Some of them held torches, others bows with arrows, and some wielded strange but menacing-looking weapons.
"Enemies!" Satoru, with the sharpest eyesight and perception, immediately reported the foes' appearance.
Minato and Yoshime drew their kunai, ready to fight at any moment.
Satoru, naturally, was also scanning the surroundings intently, preparing for an immediate attack.
"Ah! Enemies! Could this really be bandits!" the caravan leader was beside himself with regret. But glancing at the White Fang standing nearby, he immediately felt much calmer.
"Your goods look very fine. Leave them to me!" a one-eyed man stepped forward. This was the One-Eyed Dragon.
Clearly, the speaker was the leader of this bandit gang.
"Hey! Boss! They're guarded by ninja! Seems like Konoha ninja!" one of his subordinates noticed and reported immediately.
The One-Eyed Dragon eyed them for a long time, then burst into loud laughter.
"Ha-ha! Ninja? Look, they're just three snot-nosed kids! We've got so many; how could we fear them?" The One-Eyed Dragon spotted Sakumo, who seemed utterly uninterested in fighting, and whispered, "Look, that gray-haired guy seems a bit more serious."
"I'm telling you, enough with this act! You dress your kids up as Konoha ninja and think we'll be scared? Think that'll stop me from looting your goods?"
"Hand everything over nicely, and I'll let you live!" the One-Eyed Dragon threatened viciously. The weapon in his hands looked far from harmless.
The other bandits were everywhere, as far as the eye could see.
Ninety-nine percent of the caravan people were scared to death. After all, they'd never seen Satoru and his comrades fight, and that gray-haired youth had said he wouldn't intervene.
"What do we do now?" Yoshime whispered.
"Listen to Satoru. He's our captain. Teacher said we should follow his orders for now," Minato didn't act rashly at that moment, temporarily handing command to the transmigrator.
Satoru just smiled faintly and slowly took a few steps forward.
"Bandits, huh? Want to rob our goods? Do you know my name? I'm Satoru." He figured he'd earned some fame in the shinobi world by now and hoped these bandits would be sensible enough.
"I'll count to three. If you scram quickly, I won't interfere," Satoru offered very amicably.
But he was just a little kid, and his voice still cracked a bit childishly. Far from threatening, his words only drew a chorus of laughter from the bandits as soon as they landed.
"Ha-ha-ha! What a joke! Kid! You really not afraid of death?" one of the One-Eyed Dragon's henchmen stepped forward, grabbed the system holder, and effortlessly lifted him into the air.
"Three!" A smile stayed on Satoru's face. He said the number.
"Bastard! Wanna die that bad?!" The henchman hoisted the boy even higher.
"Two!"
The henchman's intentions were obvious: he planned to smash Satoru into the ground with force.
"We really not gonna intervene?" Yoshime couldn't stand it anymore. But the calm Namikaze remained unfazed:
"Trust Satoru. You know best what he's capable of."
"Die!" The One-Eyed Dragon's henchman hurled Satoru toward the ground with force. The other bandits showed no sympathy—instead, they roared with laughter.
As for the caravan people, they all covered their eyes with their hands. They didn't want to witness this tragedy.
"I've counted to three. I gave you a chance. Since you didn't take it, you'll stay here," came the Earth native's voice—from the hand of that very henchman of the One-Eyed Dragon.
At that moment, Satoru was indeed slammed into the ground. But at the same time, his feet were already hardened with Armament Haki. How could such scum as these bandits injure Satoru?
"Armament Haki: Hardening! Monstrous Strength!" Satoru not only used Armament Haki but also applied Tsunade's Monstrous Strength.
This powerful strike didn't just throw the man back—it pierced straight through his body.
Satoru impaled the bandit's body with one blow. Blood gushed out in a fountain.
Everyone present froze in shock. The caravan people hadn't expected such a small child to kill a bandit with one strike!
"Get him!" The One-Eyed Dragon was stunned too. But as the leader, he couldn't let a subordinate die at some kid's hands just like that.
"Kill!" Yoshime shouted loudly and was about to charge forward with Minato.
Who would've thought Satoru would say right then:
"Yoshime! Minato! Don't forget our mission! You two are responsible for protecting the people and goods of the caravan! Leave the rest to me!"
"Got it!" His comrades said nothing more. Satoru was their captain, and his abilities and authority made them trust him unconditionally.
Then Satoru began his bloody harvest.
These bandits weren't good people. Clearly, they were hardened criminals with more than one or two lives on their hands.
Satoru just needed to do one thing—kill!
There was no point talking morality with these people. Even if they handed over all the goods to save their lives, the bandits would still kill them. After all, bandits don't keep extra mouths.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!" The system holder didn't hesitate, unleashing Fire Release on this scum and turning them all to ash!
Even after that, many bandits tried to bypass the reincarnator and attack the caravan.
Satoru gave them no chance for a counterattack. He immediately used shadow clones and, like a hurricane, wiped out eighty percent of the bandits.
"You... you really know ninjutsu! Didn't expect you to actually be a ninja! Has Konoha got nothing but kids like you left?!"
"Ha-ha!" The One-Eyed Dragon wasn't scared at all. He didn't mourn his subordinates' deaths one bit. A true wolf in sheep's clothing.
"Fine then, I won't hide anymore! Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
The bandit leader suddenly used Wind Release. This surprised Satoru a bit.
"This guy—a ninja? First time fighting a real enemy who knows ninjutsu!" Satoru suddenly felt interested.
He stood firm against the wind, using Monstrous Strength in his legs. The Wind Release: Great Breakthrough didn't budge Satoru an inch.
"Impossible! Wind Release doesn't affect you?!"
"Fine! This is my strongest technique! Try it!"
"Wind Release: Oppressive Harm!" The One-Eyed Dragon formed seals again and unleashed an even stronger Wind Release technique. This was already B-rank ninjutsu.
***
Read the story months ahead of the public release — early chapters are available on my Patreon: Granulan