After their discussion, the three immediately began preparations. Once ready for action, Shiyu Uchiha and the others sprang into motion.
Each of them moved toward different night guards. Saya followed Shiyu Uchiha while the other two went separately.
Using his Sharingan to aid his meditation technique, Shiyu Uchiha crushed every trace of negativity inside him. He kept repeating to himself, "I can do this." Slowly, the darkness inside him sank deeper and deeper.
Just then, he spotted a bandit yawning. A perfect opening — he flooded his body with chakra and surged forward like lightning. Performing [Ba], he struck from behind with full force — plunging the blade straight into the bandit's heart while covering his mouth at the same time.
Yet as Shiyu inhaled the scent of blood, part of him felt thrilled while another part felt nauseated. However, there was no time to dwell on these feelings because Saya sent word urging him to keep moving quickly.
Soon afterward, Shiyu Uchiha met back up with the other two. All three had just killed someone for the first time, so their reactions were similar, but Shiyu Uchiha's discomfort was more intense than theirs. Still, he relied constantly on his meditation technique to empty his mind and prevent such emotions from overwhelming him.
Because of this, his performance wasn't too bad, and he signaled to the other two to continue. The trio silently eliminated several more bandits who weren't among the inner circle.
Next, they approached the residence of an isolated samurai. Since the remaining enemies' locations were close together, Shiyu Uchiha and his team doubted whether they could keep killing without drawing attention. Therefore, instead of continuing to hide and ambush ordinary bandits, they proceeded according to plan — directly confronting the lone samurai head-on.
Shiyu Uchiha formed the hand seals for the Great Fireball Technique, finishing with the Tora seal. Then he took a deep breath and exhaled a massive fireball aimed straight at the sleeping warrior.
Although the samurai reacted quickly and jumped out through the window in time, he was still blasted by the Great Fireball Technique, escaping with only his sword.
At that moment, Izuno Hiroshi and Gekko Ryo hurled numerous shuriken and kunai toward the samurai as he exited through the window, cutting off all possible escape routes.
Then, during the chaotic attempt by the samurai to [Block], Saya slashed at his main artery with a claw strike, ending his life.
Meanwhile, the commotion caused by Shiyu's jutsu woke up the rest of the bandits, who realized they were under attack. They rushed out of their houses, snatching up weapons and lighting torches in haste.
When they witnessed Shiyu and the others kill the bandit right before their eyes, they were shocked and immediately recognized them as ninjas, causing hesitation about how to respond next.
"Kill them!" Another warrior among the bandits rushed forward and commanded everyone.
Motivated by the authority of the former Bandit Chieftain and emboldened by the obvious youthfulness of Shiyu's team, over ten bandits steeled themselves, pushed down their terror of ninja, and leapt into battle. However, the warrior who had given the order held his ground instead of charging forward.
A slightly knowledgeable person would know that even if he killed these three ninjas here, there would still be repercussions. Therefore, he decided to run away. However, Shiyu Uchiha, who was constantly watching him, noticed his intention to escape.
Before the bandits could charge forward and surround them, Shiyu immediately activated the Shifting Body Technique. He dashed straight toward the Bandit Warrior at high speed.
They clashed blades for a moment, then dove into fierce combat. At the same time, Gekko Ryo unsheathed his blade and joined forces with Izuno Hiroshi, who had activated the Cat Cuddle Jutsu, charging at the dozen or so bandits.
But now, unable to maintain his meditation technique in the midst of battle, Shiyu's inner struggle resurfaced. During the fight, he hesitated to deliver killing blows, missing multiple opportunities. Without that hesitation, he could've already killed his enemy or gained the upper hand.
The experienced Bandit Warrior also noticed Shiyu's issue and began employing desperate, life-risking tactics, hoping to severely wound Shiyu and buy himself a chance to survive.
This tactic proved effective. Had it not been for Saya breaking through several bandits' encirclement at a critical moment to assist Shiyu, Shiyu might have sustained serious injuries.
However, after being rescued by Saya, Shiyu bit down hard on his own arm, using the pain to regain composure. He knew he couldn't continue like this, so he forcefully suppressed the negative emotions within and unleashed his full swordsmanship, [Ba].
Working together with Saya, they severely wounded the Bandit Warrior within less than ten exchanges. Then, Shiyu slashed open the enemy's throat and artery in one decisive move, blood spurting out and splattering onto his body.
Watching the blood spurt out, still warm from the body, splattering all over himself, the emotions Shiyu had kept suppressed with his meditation technique suddenly burst free. He felt as if his spirit had been washed clean. Under this intense mental shock, a chilling sensation surged into his mind, calming him completely—like he had shifted from one extreme to another—and his eyes changed.
There's an old saying among soldiers: A man isn't a soldier until he's seen battle.
This saying applies equally to ninja—the true ninja are those who've taken lives. Right now, Shiyu Uchiha had truly become a real ninja.
Afterward, Shiyu Uchiha and Saya joined forces again, chasing down the remaining few bandits. After all, if this many escaped at once, Gekko Ryo and Izuno Hiroshi wouldn't be able to kill them all simultaneously.
With Shiyu's help, the surviving bandits were soon eliminated, and Shiyu returned to the battlefield.
Looking around at the bloodied bodies, as that cold sensation faded from his mind, his emotions surged again. Then, Shiyu Uchiha dropped to one knee and began vomiting violently.
Not far behind, Gekko Ryo and Izuno Hiroshi weren't faring much better. Once returning to the scene and seeing the surroundings under the torchlight, they too started dry-heaving uncontrollably.
Only Saya just stared at the three of them, puzzled by their reactions.
But she had no intention of getting closer either, considering the unpleasant smell of vomit—especially for Saya, whose sense of smell was particularly sensitive.
After a while, Gekko Ryo and Izuno Hiroshi had already recovered, though their faces were still pale. Only Shiyu Uchiha continued to react violently, still vomiting.
Then Izuno Hiroshi asked Saya to watch over Shiyu Uchiha while they went to find the women who had been taken captive by the bandits. He found it rather strange that despite all the commotion, none of the women had come out.
However, Izuno Hiroshi and Gekko Ryo soon got their answer when they saw Shinku Yuhi nearby.
"I've gathered all of them into this house and used [Genjutsu] to put them to sleep. They won't wake up until tomorrow morning. When they do wake up, Ryo will comfort them while Hiroshi stays here—but don't go inside."
"Yes, Teacher," Izuno Hiroshi and Gekko Ryo responded.
Then Shinku Yuhi's voice sounded again: "I'll go check on Shiyu. You two seem okay now—give yourselves a moment to recover." Before his voice faded, he had already started walking toward where Shiyu Uchiha was.
Upon hearing Shinku Yuhi's words, Izuno Hiroshi and Gekko Ryo exchanged glances, bringing back what had just happened. This time, though, they barely flinched—they were starting to get used to the life of a ninja.
Meanwhile, things were only beginning to calm down for Shiyu Uchiha.
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