Renya crossed his arms, leaning against a large tree. His scarlet Sharingan eyes watched the distant battle, with no intention of interfering.
On the contrary, he even increased his chakra output, raising the overall strength of the three bandits by a level.
"You dare ambush me?!" Jiraiya roared, charging in once again. "Die!"
His fist shot toward the lead bandit. If it were an ordinary bandit, there'd be no way to dodge such a punch—but the one before him was being controlled by a certain shameless individual.
A bandit remotely controlled by someone like Renya fighting Jiraiya? That was an absolute breeze.
Especially since Jiraiya's attacks were utterly lacking in technique.
What looked like a mighty, powerful punch was easily sidestepped, and the bandit swung the back of his blade, slamming it hard into Jiraiya's back.
"Urgh—ah!" Jiraiya let out a cry of pain and fell heavily to the ground.
"Stupid brat!" The lead bandit stepped on his head, then kicked him viciously away.
Jiraiya crashed into a tree and lay there for a while, unable to catch his breath.
"D-Damn it, are these really bandits?"
Sure, he had underestimated them—but who would've thought bandits could be this strong?!
Anyone who didn't know better would think they were shinobi.
"Idiot!" Tsunade snapped angrily.
Her monstrous strength had yet to reach its terrifying future level, but her talent in that area was already beginning to show.
She threw a punch at the lead bandit, who quickly retreated, not daring to take it head-on.
"Boom!" Her fist left a sizable crater in the ground.
The lead bandit seized the chance to swing his blade, forcing Tsunade to block with her kunai.
"Clang—!" The sound of clashing steel echoed through the forest.
Orochimaru, seeing this, tried to rush to help, but two bandits blocked him from both sides.
"Hehehe, little brat, time to die!"
They raised their machetes to strike down, but Orochimaru's body flickered away, using the trees for cover.
"Ninja Art: Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!" From his sleeves shot countless small snakes, which coiled around one bandit's ankle and yanked him down.
As the bandit struggled, Orochimaru hurled a kunai.
"Clang—!"
Just as it was about to hit, the other bandit suddenly appeared and blocked it.
Orochimaru's pupils contracted sharply. Were these really just ordinary bandits?!
They hadn't used a single jutsu, yet their speed and strength were even higher than his!
For a moment, even Orochimaru began to doubt reality.
Were these people truly not shinobi?
"Tch, maybe I made this too difficult." Renya murmured softly as he watched the distant battle.
Though he said that, he had no intention of lowering the difficulty.
The three of them might get hurt, but they wouldn't die…
After all, the three bandits were all under his control. To be honest, controlling three at once wasn't easy.
If he accidentally killed one of them, it would be a disaster. He should've made them toss their blades away beforehand.
He had no death markers here—none of the three could be allowed to die.
A good teacher never lets his students face real mortal danger. It doesn't matter where the danger comes from—the key is that no one actually dies.
Jiraiya climbed back up from the ground and ran to help Orochimaru, who was struggling.
With Jiraiya joining the fight, Orochimaru could finally breathe a little.
The three of them were all locked in tough battles.
Jiraiya, having rushed out without his ninja tools, could only fight with his fists.
He managed to bruise and bloody the bandit's face, but his own clothes were slashed open, and several cuts marked his body.
If not for Renya intentionally holding back, he would've been hacked to pieces by now.
Tsunade had strength but couldn't land an effective hit; her lack of battle experience showed clearly as her breathing grew heavier.
Her opponent never faced her head-on, making her attacks useless.
Orochimaru and his opponent were constantly testing each other's movements, both looking for the perfect moment to strike.
"They lack actual combat experience," Renya sighed softly, watching the disheveled trio.
...
Their previous opponents had been far weaker—they could crush them easily with pure stats.
But these bandits he controlled were around the same strength as the three, and their fighting technique was far superior.
The kids had no coordination between them either, making them look utterly clumsy.
Looks like I'll need to tone it down a bit.
Still, only battles like this can truly sharpen their combat experience…
Life-and-death fights are always the best way to grow stronger.
Win, and you gain experience.
Lose, and you die.
...
"No, we can't keep this up!" Jiraiya shouted.
Their stamina was already nearly spent—if they didn't take down the enemy soon, they'd all die here.
So absorbed in the fight, they'd completely forgotten about their supervising teacher.
"Orochimaru!" Jiraiya yelled suddenly.
A flicker of confusion crossed Orochimaru's eyes, but he quickly understood.
Jiraiya broke away from his opponent and charged straight toward the lead bandit fighting Tsunade.
At the same time, Orochimaru also rushed toward Tsunade.
"Oh? Planning to take them one by one?"
Orochimaru's snake hands wrapped around the lead bandit's legs and yanked hard, pulling him to the ground.
As the bandit tried to rise, Jiraiya leapt forward and sat squarely on his back.
"Tsunade, now!"
Without hesitation, Tsunade gathered all her strength into her fist.
"Boom!"
"Crack—!"
Her punch landed solidly on the bandit's head, followed by the distinct sound of bone breaking.
The lead bandit immediately went still, the scarlet glow behind his sunglasses fading away.
"We did it!" Jiraiya shouted joyfully.
Orochimaru smiled too— but their smiles quickly froze, as the remaining two bandits charged toward them in rage.
"Damn it, let's finish this!" Tsunade roared and rushed forward.
Jiraiya and Orochimaru immediately followed to assist.
Three against two—the advantage is ours!
...
When the battle was over, the forest was a mess.
The three children sat on the ground, covered in mud and blood, gasping for air. Their chakra was completely drained.
There were no cheers—only exhaustion and lingering fear after surviving.
Renya finally walked over, his eyes sweeping across the battlefield and the disheveled trio.
"Did you see? This is what real combat looks like."
"Jiraiya, your arrogance got you hurt the worst."
"Tsunade, your monstrous strength is meaningless if you can't land a hit."
"Orochimaru, your schemes are laughable before true battle experience."
"And your biggest mistake of all—was waiting until the end to start helping each other."
Renya looked at the three hanging their heads low and continued,
"Remember today's lesson—every victory is bought with one's life on the line."
"By the way… where's your employer?" He looked around, not seeing the fat client anywhere.
The three: "???"
...
Several kilometers away, the mission's employer was running for his life, panting as he fled.
Never again would he hire children as bodyguards—they were completely unreliable!
If nothing unexpected happened, those kids were probably already dead at the hands of the bandits.
If he hadn't run, he would've been next.