The rewards for C-rank missions are not very high (after all, they are missions mainly entrusted by ordinary civilians, and anything above B-rank almost certainly involves confronting enemy ninja, with a high probability of encountering shinobi from other villages. Compared to that, C-rank and D-rank missions are truly insignificant.)
Spending a relatively small amount of money to hire a team of ninja to eliminate bandits or dangerous elements entrenched near one's territory is, for most city lords, an extremely cost-effective option. If the local garrison were mobilized instead, setting aside the additional time required, just the consumption of manpower, supplies, and logistics alone would be enough to give those city lords a headache. Moreover, once soldiers suffer casualties, there is also the follow-up issue of pensions and compensation, which is even more troublesome to deal with.
Therefore, as long as trouble arises, directly hiring ninja from one's affiliated ninja village to resolve the issue has become a tacit consensus among the major countries. The C-rank mission Naruto and the others were carrying out this time was no exception. Originally, the city lord had not wanted to wait for the nearby garrison to suppress the bandits. Now, by simply spending a sum of money that was insignificant to him, he could easily exchange it for peace within his jurisdiction. Needless to say, this city lord was extremely satisfied.
As for Team Seven, led by Hatake Kakashi, they naturally had no insight into the hidden calculations in the city lord's mind. Even if they did know, they would not care. After all, the mission reward had been paid, everything followed the formal rules, and the task itself was also considered a contribution to maintaining security within the Land of Fire. From any angle, it was a matter of killing two birds with one stone.
Counting from the time they set out
After roughly four hours of continuous movement
As dusk gradually fell, Naruto and the others arrived at a mountainous area located about three to four kilometers away from the bandits' lair recorded in the mission scroll.
They stopped at a deliberately selected high vantage point.
After all, Team Seven was a newly formed squad.
This was also the first C-rank mission they had ever received.
Naturally, completing the mission was the top priority.
But taking advantage of the relatively special nature of this mission, it also served as an opportunity for further training of the three genin of Team Seven not only in terms of strength, but also in mentality, judgment, and operational capability.
"We're almost there. According to the mission scroll, it's the mountain ahead. There's a small valley inside, and that's where the bandits' camp is located. Everyone, confirm the position."
Standing at the forefront, Kakashi gazed at the mountain range not far ahead, then turned his head to look at Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura behind him.
"Yes, Kakashi-sensei."
Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura followed Kakashi's line of sight and nodded slightly toward the faintly visible valley, indicating their understanding.
"According to the intelligence, there are one hundred and thirteen adult men capable of combat within this bandit camp. In addition, there are women, children, and elderly people, bringing the total number of people to nearly two hundred. The current time is five o'clock in the afternoon. The mission will officially begin three hours later, after nightfall. The mission objective is to suppress the bandits completely, eliminate all armed resistance, and ensure that this stronghold no longer exists."
The lazy and casual expression that Kakashi usually wore was completely gone.
At this moment, Kakashi's face was filled with a cold seriousness as he looked at Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura. His voice was steady and devoid of emotional fluctuation.
The words that fell seemed to freeze the surrounding air for a brief moment.
Originally, Naruto had been grumbling inwardly, thinking, "This doesn't look like a bandit den at all there are even women and elderly people here, it's more like a crude village."
Haruno Sakura, on the other hand, was still worried about whether she might get injured during the upcoming mission.
Even Sasuke, who had always maintained a cold and aloof attitude, showed a subtle change in expression.
At this moment, all three of them looked at Kakashi with expressions of shock and disbelief, as though the person standing before them was no longer their instructor, but someone completely unfamiliar.
Suppress?
Eliminate armed resistance?
Completely eradicate the bandit camp?
Did that mean
Did it include the women, children, and elderly as well?
If Naruto and Sasuke could still barely maintain a degree of composure
Sakura, standing to the side, fell directly into a stunned state.
It felt like a single second had passed.
And yet, it also felt like an eternity.
"Answer."
Kakashi's voice rang out again, colder than before, with a faint hint of impatience.
Sakura snapped back to her senses.
Before Naruto or Sasuke could speak
"Why… why is it like this? Kakashi-sensei! Shouldn't the mission be to wipe out the bandits? Only the bandits! Shouldn't the women, children, and elderly be protected? Kakashi-sensei, you must have misspoken just now, right? Our mission is to deal with the bandits, isn't it?"
Sakura looked at Kakashi with a visibly panicked and frightened expression. Her voice trembled uncontrollably, and there was a clear trace of fear in her eyes along with the last shred of hope she was desperately clinging to.
Kill.
And to face killing so soon after graduation.
It wasn't that Haruno Sakura had never mentally prepared herself for such a possibility.
This world was fundamentally different from the peaceful world she had imagined.
What did it mean to be a ninja?
Perhaps compared to Naruto and Sasuke, Sakura was more naive, even somewhat idealistic. But even so, she understood clearly what her profession entailed. Ninja were not a joking profession. Being a ninja inevitably meant stepping onto battlefields, large or small. Sakura had already prepared herself for the possibility of killing. It was just that it came too quickly, too suddenly.
This was also the reason Sakura had instinctively resisted when Naruto insisted on taking a C-rank mission. It wasn't only due to a lack of confidence in her own strength it was also fear of killing.
And yet, she still chose to follow on this mission in the end.
That alone meant Sakura understood the responsibility and awareness a ninja was supposed to have.
But that awareness absolutely did not include what Kakashi seemed to be implying at this moment.
Suppressing bandits
Sakura knew exactly what that meant.
Even if it involved taking hundreds of lives, it was not only a mission requirement. According to the intelligence, these bandits had already robbed countless caravans and even destroyed more than a dozen villages. They were criminals steeped in blood and sin. Killing such people caused Sakura inner resistance and emotional turmoil, but she could still barely accept it on a fundamental level.
However
The scope of the mission Kakashi described far exceeded Sakura's expectations.
It was not just about dealing with over a hundred armed bandits.
It sounded as if it meant erasing everyone in the camp, including women, children, and the elderly nearly two hundred people in total.
That was something Sakura absolutely could not accept.
At this moment, Haruno Sakura could only hope
That this was merely a test.
Or a cruel joke.
Or that Kakashi-sensei had deliberately exaggerated his words.
Anything
As long as it wasn't truly what she feared.
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