Mishu watched Rinko and Hozuki Naoto vanish into the smoke, but he didn't pursue them. Instead, he gripped his short sword and silently observed the tree line, staying highly alert for the two new arrivals.
Takano Brothers, what is your goal? Mishu wondered. Do you also want to occupy the high ground of the hills?
The two boys emerged from the bushes, immediately putting away their weapons. They approached the tree where Mishu was hiding and, to his great surprise, dropped firmly to one knee.
The elder brother, Takano Hiroshi, looked up. "We wish to follow you, and earn your protection with our loyalty."
The younger brother, Takano Ishi, also spoke sincerely. "We can act as bait, or do any dangerous task you need! If you feel we are a burden, you can abandon us at any time without hesitation."
Hearing their desperate words, Mishu was quite surprised. After a two-second silence, he spoke down to them. "I am just a student at the Ninja Academy, not even a true ninja yet. There is absolutely no benefit for you in joining me."
"Lord Mishu, our strength is meager," Hiroshi replied honestly. "If we do not join you, I'm afraid it will be nearly impossible for us to survive until graduation. Moreover, without the support of clan resources, you have managed to trample those arrogant noble children underfoot. You are definitely a true genius, and will achieve great things in the future."
Mishu observed their trembling expressions. He said slowly, "Today, to survive this exam, you want to join me. But tomorrow, to survive something worse, you might just as easily join someone else and betray me."
"Time will prove our absolute loyalty," Ishi said firmly. "We have self-awareness. Our talent as ninjas is very low. The only truly valuable thing we have to offer is our loyalty."
Mishu remained silent.
This was the harsh living environment of Kirigakure. Due to the massive shortage of resources, everyone fiercely competed, joined forces, and killed one another to get ahead. The strong were completely unscrupulous, and the weak habitually obeyed the strong just to live another day.
Seeing that Mishu did not respond, the Takano brothers felt incredibly anxious. Mishu's decision right now would directly determine their future, and likely their lives.
Mishu originally wanted to refuse the dead weight. But thinking about the cruel, group-oriented living environment of the Hidden Mist, he thought it wouldn't be entirely bad to have two disposable pawns.
"If you follow me, you must obey my orders absolutely," Mishu finally said, his voice cold. "Remember your own words; the only valuable thing you have is your loyalty."
"Yes!"
The Takano brothers responded excitedly, bowing their heads.
The three of them quickly left the area and found a hidden, defensible spot to rest. Mishu had consumed a lot of energy in the previous battles and needed to eat some ration pills to replenish his stamina.
The Takano brothers immediately busied themselves proactively. They set up warning lines, installed basic tripwire traps, and stood guard on the perimeter.
During this time, Mishu remained entirely wary of the two. He watched their every move out of the corner of his eye and maintained a safe distance of two or three steps. He only ate his own sealed food, ensuring he couldn't be poisoned or blindsided.
While resting, Mishu also thoroughly interrogated his new subordinates about their abilities.
"What ninjutsu do you actually know, and what are your specialties?"
The Takano brothers looked at each other, feeling deeply ashamed. "We only know the Three Basic Academy Techniques. But... our physical stamina is decent."
Heh, Mishu thought. Without a clan heritage, they could only train their physical fitness by running laps in their spare time. Naturally, their stamina was decent, but it was only decent—at most, they wouldn't actively hold him back on a march, but they certainly weren't exceptional fighters.
"What equipment do you have?"
"We have four kunai, some basic shuriken, a small vial of poison, and two smoke bombs."
The brothers were highly cooperative, unbuckling their ninja tool pouches and laying out the meager items one by one on the grass to prove they weren't lying.
Mishu glanced at the pathetic pile and shook his head helplessly. They were pitifully poor; everything they owned combined wasn't as valuable as the steel of his short sword.
After resting for half an hour, the evening glow appeared in the sky. Mishu stood up.
"Let's go. We need to reach a better destination before dark."
Over the next half hour, they didn't encounter anyone else and successfully reached the gentler slopes of the hills. After setting up a perimeter, the Takano brothers lit a small, controlled campfire to deliberately serve as bait, while Mishu lurked completely hidden in the darkness nearby.
The next day, under the shade of a large tree, the three gathered together. Mishu picked up a branch and drew the rough outline of the island in the dirt, marking the position of the hills.
"This is the map of the island, and our position is here," Mishu explained. "Next, we have two tactical choices. First is to defend. We use this high-ground terrain to ambush and kill any incoming enemies, and simply wait out the remaining four days to board the ship."
He looked up, his pale blue eyes gleaming dangerously. "Second is to go on the absolute offensive. We use this camp as a center and gradually expand our hunting radius outward. If we kill everyone in our zone, we'll be perfectly safe."
Hiroshi didn't hesitate. "You decide. We will obey your orders."
"Heh." Mishu smiled, a dazzling light flashing in his eyes as he raised his short sword.
"Being born in the cruel Kirigakure is our misfortune. The only thing that can sever that misfortune is the blade in our hands," Mishu declared smoothly. "Kill one person, and you're a murderer. Kill ten thousand, and you're a hero. We simply have no other choice."
Mishu sheathed his sword. "Besides, our transport boat is so small. It was crowded when we came here; I absolutely don't want to endure that on the way back."
Ishi immediately understood the assignment. "Our combat strength is insufficient, so we can act as the bait to draw them out."
Mishu nodded with deep satisfaction. "Then let's set out. I remember some of our classmates come from very wealthy families. Perhaps we can seize some high-quality equipment; even if we don't use it, we can sell it in the village for a fortune."
"Earning money is good!"
"Hehe."
Hearing there was serious money to be made, the Takano brothers' spirits rose even higher. It couldn't be helped; the cost of ninja education was overwhelmingly high. Their civilian parents worked brutal overtime every single day just to barely afford the academy tuition for two children.
In the days that followed, the three became like a pair of compasses, drawing lethal circles around their base and gradually extending their hunting range.
In the dense woods, the Takano brothers' arrogant trash talk rang out constantly, their mockery turned up to the absolute maximum.
"Oh my, this year's classmates are absolute garbage! One slash per kid, there's no sense of achievement at all!"
"Indeed! What Hozuki Clan? What Kaguya Clan? To stay alive, they can only beg us for mercy like pathetic dogs!"
"At this rate, my blade is going to rust from all the peasant blood."
"Yeah. Let's kill another sixty people. Once we hit a hundred, we'll take a short water break."
Any nervous student who spotted the Takano brothers saw them strolling through the jungle completely off-guard, loudly bragging. Infuriated and seeing an easy target, they couldn't help but attack—only to be instantly counter-killed by Mishu lurking in their blind spots.
Of course, some students felt that taking a step back would lead to a wider horizon and tried to retreat instead of fighting. However, their stealth skills were subpar; Mishu effortlessly discovered their tracks and hunted them down as well.
Within two days, they successfully completed a total of ten consecutive kills, seizing a massive amount of premium equipment, ration pills, and supplies.
The Takano brothers also sustained some injuries in their roles as bait. Ishi was fine, suffering only minor flesh wounds, but Hiroshi was quite unlucky. He had been stabbed deeply in the thigh muscle by a dying opponent's desperate final strike and needed proper medical treatment.
Since so many people in the vicinity had been slaughtered, prey was becoming scarce and hard to find. Mishu decided to rest for a full day to give the remaining prey a chance to inadvertently deliver themselves.
On the morning of the fifth day, just as Mishu was about to head out to hunt again, he found that the prey had indeed delivered themselves right to his doorstep.
"The sun is shining, and the prey have gathered up strong. How wonderful," Mishu noted, looking out from the treeline.
He casually drew his meticulously maintained short sword.
"If you two can survive this time, I will truly take you in and make you stronger," Mishu instructed the Takano brothers behind him, eyeing the dozen or so heavily armed enemies approaching their camp.
Regardless of anything else, as long as the brothers could hold out in this massive battle, they could effectively share Mishu's burden. If they ran or died, then so be it.
"Everything in this world has a price. We will give it our absolute all!"
Takano Hiroshi gripped his kunai tightly with both hands, ignoring the throbbing pain in his thigh. His voice trembled slightly, but he didn't have the slightest intention of backing down.
He had already resolved to die violently in this battle, as long as his younger brother could survive it!