The next morning, the sky was bright and clear.
Uchiha Aozora woke up right on time, guided by his internal clock.
After finishing his morning routine—washed up, brushed his teeth, checked himself in the mirror—he slipped on his light armor, tied his forehead protector around his head, and stepped out of the house.
He first went to his usual morning training spot with Guy to leave him a message, then grabbed breakfast before heading toward the Hokage Tower.
Arriving at the Mission Hall, Aozora saw an unusually excited Aya and a surprisingly energetic Jifeng.
"Aozora, you're late," Aya said impatiently.
Aozora glanced up at the wall clock. "It's only 7:45. Our sensei isn't even here yet!"
As he spoke, Shibi Aburame had already arrived behind him. "I'm here."
Since this was their first C-rank mission, the responsibility of picking it up once again fell to their instructor, Shibi Aburame.
After waiting two minutes, Team Three received their first C-rank task.
Holding the number tag, Aozora hurried to the archive room to collect the mission scroll.
When he opened it, he found it was a bandit-eradication mission.
That caught Aozora off guard—he had assumed they'd start with something simple like an escort mission.
After all, anti-bandit operations would definitely involve killing people.
Although he had long prepared himself mentally as a ninja, Aozora still felt it came too suddenly. Shouldn't they at least ease newbies into things?
With mixed feelings, Aozora handed the mission scroll over to Shibi Aburame.
Shibi took the scroll, skimmed through it, and said plainly, "This mission is to eliminate a gang of bandits. We'll discuss the details along the way. Follow me now."
With that, he tossed the scroll to Aya and led the group out of the Mission Hall.
The three quickly followed behind Shibi.
While en route, Jifeng and Aya read through the scroll together, getting a basic understanding of the mission.
A village lay two hundred kilometers outside of Konoha.
It was surrounded by mountains and rivers, dotted with small forests.
Though the villagers were ordinary folk, their land was rich in natural resources, far from war, and filled with happy, peaceful lives.
But recently, a group of criminals had suddenly appeared, taking control of the nearby mountains, robbing passing merchants, and treating the villagers like livestock. They demanded regular payments and even abducted women from the village.
Unable to bear it any longer, the villagers gathered what little money they had and sent a young man to Konoha to formally request aid.
As the team ran swiftly along the forest path, Shibi's emotionless voice reached their ears.
"Listen well. This mission is to eliminate these bandits.
From the scroll, we can tell they are vicious criminals who burn, kill, and plunder without restraint. Therefore, you must show them no mercy whatsoever.
Killing comes with the job of being a ninja. If you want to keep being one, this is something you have to get through."
Having finished, he fell silent and continued forward without another word.
The three silently absorbed his words, preparing themselves mentally.
So much so that even though the scenery outside the village was strikingly different from the familiar sights of Konoha, none of them spared a glance—they had no head for sightseeing.
For ninja, two hundred kilometers wasn't a short journey, but after rushing nonstop, Team Three finally arrived at the village near noon the following day.
Standing atop the mountain peak, Team Three gazed into the distance at the village that had issued their mission.
The village nestled halfway up two connected mountains, its houses scattered casually between them. A clear stream flowed in front of the village.
Glistening terraced fields wound around the two mountains in layers, uneven in height, showing how much effort the villagers had poured into their creation.
The houses too were beautifully constructed, entirely wooden, giving them a unique charm amidst the mountains.
Yet now, neither the golden terraces nor the beautiful houses remained intact.
The entire surface of the glistening terraces had been burned to a black crisp, and many of the beautiful homes had collapsed.
Seeing this, Inuzuka Aya's sense of justice flared as she said, "Those damned bandits, how could they be so utterly heartless?"
Aozora added, "Let us deliver justice on behalf of Heaven!"
Jifeng declared, "I will eliminate them in honor of Gekko!"
Aozora glanced sideways at him, thinking: If you're representing the moon, then I salute you, man!
While the three were still angry, Shibi Aburame said, "Go forth and complete the mission."
The bandits' hideout was built atop the mountain summit, with guards stationed at key points. Fortified by the terrain, the villagers were helpless against them.
But these obstacles were nothing for ninja.
Team Three didn't climb or try to sneak through; they simply marched straight along the main path.
As they approached a checkpoint guarded by bandits, Aya raised her hand signaling everyone to stop. She said, "There are three guards watching from the distant cliff."
The three exchanged glances before Aozora remarked, "One each then!"
Although it was daytime, the ninjas' hiding abilities far surpassed those of ordinary people.
As they crept past from the side, the three bandits on the cliff remained completely unaware of any danger.
After advancing 100 meters silently, Aozora halted his advance and waited until Aya and Jifeng suddenly attacked before throwing a shuriken.
Hearing the sound of a long blade being unsheathed, the three bandits turned instantly — a beheading slash took one down, another dropped lifelessly clutching a shuriken lodged in his throat, while the last one was knocked unconscious by Aya.
The headless body spurted a fountain of blood, splattering onto both Aya and Jifeng.
Blood continued to flow between the fingers of the man clutching his throat, his eyes wide with terror and burning with hatred.
Staring at the bodies on the battlefield, both Aya and Jifeng looked pale. Aya covered her stomach and dry-heaved.
Though Jifeng managed to remain standing, his body couldn't help trembling as his face turned deathly pale.
Slowly walking over, Aozora carefully observed the bandit's meaningless struggle and the dimming light in his eyes.
He knew that someday, he too would have to face this reality within the Ninja World.
This was a kill-or-be-killed world.
Besides, the person he just killed was a killer himself. Isn't ending one evil life worth saving dozens more?
After each of them quietly steeled themselves, the trio finally snapped back to reality.
Without expression, Aozora stated, "These three were scouts; there might be shift changes, so we must accelerate our progress."
"If the bandits escape, then another village will suffer."
Both Aya and Jifeng nodded upon hearing this.
Just to make sure he was out cold, Aya stabbed a kunai into the unconscious bandit's shoulder before the three sprinted toward the bandits' hideout.
This time there was no attempt to hide; soon the mountain bandits noticed them, rushing out one after another wielding large swords and wooden clubs.
When they saw the forehead protectors on the three youths' heads marking them as Ninja, everyone was startled. But soon, the fear began to fade, like a receding tide, since the opponents were merely three little brats after all.
"Just a bunch of little brats calling themselves Ninjas just because they've got a forehead protector?" an angry bearded man wielding a large cleaver shouted.
Immediately afterward, he led a group of mountain bandits charging forward.
Even the strongest bandits were nothing more than ordinary men, lacking Substitution Jutsu and quick reflexes — easy moving targets for the trio.
Thwip! Thwip! Thwip! Thwip! —
One after another, the bandits dropped — some pierced through the chest by kunai, others skewered through the eyes with shuriken. In an instant, a whole swath lay dead upon the ground.
At this moment, Aozora's kunai showed no mercy — each strike claimed a life.
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