In the small plaza at the center of the Village.
Several villagers were prostrate on the ground, trembling in fear.
Two men sat arrogantly on the steps of a dedicated shrine.
They wore mismatched Ninja attire, with katanas and Kunai placed beside them.
Food scraps and bones were scattered on the ground around them.
One of the burlier Ninjas gnawed on a chicken leg with one hand, while the other held a numb-looking woman, his hand wandering over her as he laughed boisterously.
The other Ninja kicked away a food box presented by an old man, pointing at him with a sinister expression and cursing loudly.
"Those two look like they have the strength of a Chunin. Dad, which one do you want to handle?"
Behind a dilapidated wall, Hyuga Aokawa asked.
"Leave both to me. It's a good chance to practice!"
"You?"
"What? Looking down on your old man?!" Hyuga Fū glared, his beard bristling.
"Watch closely and see the difference between one Chunin and another."
With that, Hyuga Fū leaped over the wall and charged directly at the two men.
The two Rogue Ninjas were startled when someone suddenly rushed at them.
But they immediately burst into laughter.
"Big brother, look, a cripple! He wants to take on both of us."
The sinister man from before laughed.
"Then we'll make sure he never leaves," the burly Ninja snorted coldly.
He shoved the woman aside and shouted:
"Attack together!"
Both men moved at once.
The sinister man took the lead, charging forward with a Kunai in hand.
The burly man, however, performed a 180-degree turn and bolted in the opposite direction.
"Are you kidding me? A cripple he may be, but he's a Hyuga cripple."
"Attack my ass!"
"I just hope my brother can hold out for a while."
Hyuga Fū sneered as he watched the sinister Ninja thrust the Kunai toward him.
Relying on the high perception of his Byakugan, he precisely parried the incoming Kunai with one hand.
His other palm was already enveloped in blue Chakra.
"Gentle Fist!"
His palm struck the sinister Ninja's chest with pinpoint accuracy.
In an instant, the sinister Ninja felt as if his engine had been ripped out.
His body lost all control, and he fell backward, stiff as a board.
He struggled to open his eyes to look for his big brother, only to see him getting further and further away.
Filled with confusion, the sinister Ninja's world faded into darkness.
In the distance, the burly Ninja saw his companion taken down in a single blow.
His soul nearly left his body in fright, and he scrambled to speed up his escape.
At the same time, he felt lucky that he had been sharp enough to recognize the danger.
The most important thing for a Rogue Ninja was to be observant, especially when encountering Ninjas from the Great Nations—particularly those with a Kekkei Genkai.
Run as far as you can; that's the only way to live a long life.
His brother was just too honest. In the next life, if he saw those white eyes or red eyes, he should remember to stay far away.
The burly Ninja might not have many skills, but he certainly had a knack for running for his life.
Furthermore, because Hyuga Fū was missing a leg, he actually failed to catch up even after several uses of the Body Flicker Technique.
Seeing this, the burly Ninja knew he had made the right gamble.
So what if he's a Hyuga cripple? A cripple still can't run fast.
Just as he was feeling a bit smug, a flash of light suddenly streaked past the cripple's back.
Immediately following that, a blue-white arrow of light appeared, bypassed the cripple, and shot toward him like a bolt of lightning.
Dammit!
He hurriedly activated the Body Flicker Technique.
The next moment!
He suddenly felt his right leg get struck by something.
His center of gravity instantly vanished, and he face-planted directly into the dirt.
He scrambled to get up to continue his escape, but his foot met nothing but air.
Subconsciously, he reached down to find the cause.
From the right knee down, everything was gone, leaving only a bloody mess at the stump.
He stared blankly behind him, where a severed leg lay quietly a short distance away, with bright red blood trailing all the way to where he sat.
His pupils suddenly constricted, and he began to howl:
"Ah! My leg, my leg..."
Hyuga Fū also looked back to see Hyuga Aokawa on the roof, slowly lowering his Spirit Bow.
He caught up to the burly Ninja in a few strides and pinned him to the ground.
"Speak. What is the situation in Shanlong Village?"
The burly Ninja looked terrified: "Wh-what Shanlong Village?"
"The bandits' nest on this mountain."
"I... I don't know. I only came to this Village two months ago. My brother brought me here."
"The—the one you killed at the start."
Hyuga Aokawa also caught up at this point: "Have you seen anyone delivering grain up the mountain?"
"Yes, I saw it once when I first arrived. It was behind that mountain over there."
The burly Ninja pointed in a direction, responding stutteringly.
Then, he gave a fawning smile: "Ninja Lords, I've told you everything I know. Could you please let me go?"
"I'll give you all the money I have." As he spoke, he pulled a handful of banknotes from his chest and reached back in to pull out more.
Hyuga Fū suddenly struck, killing the burly Ninja with a single palm.
Seeing this, Hyuga Aokawa pulled away the burly Ninja's hand, revealing a poison-tipped Kunai hidden in his clothes.
"Hmph, petty tricks," Hyuga Fū sneered.
"In front of the Byakugan, nothing can remain hidden."
Hyuga Aokawa searched the two Rogue Ninjas and took all their valuables and banknotes.
Then he turned and said, "Let's go, Dad. Let's go into the Village and ask the villagers."
As the two walked back to the plaza, the villagers in the surrounding houses saw them and began to step out one after another.
"Thank you, Ninja Lords!"
Someone shouted first, followed by a chorus of gratitude.
A large crowd of villagers knelt down.
Seeing this, the Hyuga father and son quickly told them to stand up.
After asking the Village Head to arrange for them to return to their homes, Aokawa asked:
"There is a Shanlong Village on the mountain nearby. Do you know of it, Village Head?"
"Shanlong Village! Yes, I know of it," the Village Head nodded repeatedly.
"They used to come down every month to pillage, but they haven't come back in the last six months."
"Our lives were finally starting to get better, but then these two Rogue Ninjas showed up two months ago."
The Village Head's face was full of sorrow.
No matter how the world changed, it was always the common people at the bottom who suffered.
Hyuga Aokawa sighed and asked:
"Then, Village Head, do you know the approximate location of the fortress?"
With the surrounding mountains rising one after another, even with the Byakugan, finding a fortress wouldn't be easy for the two of them.
"The location..."
The Village Head knit his brows, recalling carefully.
He knew that whether this bandit nest could be eradicated depended on whether he could provide its location today.
It wasn't easy to encounter Ninjas willing to eliminate evil and bring peace.
After a moment.
He spoke: "I went up there once, but I was blindfolded."
"However, when we were close to the fortress, I heard the sound of a stream."
"We don't have many streams around here. Based on the distance, it's very likely near Shantan Creek."
As he spoke, the Village Head pointed to a distant mountain, which happened to be the same direction the burly Ninja had pointed to earlier.
Only this location was more specific.
Hyuga Aokawa nodded. Having a general direction was basically enough; they could always find it with the Byakugan active.
He took out the banknotes he had just searched from the two Rogue Ninjas.
He handed them to the Village Head: "Take this money and distribute it among the villagers."
The banknotes were of various denominations and showed heavy signs of use; it was clear they had been extorted from this Village by the Rogue Ninjas.
"Thank you!" The Village Head knelt down excitedly.
"Thank you, Ninja Lords!"
The father and son quickly helped the Village Head up and offered a few words of comfort.
Then, they set off toward the mountain the Village Head had pointed out.