Aokawa continued deeper, and after silently taking out a few more sentries...
The three of them quietly arrived outside the fortress.
Four bandits were patrolling back and forth on the Fortress Wall.
Through the vision of his Byakugan, Aokawa also noticed that the bandits in the fortress were training together.
This actually gave them an opportunity to strike.
"If we directly take out the bandits on the wall, it will definitely alert them. Kurenai, you use Genjutsu to control them."
"Tetsubi, once Kurenai has controlled the sentries, head up the western Fortress Wall."
"The bandits are all gathered below for training. Use Fire Release to kill them, then rush in to finish them off."
"I'll follow behind you two for support, as per Tetsubi's earlier arrangement."
With the advantage of information, Aokawa naturally took over command.
Given their experience of working together to deal with the sentries just now, the two of them didn't raise any objections.
"Move out!"
Kurenai Yuhi's fingers flew as she quickly formed hand seals.
"Ninja Art: Hell Viewing Technique."
The faces of the four patrolling bandits on the wall immediately contorted, filled with terror, as if they were witnessing something extremely horrifying.
The strange thing was that they continued their patrolling movements on the wall like sleepwalkers.
Seeing this, Uchiha Tetsubi immediately focused his Chakra and dashed up the Fortress Wall.
Aokawa followed closely behind him like a shadow.
The roars of training inside the fortress were deafening, perfectly masking the movement outside the wall.
Uchiha Tetsubi leaped onto the top of the wall, and what greeted his eyes were the bandits gathered for training in the open space below.
A dense crowd of twenty to thirty people was gathered in one spot.
His hands moved rapidly to form seals, and his chest visibly swelled.
Facing such a dense group of enemies, Uchiha Tetsubi held nothing back, refining his Chakra with all his might.
Before the bandits could react, he suddenly spat out the accumulated Chakra from his mouth!
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
A massive fireball blasted down from the top of the wall into the crowd!
The bandits in the center were instantly turned to charcoal.
Even those on the edges were engulfed in flames; the area suddenly became a sea of fire, filled with wails of agony.
Witnessing this from the side, Aokawa couldn't help but look askance.
Fire Release is called the "Merciful Ninjutsu" when dealing with elites.
But when used to clear out fodder, the scene was truly brutal.
On the other side, Kurenai Yuhi saw that Uchiha Tetsubi had already launched his Fire Release.
With great coordination, she immediately manipulated the four bandits under her Genjutsu to fall off the wall.
She then quickly climbed the Fortress Wall to regroup with the other two.
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"
Someone in the bandit crowd finally reacted.
"It's Ninja! We've been targeted by Ninja! Run!"
"What's the panic?" roared one who looked like the leader.
"Even if they're Ninja, they're just three brats. What is there to fear?"
"We have the numbers! Charge!"
Without hesitation, the three of them leaped down from the Fortress Wall.
Uchiha Tetsubi took the lead, rushing into the crowd with a Kunai in a reverse grip.
Kurenai Yuhi also followed closely as planned, continuously casting Genjutsu and throwing Ninja Tools to provide support.
Aokawa was relatively idle, holding a Kunai in the rear, ready to support the two at any moment.
This was the benefit of being a Medical Ninja.
The bandits, being desperate criminals themselves, saw that there was no hope of escape, and their eyes suddenly gleamed with ferocity.
Gripping various weapons, they roared and lunged forward to fight for their lives.
Although Uchiha Tetsubi, at the Front Lines, killed several people as easily as cutting vegetables...
...he was outnumbered, and before long, several wounds appeared on his body.
Kurenai Yuhi wasn't doing much better; although she wasn't under as much pressure as Uchiha Tetsubi...
...her lack of experience led to her getting grazed in a few places as well.
Aokawa stayed behind them, occasionally throwing Ninja Tools to bail them out.
In fact, if he had used a scatter shot on this group, most of them would have been dead by now.
But since he had joined the squad, he naturally had to prioritize teamwork.
He also needed to adapt to his role as a Medical Ninja.
Besides, the squad was meant for learning; if he killed everyone...
...what experience would his two teammates gain?
Soon, more than half of the twenty to thirty bandits had been killed by the two students who had recently graduated from the Ninja Academy.
This was the terrifying nature of supernatural abilities; ordinary people were powerless against such a dimensionality reduction strike.
Seeing the situation, the bandit who looked like the leader...
...was terrified and tried to flee with two of his subordinates.
With a Body Flicker Technique, Aokawa flashed in front of him and killed him cleanly.
Turning back, Uchiha Tetsubi and Kurenai Yuhi were leaning against the wall, panting.
He hurried forward and began using the Healing Technique on Kurenai Yuhi.
Just as the thought 'having a medical teammate is actually pretty good' surfaced in Uchiha Tetsubi's mind...
...his eyes widened at the sight.
Wait, what?
I was the one charging at the front, okay? I have way more wounds than she does.
What do you mean by only caring about healing her?
Just as he was about to speak, Aokawa seemed to know what he was thinking.
He extended his other hand and pressed the green light onto his wound.
"Hiss!"
The sudden comfort combined with a slight stinging sensation made him gasp, and the complaint at the tip of his tongue was swallowed back down.
He looked at Aokawa, who appeared relaxed and was exchanging glances with Kurenai Yuhi, with his eyes wide open.
"You can even do that?"
Uchiha Tetsubi was very surprised.
Healing two people with both hands separately?
Just how strong was this guy's Chakra control?
After a long while, under Aokawa's exquisite Medical Ninjutsu...
...the wounds on Uchiha Tetsubi and Kurenai Yuhi were basically healed.
"There are still a few civilians locked inside. Let's go and release them."
Aokawa said while looking at a cave in the fortress with his Byakugan.
"Okay."
The three of them moved together.
The interior of the cave was dark and damp, and a three-way junction soon appeared.
"Search separately," Aokawa whispered, then chose the leftmost path.
The passage was winding. After turning a few corners, Aokawa arrived at a crude cage.
The scene inside the cage was unbearable to look at.
A young boy lay in a pool of blood, covered in wounds and breathing his last.
Beside him lay the corpses of two adults, long since devoid of life.
Aokawa's heart tightened, and a feeling of compassion arose.
He tore the cage door chain apart and said softly, "It's alright now. The bandits have been cleared out by us. You're safe and can go home."
The boy suddenly raised his head, his eyes first bursting with intense light: "Re... really? The bandits are all dead?"
His gaze then fell on the corpses of his parents, and that bit of light was instantly consumed by extreme pain and resentment.
His face contorted as he stared fixedly at Aokawa and roared:
"Why?! Why couldn't you have come sooner! If you had come earlier... my mom and dad wouldn't have died!"
"I hate you!!"
Screaming, the boy actually struggled to crawl up and lunged recklessly at Aokawa.
The gentle smile on Aokawa's face gradually faded, and the green glow of the medical Chakra in his hand quietly dissipated.
Looking at those eyes completely eroded by hatred and the lunging figure, he suddenly realized:
"It turns out, one bandit was missed!"
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