CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: WOLF BANDITS.

Yamato quickly dispelled his wood jutsu as the wooden buildings dispersed, he also deactivated the barrier around the perimeter.

“Alright I am done, are you ready?” Captain Yamato asked Gilgamesh who wore a backpack that was bigger than him but didn’t seem to weigh him down much.

“Yes, sir!” Gilgamesh replied.

“Then let’s go already!” Kurenai remarked impatiently.

“Let’s go.” Captain Yamato ordered and the trio left the ground at high speed onto the trees and used the trees to traverse the forest and for cover as well with great pace.

Gilgamesh could keep up with jounin-level ninjas in front of him but chose to abide by the formation Captain Yamato gave. Captain Yamato and Kurenai will be at the flanks while Gilgamesh will be at the back. The thought of being involved in a formation made to escort him back to the village made him feel important and involved.

Captain Yamato asked Gilgamesh to use his golden fireball whenever someone attacked their front while Kurenai used the flashy attack provided to sneak up behind the enemy while Yamato provided cover. Kurenai would trap the enemy in a genjutsu as easy as pie and Captain Yamato would restrain and seal their chakra temporarily. Captain Yamato had already confirmed how fast and dangerous Gilgamesh’s fireball was and included it in the plan.

But Captain Yamato brushed up the fact that anyone would want to attack two capable jounin ninjas. The travel went smoothly until some bandits had to prove Captain Yamato wrong.

“Ah, they are leaf ninja! Try and capture them alive, they will fetch a good price!” The leader of the bandits wearing a wolf mask instructed five other cloaked bandits wearing a wolf mask.

“Yes, sir!” The bandits answered. But before they could launch any of their jutsu, they all felt intense heat as the air burned around them.

Lo and behold, it was as if the sun decided to fall down as they saw a large golden ball of flames moving at a speed they couldn’t react to.

The leader of the wolf masks clicked his tongue in frustration and weaved hand signs quickly even though his hands began to hurt from the heat from the golden ball of flames that was just two inches from him.

“Water release: Water formation wall!” The leader of wolf masks screamed as a wave of water spilled from his mouth to counter Gilgamesh’s jutsu. Instead of the golden ball of fire to disperse it boiled some of the water in front of it and consumed the leader of the wolf masks whose body was replaced with a log of wood.

‘Tch, almost got him!’ Gilgamesh thought as he stayed back and waited for instructions.

Gilgamesh could have just poured more of his energies into the fire-style technique but he didn’t want to risk burning his allies and he wanted to keep a low profile in the meantime before showing everyone his chakra reserves could rival a jounin ninja.

Kurenai managed to get behind the enemy line and put three ninjas under genjutsu but the other two retreated as Captain Yamato blocked their path and proceeded to restrain them and knock them out in quick succession he also helped Kurenai in restraining the ninjas she put under a genjutsu, knocked them out, as well as restrain them.

“Stop! I have the golden egg you are protecting!” The leader of the wolf masks said as he held Gilgamesh in a chokehold with a kunai to his neck.

‘Damn it! I didn’t know the other ninjas were low-level ninjas, I could have just left them to Kurenai. This might be a bit difficult.’ Captain Yamato thought as he stood still and thought about passing his wood underground through his feet for a sneak attack.

“And no sudden movements!” The leader said warily as he began sweating through his mask.

“Remove your mask too and tell the lady to undo her genjutsu on my comrades.” The leader demanded.

Before Captain Yamato could do anything he blinked his eyes open again.

The leader of the wolf masks was just standing on a branch staring into open space along with Captain Yamato who hadn’t moved from where he was initially. It was only Kurenai who had moved and she had already put the whole squad under genjutsu, not just three but five of them, and restrained them with chakra threads.

“There’s no way…” Captain Yamato uttered as he saw Gilgamesh laughing behind him after dispelling a genjutsu of his making that affected Captain Yamato without him being any wiser and the leader who was still staring into open space.

“You actually put me under genjutsu without me knowing and the leader of the bandits as well?” Captain Yamato asked as he turned to face Gilgamesh with a new sense of respect and fear.

“Oh, you should have left him for a little while.” Kurenai joked as she waved to Captain Yamato from below.

Captain Yamato who was still on one of the tree branches was in shock and confusion and at a loss for words.

“And you know the bandits we managed to catch are the notorious wolf mask bandits that extort the merchants coming to the village. At least now things should be cheaper in the market now. And we get a bonus for handing them in too!” Kurenai chirped happily.

“I know the leader of the group from my bingo book. So you are telling me that this little bra… I mean, Gilgamesh actually put me, a jounin ninja with some experience under genjutsu along with the leader who is a rogue jounin as well? Without the both of us knowing?” Captain Yamato began to question Kurenai for the sake of his mental health.

“Yes, he did. The both of us had a bet about it actually.” Kurenai answered casually, proud of her student.

“I taught him the basics of using Genjutsu through visual techniques and sound techniques. He asked me one time if it was possible to use techniques to activate a visual genjutsu and I said yes but it requires immense practice and expertise. Apparently, I think he managed to fuse his genjutsu with his fireball technique for a visual-based genjutsu which requires enough chakra and concentration that he didn’t lack.” Kurenai explained as Captain Yamato nodded with a blank expression.

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