However, what the Demon Brothers knew was clearly limited. The only valuable information was the confirmation that their employer was indeed Gatō, and that Gatō seemed to have hired other ninja—ones far stronger than them.
Aside from that, the Demon Brothers had no other useful intel. This was somewhat less than Kakashi had expected, causing him to inwardly raise his assessment of the upcoming mission's difficulty.
"Looks like that's all they know. Alright, you two can do it now. But don't force yourselves. This kind of thing takes time to adapt to."
After confirming that the Demon Brothers had no further value, Kakashi turned to Menma and Sasuke, who were waiting behind him, and spoke.
Menma and Sasuke appeared calm on the surface.
But as Kakashi's words fell, their bodies trembled slightly. Even in this cruel and dark world, killing someone for the first time inevitably brought a psychological burden.
If someone could kill for the first time without batting an eye or feeling any emotional ripple, that person would likely be a terrifying existence psychologically!
Menma and Sasuke were strong-willed.
But this was still their first time.
Even though Menma had lived two lives...
In his past life, he was just an ordinary student who hadn't even killed a chicken!
To be asked to kill someone outright without feeling a tremor of fear would make Menma a monster in human skin.
But Menma knew clearly that he had to go through this.
And this opportunity right in front of him was the most suitable one.
In the previous two battles, Menma could easily suppress Mizuki and the Demon Brothers because his strength far exceeded that of an ordinary Chūnin. They couldn't put any real pressure on him.
But once he faced an enemy of equal strength, or even one stronger than him...
In a life-and-death struggle...
If he showed even a shred of hesitation, or held back his full power because of a fear of killing, he would 100% lose. He would become a joke.
This is the path I have chosen!
Menma took a deep breath.
He pulled out a kunai, stepped forward, and approached the Mist ninja on the left.
His raised right hand trembled faintly.
But in this moment, Menma did not hesitate. A dense killing intent flashed between his brows.
He stabbed ruthlessly into the Mist ninja's chest.
Splurt!
The kunai pierced through the chest effortlessly, the blade sinking deep.
A dull thud.
Accompanied by splashing blood.
The Mist ninja, still in a daze, showed a look of pain as his body spasmed slightly. His life force drained away rapidly. In less than a few seconds, his head lolled to the side, and he died under Menma's kunai without regaining consciousness.
Menma ended the life of this Mist ninja.
Beside him, Sasuke delivered a strike that slit the throat of the other brother, killing him instantly as well.
Blood splattered onto both of them.
They instinctively looked at each other.
There seemed to be a special meaning in their exchanged glances.
Standing behind them, Kakashi nodded secretly as he watched Menma and Sasuke complete their first kill mission.
As an official ninja, this was a rite of passage.
The current Leaf Village was vastly different from previous eras. As far as Kakashi knew, the mentality of the Genin trained in recent years was worse than the last. Their overall standard was far below that of Kakashi's generation.
There were plenty of examples of fresh graduates who either died easily due to various issues or suffered mental breakdowns and couldn't continue as ninja after returning from missions.
To be honest.
Kakashi had initially worried about this aspect regarding Team 7.
After all, the Leaf bad been at peace for too long.
So long that the new generation had almost no sense of danger or crisis. But looking at it now, at least Menma and Sasuke didn't need to be worried about in this regard, even if they had hesitated slightly at the start.
But that was human nature. If they had killed effortlessly without any emotional fluctuation on their first try...
Kakashi would have been worried about their mental states instead.
"Good. Let's go back."
Kakashi said softly.
"Yes!"
Menma and Sasuke nodded in unison.
Before the three left...
Kakashi formed hand seals.
"Fire Style."
He released a low-level Fire Style jutsu, controlling it to wrap around the corpses of the Demon Brothers, burning them to ashes to be scattered by the wind.
---
They left quickly.
And they returned quickly.
Kakashi's Genjutsu interrogation had taken less than a few minutes.
Menma and Sasuke hadn't hesitated, so not much time was wasted. When Sakura and Naruto saw the three returning...
Especially as they got closer...
And caught the faint scent of blood on Menma and Sasuke...
Their expressions became somewhat unnatural.
Although they looked the same, in that moment, Sakura and Naruto felt that Menma and Sasuke were somehow vastly different from before.
Tazuna also looked at Menma and Sasuke with a peculiar gaze.
He had heard many stories before.
But after this close encounter, Tazuna truly understood what it meant to be a ninja!
They're only twelve years old...
Tazuna thought silently.
"Alright, let's move out."
Kakashi naturally sensed the slight shift in the team's atmosphere, but to him, this was a perfectly normal development!
With a wave of his right hand...
The group of six resumed their journey, following the planned route toward the Land of Waves.
Along the way...
Unlike the cheerful atmosphere when they first left the village...
The mood in the team became a bit heavy.
Naruto, usually the representative of liveliness, became somewhat silent.
Sakura was the same.
Only Menma and Sasuke remained as calm as ever. The differences between them were gradually revealing themselves.
They were never people walking the same path to begin with.
Menma glanced at Naruto on his right. Beneath his seemingly calm face, his heart was already cold.
From this moment on...
Menma had completely abandoned the last shred of unrealistic hope he had held onto.
As expected, I can only rely on myself!
Menma thought silently.