Starting with rogue ninjas, building the insect kingdom.

Chapter 22: The Mission to Suppress the Rioters

Ryuji Ida felt that Hideki Takikawa belonged to the second category, not to mention that the wandering warrior named Ichiro Kurosaki had been following them all along, and judging from his appearance, he did not believe that the other party had not been subdued.

Therefore, Takikawa Hide is definitely not as simple as he seems on the surface, and he has a feeling that the other party will definitely need his help.

The manor was located about five miles west of the city, backed by a low hill and in front of vast farmlands, with several mine pits in the hills. The manor itself was not large, and the walls were somewhat dilapidated. The main building was a two-story wooden house, with several warehouses and tenant farmers' sheds scattered around it.

From a distance, the manor appeared dilapidated and deserted, with only a few wisps of smoke rising from the shacks.

"This is it."

Butler Matsumoto stopped at the edge of the woods a hundred meters outside the manor. "Those wandering samurai and rebellious tenant farmers are all inside. It's inconvenient for this old man to approach, so I'll wait here for your good news."

As he spoke, he took out a roll of parchment from his sleeve: "This is the layout of the manor. The city lord asked me to give it to you all."

Sato Kichisuke took the blueprints and unfolded them, and Aburame Shisei also leaned over to take a look.

The drawings were crudely made, only roughly indicating the locations of the main house, warehouse, and shack area. Red circles on the map marked the locations occupied and lived by wandering samurai.

Sato Yoshisuke spoke clearly, but very quickly: "The intelligence says there are three to five wandering samurai who instigated a rebellion among about thirty tenant farmers. Our mission is to eliminate the samurai, suppress the rebellion, and restore order."

Naoto frowned: "Captain, those tenant farmers..."

"Those who resist will be killed without exception." Sato Yoshisuke's voice was cold: "A rebellion is a rebellion, regardless of the reason."

Ono Yuki opened his mouth as if to say something, but seeing the captain's expression, he closed his mouth again.

Sato Yoshisuke looked at them, sighed, and shook his head. Finally, he explained, "This isn't something we should be thinking about. We're ninjas; we just need to carry out the mission according to plan, understand?"

"Yes." Everyone nodded in response.

Aburame Zhicheng followed quietly behind the team, looking at the manor. According to the senses of the Destroyer Insects, there were far more than thirty people in the manor, but one hundred and twenty-seven, most of whom had very weak and mixed life force.

There are four of the strongest individuals, residing in the main house, and he sensed a faint amount of chakra from them. The strongest among them is close to a Chunin, while the other three are not even Genin.

It seems to be another wandering martial artist who knows a basic use of chakra. Because they don't know ninjutsu, they can't fully utilize the chakra in their bodies, but they can still fight against genin with their taijutsu and experience.

Besides this, there are naturally many other abnormal aspects.

At this moment, Shisei Aburame turned his head to look behind him and glanced at the butler Matsumoto and the others a few times.

In fact, he had already noticed many suspicious points when Naoto and Yuuki told him about the mission yesterday.

Intelligence indicates that the wandering samurai and the roaming ninjas in the manor are in cahoots, their aim being to seize the lord's property. But why are these samurai living in such a dilapidated farm?

They could easily move into the city lord's villa, or at least find a place with better conditions.

So this is not just a mission, but also a test.

The lord used this group of rebellious tenant farmers and wandering samurai to test the strength of the Takigakure squad.

If the squad's strength is average, the city lord can simply give them some reward and send them away; only if they are strong enough will he really consider hiring them to deal with the wandering ninjas in the manor.

As for why those tenant farmers and samurai chose to destroy the farm?

Perhaps they had no choice at all.

Of course, it's possible that the one testing the Takigakure squad wasn't the castle lord, but some other random thing or ulterior motive.

But what does this have to do with him? He was just a passerby.

After Shisei Aburame roughly deduced the situation, Yoshisuke Sato also began to deploy the mission.

"Chuncao, go scout and confirm the location of the samurai and the rebel leader. Be careful to stay hidden and don't alert them."

"Yes." Chuncao nodded, her figure flashed, and she began to sneak into the farm, though her methods were slightly clumsy.

"Naoto, Ariki, check your equipment and prepare for battle. Takikawa, you come with us too. Wait for Haruka's report, then we'll attack the samurai's quarters from the front."

Everyone prepared for their own time, but Aburame Shisei was completely unprepared. He had only come to watch the fun, but he was unexpectedly assigned by a Chunin squad leader.

Actually, if Naoto hadn't been pestering him this morning, he wouldn't have come along. He never expected to get caught up in it.

However, he didn't refuse, since it was just a formality anyway.

"Yes."

After nodding in agreement, he stood at the back and closed his eyes to rest.

The pests had already quietly spread out, some following the spring grass into the manor, while others covered every inch of land around the manor, including the mines in the back mountain.

Half an hour later, Chuncao returned.

Her face was already showing subtle emotions, probably anger. But having been a ninja for so long and seen so much, it wasn't very obvious.

"How is the situation?" Yoshisuke Sato asked.

"There has indeed been a rebellion in the manor." Chuncao's voice was steady, but her pace was much faster than usual: "The main house has been occupied by tenant farmers, and the foreman is tied up in the yard. Judging from the situation... he has been dead for some time. In the backyard of the shed area, there are some women being held captive. Judging from the marks, they have probably been violated by many tenant farmers."

Ono Yuki gasped. He had taken on jobs before, but most of them involved helping farmers with their work or clearing wild boars.

They had even killed bandits several times, but this was the first time they had encountered such a situation.

"Go on," said Yoshisuke Sato without changing his expression.

"Over there in the hills and farmlands, most of the tenant farmers are gathered in the mines and fields, seemingly discussing something. As for the wandering samurai..."

Chuncao paused for a moment: "I'm sorry, because I found a lot of traps at the samurai's residence as a precaution, I didn't take any action without permission in order to avoid alerting them."

Chuncao bowed her head and clasped her hands in apology.

Sato Yoshisuke was silent for a few seconds, then waved his hand and said, "Proceed according to the original plan. Naoto and Yuki, go to the shantytown to rescue the hostages, and then come to assist us in the encirclement."

"Takikawa and I will attack from the front. We need to act quickly. Once we have control, the rebels in the mines and farms will naturally scatter, some even choosing to flee. Haruka, this part is yours. I need you to quickly kill the leading rebels in the farms and mines, and bring the rest under control."

"yes!"

The group dispersed and acted separately.

Aburame Shisuke followed Sato Kisuke and quickly approached the manor. The two climbed over the side wall and crept along the base of the wall.