In the quiet night forest, Shichikon's pleas for mercy echoed among the shadows of the trees. However, Mamoru remained deaf to it all, his footsteps never stopping, completely disregarding the agony and despair the person behind him was suffering.
"I've hidden a lot of money! A lot... a lot of money!" Shichikon finally offered his final chip.
Hearing something that interested him, Mamoru's pace gradually slowed and eventually stopped.
"Huff—"
Shichikon panted rapidly, his body trembling uncontrollably, the expression on his face constantly shifting between pain, ferocity, and a bizarre smile.
"You've hidden a lot of money?" Mamoru turned his head and looked at him skeptically. "It's not hidden in that cave, is it? It's all collapsed now."
"H-how could it be hidden in a place like that?"
Shichikon endured the pain and responded with difficulty, "It's definitely in a more secret location. I've been in this business for over ten years, the wealth I've accumulated wouldn't be spent in several lifetimes."
"What's there to be proud of about stolen money?" Mamoru curled his lip, his tone full of disdain.
Shichikon was suddenly speechless.
After a moment of silence, Mamoru spoke again, "Speak, where is the money hidden?"
"I can tell you, b-but there's a condition." Shichikon swallowed his saliva with effort and tentatively made a request, "You must promise me."
"Say it or don't."
Mamoru didn't fall for that at all, he immediately slapped the man on the head with a 'thwack' and made a move to continue on his way.
"Wait, don't, don't... please listen to me..."
Just as Mamoru lifted his leg to walk, Shichikon shouted in a panic, his voice filled with despair.
—
In front of the mountain fortress, smoke filled the air.
"Miki, it's no use going on like this." Yuya walked over quickly, holding a Kunai.
Miki glanced at him calmly, then turned his gaze back to the battlefield. His subordinates were continuously forming hand seals, and the light of various Ninjutsu struck the brownish-yellow wall one after another, but they only left shallow marks on the surface. The Earth Release ninjas inside the fortress were clearly continuing to reinforce the defenses.
Yuya punched a nearby tree trunk. "These rats just keep hiding!"
The trickiest part was the earth spikes that appeared unpredictably on the surface of the wall. Once someone rashly tried to scale the wall, they would be wounded by stone spikes suddenly emerging from the wall, making it impossible to guard against.
Several team members had already nearly had their legs or feet pierced by the suddenly protruding stone pillars, their arms were now wrapped in blood-stained bandages.
So far, the leader of the bandits, Shichikon, had not yet shown his face.
Miki's gaze swept over his scarred subordinates, his heart struggling. He knew that in this kind of war of attrition, the side that couldn't hold out until the end would naturally become the loser and be easily taken down, but was it really that simple?
"Captain!"
An urgent shout came from behind.
Miki snapped back to his senses to see Masamoto running over stumbling, his face covered in dust and his forehead protector hanging askew.
"C-Captain, this is bad!" Masamoto rushed in front of Miki, hands on his knees, panting heavily, unable to even speak coherently.
Miki's heart tightened, but he remained calm. "Masamoto, what happened?"
"Qu-quick, make them stop!" Masamoto straightened up and pointed anxiously at his companions who were still forming seals, his voice raspy, "We can't consume everyone's Chakra anymore!"
"Everyone, stop!" Miki shouted without hesitation.
His trust in his team members made him reach a decision immediately, "Stop forming hand seals!"
The order spread, and the ninjas stopped one after another. Some leaned on their knees to catch their breath, while others slumped to the ground. The excessive consumption of Chakra left everyone's face filled with exhaustion.
Miki looked at the disheveled state of his subordinates, his fingernails digging deep into his palms.
When everyone's breathing had calmed slightly, Miki turned to Masamoto, his voice low. "What exactly is going on?"
"When I was sending Haruki back, I happened to run into Daichi and the others being attacked by a group of people." Masamoto's words were like a clap of thunder.
"What?!"
The mask of calm Miki had been maintaining finally shattered.
Yuya stepped forward in one stride and grabbed Masamoto's arm tightly, the force making Masamoto cry out in pain. "What about the Genin? Why are you the only one back?"
If something happened to those Genin, not only would he be unable to give an account to Hiruzen, but he would also live forever under the questioning gazes of his colleagues.
"Yuya, let go!" Miki shouted sharply, timely stopping his companion who had lost emotional control.
"Sorry, I was too impatient."
Hearing Miki's voice, Yuya suddenly snapped back to his senses. He immediately released the hand that was tightly gripping Masamoto's arm and took a step back, a look of apology appearing on his face.
"It's fine."
Masamoto rubbed his sore arm, moved his slightly numb limb, and continued, "Daichi and the others are all safe and sound. That group has been subdued by us."
"As long as they're okay."
Miki and Yuya breathed a sigh of relief in unison, their tense shoulders relaxing slightly.
Miki immediately followed up with a question, "So, where did that group actually come from?"
"N-no... Captain, the Uchiha interrogated those prisoners and obtained some incredible information from them." Masamoto suddenly became excited, his voice involuntarily rising an octave.
"Mamoru?"
"Yeah, it's all thanks to him this time." Masamoto wiped the sweat from his forehead with lingering fear.
"If it weren't for him, I probably wouldn't be standing here unscathed."
In a situation where they needed to protect Genin and the wounded, it was nothing short of a miracle for Daichi and him to escape unscathed while facing a bandit gang that included ninjas. A more likely outcome would have been capture or even death.
That boy had not only detected the enemy's ambush in advance but had also easily dealt with the enemy's main force. Thinking of this, Masamoto couldn't help but feel a lingering sense of dread.
Miki and Yuya glanced at each other, neither was at all surprised by this answer. They had long seen that Mamoru's skills were extraordinary.