Chapter 60: First Battle Outside the Village

Chapter 60: First Battle Outside the Village

Not long after leaving the village, Kakashi called Ino aside.

She turned to look at him.

"Although this is within the Land of Fire, we need you to walk at the front and use your sensory abilities for detection," Kakashi said in a commanding tone.

Ino glanced at Asuma and saw him nod. She knew this was the result of the two Jonin's discussion.

"Okay, I understand." She readily accepted the task.

It was strange to say, but not counting the Jonin, between the two teams, six Genin in total, she was the only one with sensory abilities! Look at Kurenai's Team 8, all three Genin had detection capabilities!

Karin's Mind's Eye of the Kagura could detect chakra abnormalities within a radius of tens of kilometers. There was a fat guy named Chuukichi in Kirigakure whose detection range was even larger and more detailed, able to sense even the slightest chakra fluctuations like those of insects. Ino wasn't a specialized sensory ninja. Her perception ability was a byproduct of her increased mental energy, so she was currently doing it part-time.

She said, "Kakashi-sensei, my detection range is a five-kilometer radius. Don't stray too far from me."

Kakashi nodded. "Okay, I understand."

The formation didn't need to be too complicated. Ino in front, Kakashi at the back, Asuma with the rest of the Genin in the middle. The eight of them traveled through the forest towards their destination.

On the way, they encountered two groups of Konoha ninja. Ino detected them early on and immediately signaled to those behind her. Asuma ordered her to go around and avoid contact.

"Why avoid them? Aren't they all ninja from our village?" Naruto was very puzzled.

His question earned him an iron fist from Sakura.

"Idiot! We learned this in school! Outside the village, we must avoid all factors that interfere with the mission, including encountering other ninja. Avoid them if you can."

Three question marks appeared above Naruto's head, and he became even more confused. Were the ninja from their own village enemies? Weren't they all on the same side?

Sasuke felt that Naruto's behavior was embarrassing him as well and said flatly, "What if they were enemies in disguise?"

Naruto thought for more than ten seconds. "Then shouldn't we expose them even more?"

Sakura clutched her forehead and said through gritted teeth, "We have a mission! During the mission, our own mission is the top priority! Do you understand, idiot?!"

The next evening, they arrived at the village of the client, a seemingly peaceful small mountain village.

Kakashi had been promoted to Jonin much earlier than Asuma. Although they were classmates back then, according to the rules of the ninja world, he was the senior, so naturally, he was in charge of the mission.

Not long after entering the village, they found the person who issued the mission, the village head of this small village.

The village head was thin and withered. Seeing the arrival of the ninja, he said indignantly,

"Those guys are simply demons! They appear every harvest season. We will never compromise! But we don't have powerful force, so we hired you to help us eliminate the bandits. Please!" The village head's tone was extremely sincere.

Kakashi's Team 7 was on the left, Asuma's Team 10 on the right.

The two Jonin exchanged glances. Asuma nodded, indicating that Kakashi was in charge.

Kakashi pondered for a moment. "Please tell us the specific information."

"Yes!" The village head was very respectful. He called over a simple-looking young man. "This is Toikaze. He was... he was originally a member of the Baki Bandit Group. It was he who told me that Baki kidnapped my granddaughter!"

The village head started to choke up as he spoke, but Ino interrupted him after he had only cried twice.

"Um... I'm sorry to interrupt, but what did you say the name of this bandit group was?"

The village head didn't understand why she asked, but he still explained, "The leader of the bandits is called Baki, so we call them Baki's gang."

Ino asked about Baki's height and physical characteristics and found that they didn't match the one in her memory at all. Only then did she feel relieved. It turned out to be a namesake, which had startled her...

She glanced at Sakura with a strange expression. Girl, your first opponent has arrived!

Kakashi didn't care what the bandit leader's name was. Baki was fine, or his name spelled backwards was fine too.

He looked at the simple-looking man who was supposedly a former bandit, Toikaze.

"Since you were once a member of this bandit group, you must know their location, right?"

The simple-looking man nodded repeatedly and offered to lead the way.

The village head wanted them to rest for the night and go to eliminate the bandits tomorrow.

Kakashi, however, believed that night combat was also a form of training, and he instructed Toikaze to lead the way. He wanted to eliminate the bandits overnight.

Taking advantage of the darkness, they secretly went into the mountains and soon arrived deep in the mountains, which was already the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Rivers.

Ino used her sensory abilities to observe the bandit stronghold and couldn't help but sigh, "What talent! The north, east, and west sides of the stronghold are all cliffs. Only a small path on the south side leads into the mountains. The inside seems to be a natural cave? These guys carved out the mountain path and built three checkpoints along the way."

She asked the former bandit Toikaze, "Was this stronghold inherited from previous bandits, or was it built by the current bandits?"

The simple-looking bandit Toikaze replied, "...I heard it was built by Boss Baki."

Ino patted his shoulder. "We need this kind of talent who understands construction in Konoha... When we meet that Baki later, point him out to me."

"I understand, I understand!"

More than ten minutes later, they also saw the three checkpoints built by the bandits taking advantage of the terrain. With the thick rocks and defensive forces, it really did seem a bit like "one man guarding the pass, ten thousand men cannot pass."

Unfortunately, these things could only defend against ordinary soldiers, not a group of fierce people called ninja, who were actually mages and warriors combined.

More than ten bandits stood on the three-meter-high gate, armed with bows and arrows, looking down at the group of strangers. Several archers also appeared from the watchtowers on both sides, their bows drawn, waiting for them to enter range.

"Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura looked at Kakashi with hopeful eyes. She knew that both sides couldn't settle this peacefully, but she still stubbornly believed that she was a child, a student, and hoped that the "adults" would solve this problem.

"No need for your help, let me do it!" Sasuke's fighting spirit was high. Without waiting for Kakashi's instructions, he launched a Great Fireball Technique at the stronghold gate.

He used all his strength. A C-rank ninjutsu, especially the Fire Release known for its destructive power, the might was even greater.

The fireball flew more than ten meters and slammed into the gate, followed by a violent explosion.

The explosion shattered the gate. Many bandits at the gate and behind it were killed instantly, and even more were seriously injured. Severed limbs flew everywhere, and many bandits were burned by the flames, letting out shrill screams like pigs being slaughtered.

________________________________________

If you want more chapters, please consider supporting my page on Patreon. with 30 advanced chapters available on Patreon

https://www.patreon.com/GirlsLove1