The next day, the sky was slightly bright, and team 7 had already gathered at the gate.
Because of the promotion of the commission, they set off for the previous night in Night Hope Town after a simple clean-up.
Along the way, the whole team was silent.
Kakashi and Sasuke were both people who did not like to talk, and Sakura was the first to leave the village for the mission, and she was nervous.
Although Naruto was smiling, he seemed to be thinking about something.
This was the first time he had left Konoha.
The air outside Konoha was fresh and free, and he could often see small animals shuttling between the trees.
Naruto felt that the sword that had been hanging in his heart had disappeared, and his heart felt unprecedentedly relaxed.
It turned out that this was the taste of freedom.
While moving forward, Kakashi was the first to break the silence:
"This is the first time you have carried the mission out of the village. I won't interfere. You need to first detect the intelligence of the mountain bandits, then make a plan, and finally complete the commission."
"What do you think of this commission?"
Naruto said, "Time."
"Well, for example?" Kakashi was interested.
"With our current speed, we can reach our destination before the night, and we can start gathering information. The night is the best time to execute. Through the cover of the sky, it is reasonable to distribute everyone's duties. The strength of the bandit group may not be worth mentioning, but the timing of the whole process is crucial. If we alert them, it is likely to cause unnecessary trouble."
"Yes, Naruto is right." Kakashi did not hide the admiration in his eyes.
"This is also the biggest problem you will encounter in this commission. This will be your first time killing people."
After that, the atmosphere of the whole team became a bit lower.
Sasuke's eyes flashed, and no one knew what he was thinking.
Sakura's face was full of resistance.
After all, they were only 12 years old.
Only Naruto's face was gentle, and his eyes were calm.
In the face of the coming first slaughter, his mood was unexpectedly calm.
Just like this, after half a day of traveling, they successfully arrived near Night Hope Town.
A little further ahead, they would encounter hidden sentries.
The physical adjustment during the journey also brought a small problem to team 7.
Because of Sakura's lack of physical strength, they still wasted a bit of time along the way.
"Then, let's begin your commission." Kakashi divided out three clones and followed each member.
"The three of us will go in three directions to search for information. First of all, we will make Night Hope Town a center point." Naruto immediately entered a state of mind. He adjusted his glasses and began to formulate a plan to gather information.
After the plan was made, the three of them disappeared into the forest.
Naruto shuttled through the forest and quickly stood at a higher place, observing the entire town with smoke curling up. Reiatsu gathered in his eyes, helping him to see the situation in the town more clearly.
This was a small town that could accommodate less than a hundred people, and the economy was relatively bleak. The villagers relied on agriculture to be self-sufficient.
However, all that could be seen now were people dressed in rough and fiendish clothes. Naruto noticed that there was no one working in the farmland at all. Compared to the farmers, they had already been controlled or killed.
During the observation, Naruto even saw a few men dragging naked women out of the house. The woman dragged by them had a face full of despair and looked like a shell.
If this group of mountain bandits did not appear, the residents of the town would definitely lived a beautiful life that stood aloof from worldly affairs.
There was no malice, no prejudice, only the daily work and the help of the neighbors.
In Ninja's world, this was rare and precious.
But all of this had been ruined.
Naruto's eyes darkened. For some reason, his heart was brewing with boiling killing intent.
This was the kind of intensity that Kyubi's Chakra had never felt when they bewitched him.
After Naruto memorized everything about the town and the distribution of the hidden sentries, he temporarily retreated.
.....
At night.
Soon, the three of them gathered together and shared the information they had obtained.
Compared to Naruto, the information that Sasuke and Sakura had obtained was very trivial.
Naruto still acted according to the plan and opened up a simple map of the town.
"According to the previous information, the mountain bandits team has about 20 people. The leader and the vice-leader have a rough flow of Chakra inside their bodies, but even Genin has not reached the level. I estimate that the use of the three body techniques is not smooth."
"So it doesn't pose a threat to you." At this point, Naruto looked at Sasuke and said, "Sasuke, let's leave the deputy leader to you. Is there a problem?"
"No, it's just a small fish," Sasuke said coldly, but Naruto saw nervousness in his cold eyes.
He chuckled, "If you are afraid, you can leave it to me."
Hearing this, Sasuke's face immediately turned red and he explained, "Afraid? I will not be afraid. Leave it to me!"
After Naruto's urging, Sasuke found that the tension in his heart had eased a lot.
"In that case, it's settled." Naruto pointed to a few places on the simple map. "Leave this area to me. The leader will be handed over to Sasuke. Sakura, you will be responsible for this place."
"You have to remember one thing." Naruto's gentle expression disappeared and his expression became serious. He said in a low voice, "You have to be ruthless. You can't hesitate." He took out a handful of Kunai from his ninja pouch.
"If there's no problem, let's start."
When he finished speaking, Naruto saw Sasuke disappear from his line of sight.
He chuckled in his heart.
Sasuke is really eager to win.
However, he saw that Sakura was still in the same place, looking a little dazed.
The young girl's hands nervously grasped Kunai, even her fingers were a little pale.
Seeing this, Naruto also understood that the daily life of laughing in Ninja's school, accepting commissions but having to see blood, and even killing people, for Sakura, the span was still relatively large.
He walked to Sakura's side and whispered, "You must be very scared."
"Yes." Sakura's shoulders trembled as he muttered, "I, I don't dare."
"This is something that Ninja must experience." Naruto rubbed Sakura's pink hair. "The real world is different from the textbooks. From the day we became Genin, we have already entered this world."
"Sakura, your grades are among the best in class, but do you know why your actual combat grades are always suppressed by Sasuke?"
"Because he has a family's Ninjutsu?" Sakura looked up blankly.
"No, he saw Ninja's cruelty in advance, so he had the awareness to become stronger."
"Carrying the glory of the family and breaking through the limits in life and death. To him, Ninja is not a game of playing house, but he will die."
Naruto pulled out Kunai from Sakura's hand and whispered, "Originally, we might need to carry out the commission for a few more months before we can enter this cruel stage. I am really sorry for taking Sakura into such a cruel world without permission. Before Sakura makes up his mind, let me bear all of this."
"After all, I am used to the real world."
Naruto's tone was gentle and his expression was gentle.
"Me." Thinking that his hands could be stained with blood, Sakura's body trembled. Two streams of tears rolled down his face. "I'm sorry, Naruto-kun. I was too naive."
"But, I, I still want to try. I don't want to drag you down." Sakura wiped her tears and took Kunai from Naruto's hands.
"Really? Sakura, you are as strong as I thought." Naruto smiled and rubbed Sakura's head.
"Then let's start the operation."
Kakashi watched the scene quietly and could not help sighing:
"I am used to reality. Sure enough, the past is more cruel to Naruto than killing people."
"Only after experiencing pain will you know how to cherish it."
"It is because of this experience that Naruto became such a dazzling light."