“Aaahhhh!!”

  Screams echoed repeatedly.

  The warriors who had charged at Asuma now clutched their wrists, their wounds carrying traces of searing burns from lightning. The injuries slowed the blood flow siderably.

  Asuma, standing mere steps away, could see it all clearly—

  What incredible speed and precision!

  The bde’s force erfectly trolled, rendering their on-wielding hands useless without any excess damage.

  At the same time, Shisui finished off his target.

  “Tie them up and bring them back,” Kyoichi ordered, his tone calm and posed.

  Asuma ched his teeth, pulling out ropes from his ninja pouch to bind the surviving captives. They then tidied up the area, removing corpses.

  The loot these men carried told a grim story—packs filled with stolen goods, and fresh kills like chis and ducks, still dripping blood, hung from their belts.

  The surviving warriors begged for mercy, but no one paid them any attentioually, their mouths were gagged with cloth to silehem.

  Finally, pead quiet.

  “Sensei, I’m sorry... If it weren’t for me…”

  Asuma stepped forward to apologize, shame weighing heavily on him.

  If he hadn’t faltered, their team could have dealt with these bandits on their own, without their sensei needing to intervene.

  “You should be apologizing to your teammates. If this were the battlefield, a single moment of hesitation could lead to your incapacitation—and then you’d bee dead weight for your team,” Kyoichi said coolly.

  Asuma quickly turned and bowed to his teammates.

  Kurenai tried to sidestep, quickly responding, “Sensei, Asuma’s hesitation isn’t solely his fault. I bear a lot of responsibility too.”

  If her genjutsu had beeed on time, she could’ve immobilized the attackers. After all, they were mere warriors with no ability to dispel genjutsu.

  A…

  In that critical moment, she froze, losing her posure.

  “What about you, Shisui?”

  “I thought attag them would force them to retreat, but I didn’t anticipate they wouldn’t care about their rades at all,” Shisui said, visibly disced.

  Kyoichi smiled faintly and said, “In Konoha, we hold to the Will of Fire—proteg and supp one another. But they’re different. They’re bandits who live by the sword, where death is just part of the game. Losing a rade means nothing to them.”

  “I uand now…”

  Shisui houghtfully.

  Had he realized this earlier, he would’ve chosen a different strategy—using a wider-reag jutsu to secure their position instead of the approach he took.

  This kind of student was easy to teach—he didn’t make excuses and was quick to refle his mistakes.

  Unlike Kakashi or Obito, who would often argue back, Shisui’s humility made ment him far less frustrating.

  In fact, pared to a typical rookie team, their performance had been quite impressive. Most rookie teams would have fumbled far more disastrously in this situation.

  Kyoichi didn’t push them too hard, saying, “The important thing is that you’ve learned from this. Real bat is entirely different from training or sparring—there’s no substitute for the experience of blood spttering in your face.”

  “Yes, Sensei!”

  Asuma, feeling ashamed, nodded.

  Kyoichi had hit the nail on the head. The moment he faltered earlier wasn’t just because of fear—it was also because blood had spttered into his eyes, momentarily blinding him.

  “Let’s bring these captives back to the town chief. After the mission is plete, we’ll make the rounds to returolen goods to their rightful owners,” Kyoichi instructed.

  “Yes!”

  These bandits had likely just looted a nearby vilge.

  The stolen items were meager, but Kyoichi had no iion of keeping any of it.

  When they returo the town, the chief was supervising the stru of the defensive walls.

  Asuma and the others were surprised to find Kyoichi’s shadow e helping with the repairs. They stared bnkly for a long moment befaining their posure.

  Then—

  “Chief, we entered a group of wandering warriors during our patrol. Are these the bandits who attacked your town?”

  “Yes, yes, that’s them!”

  The town chief didn’t reize them immediately, but a nearby foreman did, pointing out the culprits. He had narrowly escaped death during one of their previous raids.

  Kyoiodded.

  It seemed their suspis were correct.

  He had Shisui hand over the prisoners before instrug, “Asuma, help them with the stru. I’ll go iigate the area.”

  “Yes!”

  Asuma had no objes.

  Even though they were heirs, they weren’t strao hard bor like carrying water or farming. Ninja work often required such tasks, and they were used to it.

  Leaving his shadow e behind, Kyoichi ventured deeper into the town.

  Earlier, his chakra sensory teique had detected someoh an exceptionally rge chakra reserve nearby. Although he wasn’t certain who it was…

  This was still the Land of Fire.

  Kyoichi had a suspi: if this wasn’t an enemy missing-nin, then it could only be one person—

  Tsunade of the Legendary Sannin!

  Using his chakra sensing ability, Kyoichi located the source. When he arrived, it was at a o.

  No sooner had he reached the entrahan he saw a group of angry men rushing inside. Judging by the situation…

  They were likely debt collectors.

  “Better wait outside for now.”

  If he went in, he might end up being mistaken for a sucker to pay her debts.

  The problem was…

  He wasly rolling in cash himself.

  While he’d earned some mission rewards retly, pared to Tsunade’s debts, it was barely a drop in the o.

  Kyoichi perched on a rooftop, chewing a bde of grass as he watched the se unfold.

  A while ter…

  From a window oher side of the o, a woma out, followed by a young girl.

  “What a tragic life,” Kyoichi muttered under his breath.

  Shizune, who had been traveling with Tsunade since she was five or six, had likely spent the past few years living this way.

  But…

  Where was that pig she always carried around? Hadn’t they adopted it yet?

  As he watched the se, a mob of angry men poured out of the o, chasing after Tsunade and Shizune. But against a ninja, what ce did ordinary people stand?

  A quick turn and a transformation jutsu ter, and Tsunade was gohout a trace.

  “Chasing Tsunade for debts—now that’s a losing battle,” Kyoichi mused.

  If the debt collectors had been ninja, they might’ve even ended up gettien for their trouble.

  Just then, he sensed someone approag behind him.

  “You brat! Sitting up here watg the show, huh? Didn’t even think to e help me out?”

  Turning around, Kyoichi saw her—

  Tsunade herself.

  hat a dazzling neckce.

  Kyoichi quickly averted his eyes and said, “Lady Tsunade, you didn’t need my help. I’m just a puy; even if I stepped in, I couldn’t pay off your debts. Besides, wouldn’t you just rack up more ime?”

  Rule number one—

  Never lend moo a gambler, even if it’s Tsunade.

  “Hmph!”

  Tsunade snorted, giving him a once-over before turning her head with a dismissive look.

  Gambling was way more fun than dealing with b kids like this silver-haired brat. He probably took after Tobirama with how dull he was.

  “Lady Tsunade, where are we going now…”

  Shizune climbed up onto the roof, only to spot the silver-haired boy sitting with Tsunade. Seeing their simir features, she hesitated.

  Tsunade ignored her and said, “Hey, kid, how about we go for a drink?”

  “Didn't you lose all your money?”

  “Ugh…”

  She really hated this brat already!

  Gcell