"Done!"
Taro finished setting up his last trap behind a narrow pathway when suddenly a prompt from the system popped up.
[Quest: Eeny Meeny Miny Moe
Kill All Bandits - 0/18
Kill All Shinobi - 0/4
Penalty: Taro or Nao's death.]
Taro paused and realized what they were up against. "So, it's 22 total bandits… 4 being ninjas."
He stared at the quest and saw the penalty, making him question whether Kise or his dad would join the fight.
"Ah, whatever. I'll let future me worry about that."
He dashed toward the meeting place he and Nao had discussed earlier. When he arrived, Nao was already in his spot, ready to go at any moment.
"You're finally here. I've been scouting and confirmed that they don't have anywhere to escape other than the entrance. What's more, from the chakra, it seems that around three of them are shinobi," Nao informed Taro.
Taro gave Nao a confused look. "But there's four of them…"
Nao raised an eyebrow. "You can sense them? And you sense four?"
Taro hid the fact about the system and just nodded. "Yeah, there's four."
Nao bit his thumb and said, "Then that's not good."
"Why not?" asked Taro.
"I'm a sensory type, and I can't sense another person apart from the three. That means three things—he's experienced, another sensory type, or he knows sealing jutsu. The latter is less likely, as the Land of Wind isn't really known for sealing. The best outcome is that they're a sensory type."
Taro began to think. "So, there's at least one ninja that can be considered dangerous…"
Nao ordered, "Enough with that. Let's begin. I'll take on the tall guy, and once the skinny guy is distracted or gets ready to yell for help, kill him. Strike the neck so he can't speak."
Taro nodded, and Nao took that as a sign to start. He disappeared and appeared near a boulder. As the two guards talked casually, Nao leaped into the air and jumped on top of the tall man. He took out a kunai and struck the top of the man's head, killing him in one blow.
The other guard was startled, but seeing his comrade die, he was about to yell—but to his dismay, he couldn't make out any words. He looked below his neck and saw a katana sticking through it.
He looked behind and saw a kid no older than five. His eyes rolled back as he succumbed to his injury.
Nao dropped down and said, "Good job. Stay here and guard the area, and try to get rid of these guys. I'll scout the area and come back or give you a signal to enter."
Taro nodded but asked, "What signal would that be?"
Nao smiled. "You'll know. I'll only use it when I'm in danger."
As Taro watched Nao enter the cave, he gripped his sword and looked at the two bodies.
"It feels weird… but at least I didn't hesitate."
He sighed and began dragging the bodies behind a boulder. He looted everything he could find on the bodies, but there wasn't much. The tall guy had about 3k ryo, while the skinny man had 5k ryo and a necklace.
Once he was done looting, he went back to the gates to watch for anyone entering. He was getting bored until he heard a shout from Nao, "Taro, help me!!!"
"Tsk! Is that your signal?!"
Annoyed, Taro ran inside the cave and saw multiple dead bodies on the ground. Curious, he looked at the system prompt and was surprised by how many Nao had already killed.
[Quest: Eeny Meeny Miny Moe
Kill All Bandits - 7/18
Kill All Shinobi - 0/4
Penalty: Taro or Nao's death.]
Taro arrived where Nao was and saw eleven men surrounding him.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
A massive wind current burst out from his mouth, blowing away multiple bandits. Then he took out his sword and slashed a bandit across the back, killing him with a deep cut.
Taro turned to the left and swung his blade, cutting off another bandit's head. Once he cleared a path for Nao, he dashed into the opening and ran beside Taro.
The bandits blown away by Taro's jutsu began standing up. After all, that ninjutsu wasn't enough to kill grown men—it was just enough to blow them away and create a path.
One of the men standing up mocked, "Another brat? How the hell are we losing to these brats?! If the boss wakes up, everyone here is dead, you hear?!"
All the bandits stiffened up and yelled a war cry. They rushed toward us like dogs who hadn't eaten in days.
Nao merely scoffed and started weaving hand signs.
"Fire Release: Fireball Jutsu!"
A massive fireball came out of Nao's mouth, large enough to engulf three people. However, as Nao was weaving hand signs for the fireball, Taro recognized the signs and began forming his own jutsu.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
With the combination of wind and fire, the mid-size fireball began roaring wildly. It grew into a massive firestorm large enough to engulf ten people—and it did.
In a blink of an eye, ten people began burning, and only the man who yelled earlier stayed alive. He stumbled backward and began murmuring nonsense, then killed himself before yelling, "I'd rather die by suicide than get killed by burning!"
Nao scoffed, "He peed himself when he saw them burning." He paused and looked at Taro. "When did you learn to combine ninjutsu like that?"
Taro shrugged, "I'm a genius."
"A genius? Let's test that out."
A voice suddenly appeared from behind the two, causing their bodies to shiver. The brothers turned around and saw a man standing still, yawning and scratching his stomach.
He was six feet tall with black eyes and black spiky hair. His body was lean and covered in scars.
"I couldn't sense him at all…" Nao murmured.
The man raised an eyebrow. "You're a sensory type?"
Nao was about to pull out a shuriken to throw at the man until he was stopped by a chakra thread from behind.
"Are you a genius too?" asked one of the men from behind.
Taro and Nao looked behind them and saw three ninjas wearing no armor but with their chakra pathways open.
"2v4…" murmured Taro.
He secretly opened his system and saw the three ninjas behind them were nothing special—just genin at best. The highest stats they had were lower than Nao's.
However, the man in front of them was stronger than both of them.
[Name: Hotsu
Title: The Night Stalker
Rank: Chunin
Chakra Affinity: Earth, Wind (Learned)
Potential: Jonin
IQ: 98
Battle IQ: 107
Strength: 145
Speed: 136
Durability: 170
Chakra: 150]
A sweat trickled down his forehead as he whispered, "Well damn."