"Alright, let's rest here for now and set off in an hour." Aoki Yoru said, looking at Kenta, who was panting heavily.
As soon as the words fell, Kenta let out a sigh of relief and hurriedly found a clean spot to sit down and catch his breath.
He needed to recover to his best state quickly. The upcoming mission wouldn't be easy, and he wasn't naive enough to think there were no experts among the samurai who would just let a Ninja handle them.
Even Yui hurriedly sat down to adjust, taking a Military Ration Pill from her bag to recover Chakra. Along the way, just keeping up with the speed of Kakashi and Aoki Yoru had already been exhausting for her.
The hour of rest passed in the blink of an eye, and the three of them set off again after recovering their strength.
Thanks to Aoki's sensory abilities, they avoided various hidden sentries along the way and sneaked up to the vicinity of the bandit stronghold.
Aoki Yoru closed his eyes to begin scouting the enemy's situation, opening them after a moment.
"No Chakra signatures; they're all ordinary people. We're in luck. For some reason, most of the bandits are gathered in the main hall, saving us the trouble of chasing them down if they scattered."
"Yui, guard the main gate and don't let any bandits escape. Kenta and I will go in. Remember, you must ensure they are dead; don't be soft-hearted, otherwise, it's very easy to suffer an unexpected defeat."
Aoki Yoru formed hand seals, creating a Water Clone that crept toward the main hall, while he and Kenta followed closely behind.
Although he knew there were no Ninja inside, who knew what traps might be there? Not to mention poisonous items, just a few explosive tag traps would be enough to cause him trouble.
Using a clone to scout for traps was a strict rule Aoki Yoru had set for himself at the age of six. He feared that once he became powerful, he would grow arrogant and complacent, and one day step on an explosive tag trap and be blown to smithereens on the spot.
Wasn't Senju Nawaki killed by such a ridiculous method?
At this moment, in the main hall of the stronghold, the bandits were gathered, drinking until their faces were flushed red, shouting and carousing.
"Boss, this fat sheep was truly fat! This haul will keep the brothers fed for half a year. If you hadn't received the intelligence, we really would have been fooled. Damn it, they actually used coarse grains as a disguise; we were almost tricked." The bearded second-in-command stood up drunkenly to toast the boss.
The boss, Tie Ya, who was sitting at the main table, raised his cup and downed it in one gulp, then slammed the bowl onto the table.
"That goes without saying. I have someone behind me, a backer; my influence is not something you can imagine! As long as you serve me loyally, you'll have plenty to eat and drink, and wealth and honor will be yours!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the bandits cheered instantly! They slammed tables and threw bowls, wildly professing their loyalty.
Listening to the flattery below, the boss showed a look of satisfaction on his face, raised his cup, and took a large gulp.
Swish, swish, swish...
Two Kunai burst through the window, shooting straight at the two leaders at the head of the hall.
Relying on his seasoned skills, Tie Ya flipped the table in front of him to block the Kunai, but when he glanced at the second-in-command beside him, his expression changed drastically.
He saw the second-in-command's eyes bulging, a Kunai stuck in his throat, his mouth making a wheezing, leaking sound before he collapsed.
At this moment, Aoki Yoru burst through the window. In an instant, a flash of cold light passed; the bandits near him felt a chill at their necks, and blood sprayed out as they fell one after another.
"Everyone attack together! Kill him! Don't be afraid, he's just one person!" Tie Ya roared fiercely.
Although he had thought that robbing on the Konoha trade route would attract a crackdown, he hadn't expected it to come so quickly.
Watching his subordinates in the hall unable to withstand a single blow, falling one after another without even touching the corner of the attacker's clothes.
Tie Ya showed a ferocious expression and pressed the switch behind him.
At this moment, Aoki Yoru, who was killing with gusto, instinctively sensed danger. He looked up and saw dense swarms of Senbon raining down from above.
What made his eyelids twitch was that some of the Senbon were tied with explosive tags, which were sizzling and burning.
Boom!!! A violent explosion swept through the hall, and flames instantly engulfed the entire room.
"Ah..." Countless screams rose and fell.
"Hahaha, you're dead, aren't you? I knew Ninja would come. Fortunately, Lord gave me this ultimate life-saving weapon." Tie Ya walked out from a secret door, looking at the fire in the hall, the scar on his face twisting ferociously in the firelight.
Suddenly, his smile came to an abrupt halt, his pupils contracted, and a blade tip pierced through his chest, droplets of blood dripping along the edge of the blade.
Tie Ya struggled to look up at the hall. As the fire died down, the scene in the hall was revealed: the center of the explosion was filled with corpses, but the person dressed as a Ninja was not among them; instead, a puddle of water appeared on the ground.
"As expected, one must be cautious. If I hadn't used a Water Clone to scout the path this time, it would have been dangerous. You wouldn't be capable of creating a trap of this level, would you?" Aoki Yoru said from behind Tie Ya.
Not expecting a reply, Aoki Yoru twisted the hilt and slowly pulled the blade out. Watching Tie Ya slowly collapse, although it was his first time killing someone, he felt no discomfort at all.
He turned to look at the hall.
The bandits who had been lucky enough not to be killed by the explosion on the periphery were being finished off one by one by Kenta.
Ensuring there were no survivors, the two walked out together. Seeing a few corpses lying on the ground at the entrance of the stronghold, it seemed they had been lucky enough not to be in the main hall, but were finished off by Yui when they tried to escape upon hearing the explosion.
"It seems they've all been dealt with. Let's go to the warehouse and see if there's anything good, but be careful of any fish that slipped through the net; don't suffer an unexpected defeat."
Kenta and Yui nodded and followed Aoki Yoru toward the warehouse. He had already scouted the location of the warehouse, which was piled full of items.
Pushing open the door, a wave of damp, musty odor mixed with the smell of rust rushed towards them, and a room full of treasure came into view.
The eyes of the three widened instantly, and even their breathing became a bit ragged. Even Aoki Yoru, who considered himself well-traveled having lived two lifetimes, was shocked.
The mountain of supplies included Kunai, shuriken, blades, various common medicinal herbs, food, and so on. There were also 5 chests placed against the wall.
Aoki Yoru walked over and opened one of the chests; it was filled with paper money.
"How much is all this worth? If I had this much money, I could retire and open a barbecue restaurant for my family." Kenta was stuttering a bit, having never seen so much money before. Opening a shop was his simple wish.
"It must have been recently robbed; the banquet earlier was probably a celebration of their success." Aoki Yoru picked up a stack of money and weighed it in his hand.
"We'll ask Kakashi-sensei about the customs regarding spoils of war later. He probably won't make us turn it all in."
Suddenly, an explosion sounded in the distance. Aoki Yoru hurried outside. In the distance, lightning flashed; two streaks of lightning were colliding rapidly and intensely.
He closed his eyes to sense the situation, his expression turning solemn. He immediately turned to warn the two, "It's Kakashi-sensei fighting the enemy. Be careful, there are enemies coming. Judging by the Chakra signatures, they are two Chunin. Prepare for battle..."
Kenta and Yui immediately took out their Kunai and struck a battle stance, carefully observing their surroundings.
Swish, swish... Two figures appeared before them. The leader was older, tall, with dark skin, narrow eyes, and a murderous aura.
The other person also had dark skin, but was more slender and wore sunglasses.
"That piece of trash Tie Ya was actually taken out by a few brats. What a waste of effort for me to help him set up traps. Forget it, as long as the supplies are still here, it's fine." The leading Ninja looked at them, his eyes full of disdain.
"Hey, you little brats from Konoha. Although Tie Ya was trash, he was still a dog I raised. Since you killed him, you'll have to pay with your lives!" After speaking, he licked his lips and revealed a ferocious smile.