Somewhere in the dense forest.
"Captain, the investigation is complete. Just as the intel said, there is only one Genin squad in the convoy." A ninja with a scratched forehead protector reported. He looked like a rogue ninja from the Sand Village.
"Good. A standard Konoha Genin squad consists of one Chunin leading three Genin. We'll have absolutely no problem taking them down." The leader nodded in confirmation.
Clearly, he didn't remember, or simply didn't know, that Konoha also had squads composed of newly graduated students, which could potentially be led by a Jonin.
"Do we strike now, or wait a bit longer?" The leader turned to ask the black-robed figure beside him who had remained silent. The figure was wearing a hood, wrapping himself up tightly as if hiding something shameful.
"We can't wait any longer. If we wait, we'll be too close to the city," the black-robed man said decisively. "Strike immediately."
"Alright!" The leader wasted no words and signaled. Five more ninjas gradually emerged from the surroundings. They adjusted their equipment and headed straight to set up an ambush ahead of the convoy. Clearly, they had prepared well in advance and knew the environment like the back of their hands.
...
The convoy had traveled for another half-day. This stretch of the journey was calm and peaceful, completely unlike the intermittent attacks they had faced before.
Time flew, and evening arrived. The setting sun stubbornly clung to the distant horizon, refusing to set completely. Its remaining portion cast a grim red afterglow, illuminating the land.
Masao Ishihara was directing everyone to choose a campsite. Everyone's tense nerves slowly began to relax.
Traveling was tiring enough, and with the attacks throughout the day, everyone was exhausted and eager to rest.
At this moment, Taiichi, standing atop a carriage and scanning the surroundings, grew tense. It was evening, the time when birds returned to their nests, yet the surroundings were far too quiet.
Just as Taiichi was about to warn Masao Ishihara to be vigilant...
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Five consecutive explosions rang out from various parts of the convoy. Explosive tags had been detonated.
"Damn it! Ninja attack!" Taiichi thought.
The convoy descended into chaos. Startled pack horses dragged carriages running wild everywhere. The drivers tried their best to control them, but to little avail.
The guards' formation was shattered by the scattering carriages. They were still trying to organize themselves, but the enemy gave them no chance.
A large group of bandits charged out of the surrounding woods, outnumbering the guards.
But bandits were still bandits. Relying on numbers, they could exchange a few blows with the guards, but facing Taiichi, they were cut down like melons and vegetables.
After finishing off a few bandit minions around him, Taiichi scanned the surroundings with his blood-dripping short sword. Although there were many bandits, they were only fighting the guards to a draw. However, the ninjas who should have appeared were late to show themselves.
"Not good. Saori is in danger." Thinking of a possibility, Taiichi hurriedly created a Shadow Clone to help the guards here, while his main body rushed toward the center of the convoy.
The distance was only a hundred meters or so, but due to the chaos, it took Taiichi over a minute to get there, cutting down quite a few red-eyed bandit minions along the way.
Sure enough, from a distance, Taiichi saw Captain Yamaguchi being entangled by three ninjas—seemingly one Jonin and two Chunin. They looked ferocious, gritting their teeth as if they were the ones who had been ambushed.
Saori's situation was dire. She was being besieged by four Genin. Although she frequently used suicidal tactics to force them into defense, the enemies outnumbered her. In just this short while, she had already sustained several cuts from kunai.
Just then, two of the Genin suddenly retreated to form seals, while the remaining two engaged her closely in tacit coordination. The two who retreated completed their seals simultaneously, then spat out a series of wind blades.
Taiichi's eyes turned red seeing this. Saori was entangled and unable to dodge, and just then, the two engaging her found an opening to knock her toward the incoming wind blades.
Disregarding Chakra consumption, Taiichi rapidly formed seals. "Water Style: Great Water Prison Jutsu!"
A water wall quickly formed around Saori, protecting her firmly in the center. The rapidly spinning water blocked the incoming wind blades.
Only then did Saori recover from the despair of near-death, looking at Taiichi with eyes full of gratitude.
The four Genin who had retreated were startled by this ninjutsu. They had never seen such a technique before and thought a master had arrived. But seeing it was just a brat, they relaxed.
One of them split off to block Taiichi, while the other three prepared to continue besieging Saori, aiming to kill her quickly.
Taiichi didn't care who came at him. Facing the incoming Genin, he used the Body Flicker Jutsu to flash beside him, his short sword slicing across the Genin's neck in one smooth motion. Without wasting a single second, he continued charging toward Saori.
The fallen Genin wore a look of disbelief even in death. We're both Genin; how can the gap be this big?
"Damn it." The rogue ninja leader cursed the eighteen generations of his intelligence officers' ancestors in his heart.
They said it was a Genin squad, but the captain turned out to be a Jonin—an Elite Jonin at that. They said the members were Genin, but leaving aside the little girl's strength, this newly arrived brat was no weaker than a Chunin.
"Sakata, Okamoto! You two go deal with that new brat! I'll hold off this Jonin!" The rogue leader ordered the two Chunin responsible for interference.
Captain Yamaguchi saw the two Chunin trying to leave the circle to gang up on Taiichi. He wanted to stop them, but was interrupted by a desperate flurry of attacks from the rogue leader.
Seeing the two Chunin charging at him, Taiichi showed no fear. While charging forward, he began forming seals. "Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!" A barrage of fireballs bombarded the two Chunin densely, without any particular pattern.
Taking advantage of the fireballs obscuring their vision, Taiichi created two Shadow Clones.
When the two Chunin finished dealing with the fireballs, they saw not one Taiichi, but three.
Taiichi sent one Shadow Clone to entangle one Chunin, while the other Shadow Clone and his main body dealt with the second Chunin together.
It happened in a flash. The two groups clashed instantly.
Relying on its properties, Taiichi's Shadow Clone lunged forward to block the kunai swung by the Chunin. Meanwhile, the main body Taiichi sidestepped to the Chunin's flank and, using the clone as cover, quietly thrust his sword into the man's chest.
Poof. That was the sound of the Shadow Clone dispersing.
Thud. That was the sound of the Chunin falling to the ground.
Taiichi had killed a Chunin in the blink of an eye. This terrified the other Chunin, who hurriedly retreated to put distance between himself and the Shadow Clone.
For the current Taiichi, his Taijutsu was a level above Chunin, giving even his Shadow Clone the ability to fight a Chunin.
Having finished one Chunin, Taiichi was about to charge at the other when he heard the enemy Jonin shout: "Retreat!"
Without hesitation, the Chunin and the three Genin threw down smoke bombs and retreated under the cover of the crowd. Seeing his subordinates retreat safely, the rogue leader retreated decisively as well, without even leaving any parting threats.
"Captain! I'm here! Saori, hold on!" Yohei's shout came from afar.
It turned out that not only had Taiichi dealt with the Chunin, but Yohei had also rushed over from the rear of the convoy.
The rest of the battle held no surprises. With Taiichi and Yohei joining in, the guards quickly stabilized the situation and proceeded to slaughter most of the bandits in one go.
This time, the guards showed no mercy, chasing down even the fleeing bandits until they were out of sight.
After repelling the bandits, Taiichi and Yohei ignored the fleeing remnants. They met up and walked toward the center of the camp. On the way, Yohei, pale but excited, kept talking about the battle at the rear.
In his pair of crimson eyes, a single tomoe spun slowly in each. Yohei had awakened his Sharingan in the battle just now, but in his excitement, he hadn't even realized it yet.