There were six or seven of these Ronin, but Fūmori Masaki and the others were not sure if that was all of them. Seeing that they were preparing to return, they quietly followed them and accompanied them into the mountain.
When they saw the crude mountain stronghold, everyone looked at each other in dismay. Those Ronin really had cast themselves as mountain bandits, having actually built such a stockade. It was unexpected that in just ten years, Samurai would be reduced to such a state.
Rather than saying the country was gradually no longer relying on Samurai, it was more that these people's minds were never that firm to begin with, and they scoffed at Bushido.
Utatane Koharu said contemptuously, "Masaki is right. We really cannot let them just leave like this. Let us wipe these people out; it can be considered upholding the honor of the Samurai."
"Therefore, we must first clarify exactly how many of these people there are," Akimichi Torifu said softly.
At this moment, Danzo said, "Leave this to me." As he spoke, he bit his finger, formed hand seals, and slammed his hand onto the ground. With a poof, a small animal appeared.
"Go," Danzo Shimura said, and this small, mouse-like animal ran in the direction of the mountain stronghold.
"This is a Summoned Beast that Danzo's clan uses to gather intelligence. Although it has no combat ability, its appearance makes it hard to be detected, which is very suitable for this type of terrain," Hiruzen Sarutobi introduced the Summoned Beast to the others.
"It can only be used to simply gather some intelligence," Danzo said indifferently.
Fūmori Masaki glanced at Danzo. During their time studying together, he had gradually figured out Danzo's personality. This person was someone who completely believed in the Ninja code, believing that a true Ninja should act in the shadows and silently sacrifice themselves. People like Danzo were truly suited to be Ninjas who operated underground.
However, based on Fūmori Masaki's experience with such people from the history of another world, operating in the darkness for a long time would only make one's personality increasingly gloomy, gradually causing them to forget their original intentions. Either they would use cruel methods that incited public anger, or they would develop unnecessary ambition and attempt to climb to the top.
And some of Danzo's future actions proved exactly this point. Fūmori Masaki did not know how to treat Danzo.
Although the future Danzo committed many sins, the Danzo of this time was just an ordinary youth. Fūmori Masaki studied with him among their peers, and they had formed a friendship.
The Danzo of this time was undoubtedly still devoted to Konoha. If not for operating underground for too long and losing himself, he probably wouldn't have ended up in that state.
Soon, the mouse-like Summoned Beast returned. It squeaked at Danzo and drew patterns on the ground with its body. Danzo looked at it for a few moments and said to the others, "There are twenty-two people inside."
The others knew that there wouldn't be too many people in this mountain stronghold; a village like this couldn't support a large fortress. After confirming the number of enemies, everyone began to discuss how to deal with them.
It was only twenty-two people, and they couldn't possibly have very high ability—if they truly had talent, they wouldn't have ended up in this state. Theoretically speaking, it would be fine for the seven of them to go in together, but Hiruzen Sarutobi had a different opinion.
"I say, just going back like this is too boring. After all, this is our first mission; let's make it more interesting," Hiruzen Sarutobi said with a smile.
"How do we make it interesting?" Utatane Koharu asked.
"Let's have a competition to see who can take these people out using assassination methods," Hiruzen Sarutobi said. "Each person goes to assassinate alone, and you cannot alert the others. If you alert others, you lose. For those who don't alert anyone, we look at the number of assassinations. How about it? Do you want to have a competition?"
Although they were all Ninjas, Konohagakure at this time was not restricted to traditional training methods. Utatane Koharu and the others also had the hot-bloodedness of youth and felt that solving it easily was indeed a bit boring. After just a moment of hesitation, both Danzo and Utatane Koharu agreed, and Uchiha Kagami also expressed his consent.
Then, the four looked at the remaining three people. Akimichi Torifu, Homura Mitokado, and Fūmori Masaki looked at each other. Although they felt it was a bit imprudent, they were, after all, young people. Since Hiruzen Sarutobi had proposed such a suggestion, how could they say no at this time? Moreover, the enemies were not very formidable, and being overly cautious was not good either.
Thus, the three also agreed to Hiruzen Sarutobi's suggestion. Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded and said, "Then we will begin in a moment. Each person will go to take out targets alone; the more you can take out while being careful not to alert others, the better."
That was easier said than done, but the mountain stronghold was not very large. After more and more people died, the skill required to take out the opponent before they could react and make a sound would become higher and higher, Fūmori Masaki thought.
After a while, Hiruzen Sarutobi made a gesture, then flashed out and crept toward the mountain stronghold. The others also immediately flashed out, gradually approaching the stronghold.
After receiving the heaven-sent spiritual power, Fūmori Masaki's increasingly calm mental state allowed his grasp of aura to reach an unprecedented level. Especially after practicing Sage Arts, he could not only conceal his own aura almost within all things, but his perception had also increased rapidly.
After approaching the stronghold, he already felt the traces of an enemy not far from him. Thus, he approached that position without making a single sound of footsteps. When he reached behind that person, the opponent was still unknowingly preparing to relieve himself.
Fūmori Masaki sized up the opponent. Judging by his posture and demeanor, he was undoubtedly a half-baked amateur; he might not even be a Samurai. Although the status of Samurai was indeed not as good as before, it was impossible for all twenty-two people to be Samurai, right?
The opponent was just about to begin without any awareness, so Fūmori Masaki raised his short blade and slashed at him. By the time the opponent realized the pain, he couldn't say a word. There was a wound on his neck, and blood sprayed out.
Before the opponent's body had even fallen to the ground, Fūmori Masaki's sharpened perception detected that someone was approaching. They would soon appear around the corner, and they would immediately see the corpse lying on the ground.
Fūmori Masaki then vanished from the spot. Another person happened to turn out from around the corner, seemingly intending to say something to the person who had been taken out. He hadn't even finished half a sentence when he saw the corpse fallen on the ground and the blood splattered on the ground.
In an instant, terror appeared in his eyes. Just as he was about to speak, a figure flashed across his vision. He was about to ask who it was, but only heard a rustling sound.
When he realized that his own throat was spurting blood, he only futilely reached out to cover his throat, his face full of disbelief, and slowly slumped to the ground.
Fūmori Masaki stood beside the person. In just a short time, he had already killed two people. Although it was his first time killing, Fūmori Masaki didn't feel anything. After all, as a Ninja, he had long accepted this fact.
Fūmori Masaki listened to the surrounding sounds; it was still quiet, and no sounds that could alert anyone appeared. The others seemed to be doing very well, and he could go and rendezvous with them.
Fūmori Masaki sensed carefully and walked in one direction. Arriving in front of a room, he saw a person sitting there, and beside him was a girl in coarse cloth clothes. The girl was very scared. Fūmori Masaki remembered this girl; she was the one who had been brought here from the village by the Ronin earlier.
The girl was facing the Ronin and happened to see Fūmori Masaki appear. Her eyes widened slightly. The Ronin, seeing the girl's surprise, was just turning his head when his throat was slashed by a blade—
The Ronin's gaze was still a bit surprised, but he couldn't do anything. Blood sprayed from his throat, and he fell powerlessly from the chair to the ground.
"Ah!" The girl saw this scene and immediately screamed. Fūmori Masaki could have stopped her, but he had no intention of doing so.
Fūmori Masaki thought: "It seems there really aren't any experts in this stronghold." Adopting a cautious attitude, he had only sent a Shadow Clone over to test the waters, and the result was just like this. Since even the Ronin were at this level, one shouldn't overestimate the others.
Although he lost the competition, Fūmori Masaki didn't care much about the outcome of this competition. He could certainly have done better, but it wasn't necessary.
"It's okay, you will be able to go back soon," Fūmori Masaki said to the girl with a gentle smile.