According to the information provided by the Village, the sound of a flowing stream can be heard near the Village.
That suggests the Village might be built along the stream.
So the father and son followed the Shantan Stream all the way up, searching with their Byakugan active.
Finally!
After taking care of several hidden sentries, they found this bandit den near the junction of several mountain peaks.
"It's actually so far from the location described by the client; no wonder it hasn't been found."
Hyuga Fū was very surprised.
"Maybe the incident with the client's father wasn't even done by people from this Village," Hyuga Aokawa said.
"That's beyond our scope of execution," Hyuga Fū shrugged.
He took out the mission scroll and pointed to the information on it:
"According to the client, his father was captured by a group of bandits a year ago."
"After the other party received the ransom, they not only didn't release him but also tortured him to death."
"He searched for a long time before he found Shanlong Village."
Hyuga Fū looked up and pointed to the sign above Shanlong Village:
"You see it says Shanlong Village up there, so it matches."
"Look at those scantily clad women inside; even if it wasn't them, we should still eliminate the evil and protect the people."
Hyuga Aokawa nodded upon hearing this.
Hyuga Fū kept his Byakugan active, watching the patrolling bandits and counting them one by one.
"One, two, three... fifty-one."
"Adding the few from just now, the numbers match. Some people's facial features are consistent with the images provided by the client, so that's it!"
"Forty-nine are outside, and two are in the cave."
"The objective of this mission is complete annihilation. Not a single one can be allowed to escape; if even one escapes, the mission is a failure."
Fearing that Hyuga Aokawa lacked mission experience, he spoke in great detail.
Seeing that Hyuga Aokawa had no objections, he continued:
"We'll take out the forty-nine outside first, then head into the cave to block the two inside, any problems?"
"No problem," Hyuga Aokawa responded.
"Then it's the same as before; leave it to me first, and you use the Spirit Bow to fill in the gaps."
"Okay!"
"Move out!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the father and son both leaped into the Village.
Hyuga Aokawa stood on the Fortress Wall, looking down to monitor the entire Village.
Hyuga Fū threw several Shuriken, taking out two sentries on the watchtower before jumping into the Village.
The bandits in the Village saw two Ninjas suddenly break in.
They hurriedly scattered and fled: "Ninjas are attacking, run!"
Hyuga Fū held a Kunai and went on a killing spree, mowing them down like grass without even needing to use the Gentle Fist.
The bandits fled in all directions; Hyuga Fū killed while throwing Ninja Tools at those who ran further away.
He saw someone hiding behind a large tree, motionless within the leaves.
He quickly pulled out several Kunai and threw them into the air one after another.
The Kunai constantly crossed and collided in the air, changing directions.
It was clearly the Uchiha Style Throwing Technique that Hyuga Fū had learned.
After a series of collisions in the air, the last Kunai accurately struck the head of the bandit behind the tree.
The bandit fell straight down.
Hyuga Aokawa stood on the Fortress Wall, quietly watching Hyuga Fū.
Seeing that there were about a dozen bandits who had already run far away and Hyuga Fū was clearly unable to pursue them.
He raised the Spirit Bow, pulled the bowstring, and condensed light arrows to kill them one by one.
"As expected, it's a good thing you came along, otherwise some really would have escaped."
Hyuga Fū sighed and said to Hyuga Aokawa.
If he had come alone this time, there wouldn't have been any danger.
But if these bandits scattered and fled, he definitely wouldn't have been able to kill them all.
Then he said with a look of envy: "This ability of yours is really convenient."
Hyuga Aokawa smiled: "Let's go! There are two left."
The father and son entered the cave together.
The cave was winding and twisting; if they didn't have the Byakugan, it would have been hard to navigate.
But because of this, the sound from outside could hardly be heard inside.
It wasn't until the father and son walked right in front of them that the two bandits realized Ninjas had come to their door.
Seeing that the path out was blocked and it was a dead end.
They brandished their katanas and rushed forward with unintelligible shouts, wanting to fight to the death.
But it was futile in the face of absolute strength.
Hyuga Aokawa gathered Gentle Fist Chakra in his hands, and under the vision of the Byakugan.
After dodging the attacks of the two, he pressed heavily on their chests.
The two of them went limp simultaneously in an instant.
After dealing with the enemies, Hyuga Aokawa saw that there were quite a few things in the cave.
He and Hyuga Fū began to take stock of the items in the cave.
As a place where bandits concentrated their loot, there were indeed many good things.
A preliminary estimate was that everything added up to be worth tens of thousands of Ryo.
Hyuga Fū laughed heartily at the sight:
"This is the hidden remuneration for this kind of mission."
While organizing the items, he explained the rules to Hyuga Aokawa:
"During the execution of a mission, all captured items."
"By default, belong to the mission performers."
As he spoke, he took out a Sealing Scroll and sealed the organized items into the scroll.
Suddenly!
The smile on his face froze, and he looked at the floor in confusion.
He stepped on it a few times uncertainly, confirming that the floor he was stepping on was indeed a bit unusual.
He reached out to feel it and pressed gently.
Rumble!
A brick on the wall moved, revealing a hidden compartment behind it.
It was actually a mechanism!
He reached out to feel it; the hidden compartment was covered with a layer of lead plate, no wonder the Byakugan couldn't see through it.
He took out the scroll inside, untied the ribbon, and slowly unrolled it.
"Chakra Refining Technique?"
Hyuga Fū's brow furrowed, his expression solemn.
The handwriting was neat and without errors, not something Rogue Ninjas or bandits would have.
And the texture and style of this scroll looked like it was from the Land of Earth.
"Dad, there's another scroll here."
Hyuga Aokawa also found a small mechanism.
He took out the scroll inside.
"Earth Style Wall Technique?"
Hyuga Fū's brow furrowed even tighter, and he turned to Hyuga Aokawa and said:
"Look and see if there's anything else."
The father and son activated their Byakugan and searched carefully everywhere.
A moment later.
They found three or four more hidden compartments and took out many scrolls from them.
They opened them one by one to check and found that they depicted the mountains, rivers, and strategic points of various parts of the Land of Fire.
"These are all unfinished."
Hyuga Aokawa looked at these shocking scrolls, and his heart was also very shaken.
These were the ones that were not yet finished and had not been sent out.
As for the ones already drawn, who knows how many had already been sent out.
It seems this bandit den has been occupied by spies from the Land of Earth.
And they have been collecting geographical intelligence on the Land of Fire for some time.
Looking at the timing, the Village head of Shantan Village said that the people of Shanlong Village hadn't come down the mountain to raid in the last year.
It's very likely that the spies were afraid of drawing attention and restrained these bandits, thus curbing their behavior.
"Go! We must report this intelligence to the Hokage immediately."
Hyuga Fū collected all these things, grabbed Hyuga Aokawa, and rushed outside.
After passing through the winding tunnel, they finally reached the cave entrance.
"Oh my, it seems our nest has been raided."
Just as they were about to rush out of the cave entrance, a voice came from outside.
"Hurry!"
Hyuga Fū shouted and quickened his pace.
"Earth Release: Earth Pillar Burst."
The Ninjutsu from outside was faster than Hyuga Fū.
Boom, boom, boom!
A series of explosions suddenly occurred on the ground, attacking the Hyuga Aokawa father and son.