Not long after leaving Asaka Town, the group turned onto a small, quiet country path.
Suddenly, Akisawa Uchiha's expression shifted. He raised a hand to signal the team to stop, simultaneously drawing a shuriken.
"Come out!"
From behind a tree by the roadside, two thugs carrying swords swaggered out.
Shinnosuke noticed their dull, vacant expressions, while the three tomoe in his own Sharingan spun rapidly.
The other three Uchiha did the same. A moment later, they exchanged glances and relaxed. Their Sharingan saw absolutely no chakra in the two men.
Just two local thugs.
They were ninjas—Uchiha, at that. Why would they be afraid of two random bandits?
"If you want to pass through here, you have to leave some money for us brothers."
Okawa saw the smug looks on the thugs' faces, and a mischievous grin appeared on his own. He pointed at his forehead protector.
"Hey, hey, since when do thugs have the guts to rob people on the highway?"
Upon seeing the Konoha headband, the two thugs' expressions changed instantly, and they began whispering to each other.
"Big brother, it's a Konoha ninja. We should hurry up and slip away."
"Shut up. So what if it's a Konoha ninja? My sword hasn't cut a ninja yet. Today is the perfect chance to show them something."
Ninjas have extremely sharp hearing; all four Uchiha heard every word of their whispers and stared at them, unimpressed.
"Cut the chatter. I don't care if you're ninjas or not. Just leave the money and we'll let you pass."
At this moment, the wealthy merchant stuck his head out of the sedan chair. "Hey! Why have you guys stopped again?!"
Shinnosuke gave a bitter smile and stepped forward. "I'll handle it."
Seeing Shinnosuke approach, the two thugs instantly went on guard. One turned to run, while the other lunged forward with his sword raised.
The three-tomoe Sharingan slowly rotated.
The thug who lunged was instantly pulled into a genjutsu, his body going limp as he collapsed to the ground.
Ryoko raised her hand and threw a shuriken, hitting the fleeing thug squarely in the back of the heart. He collapsed as well.
Shinnosuke was stunned and quickly shouted, "Ryoko, don't kill people!"
Ryoko didn't listen. A second shuriken shot from her hand.
In the blink of an eye, both thugs were dead.
Shinnosuke frowned, but Ryoko replied coolly, "Captain, we are on a mission. Don't be soft-hearted."
Shinnosuke sighed and didn't argue. He knew the ninja world was like this. People who obstructed missions either killed or were killed; there was often no other choice.
The group set off again.
As they passed the corpses, Shinnosuke glanced down at them and shook his head slightly.
A moment later, his face changed drastically.
"Ryoko, Okawa, watch your backs!"
But his warning came too late.
Two long swords pierced directly through their chests.
Blood flowed from Ryoko's mouth. She looked down at the sword tip sticking out of her chest and slowly turned her head.
The two thugs she had supposedly just killed were grinning hideously, standing right behind her.
She opened her mouth to speak, but another mouthful of blood spurred out. Before dying, her eyes were wide open, staring right at Akisawa.
Okawa had already closed his eyes.
The two thugs pulled their swords out of the bodies, wearing strange, twisted smiles.
Akisawa looked at his fallen teammates—especially at Ryoko's unseeing eyes—and let out a scream.
The two tomoe in his Sharingan spun madly, and finally, a third tomoe appeared.
"I'll kill you two bastards!"
Shinnosuke quickly stopped him. "Calm down! These two aren't ordinary. Their speed is so fast that even the Sharingan couldn't track it."
Akisawa gritted his teeth, glaring at the two thugs. "Who exactly are you people? Why are you doing this?"
The two thugs rested their swords on their shoulders again. "We told you long ago to bring out some money. See? They died so miserably... idiots!"
Akisawa couldn't hold back any longer. Gripping a shuriken, he charged.
One of the thugs stepped forward. Facing Akisawa's shuriken, he didn't even try to dodge, allowing the blade to slash right across his throat.
At the same time, he kicked Akisawa back.
Shinnosuke caught him, his gaze fixed on the thug whose throat had been slashed. His pupils instantly contracted.
The wound on the thug's throat was healing rapidly, restoring itself to its original state in the blink of an eye.
"This is..."
Shinnosuke placed Akisawa on the ground, a grave look in his eyes. "Akisawa, run. Quickly. I'll hold them off."
Hearing his captain order him to run, Akisawa looked incredulous. "Captain!"
"Run!"
Shinnosuke suddenly slapped him across the face. "Wake up! Go back to Konoha and report the intelligence. Rinka is still waiting for you!"
Hearing the name Rinka, a look of struggle appeared in Akisawa's eyes. "Captain, your daughter..."
"I'm begging you, Akisawa!"
Shinnosuke didn't say anything else. He began forming hand seals.
"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" (Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!)
Facing the oncoming fireball, one of the thugs simply swung his sword downward, splitting the flames in half.
Seeing this, Shinnosuke pulled out a shuriken and charged.
Akisawa gritted his teeth, turned, and ran.
Just as he took two steps, a ball of blazing fire exploded behind him with suffocating heat.
Akisawa looked back—a severed leg smashed directly into his face.
A broken toy doll landed by his feet.
He stared at the doll, his expression dazed.
"How boring. We finished off the Konoha Uchiha so easily. Should I say you're stupid, or should I say you're naive?"
A little girl's voice came from behind him.
Akisawa turned his head to look. "Are you behind all of this?"
The little girl, Yūhaku, giggled. "Idiot. How can you relax your guard as a ninja? You guys are really disqualified as shinobi!"
Seeing the situation, the wealthy merchant's guards quickly abandoned the sedan chair and fled towards the fields. Several shuriken shot out from the tall grass, killing them instantly.
The merchant hid inside the sedan chair, shivering, too afraid to show his head.
A toy doll was thrown in through the window.
Another burst of blazing fire flashed.
Akisawa wore an expression that looked like he was crying and laughing at the same time. He slumped onto the ground, defeated.
Yūhaku waved at him with her cute little hand. "Hey, your toy doll is still hanging on your waist. There are several explosive tags inside. Are you sure you don't want to take it off?"
"Kill me."
Yūhaku frowned. "Scared silly?"
The two thugs walked up and placed their swords against Akisawa's neck.
Yūhaku interrupted them. "Wait. That big brother's eyes when he bought the doll earlier were so disgusting. Was he missing someone in his heart?"
One of the thugs suddenly lifted his foot. "If you want to live, lick my foot. If I'm happy, maybe I'll let you go."
Yūhaku spat on the ground twice. "Shiro-san, control Cocklebur. What a nasty character. Disgusting."