28. Missing Nins

While the group is passing through a mountain road, Zoro suddenly senses a lot of people hiding near the road. They hide behind rocks and trees, so Zoro assumes they are trying to ambush the group.

"Stop the carriages."

Zoro tells another mercenary that walks near him to stop the carriages.

"What?"

"Tell them to stop the carriages. We have companies."

"Huh? But I don't see anyone."

The idiot mercenary still doesn't do what Zoro asks for. So Zoro sends a flying slash to one of the big boulders, destroying it and exposing 2 people who hide behind it.

"O-okay, I'll tell them to stop."

Of course, he doesn't need to do that anymore because the destruction of the big boulder has already made everyone think that they are being attacked. So they stop and the merchants quickly hide inside their carriages while the mercenaries get ready to fight.

"Everybody stays close to the carriages! I will handle them alone. Take care of the ones who slipped through me."

Zoro gives an order while walking forward and unsheathes 2 swords. As the highest ranking mercenary here, he has been appointed as the leader. So he can give orders to the other mercenaries.

"Kekeke! Want to fight us alone, he says."

The bandits are coming out of their hiding because there's no use to hide anymore. They don't seem afraid of Zoro even though he has shown a skill that normal mercenaries will never have.

Zoro knows clearly the reason for their bravery and confidence. It's because there are 3 bandits who have quite high amounts of chakra. He thinks that they are most likely rogue shinobis, and maybe are pretty high level ones.

"26 in total. 3 are most likely shinobis, the other 23 are just normal bandits. But 4 of them are still hiding."

Zoro is counting the bandits. There are 26 of them, but only 22 show up. 4 are still hiding, so he assumes they have long range weapons like bows.

He doesn't want to take any risk, so he shoots flying slashes to the hiding bandits. The trees and bushes they use to hide get cut easily and they also get hit. Surprisingly, their wounds aren't that deep, but now they can't use the crossbows that also broke.

Zoro's sudden attacks on the hiding bandits surprise the other bandits. They now understand that he wasn't relying on luck when he found them before. He really can sense their presence.

"That grass hair, didn't he say 3 shinobis? Can he sense our chakra then?"

"It's not strange considering how he can find us. Maybe he is actually a sensor type shinobi."

"Damn! Isn't this bad then?"

"Hmph? Don't be a coward! We are 3 and he is alone. Even if he is strong, fighting all 3 of us will be difficult."

"Right. Let's send these idiots to test him."

The 3 shinobi bandits order their men to attack Zoro. The normal bandits seem reluctant, but they can't do anything about it because they'll be killed if they don't obey those 3.

So they rush toward Zoro who keeps walking calmly towards them. The bandits are equipped with worn out weapons like blades, knives, kunais, and even wooden bats with nails. They attack together, but Zoro beat them up easily.

Strangely, none of the bandits received cut wounds even though Zoro's swords slashed them nicely. They only feel like they were hit by blunt weapons instead of sharp swords, but their clothes are being cut cleanly while their skins are just bruised.

It's because Zoro has mastered his swords well, becoming 'one' with them. His swords will only cut what he wants to cut. They won't even cut a thin piece of paper if he doesn't want to

He didn't intend to cut the bandits, so his sharp swords don't cut their skins. Even so, the hits were very powerful, enough to knock the bandits out instantly even if their bodies weren't cut.

"Now, only the 3 of you are left. Don't even think of running away because you can't."

Zoro runs toward the remaining 3 bandits and as he thinks, they are shinobis. They form some hand seals and then slam their hands onto the ground.

"Earth Release: Tearing Earth Turning Palm!"

The ground around Zoro suddenly ruptures, breaking apart. He almost gets buried by the broken earth, but he manages to jump on the big earth chunks and escapes.

"Earth style? All of them? Then they might be from Iwa."

Zoro keeps running towards the 3 shinobis through the uneven terrain caused by their jutsu. The 3 ninjas are panicking because Zoro is very close already. So they do another set of hand seals.

"Earth Release: Moving Earth Technique!"

"Earth Release: Bullet Rock Technique!"

One of them creates a rather deep pit below Zoro, making him fall while the other 2 create huge rocks in the air and throw them at the trapped Zoro.

But then, the 2 huge rocks are cut to pieces and crumble as Zoro jumps out of the pit. He lands on the ground while grinning as he looks at the 3 panic ninjas who are making hand seals again.

"As if I'll let you."

Zoro raises his swords to the sides as he charges toward the ninjas.

"Nitoryu: Takanami!" (2 sword-style: Hawk Wave!)

He passes them while swinging his swords, creating a powerful gust of wing that knocks the ninjas off the ground. But it hasn't defeated them yet because he only used enough strength to stop them from finishing their jutsu.

So he turns around and finishes them off before they can make other jutsu. He slashes their bodies, but doesn't kill them immediately. There are a few things he wants to ask them, so he cuts their arm and leg muscles to prevent them from escaping.

"Hmm, let's see."

Zoro is flipping a small book he takes out of his pocket. It's a bounty book filled with people who have prices on their heads.

"Oh, all 3 of you are wanted by Iwa. Defecting from the war and even leaked some information to the enemies, huh? Hmm, your heads aren't priced much because you are still chuunins."

Zoro is actually quite impressed by them because they've been wanted for more than a year now but haven't been caught. And they actually hide in the Land of Earth, not escaping to other countries.

"Well, this place is close to the Land of Iron, so maybe it's safer for them here. But nevermind that. You 3, where is your hideout?"

The reason Zoro doesn't kill them yet is because he wants to know their hideout. They must've had quite a lot of wealth after operating here for a rather long time. But surprisingly, they aren't willing to answer.

"Heh, for guys who betrayed their country, you sure are being tight-lipped. Well, I only need one person to answer."

Without any hesitation, Zoro kills one of them while looking at the other 2. They still close their mouths, so he kills another one.

"You know, screw it. Your subordinates are still alive. I'm sure they will tell me easily."

After saying that, he kills the last shinobi bandit. Then just as he said, the normal bandits easily tell him their hideout location to avoid being killed.

Zoro takes a few mercenaries to the hideout after they chain the bandits. Surprisingly, the hideout is not too far from the road. It's a cave that the 3 ninjas made using their Earth Style jutsu. There are some bandits left to guard this place, but Zoro subdue them easily.

Unfortunately, there aren't that many valuables inside the cave. Most of the items here are food, drinks, and other daily necessities. The bandits say that they have used most of their valuables to buy food and drinks.

They are criminals, so they can't buy stuff through normal means. They can only buy things illegally, but the prices are significantly higher. That's why they don't have much money.

Other than items, there are some women too. It's obvious what these bandits did to these women. The mercenaries want to help these women, but it seems they have very deep trauma because they look very scared when men get closer to them.

"Get some women from the merchant group and bring some clothes. We'll get them out of here."

Zoro orders a mercenary who nods and quickly does his order. Checking bandits' hideout after defeating them is actually encouraged by the officials because there are many cases like this.

They can get rewards by saving captives. Even if there's no captive, they can find valuable items that sometimes are wanted by their real owners or others. That's why Zoro and the mercenaries are checking this hideout.

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Chapter 48. Raikage's Power

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