Fight

Kosuke was shocked to discover that the bandit was actually a ninja. He thought, "That crazy old man sent us to attack a ninja, what's going on in that bastard's head?" as he watched the ninja draw a kunai and approach Kimimaro.

Although that guy doesn't look very powerful, he's still a ninja." reflected Kosuke seeing the small cut left on the bandit's neck by Kimimaro's attack.

Kosuke didn't have time to think any further. He ran to help Kimimaro.

...

"Curse it, where did these kids come from?" Thought Hakari, seeing his group being attacked by a few children.

"They must be from Kirigakure ninja academy, or from some ninja clan." he thought. "I shouldn't have settled so close to a ninja village"

"There's no time for regret now, damn it they shouldn't be alone" cursed Hakari, seeing one of his men fall dead by a kunai that came from the forest.

"I have to get out of here," he thought, terrified.

He was moving stealthily trying not to draw attention when a young man with white hair jumped at him and attacked him by surprise.

"Shit," thought Hakari, "they found me." He made the hand seals of the substitution jutsu with agility and exchanged places with a tree trunk.

But Hakari was still a little slow. He suffered a small wound to the neck, he narrowly escaped death.

"Damn it! Who is that kid?" Thought Hakari, furious. "If I had delayed a little longer, I would be dead."

...

Kosuke advanced on Ninja, he and Kimimaro soon engaged in a taijutsu fight with the ninja.

Hakari nimbly dodged Kimimaro's attacks, but he wasn't fast enough to avoid Kosuke's accurate blow, which made him stagger backwards. Hakari tried a counterattack, launching a strong kick at Kimimaro, but the young shinobi blocked it easily, crossing his arms.

Seeing the opportunity, Kosuke delivered a devastating kick to Hakari's ribs, he staggered backwards, but recovered quickly.

He opened his cloak and released a shower of shurikens at Kosuke, who was surprised by the enemy's technique. Kosuke used his agility to dodge the blades, but some of them ripped his clothes and scratched his skin.

Kimimaro arrived with speed from behind the bandit and stabbed him in the back with a kunai. Hakari fell to the ground, injured. Kimimaro was going to continue with the attack, but Hakari used substitution jutsu again.

Hakari reappeared a few meters ahead, panting and injured. He looked at his wound to the ribs and thought: "Uff…uff…these kids are too strong, I don't stand a chance against them. I need to get out of here." He quickly made some hand seals and created two identical clones of himself. They ran towards Kosuke and Kimimaro, trying to distract them, while he turned and ran away.

Kimimaro was surprised to see Hakari create two clones. "Shadow clones?" He exclaimed, thinking that the enemy had used an advanced jutsu.

"Don't worry," said Kosuke. "They're just weak illusions. He's trying to buy time."

Kimimaro confirmed Kosuke's suspicion by throwing some shurikens at the clones, which did not react to the attacks.

"You're right," said Kimimaro. "Let's finish this."

Kosuke and Kimimaro did not waste time and ran after Hakari, who was fleeing desperately. The bandit did not have much resistance, and was soon caught up by the two young shinobi.

"You're not going to escape," said Kosuke. "You're finished." He spoke firmly, but let Kimimaro attack first, as a precaution.

Hakari stopped running and turned to face the two. He knew he was in a desperate situation, but he wasn't going to give up without a fight.

He drew a kunai and threw it at Kimimaro, who dodged it with an agile movement of his body. But Hakari had prepared a trap, the kunai was tied with an explosive paper, which detonated just behind Kimimaro, throwing him away with the force of the explosion.

Kimimaro rolled for a few meters before getting up, stunned, but not seriously injured. The explosion had not been as strong as a normal explosive paper would have been. Hakari had used an old paper explosive that had lost some of its power.

"That's what happens when you use expired items." Thought Hakari, seeing the boy get up. He had stolen that paper explosive from his old village when he was still a ninja. He had been expelled for stealing materials and selling them on the black market. He had never had talent, but he always had ambition. And this time, he had bitten off more than he could chew.

Kosuke was relieved that he had not attacked first, he remembered never to underestimate a ninja, even if he looks weak. "I hope that was his only explosive paper" thought Kosuke, advancing towards the ninja.

Kimimaro also recovered and ran to help Kosuke. He punched Hakari in the stomach, who defended himself with his arms, but could not avoid Kosuke's cut, who attacked at the same time as Kimimaro, opening a deep wound in his abdomen. Hakari let out a groan of pain and tried to make the hand seals to use the substitution jutsu again, but it was too late. Kosuke and Kimimaro did not give him time to react and attacked again. Kosuke stabbed his kunai in Hakari's chest, hitting his heart, and Kimimaro widened the cut in his abdomen, making him bleed even more.

Hakari fell to the ground, dead. He had no time to regret his choices. He had not been a talented ninja, so he had let himself be carried away by greed. He had betrayed his village and become a bandit. And now, he had been killed by two children. He died with a look of hatred and envy in his eyes.

Kosuke looked at the bandit's body lying on the ground, with a mixture of shock and relief. He had just killed a person, but he did not feel bad as he thought he would feel. Maybe the adrenaline of battle still dominated him, or maybe he simply did not care about the life of a bandit.

He was tired and injured, and he wanted to rest a little, when he heard the voice of the elder ring through the forest.

"Everyone, the fights are over, come here"

Kosuke and Kimimaro obeyed and walked towards the center of the camp, dragging the bandit's body with them. They knew that the elder would want to recover the bodies of the enemies, to prevent them from being found by other ninjas.

The fights of the others with the bandits were already over. The elder seemed to want to hurry things up and had quickly killed the bandits with kunais and shurikens. Kosuke noticed that most of the bandits' bodies were full of kunai and shuriken wounds, mainly in the chest and throat.

When all the young people gathered in front of the elder, he praised them.

"You did well, some of you managed to kill a bandit, you showed that you have the same spirit of the clan for battle. Now I have more work for you. Gather the bodies of the bandits you killed, and search the tents that have not yet been dismantled and the carriages, and bring everything you find."

Kimimaro and Kosuke dragged the bandit's body to Makoto, who gave them a look of approval.

Kosuke was thinking about asking the elder why he had sent them to face a ninja, because he knew that there was no way the elder could have not noticed that that bandit was a ninja, but he decided to let it go, if he wanted to have access to the clan's jutsu library, he would need the elder's approval, so it was better not to question his orders, and run the risk of him denying his request later.

The children gathered the bodies of the bandits in the center of the camp and turned over the carriages and tents. They found several chests in the carriages, which seemed to contain valuables.

When they were finishing moving everything.

Itsuki came out of one of the tents of the bandits' camp, dragging two people by the arms. They were a man and a woman who appeared to be a couple of merchants, but who were now in a pitiful state. They had several scratches and bruises all over their bodies, and their clothes were torn and stained with blood.

They had expressions of fear and despair on their faces. The man was tall and bulky, with a scruffy beard and oily hair. The woman wore a blue silk dress, which used to be elegant and refined, but now was stained and torn. She had a pearl necklace around her neck, which was the only thing that still shone in her appearance.

Itsuki brought the two in front of the elder and asked.

"Elder, I found these two in a tent tied up, what do we do with them?"

The man and the woman looked at the elder with a scared look but soon felt relieved when they saw his ninja headband.

"Sir, thank you very much for saving us, you are ninjas from Kirigakure?" Asked the man.

Makoto looked at the two with an indifferent expression.

"Were you part of the merchants who were robbed?" He asked, ignoring the merchant's question.

"Yes, yes, we were," replied the woman, in a trembling voice. "We came from a distant village to trade our goods in Kirigakure, but on the way we were surprised by these bandits, who attacked us. They took us hostage and took everything we had, we were seven in total, me, my husband and five employees, but they killed the employees in front of us. We had no way to defend ourselves, because we did not hire any ninja to protect us," she said, casting a look of reproach at her husband, who lowered his head. He knew he had been responsible for their misfortune, for having been stingy and negligent.

"What were you carrying?" Asked the elder, ignoring the merchants' lament.

"We were carrying jewels and silk, sir.", replied the man, in a hesitant voice. "Very valuable things, that could earn us a good fortune in Kirigakure. Sir, please, help us to transport our goods, we will pay you…"

"That's enough." said Makoto, with a cold and cutting voice.

He was already tired of hearing what they had to say, he only listened to them until he confirmed that they had no one else with them who could escape and betray them, he pulled out a kunai and slit their throats with a quick and precise gesture.

The two put their hands to their necks and looked at the elder with a look of horror and disbelief, which did not show any emotion. They soon began to stagger and fell to the ground, forming a pool of blood.