Wandering Samurai, First Battle

Northwest of the Land of Fire.

This place is close to the Land of Rivers, the Land of Rain, and Kikyo Mountain. It is a very chaotic area, but at the same time, it is an important trade route to several countries in the northwest.

Because of this, the place is very prosperous.

"So this is Shirokumo Town?"

Asuma looks around curiously at the unfamiliar town.

"Yes, I came here a few months ago. At that time, a group of Sunagakure shinobi attacked this place, but we drove them back."

Kyōichi nodded.

After the war ended, this place started to gradually recover, and many trade routes began to rebuild.

However.

Because it is close to the Land of Rain and Land of Rivers, bandits and wandering shinobi often appear. Before, there were Konoha shinobi forces to deter them, so there was no need to worry.

But now the troops have withdrawn, and there are no shinobi stationed around, only a few patrolling the borders. These bandits have started to cause trouble and loot again, forcing the mayor to issue missions.

Kyōichi leans against a wall and secretly used chakra sensing.

"Found them!"

Sure enough, there is a group of wandering samurai turned bandits in the direction of the Land of Rivers. And these wandering samurai are very bold, attacking this place several times but still lingering around.

It looks like they are looting again.

"Sensei, what should we do now?"

Kurenai looked around.

Many people are repairing the streets around them. The damaged roads are also slowly being fixed. After a month, most places have already been repaired.

She sensed around, there are no enemies at the moment, and doesn't know what to do.

"Don't rush, look around and scout the terrain first," Kyōichi says.

If this was just his personal mission, he would have just rushed in and took care of it easily. But leading a team...

He looked at the three kids.

After thinking for a bit, Kyōichi said, "For C-rank missions and above, there may be battles. You need to be prepared to fight and kill enemies at all times. Also, if I let you take command, what would you do?"

"First observe the terrain, set traps, and prepare defenses," Asuma answered without hesitation.

This is from the textbooks.

No problems so far, but...

"Which direction would you set the traps?"

"This?"

Asuma hesitated, unable to come up with an answer immediately.

This is due to inexperience.

After some thought, Shisui says, "West side. The Land of Rivers has no shinobi village. Many wandering samurai and shinobi gather there and often form bandit groups. Patrols usually focus on this direction."

"Good point. They taught you a lot of things in the police force, huh."

Kyōichi is impressed.

The Uchiha are arrogant, but they are quite capable. It's a pity there are too many hawks in the clan, especially after the Nine Tails incident, even Fugaku found it hard to restrain them.

He looked at the three of them and says, "You go west to scout and set traps. If you encounter enemies, judge for yourself whether to engage. Remember what I taught you, there shouldn't be major issues."

"Yes!"

The three headed out on their orders.

Kyōichi secretly followed them, while making a shadow clone that goes to where people are building walls and roads to help rebuild Shirokumo Town. After driving away the bandits, that's not enough.

A shinobi's job is not that easy.

Shisui's team slowly scouted while surveying. Kyōichi took out a book and started reading.

Cell Theory.

He borrowed this from the Third Hokage to read during his free time. With the "Medical Fundamentals" system reward, this book is not too difficult to digest.

Lately he has made some progress on his Breathing Technique - the skin actually had some breathing capability, but the oxygen absorption is extremely low, insufficient to meet the needs.

But what if cell activity is enhanced?

With increased activity, can skin breathing, absorption efficiency and overall activation intensity be improved?

Experiments show it is feasible.

The higher the level of the Seven Days Breathing Method, the stronger the skin breathing effect.

Although he has not reached Fourth Level activation yet, he felt he is on the right track. Additionally, exploring the lower limit - first activating skin activity, then slowly activating blood and muscle.

This way, a budget version of activation technique may be possible!

In theory, that is.

But in practice, it's not so simple. There are issues with incomplete activation coverage. Hence Kyōichi is currently researching and honing it.

Of course.

Further research into cells will also benefit Hashirama Cells, Sage Arts, and Medical Ninjutsu in the future.

An all-round winner!

After a long time, Kyōichi put down the book and looked in Kurenai's direction.

"Found them?"

The enemies are still 2-3 km away from Kurenai, but she just signaled with hand signs, kunai and shuriken in hand.

Kyōichi isn't too worried.

Over the past ten days or so, Kurenai's Body Flicker Technique has become very proficient. Asuma has mastered Vacuum Blade. Although Shisui has received the least guidance, his Kenjutsu and shunshin have improved greatly.

The three of them are strong enough. It just remains to be seen if killing for the first time will be an issue.

Kyōichi is following in person partly to prevent accidents.

The three regroup and close in on the wandering samurai bandits. They seem to have spotted the enemy.

3 km...

"Might consider teaching her chakra sensing later. Wonder if she can learn it."

Chakra sensing is slightly different from Kurenai's perception.

Kurenai's perception stems from her strong mental power developed through Genjutsu training since young. So her perception is more precise in a small area, while chakra sensing has greater range but slightly less precision in a small area.

Each has advantages and disadvantages.

The two sides draw closer and closer. The wandering samurai bandits come into view, bloodstained and carrying bags at their waists, having clearly looted and possibly killed.

Shisui's team hides in the woods with traps ready. After a while...

Explosions sound.

"Wasteful!"

Kyōichi sighed.

These few Explosive Tags are more expensive than the reward for a C-rank mission. Only these second generation shinobi have so much money to spare. Normal civilian genin can't afford this.

But for their first time, it's understandable.

"Careful, it's shinobi!"

After the chaos, Shisui's team made their move.

Old tactics.

Fireball Jutsu, Dynamic Entry.

Flames swrpt the area, throwing the already chaotic samurai into further disarray. Kurenai seized the timing and threw shuriken, instantly taking 2-3 lives.

Blood and gore spray everywhere, with the stench of burning.

The scene is impressive.

"Go!"

Asuma reacted ahead of time, biting his teeth and weaving signs to exhale Wind Release chakra onto his kunai.

Vacuum Blade!

Then gripping the kunai, he charges first into the fray.

"I'll use Genjutsu for cover!"

Kurenai's emotions fluctuate, but she quickly calms down again, landing and weaving signs.

"They're just kids, kill them!"

Seeing they are just children, the wandering samurai felt bolstered again.

But the next moment, Shisui gets the drop on them, arriving at the battlefield even faster than Asuma.

Clone Technique, Transformation Technique.

Then Shisui blends into the enemy formation, constantly assassinating with Body Flicker and Kenjutsu.

"Fall back, cluster together, or you'll all die!"

The enemies adjust their positions, backing against each other and clustering, drawing their katana.

Kurenai's Genjutsu activates.

At the same time, Asuma moves in close. His kunai directly slashes across a vital spot, piercing the heart with the power of Vacuum Blade. Blood sprays over his face.

The next moment, 3-4 blades slash at him.

No fancy moves, just striking vitals. Asuma freezes up for a moment.

"Asuma!"

Kurenai hurriedly throws shuriken.

Shisui makes his move, killing towards one enemy.

But.

These wandering samurai don't care about saving their comrades at all. Determined to injure themselves and let their teammates die, they remain fixated on hacking Asuma to death, surging with killing intent.

A do-or-die momentum!

This is a battlefield.

The enemies' katana techniques lack finesse, simply being fast, accurate, and ruthless - trading injury for injury!

Asuma loses his bearings.

Just as he is about to be slashed...

Boom!

Sword light flashes, slashing towards the katana hacking at Asuma, breaking them all in two.

The next moment, blood sprays.