A large bonfire was being prepared to cook the wild boar meat. Haruki had cut it into several portions, leaving some for himself and his team to eat, and sealing the rest in a scroll.
"This guy had a lot of meat. Even with my dad keeping most of it, there's still so much for us to eat that we'll be stuffed," Kaito said to his teammates.
"I can already imagine the taste. If regular roasted boar is good, just imagine one this size," Ryuji said, drooling from the corner of his mouth.
"You're starting to sound like that guy from the Akimichi clan now. Well, you do have a certain resemblance. You might not be fat, but your body is massive. You don't even look like you're 12," Hikari said to Ryuji, who was still drooling.
"Of course, I trained in taijutsu and did my physical exercises every day. My diet has to be much larger too," Ryuji wiped away his drool as he spoke to Hikari.
"Haha, you're right, Ryuji. Good nutrition is the foundation for everything. Let's roast this boar already. I can't wait to eat," Kaito's mouth was also watering as he looked at the piece of meat on the fire.
"You kids have been so loud lately, but the smell of this meat is making me really hungry," Haruki began to salivate, looking at the meat with desire.
Hikari was astonished by this; how could they all have the same thought?
"Men are all the same, aren't they?" she sighed.
"Not all the same, we just have common desires," they all said simultaneously, looking at each other.
"Hahahaha."
"Hihihihi."
"Hehehe."
They all smiled and moved closer to the fire to roast their meat.
"Today's going to be a long day," Hikari sighed again and joined them.
Several hours passed, and the day was almost darkening again.
Team 11 was once again advancing towards the village after a long barbecue and lots of fun.
After covering a short distance, they began to see the village, with dozens of wooden houses.
As they reached the village's entrance, they could see two "guards" armed with tools and leather armor.
The guards became nervous upon noticing the approaching group and tightened their grip on their tools.
"Who are you? What do you want?" one of the guards shouted, while the other remained on alert, searching for more people besides the four.
Upon realizing this, Team 11 whispered among themselves quietly.
"Wow, they're heavily armed. I'm shaking with fear," Ryuji teased.
"These are clearly elite guards, guys. No one would entrust such powerful weapons to untrained individuals," Kaito joined in the banter.
"Can't you see that they're doing this to defend against the bandits? And you're making fun of them. How immature of you," Hikari scolded.
"Hey, boys, cut it out," Haruki said.
"Hahaha, it was good, now you're going to get a scolding from the sensei," Hikari laughed to herself, but then came the disappointment.
"Can't you see, kids? With such a display of power, even a Hokage would have to back down," Haruki said with a serious expression.
The three looked at each other and started laughing softly while Hikari wondered what she was doing among a bunch of immatures.
But as they got closer, the faces of the three suddenly turned serious.
Hikari's mouth formed an "O" from how impressed she was by their changed expressions.
Haruki then introduced himself to the guards.
"We are ninjas from the Leaf Village, we've come to deal with the bandit problem." After Haruki said this, the guards finally noticed the headbands with the Konoha symbol.
"Thank goodness, you've finally arrived," the guards' eyes gleamed.
"So, you are the ninjas from Konoha. Please, come in. We've been waiting for you for some time now." The guards invited them in.
Team 11 followed one of the guards, walking through the village. It was a simple village with dozens of houses and a small local market.
"These damn bandits, they came and looted everything, spared nothing."
"They come, steal everything, and they warned us that if we didn't come up with enough money to satisfy them, they would kill people until we got the money. Some brave men tried to defend against the bandits, but unfortunately, they were killed. They were courageous but not strong enough," the guard sighed.
Team 11, who had been paying attention, clenched their fists in frustration.
Haruki didn't care much; he had seen worse things than this, and his heart had grown cold to such matters.
"But now that you're here, we no longer need to fear," the guard said, looking at Haruki.
Team 11 raised their eyebrows because they were being ignored.
"Don't include me in that. This mission will be completed by these kids; they are capable ninjas," Haruki spoke before his team could respond.
The guard was surprised and turned to the children, scrutinizing them from head to toe, finding nothing that showed strength or ninja equipment. Of course, this was when looking at Kaito and Hikari. When the old man looked at Ryuji, who was over 1.70 meters tall, he couldn't say he was a child, especially with the strong physique he had.
"Have you looked enough? Let's complete this mission without any problems and capture all the bandits. After all, we're ninjas," Kaito said in a normal tone.
Ryuji and Hikari nodded in agreement with what Kaito had said.
The guard still had doubts, but since they were from Konoha, there was a certain credibility. There was also that ninja who said he wouldn't interfere, but he doubted that when the children were in danger, he wouldn't do anything.
The guard remained silent and continued walking.
They soon stopped near a wooden house that was completely destroyed.
"He followed the bandits the last time they came; he might have important information. You might think he's very brave or crazy, but the truth is, his brother died at the hands of the bandits. His name is Daichi," the guard pointed to the broken house as he spoke softly.
After finishing speaking, the guard left.
Kaito looked at Haruki, expecting him to say something, but he was just observing.
Sigh!
After sighing, Kaito looked at his teammates and said, "Let's talk to him and find out the bandits' location. What do you guys think?"
"If we don't talk to him, we'll have to wait for the bandits to return, and that could take a while or not happen at all," Hikari said after thinking for a moment. She continued, "But be careful about how you approach him, you idiots. He just lost his brother."
"Hey, we may be idiots, but we're not insensitive," Ryuji replied.
"Hey, hey, hey. Who agreed to that? I'm not an idiot," Kaito said after Ryuji responded for him.
Ryuji and Hikari smiled quietly.
"Enough with the clown
ing around; let's talk to him," Kaito said.
After saying this, Kaito approached the door and knocked.
Knock! Knock!
"Who is it?" a hoarse voice came from inside the house.
"We're Leaf Village ninjas; we need some information. Can you help..." Before Kaito could finish speaking, the door was already open.
A young man, appearing to be between 15 and 17 years old, with an average build, stepped out.
"You're here. Follow me. We don't have time to waste," the young man began talking without even looking at them.
After a moment's pause, the young man scrutinized them carefully and saw three children younger than him and one adult.
"Didn't know they'd send children. At least there's an adult," the young man said, mocking them.
Team 11 completely ignored what he had said because they knew that until they showed their power, no one would believe in them. But soon enough, they would be grateful to the team for taking care of the bandits.
"Can you give us the information?" Kaito asked calmly.
"Of course, if Konoha sent you, you must have some strength, and your sensei is with you. I won't take long," after mocking them, he began to provide the information.
A few minutes passed, and he relayed the information he knew.
"Let's go; I'll take you there," the young man began walking as soon as he finished speaking.
Ryuji and Hikari were about to interrupt him to prevent him from going with them, but Kaito stopped them.
"He's seeking revenge, and every man has the right to avenge his own family. Let him be. I'll put a clone to watch over him later."
"Now let's go."
Team 11 headed towards the bandits' location.
...
In the midst of the forest.
"We're almost there," the young man said, leading the way.
Kaito and his companions followed closely behind, whispering quietly.
"Kaito, I don't think this is a good idea. Even if his brother died, he'll get himself killed if he tries to fight the bandits," Hikari doubted Kaito's choice.
"I agree, Kaito. This is too risky for him," Ryuji sided with Hikari this time.
"Friends, don't you understand? When someone wants revenge, they won't be stopped by anything, let alone a 'no.' If I didn't let him show us the way, he'd surely come secretly. Besides, we don't know the exact location; he could arrive here before we find it," after Kaito spoke, both of them fell silent.
A cave soon appeared amidst the bushes.
"We've arrived; they're hiding in there," Daichi said, pointing to a cave.
They stopped talking and stared at the cave.
"No one guarding the cave entrance; we can't tell if they're still inside. We'll have to go in," Hikari said.
"Then let's do it," Kaito said, taking out a sealing scroll. With a hand seal, his sword appeared.
Ryuji and Hikari followed suit, drawing their kunai.
Even Daichi pulled out a sword.
Kaito was surprised; Daichi's demeanor wasn't that of an inexperienced person, but Kaito brushed it aside. He'd make a clone to watch over Daichi later.
The four continued toward the cave.
After entering the cave, it was clear that it was quite large, but there were still no signs of the bandits.
They soon reached a decline, and as they passed it, they could hear noises; it seemed like the bandits were celebrating.
"Hahaha, we're going to be rich. We just need to do this a few more times," one of the bandits shouted.
"Do you think this is wealth? Wait until we start robbing other villages; we'll be swimming in money," another bandit said.
Many other conversations were taking place.
Team 11 walked further ahead, where they could see a total of 20 bandits.
Kaito then formed a hand sign, and a water clone appeared, quickly arriving next to Daichi.
"This clone will protect you if you need it," Kaito said quietly.
Daichi looked at the clone, clenched his fists, but nodded.
"Ready?" Kaito asked everyone, who nodded in agreement.
"Then let's go. I want them all captured."
To be continued.