The bandits attacking the village were by no means mere thieves who only wanted to steal. Two men had been killed by them, and some of them had dragged the most beautiful women into houses.
Shino extended his hands, and insects flew.
Kurenai formed hand seals, and some of them simply stopped moving.
Hinata, though sweet and innocent, could be cruel when she wanted to. With her 'light' open-hand strikes surrounded by chakra, she struck the first man multiple times in the most painful points of the body.
The scream of one alerted the others. Those who had entered the houses with women came out while fumbling with their pants—it was clear they hadn't had time to commit the act.
So, was it all Hinata's plan to make them come out, even if it made her a target?
However, when ten of them tried to surround her, Zaydas stomped on the ground, and stones rose into the air. Each stone was struck by his punch and hurled in the direction of the men.
"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!!"
Some died, while others were 'luckier'—having their masculine areas struck by him, breaking the Bro Code… However, in cases of rape, it is advisable to ignore that code and make sure these animals are never able to use their 'sausages' again.
"Urgahhhhh!" "Ahhhhh!" "AHHHHHHHH!"
But if Zaydas was cruel, Shino could be seen as, at the very least, a nightmare. Sending insects into the bodies of some bandits through their ears, nose, and mouth, it was hard to say if those men were still alive, but if they survived, they would certainly need a good therapist afterward.
In an instant, the 23 bandits who had invaded the village of at least 100 residents were incapacitated by them.
"It's all right now," Hinata said in her sweet and gentle voice.
However, it was hard to ignore the splatter of blood on her clothes and face.
Zaydas walked over to her and, with a handkerchief, wiped her face, saying, "You have blood on you."
She took the handkerchief and thanked him, "Thank you, Zaydas-kun."
"Mm." Zaydas nodded.
Meanwhile, Kurenai, using her genjutsu, had already interrogated the bandits, including their leader. In the end, she said they were just bandits who had come from the Hidden Grass Village, which was a few kilometers from that village.
In an instant, they sealed the bandits inside scrolls.
The village chief came with the rest of the villagers and thanked them, "Thank you, thank you!"
The children, in their childish voices, then said in unison, "Thank you!"
Among the villagers were the women who had almost been violated, their clothes half-torn, covering themselves with a sheet.
Besides that, they tried to pay them, but…
"We can't accept," Kurenai refused.
"It's all right, we insist! Thanks to you, our village is safe!" the chief said.
The chief was a man in his early forties, with short, messy hair. His nose was large, and his eyes were small. Overall, he looked like an honest man. And, seeing the state of the village, it was clear he wasn't an exploiter like most village leaders.
"May I?" Zaydas asked Kurenai.
When she nodded, he said, "Chief, I understand that you are grateful to us, but it would be unethical for us to accept. If you pay us for this, it would turn our act of kindness into an act of greed."
"But..."
Some wanted to argue, but they were stopped by the chief.
"I understand," he said. "At least stay, and we will celebrate our heroes."
"Errr... That might be difficult. We are in the middle of a mission and cannot stay," Kurenai said.
"I understand, I understand." Though saddened, he seemed to know he shouldn't push further.
Under the happy cheers of the villagers, they moved away from the village.
"I'm glad we did this..." Hinata murmured.
No one said anything, but it was clear that even Kurenai agreed.
After getting far from the village, Kurenai said, "By the way, although I didn't find what we were looking for, I may have found a clue related to Orochimaru."
"Orochimaru?"
"Yes, from what I understand, he is north of the Leaf Village, meaning a few kilometers east of here." Kurenai summoned a bird, and after placing a note, she made it fly away.
'So slow…' Zaydas thought about their method of communication.
By the way, the one who implanted information in the bandits was Zaydas... But he couldn't just let them complete a mission in vain, right?
And with that, they would provide relevant information, even if it had nothing to do with their initial mission.
However, considering how much they think Orochimaru is cunning and manipulative, it's very likely they will assume Danzo's death is related to him. And considering that even the Third Hokage died at his hands, it would be easy to put all the blame on him.
In the end, it's much easier to blame someone than to have no target to blame. And Orochimaru fit that role perfectly.
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When the message arrived at the Leaf Village, they investigated its authenticity, and upon confirming that it was indeed sent by Kurenai, they became nervous.
After various speculations, Koharu Utatane said in a trembling voice, "What if it was Orochimaru who killed Danzo?"
"It's possible..." Homura Mitokado agreed.
Tsunade, who heard this, tapped her fingers rhythmically on the table.
Sigh "If it was him, it's possible." She couldn't deny that possibility. He had managed to hide right under everyone's noses and killed the Third Hokage.
Because of this, they began considering the possibility and the reasons why Orochimaru would do something like that.
"Weren't the First Hokage's cells found in that laboratory?" Shikaku said thoughtfully. "Maybe he was after that… Of course, if we connect Danzo to that lab."
Suddenly, someone burst into the office, panting heavily.
"T-Tsunade-sama, we have important information!!!"
"Speak!" she commanded firmly.
"W-We in the intelligence division discovered that Danzo-sama was connected to that laboratory, and that's not all!!"
Soon, various pieces of information were shared about what Danzo had been doing—having more than one laboratory, etc.
"Danzo!!" Tsunade's anger boiled.
"Calm down, Tsunade, you—" Koharu began to speak but swallowed her words upon receiving a hard, furious glare from her.
"Call Kurenai's team back! I don't care who killed Danzo—he deserved to be dead!" Tsunade said. "Whoever did it did Konoha a favor!"
She was furious, and rightfully so. It was her relatives they were talking about. Her grandfather's cells were being used in experiments. And who knows how many others had been used…
The truth was that even in her anger, she wasn't simply acting on impulse. At this point, she understood that continuing this mission no longer made sense.
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Just as they were about to cross the border into the Hidden Grass Village, a bird flew toward them.
Taking the message, Kurenai read it and said, "It's an order for us to abandon the mission and return to the village."
"What happened?" Zaydas asked, pretending to be curious.
"It doesn't say." Kurenai shook her head. "We'll find out when we return to the Leaf Village."
"Yes!"
Since they no longer needed to investigate, they moved at high speed.
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