The interrogation of the three bandits concluded swiftly. After comparing, organizing, and verifying the gathered intelligence, the genin reported their findings to Captain Touma, who had been waiting patiently.
"Captain, aside from these three, the Hundred Blades Gang has 129 members. Their stronghold is to the northeast. Ninety-five are in the structures above ground, and thirty-four are guarding kidnapped civilian women in an excavated underground prison. The strongest among them is the bandit leader, a samurai with approximately elite genin-level strength."
Sensing the three bandits' life forces vanish, Captain Touma looked at the trio with great satisfaction and said with a smile,
"Congratulations on becoming true shinobi. You will carry out this mission on your own. I will not intervene unless absolutely necessary."
Seeing Captain Touma's arrangement, Inuzuka Yū and Ikemoto Kaori naturally turned their gazes to Uchiha Kazuhiko, the strongest among them, waiting for his decisions.
Uchiha Kazuhiko didn't stand on ceremony. He naturally took command and assigned a task to Inuzuka Yū.
"Yū, you and Jūbēmaru go scout the basic situation of the stronghold now, especially the locations of any hidden sentries. We'll begin the eradication operation tonight."
"Leave it to me! Jūbēmaru, let's go!"
Inuzuka Yū nodded, brimming with confidence, and set off with Jūbēmaru. They returned by nightfall with the recon information.
After comparing the strength of both sides, Uchiha Kazuhiko made a tentative plan for the operation.
"First, we take out the sentries on the periphery under cover of darkness. Then, we trap and eliminate them inside the stronghold. But be careful: do not get drawn deep into an encirclement. If the bandit leader ambushes us, it could be very dangerous."
Once the plan was set, the three genin split up under Captain Touma's watchful eye. Their targets were the six hidden sentries outside the stronghold and the ten bandit guards near the main gate.
Uchiha Kazuhiko heightened his spiritual perception to its maximum, suppressing his presence as much as possible as he silently approached a bandit sentry. He launched his attack immediately.
Reaching from behind, he clamped a hand over the sentry's mouth. Without the slightest hesitation, the kunai in his other hand flashed across the man's throat. Only after the struggling ceased and the target was thoroughly dead did he carefully lower the corpse to the ground before moving towards the next sentry's position.
Within two minutes, the three of them had silently eliminated all six sentries.
Observing the ten guards dispersed on either side of the gate, Uchiha Kazuhiko thought for a moment before ordering,
"On the count of three, attack together. I'll take the five on the left. Yū, you handle the three by the right side of the gate. Kaori, you're responsible for the remaining two."
"No problem." Inuzuka Yū and Ikemoto Kaori nodded in understanding, beginning to gather their chakra for the assault.
"Three, two, one, go!"
As the countdown ended, the three instantly burst from the darkness, unleashing their prepared attacks.
Uchiha Kazuhiko activated the Eight Gates Released Formation: Gate of Rest, using his incredible speed to be the first to reach the gate. His left hand drew three kunai, accurately embedding them in the throats of the three leftmost guards.
He then appeared between the other two targets. The katana in his right hand swept out with force, decapitating the guard on his left, while his right knee shot up, crushing the throat of the final guard on his right completing the elimination of all five targets.
Inuzuka Yū, utilizing Four Legs Technique, arrived second. Her sharp claws grabbed the necks of two guards and slammed down forcefully. Two crunching sounds later, the guards collapsed to the ground.
The ninja dog Jūbēmaru leaped from her back, its maw opening wide to clamp down on another guard's throat, completing its first kill.
Though Ikemoto Kaori's speed couldn't match the other two, her genjutsu activation was excellent. The remaining two guards, just about to cry out, fell under her illusion, allowing her to finish them off methodically.
With the enemy guards dealt with, the three jumped onto the top of the stronghold's wall, surveying the specific layout inside.
Looking at the houses symmetrically distributed on either side of the central path within the stronghold, Uchiha Kazuhiko formulated a good plan.
"Yū and I will handle the frontal assault from here. Kaori, you go guard the back gate to prevent anyone from escaping. If you encounter a strong enemy, fire the signal flare. I'll come to support you."
Once Ikemoto Kaori left, Uchiha Kazuhiko immediately opened the third gate of the Eight Gates Released Formation the Gate of Life.
His skin flushed red and his body began emanating green life energy. His strength and speed increased significantly, and the amount of life energy available to him saw a massive boost.
After briefly adapting to the changes in his body, Uchiha Kazuhiko mobilized forty percent of his internal life energy and began forming hand signs.
"Rat → Boar → Dog → Ox → Rabbit → Tiger! Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!"
The originally fist-sized fireballs, catalyzed by the life energy, swelled several times in size. Under Uchiha Kazuhiko's control, they scattered and shot out, impacting the bandits' houses and igniting the wooden structures one after another.
The previously quiet stronghold was instantly detonated by raging flames and the panicked screams of the bandits.
Dozens of bandits who escaped the inferno rushed out of their rooms, gathering on the central path that wasn't yet touched by the fire.
After releasing the fire technique, Uchiha Kazuhiko, breathing slightly heavily, said to Inuzuka Yū, "Yū, it's your turn."
"Jūbēmaru, ready! Beast Human Clone! Fang Passing Fang!"
Inuzuka Yū and Jūbēmaru began spinning rapidly in mid-air. Upon reaching a certain velocity, they transformed into two terrifying horizontal tornadoes, swiftly charging towards the bandits who were almost lined up on the main path.
"Ahhh!!!"
Amid the bandits' screams, the tornadoes crashed into them with overwhelming force. Under the terrifying impact, mangled corpses flew out like ragged sacks, scattering across the open ground on either side of the path.
Boom!
Right then, a Konoha-specific distress signal flare lit up the sky over the stronghold's rear mountain. Barring unforeseen circumstances, Ikemoto Kaori had likely encountered the bandit leader who hadn't yet appeared.
"Yū, you and Jūbēmaru clean up the stragglers and the bandits in the underground prison. I'm going to reinforce Kaori."
"Leave it to me! Go support Kaori quickly, don't let the target get away!"
The stronghold wasn't very large. With the speed granted by the Gate of Life, Uchiha Kazuhiko reached the rear mountain in mere seconds, spotting Ikemoto Kaori, who was in grave danger under the assault of two enemies.
One was a burly man dressed similarly to the other bandits, his samurai blade weaving sheets of gleaming light. The other was a young man dressed like a rogue ninja, streams of wind blades gathering in his hands before constantly shooting towards Ikemoto Kaori.
Under the relentless attacks from the two, Ikemoto Kaori, only genin-level in strength, was already heavily wounded. Her clothes were in tatters, and several bloody wounds were torn into her snow white skin.
She had no chance to catch her breath.
Not daring to delay, Uchiha Kazuhiko immediately targeted the slightly weaker bandit leader first, employing the first powerful taijutsu attack from the Eight Gates Released Formation.
In a single step, Uchiha Kazuhiko appeared before the bandit leader. With immense force, he kicked the leader's weapon away, squatted down and rotated while kicking up. his heel smashing heavily into the bandit leader's chin and sending him flying into the air.
Watching the rising enemy, Uchiha Kazuhiko pushed off the ground hard with both feet, appearing behind the bandit leader mid-air. His hands tightly secured the leader's body as he spun rapidly, building powerful momentum before slamming him down mercilessly towards the ground.
"Front Lotus!"
The rocky, hard ground cratered from the massive impact. An unrecognizable corpse stained the earth a deep crimson.
Breathing heavily, Uchiha Kazuhiko jumped back a few steps, avoiding the splattering blood. He took a moment to appreciate his handiwork before turning his gaze to the stunned rogue ninja.