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They moved fast, jumping from tree to tree, barely touching the branches as they rushed through the forest. The wind rushed past their ears, but it couldn't drown out the faint cries echoing ahead.
Soon, the trees began to thin, and just ahead the forest opened up to a wide dirt road. They all came to a stop on a thick branch overlooking the path. Across the road, the village lay in ruin.
The sky was darkened by thick black smoke, billowing high as flames devoured wooden rooftops. Screams cut through the air with the sounds of crackling fire, shattering glass, and collapsing buildings filling the air.
Kuro's jaw tightened as his eyes scanned the chaos. "Daichi, Airi—flank both sides. Get to the center and help any civilians you find. If whoever did this is still here… take them out," he ordered without hesitation.
"Got it.""On it."
Throwing up an individual seal the two vanished in a blink of an eye.
Kuro turned to Sugari. The usual playfullness in his teammate's eyes was gone, replaced with a grim look. His scarf fluttered in the wind, and the scrolls at his waist clinked softly as he shifted his stance.
"You're with me," Kuro said, snapping Sugari out of his thoughts. "Same deal, help who you can, and don't hold back if you see the ones responsible for this."
Sugari gave a sharp nod.
With that, the two of them dropped from the branch, hitting the dirt road below and sprinting straight into the burning village.
Kuro reached into the pouch strapped to the back of his waist and pulled out a bandana. Without breaking stride, he wrapped it around his face to block out the thick, choking smoke that filled the air. The smell was harsh as burnt wood, flesh, and something sour got stuck in his throat.
He and Sugari kept low as they moved through the village. The rooftops were a no-go since most of them had already collapsed or were so scorched that stepping on them would just send someone falling through. It would've been the better option, too. Up there, they could've had eyes on everything. But with the thick black smoke blocking everything, it would've been highly unlikely.
They searched house by house, cutting through the smoke, kicking in half-burnt doors. But all they kept finding were bodies that were charred and burned. Some looked like they'd been adults, others… were barely bigger than toddlers.
Kuro clenched his jaw, biting at his lip until he tasted blood. 'Whoever did this are pieces of shit...' he thought, forcing himself not to look too long at the smaller corpses.
He'd seen death before, plenty of it. He'd seen heads being blown clean off, and even people exploding into bits by a bomb. But this? This was cruel. Whoever did this didn't just kill... they made people suffer first. It was slow, ugly, and full of pain.
Kuro didn't usually judge killers, this world made everyone one eventually, but he always believed if someone had to go, it should be quick and painless. But after seeing this…whoever did it might just deserve the same treatment they gave.
"Find anything? Or anybody?" Kuro called out, scanning the smoke-filled street as he moved past another collapsed home.
Across the way, Sugari stepped out of a half-burned building, shaking his head. "Nothing. You?"
Kuro let out a slow breath and gave his head a small shake. "No."
He stepped over what was left of a man's body which was burned beyond recognition, curled up like he'd tried to shield himself from the flames. "I think whoever did this is already long gone," he said quietly. "It could've been the Blood Ripper bandits, but this… this doesn't feel like them. They usually hit travelers, stagecoaches, mainly road ambushes. But this? Burning down a whole village? Killing everyone?" He glanced back at Sugari. "This is unlike anything they've done before.."
Sugari's expression tightened as he looked out over the destruction. The fire's glow still danced across his face. "It could be someone else," he said. "But right now we've got no way to know for sure."
Kuro gave a tired nod.
"First things first," Sugari added, eyes moving to the flames still eating away at homes in the distance. "We need to put out these fires. Before they spread."
"Yeah," Kuro muttered, looking around at what was left. "Do you know any Water Style jutsu?" Kuro asked, glancing over at Sugari as they walked through the ash-covered street.
Sugari gave a quick shake of his head. "Sadly, no. But… I think Airi knows one."
Kuro let out another quiet sigh, rubbing the back of his neck. "Alright. We'll regroup with Airi then. Maybe she and Daichi found some survivors, maybe one of them can tell us what the hell happened here."
Sugari looked like he was about to respond, but before he could say anything, a sharp scream cut through the air.
"HELP! HELP!!" A woman's voice echoed from up ahead.
Kuro and Sugari locked eyes for half a second before they both sprinted toward the sound. They rounded the corner in a blur, their boots skidding slightly against scorched dirt as Kuro and Sugari came to a sudden halt.
Up ahead, just past the crumbled remains of a stone wall, stood a pack of bandits. There were maybe 11 of them, dressed in ragged red clothes with faded symbols scratched into their fabric. They had bandanas that were tied tightly across their faces with some of them drenched in ash, others stained darker with blood.
They stood in a loose circle around a small group of villagers, maybe twenty at most, mostly older folk and children. The villagers huddled together, trembling. Some clutched each other like their lives depended on it, others stared off, blank and hollow-eyed, like they'd already let go of all hope.
"Keep screaming, bitch!... nobody's gonna help you," one of the bandits barked, his voice rough and loud.
He was tall and skinny with wild, greasy hair that draped down his back. A ripped red vest clung to his frame, his sleeves long torn away, and the black pants he wore looked like they hadn't been washed in months. In one hand, he gripped a cutlass, its edge chipped and smeared with something dark. His other hand was twisted in an older woman's hair, yanking her head back as she quietly wept.
Kuro and Sugari crouched behind the remains of a burned-down wall, bits of ash floating past them like dust in the wind. Bits of ash floated down like snow as they peeked out every now and then to keep eyes on the group of bandits.
"Alright, what's the plan?" Sugari asked under his breath. "You wanna go in loud or quiet? If we rush in, they might use one of the villagers as a hostage." his voice was calm, but Kuro could feel the heat bubbling under his words. Sugari was itching to tear into those guys, he didn't show it much, but the glint in his eyes gave him away. He was holding himself back, but barely.
Kuro stayed quiet, thinking it through. They had the element of surprise, but that wouldn't matter if even one hostage got killed in the crossfire. But every second they waited was another second the bandits could kill one of the villagers.
He parted his lips to speak, then it blinked into view.
A faint chime, then the soft glow of a familiar blue screen hovered in front of his eyes.
[A SUDDEN QUEST HAS STARTED.]
His brows pulled together slightly. 'Really? Now?' he thought, a little irritated.
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[ QUEST STARTED]
"Burning revenge..." Quest has started
Type: Urgent
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-QUEST INFO-
A group of bandits have taken over the village. Kill them and rescue the villagers.
OBJECTIVE:
➤ Kill the bandits that have taken over the village.
[22 / 60]
➤ RESCUED VILLAGERS
[30/ 120]
CAUTION: FAILURE TO COMPLETE THE QUEST WILL RESULT IN A PENALTY OR WORSE.
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'I was already gonna kill them… but now I've got a better reason to.' Kuro smirked under his bandana, as he gaze at the translucent screen. 'Looks like Airi and Daichi already killed some of them…' he thought.
"Hello?" Sugari said, brow raised. "What's the plan?"
"Oh...yeah. Alright, here's what we're gonna do," Kuro said, snapping back to reality as the screen faded away.
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Timiwara Fukuhashi had come a long way from where he started. Born in the forgotten outskirts of a rundown village, he never really had much. His mom died giving birth to him, and his dad dipped not long after, leaving him with a grandma who could barely take care of herself, let alone him.
Food wasn't always guaranteed, and most nights he went to sleep hungry. So he stole. It wasn't because he wanted to, he had to. It was either starve or survive.
He chose survival.
Years passed, and with every dirty job, every robbery, every kill… he built a name. Now, he wasn't that skinny kid from the slums anymore. He was Captain Timiwara Fukuhashi of the Blood Ripper Bandits. He had food whenever he wanted, money, and women who looked at him with fear or love, didn't really matter which.
But what Timiwara loved most wasn't the money, or the power...it was the fear.
The way people's eyes changed the second he mentioned he was with the Blood Ripper Bandits, that flash of dread, the quiet tremble, the way they suddenly forgot how to breathe. That was what he lived for. Being feared meant you were untouchable.
And that same look was all over the woman's face right now.
He stared into her eyes, a sick grin creeping across his lips beneath the bandana. "No one's coming to save some filthy village bitch… so shut the fuck up before I kill you right now," he said, his voice calm but laced with a bit of irritation.
Then, he let go of her hair and kicked her in her stomach, sending her stumbling back into the crowd of terrified villagers. Some of them looked away, while others glared at him with rage in their eyes. It didn't matter, none of them would do a damn thing.
"Timiwara," a voice called out behind him.
He turned slightly.
"We've finished clearing the village. Should we report to the boss now?" the bandit asked, stepping out of the smoke with ash clinging to his sleeves.
Timiwara turned to face his subordinate, eyes narrowing as he looked down at him. "It's Captain Timiwara," he said quietly, his fingers tightening around the handle of his cutlass.
The bandit flinched, his back stiffening. "S-sorry… sir. Won't happen again."
Timiwara gave him a light pat on the shoulder, almost friendly..almost. "It's fine. Mistakes happen," he said with a grin under his bandana. "Now be a good boy and go tell the boss we're done here."
The subordinate tensed again at the touch, before quickly nodding. "Yes, sir!" he said before turning on his heel and jogging off through the smoke and rubble. But just as he got few feet away, he suddenly stopped, frozen mid-step.
Timiwara's brow twitched as he watched the guy freeze up a few feet ahead.
"The hell you stoppin' for, you worthless piece of—"
Before he could finish, the bandit's head tilted awkwardly... then dropped clean off his shoulders, hitting the ground with a dull thud with his body collapsing forward right after.
In front of him stood a kid, probably no older than 13. He was dressed in Shinobi gear with messy black hair hanging just above his eyes. In his hand he had a black and red dagger with blood still dripping from the blade. On his forehead, the Leaf Village headband caught a flash of firelight.
Timiwara's heart skipped. His grip tightened around the handle of his cutlass. 'What the hell is a Leaf Shinobi doing here?' They were supposed to be at least a couple days out from now, if not less.
His jaw clenched as he stared at the boy. Everything he'd heard about Leaf Shinobi came rushing back. They were on another level. Even their rookies were dangerous. Still... this was just one kid. And if Timiwara was anything, it was proud. He wasn't gonna let some brat make him look weak.
His lips curled into a grin under his bandana. "Who the hell are you?" he barked.
The boy didn't say a word and just stood there.
The villagers' heads snapped toward the boy, their eyes wide with something they hadn't felt in a while..hope.
"Help us!"
"Please, save us!"
The cries rang out, shaky and desperate.
"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Timiwara roared, spinning toward them. The bark of his voice made the villagers flinch and go silent again, the fear gripping their throats like a vice.
He turned back to the boy, scowling beneath his bandana. "I'm gonna ask one more time… who the hell are you?"
The kid didn't respond, his eyes locked on him.
Timiwara's grip on his cutlass tightened. His leg trembled slightly, feeling the pressure radiating off the kid. 'What kind of look is that for someone his age?' he thought, swallowing hard. The kid's stare was colder than most grown men he'd killed.
Fuck it.
"Alright, you asked for it! Get his ass boy's!" he snapped, pointing the cutlass at the boy. "Now!"
Silence...
"I SAID ATTAC—" Timiwara whipped around, but the words caught in his throat.
His men were dead, slumped over in heaps, blood soaking into the dirt beneath them. Standing among the bodies was another Leaf shinobi, yanking a sword out of one of their backs.
Timiwara's stomach dropped as his hands went cold. "Wha…" The word barely made it out as the grip on his cutlass loosened. 'I have to get out of here...' he turned back around, his heart pounding, only to be met with a fist slamming straight into his jaw, snapping his head sideways.
As everything went black...
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