Not long after the group left the village, Kakashi called Ino aside.
She turned to look at him.
"Although we are within the Land of Fire, we need you to take the lead and use your sensing abilities for reconnaissance," Kakashi said in a commanding tone.
Ino glanced at Asuma and saw him nod, realizing that this was the result of a discussion between the two Jonin.
"Alright, I understand," she readily accepted the task.
It was strange to say, but excluding the Jonin, their two teams of six Genin had only one ninja with sensing abilities—herself. Just look at Yuhi Kurenai's Team 8, where all three Genin had sensing abilities!
Karin's Mind's Eye of the Kagura could detect Chakra anomalies within a range of dozens of kilometers. There was a fat guy named Chikichi from the Hidden Mist Village who had an even larger and more detailed detection range, capable of sensing even the tiniest traces of Chakra like insects. Ino wasn't a specialized sensing ninja; her sensing ability was a byproduct of her enhanced spiritual energy, making it more of a secondary skill.
She said, "Kakashi-sensei, my detection range is a radius of five kilometers. Don't stray too far from me."
Kakashi nodded, "Alright, I understand."
The formation didn't need to be too complicated. Ino took the lead, Kakashi brought up the rear, and Asuma led the remaining Genin in the middle. The group of eight moved through the forest, heading toward their mission location.
Along the way, they encountered two groups of ninjas from Konoha. Ino detected them early and immediately signaled to the rear. Asuma ordered her to bypass them and avoid contact.
"Why not make contact? Aren't they ninjas from our village?" Naruto was very confused.
His question earned him a punch from Sakura.
"Idiot! They taught us this in the academy! Outside the village, we must avoid all factors that could interfere with the mission, including encountering other ninjas. If we can avoid them, we should."
Naruto's head sprouted three question marks, and he became even more bewildered. Were the ninjas from the village enemies? Weren't they all part of the same family? Sasuke felt that Naruto's actions were making him look bad too and said indifferently, "What if they were enemies in disguise?"
Naruto thought for over ten seconds, "Then shouldn't we expose them?"
Sakura covered her forehead, gritting her teeth, "We have a mission! During a mission, the mission comes first! Do you understand, you idiot!"
By the evening of the next day, they arrived at the village where the mission client was located—a seemingly peaceful small mountain village.
Kakashi had been promoted to Jonin long before Asuma. Although they were classmates back in the day, according to the rules of the Shinobi World, Kakashi was the senior, and the mission naturally revolved around him.
It didn't take long after entering the village for them to find the mission issuer, the Village Chief of this small rural community.
The Village Chief was thin and withered. Seeing the ninjas arrive, he spoke with righteous indignation.
"Those guys are like demons! They appear every year during the harvest season, and we will never compromise! But we lack the strength to fight back, so we've hired you to help us eliminate the bandits. Please!" The Village Chief's tone was extremely sincere.
Kakashi's Team 7 stood on the left, while Asuma's Team 10 stood on the right.
The two Jonin exchanged glances, and Asuma nodded, indicating that Kakashi should take the lead.
Kakashi pondered for a moment, "Please provide us with more specific information."
"Yes!" The Village Chief was very respectful. He called over a simple-looking young man: "This is East Wind. He was originally a member of the Baki bandit group. It was he who told me about Baki kidnapping my granddaughter!" The Village Chief choked up as he spoke, but his sobs were quickly interrupted by Ino.
"Um, excuse me, but what did you say the name of this bandit group was?"
The Village Chief didn't understand why she was asking but still explained, "The leader of the bandits is called Baki, so we refer to them as the Baki gang."
Ino pressed further about Baki's height and physical features, only to find that they didn't match the one she remembered. She finally relaxed—it was just a coincidence in names. She had been startled for a moment. She gave Sakura a strange look. Young lady, your first real opponent has arrived! Kakashi, on the other hand, didn't care at all about the bandit leader's name. Whether it was Baki or something else, it made no difference to him.
He turned his attention to the simple-looking man, East Wind, who was suspected to be a former bandit.
"Since you were once a member of this bandit group, you must know their location, right?"
The simple-looking man nodded repeatedly and offered to lead them there.
The Village Chief suggested that everyone rest for the night and set out to eliminate the bandits the next day.
Kakashi, however, believed that a night battle would be good training. He instructed East Wind to lead the way, as he intended to wipe out the bandits that very night.
Under the cover of darkness, the group quietly made their way into the mountains and soon reached the deep mountain range, which marked the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Rivers.
Ino used her sensory abilities to observe the bandit stronghold and couldn't help but exclaim, "What talent! The north, east, and west sides of the stronghold are sheer cliffs, with only a narrow path leading in from the south. The interior seems to be a natural cave? These guys have carved out the mountain path and built three checkpoints along the way."
She asked the former bandit, East Wind, "Was this stronghold inherited from previous bandits, or did the current ones build it?"
The simple-looking East Wind replied, "I heard it was built by Boss Baki and his men."
Ino patted his shoulder. "Our Konoha Village could use someone with construction skills like that. When we encounter this Baki later, point him out to me."
"Understood, understood!"
About ten minutes later, the group also saw the three checkpoints the bandits had built, taking advantage of the terrain. The thick rock walls and defensive forces gave the impression that one man could hold off ten thousand.
Unfortunately, these defenses could only withstand ordinary soldiers—they were no match for a group of fierce individuals known as ninjas, who were essentially a mix of mages and warriors.
On the three-meter-high gate of the stronghold stood more than ten bandits, armed with bows and arrows, staring down at the strangers from their vantage point. On both sides of the watchtowers, several archers leaned out, their bows fully drawn, waiting for the group to enter their range.
"Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura looked at Kakashi with hopeful eyes. She knew that things couldn't be resolved peacefully, but she stubbornly clung to the idea that she was still a child, a student, and hoped that the "adults" would handle the situation.
"No need for your help. I'll take care of it!" Sasuke was brimming with fighting spirit. Without waiting for Kakashi's orders, he unleashed a Great Fireball Technique directly at the stronghold's gate.
He had put all his strength into it—a C-rank ninja technique, and one known for its destructive power, especially when it came to Fire Release. The force was immense.
The fireball flew over ten meters and slammed fiercely into the gate of the stronghold, followed by a violent explosion.
The explosion shattered the gate into pieces, instantly killing many bandits both at the gate and behind it. Even more were severely injured, with limbs and body parts flying everywhere. Numerous bandits were scorched by the flames, letting out a series of agonizing screams akin to the cries of slaughtered pigs.