The first mission (4)

Speaking"

'Thinking'

The bandits stopped on top of the hill to check out the situation.

"What! How many bandits are that?"

"Around 100."

"Shit! We are all going to die. How are we supposed to fight 100 enemies?"

"Kankuro, calm down. None of them are anywhere near the level of the six bandits we fought previously. Always remember, one shinobi can take out over 1000 enemies if he is skilled enough!"

"If they aren't as strong as the six we fought. How strong are they then?"

"I would say most of them are Genin level of beneath, some of them scratch Chunin level. Some landmines are still active, we need a large-scale attack to reduce their numbers as much as possible before they can engage in combat with us."

"I have enough Chakra for one large attack left."

"Are you sure you can do that?"

"Yes, Baki. But I won't be a big help afterward. You'll have to cover me."

Suddenly one of the bandits spoke.

"What happened here? Where are our leaders?"

Baki answered.

"A fight happened, as you can see."

He pointed at all the bodies lying on the ground.

"As for your leaders, they are all dead."

There was no visible reaction from the bandit but on the inside, he was shocked.

'How did they manage to defeat them? They would have been able to defeat all of us alone.

Three of the four looked like kids. How should we be able to defeat them? Keep your cool. It must have been a tough fight for them. They are tired for sure.'

"You must be tired after the fight with our leaders. I can guess that you won't be able to fight us all! If you give up we will let you live. In fact, we will allow you to return to your village unharmed."

Someone beside him stepped up and said.

"What are you doing, Satoru? You are not our leader, why should we listen to you and let them live."

"Are you that stupid Hengame? They just killed our leaders, who would have been able to defeat all of us alone. You better pray that they accept our deal. Otherwise, all of us might die."

Baki looked at the scene that was happening on top of the hill.

'It seems like not all of them want to let us go. Even if they would, our mission is to protect the village.'

"I'm afraid we can't accept your offer. I don't feel tired at all."

"All of you! You heard what he said. Attack them, kill them, and burn this goddam village to the ground."

The bandit named Hengame spoke to the rest of the man.

"Are you stupid? You can't just rush at them head-on. We all are going to die."

"You are overreacting. Not all of us are gonna die. But you will!"

With these words, Hengame cut through Satoru's throat with a kunai. This action made all of the bandits stop their charge.

"What are you looking at? I told you to attack the shinobi down there!"

Suddenly a random bandit spoke up.

"Why did you do it? Why did you kill him?"

"He ordered us to not attack. He wanted to take control. He wanted to become the new boss! But he can't decide it on his own."

"But you are doing the same thing. You ordered us to attack them. Why should you take control over us."

Before anyone could react, a kunai was sticking in the forehead of the random bandit that spoke up.

"Should up. We will have a debate on who is our new leader after we killed those four down there."

But his words weren't heard. The other bandits closed in on him.

"What are you doing? I'm not the enemy, they are the enemy!"

"Well, you have just killed to of our members. You will pay with your life for that!"

Just like that, a fight broke out between Hengame and all the other bandits. It was a very short fight, but he did manage to take four more bandits with him.

While the fighting was happening on top of the hill, Gaara was gathering sand for his attack.

Kankuro watched what was happening on top of the hill with great amusement.

"It seems like they are fighting over something up there. What do you think?"

Baki answered.

"I think they are fighting over the position of leader. The more they kill, the better for us."

Temari also tuned into their conversation.

"As soon as you kill their leaders, they don't have a clue on what to do."

Gaara had collected all his sand and had formed it into a huge sphere in front of himself.

He had completed it just in time because the bandits seemed to have dealt with their inner conflicts and turned their attention back to them.

Gaara wasn't sure if they didn't see the sphere or decided to ignore it, but they just started to rush down the hill again.

' I won't complain about their stupidity, it makes my job much easier.'

"Sand rain."

Little droplets of sand were shot from the sand sphere. They were as fast as bullets and as hard as steel.

The bandits had no chance to dodge the bullets of sand. One after another was killed by it.

After thirty seconds of constant bombardment, Gaara could no longer hold it up. He let the sand sphere dissolve into a giant sand pile. With his final effort, he created a giant sand wave that was directed toward the bandits.

He wouldn't kill them with the sand wave but he could trap them under a huge amount of sand. Maybe they would suffocate.

Gaara had a little amount of chakra left, but it would be enough to fight the bandits

Of the 100 reinforcements, only twenty made it past the sand rain as well as the sand wave. But they were yet to reach the minefield.

It didn't take long for the first mine to be activated. The unlucky guy was ripped into pieces by the explosion. Many followed.

Only eight bandits made it through the minefield. Gaara didn't need to fight a single one of them. They all were killed by his team.

After they had defeated the eight they made their way to the giant pile of sand.

Baki went to Gaara and ask.

"How many are trapped in the sand?"

"I can feel twelve bandits. But I don't know if they are alive. Should I kill them or do you want to take them with us?"

"They are just little fish. They probably don't know anything useful. If you have enough chakra, then you can kill them."

"Don't worry, I have more than enough. Sand coffin."

The remaining bandits were crushed by the sand.

Gaara called his sand back to his gourd and then looked around.

"Who is gonna clean that up?"

"Our job was to protect the village. What happens to the bodies doesn't have to concern us. I will take care of the mines after we have eaten something."

They went back to the village where they were welcomed under thunderous applause. The village chief stepped forth to thank them personally.

"Thank you very much. First I was a little skeptical if only the four of you would be enough to defeat the bandits. But you have shown me how strong shinobi really are. Here is your payment. Can we do anything else for you?"

Baki took the payment from the village chief and then answered.

"No. We are going to leave tomorrow. Please be aware that there are landmines around 50 meters in front of the village entrance. I will inform you when we have removed the."

They had already restocked their supplies on the first day at the village so they didn't need anything.

They ate and after that, they removed the mines. Luckily for them, Baki had placed his chakra on the mines so it was really easy to find them.

On the next day, they were ready to leave in the morning. It would take them two days at a comfortable pace to get back to Suna. Hopefully, it would be without incidents this time.