Journey to the West: Life Simulation of Sun Wukong

"Even if you are right, this is not something we ninjas should worry about," Kakashi was already regretting accepting this mission. "Our task is to wipe out the bandits; everything else, we need not concern ourselves with."

"That is the affair of the Lord of the Land of Fire."

"Who knows, maybe in the future, the Lord will realize that taxes are too heavy and might reduce them a bit."

Sakura Haruno's lips curved up, "Kakashi-sensei, if I remember correctly, one of the ninja codes is not to place hope in those who are not our comrades, right?"

Kakashi was at a loss for words.

The Lord...indeed could not be considered a ninja's comrade, just an employer.

"You are equivocating," Kakashi didn't want to delve into this topic anymore. He just wanted to be a careless drunkard, not ponder over such headache-inducing matters.

Being a human, the most important thing is to feign ignorance!

"Kakashi-sensei, society is like a pool of water. If it's too clear, there are no fish; but if it's too murky, it becomes stagnant, with only creatures like mudfish surviving," Sakura Haruno implied, "Ninjas have their own ninja way, does feigning ignorance count as part of it?"

Kakashi, helplessly, "Indeed, I can't get along with intelligent people, and moreover, Sakura, I've passed the age of adolescence, defeated by reality."

Naruto, only vaguely understanding, asked, "So, it's the Lord's fault then?"

Kakashi said, "Naruto, even if it truly is the Lord's fault, don't voice it out, especially not in situations where many are present. Don't let it reach the Lord's ears, it would reduce the village's funds."

Sasuke seemed to understand as well, "That is to say, in the village, most ninjas possibly all know about these, just because the Lord controls Konoha's operational funds, right?"

Sakura Haruno said, "After all, ninjas possess immense power and do not engage in production; naturally, the economy would be controlled by the Lord."

"Then why don't ninjas go into business?" Sasuke asked.

"You should ask yourself that," Sakura Haruno said.

"Me?" Sasuke was puzzled.

"You have the skills of a ninja, capable of unleashing powerful ninjutsu; would you be willing to farm the land?" Sakura Haruno posed the question.

"Unwilling," Sasuke replied without hesitation - he was a powerful ninja, how could he stoop to farming… uh—he seemed to understand now?

Ninjas undergo rigorous training, isn't it just to display their power, to keep growing stronger?

Farming? Doing business?

These are tasks for ordinary people; those with ninja skills deem such activities beneath them.

Ideology!

Ninjas are educated from a young age, resulting in such an ingrained ideology.

That is the pride of a ninja!

However, the current Sasuke felt that this "pride" should be put in quotes.

Sakura said, "It looks like you've figured it out. The pride of a ninja, they disdain the farming and trading they look down upon, even though they need to eat the food grown by farmers and purchase goods from merchants; however, this does not stop them from having an aversion to these two occupations deep within their hearts."

Naruto suddenly said, "But Shikamaru's family also engages in business, right?"

"Those in business are only family members; they're not ninjas, or perhaps retired ninjas. Active duty ninjas, unless the family tradition is direct descent, or they really need money, they generally wouldn't engage in such activities under normal circumstances," Sakura Haruno explained, "My family has opened a mushroom house; we have cooperations with many vendors and businessmen in Konoha, clear in every detail."

"So that's how it is." Naruto suddenly realized and wanted to say something more, but he didn't know what to say, so he remained silent.

Meanwhile, Kakashi didn't utter a word, leading the three of them leaping among the trees like agile monkeys, and finally, while there was still some daylight, they found the bandits' hideout.

In front of them lay a small fortress, surrounded by a wall of wooden stakes with barbs and watchtowers, where two shirtless, muscular men stood guard, observing everything around them.

About ten meters away, there was another watchtower, extremely secure.

"Something's off," Kakashi keenly sensed the unusual, "Just a bandit den near Pasture Village, how could it be this large?"

"Sakura, Naruto, Sasuke, it's very likely that these bandits might be preying on more than just Pasture Village. Other nearby villages could also be under their 'protection'."

"Be careful, their numbers might exceed a hundred."

For a group of bandits of this scale, it wasn't likely that there was just one ninja.

However, for people like Haruno Sakura, even if there were ten times more ninjas, it wouldn't pose much of a problem, but what Kakashi cared more about was the secret behind such a large scale of bandits.

The lookouts were all tall and muscular, not likely to be desperate civilians forced into banditry, but rather like a well-trained army.

This was the worst-case scenario.

Some nobles of the Land of Fire, to gain more wealth, would have people impersonate bandits to plunder villagers, mafia and officials acting as one, utterly heartless.

Of course, in such cases, hired ninjas didn't need to compromise with the nobles; they just had to follow rules and annihilate the bandits.

There was absolutely no need to show any mercy to the nobles—after all, the ninjas were there on a mission, and the nobles wouldn't admit their connections with the bandit thieves and would just have to be snubbed. Read ahead and get updates by visiting M^VLEMPYR.

"Just a hundred? What's so great about that?" Naruto said indifferently, "I have a thousand shadow clones."

He had never been afraid of numbers.

Although Sasuke was surprised by the number of these bandits, he didn't feel a bit of fear.

Just a bunch of bandits, a few of whom knew ninjutsu; the rest were just slightly stronger ordinary people—why worry?

Haruno Sakura caught the implication in Kakashi's words and also sensed that there was something wrong with such a scale of bandits. So, were these people really bandits?

"Master, what do you think?" Sakura asked inwardly.

"Don't you already have the answer?" Sun Wukong countered, "Civilians forced into banditry don't have such robust physiques."

With her master's affirmation, Haruno Sakura lost all fondness for the Daimyo and nobles of the Land of Fire.

Self-policing and theft!

Deceiving the populace!

Either of these charges was unforgivable!

Kakashi said, "Now, listen to my plan, don't act rashly, follow me to sneak in and find out exactly how many there are."

"Understood, Teacher Kakashi!" Naruto and Sasuke chorused.

"Teacher Kakashi, if you want to find out exactly how many there are, isn't that too troublesome?" However, Sakura raised her hands, her palms slowly emerging closely attached to her palms...