The journey took three days.
Although Shizuka Yuhi had controlled the pace of travel, when they finally arrived at the village, Asuma Sarutobi and Kurenai Yuhi still ended up exhausted with pale faces.
As they reached the entrance of the village, two men holding farming pitchforks immediately assumed defensive stances.
"Who are you people?"
"We're ninja from Konoha. We've accepted the mission request from your village."
Shizuka Yuhi explained calmly.
Upon hearing his words, the two men exchanged glances before one of them immediately turned and ran into the village.
A moment later, chaotic footsteps approached.
Led by an elderly man with white hair and beard, a large group of villagers gathered around them.
"You're the ninja sent by Konoha?"
"That's right."
Asuma Sarutobi stepped forward and pointed at the forehead protector on his arm, "Leave the bandit problem to us."
At his words, the villagers frowned immediately.
The old leader inspected the group before him, revealing obvious dissatisfaction in his eyes, "Are you really capable of dealing with bandits?"
"Of course." Asuma Sarutobi confidently lifted his head, "I'm one top-notch ninja."
Just as the elder hesitated, someone suddenly shouted out, "We paid so much money, yet we only got three little brats?!"
"Give us our money back!"
As soon as those words were spoken, the crowd became restless.
Seeing this, Asuma Sarutobi panicked slightly and hurried to explain, "Please trust us. We'll definitely resolve the bandit issue for you."
"And besides... Teacher Shizuka is actually a Jonin!"
When Asuma Sarutobi said this, the crowd immediately quieted down.
A Jonin?
If it was a Jonin leading the team, then things made more sense now.
"Well... don't get me wrong, your payment only covers missions at Genin level — I won't personally intervene."
Shizuka Yuhi shrugged his hands while speaking.
"Teacher Shizuka?"
Asuma Sarutobi was stunned.
You didn't have to say that even if you weren't going to help — isn't that just pouring oil on fire?
"Just listen everyone, these ninja from Konoha are clearly playing tricks on us."
"If they fail to eliminate the bandits, the bandits will surely retaliate against us."
"Kick them out! We don't need these kinds of troublemakers messing things up!"
Voices rose again, and expressions among the villagers once more turned heated.
Just as the situation threatened to spiral out of control, a figure burst through the crowd.
The next second, Mirai Uchiha had already grabbed a man by the throat.
"What do you think you're doing?!"
Everyone questioned her upon seeing Mirai Uchiha's action.
Mirai Uchiha let out a soft scoff, her pitch-black eyes transforming into the crimson Sharingan.
A chilling and savage aura spread outward, causing the villagers present to recoil in terror.
"I'm the bandits' accomplice inside the village. My job is to incite hostility against outsiders among the villagers and report intelligence about the village to the bandits immediately..."
Under Mirai Uchiha's Genjutsu, the man caught by her spoke expressionlessly.
"Cunning bandits!"
The villagers understood now.
So this was the guy shouting just moments ago!
Tell me who your accomplice is.
Mirai Uchiha said indifferently.
"There are two spies hiding in the village. Besides me, the other one is named..."
Before the man could finish speaking, Mirai Uchiha suddenly hurled her long katana backward.
Pfthk!
An adult male attempting to flee was impaled through the heart by the blade. He twitched on the ground for a moment before losing consciousness.
[Ding! Congratulations, Master! Reward obtained: Physique +0.5!]
Hearing the system's prompt echo in her mind, Mirai Uchiha's heart quickened.
She had already triggered today's match reward earlier; how could another one activate now?
Could it be — does killing people also activate the Plunder System?
Thinking of this, Mirai Uchiha slightly tightened her right hand.
Crack!
[Ding! Congratulations, Master! Reward obtained: Physique +0.5!]
Once again, the system's prompt echoed in her mind, and waves of shock surged within her.
She was certain now.
Besides the daily battle reward, the System could also grant rewards through killing.
Most importantly — the kill-based plunder reward triggered twice!
Does that mean there's no limit on how many times the kill-based reward can be triggered?
No good, she must verify this thoroughly.
"Mirai?"
Kurenai Yuhi's voice pulled Mirai Uchiha back to reality.
Seeing all eyes on her, Mirai Uchiha dropped the corpse at her feet.
"The bandit spy has been eliminated. We'll wipe out the rest tonight."
"From now on, nobody is allowed to leave the village."
After witnessing how effortlessly Mirai Uchiha killed two grown men, the villagers didn't dare to object.
Persuaded by the white-haired elder, they obediently returned to the village.
"Honorable guests, I am Fuji-o Komura, headman of this village."
"Please don't be offended by what happened just now."
Komura Fuji bowed with a smile.
Mirai Uchiha waved her hand, "It's alright. Prepare some meals for us—we'll rest first."
"Understood. Please follow me."
After arranging everything, Fuji-o Komura politely took his leave.
Once he was gone, Kurenai Yuhi gave Shizuka Yuhi a disapproving look and said, "Father, you were really terrible today. How could you say you wouldn't get involved at a moment like that?"
"If it weren't for Mirai stepping in to take control of the situation, we would've been publicly dismissed by our employers."
"In that case, we would've definitely become the laughingstock of the entire village."
Upon hearing Kurenai's words, Asuma Sarutobi also turned his gaze toward Shizuka Yuhi.
He too couldn't understand why Shizuka Yuhi had said something so inappropriate at such a crucial time.
Facing their questions, Shizuka Yuhi smiled warmly and said, "Mirai, you explain it to them."
"Under normal circumstances, it should have been the Village Headman handling communication with us."
"But during our conversation, someone kept inciting hostility against us among the villagers."
"That's very unusual."
"What Master Shizuka said was just meant to confirm whether his judgment was correct or not."
Mirai Uchiha explained calmly.
"Oh! That's why!"
Kurenai suddenly understood.
No wonder Mirai Uchiha had been able to accurately identify the accomplice—there had been more to this than met the eye.
"Hahahaha... So you still have a lot to learn."
Shizuka Yuhi laughed heartily.
It had been a long time since he'd experienced such seamless teamwork.
After learning the full story, Asuma Sarutobi felt a deep sense of frustration brewing inside him.
He had never imagined that he himself could be so inadequate.
Why was it that guy Mirai Uchiha always managed to excel at absolutely everything?!
After finishing their meal, Mirai Uchiha began meditating with his eyes closed.
Though he hadn't shown any outward reaction, killing someone for the first time still left him feeling slightly nauseous and unsettled inside.
He needed to adjust his mindset to prepare for the bloodshed that would come tonight.
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