the guy. I took out the kunai from my ninja tool bag and threw. I missed. And then missed again. Well, I guess 6 years of Kunai throwing can't be learned in 6 months. It took me half the bag before I got him. I didn't tell about the chase to the other two.