Upon arriving at the town, Renjiro said, “Let’s take a break today. You can explore this town. However, you must stay together. We will meet at 1 PM at the same restaurant as yesterday.”
After he left, Hodaka said, “You know, because so much has happened, I didn’t even notice that we completed the mission and returned to this town in just two hours!”
Mieko also nodded. Feng Zheng sighed and said, “Yes, and the actual battle didn’t even last a few minutes. While killing is hard to get used to, the battle itself wasn’t a challenge.”
Hearing this, Mieko inquired about the details of the battle. Hodaka had already seen everything with his Byakugan, so he didn’t ask for details.
After hearing the details, Mieko felt that the Rank C mission was a bit anticlimactic. Feng Zheng smiled and said, “Next time, you should get angry at that guy again and force him to give us a Rank B mission.”
Mieko, hearing this, loudly exclaimed, “Hey, who got angry?”
Her shout drew the attention of nearby people, making Mieko blush. She thought for a moment and said, “But, yes, I think we should request a Rank B mission.”
Afterward, the children explored the town. They tasted some local delicacies and played some games there.
At 1 PM, they met Renjiro at the restaurant. After they were seated, Renjiro looked at Feng Zheng and asked, “How are you doing now?”
Feng Zheng replied, “Teacher, I’m fine now, nothing’s wrong.”
Renjiro nodded in satisfaction and said, “Good, you handled your first kill very well. I’m proud of you.”
Then he looked at Mieko and Hodaka and said, “It’s your turn next. You need to be prepared.”
The two young Ninja nodded nervously.
Lunch arrived, and the team began to eat. During the meal, Mieko suddenly asked, “Teacher, when can we take on a Rank B mission?”
Renjiro narrowed his eyes and asked, “Hmm, what’s this about?”
Mieko said, “We want to fight enemy Ninja. Fighting only bandits isn’t much fun.”
Renjiro scoffed and said, “Hmph, you’re not ready yet.”
However, he saw Mieko’s determined face. Knowing she would cause trouble, he quickly added, “If you ask this again, or pester me for a Rank B mission, I’ll make you do Rank D missions for a whole year.”
This threat quickly silenced Mieko.
For the rest of that day, Renjiro Squad didn’t do much.
The next morning, Renjiro Squad undertook a similar mission. They hid in a bamboo forest, observing the bandit hideout.
The bandits had cleared a small area and built three small huts and one medium-sized hut as their base. The medium-sized hut was in the center, with the other three small huts surrounding it.
Feng Zheng sensed a total of twelve people in these huts. Renjiro asked, “This time, who wants to go?”
Mieko spoke before Hodaka, “Me!”
Renjiro nodded and said, “Alright, this bandit hideout is yours.”
Mieko began to move forward stealthily. But she quickly stopped and returned. She looked at Hodaka and asked, “Hodaka, do they have hostages?”
Hodaka checked and replied, “No, all twelve people seem to be bandits.”
Mieko asked, “How many people are in each hut?”
Hodaka replied, “The middle hut has nine, that hut has two, the hut on the right has one, and the last one is empty.”
Mieko nodded and advanced stealthily using Earth Army Movement Technique.
She stopped five meters from the hut with two bandits and emerged from the ground.
From where she stood, the large hut was behind the small hut. She quickly performed Hand Seals and used Fireball Technique.
The Fireball quickly passed through the smaller hut. As soon as it passed through, two people screamed loudly.
Since the Fireball did not explode, it only burned them, not killing them immediately.
The Fireball passed through the smaller hut and reached the larger hut. It exploded in the center of the larger hut.
The explosion completely destroyed the hut. Feng Zheng saw four bodies thrown out by the explosion. The explosion instantly killed seven bandits.
The two bandits who were thrown out were still alive, screaming as they burned. The same was true for the other two bandits in the small hut.
Since the huts were made of bamboo and leaves, they offered no resistance to the Fireball.
Hearing the screams, the last bandit escaped from his hut, only to see both huts on fire.
He looked around and saw a fellow bandit burning and screaming. This sight filled him with terror.
Before he could decide what to do, Mieko flashed behind him and used Fire Release: Four Technique to generate a heat ray that pierced his heart and killed him.
Now that all the bandits were either killed or incapacitated, Mieko looked around. She looked at the burning bodies, could smell the burning flesh, and could hear the dying screams of three bandits.
This scene instantly made her want to vomit.
Renjiro quickly flashed behind her to comfort her. Feng Zheng had already killed people, so he was unfazed by this scene.
But Hodaka struggled with the smell of charred bodies and the screams.
Soon, the screams subsided, and all the bandits were dead.
After giving Mieko a few minutes to compose herself, Renjiro Squad retreated from the location.
Before leaving, Renjiro used Earth Release Ninjutsu to bury the entire place underground.
The next day, Renjiro Squad carried out a similar mission again. This time, the mission was to apprehend bandits.
Hodaka knocked down all the bandits and tied them up, completing the task.
However, Renjiro made Hodaka kill two of the bandits so that he could also get his first kill.
Renjiro gave the squad a day off on the fourth day.
On the morning of the fifth day, Renjiro said, “Today is our last mission. The three of you have done very well. Let’s go.”
On the way, he said, “Today’s bandit hideout is larger. You need to cooperate with each other.”
The Genin nodded in agreement. After two and a half months of continuous training, their team coordination was already excellent.
Their shared experience of their first kills had brought them closer. So, cooperation was not an issue for any of them.
Upon reaching the hideout, the Genin discovered that the entire hideout was actually underground.
Feng Zheng scanned the entire base. He said, “I can sense sixty-three people.”
Then he looked at Renjiro and said, “There are also five with higher Chakra levels, although they are only Genin-level.”
Renjiro nodded, while Mieko happily exclaimed, “Yes, finally we get to fight Ninja!”