Chapter 18: First Battle! (Please read on)
AI Model: gemini-2.0-flash
After leaving the Village, Xuan Yi and the other three headed northeast, leaping through the dense forest.
This was Xuan Yi's first time leaving the Village, but there was nothing particularly remarkable about it.
The Land of Fire has too many such tall and dense forests.
The four traveled at a moderate pace, rested for an hour at noon, and camped by a river in a forest at nightfall.
At this point, the four had not yet left the Land of Fire.
The four people divided into two groups for rotating night watch: Xuan Yi and Sakumo Hatake in one group, and Uchiha Namiichi and Yamanaka En in the other.
However, the night passed without incident.
The next morning, after eating fish soup and grilled fish, the four set off again, and by around 3 PM, they left the Land of Fire and arrived at a small country.
The Land of Rice!
A small country that Xuan Yi had never even heard of.
This small country was famous in the Ninja World for a type of fragrant rice, and its name came from that.
The Land of Rice had no Ninja Villages, so all its missions were entrusted to Konoha.
Recently, a group of bandits had been holed up in the mountains, frequently descending to plunder the fragrant rice, which led to this mission.
At dusk.
Xuan Yi and the other three arrived at a Village located at the foot of the mountain.
Upon entering the Village, Xuan Yi and the other three found that the villagers were all hiding from them.
Some children who were peeking were also scolded in low voices by their parents and taken back into their homes.
Before long, the entire Village looked deserted.
Uchiha Namiichi snorted lightly, "These fellows, they wouldn't have mistaken us for bandits, would they?"
Xuan Yi looked around thoughtfully.
Yamanaka En said, "Captain, should we find a villager and ask?"
Sakumo Hatake knew that this question had two meanings.
One was to ask amicably.
The second, of course, was to ask using secret techniques or genjutsu.
Because according to the intelligence provided by the Land of the Daimyo of the Land of Rice, that group of bandits was hidden in the mountains here.
Sakumo Hatake did not answer but looked at Xuan Yi. "Xuan Yi, what do you think?"
Xuan Yi said, "These villagers might be afraid of us, but what they fear more should be that group of bandits."
"Before hiring us, the Land of Rice should have sent samurai here, but they failed, perhaps even being wiped out entirely, and the villagers here might have been retaliated against by the bandits."
"It's also possible that among those bandits, there are people like us."
Yamanaka En said, "People like us, Ninja wearing Ninja headbands?"
Xuan Yi nodded. "Moreover, I suspect there's an informant for those bandits in the Village."
Uchiha Namiichi immediately said, "Then let's find him and extract information using genjutsu."
This method was very direct and entirely feasible.
But Sakumo Hatake did not nod in agreement; instead, he asked Xuan Yi again, "Xuan Yi, what do you think?"
Xuan Yi said, "What Namiichi said is perfectly feasible, but we just traveled and are not at peak physical condition."
"Moreover, we are not familiar with the situation here or the terrain in the mountains."
"Even if we use genjutsu to get information, it's impossible to extract all the information."
"So, I think we should wait for them to come to us."
"We rest, let the bandit's informant report, and wait for them to come and kill us."
Yamanaka En said, "What if there's no bandit informant in the Village?"
Xuan Yi said, "Since the Land of Rice has previously dealt with this group of bandits, if they are smart, even if they don't arrange their own people here as informants, they will develop an informant in the Village."
Would there be people in the Village unwilling?
Perhaps.
But facing the bandits' blades and threats, even if unwilling, they would have to be willing.
As they spoke, the four had already reached the end of the Village, where a small river flowed past.
Sakumo Hatake immediately said, "Let's camp and rest by the river."
"If the bandits come on their own, then we'll deal with them, and keep one alive for interrogation."
"If they don't come tonight, we'll go into the mountains tomorrow morning."
Since the villagers were so afraid, Sakumo Hatake did not plan to get information from them; he would simply go into the mountains himself tomorrow to search for traces of the bandits.
Xuan Yi and the other two accepted the order and lit a bonfire by the small river.
Xuan Yi and Yamanaka En were responsible for catching fish, Uchiha Namiichi for grilling fish, and with military rations, the four had a hearty meal, then rested in groups of two.
Unconsciously, the moon was bright and the stars were sparse.
"They're here!"
Xuan Yi, who was resting with his eyes closed, was suddenly pushed awake by Yamanaka En.
Xuan Yi adjusted to the light but neither saw nor heard anyone approaching.
Yamanaka En whispered, "They just came down the mountain, eight people in total."
Xuan Yi nodded, then his figure flashed and he stood on the surface of the small river, forming hand signs.
Water Clone Jutsu!
The river water surged, condensing into a Water Clone.
Immediately after, the Water Clone flashed back to where Xuan Yi had previously been resting against a rock.
As for his main body, it was hidden in the water.
And in front of the bonfire, Yamanaka En and Uchiha Namiichi were still on alert, while Sakumo Hatake lay on the side, as if unaware that the bandits were coming to kill them.
A moment later, faint footsteps were heard from the darkness.
"Who's there?"
Uchiha Namiichi deliberately shouted.
The next moment, whooshing sounds filled the air as several Shuriken whistled through the air, heading straight for Xuan Yi and the other three.
Uchiha Namiichi's eyes instantly turned red, and he drew his sword, deflecting the Shuriken.
Xuan Yi and the other two chose to dodge.
"It's an Uchiha! Two of you attack him!"
An exclamation came from the darkness.
Two figures lunged at Uchiha Namiichi, and then three more lunged separately at Sakumo Hatake, Yamanaka En, and Xuan Yi's Water Clone.
"Die, brat!"
The person lunging at Xuan Yi appeared particularly ferocious in the flickering light of the bonfire.
He held a long sword, and he also had a Ninja headband on his forehead, but he was not a rogue Ninja.
Xuan Yi did not recognize the symbol.
But it didn't matter.
His body crouched, Xuan Yi's right hand resting on the hilt of his sword.
As the enemy's long sword descended like a bolt of silk, he suddenly drew his sword.
Clang!
The two swords clashed and scraped, sending sparks flying.
After Xuan Yi drew his sword and blocked the enemy's powerful strike, he followed up with a downward slash, directly cutting the enemy's long sword into two pieces.
The enemy was instantly startled, pushing off the ground and leaping backward.
At the same time, Xuan Yi also leaped forward, quickly sheathing his sword, and then quickly drawing it again.
Pfft!
Blood splattered in the moonlight.
The enemy's eyes widened, blood spurting from his chest.
This sword was too fast!
Xuan Yi landed, and then immediately felt danger.
A fierce wind swept and roared from the side.
It was from the direction of the end of the Village!
The five attackers before were from the north; now the attack came from the east.
The enemy had split into two groups.
Xuan Yi immediately leaped to dodge, but the Wind Release had too large a range, and the sharp wind whistling against his body immediately made a hissing sound, cutting through his clothes and flesh.
Bang!
Xuan Yi's body turned into a stream of water and fell.
"Water Clone!"
Five or six meters from the river, in the moonlight, a middle-aged man's expression changed.
And immediately after, he saw a person standing on the river surface, with water rapidly swirling and rising around him, forming a huge water pillar.
For a moment, the small river actually stopped flowing.
Rumble!
The water rushed onto the riverbank, surging powerfully.
The middle-aged man's expression changed; he couldn't use Earth Release, and facing such Water Release, he could only leap into the air when the water was about to reach him, avoiding the most terrifying strike.
His figure landed on the water's surface, and the waves behind him crashed again.
The middle-aged man had completed his hand signs, and he opened his mouth and exhaled, a fierce wind sweeping out, dispersing the waves.
But at this moment, the water behind him surged back.
The middle-aged man was caught off guard and was immediately knocked into the water, gulping down several mouthfuls of water, his entire body aching.
When the water stabilized, the middle-aged man surfaced, and Xuan Yi's icy blade was already at his neck.