pdf-ebookys Chapter 62 New Mission
Chapter 62 New Mission
Chapter 62 A New Mission (Seeking first subscriptions, continued reading, and monthly votes)
Outside the Konoha Mission Hall.
Before Taiyi even reached the entrance of the hall, he heard Uchiha Yohei's voice coming from afar.
"Taiyi, over here, over here!" Yangping waved his arms excitedly, looking like he couldn't wait to accept the mission.
Saori, standing next to her, was much quieter, looking like a serene lily.
When Taiyi approached, Yangping immediately started showing off: "Taiyi, let me tell you, I've learned several new ninjutsu these past few days. I'll show them to you during the mission, and you'll be amazed."
Taiichi looked at Yangping with some confusion. What kind of incredible ninjutsu had Yangping learned that made him so proud? He turned his questioning gaze to Saori beside him. Saori shook her head helplessly, clearly not knowing either.
Seeing this, Taiichi ignored the excited Yohei and asked Saori, "Did you see Captain Yamaguchi?"
"No, we just arrived too. We were just about to enter the lobby when we saw you," Saori explained.
"Let's go to the lobby and wait." With that, Taiyi led the two towards the mission hall.
As the three approached the mission hall, they saw Captain Yamaguchi emerge from it, holding a mission scroll in his hand, indicating that he had already accepted the mission.
"Captain." The three of them greeted each other together.
"Yes!" Captain Yamaguchi nodded in response. "I've already accepted this mission: a C-rank extermination of mountain bandits."
The three looked at each other, then simultaneously turned to their captain, awaiting Captain Yamaguchi's further explanation.
"Recently, bandits have been frequently appearing on the trade route between the Land of Fire and the Land of Grass. According to those who managed to escape, there are about 50 bandits in total. They specifically target small caravans and are extremely cruel. They never leave any survivors except for those who are lucky enough to escape," Captain Yamaguchi said as he walked.
"According to relevant intelligence, no fewer than five caravans have already fallen victim to their treachery. This time, it was commissioned by the Daming Prefecture, with the goal of wiping them out completely, leaving no one involved alive." Yamaguchi finished speaking and stopped to look at the three of them.
Yangping, always carefree, was currently considering how to test his new technique on the mountain bandits.
Saori looked at Captain Yamaguchi with a puzzled expression.
Taiyi also seemed to be deep in thought; this time, he might have to kill far more than just these 50 bandits.
"Have you prepared your ninja tools? If not, you have an hour to prepare them!" Captain Yamaguchi asked the three.
"Everything is ready."
"Alright, I have one more request: this mission to wipe out the bandits, unless you encounter an enemy you can't handle..."
"Otherwise, I won't make a move, understand?" Captain Yamaguchi made a final confirmation.
"Then, let's go."
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After leaving Konoha, Team 8 traveled alone this time, so it only took them two days to reach the vicinity of the trade route mentioned in the mission.
At this moment, only Taichi and his two companions were present. Captain Yamaguchi had broken away from the group shortly after leaving Konoha. He had truly let go completely. Only Taichi knew that Captain Yamaguchi was probably watching them from not far away, because he could occasionally feel himself being watched.
Taiichi took out the map given to him for the mission and marked his location on the map, comparing it to the surrounding environment. Then, looking at Yangping and Saori, he said, "So, any thoughts?"
Yangping took the map and examined it carefully. He found that apart from a village and a small hill, there were no other obvious hiding places nearby.
"Let's check those two places out; we might find something useful." With that, Yangping handed the map to Saori again.
He gestured for Saori to take a look as well.
Saori took the map and, like everyone else, compared it to the surrounding area. After clarifying the specific situation, she agreed with Yohei's opinion.
But she added, "We should first check the surrounding battlefields. There were at least five battles. Even if some time has passed, there should still be some traces left."
"That's right!" Taichi took the map from Saori, folded it neatly, and put it into his ninja tool pouch. "The scene is very important."
We need to see if we can find anything from the traces.
"Next, we'll split up and search within a 5-kilometer radius. If you encounter any enemies, remember to signal immediately. We'll meet up here again in one hour," Taiyi made the final decision.
Yangping and Saori agreed in unison, and then the three of them began to split up and investigate.
Watching the three leave in different directions, Yamaguchi Seisuke, hidden in the earth in the distance, nodded to himself. They had done the right first step: splitting up to search for clues at the scene.
What's commendable is that Yangping and Saori didn't blindly follow Taichi's arrangements; instead, they both used their knowledge and expressed their own opinions. Taichi, too, didn't act arbitrarily just because he was the strongest; he fully listened to his teammates' suggestions. This is the behavior expected of a mature team.
The only thing that made Yamaguchi Seisuke somewhat suspicious was that Taiichi might have discovered his hiding place, as he had looked in his direction several times. What a terrifying brat, with such keen senses and rapid progress.
Taiyi headed east, searching clockwise around the previous location. He actually found two battle sites along the way. They must have been fought recently, because bloodstains could be found at one of them.
Looking at the large, blood-stained gray stone at his feet, Taiyi seemed to see a guard being slashed to the ground, struggling, then being stabbed through the chest and dragged along the ground. The scratches from fingernails across the stone's surface were still clearly visible.
Upon further inspection, the surrounding area was filled with marks from sword and knife strikes, scattered haphazardly without any order. Even the fighting was a chaotic brawl caused by a large number of people rushing in together.
After walking a few more steps, Taiyi suddenly squatted down and looked at the row of neatly arranged round holes in the ground. Taiyi seemed to be thinking, and then he used his fingers to poke into each hole one by one, releasing his chakra to carefully sense them. He found that these were all holes about half a foot long with an arc shape.
He noted down these marks, and continued his investigation while trying to figure out what kind of weapon could have caused them.
After searching the entire area, Taiichi returned to the starting point to wait for Yohei and Saori to arrive.
After a while, the three of them reunited and shared their discoveries.
"I found two traces here, both quite old, but I can't see anything useful about them," Yangping said first, revealing his findings.
"I have one more mark here, making a total of three. One of them is relatively new. Judging from the scene, there are no signs of ninjutsu; they are mostly marks from swords and other similar weapons." Saori continued after Yangping finished speaking, "Those bandits were too cruel. Judging from the marks, those merchants were probably bound after surrendering and then killed without any chance to fight back."
"These people deserve to die!" Even Saori, who is usually soft-spoken, lost her composure because of their cruelty.
One can only imagine how bloody the scene she witnessed was.
"My situation is similar to Saori's, but we're at two different addresses." Taichi concluded, "In that case, there are at least seven caravans that have been attacked. After so many attacks, I don't know how they managed to escape capture."
"By the way, Saori, besides the sword marks, do you have any other special marks?" Taichi asked in more detail, remembering something.
"This... let me think—" Saori tapped her forehead, deep in thought. Suddenly, as if struck by a thought, she said, "There are some rather strange marks. I hadn't noticed them until you pointed them out. They're a row of round, hole-like marks. I wonder what caused them."
"Yes, I have some too." Taiyi nodded in affirmation and made the final conclusion, "Now it's roughly confirmed that they are just a group of ordinary mountain bandits. Apart from their cruel methods, they are just a rabble."
Yangping and Saori nodded in agreement, sharing the same sentiment.
"Next, let's go check out that small hill. It's the most likely hiding place for the bandits."
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