[Chapter Size: 1900 Words.]
Third Person POV
Cintra, northern kingdoms.
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Madara silently followed the bandits, concealed by the shadows of the forest. Ensuring his presence remained unnoticed, he entered the forest. Every so often, they looked back, searching for the monster child, but they couldn't see him.
"Did we lose him?!" one bandit exclaimed.
"I think so, but let's just head to the camp. That monster wouldn't attack our whole group," another replied.
"But you saw, that wasn't a child, his eyes were as red as blood, and he killed like a beast," said a third.
"Shut up, just follow the path!" another snapped.
As they made their way deeper into the forest, Madara silently leaped from branch to branch. He moved with the agility and grace of a predator, his red Sharingan eyes keenly observing every move of the bandits below.
The bandits, clearly disoriented and still in a state of panic, didn't realize they were being followed from above. They continued running through the forest, looking back more frequently but failing to notice Madara's presence.
Meanwhile, high in the trees, Madara deactivated his Sharingan to conserve chakra and continued leaping. His two months of training in the forest had taught him to move undetected, blending into the natural surroundings, so panicked bandits wouldn't easily find him.
Eventually, two hours later, the bandits arrived at a location that seemed to be a meeting point or camp. It was a clearing in the forest, with several makeshift tents and a central fire pit that had not yet been lit. There were signs that more than four dozen people used this space — footprints, food scraps, and weapons scattered on the ground.
When the fleeing bandits finally reached the camp, they were visibly shaken, their expressions pale and eyes wide with fear. As they entered the clearing, they began anxiously reporting to the other band members about the "monster" - a child with red eyes who had decimated their companions and fought faster than any human, not even three adults could stand against him.
The people in the camp looked at the newcomers with a mix of surprise and disbelief. "Where are the others?" asked an older man, clearly the leader. "And the carts you were supposed to bring?"
The bandits stuttered confused responses, still shaken. "They're... they're dead," one said, trembling. "We couldn't get the carts," another said, out of breath. "That boy... he attacked us. I've never seen anything like it. He was like a demon!"
The camp was abuzz with murmurs. The bandits exchanged looks, trying to comprehend what had happened. The group leader frowned, clearly displeased with the news.
"A child did this to you?" he asked, his voice laden with scorn and doubt. "How could a boy kill so many men?"
One was trying to explain, but his words sounded incoherent and unbelievable. "His eyes... they were red. He moved like a ghost, faster than an animal. Three adults tried to kill him, but the boy killed them all," he said, looking back as if he expected Madara to emerge from the shadows at any moment.
"I saw him dodge an arrow!" another spoke up, somewhat alarmed.
"Okay, okay. You've encountered a monster and you think it's a child, now go inside and rest, you need it. We mourn the others, but there's nothing to be done. Tomorrow we'll hunt this monster," the leader said, clearly not believing what he heard.
As they entered one of the tents to rest, the boy in question was watching the camp from a safe position atop a taller tree, hidden among the leaves of a large tree. He studied the layout of the camp, identifying entry and exit points, and considering the best strategy for attack. His plan was to act under the cover of darkness, using the element of surprise to his advantage during twilight.
"We have 50 men, of those 50, 20 are archers, but they won't be useful when I attack. I can eliminate most before they even realize I'm in the camp..." Madara assessed the situation, also noting their weapons like clubs, swords, and axes.
Madara looked to a corner and saw, in a part of the camp away from the main tents, a group of women who appeared to have been captured and abused by the bandits.
He counted the men again, memorizing their positions and armaments for the next few hours without moving a muscle of his body. His plan was to first neutralize the sentinels and then infiltrate the middle of the camp.
Night began to paint the sky with the last ray of the sun, and the bandits started to light the fire, making a feast and dragging some women into their tents. Madara remained still, not moving a muscle, analyzing the entire situation for the next few hours.
"Facing a leader with 50 men would be a very difficult task for me, but catching them off guard and after a feast makes my job much easier...." He thought, feeling the situation was in his favor. When everything calmed down and the light was in the middle of the sky, he finally decided to act.
When his eyes closed and opened in a bright scarlet tone, shining in the darkness, he moved with agility and silently out of his hiding spot, approaching the camp with the lightness of a shadow. The night covered him like a cloak, and since he was already wearing black clothes, only the reflection of his Sharingan could betray him as he got closer to the camp.
Madara had already studied the pattern of the sentinels, and with all this information, he began to act. He decided to start by neutralizing all the edges of the camp.
"Hmmm?!" A sentinel with a bow looked up as a shadow with red eyes jumped on him and delivered a kick so strong that the sound of his neck breaking was heard in the area, alerting another archer beside him who looked a bit confused, as he was a little tired. But this only lasted a few milliseconds, as Madara had already taken a kunai from his pocket and threw it at the other sentinel who fell unable to react while agonizing in pain in his own blood without being able to speak.
He didn't stop there, advancing against the next archers, one by one, eliminating the bandits on the edge of the camp. His ninja skills were something never seen in this world, so it was very easy for Madara to approach undetected and incapacitate them.
Now continuing to use his silent feet, he advanced to the center of the camp. There was a group at the fire; he first went after those sitting next to the tents drinking, using his sword to start slicing their necks before they could react.
Eliminating one by one, he attacked the group with 3 men in front of the fire, a direct attack killing one by surprise, the other two screamed in shock before falling to the sword of the little ninja.
He knew this was his limit, as these bandits made a loud noise, but Madara was satisfied to have eliminated just under half of the camp. One from the group saw the corpses on the ground and the boy, before shouting to alert everyone.
"INTRUDER! HERE!" he yelled, his voice full of panic and surprise.
Immediately, the camp turned into chaos. Bandits rushed out of their tents, armed and ready to fight. They quickly gathered, trying to form a defense against the unknown enemy who had invaded their camp.
They saw the boy, a little surprised that a child was killing them, and all advanced against the boy, attacking en masse. Seeing this group coming his way, Madara prepared for a broader attack. He quickly formed a seal with his hands, concentrating his chakra. The bandits, realizing the movement, but not knowing what it meant, watched the boy quickly forming signs with his hands.
Madara puffed his cheeks before spitting them out with a blast of chakra and releasing his fire jutsu. From his mouth, a rain of fireballs burst forth, heading straight towards a group of advancing enemies. The fire jutsu hit them with full force, enveloping them in burning flames.
Screams of pain and surprise echoed through the camp as the bandits burned. The smell of smoke and charred flesh spread through the air, adding a layer of horror to the already chaotic scene.
The remaining bandits instinctively recoiled, horrified by the devastating power of a child spitting fire like a wizard, but no wizard could breathe fire from their mouth. They looked at the young boy with wide eyes of fear, murmuring among themselves. "Monster... those eyes... it's just like they said, he's not human," some said, trembling in the face of the relentless force they were up against.
Madara, with his Sharingan eyes still glowing intensely, remained focused and unperturbed by the screams of "monster." He knew his abilities were unusual in this world, so he wasn't surprised to be labeled this way, even though no child was an assassin like him, so he couldn't complain, could he?
Madara faced them all before picking up his sword, which he had dropped to cast seals, and took the first step, causing everyone to instinctively step back. Madara didn't stop and began to run towards those who had still survived; he wouldn't stop until he eliminated the last of them.
As the hours passed, dawn began to break, bringing the first rays of light through the openings in the trees. The morning light revealed the scene that had unfolded in the camp: all the bandits lay dead, victims of Madara's determination and skill.
The camp, once a place of screams of fear and suffering, was now silent. Madara, standing among the bodies of the bandits, took a deep breath, feeling the weight of what he had done. Although he knew his actions had been necessary to end the threat the bandits posed, the reality of the violence still weighed on him, as he couldn't yet get used to it.
With the arrival of morning, Madara began to walk through the camp, looking for any survivors who might need help. Madara turned his attention to the people who were trapped in the camp, who were only women.
Initially afraid of the child, now with dark eyes again, Madara began to free them from their bonds. Some of the women were in shock, unable to believe that the terror was over.
"You are free," Madara said directly. "Those men will no longer hurt you." And before any woman could speak, the boy continued, pointing his finger in a direction, "Follow the trail to the east," Madara instructed. "It will take you back to the main road. From there, you can find your way home or seek help in a nearby village."
Madara no longer seemed to care about them and began to leave the camp after picking up something valuable for future use.
He sank into the forest, disappearing among the trees as if he were part of them. The solitude of the forest was his refuge and his training room. Madara was determined to become even stronger, having only fought some small monsters and humans wearing banditry. He was still far from facing the main threats of this world, not that he was in a hurry, after all, he was only 6 years old and had only 1% of Madara Uchiha in the system.