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Kuro stood over the bandit's limp body, watching as he hit the dirt with a dull thud. The man's eyes were rolled back, his limbs twitching once before going still. "Damn," he muttered, wiping the blood on his knuckles off on his pants. " He talked way too much."
Behind him, a sudden burst of cheers broke out.
"OUR SAVIOR!"
"YOU SAVED US!"
The villagers were crying, some falling to their knees, others hugging each other as the weight of fear finally lifted. Their joy was loud, desperate, like people who'd already accepted death and got pulled back from the edge.
Sugari walked over from the mess of bodies, stepping carefully around the blood-soaked ground. Stopping next to Kuro he looked down at the unconscious man. "So," he said, his eyes flicking from the bandit to Kuro, "what do we do with him?"
"When he wakes up, he can tell us where the Blood Ripper hideout is… or anything else that might be useful," Kuro said, eyes still locked on the unconscious man.
Sugari raised a brow. "You really think he's just gonna give that up?"
Kuro let out a dry scoff. "Doubt it. But we'll get it out of him if we have to. And if not...we'll just kill him." he rolled his shoulder with a quiet grunt.
"Hello…" a voice called from the side, snapping Kuro and Sugari out of their conversation.
They both turned to see a man standing near one of the dead bodies. He looked to be in his early twenties, with short, spiky brown hair and a rough red headband tied around his forehead, holding back the strands that threatened to fall in his face. His fur vest was worn and patchy, with a faded gray shirt underneath and a pair of old black pants tucked into busted sandals. He was fairly skinny and probably hadn't eaten properly in days. Not that it was surprising. People who lived outside the Hidden Villages were usually broke, scraping by with barely enough food or clean water.
"Are you… the shinobi sent from the Hidden Leaf?" the man asked, giving the two a quick once over. His eyes widened just a little, probably surprised to see teenagers were able to kill grown men mercilessly. But after a second too long, he looked away, realizing he'd been staring.
"Yes," Kuro answered, stepping forward with a little more posture in his stance. "Our services were requested by your village chief to wipe out a group of bandits in the area."
The man gave a small nod. "Yeah, I heard about that."
"Oh?" Kuro tilted his head. "The village chief told you we were coming?"
The man smiled faintly. "Well, yeah… I'm his son, so I was told ahead of time." He let out a tired breath. "And honestly, I'm glad you all showed up when you did." he then gave a short bow. "Thanks to you, our people have a chance to see tomorrow. Even though we lost some… I'm still grateful. On behalf of my father, and the village, I just wanna say thank you."
Kuro dipped his head in return, a quick nod of respect. "We're just doing our job, sir." he said, his eyes drifting around the village. "If you don't mind me asking… where is your father now?"
The man's smile slowly faded with his brows pinching together as he looked down. "I'm not sure… we got separated before the attack."
Kuro rubbed his chin, his eyes still scanning the damage around them. "Hmm...Can you tell me what happened here?" He already had a rough picture, but hearing it from someone else might help connect the missing pieces.
The man nodded slowly. "It started about an hour… maybe three hours ago. The bandits stormed in out of nowhere. They set fire to the houses, burned our crops, killed anyone who got in their way… and dragged off the rest." his hands clenched into fists, as he bit at his lower lip like he was holding something back. "They didn't care who it was. Women… kids… they just slaughtered them like it was nothing. I—I couldn't do anything... I just stood there. Powerless."
Kuro looked at him. "Don't beat yourself up. Even if you tried jumping in, they probably would've killed you too. But you're still here...and that matters. As long as you're alive, you can remember the ones who didn't make it. That's how you keep them with you."
It wasn't the first time he'd said those words. Kuro had told them to plenty of people before who got caught in the middle of a war they had nothing to do with. And once, not too long ago, someone had said the same thing to him, back when a mission went sideways and he watched his friends die right in front of him.
The man gave a small nod, wiping away a tear at the corner of his eye with the back of his hand.
"What's your name?" Kuro asked.
"...Hori Yakakuro," he answered.
Kuro gave a short nod. "Hori Yakakuro… can you do me a favor?"
The man nodded again without hesitation.
"I need you to lead these villagers out to the edge of the village," Kuro said. "Get them into the forest and keep them hidden. Some of the bandits are still out here, and until we've cleared the place, it's not safe."
Hori glanced at the villagers behind him, and then back at Kuro. "Yeah… I can do that."
Kuro gave a small smile. "Good. Go now, before more of them show up."
Hori nodded and turned back to the group of villagers, motioning for them to follow as he led them away from the wreckage and toward the edge of the village.
Once they were out of sight, Kuro glanced over at Sugari, who was staring at him.
"What?" Kuro asked.
Sugari grinned a little. "Just wondering if you're the same Kuro I remember… You used to be this whiny, quiet kid. Now you're all badass and cool." He chuckled, as he teased Kuro.
Kuro rolled his eyes and just ignored him.
But the smile on Sugari's face didn't last long as his eyes dropped down to the unconscious bandit lying on the ground. "So… what are we doing with him? We can't just leave him."
"Yeah, I know. We'll have to tie him up and take him with us. I thought about letting the villagers watch him, but if he wakes up and escapes...they're as good as dead."
Sugari let out a low hum, then grabbed one of the colorful scrolls from his belt and unraveled it. Inked across the parchment were rows of kanji and sealing symbols. With a quick flick of his fingers, he formed a string of hand signs using just one hand. A sharp puff of smoke exploded beside them, dissipating fast to reveal a thick coil of rope on the ground.
Kuro blinked. "That's actually pretty useful." he wasn't jealous though. His inventory was way faster and easier to use when it came to pulling out supplies, but still, fuinjutsu was still useful.
"Yeah, I know," Sugari scoffed, rolling the scroll back up and slipping it into his utility belt alongside the others. He walked over, grabbed the rope, and started tying up the unconscious bandit making sure it was tight and secure with no chance of him slipping out.
After double-checking the knots, he stood and brushed off his hands. "Alright... let's go kill some more of these fuckers."
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Kuro stood over the body of a lifeless bandit with his dagger gripped tight in one hand, the blade slick with blood. Then from the right a bandit charged at him, with a machete in hand. Kuro slipped inside the man's guard, sidestepping the swing, and brought his dagger upward. The edge slid clean under the man's chin and cut deep through his throat. Blood sprayed as the man dropped to his knees, then face-first to the ground.
A second came from behind and Kuro quickly pivoted, twisting on the ball of his foot and slamming the handle of his dagger into the man's jaw, which cracked under the sheer force of the swing. Before the man could hit the ground, Kuro drove the dagger into his heart.
To his left, Sugari caught a bandit's strike with the flat end of his sword, redirected it, and spun low. Swinging his blade horizontally as it cut clean through the bandit's legs just above the knees. The man dropped to floor screaming, Sugari didn't didn't care. He brought his sword down, cleaving through the bandit's skull, silencing him instantly.
Another bandit came swinging at his neck. However Sugari ducked low, then lunged forward, driving the point of his blade deep into the bandit's gut and ripping it sideways, forcing his guts to fall to the ground.
As two more bandits tried to flank him, Sugari took a single large step back, reaching behind he pulled free a large scroll. With a strong flick, he tossed it into the air. It spun fast, unraveling mid-air, its kanji glowing faintly.
Then, he threw up a singular handsign.
A sudden puff exploded in the air before a barrage of boulders came raining down. The five bandits grouped together didn't even have time to scream as the heavy stone smashed down on them, caving their skulls in as their bodies snapped under the crushing force.
The few remaining bandits froze, their weapons trembling in hand.
One turned. "Run! RUN!"
They scattered.
But Kuro and Sugari were faster.
As Kuro caught up to the first one, he leapt into the air, twisting his body as he kicked off the side of a broken cart and launched forward, bringing his leg back mid-air and then twisted hard, using his left foot to spin and slam his right foot directly into the back of the man's skull. From the sheer force of the kick the bandit face-planted into the dirt, hard. Kuro however didn't spare him another single second as and buried his dagger into the back of the man's neck, before yanking it free.
The second one running glanced back in horror, but it was too late.
With one smooth motion, Sugari flung his sword across the space between them. It whistled through the air and pierced straight through the man's shoulder, pinning him to a post.
"AAAAHHHHHHH!!!...." the man screamed.
Sugari walked over slowly, making the man suffer a few more seconds before he would kill him. Reaching, he yanked the sword free, and drove it through the bandit's chest with a single thrust. The man choked once, before going completely limp.
Kuro stepped back, wiped his dagger on the sleeve of a dead man, and looked toward Sugari.
"You good?"
Sugari stood still for a moment, eyes locked on the blood stained dirt. His sword hung loosely at his side as if all the energy had suddenly drained from him. Then, without looking at Kuro, he gave a short nod. "Yeah..." he muttered under his breath.
Kuro didn't believe it, not for a second, but now wasn't the time for that. He let it go and pushed himself to his feet, brushing some dirt off his pants as he turned toward a charred, half-collapsed wall nearby.
"It's okay. You can come out now…" Kuro called out.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then, slowly, a small head peeked up over the edge of the crumbled wall. As soon as the child spotted them, they ducked right back down, but a few seconds later, more began to appear. One by one, villagers started to climb out from behind the rubble and debris. A few of them held their children close, shielding their eyes from the scene of blood and lifeless bodies around them.
Their faces were tired and hollowed out coated in sweat and ash. But their eyes locked onto Kuro and Sugari with a look of surprise. They hadn't expected kids, just kids, to be the ones who had killed all of those men in such a ruthless manner.
Kuro stepped forward slowly, meeting their eyes with a soft look, trying to put them at ease. "It's safe now," he said, his tone gentler. "Please...head for the outskirts of the village. There's a forest nearby, that's where the others are hiding. You shouldn't run into any more bandits on the way, but still... stay quiet, and stay out of the open."
A few of the villagers nodded, still stunned, but Kuro's calm voice seemed to help. One woman let out a shaky breath and guided her daughter forward. The tension in the air loosened just a little.
Even as the villagers passed by, Kuro could still see the fear in their eyes. They were afraid of them, the blood on their clothes, the lifeless bodies scattered around them. It was a lot to take in. Still, the villagers offered quiet bows and murmured thanks before following the path Kuro had pointed out.
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[ QUEST INFO]
"Burning revenge..."
Type: Urgent
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-QUEST INFO-
A group of bandits have taken over the village. Kill them and rescue the villagers.
OBJECTIVE:
➤ KILLED BANDIT'S
[53 / 60]
➤ RESCUED VILLAGERS
[113/ 120]
CAUTION: FAILURE TO COMPLETE THE QUEST WILL RESULT IN A PENALTY OR WORSE.
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Once they were gone, Kuro glanced at the faint, translucent mission screen hovering in front of him. 'Alright… not much of them left.' he thought to himself, and with a quick swipe of his hand, the screen vanished.
"Okay," he said aloud, turning to Sugari as he stepped over to sit on a nearby chunk of broken stone. "We've cleared most of the area, but we still need to find Airi and Daichi."
Sugari let out a light groan as he stretched his arms over his head. "Yeah… not really sure where they ran off to—"
BOOOOM!
The ground trembled as a massive explosion echoed through the village, shaking the air like a thunderclap. Flames lit the sky just a few streets down, casting a brief glow over the rooftops.
Kuro and Sugari's heads snapped toward the blast before their heads turned to each other.
"Grab the guy," Kuro said, already standing. "Airi and Daichi might be in trouble..."
Sugari gave a quick nod before breaking into a sprint, as he circled behind a half-collapsed, burned down house. There, slumped against the charred wall, was the unconscious bandit, his entire body tightly bound by thick ropes.
Sugari crouched down and hauled the man up over his shoulder. He adjusted his grip, then turned and took off again, moving fast to catch up to Kuro. Who was already cutting through the next street, heading straight toward the smoke curling into the sky where the explosion had gone off.
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