Intelligence

In the small square at the center of the village.

Several villagers knelt prostrate on the ground, trembling.

Two men sat brazenly on the steps before the shrine.

They wore mismatched ninja clothing, with katanas and kunai lying beside them.

Food scraps and bones were scattered across the ground around them.

One of the sturdier ninjas gnawed on a chicken leg in one hand while holding a blank-faced woman with the other, constantly groping her all over as he laughed wantonly.

The other ninja kicked away a food box offered by an old man, then pointed at him with a sinister expression and cursed viciously.

"Those two look like Chunin. Dad, which one are you going to handle?"

Behind a crumbling wall, Hyuga Qingchuan asked.

"Leave both to me. It'll be good practice!"

"You?"

"What? Looking down on your old man?" Hyuga Kaze glared, his beard bristling.

"Watch closely and see the difference between one Chunin and another."

With that, Hyuga Kaze sprang over the wall and charged straight at the two men.

The two rogue ninjas were startled when they suddenly saw someone coming to kill them.

Then they burst into laughter.

"Big Brother, look, a cripple wants to take on both of us."

The previously sinister man laughed.

"Then let's make sure he doesn't leave alive." The burly ninja snorted.

He shoved the woman away and shouted:

"Get him!"

The two moved at once.

The sinister man took the lead, charging forward with a kunai in hand.

The burly man, meanwhile, spun around one hundred and eighty degrees and ran straight away.

You've got to be kidding. Even a cripple from the Hyuga clan is still a Hyuga.

To hell with fighting him!

Just hope my brother can hold on a little longer.

Hyuga Kaze watched the sinister ninja thrust his kunai toward him and sneered.

Relying on the Byakugan's keen perception, he precisely deflected the incoming kunai with one hand.

Blue chakra already wrapped around his other palm.

Gentle Fist!

His palm struck precisely against the sinister ninja's chest.

In that instant, the sinister ninja felt as though someone had ripped out his engine.

His entire body went out of control, and he fell stiffly backward.

He struggled to open his eyes and look toward his big brother behind him, only to see him getting farther and farther away.

Filled with confusion, the sinister ninja's world sank into darkness.

In the distance, the burly ninja saw his brother taken down in a single blow.

Terror seized him, and he hurriedly picked up his pace as he fled into the distance.

At the same time, he rejoiced that he had the sense to read the situation.

For rogue ninjas, the most important thing was knowing when to run. When they encountered ninjas from the great nations, especially Bloodline Limit users—

They had to run as far as possible. That was the only way to live longer.

His brother had simply been too honest. In his next life, if he saw anyone with white eyes or red eyes, he had better stay far away.

The burly ninja might not have been skilled at anything else, but he was exceptionally good at running for his life.

Moreover, Hyuga Kaze was missing a leg. Even after several uses of the Body Flicker Technique, he had failed to catch up.

Seeing that, the burly ninja knew he had bet correctly.

So what if the Hyuga was a cripple? A cripple was still slow.

Just as he was feeling a little smug, a flash of light suddenly streaked past behind the cripple.

Immediately afterward, a blue-white arrow of light appeared. After passing the cripple, it shot toward him like lightning.

Damn it!

He hurriedly used the Body Flicker Technique.

The next moment!

He suddenly felt some foreign object strike his right leg.

Then his balance abruptly failed, and he fell flat on his face.

He hurriedly scrambled up, intending to keep running for his life, but stepped into empty air.

Instinctively, he looked down to find out why.

Below his right thigh, his leg was completely gone, leaving only a bloody, mangled stump.

He stared blankly behind him. Not far away lay a severed leg, while bright red blood stretched all the way beneath him.

His pupils suddenly contracted, and he began to howl:

"Ah! My leg, my leg..."

Hyuga Kaze turned to look behind him as well and saw Hyuga Qingchuan slowly lowering the Spirit Bow from atop a roof.

He caught up to the burly ninja in a few strides and pinned him to the ground.

"Talk. What's the situation in Mountain Dragon Stronghold?"

The burly ninja looked terrified. "M-Mountain Dragon Stronghold?"

"The bandits' den in these mountains."

"I-I don't know. I only came to this village two months ago. My brother brought me here."

"It was... it was the one you killed at the start."

Hyuga Qingchuan arrived just then as well. "Have you seen anyone transporting food up the mountain?"

"Yes. When I first arrived, I saw it once. It was behind that mountain."

The burly ninja pointed in one direction and answered haltingly.

Then he forced out a fawning smile. "My lords, I've told you everything I know. Can you let me go?"

"I'll give you all the money on me." As he spoke, he pulled a large handful of banknotes from his clothes, then reached back in to take out more.

Hyuga Kaze suddenly struck, killing the burly ninja with a single palm.

Hyuga Qingchuan moved the burly ninja's hand aside and found a poisoned kunai hidden in his clothes.

"Hmph, a cheap trick." Hyuga Kaze sneered.

"Before the Byakugan, nothing can stay hidden."

Hyuga Qingchuan searched the two rogue ninjas and took all their valuables and banknotes.

Then he turned and said, "Let's go, Dad. We'll ask the villagers."

The two returned to the square. Seeing them, villagers from the surrounding houses gradually came out.

"Thank you, honored ninjas!"

No one knew who shouted first, but cries of thanks soon rose one after another.

A great mass of villagers dropped to their knees.

Hyuga Qingchuan and his father hurriedly told them to get up.

After having the village chief arrange for them to return home, they asked:

"There's a Mountain Dragon Stronghold in the nearby mountains. Village Chief, do you know about it?"

"Mountain Dragon Stronghold? I do!" The village chief nodded repeatedly.

"They used to come down every month to plunder us, but they haven't come back in the past half year."

"Our lives had finally begun to improve, but then these two rogue ninjas showed up two months ago."

The village chief's face was full of sorrow.

No matter how the world changed, it was always common people at the bottom who bore the suffering.

Hyuga Qingchuan sighed and asked:

"Then do you know the stronghold's approximate location?"

The surrounding mountains rose and fell endlessly. Even with the Byakugan, it would not be easy for the two of them to find a stronghold.

"The location..."

The village chief furrowed his brow and thought carefully.

He knew whether they could destroy that stronghold depended on whether he could provide its location today.

It was not easy to encounter ninjas willing to rid the world of evil and bring peace to the people.

After a moment.

He said, "I went up there once, but they blindfolded me."

"However, when we were nearing the stronghold, I heard the sound of a stream."

"There aren't many streams around here. Judging by the distance, it may very well be near Mountain Pool Creek."

As he spoke, the village chief pointed toward a distant mountain—the very direction the burly ninja had indicated earlier.

Only now, the location was much more specific.

Hyuga Qingchuan nodded. Having a direction was basically enough. With the Byakugan activated, they would find it eventually.

He took out the banknotes he had just searched from the two rogue ninjas.

He handed them to the village chief. "Take this money and divide it among the villagers."

The banknotes came in various denominations and were heavily worn. Clearly, the rogue ninjas had extorted them from this village.

"Thank you!" The village chief fell to his knees excitedly.

"Thank you, honored ninjas!"

The father and son hurriedly helped the village chief up and offered a few words of comfort.

Then they headed toward the mountain indicated by the village.