Not long after leaving the Village, Kakashi called Ino aside.
She turned to look at him.
"Although this is within the Land of Fire, we need you to lead the way and use your sensory abilities to scout ahead," Kakashi said in a commanding tone.
Ino glanced at Asuma, and seeing him nod, she knew this was a decision the two Jonin had discussed.
"Alright, I understand," she readily accepted the mission.
It sounded strange; not counting the Jonin, their two teams, six Genin, only she possessed a Ninja with sensory abilities. Look at Team 8, led by Kurenai Yuhi, all three of her Genin had sensory abilities!
Karin's Mind's Eye of Kagura could detect Chakra anomalies within a radius of tens of kilometers. There was a fat dead man named Nakaji in Hidden Mist Village whose detection range was even larger and more precise, capable of sensing even Chakra as faint as an insect's. Ino wasn't a specialized sensory Ninja; her sensory abilities were a byproduct of her mental energy's increase, and she was currently doing it part-time.
She said, "Kakashi-sensei, my detection range is a five-kilometer radius. Don't stray too far from me."
Kakashi nodded, "Understood."
The formation didn't need to be too complex: Ino in front, Kakashi at the rear, and Asuma leading the rest of the Genin in the middle. The group of eight moved through the forest towards their mission objective.
Along the way, they encountered two groups of Konoha Ninja. Ino detected them early and immediately signaled to the rear. Asuma ordered her to go around them and avoid contact.
"Why aren't we making contact? Aren't they all Ninja from the Village?" Naruto asked, very confused.
His question earned him a punch from Sakura.
"Idiot! We learned this in school! Outside the Village, you must avoid all factors that might interfere with the mission, and that includes encountering other Ninja. Avoid them if you can."
Three question marks appeared above Naruto's head, making him even more puzzled. Were Ninja from the Village enemies? Weren't they all one family?
Sasuke felt that this guy's actions made him look bad, and he said coolly, "What if they're disguised enemies?"
Naruto thought for more than ten seconds: "Then shouldn't we expose them even more?"
Sakura covered her forehead and said through gritted teeth, "We have a mission! During a mission, your own mission is the top priority! Don't you understand, you idiot!"
The next evening, the group arrived at the Village of the mission client, a peaceful-looking small mountain Village.
Kakashi had been promoted to Jonin much earlier than Asuma. Although they were classmates back then, according to the rules of the Ninja World, he was the senior, so the mission would naturally be led by him.
Not long after entering the Village, they found the mission giver, who was the elder of this small rural Village.
The elder was thin and withered. Seeing the Ninja arrive, he spoke indignantly.
"Those guys are like devils! They appear every year during harvest season, and we will never compromise! But we don't have strong martial power, so we hired you to help us eliminate the bandits. Please!" The elder's tone was extremely sincere.
Kakashi's Team 7 was on the left, and Asuma's Team 10 was on the right.
The two Jonin exchanged glances. Asuma nodded, indicating that Kakashi should take the lead.
Kakashi pondered for a moment: "Please tell us the specific intelligence."
"Yes!" The elder was very respectful. He brought over a simple-looking young man: "This is Dong Feng. He was originally a member of the Buggy Bandit Group. He's the one who told me Buggy kidnapped my granddaughter!"
The elder choked up as he spoke. He had only cried for a couple of seconds before Ino interrupted him.
"Um... I'm sorry to interrupt, but what did you say the name of this bandit group was?"
The elder didn't understand why she asked but still explained, "The bandit leader is named Buggy, so we just call them Buggy's gang."
Ino then asked about this Buggy's height and physical characteristics, and finding them completely different from the one in her memory, she finally felt relieved. So it was a namesake, it scared her for a moment...
She glanced at Sakura with a strange expression, thinking, "Girl, your debut opponent has arrived!"
Kakashi didn't care what the bandit leader's name was, whether it was Buggy or his name backward.
He looked at the simple-looking man, Dong Feng, who was supposedly a former bandit.
"Since you were once a member of this bandit group, you must know their location?"
The simple-looking man nodded repeatedly and offered to lead them.
The elder hoped they would rest for a night and go eliminate the bandits tomorrow.
Kakashi, however, believed that night combat was also a form of training. He instructed the simple-looking man, Dong Feng, to lead the way, as he intended to eliminate this bandit group overnight.
Taking advantage of the darkness, the group secretly entered the mountains and soon arrived deep within the range, which was already the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Rivers.
Ino observed the bandit stronghold with her sensory abilities and couldn't help but exclaim, "What talent! The north and east and west sides of the stronghold are sheer cliffs. There's only a small path to the south that leads into the mountain. Inside, it seems to be a natural rock cave? These guys carved out a mountain path and built three checkpoints along the way."
She asked the former bandit, Dong Feng, "Was this stronghold inherited from previous bandits, or was it built by the current ones?"
Dong Feng, the bandit with a rather simple appearance, replied, "...I heard Boss Buggy led its construction."
Ino patted his shoulder: "Konoha Village needs this kind of talent who understands architecture... When we meet that Buggy, point him out to me."
"I understand, I understand!"
More than ten minutes later, everyone saw the three checkpoints the bandits had built, relying on the terrain. Looking at the thick rocks and defensive strength, it really did give the impression of one man holding off ten thousand.
Unfortunately, these things could only defend against ordinary soldiers, not a group of fierce individuals called Ninja, who were essentially mages and warriors.
Over ten bandits stood on the three-meter-high gate, holding bows and arrows, looking down at the strangers. Several archers also emerged from the watchtowers on both sides, their bowstrings drawn taut, waiting for them to enter range.
"Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura looked at Kakashi with hopeful eyes. She knew that there was no peaceful resolution, but she stubbornly believed she was a child, a student, and hoped the "adults" would solve this problem.
"You don't need to help, let me!" Sasuke's fighting spirit was high. Without waiting for Kakashi's command, he unleashed a Great Fireball Technique at the stronghold gate.
He used his full power on this attack. A C-Ranked Ninjutsu, and a Fire Release known for its destructive power, its might was even greater.
The fireball flew over ten meters and slammed into the gate, followed by a violent explosion.
The explosion shattered the gate, instantly killing many bandits at the gate and behind it. More were severely injured, with dismembered limbs flying everywhere, and numerous bandits were scorched by the flames, letting out a series of horrific screams like pigs being slaughtered.
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