Hinata activated her Byakugan again. The tense veins appeared beside her eyes. She didn't know whether she should rush out of the carriage at once or pretend she'd already been drugged unconscious, then strike back when the others entered.
But by the time she saw what was happening outside, she had no choice. Aside from their leader, the bandits who had been posing as coachmen had all taken the spears from the carriage and surrounded the one Hinata was in.
The sudden turn of events had made them decide to kill the little girl on the spot.
The spears thrust forward together, piercing through the entire carriage. It was the sort of scene one usually saw in a magic show, and Hinata emerged completely unharmed, like the magician's assistant.
She sprang up and struck the carriage roof with her palm. The boards there were the weakest part of the whole carriage. As she leaped high into the air, she reached for the Ninja tool bag at her waist.
Shuriken flew toward the burliest bandits, tracing beautiful arcs through the air, but only one struck a vital spot.
Even the Uchiha's exclusive Ninja Tool Throwing Technique couldn't improve Hinata's aim.
But she hadn't meant to kill them outright. She only wanted to force most of them back, leaving them no time to pay attention to her while she was still in the air.
The young leader, however, wasn't at all afraid of the shuriken. He drew his sword, and a flash of steel knocked down every shuriken aimed at him. Then he shouted:
"Surround her! If you beat the cub, the old one will come running. Don't let her get away!"
When Hinata landed, she stepped on someone's head. She could escape, but if she did, the mission would fail. Now that the bandits were on their guard, they would quickly divide the spoils and scatter.
She had to wipe them all out here, then follow the winding path they'd taken up the mountain and deal with the rest.
One Genin against a group of ordinary people.
After seeing what Hinata had just done, the bandits realized she hadn't been bluffing. They had no idea where such a prodigy had come from, but if they didn't kill her now, they'd be the ones to die.
Every one of them gripped a spear, eyes red.
They had clearly been trained. They covered one another's flanks, so if anyone tried to thrust, they would be skewered in an instant.
Hinata wasn't in a hurry. She pulled out a cluster of Senbon from her ninja pouch. These slender, needle-shaped ninja tools could be carried in huge quantities, but they demanded exceptional accuracy from the thrower.
They usually only worked if they struck a vital spot.
But the Senbon Hinata carried were different. They were slightly larger than ordinary Senbon, hollow in the middle, and could be filled with poison or used as bloodletting grooves. They were also made from a different material, glimmering with a faint blue light.
The Senbon swept over the bandits like a rainstorm, knocking several of them down at once. The rest were already wailing. The Senbon had been preloaded with poison, and it worked extremely fast.
Soon, only a handful of bandits remained. They had underestimated Hinata. If they'd scattered and fled at the first opportunity, more of them might have survived.
But the ones left were among the best fighters ordinary people could offer. After such a devastating volley of Senbon, they naturally weren't going to let Hinata fire a second one. The bandits charged together with their spears raised, thrusting toward the directions she might dodge.
But Hinata had quietly activated her Byakugan. With her dynamic vision suddenly enhanced, she found her opening.
She bent low, her body nearly parallel to the ground, and dodged each spear overhead. Seeing this, the bandits moved to press their spears down and strike at the ground, but Hinata was already upon them, striking the nearest bandit with her palm.
Chakra surged from her palm as she tried to kill him with a single blow.
But at the last moment, she abruptly twisted around and changed her move. Her palm struck the bearded bandit's arm, and his bone snapped with a sharp crack.
It was that forced change of move that let her narrowly dodge the samurai sword thrusting through the space between the bearded bandit's ribs.
The young leader's face twisted with frustration. He hadn't expected such a little girl to have such keen battlefield instincts. Even his ultimate technique, which sacrificed one of his own men, had been useless.
But Hinata was sweating cold. Without her Byakugan's ability to see through things, she wouldn't have spotted the ambush behind the bandit—and she would have been skewered.
With one more bandit out of the fight, the young man with the samurai sword joined the battle. He had no chakra, but the sharpness of his blade and his strong adult body were already enough to threaten Hinata.
What was more, he seemed to have learned a couple of sword techniques somewhere. He managed to steady the bandits' line for a time, but only just. They were horrified to realize their stamina was rapidly draining and their movements were growing sluggish, while Hinata seemed no more tired than before.
Children always seemed to have endless energy, but Hinata knew she had only taken a Soldier Pill ahead of time. Once its effects wore off, she wouldn't be able to maintain her current state.
Both sides wanted to break the stalemate quickly, and the bandits were the first to act.
"Fall back!" the young man with the samurai sword shouted, tossing out something that hissed. It was an Explosive Tag.
It was extremely expensive, and even ninjas rarely used them. It was the bandits' only one, but their lives mattered more than money. They needed to survive if they wanted to spend it.
Hinata had seen this kind of thing before. She had two in her ninja pouch, and Uchiha Jie had shown her their blast radius two days earlier, along with several traps she could make using Explosive Tags.
She hadn't expected she'd be using one herself so soon.
The blast sent the bandit nearest to it flying. Hinata shielded her vital points and braced herself against a large tree. Luckily, the area was surrounded by forest. The huge trees weakened the blast, leaving her with only a few scratches.
"Quick! Just hold on a little longer! We'll retreat up the mountain together! Reinforcements are almost here!" Hinata's keen ears caught the words from behind the tree.
But through her Byakugan, she saw them clutching their swords and spears, hidden in the huge cloud of dust kicked up by the explosion. They still didn't know she had the Byakugan and could see through any obstacle.
Their poor decision led to a one-sided slaughter. Sharp whistles cut through the air as the bandits hiding in the smoke screamed and fell one after another.
They didn't dare rush out of the smoke. The first to emerge would be the most conspicuous target. But if they stayed inside, they were still doomed.
"Together!" someone shouted, but in the end he was the only one to charge out. Hinata's pale palm met him, lightly pressing against his chest.