"Oh no!" Hyuga Fū thought to himself.
In front was Ninjutsu, behind was his son, and on both sides were mountain walls.
He gritted his teeth, stopped himself from dodging, crossed his arms in front of his chest, and faced the Ninjutsu head-on.
Just as the Ninjutsu was about to hit Hyuga Fū, a water screen suddenly appeared in front of him.
"Water Release: Water Wall!"
The water screen that rose from the ground separated the inside of the cave from the outside, protecting Hyuga Fū behind it.
The high-speed rotating water collided with the explosion on the ground.
Bang!
The two forces vanished into nothingness, and water splashed everywhere.
Being the closest, Hyuga Fū took the brunt of it and was splashed all over with water.
He was a bit dazed by this sudden Ninjutsu.
Before he could react, he was already being pulled by Hyuga Aokawa, rushing out of the cave while the water splashes obscured their vision.
Once outside the cave, they finally saw the culprit who had unleashed the Earth Pillar Explosion.
Two tall men stood outside the cave entrance, one muscular and one thin.
The muscular man had his arms crossed over his chest, his chin slightly raised, looking down on them.
Seeing Hyuga Aokawa and the other emerge, both with Byakugan, his gaze instantly became excited.
"So it's the famous Hyuga Clan, the clan renowned for their Taijutsu."
The relatively thin man beside him rolled his eyes upon hearing this and complained:
"Daitu, why is Taijutsu the only thing in your eyes?"
"Don't you think it's even stranger that the Hyuga Clan is using Ninjutsu?"
Daitu froze for a moment and scratched his head:
"Did they just use Ninjutsu? I thought that was Return to Heaven!"
Then he waved his hand, "It doesn't matter. Demon Forest, you just watch from the side later, don't disturb me."
Demon Forest held his forehead, a look of utter helplessness on his face.
Here we go again!
He didn't know what the higher-ups were thinking, pairing him with a Taijutsu maniac like this.
He couldn't help himself whenever he encountered a Taijutsu Ninja.
He could only try to persuade him:
"Don't forget Lord Tsuchikage's mission."
"That kind of thing doesn't matter," Daitu grinned, extremely excited.
His face was full of fanaticism, his gaze fixed unblinkingly on the Hyuga Aokawa father and son duo:
"Today, I only want to beat the two of them to death..."
"Or, be beaten to death by the two of them."
"..."
Hyuga Aokawa looked at the two men in front of him, his expression solemn.
The Ninja named Daitu might be at the Jonin level.
And the one named Demon Forest was at least a high-level Chunin.
Running away wasn't an option; Hyuga Fū's Body Flicker Technique wasn't good enough.
The only way left was to fight.
But how to fight?
He used his Byakugan to carefully observe the surroundings, thinking of a strategy.
"Aokawa, you go quickly. Dad will cover the rear."
Hyuga Fū could also sense the enemies' strength, and his expression was very anxious.
His movement speed wasn't enough, he couldn't escape, but there was hope for his son.
He could definitely hold them off and let his son leave first.
Hyuga Fū turned to see Hyuga Aokawa standing still.
He was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan; now was not the time for sentimentality—if at least one could survive, that was enough.
"Dad..."
"Say no more, go quickly!" Hyuga Aokawa had just started to speak when Hyuga Fū interrupted him.
"Okay!" Hyuga Aokawa responded.
With that, he turned around and ducked straight into the woods behind the mountain.
"???"
Hyuga Fū's eyes widened, not quite adjusted to the situation: "That was quick?"
He had been afraid his son would be stubborn and was thinking about how to convince him.
Seeing his son leave, his expression became serious, and his eyes fixed tightly on the two opponents.
Daitu felt a bit disappointed: "One got away!"
He turned to his companion: "Demon Forest, you go after the little one. This cripple looks more powerful."
"Fine, I get it. You really know how to boss people around!"
Demon Forest grumbled and used a Body Flicker Technique to chase after Hyuga Aokawa.
Hyuga Fū still wanted to stop Demon Forest.
Daitu used Body Flicker Technique instantly and kicked out:
"Your opponent is me!"
Hyuga Fū hurriedly parried.
The immense force of the kick pushed him back several steps.
Daitu gave a light snort, loosening his limbs and neck:
"I'm also a Taijutsu Ninja. Today, I'll test the famous Gentle Fist."
On the other side, in the dense forest.
Towering trees blotted out the sun, vines were everywhere, and weeds grew thick.
As soon as Demon Forest entered the woods, he saw the clumsy attempts to hide tracks on the ground and couldn't help but laugh.
"A brat is just a brat; it would've been better not to try and hide them at all."
He sensed carefully for a moment and headed in one direction.
Before he had gone far, a trap lay blatantly on the path he had to take, its execution as crude as a prank.
"You call this a trap? Even a pig wouldn't step in it."
The smile on Demon Forest's face deepened.
His pace didn't falter at all; his toes lightly tapped a thick tree root.
His body, like a leaf in the wind, slid smoothly and gracefully past the side of the trap.
Over the next stretch of road, he dodged three or four more traps in the same manner.
These traps were either to the left or right, their execution looking as if they were cast from the same mold—crude and immature.
With each one he dodged, the disdain in Demon Forest's heart grew.
He continued the pursuit.
In the distance, the terrain ahead suddenly narrowed.
He discovered another clumsy trap.
Only this time, as his gaze swept over it, he instinctively felt something was off.
Looking a bit closer, the color of the soil on both sides of the trap had a subtle difference from the surroundings.
If it were any other ordinary Ninja with insufficient experience, it would be hard to notice.
"Trying to use habitual thinking to lure me into bypassing the trap from the sides as well?"
"A bit of brains, I suppose, but unfortunately for you, you've met me."
Demon Forest evaluated it in his mind with a superior air, like looking at a child's doodle.
He didn't stop, observing the surrounding environment as he ran.
"The vines on both sides blot out the sun; if I want to bypass these three traps, I'll definitely have to take a long detour."
"And to save time, jumping over that tree fork above is the most logical way."
He looked at the empty space by the tree fork ahead, a flash of understanding in his heart.
"Since I can only jump through this tree fork..."
"Then the real killing move..."
"Must be here!"
While running, he pulled out several Kunai and Shuriken with both hands and threw them with all his might toward the middle of the tree fork ahead.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The hidden weapons triggered the trap in the middle of the fork, detonating the Explosive Tags hidden within.
"Child's play!"
Demon Forest sneered, his disdain mixed with a bit of pride at having solved the puzzle.
He hurried to the base of the tree and leaped up with supreme confidence.
As his body cleared the tree trunk, the scene behind the tree appeared.
The brat he was chasing.
At this moment, he was holding a massive blue-and-white Spirit Bow in his hands.
Standing on the path ahead.
He was drawing a Chakra Arrow, his gaze cold.
Quietly aiming at him.
"Eh?"
Demon Forest hadn't yet figured out what that thing was.
The brat let go, and a bolt of light like lightning suddenly shot out, rapidly bearing down on him.
With nowhere to gain leverage in mid-air, Demon Forest didn't even have time to struggle.
He could only watch helplessly as that Light Arrow...
...struck his head heavily!
Boom!
A spray of blood erupted in the air.
Demon Forest's body, which had been about to clear the tree fork due to the momentum of his jump...
...was sent flying backward as his head was struck heavily by the Light Arrow.
He crashed straight onto the ground.