After leaving, Fujin went to his home and sat down in a meditative position. He thought, 'Finally I am going out of this village. So what do I prepare? As per the protocol, the ration bars will be arranged by the squad leader. So food wouldn't be a concern. Though I suppose I should pack up the ration bars I have with me as well.

Regarding the weapons, I still have the stock that the academy had provided us with. Though some of them are damaged. I guess I should buy 12 shurikens and 3 kunais. That'll cost me 7k Ryo. I probably should buy a couple of Explosion tags too. That'll be most of the money I earned from missions. Hmm? Yeah money, I need to carry all my money with me preferably. It can go in the spare waist bag.

Of course I still carry the stock I had purchased earlier and always carry them with me. As for the swords, I guess they'll be hanging on my waist. Though I do have the wristbands, explaining where I got them will be troublesome. So I'll let them be in my spare waist bag.'

He meditated for half an hour, and got packed up to leave the house. On his right leg, he had a leg pouch. It had 6 shurikens and 2 kunais. In addition, it also had 48 shurikens, 6 normal kunais and 6 kunais with explosion tags attached to them in the seals in it. On his waist, he carried his waist bag. He had 8 shurikens, 3 kunais and a small scroll in it.

The scroll contained basic items like rope, tape, wire and First-aid kit. The bag had 7 storage seals on it. In one he had stored his spare waist bag and leg pouch. Another had his stock of ration bars. There was an additional First-aid kit in one. The 4th seal stored a few bottles filled with drinking water in it. The remaining seals were left empty for now.

He then visited a weapon shop to get the stuff he wanted to buy. After buying them, he visited Ichiraku for an early lunch. He then went to the main gate, and sat on a branch of a nearby tree. Hoka and Mieko arrived around 15 minutes before the couple of hours were up. On arriving, they both spotted and approached Fujin. Fujin thought, 'Wow, talk about being excited.'

Renjiro arrived 5 minutes after them.

Renjiro asked, "Are you guys prepared?"

Everyone replied in sync, "Yes sensei."

Renjiro then grabbed 3 scrolls from his bag and tossed one to each of his students. They began wondering, 'What's in the scroll?'

Renjiro said, "This is a gift from me to you guys. Each scroll contains 100 shurikens, 24 kunais, 6 giant shurikens, 12 explosion tags and 60 packets of ration bars that will expire after 12 months. Fujin, your scroll has a couple of spare swords too, though they ain't as good as your current swords. I don't know what protocols they taught you, however, this is the least you should always carry with yourself while leaving the village, irrespective of what you expect your team leader to carry."

The kids were a bit shocked by this gift. Especially Fujin. His mind went blank for a second as he quickly calculated, '100 -> 300 -> 100k. 24 -> 72 -> 72k. 6 -> 18 -> 54k. 12 -> 36 -> 27k. That's worth over 250k Ryo! And that's without considering the swords and the ration bars. Was I wrong about him being shameless?'

Everyone quickly thanked Renjiro for the gift.

Renjiro continued, "Though I have gifted this to you, from here onwards, you'll be responsible for maintaining this stock. So don't waste them, and refill them after you complete your mission. Of course don't be a miser with them. Your life and the mission is more important."

All the 3 kids nodded.

They then left the village. Renjiro said, "Our mission is to clear a few bandit bases around Shukuba Town which is North-west of Konoha."

He then asked, "Do you have your training seals activated?"

All the three kids nodded. Renjiro said, "Deactivate them. Never keep those training seals active outside Konoha. You never know who is out there to kill you, and those seals could become the reason for your death."

Fujin and Mieko nodded, but Hoka asked, "But sensei, can't you just protect us from any such danger? It seems a waste to not train our body during this journey."

Renjiro shook his head and said, "There are many ninjas who are stronger than me in this world. And there are numerous hidden jutsus. Even I can't protect you from every sneak attack. It'll be upto you to dodge or block them."

Hoka nodded and deactivated his seal.

Renjiro said, "With that out of the way, let's run. We'll move in a kite formation. Fujin, you take the lead, Mieko on the right, Hoka on the left and I'll take the rear. And move fast. Let's get there in a few hours."

As soon as they received the instructions, they moved into the formation. Fujin stood ahead. Mieko stood 2 metres to his left and behind. Hoka did the same, but on the right side. Renjiro stood around 6 metres behind Fujin. The squad then began moving at a high speed, while maintaining those distances.

By 3 pm, the team reached Shukuba town. On entering the town, Renjiro said, "We'll do the mission tomorrow. For now, let's rest in an inn."

The kids nodded and followed him. On the way Fujin noted, 'Hmm, this town feels a bit familiar. But I don't recall where I saw it. Was it shown in Naruto? Sigh, I barely remember any scenery now.'

Renjiro led the squad in the town. Fujin, Hoka and Mieko noticed that the town had a lot of inns. They also noticed a couple of gambling houses, and an area that had lots of games with prizes for winners. However, Fujin noted a peculiarity.

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He observed, 'Every game here is based on luck. No game requires any skills. I guess it makes sense though. Making games like that is just asking to loot themselves in this ninja world.'

Finally Renjiro entered an inn. Mieko thought, 'Finally! After skipping past 13 inns.'

When Renjiro began chatting with the innkeeper, Fujin noticed, 'Oh, he seems very familiar with the innkeeper. Is that why we skipped so many inns?'

After discussing with the innkeeper, Renjiro approached the trio. He handed each of them a key and said, "These will be your rooms. Stay in the inn. I'll scout out a bit and return in a couple of hours."

After Renjiro left, Mieko asked, "So, what should we do now?"

Fujin sighed and commented, "I'd have liked to tour this town, sadly he asked us to stay in the inn."

Hoka added, "Yeah, and we can't even train physically."

Fujin said, "Let's just retire to our rooms and meditate. Tomorrow will be our first instance of real combat."

Everyone nodded and retired to their rooms to meditate and rest. Renjiro returned in the evening and took everyone out for dinner.

Next day, at morning 8 am, the squad assembled outside Renjiro's room and moved out. Their first target was located around 25 kilometres to the west of the town. After reaching there, Fujin sensed something. He said, "Sensei, I can sense 6 normal people around 400 metres ahead."

Renjiro nodded and said, "There's a village in that direction. So it's probably the villagers. Our target is the bandits that are harassing that village."

Renjiro continued in that direction. Fujin soon noticed those six people he sensed were farming. They continued further and reached the village.

On entering the village, Renjiro asked around and then reached the Village Chief's house. The house was very old, and the man who opened the door was even older! As soon as the Village Chief saw the headbands, he respectfully invited everyone in and said, "Welcome to our village, Lord."

Renjiro nodded and said, "Just call me Renjiro."

He handed a paper to the village chief. The village chief read the paper and became very happy. He bowed to Renjiro and said, "Thank you Lord Renjiro for saving us from the bandits. After you deal with them, we can live peacefully once again."

Renjiro stated, "I need more details about the bandits."

The Village Chief nodded and replied, "Please ask. I'll help you however I can."

Renjiro asked, "Since when did the bandits begin harassing your village?"

The Village Chief answered, "Around 9 months back. Just before our harvest in the previous year. However, they became a lot more aggressive in the past couple of months."

Renjiro continued asking, "I see. And what crimes have they committed?"

The village chief answered in a shaking voice, "Initially, they just stole our crops and money. But recently, th…."

Fujin could see the Village Chief tearing up at this point. He continued, "they killed 9 villagers and kidnapped 6 young girls. They eve…"

He began sobbing and said, "They even killed my son."

And he began crying.

Renjiro was about to calm the old man down, however, the old Village Chief quickly controlled himself and showed a face of determination. Fujin was very surprised, he thought, 'Admirable. To have this strong determination despite not being a ninja.'

Seeing the look of determination on the old man's face, even Renjiro was impressed. He asked, "How many bandits are there and from where do they attack you?"

The Village Chief replied, "In their attack 5 days ago, there were over 15 bandits. And they always approach us from the north."

Renjiro nodded and said, "Alright, thanks for giving us the information. Don't worry, we will deal with them."

The Village Chief quickly thanked him.

Renjiro and the kids left the house. Mieko asked Renjiro, "So what now sensei? Do we begin our search in the north?"

Renjiro nodded and answered, "Yes"

However, Fujin asked, "But sensei, why will they attack from the direction their base is in. Won't they attack from a different direction just to confuse us?"

Renjiro shook his head and replied, "These are just common bandits. I doubt they have enough smarts to think about something like this. If they were smart enough, then they wouldn't have killed the villagers or kidnapped girls."

They began moving towards the northern part of the village. They noticed that a few houses were burnt. Renjiro commanded, "Mieko, use your Sharingan to see if you can find any tracks they left behind."

Mieko activated her Sharingan and began investigating. Soon she found a few tracks that were left behind. She said, "Sensei, found them!"

Renjiro nodded and said, "Good work. Lead the way. Kite formation, with Mieko in the lead and me in the rear. Fujin, Hoka keep an eye on the surroundings and try to find those bandits."

The squad followed Mieko. On the way, Fujin noticed a few trees that had sword cuts on them. After traveling around 3.5 km to the north, Fujin said, "Hoka, check 500 metres to the north-west."

Hoka activated his Byakugan, and soon said, "Sensei, found them."

Renjiro nodded and the squad travelled in that direction.

On reaching there, they saw that there was a small hill with a cave in it. On the entrance, there were two bandits guarding the entrance. Each had a sword with them. They were standing behind trees, so those bandits couldn't see them.

Renjiro sensed everything within the hill, and said, "So which one of you wants to handle this?"

Fujin quickly replied, "Me sensei!"

Mieko and Hoka, who were just about to reply, glared at Fujin. Renjiro nodded and said, "No clones. And our mission is to eliminate them all."

Fujin began sensing once again. In all, he could sense 23 people within the cave, including the 2 guards. He then looked at Hoka and asked, "Hoka, could you take a look to see if there are any traps? Also, what is the layout of the cave?"

Hoka nodded and activated his Byakugan. After observing properly, he replied, "In all, I see 3 traps. 2 are behind the first entrance and the second entrance. They are basic arrow traps, which trigger when you step on the wire. The 3rd is a small hole dug in front of the second entrance, and has spikes in it. As for the layout, there is another entrance inside this outer entrance. Then there is a big room, which has 3 more mini-caves in it."

Fujin replied, "Alright, thanks. And is there anyone who has tried to hide his chakra?"

Hoka shook his head and Fujin thanked him.