Chapter 334: Where Are Your Employers?

Lian Ye crossed his arms, leaned against a large tree, his crimson Sharingan stared at the distant battle, showing no intention of acting.

On the contrary, he amplified the chakra infusion, raising the combined strength of the three bandits by a tier.

"Greenhouse flowers need honing to function properly…"

"How dare you ambush me," Zilaoye roared, charging again, "Die!"

His fist flew toward the leading bandit; an ordinary bandit could never dodge it, but the bandit in front was already controlled by some shameless guy.

A bandit being remotely piloted by someone handling a rookie kid was a piece of cake.

Especially Zilaoye's attack was utterly unskilled.

The seemingly massive, heavy punch was easily sidestepped by the bandit, who then slammed his back with the back of his blade.

"Ugh!" Zilaoye cried out in pain, stumbling and falling to the ground.

"Stupid kid!" the leading bandit stomped on his head, then kicked him forcefully away.

Zilaoye slammed heavily into a tree and took a long time to recover.

"D-damn, are these really bandits?"

Though he was a bit overconfident, who could have imagined the bandits' power was so great!

Those who didn't know would have thought that guy was a ninja.

"Idiot!" Gangshou shouted angrily.

Her monstrous strength was still far from the terrifying level it would later reach, but the talent was already showing.

She punched the leading bandit, who, not daring to be careless, immediately stepped back.

"Boom" The fist left a sizable imprint on the ground.

The leading bandit seized the chance to swing his knife, and Gangshou quickly blocked with a Kunai.

"Clang—" a metallic clang rang out.

Seeing this, Orochimaru tried to step forward to help, but was blocked by two bandits on his left and right.

"Heh heh heh, little brat, obediently meet your death!"

The two raised their cleavers and swung down; Orochimaru flickered his body to dodge, using a tree as cover.

"Hidden Shadow Snake Hand!" countless tiny snakes shot from his sleeve, coiling around one bandit's ankle and pulling him to the ground.

While the opponent struggled, Orochimaru flung a Kunai.

"Clang—"

Just as the attack was about to hit, another bandit suddenly appeared and blocked the Kunai.

Orochimaru's pupils suddenly contracted. "Are these really ordinary bandits?!"

The three used no Ninjutsu, yet their speed and strength turned out to be several points stronger than theirs.

For a moment, even he began to doubt his life.

Are these people really not ninjas?

"Tsk, is the difficulty a bit high," Lian Ye murmured, watching the battle in the distance.

He said that, yet showed no intention of lowering the difficulty.

The three might get hurt at most; they won't die…

After all, the three bandits were under his control; honestly, controlling three bandits at once is indeed a considerable difficulty.

If he accidentally slashed someone to death, they'd be doomed; he should have let the bandits discard their knives earlier.

In his system there is no death gauge; the three must not encounter any mishap.

A good teacher must not let students face mortal danger; regardless of where the danger comes from, just remember that actual mortal danger must be avoided.

Zilaoye scrambled up from the ground to aid the embattled Orochimaru.

With Zilaoye's arrival, Orochimaru finally could catch his breath.

The three each fell into a hard fight.

Because Zilaoye arrived in a hurry, he forgot to bring his Ninja Tool Bag and could only fight with his fists.

Though he battered the bandits into bruises, his own clothes were slashed, leaving several bloodstains on his body.

If someone hadn't deliberately held back, he would have been cut to death by the wild knives long ago.

Gangshou possessed strength but couldn't land effective hits; her lack of combat experience showed, and her breathing grew increasingly rapid.

The guy in front of her wasn't even engaging her directly, so her attacks kept having no effect.

Orochimaru and the bandits kept tugging, seemingly searching for the optimal moment to strike.

"Too little combat experience." Lian Ye looked at the three in a sorry state and sighed softly.

The opponents he had faced before were far weaker; he could crush them all with just numbers.

The bandits he controlled were comparable in strength to the three, but in combat technique the three were far inferior.

They also lacked coordination, which made the few of them look very clumsy.

Seems we need to lower the difficulty a bit.

Yet only such battles can quickly boost one's combat experience…

Life‑or‑death combat is always the best way to get stronger.

Winning accumulates combat experience; losing means being killed.

…

"No, we can't let this continue!" Zilaoye shouted.

Their condition had already dropped by more than half; if they couldn't finish the opponents, they'd eventually die here.

So engrossed in the fight, they had forgotten the existence of a Team Leader Teacher.

"Orochimaru!" he shouted suddenly.

A flash of bewilderment passed through Orochimaru's eyes, but he quickly understood.

Zilaoye broke free from the opponent before him and, disregarding everything, rushed toward the leading mountain bandit who was fighting Gangshou.

Almost at the same moment, Orochimaru also charged at Gangshou.

"Oh, taking them down one by one?" Lian Ye murmured softly.

Orochimaru used Snake Hand to coil around the leader's feet, and with a sudden pull the bandit lost his balance and fell to the ground.

He was just about to get up when Zilaoye plopped his butt onto the bandit's back.

"Gangshou, hurry!"

Hearing that, Gangshou did not hesitate; she gathered all her strength into her fist.

"Bang!"

"Crack—"

The fist struck the leader's head solidly, producing a clear sound of bone cracking.

The leader instantly lost his life; the crimson eyes beneath his sunglasses began to fade.

"It worked!" Zilaoye shouted joyfully.

Orochimaru also showed a smile.

Soon they could no longer smile, because two angry mountain bandits were walking toward them.

"Damn it, let's clash with them!" Gangshou roared and leapt upward.

Seeing this, Zilaoye and Orochimaru immediately went to support.

"Three against two, the advantage is ours!"

……

When the battle ended, the forest was a mess.

The three children slumped on the ground, covered in mud and blood, gasping heavily, their chakra already depleted.

There was no cheering, only the exhaustion and lingering fear of surviving the disaster.

Lian Ye only now walked over slowly, his gaze sweeping over the Battlefield and the three disheveled figures.

"Did you see? This is real combat."

"Zilaoye, your underestimation caused you to be the most severely injured!"

"Gangshou, your monstrous strength is meaningless if it doesn't hit the enemy."

"Orochimaru, your scheming looks laughable before absolute experience."

"And your most fatal mistake was only remembering to help each other at the very end..."

Lian Ye looked at the three with their heads bowed, and continued: "Remember today's lesson; every victory is fought for with one's life."

"By the way, where is your employer?" he looked around, not seeing the employer's plump figure.

The three: "???"

……

A few kilometers away, the employer of this mission was sprinting away wildly.

Never again will I let children serve as bodyguards in this life; they are simply unreliable!

If nothing went wrong, the three have already been killed by the mountain bandits.

If he hadn't run, he would have been slaughtered long ago.