72 Chapter – 72: Mission - Part 2&3 (2 chaps in 1)
As promised here is a double release. Just because I am lazy to come up with a stopping point, I merged the two chapters. Hope you don't mind... :)
Anyway, thanks for all the wishes yesterday.. I really appreciate them...
- Silver
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[Rei POV]
'Since when did bandits turn so smart? More importantly, if the bandits already knew that Konoha shinobi are coming to kill them, why didn't they just escape? instead, they choose to stay and even kidnapped the villagers… as if, they only want to delay us… mmm… from where did a bunch of non-shinobi like them get the confidence to face us?' I think with a frown, 'Just as I suspected… something is definitely wrong here… I have to be careful… also, it's a good time to see how Inoichi deals with it… don't disappoint me sensei…'
A few hours later, we reach the so-called Satagawa village. The village is not big, only a few hundred houses and there are no shinobi living here; only a bunch of farmers who make a living with hard labor. As this is a place that traders often visit, there are also a couple of inns, shops, etc., to rest and resupply.
As soon as we enter the village, we notice the gloomy atmosphere; each and everyone we saw till now was wearing serious looks without the slightest hint of a smile. Looking at my teammates, 'They should be assuming that losing a source of income caused all this, right?'
After a few minutes of walking, we reach the village head's house. According to Inoichi, the first thing to do after accepting a mission is to get first-hand details about the mission from the client as many minor details could have not made it into the official report. However, to our surprise, we couldn't meet him at all!
…
"Sensei, why did you ask to stay here, we could have returned to Konoha if there is no mission, right?" asks Yuri.
Currently, we are sitting inside the room of an inn. Some time ago, when we reached the village head's house, we didn't get a chance to meet the client; forget meeting him, we didn't even get a chance to enter his house. We were sent away from his door saying that the village head slipped and fell from the stairs yesterday and hence, he is not able to meet with us and also that the robberies have stopped recently as the bandits seem to have run away fearing for their lives. Without bandits, of course, there is no mission to complete and hence, they seem to have canceled it. They even agreed to pay us the commission for doing literally nothing!
"You are wrong, Yuri!" I say, "You are wrong because there is still a mission! right sensei?"
"Correct!" nods Inoichi.
"WHAT?" shouts Kazuma, "But… but… didn't they say that the mission is canceled now?"
"Obviously the villagers are scared of something or rather, someone… I think they told us that they have canceled the mission because they are being threatened to do so…"
"But how did you find that out?" asks Yuri which causes all my teammates to turn towards me; even Inoichi seems to be curious to know the answer to that question.
"Before I answer that, what did you guys see when we entered the village?" I ask instead.
"Well, the villagers all seemed sad and anxious… oh, and the village itself felt gloomy too…"
I facepalm and say, "Come on, we are not here to sightsee you know… you only saw that they were sad, but didn't see the new doors in their houses? what kind of sad person renovates their house? Also, I have already checked, there were no storms here recently, and honestly, if it was a storm then why was only the door broken… also, they seemed to be in a hurry to send us back… that's why I think someone broke in and beat them up, or at least threatened them… if that's true then, the village head's injury should also be not some kind of accident…"
"Very good!" praises Inoichi with a smile, "You are absolutely correct, but you missed just one small detail. The bandits have not just beaten these people up or threatened them, but they have also kidnapped some… That is why when they asked us to leave, I said we are tired and enquired about a place to rest… because, if we leave, then the bandits have no reason to keep those hostages alive anymore!"
"But without being a sensor like me, that is not something you can guess... you are already very good to notice these small details on your first mission…"
"Thanks, sensei," I smile.
Next, he turns to my teammates saying, "You two should also learn to recognize details like this when out on a mission…"
"Hai-sensei" X 2
"Sensei, what should we do now?" I ask.
"I want to save those people, but that will make the mission riskier than what we had initially anticipated; even its rank might rise to a top C Rank one… do you guys still want to do it?" he asks.
"YES!" was the unanimous answer from all of us.
"I am truly proud of all of you, you guys are already showing the bearings of a true Konoha shinobi!" he says causing all three of us to grin, "Okay, now onto more important matters. First, we have to find where they are keeping thee kidnapped villagers… but we have to be careful because we are being watched…"
'I have to be careful around a sensor ninja too…' I make a mental note, but start listening to Inoichi with rapt attention.
…
Back to the clone.
A few hours ago, after the middle-aged man left the village after threatening them, he beelined straight to their base with my clone right behind them. I was really curious to find out why they were so confident to face us; a team with three genins and a jonin!
After close to an hour of travel, they reached a cave that had two glowing torches at the front illuminating the surroundings. There were also some bandit guards patrolling the area as well. However, a genjutsu was enough to slip past them and I didn't even need to activate Tsukiyomi as these were normal people and not shinobi so, just a normal Sharingan genjutsu was more than enough…
After entering the place, I used transformation jutsu to change my appearance to look like one of them and then hid my chakra and started to wait for the main event.
Currently, the bandit captain and the vice-captain are in a meeting with a masked man. Looking at the way both the bandit captain and the vice-captain are nervously sitting at the edge of their seats, my guess is that whatever the bandits are relying on to face us has something to do with this meeting. Sadly, with the common bandit disguise I have made, it is not possible to get close to them and eavesdrop. However, I don't need to get close, with my sharingan and the A.I chip's interpreting abilities, I can lip read the contents of their conversation! The only problem is the masked one…
Suddenly, I could hear the bandit captain ask with excitement, "Really?" to which the masked man just nods and hands over a small black briefcase to them. After telling them some details which I expect should be warnings from the seriousness of the two bandits' faces, he gets up and leaves.
"Captain, why don't we escape? it's not too late yet…" says the vice-captain.
"We owe it to him… without him, we would have died without even knowing why… also, if we double-cross him, the consequences will be a hundred, no a thousand times worse than death!" the captain shudders thinking about something, and then shouts with rage, "Those damnable fools… I will slaughter them after this is done…"
"Speaking of it, captain do you really believe him? he says as long as we inject this… this… medicine… into our bodies we will immediately gain enormous strength and be able to easily defeat them?" asks the vice-captain uneasily.
"Yes, I believe him… I believe him completely and you should believe him too… You take the medium-grade one which will allow you to fight with a chunin level shinobi and I will take the high-grade one… the only problem is we have to finish the fight in an hour… after that, our debt will be repaid and we will be free to leave this place and go somewhere far far away…"
…
'So, that's the reason… but, facing off against a chunin and most probably a jonin with our strength? I guess this will be a bitter battle…' I think while sitting inside the room waiting for sensei to come back. But suddenly, I think of something else and I break into a sly grin, 'However, isn't this also the perfect opportunity for a Nakama-powerup?'
While I am busy cooking up schemes, my teammates arrive one after the other after completing their tasks. Nothing important actually, we were only told to gather as much intel about the bandits as possible without letting them find out about it, whereas sensei is out looking for their base. Although Inoichi is not the best tracker in the world, he is still an experienced jonin and when you have been practicing the craft for long, you will pick up some tricks along the way. So, finding their base is nothing to write home about.
An hour later, Inoichi comes back with the news that he was able to track them down and locate the bandits' hideout; obviously, the same cave that the clone was in a couple of hours ago.
"I did locate their hideout and the intel is right… there were no shinobi inside… including the captain and vice-captain, all of the bandits are civilians…" says Inoichi lifting a huge burden off of our shoulders, "However, even if they are normal people, you guys should never let your guard down…"
"Understood" X3
Similar to the clone, it takes us about an hour to reach the place and once there, Inoichi starts explaining our roles in the upcoming fight, "Remember, if you face a stronger enemy, never fight alone… you guys are a team and always keep in mind, when people work together, they can display a far greater power…"
"Also," he looks at all three of us with a serious expression, "Since none of you have actually killed before, let me give you a piece of advice… the first kill will always be the toughest and it will haunt your dreams for a long time… but after that, you will start getting used to it! This is where you have to be very careful, getting used to that god-awful feeling is one thing, but if you start liking it then you are heading down the path of becoming an emotionless killer or worse, a psychopath… Also, this is a bandit extermination mission, hence, there will be no mercy! All the bandits have to die! I will help you to get through your first kill… but after that, you will be on your own… is that clear?"
"Hai!" X3
At the mention of killing someone, blood drains from Yuri and Kazuma's faces, while I am still listening to Inoichi with great attention causing the latter to nod in appreciation.
As he said, he captures a few bandits who were out on patrol and calls us to finish the deed. As expected, both Yuri and Kazuma stand there frozen as if Inoichi is asking them to jump off a cliff. Whatever… With a kunai in hand, I start to walk toward one of the bandits who is now looking at me with a begging expression. My hand trembles uncontrollably for a second but I control myself and with resolve, I plunge the kunai into his chest with all my strength, until only the hilt is left outside and without even sparing a glance at his dying expression, I run towards a nearby tree and start vomiting…
'Although just a clone, it does work exactly like the original… and with the A.I chip I can control it with such precision that I can even vomit whenever I want!' I exclaim internally while continuing to empty my stomach.
Similar events occurred with my other teammates too; might be slightly worse than me… ok, sorry, they seem to be in pretty bad shape…
Close to half an hour later, although still pale, all three of us calm down. "Okay, we will rest for another fifteen minutes and then we will start with the mission. Although I want to give you guys enough time to process it, sadly the people who are being held inside can't wait…"
"I am okay sensei… let's start once ready…" I say.
