Crack~
A crisp sound of bones breaking echoed.
Seimei expressionlessly withdrew his hand from the head of a mountain bandit, letting the corpse slowly fall to the ground.
Huff~
He exhaled lightly.
Turning around, Seimei looked at Ryosuke and Mizutani Shizuko and said, "The scouts have been dealt with. Next, we proceed according to the plan, Shizuko?"
"Hmm."
Hearing Seimei's call, Mizutani Shizuko unconsciously stood up straight.
"Keep an eye on the path down the mountain and take care of any loose ends," Seimei instructed.
"Hmm."
Although still a bit nervous, Mizutani Shizuko nodded seriously, signaling that she understood.
Then, Seimei looked at Ryosuke and said, "Ryosuke, you and I will clear out those mountain bandits."
"No problem."
Compared to Mizutani Shizuko, Ryosuke was much calmer; even when faced with a more dangerous task, he didn't show much fear.
What can I say?
As expected of a kid born in the ninja world, he adjusted so quickly.
After giving him a deep look, Seimei spoke, "Then let's start moving!"
"Hmm."
Ryosuke and Mizutani Shizuko nodded in agreement.
Seimei immediately headed up the mountain.
Ryosuke closely followed behind him.
Mizutani Shizuko stood in place for a moment before diving into the dense forest, hiding her figure.
At this point, three hours had passed since they arrived in the territory of Kokuro Mountain, with the first two hours spent resting and the last hour used to clear the lookout points.
Now that the obstacles had been removed, it was time to launch a full-scale attack.
Uh.
"Full-scale attack" seems a bit exaggerated.
From the lookout points, Seimei already knew that there were only about fifty people on the mountain, and there were probably less than forty still alive now.
With this few people, as long as there weren't any extraordinary existences, they posed little pressure on them; the only thing they needed to watch out for was overcoming psychological barriers.
Fortunately, both Seimei and Ryosuke adapted quite well.
······
Under the moonlight.
Seimei and Ryosuke quietly approached the bandits' camp, stepping on rocks and treading on branches.
Though it was called a camp, it was essentially just a wooden building and a couple dozen wooden houses; the perimeter didn't even have a wooden fence.
Seeing this makeshift camp, Seimei finally understood why they sent so many lookout points—it seemed they were afraid of dying!
Shaking his head and dismissing those thoughts, Seimei signaled to Ryosuke with a few hand gestures, and then the two of them sneaked towards the camp, one from the left and the other from the right.
The wooden building was the lair of the bandit leader, located in the center of the camp. To avoid being surrounded, he and Ryosuke decided to strike from the outskirts.
As long as the speed is fast enough, there's no need to worry about startling the snakes in the grass.
Pfft~
The sound of a blade piercing flesh echoed.
Inside a wooden house.
Seimei covered the mountain bandit's mouth with one hand while plunging a kunai into his chest with the other.
The bandit immediately opened his eyes wide, first in confusion, then in pain, followed by fear, and finally turning to a lifeless gray.
Seimei kept his gaze locked on the bandit's eyes, not avoiding or dodging, but silently watching. He was forcing himself to accept all of this, to adapt to all of this.
Without the ability to change the world, he could only learn to adapt; only by adapting to the rules of the ninja world could he live better.
Huff~
He gently exhaled, and after confirming the target's death, Seimei left the wooden house.
This wooden house was on the outskirts; both its geographical location and the house itself were of the lowest quality, and it was only logical that it housed one person.
Therefore, Seimei didn't need to worry about alarming others.
Standing outside, he observed carefully for a while before selecting another similar wooden house and cautiously approached it.
After observing through the door crack for a while and confirming that there was only one person inside, Seimei pried open the door with his kunai and slipped in.
A moment later, Seimei walked out.
Things had gone very smoothly; the target was still asleep when he slit his throat.
After that, following the same method, Seimei moved like a Shinigami, entering and exiting one wooden house after another, reaping lives silently.
If he could keep this up, it would save a lot of trouble.
Unfortunately, things often don't go according to plan.
Just as he was ending the life of the tenth person, a terrified scream echoed throughout the camp.
Seimei paused briefly before swiftly finishing off the bandit beneath him.
Then, in a flash, he moved outside and looked in the direction of the sound.
He saw a bandit clutching his neck burst out of a house, running while shouting, "Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"
However, before he could shout twice, a figure chased out from the house. It was none other than Ryosuke.
He saw Ryosuke dash up behind the bandit and then stab a kunai into his back.
The bandit's voice abruptly stopped.
Nevertheless, the entire camp became agitated.
In the distance, Seimei could faintly hear subtle sounds coming from within the wooden houses.
After a moment's thought, Seimei approached one of the wooden houses and kicked the door open, shattering it with a single blow.
Taking advantage of the fact that the two people inside hadn't yet figured out what was happening, he dashed in and swiftly ended their lives.
After that, he rushed out of the wooden house and approached another one, using the same method to eliminate the bandits inside.
Not just Seimei, Ryosuke also stopped hiding and focused on killing as many enemies as possible in the shortest amount of time.
Thus, when the chaos finally subsided, only twelve bandits remained in the camp.
The bandit leader looked at the eleven remaining individuals gathered around him, his expression quite grim.
Thud, thud, thud~
The sound of footsteps approached.
Seimei and Ryosuke walked out of the house, one on each side.
Looking at the forehead protectors on their heads, a bandit shouted in terror, "It's a Ninja! We've been targeted by Ninja. It's over, we're done for!"
Clearly, the ninja world war had not only drawn in the major ninja villages but also countless ordinary people.
Perhaps in peacetime, these bandits wouldn't have recognized Seimei and Ryosuke as ninjas, but after experiencing the turmoil of the ninja world war, they recognized them immediately.
Not only that, but they had also gained some understanding of the terror of ninjas.
Slap~
The crisp sound of a slap echoed.
"Bah, nonsense."
The bandit leader slapped the terrified bandit across the face, spat on the ground, and glared at Seimei and Ryosuke, saying fiercely, "What's there to be afraid of? They're just two little brats. Everyone, charge at once! I don't believe we can't take them down!"
With that, he was about to lead the charge.
However, at that moment, Seimei flipped his hands, and six shuriken appeared between his fingers.
In the next moment, the shuriken were thrown out.
The bandit leader tried to dodge, but level 2 'Ninja Tool Throwing' was no joke.
If it were a ninja, he might have been able to avoid a fatal hit or block the attack, but a mere bandit leader had no such ability.
So, just as the bandit leader took half a step forward, he fell straight to the ground.
"Ah~ The boss is dead!"
"Everyone, run!"
It was unclear who shouted, but the eleven bandits immediately scattered like birds, fleeing in all directions.
Seimei and Ryosuke exchanged a glance and each pursued the fleeing bandits, leaving only the bandits heading down the mountain.
***
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