Sudden Change

According to the information provided by the village, they should be able to hear the stream flowing when they got close to the stronghold.

That meant the stronghold had likely been built along the stream.

Thus, father and son followed Mountain Pool Stream upstream, searching with their Byakugan activated.

Finally!

After dealing with several hidden sentries, they found the bandit den near the junction of several peaks.

"It's actually so far from the location where the client said the incident happened. No wonder we couldn't find it."

Hyuga Kaze was quite surprised.

"Maybe the people who attacked the client's father weren't even from this stronghold," Hyuga Seisen said.

"That would be beyond the scope of our mission." Hyuga Kaze shrugged.

He took out the mission scroll and pointed at the information written on it.

"According to the client, his father was captured by a group of bandits a year ago."

"Not only did they refuse to release him after receiving the ransom, they tortured him to death."

"He investigated for a long time before tracing them to Mountain Dragon Stronghold."

Hyuga Kaze raised his head and pointed at the sign above Mountain Dragon Stronghold.

"Look, it says Mountain Dragon Stronghold. It matches."

"And look at those barely clothed women inside. Even if they aren't the ones, we'd still be doing the right thing by wiping out evil."

Hyuga Seisen nodded at that.

With his Byakugan active, Hyuga Kaze watched the patrolling bandits and counted them one by one.

"One, two, three... fifty-one."

"Counting the ones from earlier, the numbers match. A few of them also match the facial features in the images provided by the client. There's no mistake!"

"Forty-nine are outside, and two are in the cave."

"The mission objective this time is total extermination. We can't let even one escape. If one gets away, the mission is a failure."

Afraid that Hyuga Seisen lacked experience in carrying out missions, he explained everything in particular detail.

Seeing that Hyuga Seisen had no objections, he continued.

"We'll take out the forty-nine outside first, then enter the cave and block off the other two. Any problems?"

"No problem," Hyuga Seisen replied.

"Then just like before, leave it to me first. Use your Spirit Bow to cover any gaps."

"Alright!"

"Move!"

The moment he spoke, father and son leaped together into the stronghold.

Hyuga Seisen stood atop the stronghold wall, looking down as he monitored the entire camp.

Hyuga Kaze threw several shuriken, took out the two sentries in the watchtower, then jumped into the stronghold.

The bandits inside saw two ninja suddenly break in.

They hurriedly scattered in panic. "Ninja are attacking! Run!"

With a kunai in hand, Hyuga Kaze slaughtered them as easily as chopping vegetables, without even needing to use Gentle Fist.

As the bandits fled in all directions, Hyuga Kaze cut them down while using ninja tools to strike those who had run farther away.

He spotted another bandit hiding motionlessly among the leaves behind a large tree.

He immediately pulled out several kunai and tossed them into the air one after another.

The kunai continuously collided and crossed paths in midair, changing direction.

It was the Uchiha-Style Throwing Technique Hyuga Kaze had learned.

After a series of collisions, the final kunai precisely embedded itself in the bandit's head behind the tree.

The bandit fell stiffly to the ground.

Hyuga Seisen stood on the stronghold wall, quietly watching Hyuga Kaze.

Seeing that more than ten bandits had already fled far away and that Hyuga Kaze was clearly unable to pursue them, he raised his Spirit Bow, drew the string, and condensed arrows of light to kill them.

"Just as I thought, it's a good thing you came along. Otherwise, a few really would have escaped."

Hyuga Kaze sighed and spoke to Hyuga Seisen.

If he had come alone this time, there would not have been any danger.

But if these bandits scattered and fled, he definitely would not have been able to kill every last one.

Then he said enviously, "Your ability really is convenient."

Hyuga Seisen smiled. "Let's go! There are still two left."

Father and son entered the cave together.

The cave twisted and turned. If not for their Byakugan, it would have been difficult to navigate.

But because of that, the sounds from outside were almost completely inaudible within.

The two bandits did not realize ninja had come knocking until father and son reached them.

Seeing that the passage leading outside had already been blocked, the two knew they had reached a dead end.

They raised their swords, shouting incoherently as they charged forward, intending to make a desperate last stand.

But before absolute strength, it was futile.

Gentle Fist chakra gathered in Hyuga Seisen's hands. Through the vision of his Byakugan,

he dodged the two men's attacks and heavily pressed his palms against their chests.

The two instantly went limp.

After dealing with the enemies, Hyuga Seisen saw that there was quite a lot of stuff in the cave.

So he and Hyuga Kaze began taking stock of the items inside.

As the place where the bandits stored their loot, it truly contained quite a few valuable things.

By preliminary estimate, everything combined was worth tens of thousands of ryo.

Hyuga Kaze laughed happily at the sight.

"This is the hidden reward of this kind of mission."

As he sorted through the items, he explained the rules to Hyuga Seisen.

"During the course of a mission, all seized items"

"are considered the property of the mission executors by default."

As he spoke, he took out a sealing scroll and sealed all the sorted items into it.

Suddenly!

The smile on his face froze as he looked at the floor in confusion.

He cautiously stomped on it several times, confirming that the floor beneath his feet did indeed feel strange.

He reached down, felt around, and pressed lightly.

Rumble!

A brick on the wall shifted, revealing a hidden compartment behind it.

It was actually a mechanism!

He reached inside and felt a layer of lead covering the compartment. No wonder the Byakugan could not see through it.

He took out the scroll inside, untied its binding, and slowly unrolled it.

"Chakra Refinement Technique?"

Hyuga Kaze's brows drew together, his expression turning grave.

The handwriting was neat and flawless, not something wandering ninja or bandits could possess.

Moreover, the material and style of the scroll looked like they came from the Land of Earth.

"Dad, there's another scroll here."

Hyuga Seisen had also discovered a small mechanism.

He took out the scroll inside.

"Earth Flow Wall Technique?"

Hyuga Kaze's brows furrowed even more deeply. He turned to Hyuga Seisen and said,

"See if there's anything else."

Father and son activated their Byakugan and began carefully searching every corner.

A moment later.

They found three or four more hidden compartments and took out quite a few scrolls from within.

They opened and examined them one by one, discovering that they depicted the mountains, rivers, terrain, and strategic locations throughout the Land of Fire.

"These are all unfinished."

Hyuga Seisen was deeply shaken as he looked at those alarming scrolls.

These were the ones that had not yet been completed or sent out.

Who knew how many finished ones had already been delivered?

It seemed this bandit den had been occupied by spies from the Land of Earth.

And they had been gathering geographical intelligence on the Land of Fire for quite some time.

Judging by the timeline, the chief of Mountain Pool Village had said that the people of Mountain Dragon Stronghold had not come down the mountain to pillage for the past year.

It was highly likely that the spies, afraid of drawing attention, had restrained these bandits and made them curb their actions.

"Let's go! We need to report this intelligence to Hokage immediately."

Hyuga Kaze gathered up everything, grabbed Hyuga Seisen, and rushed outside.

After passing through the winding cave passage, they finally reached the entrance.

"Well, well. Looks like someone raided our hideout."

Just as they were about to rush out of the cave entrance, a voice came from outside.

"Go!"

Hyuga Kaze shouted as he quickened his pace.

"Earth Style: Earth Pillar Explosion."

The ninjutsu outside was faster than Hyuga Kaze.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

A chain of explosions suddenly erupted from the ground, racing toward Hyuga Seisen and his father.