Naruto: Wolf of the Hidden Leaf

It wasn't even noon when we left the village. I was worried that I wasn't prepared enough for the mission considering I hadn't packed anything when I came to the academy. But surprisingly Reiga sensei was extremely prepared and had a sealing scroll with multiple bags filled with extra survival kits and ninja tools.

Supposedly, the mission was extremely last minute and due to the urgency of the situation, we had to move quickly. Reiga sensei gave us the details of the mission as we used 'Body Flicker Technique' to travel quickly through the forest.

"For the last six months a band of bandits had been attacking on the outskirts of the Land of Hot Water. Their forces have tried to control the situation, but they're not exactly usual type of bandits."

"What do you mean by not the usual type?" Sayuri asked.

"Well, usually most bandits just group up in ten or so and attack a village. They kill whoever gets in the way and robs them. Most die this way because, most of them get intercepted by the shinobis of that area. But these guys are different. In the last six months they've robbed almost a hundred small settlements and they've killed only five or six people."

"That should be good right?" Daigo asked.

"Usually. But these bandits don't need to kill many people because when they come to attack, they come in fifty or sixty in numbers. They don't need to kill anyone to intimidate the civilians, their numbers alone are enough. Which also hampers the shinobis from taking care of them properly. Plus, that wasn't even their full force. They are extremely organized. Their leader is a missing nin from Kumogakure. So, they had actual military training."

I asked, "But that still doesn't explain our mission. We can't officially help in this matter if the Land of Hot Water doesn't give us a request."

"Yes, you're exactly right, Rei. We don't have any official jurisdiction there. At least we didn't until last week. Last week one of the lieutenants took 15 or so men and left the bandit group. They came to the Land of Fire and burned down a small settlement. It happened yesterday. One of the surviving guards risked her life to give us the information regarding their hideout."

"That's it? It'll only take me and Daigo to take care of it. Or you can just burn them to crisp with just one of your fireball jutsu." Sayuri stated.

"Killing them all isn't our mission. The request that came from the Land of Hot Water specifically stated that we needed to use the lieutenant to find out where the leader of the bandit has created their hideout. After that we'll conduct a joint operation with their shinobis to clear out the whole bandit group. So, it's a two-step mission. First is to capture and interrogate, the second being the extermination. Rei, can you get the information out of the lieutenant using genjutsu."

I thought about it and after reviewing the genjutsus I knew I answered,

"Yeah, I have more than ten genjutsu that'll be extremely helpful to get the words out of them."

"More than ten?" Daigo asked with interest, "How many genjutsu have you even learned?"

"All of them. B rank and below. I was hoping to learn the A ranked ones after a few missions."

"Damn that's impressive. Even your ninken Umbra can keep up with us using the body flicker technique." Daigo said and turned towards Sayuri, "Do you know anything besides Gentle Fist Techniques?"

"I don't think I need anything beside that." Sayuri replied confidently.

The sharp scent of blood snapped my focus to something else.

"We are close to the hideout. I smell blood." I spoke.

Instantly both of them shut up and focused their attention towards their objective. Reiga sensei gave me a nod of acknowledgement as he signaled us to stop. We stopped upon one of the large tree branches.

From our vantage point, we could clearly see the hideout of the bandits. It wasn't some primitive cave—it was a pair of makeshift two-story wooden houses, tucked into the forest's shade. The intel that the guard gave was absolutely correct and to the point.

Most of the bandits wore simple commoner garb and carried make-shift weapons carved out of farming equipment. It was clear that they were not born killers, rather something that their life situation has forced them onto. I could see them through the open windows they had.

But not all were the same. I had used my sensory capabilities to identify 16 chakra signatures the moment we had stopped. And among those 16, five of them were clearly different. Not only their clothes and weapons were more sophisticated but also their chakra signature told me that they have had some training on how to use chakra.

"Sixteen different chakra signatures. Eleven of them show no signs of any training, but the rest five have been trained in using chakra on some level. On the house to the left, first floor has three and the ground floor has seven. And on the right house, first floor has four and the ground floor has two bandits. The strongest chakra signature is in the first floor of the left side of the house."

As I finished giving my report, I found two sets of amazed eyes looking at me.

"Amazing! You found all that within just a moment!" Sayuri said as her eyes flashed with admiration.

"Yeah. I mean I am a sensory type. It's kind of my job to sense my enemies and give a comprehensive feedback before the official attack starts. Your Byakugan can also do the same thing."

"Yeah, but my range is only 25 meters." She said with a sad face.

Reiga sensei seemed a bit bothered by our nonchalant attitude decided to step in,

"Enough! Good job, Rei. We now have an idea regarding how are enemies are arranged. I wish I could take care of it all by myself and just go home. But supposedly being a jonin instructor means to give the genins a turn to shine. What a pain." He said with an annoyed voice.

Sayuri was right. He is super weird.

"Look, this is the first time this team is ever in a combat situation; I mean it hasn't even been a day since Rei has joined us. So, if you guys want then I can take care of it myself or the other option is for you three to work together and take the bandits out by yourselves."

Without even hearing mine or Daigo's opinion Sayuri shouted out, "We'll do it by ourselves."

"Don't answer without our consent, Sayrui." Daigo said.

"Oh, shut up, Daigo. You've been saying for days that you want to do actual combat. Don't tell me you're chickening out right now."

"I'm not. Also, lower your voice, you loudmouth. Do you not understand what shinobis are supposed to do!"

Yeah, this team was extremely dysfunctional. I sensed some movement inside and immidiately interrupted them.

"Can you guys walk on buildings or trees?"

Sayuri replied instantly, "I can. Why? Do you have a plan?"

"Yes. But we need to move fast if we want to accomplish our mission. So, if you guys are okay with it, I can tell you my plan."

They looked at each other questioningly but finally decided to nod in confirmation. It seemed that none of them were much of a planner. I noticed Reiga sensei lying on the branch beside us and observing us carefully. 

"Okay, my plan is simple and quick. Sayuri will take care of the first floor of the left house. You'll get up using the walls and after going through the windows you'll take on your opponents. You'll have to face the leader of the group, so be careful. Daigo will take care of the seven bandits on the ground floor of the same house."

"What about you? Are you going to take care of the other building by yourself?" Daigo asked.

"Yeah, don't worry about it. I can take care of myself." I said as I signaled Umbra to blend in the shadows. "We move in the count on three. Let's try not to kill them, we need them for questioning. Okay. One, two and three!"

With the end of my count, the three of us used 'Body Flicker' to move towards our respective destinations. Umbra was already on the ground floor of the right building and finished making preparation.

'All done?'

'Preparations completed.'

I gave him a mental thanks as I quickly climbed atop the two-story house. I've already judged their strength using their chakra signature. And after evaluating them with my own, I realized that it wasn't exactly worth it to fight them face to face. Umbra here has just basically set up everything I needed.

My hands moved quickly as I formed the hand signs necessary to perform the jutsu that I needed to use.

'Demonic Howl Technique'

Seeing the weaving of my hand signs Umbra got the signal and howled at the sky. Only a second passed as I heard the shouting of people with confusion, paranoia and terror. My senses were alert as all six of them present in the house fell unconscious after only a couple of seconds.

Perfection.

The technique itself is quite simple. Umbra gives a howl and I use that howl to transfer directly towards anyone within hearing distance. This technique is mostly used for confusing others, but with my abilities, I can amplify the sound to such a degree that my target loses consciousness by the sheer intensity of the howl. It only works on opponents much weaker than me who has little to no knowledge regarding genjutsu.

Nice. I literally just one-shot these guys.

My attention went towards the other house as I saw two of my teammates just getting started. Well, that's genjutsu for you. I expect my battles to finish extremely quickly when I'm in genin level. Genjutsu becomes much more deadly when your opponent doesn't even know how to counter it.

'Umbra, let's see if our new teammates are actually competent or not. We have all the time in the world after all.'