He backflipped, weaving hand seals mid-air. Lightning surged around his arm.
"Raiton: Thunder Dagger!"
A compact bolt of electricity shaped like a blade shimmered in his grasp. He lunged, driving it toward Daizo's throat.
Daizo ducked under the thrust, slamming his knife hilt into the man's ribs, and used the recoil to pivot and slice at the enemy's knee.
The leader snarled and activated his own defensive jutsu: Earth Vein Skin, a temporary hardening of the lower body that dulled Daizo's cut.
"You're not the only one with tricks," he spat.
Their weapons clashed again and again—metal screeched, fists bruised flesh, the forest trembled with their violence.
Meanwhile – Caravan Rearguard
Back on the road, the absence of Daizo gave the bandits their opening.
A dozen low-level thugs emerged from the forest edges, yelling war cries and waving crude swords, spears, and smoke bombs. Their aim wasn't elegant—it was fast and chaotic.
Neji, still in disguise, remained near the rear wagon.
The guards rallied quickly. Five combat-trained guards held a perimeter around Yugo, who—despite being just twenty-one—stood unshaken.
He raised his voice calmly. "Defend the goods. Use the wagons as barriers. Force them into chokepoints."
Even in chaos, he was calculating angles.
"You—Shin!" one of the guards barked. "Help with loading. Get the valuables away!"
"Yes, sir!" Neji shouted, darting behind a cart.
But as he crouched low, he activated Byakugan, hidden beneath the plain henge. Veins swelled at his temples.
Eight bandits at front. Three flanking from behind the far slope. One archer in the trees.
Neji's mind sharpened.
His job wasn't to expose himself—not yet. But he could tilt the odds.
He sprinted to the rear cart, grabbed a barrel, and "accidentally" tipped it over, blocking a rear slope path just as a flanking bandit slid down.
The attacker tripped with a shout and was struck down by a guard moments later.
No one noticed the boy's strategic act.
Forest – Fight Escalates
Back in the dense thicket, Daizo's stamina was flagging.
The Bandit Leader's Thunder Dagger had sliced shallow across his ribs. His trench knives were dulled, and he bled from both forearms.
"Running out of steam?" the bandit taunted.
Daizo spat. "You first."
Then he surged forward with everything he had.
He performed a hand seal with one hand—"Taijutsu: Storm Rush Step!"
His feet blurred in a chakra-powered dash, and he appeared behind the bandit like a specter. He drove a knee into the man's spine, then rolled forward and slashed a deep gash across the man's back as he howled.
The Bandit Leader twisted and punched lightning-coated fists at Daizo's side. Bones cracked. Daizo staggered but didn't fall.
They collapsed into each other again, wrestling in blood and grit, hands tearing at weapons and pouches.
Then Daizo made a risky gamble.
He drew a smoke bomb, slammed it at their feet, and performed one final technique.
"Fūton: Crescent Cutter!"
A curved blade of wind burst out from his knife's swing—close range, devastating.
The bandit leader barely raised his guard. The wind sliced through his chakra coat, shredding armor and lacerating both his forearms and abdomen.
He collapsed backward with a roar, blood painting the grass.
Daizo fell to a knee.
Back at the Caravan – Yugo Takes Command
Despite the bandits' numbers, the guards—five against a dozen—held fast. They weren't elite, but they were experienced, and Yugo's calm leadership kept morale steady.
"Cut the wheel ropes on wagon six!" Yugo ordered. "Let it roll and create cover!"
One worker obeyed, slashing the ropes. The wagon tilted and rolled down the slope, scattering two incoming attackers.
But then one of the guards fell—stabbed from behind.
Neji watched, conflicted. If this continued, they would start to lose people.
Then the archer fired—straight at Yugo.
No one saw it.
No one but Neji.
Time slowed.
Do I risk exposure?
Then he moved.
In one blurred instant, he grabbed a plank from the broken barrel and spun it up in the perfect deflection arc—CRACK!
The arrow thudded into wood inches from Yugo's chest.
Forest – Aftermath
The Bandit Leader lay bleeding, unable to move, glaring at Daizo.
"You... were supposed to be old and tired."
Daizo leaned on his blade. "I am. Doesn't mean I won't kill you."
But he didn't.
Instead, he bound the man with chakra wire, left him trussed to a tree, and radioed for backup using an encoded hawk scroll.
When he returned to the convoy, bruised and bloodied, he found most of the bodies cleared, and Yugo debriefing the guards with quiet precision.
Neji had already vanished back into anonymity.
But Yugo's eyes followed the boy's back.
Nightfall – Post-Battle Fires
The caravan settled beside a stream for the night. Smoke from the cookfires curled lazily into the sky.
Daizo sat beside Neji—still "Shin."
"You handled yourself back there," Daizo said gruffly.