Being born in Sunagakure made life difficult, but at least there was still an opportunity to struggle and change one’s fate.
In some places, however, simply staying alive—free from hunger and the constant threat of death—was already a luxury.
Daimaru, with the mindset of an adult, understood this well.
For Chi and Yome, however, this was the first time they had heard that such places existed within the Land of Wind.
“We’ll find the bandit group, eliminate them, complete the mission, and leave.”
“This isn’t Sunagakure.
There’s no need to create unnecessary complications.”
Shinobi were not officials of the Land of Wind.
There was no reason to concern themselves with matters outside the scope of their mission.
“Oh?”
Otofū looked at Daimaru with interest.
“I didn’t expect you to have such a soft heart.”
“You don’t want to kill innocent people?”
Daimaru laughed at himself.
“This is already my fourth year as a Genin.”
“This isn’t my first mission to eliminate bandits.”
“And during escort missions, I’ve already killed several highway robbers who tried to ambush us.”
“A soft heart?”
He shook his head.
“Ask Chi and Yome how many kids our age I bullied when we were little.”
Still somewhat naïve, Yome asked,
“Then why do you want to let these bad people go?”
“If they weren’t sheltering the bandits, the gang wouldn’t have grown this large, and we wouldn’t have been sent here.”
“Our mission’s objective is to eliminate the bandit group.”
Daimaru answered calmly.
“What happens to those connected to them has nothing to do with us.”
“Yome.”
“You’re not a rookie anymore.”
“Stop letting your personal likes and dislikes influence how you approach missions.”
“Setting aside whether we’re even capable of wiping them all out…”
“…are you planning to massacre this entire town?”
To put it bluntly, Team Otofū served Sunagakure.
Their interests didn’t even completely align with those of the Land of Wind, much less with civilians who merely happened to be connected to a bandit gang.
Had this not been a commissioned mission, they wouldn’t have bothered dealing with the bandits in the first place.
“A…
massacre?”
Yome was visibly startled.
She could accept killing notorious bandits.
But slaughtering townspeople whose crimes had never been proven…
Even the notoriously harsh shinobi of Sunagakure rarely went that far.
Chi gently patted Yome’s shoulder.
“Actually, we only have one real choice.”
“Knowing when to stop is the best option.”
“Excellent.” You are reading on novelping.com, the official source.
Otofū applauded approvingly.
“Although you arrived at the correct conclusion for a different reason, it’s still the right conclusion.”
“So there are other reasons we don’t know?”
Daimaru looked out the window.
The occasional pedestrians passing by all seemed dispirited.
It was obvious this town had very little vitality left.
“We’re simply shinobi carrying out a mission.”
“We have no authority to sentence anyone to death.”
“Killing someone because they might become a bandit someday…”
“…is simply too arrogant.”
“That’s a much more accurate explanation.”
Otofū glanced toward several suspicious-looking drifters outside.
A few of them were subtly keeping an eye on the teahouse, as though they’d begun noticing something unusual.
“In times other than war or combat during missions…”
“…it’s best not to use a shinobi’s power against ordinary people.”
“If you rely too heavily on violence, sooner or later you’ll grow accustomed to it.”
“And once that happens…”
“…you’ll no longer be able to live an ordinary life.”
“We shinobi are still human.”
“We’re not monsters that merely happen to know ninjutsu.”
“Then what about Temari’s younger brother, Gaara…”
Chi seemed to think of something halfway through her question and abruptly stopped speaking.
Otofū waved dismissively.
He seemed to detest even hearing that forbidden name.
“That thing…”
“…isn’t a shinobi.”
“It’s a weapon.”
“A tool.”
At that moment, several men who appeared to be lookouts exchanged glances before casting one more look toward the teahouse and quietly leaving.
“It seems our plan to alert the snake has worked.”
Otofū stood.
“Let’s follow them.”
The terrain along the border between the Land of Wind and the Land of Grass was extremely complicated.
Towering mountain ranges and dangerous primeval forests formed a natural barrier separating the Lands of Wind, Grass, and Fire.
At the junction of all three countries stood the famous fortress of Kikyo Castle, both a historical landmark and a strategically vital location.
Countless shinobi from Sunagakure and Konohagakure had lost their lives there.
Their current location was still some distance from Kikyo Castle, deeper toward the Land of Grass, where there were countless secluded places to hide.
The bandits’ scouts possessed a certain degree of counter-tracking awareness.
Halfway through the journey, they split into several groups before regrouping shortly before reaching their destination.
Unfortunately for them, such simple tricks were useless against shinobi from Sunagakure.
With Yome’s eyes watching everything within dozens of kilometers, how could a few ordinary bandits possibly escape?
“Their hideout is just ahead.”
Yome’s eyes widened.
Her pupils dilated as though focusing on something far beyond the horizon instead of what lay before her.
“It was later remodeled into a maze-like fortress.”
“There are quite a few traps inside.”
“It’s underground?”
Daimaru asked.
“Yes.”
Yome nodded confidently.
“I haven’t detected any bandits who appear to be shinobi.”
“Then they’re really out of luck.”
Daimaru finally breathed a sigh of relief.
It looked like their new team’s first mission would end smoothly.
Otofū remained behind to supervise the operation.
Under Yome’s surveillance, Chi released the pollen of a hallucinogenic cactus flower.
Carried by the breeze, it served as a medium for her genjutsu and drifted silently into the bandits’ underground hideout.
Before long, according to Yome’s observations, the gang of fewer than one hundred bandits collapsed one after another while eating and drinking.
“Dealing with amateurs really is easy.”
Daimaru sighed.
If there had been even a single shinobi among them—even just a Genin—as soon as someone sensed the fluctuation of chakra, Chi’s genjutsu never would have worked so smoothly.
Inside the underground stronghold were plenty of burly men.
Had they been forced into direct combat, even if those hundred bandits simply stood still without resisting, killing them all would have exhausted the three Genin.
Yet now…
Through the power of ninjutsu alone, the entire gang had been wiped out with astonishing ease.
To be safe, Daimaru infiltrated the hideout by himself.
After obtaining proof of mission completion—the severed head of the wanted bandit leader—he immediately withdrew.
“There wasn’t anything valuable inside.”
“Just some food and alcohol.”
“What a shame.”
“They were a pretty poor bandit gang.”
“Bury everything where it is.”
“Erase all traces.”
Otofū ordered.
“Understood.”
Daimaru stepped forward and pressed both palms against the ground.
Chakra flowed into the sand beneath his feet.
“Earth Release: Sand Dance!”
The sand collapsed inward, destroying many of the traps while burying every bandit beneath the earth.
Even those not crushed outright would suffocate before long.
The flowing sand spread across the area, reshaping the surrounding terrain until no trace remained that a sizable bandit gang had ever been stationed there.
Compared to Gaara’s Sand Waterfall Funeral or Desert Burial, Daimaru’s Earth Release: Sand Dance was vastly inferior.
Its greatest strength lay in destroying traps.
Everything else was little more than superficial imitation.
Still, against a bandit gang already rendered unconscious by genjutsu…
It was more than sufficient.
Except for Otofū, neither Daimaru, Chi, nor Yome had ever participated in B-rank or A-rank missions.
A C-rank mission involving nothing more than eliminating ordinary bandits was actually less difficult than hunting a giant desert scorpion.
(End of Chapter)