First Kill and More Trouble

Kakashi POV:

After I left Ivy's tent, I made my way back to forest.

'I need to see their magical attribute, strength, response timing, command structure and organisation. So I need to lead beasts to fight them, generally at this time nocturnal predators roam. I can't lead a beast that doesn't hunt during night to them, it will raise their guard, my best bet would be Shadow Wolves. They have high indivisual strength and hunt in pack.'

With that in mind, I went to find the pack of beasts, luckily I don't have to find a lot. They were nearby, eyeing a sleeping deers.

I carefully stepped closer to deers, out of wolves eyesight and used construct magic.

CONSTRUCT MAGIC: KUNAIS

This spell actually makes 6 mouldable ball of solid mana, which I later shape into kunais.

Holding the three of them in each hand, I aimed three of them to deers and rest three to wolves.

The one aimed to deers injured them and alerted them, they stood up and ran away. The one aimed to wolves was not to injure them rather to expose my location, they didn't do any physical harm.

I ran towards the camp with about 6 of the wolves following me, I didn't notice before but one looked quite different, must be an alpha.

After closing in the camp, I suddenly increased my speed, moved out of their vision then I dissipated my mana and erased my presence. If before they could just see me and faintly sense me, now it was like I never was there.

Wolves were confused, but then they found another target. I had purposely lead them opposite to Ivy's tent.

Smell of this many humans must have gotten to their heads as they forgot stealth and just jumped into the camps.

Due to sudden assault the people at bonfire had liitle time to react.

Screams resounded from tents and few were quite injured. When hearing the screams, whole camp woke up and fight ensued.

I was watching from some distance away with my sharingan.

As the wolves onto them, they couldn't use AOE spells to avoid friendly fire. Still wolves were defeated after some time. Two people who were first target were dead from injuries and blood loss. Three have gotten scratches and bites but not life threatening while rest four were totally unhurt.

Notable fighters were a tall man with powerful air magic, must be leader based on Ivy discription, the man named Lore with his earth magic and a man with axe and some weird magic.

I crept inside a dead man's tent

'There is no one with sensory or healing magic, thank goodness. Should I use beasts once more.... No, it will make them suspicious.'

I looked outside, leader and the three injured have gone to their tents. Only Lore and two other were guarding but they were more vigilant and one of them was always patrolling.

'My primary goal is to save Ivy, Kana and

Inori.

Secondary goal is to make sure rune magic remains a secret.

For the secondary goal, I will need to kill them, there is no other way. I can't trust them to keep it a secret. Still killing someone just to for our benefit doesn't seem right no matter how I think about it. Sure they had killed others and live on selling kids but that doesn't mean I should kill them and become like them. I have no right to judge their actions.

No, this isn't about me, it is about Ivy's safety. They will become threats tomorrow if I don't kill them today. And we might not be this lucky next time. I have get selfish and choose what is worth more for me: Ivy's safety or lives of these bandits.

And I choose Ivy's safety.'

My breathing became a bit rugged as I imagined the implications of my choice, but I don't have a option here.

'I will have to atleast see the keys to memorise the shape but will probably be the point where I would have highest chances to get exposed. So I need to kill as many as I can before that point, so I could have a chance at next battle.

I have no illusions that I can fight them all at once and win. I will probably even lose a one on one battle with leader or the axe guy, both of them have a high damage output.'

I figured out the pattern of their patrol, moved to the next tent. It had a man with brown hair, sleeping on his right side. He had his leg muscles of his left leg bitten of by wolves.

I conjured a light grey kunai with my mana, crouched down and aimed at his neck. My breathing heightened as my hands trembled, I tried to calm down but it was not working, I had unconsciously opened my sharingan. I knew that if I did it there is no going back anymore.

I reasoned my actions and stopped my hands from trembling. My eyes watered up but my hands didn't waver anymore. Wiping my eyes, I aimed it once more and attacked.

Both his carotrid and jugular artery were cut and kunai was deeply imbedded in his neck. My other hand was on his mouth so no voice spilled out but he had woken up. He was looking at me with a side eye from his position and giving me a look that asked why I did it.

My right hand that was holding the kunai to his neck felt warm and wet as I looked at it my hand and found it red with blood. My throat patched and my eye widdened, I lost control over my mana and stumbled back.

(He had dissipated most of my mana so it didn't alert anyone)

Kunai dissolved but my focus was not on it, I looked at the man and his rapidly unfocusing eyes as his body lost strength and he died.

Kakashi was just sitting there and watching the concequence of his action but couldn't believe it was true.

Quite some time later, his eyes focused again and he wiped them off tears.

'This isn't the time for nonsense, I have got work to do.'

....

Sonia POV:

Some time before Kakashi had his first kill:

I fired used my lightning spell: lightning arrow on the last of the bandits, he was already twitching due to previous spell after effects, so this one hit and pierced through his stomach, as he fell down. Looking on the side mother was too finished with the fight, her plant magic is as spectacular as it was in her prime, but her physical condition is bad. Nothing rest can't heal. Sona was not a fighter, so she was helping citizen to move out safely and providing support. She had also called more reinforcement during battle from knight headquarters.

The warehouse on the left was destroyed and rest on the two were also damaged but we're protected by earth magic and plant magic because children were inside. Even some of the surrounding area, but all the bandits were defeated here, some tried to escape but they were caught up to and defeated.

Knights had two casualties and most of them were injured, one of the four knights was also injured even when they were quite strong. Mother, me and the rest three of knights were the only uninjured.

Injured were sent to hospital and rest of the knights helped in tying up all the bandits in mana suppressing shackles, healing the injured and sending them to jail.

Sona and I made our way to Mother, she was using the spell to absorb vitality and mana from a tree but it was visible that it was not working perfectly.

Mother completed her spell, then we made our way towards the ware house in the middle, as the children had mana suppressing shackles too so sensing them was a problem.

We opened the door, thankfully no ambush or trap was present, doesn't look like they were expecting us afterall.

Deep in the warehouse were three cages, where 4 children were kept.

Mother's breath hitched and I too frowned, there was no sign of Ivy and two others, mother had mentioned 7 children were kidnapped. Sona hurriedly took the keys and opened the locks on their limbs as mother gently woke them. I went back to question the man who had first met us in the here,he seemed like the leader.

'Did they predict us afterall, and seperated the children, now if they knew we have a way to find the children, they would take them as hostage, we have to find the rest fast. Also does that mean Kakashi is there where Ivy is kept, she must have kept the seal linked to grandma with the children here.'

Reaching the man, who was groaning and was about to be carried off by knights, I stopped them and asked him.

"Where are the rest of the children?"

"I don't know what are you talking about."

"The only thing you are doing is delaying their rescue, you could help us find them fast and I could reduce youe sentence or save you from getting hanged. How about it?"

"The only thing you are doing is wasting your time."

'Doesn't look like he would talk easily.'

I accumulated and charged up some electricity like Kakashi chidori, it was messy and unguided, even when it is this small. And jammed it in the injury in his stomach. He screamed loudly, I could hear some knights beside me gulping their saliva as their heart filled with dread.

Removing my finger after some time as he was still twitching with the aftereffects of the torture.

"Ready to spill the location or will another round of lightning suffice?"

"I will tell it, please no more of that.. cough, cough ... Cough... Vinz, our leader and Lore had took them to forest camp about 2 km south of the gate."

"It would have been much better if you haven't wasted time.... Please continue with your works, knights."

I have him back to knights and apologized for the scare and then moved to relay the information to mother.

"Mother, it seems like they have relocated Ivy and rest to the forest, some 2 km south of the gate. Kakashi should be there too. We have to move before he does something reckless and they change position once again."

"Yes, let's go. Sorry Sona but could we borrow some of your knights for some more time."

"Of course, they exist to serve the civilians"

Sona took charge of the children and Mother, the three knights and I took our brooms and flew to the location as fast as we can.

'Please make it on time.'

.....

Some time before:

A man was hiding near alleyway along with 5 men overlooking a huge fancy looking building, which looked quite busy with all the knights coming and going.

'Danmit where are these knight going, looking at the amount of knights being dispatched, looks like they got the information afterall. But I have never seen this grandma, this lady or this child enter the headquarters. Is it possible that they are being dispatched for another work.

Boss did say that these three should never reach the knight order, if they are seen, kidnap them. Guess I will do what was said and not use my brain.'

Men beside me agreed too but after some time when we saw injured bodies of fellow bandit taken to prison, we immediately pulled out asses out of there.

'Looks like the information really reached them somehow, I should go to boss and inform him about it.'

We all then took out our brooms and flew to the forest camp.

.....

Kakashi's POV:

Looking at my third victim, who had died the same way as other two, I felt same as before but I quickly calmed down and reminded myself that we are not out of danger yet and my sloppiness could cause death.

Now there were only 4 people left, but three of them are guarding and I don't think I can assassinate the fourth.

'I need a plan and I have one, dur to shackles covering the body of kids their is no sign of mana in them. So I will secure them first in a underground shelter then, I will copy the keys from the leader and rescue Ivy, her escape will inevitably create some disturbance because her mana is too large to be hidden even by shackles, so it is easily perceivable.

They will probably underestimate us and due to greed, most likely search us in pairs that when I will complete my secondary goal.

Bandits at bonfire have relaxed now that no threat has came for about half an hour.'

I exited the tent moved some distance away. To replish my mana back, I used my plant magic spell. Decaying three trees, I placed my hand on ground and muttered.

EARTH MAGIC: EARTH CONSTRUCT

Slowly the ground beneath me shifted as a cave like structure was formed underground and it had quite a small entrance and it ran along the ground, so destroying the entrances would not flood the cave with rocks.

I came back to take the two kids and explained Ivy the plan. She had some reservations about hiding while I did my finished them but I guilt tripped her. Dirty move but did the trick.

I placed the kids in the cave and closed it.

I came back to the camp to perform the hardest task, I refocused my breathing, rechecked myself and made my way to leader's tent with my sharingan open. If I am lucky, I don't need to even enter the tent, I just need to see the keys to remember their shapes forever.

It didn't seem like I am lucky, I couldn't see anything like keys, so I slowly stepped inside the tent and saw the keys strapped on his waist.

'Quite careless if you ask me.'

But my goal was achieved and I made my way back to Ivy's tent. Ivy instantly brightened up as she saw me. But my face stiffened at what my nose told me.

The leader, Lore and axe man were beginning to surround us and the last one was going to call on his mates from their tents.

'Oh damn.'

(A/N: I seriously don't know how to feel after having first kill, so I just wrote whatever I thought Kakashi would have felt.

He isn't weak minded to think that he would never have to kill, but still seeing a life slipping away due to him is something he rather not wanted. This is the type of picture I wanted to portray.)