Annihilating the Mountain Stronghold

Yuun, having packed his luggage, headed to the Hokage Building to collect a travel pass and map. The client who had commissioned the mission had requested that Konoha send ninjas on its own. Since this was their first time coming to Konoha to commission a mission, they did not entirely trust the ninjas' abilities. Afraid that Konoha would fail to eliminate the bandits and drag them down with them, they refused to provide a guide.

Upholding the principle that the customer came first and that everything should serve the client's interests, Konoha readily agreed. So, in theory, Yuun would be acting alone this time. But only in theory. Even without using his Byakugan, Yuun could tell that at least a squad of elite Chunin was following behind him. Their mission was not merely to protect him; when it mattered, those Byakugan eyes were the most important thing.

As a member of the Branch House, Yuun had yet to receive the Caged Bird Curse Mark. His eyes could be transplanted directly as long as they were removed. It was impossible for the Hyuga Clan not to have sent people to guard him.

After showing his travel pass at Konoha's gates and registering the time, Yuun left Konoha. This was the first time he had ever left the village since his birth, but with memories of two lifetimes, he was not about to act like a country bumpkin fascinated by everything. After checking the map and confirming his direction, he moved as quickly as possible without exhausting too much chakra. With his chakra reserves, he could maintain this pace for roughly two days and nights. Fortunately, the target was not too far from Konoha, and after hurrying all the way there, Yuun finally found the mountain stronghold described by the client before nightfall.

It was much as the client had described. The stronghold was not large; even including the bandits' families, there were fewer than a hundred people. Even if the bandits did not have many relatives, that still meant there were not many bandits in total. Using the cover of night, Yuun hid in a large tree near the stronghold to rest and recover his chakra. At the same time, he used his Byakugan to confirm the bandits' numbers and equipment. If they were merely ordinary bandits, Yuun could take them all out with kunai alone.

"Thirty-seven adult males, twenty-five adult females. None possess chakra. No elderly. Eleven children with no combat ability, and approximately seven minors with some combat ability..." For this mission, Yuun had deliberately changed into black clothes to make it easier to hide at night, though bandits of this caliber could never spot him anyway. "Weapons... only sickles, hoes, and a few machetes..."

With his Byakugan activated, Yuun naturally noticed the clansmen not far behind him. But he paid them no mind. Whether they were guarding his Byakugan or him personally made no difference. If he were in danger, they would definitely save him.

"The kid's really not bad." Having no intention of concealing themselves, several Hyuga clansmen gathered together and chatted quietly. Their Byakugan, also activated, gave them a field of vision with a radius of over a kilometer. That was more than enough distance to protect Yuun. "He knows to scout first. He clearly noticed us, but he pretended not to."

"Heh, he is the genius publicly acknowledged by the Branch House. If he were any worse, no one would have suggested adopting him into the Main House." Another Hyuga clansman smiled, a hint of longing on his face. "Say, when do you think our descendants will be able to become part of the Main House too? If we could make great contributions like Akagi, would our children also be elevated into the Main House?"

"Listen to you dreaming. Do you think everyone has Akagi's luck?" The first Hyuga clansman laughed and scolded him. "His previous generation was originally from the Main House. He was just unlucky enough to be born a little too late. People like us, whose families left the Main House generations ago, should stop dreaming."

"Sigh, if I could get my son into the Main House, it would be worth it even if I died right now." Once he finished speaking, the Hyuga clansmen all sighed. "Let's focus on guarding the kid first. If anything happens to him, we're dead when we go back."

Leaving aside the Hyuga clansmen's chatter, Yuun's intelligence-gathering was nearing its end. "The buildings are mainly constructed from bamboo and wood... no fireproofing... no fire-prevention measures... wind direction north by east... air humidity..." Yuun touched the branch beneath his feet, then drew two senbon and fired them at the stronghold's walls and gate. "Around thirty meters... penetrated six-tenths of the way in with moderate force... untreated five-needle pine..."

After recording all the information he had gathered in his notebook, Yuun began drafting a battle plan. "Objective: destroy the stronghold... personnel intelligence, equipment intelligence, terrain intelligence gathered... own condition, equipment... battle plan: infiltrate, set fires, kill amid the chaos... cleanup... contingency plans... escape route..." After carefully drafting the battle plan in his notebook and memorizing it, Yuun soaked it with water, crumpled it into a ball, tore it apart, and crushed the pieces. "Condition excellent. Equipment: eleven kunai, twenty-five shuriken, two bundles of wire, four incendiary bombs, and one Explosive Tag. Inspection complete. Operation begins!"

Pulling up his mask to cover his face, Yuun, dressed entirely in black, slipped over the wall under cover of darkness and headed straight for the watchtower at the center of the stronghold. It was the highest point in the entire place and had to be cleared first. Otherwise, if someone discovered that there was only one attacker, things would become troublesome. Though these untrained ordinary people posed no threat to Yuun, the client had demanded that not a single person in the stronghold be left alive. If someone directed them to scatter and flee, Yuun would have no way to stop them all.

Before the man noticed Yuun walking directly up the tower, his neck was twisted. Surprisingly, Yuun felt no discomfort from killing someone for the first time. Only the greasy, grimy sensation of the man's hair against his hand felt particularly awful.

After dealing with the watchtower, Yuun slipped into the bandits' storehouse. He carried out two barrels of oil and began splashing lamp oil and cooking oil in hidden corners throughout the stronghold. Whenever he encountered someone, he struck first and snapped their necks. Yuun had not yet finished learning how to kill silently with kunai, so he could not guarantee he would kill without making a sound. Snapping necks directly worked well enough. The bandits' hair was mostly greasy and filthy, but he could wash his hands afterward. That was better than getting splattered with blood.

After spreading the oil, Yuun cut the rope of the stronghold's only well, then climbed back out. "Is this when I'm supposed to say some especially cringey but cool line?" After thinking carefully, Yuun decided against doing something so embarrassing under the watch of a group of Konoha ninjas, though perhaps he simply could not think of anything on the spot. "Farewell..."

Yuun lit all four incendiary bombs in one go and threw them inside. Standing at the gate, he quietly watched flames rise through the stronghold and watched the people inside panic and run about in every direction. Some managed to calm down enough to look for water to put out the fire, but Yuun had already cut the well rope. He had not even left them a backup; it had all been doused in oil and caught fire immediately.

Those who ran blindly through the blaze were burned to death almost at once. Those who assumed enemies were attacking and hid inside their homes were soon crushed beneath the collapsing buildings. Some were rational enough to flee toward the stronghold's gate, only to be picked off by Yuun's shuriken as he waited there.

The fire burned for over three hours. The wooden walls and gate were reduced to ash, and the entire stronghold had been razed to the ground. Covering his mouth and nose, Yuun entered the stronghold and carefully counted the corpses. Though he could confirm their number from afar with his Byakugan, he forced himself to count them despite the nausea in order to better adapt to a ninja's life.

"Sixty-eight bodies in total. Add the eleven people I killed with shuriken, and that's seventy-nine?" Yuun rubbed his forehead and sighed. "Sorry... Byakugan!"

In the blink of an eye, Yuun found the last boy who had hidden himself. Curled into a ball, the boy was hiding inside the well, too afraid to move for fear of being discovered.

"..." Yuun stood by the well in silence for a long time. "If there really is a next life, be reborn somewhere better..."

The boy in the well began trembling involuntarily. After hearing no movement for a long time, he raised his head and saw a talisman paper covered in unknown markings slowly drift down...

"Farewell..."

Boom