"Hikari-dono!"
Hiashi looked at Kamizuki Hikari with a hesitant expression, as if he had something to say.
"Hiashi-dono, you're not planning to stop me, are you?"
Hikari naturally understood Hiashi's hesitation. Any father, knowing his daughter was about to take lives, would inevitably waver.
"No."
Hiashi took a deep breath, his eyes turning resolute.
"I hope you can give Hinata more opportunities. For this 'first blood' mission, it would be best if you assign her more targets."
The moment he said that, Jiraiya drew in a sharp breath.
Even Tsunade looked at Hiashi in surprise.
"May I ask your reason?" Hikari was also a bit taken aback. As shinobi, drawing blood was necessary—it was the first and essential step to shed the timidity of ordinary people.
A shinobi who had never drawn blood could not be considered a true shinobi.
Among this year's graduates—Team 7, Team 8, and Team 10—Naruto's Team 7 had already been to the Land of Waves, fought Zabuza, and thus had gained a shinobi's resolve.
Team 10, which Hikari had taken to the Land of Snow on a mission, had also fought shinobi there. They had blood on their hands.
Only Hinata's Team 8, because Kurenai had to care for Yakumo, had never undertaken missions outside the village. Thus, this first-blood task had been left undone.
"In the past, Hinata was weak, so I gave up on her and let things be. As long as she could live, that was enough."
"But now it's different. Since she has this kind of strength, she must bear the responsibilities and duties of the Hyūga clan. Drawing blood... this can help her grow."
This answer made Hikari hesitate slightly. What he was doing would change Hinata's future.
According to the original plot, Hiashi would allow Hinata to marry Naruto partly because of Naruto's strength and position as Konoha's Hokage, but also largely because Hinata's average abilities meant she wasn't in line to inherit the main house.
Now that Hiashi valued Hinata... if Naruto wanted to marry her in the future, it would be much harder than before.
But what did that have to do with him?
Uncut jade does not become a gem; without experiencing hardship, how can one see the rainbow?
He believed Naruto could definitely succeed.
Cheering for Naruto in his heart, Hikari replied solemnly, "Hiashi-dono, rest assured. On this trip, I will ensure Hinata grows."
---
"According to intel, there are fifty-six bandits inside. Among them, three rogue shinobi serve as leaders. About forty are adult men. The rest are children born from women they abducted."
Hikari introduced the mission calmly.
This was one of the classic assignments he selected from Konoha's various bandit-suppression missions.
Bandits remained bandits and ruled the mountains precisely because of their cruelty and their system.
They didn't produce anything—they stole resources from surrounding villages. The region wasn't wealthy, and they rarely robbed merchant convoys, so no one paid shinobi to get rid of them.
Shinobi worked for pay. Those who acted purely out of righteous ideals weren't nonexistent... but they were exceedingly rare.
And because of that, this group of mountain bandits had lasted for decades.
"Hikari-senpai, what's our mission?" Naruto stared at the mountain stronghold in the distance, a trace of reluctance in his eyes.
"Kill everyone here. Now listen to my orders: Naruto, use your Shadow Clones to surround the stronghold. Don't let a single bandit escape. Understand—these bandits have been plundering the villagers down the mountain. What we're doing is liberating those people. Got it?"
To ensure Hinata could strike without hesitation, Hikari made sure everyone was mentally prepared.
Shinobi were still human—especially people like Hinata and Naruto who possessed strong senses of justice. Doing something "righteous" was easier to accept than simply treating it as a mission.
"Yes, I understand!"
Naruto's eyes firmed. His reluctance came from watching life fade away. It was his compassion for life. But those bandits—by some definitions—they had already lost the right to be called human.
"Hinata, you're the main attacker. Sasuke will assist you. Any objections?"
The main attacker would kill the most people.
That made Hinata hesitate.
She had never killed anyone before.
Watching her reaction, Sasuke's eyes flashed with mockery.
'So that's the Hyūga clan's princess—too pampered to kill even bandits!'
"What's wrong? Too scared to act?" Seeing Hinata hesitate, Hikari's expression chilled—his cold gaze weighed down on her like unseen pressure. "Will you go, or not?"
This push finally prompted Hinata to respond.
"I'll go!"
With that, she dashed straight toward the stronghold.
As for why she didn't use tactics like a stealth assault—it was naturally because of her Byakugan.
With its insight, Hinata could see every bandit. The most merciful thing she could do was kill them without pain.
"I'm going too."
Sasuke said briefly, then followed.
For him, these weaklings weren't worth his effort.
Only the strong were worth challenging—worth killing. Weaklings, even if evil, didn't spark his desire to act.
Unless Hikari gave a direct order.
Naruto didn't waste words. He formed the Shadow Clone Technique, and dozens of Narutos spread out to prevent escapes.
Soon, Sasuke caught up with Hinata at the stronghold.
He watched firsthand as she silently approached a sentry, struck his back with her right hand, and used Gentle Fist to shatter his heart. The bandit died without making a sound, his soul departing for the underworld.
One kill, then a second one.
Such open killing quickly drew the bandits' attention.
"Get that little girl!"
After assessing the scene, one of the leading bandits noted that Sasuke was merely observing without attacking. Not wanting to provoke him, the leader quickly ordered his underlings to attack Hinata.
In an instant, blades, shovels, sickles—various crude weapons swung toward her.
"Gentle Fist — Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!"
At first, Hinata was still sensitive at heart—but after killing a few, especially when she saw a group of bandits charging her, anger suddenly flared inside. Then she unleashed her Gentle Fist.
How could these bandits possibly match a shinobi's speed? With Hinata's movements, the bandits fell to the ground one by one, their expressions peaceful, with no obvious wounds on their bodies.
"Ninjutsu! It must be ninjutsu!"
"So what if she's a shinobi? Kill her!"
Their muttering couldn't stop Hinata. At this moment, she seemed like a white phantom—a death god harvesting life. Everywhere she moved, bodies dropped.
'Meaningless mercy.'
Sasuke could clearly see her techniques. To him, these people were just mission targets.
If he acted, a single Chidori Sharp Spear would finish them.
The way Hinata killed—making their deaths painless—seemed foolish to him. It wasted more chakra and stamina. On a real battlefield, that could be fatal.