Mission accomplished

After leaving the inn, Kazuhiko Uchiha, disguised as a civilian, accompanied Green Sparrow to the outskirts of the Ōki Family's mansion to locate their target.

"Summoning Technique!"

As Green Sparrow finished his hand seals, three sparrows of different colors appeared before them, chirping away.

"Chirp! I finally get to visit the shinobi world again! Chirp!" A gray-feathered sparrow excitedly flew onto Green Sparrow's head and affectionately pecked at his hair.

"Green Sparrow, Green Sparrow, got anything tasty?" Another sparrow, plump and white, hopped over to Green Sparrow, its eyes fixed firmly on his ninja tool pouch. It was clearly a glutton of a ninja beast.

The last sparrow, with blue-and-white feathers, flew onto Kazuhiko Uchiha's shoulder and politely greeted him. "Hello, I'm Colored Feathers, Green Sparrow's summon. It's nice to meet you."

"Hello, I'm Blue Hawk," Kazuhiko Uchiha replied politely, already wondering when he might have a chance to form a contract with some powerful summons of his own.

Long accustomed to his summons' behavior, Green Sparrow first lifted the gray sparrow off his head, then took some specially made biscuits from his ninja tool pouch and handed them to the white sparrow. Finally, he took out a photograph of Ichirō Ōki.

Pointing toward the mansion nearby, Green Sparrow quietly told Colored Feathers, "Colored Feathers, sorry for the trouble, but could you check whether this target is inside? Be careful, though. There's a Cloud Ninja squad in there."

"No problem. Leave it to us."

After studying the photograph carefully, Colored Feathers flew over to the other two sparrows, who were still fighting over the biscuits. She smacked their heads several times with her wings and scolded them. "White Feathers, Gray Feathers, get to work helping Green Sparrow!"

"Yes, big sister."

Intimidated by their older sister's authority, the two younger brothers flew over to examine the target in the photograph, then flapped their wings and took to the sky.

After the three sparrows flew off, Kazuhiko Uchiha followed Green Sparrow into a deserted alley to wait for news.

Before long, the three sparrows returned together. Green Sparrow gave White Feathers and Gray Feathers some more biscuits, then waited for Colored Feathers's report.

"Green Sparrow, the target you're looking for is in a large room on the right. Two very powerful ninja are guarding him," Colored Feathers said, landing on Green Sparrow's shoulder and sharing what she had learned.

"Understood. Sorry for the trouble, but I'll need your help a little longer."

Green Sparrow asked them to return and keep watch over Ichirō Ōki, then took Kazuhiko Uchiha back to the inn to report their findings to Captain Xinghe.

After hearing Green Sparrow's report, Captain Xinghe looked much more relaxed.

On assassination missions like this, the greatest concern was the target taking refuge in a major hidden village. That would increase the mission's danger exponentially, and their chances of success might not even reach ten percent.

Since Ichirō Ōki was still at home, the next steps became straightforward. Once the other two finished investigating his defenses, they could act immediately.

That afternoon, Fūren and Kasen also returned to the inn.

"Captain, the two Cloud Ninja squads have eight members in total: three jonin, two chunin, and three genin."

Although the Cloud Ninja had carefully concealed themselves inside their headquarters, Fūren's secret sensory technique made them stand out like lamps in the dark.

After comparing their strength with the enemy's, Captain Xinghe immediately assigned their roles. "Fūren, Green Sparrow, the three of us will hold off the Cloud Ninja jonin. Kasen, you'll keep the two chunin occupied. Blue Hawk, your priority is eliminating the target. You'll also handle the Cloud Ninja genin."

"Understood," the four replied.

"Good. We move after midnight tonight. Once the target is eliminated, don't get drawn into a fight. Disengage immediately and leave the Land of Lightning."

With Captain Xinghe's final instructions given, everyone rested at the inn to conserve their strength. When the moon reached its zenith, they slipped out and headed for the Ōki mansion.

"Chirp! Green Sparrow, the target is still in that room on the right." The ninja sparrows watching Ichirō Ōki flew over as soon as they saw Green Sparrow arrive and passed on their information.

"Good. Thanks for your hard work."

Green Sparrow took out some biscuits and gave them to the sparrows as thanks, then released the Summoning Technique, sending them back to the summoning realm.

"Secret Technique: Sensing Wind."

Once they had the target's location, Fenghe traced an indecipherable formation on the ground and sat cross-legged inside it. As hand seals formed, currents of wind carrying faint traces of chakra streamed out of the formation and spread into the surroundings.

Before long, Fenghe stopped forming hand seals and turned to Captain Xinghe, speaking softly. "Captain, only two jonin and two genin are guarding the target right now. Everyone else is resting in the room on the left."

"All right, then. Fenghe, Blue Hawk, the three of us will attack the room where the target is. Green Sparrow, you and Kasen will intercept reinforcements from the room on the left." After a moment's thought, Captain Xinghe made a slight adjustment to their original plan.

"Understood."

Kazuhiko Uchiha and the other three split into two groups and, following Captain Xinghe's lead, quietly approached the two rooms.

"Enemies!"

When they were still a dozen or so meters from the mansion, one of the Cloud Ninja jonin on guard spotted Kazuhiko Uchiha and the others and immediately shouted a warning to his comrades.

"Proceed as planned. Move!"

With their presence exposed, they abandoned stealth and launched their attack on the target at Captain Xinghe's command.

"Wind Release: Pressure Damage!"

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"

"Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!"

The instant the battle began, Kazuhiko Uchiha and the other two attacking the room on the right unleashed their ninjutsu, hoping to scatter the Cloud Ninja's formation in a single strike.

"Earth Release: Earth Wall!"

"Water Release: Water Formation Wall!"

The Cloud Ninja jonin were no pushovers. Each used a defensive ninjutsu to block the trio's attacks.

"Wind Release: Wind Cutter Technique!"

Captain Xinghe attacked the strongest Cloud Ninja jonin while shouting to Kazuhiko Uchiha, "Blue Hawk, move quickly!"

"Yes! Eight Gates Released Formation: Gate of Life, open!" Kazuhiko Uchiha opened three gates in one burst, cut down the two Cloud Ninja genin, and charged toward the terrified Ichirō Ōki.

"You won't touch him! Earth Release: Earth Shore Return!"

Seeing this, the other Cloud Ninja jonin immediately unleashed an Earth Release technique, raising a huge stone slab across Kazuhiko Uchiha's path.

"Wind Release: Vacuum Great Sphere! Your opponent is me!"

As the Cloud Ninja jonin prepared to attack Kazuhiko Uchiha, Fenghe immediately fired several waves of Wind Release energy, forcing the enemy onto the defensive.

With the Cloud Ninja jonin no longer blocking him, Kazuhiko Uchiha immediately went around the stone slab and appeared in front of Ichirō Ōki.

Faced with imminent death, Ichirō Ōki gave off a sudden, pungent stench of urine. None of his former arrogance remained.

He dropped to his knees with a thud, pleading over and over, "Please, spare me! I'll have my father give you lots of money!"

Seeing the man wet himself in terror, Kazuhiko Uchiha sneered in contempt and swung his tachi down hard.

The next instant, blood sprayed three feet through the air.