{A/N: Drop a comment, or I swear an elephant will punt your left nut into oblivion, courtesy of the Heavenly Demon's curse. Don't say I didn't warn you.
Oh, and check out my new fic, "Naruto: Demon God Template," too! Trust me, it's good.}
"So... now that everyone's here, let's get started with your first mission, shall we?" Shin casually leaned back in the throne-like chair that once belonged to Hirosi, his legs propped up as if he owned the place now—well, he kinda did.
The group of bandits in front of him looked like they'd been through hell. Bruised and battered, they stood awkwardly, shifting their weight from one foot to the other.
Each one had been individually beaten down by Shin earlier, a quick reminder that he wasn't someone they could mess with.
They weren't trained fighters or anything special, just normal people turned bandits for survival, and Shin had taken them down like it was nothing.
What had happened was simple. Hirosi, their former leader, had sent these guys out to collect protection fees from the nearby villages, where elderly folks and defenseless villagers lived.
It was a dirty job, but when they returned one by one, Shin gave them a personal "welcome back" beating and broke them all into submission without breaking a sweat.
Suddenly, one of the bandits raised his hand, his posture a little shaky. "Uhhh... Oh great lord, may I ask... what's the mission?" His voice wavered, like he wasn't sure if asking questions was a good idea right now.
This was Meiji, a kid with long black hair, kind of skinny, and maybe in his late teens. Despite being a bandit, the guy had an odd, scholarly vibe to him.
He didn't fit the usual rough and tough look of a forest bandit, which made him stand out.
He wasn't ugly either—his face was surprisingly handsome, almost like he belonged in some fancy study room rather than here with a bunch of thugs.
"And, uh, please don't take my words as offensive," Meiji quickly added, raising his hands in a nervous gesture.
The last thing he wanted was to piss off Shin. When Hirosi was in charge, asking too many questions or interrupting him had been a surefire way to get slapped around.
Hirosi only survived as long as he did by pure luck; otherwise, he was your typical cannon fodder. And in the end? Yeah, he went out just like any other pathetic loser—quick and forgettable.
Shin didn't seem bothered, though. He even smiled a little, which made Meiji gulp. Shin stood up from his seat, moving in a way that drew everyone's attention, and locked eyes with Meiji.
There was something unsettling in that look, like he was deciding whether to laugh or tear someone's heart out.
"Hmm… It's not much," Shin said, his voice casual as if he were asking for a cup of tea. "Just get me a few hundred human hearts."
There was a pause. The weight of what he said seemed to hang in the air like a bad smell. Meiji blinked, and the other bandits around him froze.
Did he really just say... a few hundred human hearts? The looks on their faces were priceless, a mix of shock, confusion, and a bit of fear.
Was this guy serious? He wanted them to go out and butcher hundreds of people? Sure, they were bandits, but this wasn't some knight's tale where they slaughtered villages for fun.
They weren't exactly saints, no, far from it. They had blood on their hands, sure, but only from people who'd attacked them first or tried to play hero.
They'd never gone out on a full-scale massacre just because someone told them to.
But Shin? He didn't look like he was joking. The calmness in his expression only made it worse.
They didn't attack people without a reason.
After all, they were villains, not mindless monsters.
Shin glanced over at them, not particularly surprised by their reactions. He had kind of expected it.
Sure, some notorious criminals out there might do this kind of thing without a second thought, but these were just bandits—guys who robbed to survive, not full-blown killers with no conscience.
It was clear that murdering for the sake of it didn't sit right with them. But that didn't really matter to Shin.
He already had a plan for how to handle this situation.
"Alright, let's make this simple. I'll pay you all 30,000 ryo for each heart you bring me. How's that sound?" His tone was casual, like he was offering them a sweet deal. But the reality? There was no real choice here.
It wasn't hard to see what was going on. Shin had been pulling the strings from the start. He'd killed their former leader, Hirosi, and even their bulky vice leader, the only guy who might have had the strength to oppose him.
Without any strong leadership, if they refused Shin's orders now, they'd be left scrambling—leaderless, disorganized, and at the mercy of anyone stronger who came along.
Meiji, sharp as he was, pieced it together in seconds. Shin wasn't just throwing money at them.
He was dividing them—splitting them into those who would kill for cash without blinking and those who might hesitate but would still have to go along with it, whether they liked it or not.
By setting this up, Shin was creating factions within the group. And once you had factions, it became easier to control everyone, with no single united force to stand against him.
But what Meiji couldn't figure out was why Shin would want to split them up like this in the first place. What was the point?
The truth was, Shin wasn't just thinking about this ragtag bunch of bandits. He had bigger plans. He wanted to expand this group into something much larger, much more powerful.
Creating factions now would make it easier for him to manage the whole thing later on. It was a move straight out of a conqueror's playbook—divide and conquer.
Keep them from banding together, and you could control the entire operation with no risk of a rebellion.
After all, if even mighty Rome fell when it divided, what chance did a bunch of forest bandits have?
Suddenly a system panel appeared.
{Second mission is being assigned: Find traces of the priest of asura}
{Reward: Dragon heart}
{Time limit: One Week}