Probing for Intelligence

Asuma nodded, took a deep breath, and tried again.

This time, his movements were significantly steadier; although he still wobbled, he managed to barely stand firm on the tree trunk.

Kurenai practiced silently to the side; her chakra control was already quite excellent.

After a few attempts, she was already able to walk freely on the tree trunk.

Kushina walked over to her side and said approvingly:

"Not bad, Kurenai. Your chakra control is very refined; keep it up."

Kurenai smiled slightly, a blush appearing on her face:

"Thank you, Teacher. I will keep working hard."

Amada returned to the village and scanned his surroundings, discovering that many villagers were busy repairing buildings damaged by the bandits.

Their faces were etched with exhaustion and fear, and occasionally someone would whisper, their voice revealing anxiety about the future.

Amada pondered to himself:

The village chief must have been forced to cooperate with the bandits. His family was taken hostage, which is why he had no choice but to tip them off.

His mission today was to scout out specific intelligence on the bandits, especially their hideout.

However, the villagers were clearly tight-lipped about the bandits.

Amada tried approaching a few villagers, pretending to be curious as he asked about the bandits, but the responses he received were either head shakes indicating ignorance or hesitant silences before they hurried away.

Their eyes were filled with vigilance and fear, clearly terrified of the bandits' retaliation.

As expected, ordinary questioning won't get me anywhere.

Amada sighed inwardly.

He looked around, confirmed no one was watching, and quietly activated his Sharingan.

Within his scarlet eyes, two tomoe slowly rotated, emitting an eerie glow.

Amada locked his gaze onto a middle-aged villager.

The man was moving timber alone, his expression appearing somewhat dazed.

Amada quietly approached and whispered: "Nightmare."

In an instant, the villager's body stiffened slightly, then his eyes slowly closed, and he seemed to fall into a deep slumber.

Yet, his body remained standing, as if supported by some invisible force.

This was one of the unique ocular techniques of Amada's mutated Sharingan, capable of making a person fall into a deep sleep and answer any question from the caster while dreaming.

Furthermore, the caster could control the hypnotized person's actions to a certain extent, even making them carry out instructions while in a sleepwalking state.

Amada walked in front of the villager and asked in a low voice:

"Where is the bandits' hideout?"

The villager's lips trembled slightly, his voice drifting like a dream-talk:

"They... they are in the valley north of the village... there is an abandoned mine shaft there, and that is where they are camped..."

A flash of satisfaction crossed Amada's eyes as he continued to press:

"How many bandits are there? Are there any ninja among them?"

The villager's voice remained the same:

"There are about twenty of them... there are two ninja among them, I heard they are genin who defected from another country... they are very cruel and often threaten us, saying if we don't obey, they will burn down the entire village..."

Amada nodded, having already formed a rough plan in his mind.

He then asked:

"Is the village chief being threatened by them? Is his family being held hostage?"

A look of pain appeared on the villager's face, his voice trembling:

"Yes... the village chief's daughter was taken by them... they threatened the chief that if he didn't cooperate, they would kill her... the chief had no choice but to listen to them..."

Amada took a deep breath, feeling a bit more understanding of the village chief's predicament.

He asked one final question:

"Do the bandits have any recent operations? What do they plan to do next?"

The villager's voice grew lower and lower:

"They... they plan to attack another village nearby tomorrow night... they said they want to loot more food and valuables..."

A cold glint flashed in Amada's eyes, and he released the genjutsu.

The villager's body swayed slightly, then he slowly opened his eyes.

He looked around with a dazed expression, seemingly completely unaware of what he had just experienced.

He shook his head and continued moving the lumber, as if nothing had happened at all.

Amada left quietly, his mind already clear on the situation regarding the bandits.

He quickly returned to the small woods, preparing to report the intelligence to Kushina.

He knew that the next phase of the operation had to be swift, otherwise, not only this village, but the surrounding villages would also fall into an even greater crisis.

Amada stood at the edge of the woods, his gaze sweeping over Asuma and Kurenai, who were currently training.

He had successfully obtained the location of the bandits' hideout, and had incidentally tested the unique genjutsu of his Sharingan, the results of which left him very satisfied.

This type of genjutsu could not only instantly plunge the target into a deep sleep, but could also manipulate the subject's consciousness within the dream, or even guide their actions.

As the ocular power of the Sharingan continued to rise, there was still huge room for this genjutsu's power to grow.

Amada secretly anticipated in his heart:

"This is just one of its abilities; the other innate ocular techniques remain to be tested. It seems the potential of this Sharingan is far more unfathomable than I imagined."

He pulled back his thoughts and walked slowly toward the training grounds.

Kurenai was standing at the top of a large tree, her expression relaxed and at ease, clearly having fully mastered the technique of chakra adhesion.

Her chakra control was already delicate to begin with, and combined with the precise requirements for chakra that genjutsu ninjas possessed, this training was not particularly difficult for her.

Asuma, on the other hand, appeared somewhat disheveled.

He was standing at the middle section of the tree trunk, fine beads of sweat seeping from his forehead, the chakra beneath his feet fluctuating in strength, causing his body to sway back and forth from time to time.

Although he had improved significantly since the morning, he was still some distance away from the treetop.

He gritted his teeth, his eyes filled with an unyielding stubbornness.

Amada walked to the base of the tree and looked up at Asuma, his tone calm yet carrying a hint of teasing:

"It seems you still need to put in more effort, Asuma."

Asuma looked down and glared at Amada, retorting irritably:

"Don't get cocky! I'll catch up to you soon enough!"

Kurenai jumped down lightly from the treetop and landed beside Amada, saying with a smile:

"Amada, you're back. How did the scouting go?"

Amada nodded, his expression turning serious:

"It's been cleared up. The bandits' hideout is in the valley north of the village, where there is an abandoned mine shaft. There are about twenty of them, including two rogue genin. Furthermore, they are planning to attack another nearby village tomorrow night."

Hearing this, Kurenai's brows furrowed slightly:

"It seems the situation is even more urgent than we imagined. We must act as soon as possible."

Asuma also jumped down from the tree, brushed the dust off his body, and spoke with a firm tone:

"That's right, we can't let them continue their evil deeds. We need to tell Kushina-sensei immediately."

Just then, Kushina walked over from the other side of the woods.

She had clearly overheard their conversation, and a smile of approval graced her face:

"Well done, Amada. Your intelligence is very timely."