Aftermath

Leaving the three Konoha genin laying on the ground paralyzed, Chino calmly proceeded to the position of the bandit hideout

'Hmm . . . Like Aion's info said, this spot is quite good.' Chino evaluated.

Rather than an hideout, in would be more accurate to call it a hidden stronghold. It was hidden in a mountainous forest and used both a big alcove as well as the natural cave systems that went through the surrounding mountains to form an impregnable hidden stronghold.

'This would definitely be a nice spot for a secret base.' Chino considered.

'I'll just clean out the bandits for the mission and start the base building process so that Mugetsu forces can move in.' She decided.

'That way, even if the Daimyo foolishly decides to not join up with the program, we'll still have a good foothold in this country.'

With all considerations made, all Chino had to do, was wait until all members of the bandit group currently out returned, before she could annihilate them all in one fell swoop. First though, a few preparations had to be made.

Using a few Uzumaki Barrier Tags placed hiddenly in every single possible exit of the stronghold, other than the main entrance would ensure that when the assault started, no bandit would escape. All Chino had to do was give the mental command from afar to activate all of the sealing barriers.

There were no surprises and no meaningful resistance as Chino wiped out all of the bandits in a tsunami of blood. With that done, she now prepared for the remodeling of the stronghold into a base within Mugetsu standards.

Taking out a special storage scroll, Chino man a few hand seals.

'Summoning Jutsu'

And so, 50 automatons appeared in a cloud of smoke. Chino gave them their orders through her Forearm Pad and just left them to their devices.

After being activated, the automatons were now a part of Aion's network so she would take it from there onwards.

As for Chino, she calmly made her way back to the Daimyo's castle to report her resounding success, on the way she spotted the three Konoha genin, still paralyzed and being bothered a few small animals that seemed very amused with their current state.

As soon as she arrived, the animals ran away and Chino just created a small blood dragon to carry all of the, back with her.

"To be honest, I thought you'd have gotten out of it by now!" She commented, making the trio scowl.

"Guess I overestimated you all, eh?" She continued to mock, just making their scowls even deeper.

"Where are we going?" Neji asked.

"Back to Daimyo's castle." Chino answered.

"The castle? Why?" Tenten asked.

"To announce the completion of the job of course." Chino replied.

"You've already taken care of all of the bandits!?" Lee exclaimed.

"Yup! No survivors either!" Chino said in a bright voice that contrasted with the gruesomeness of her statement.

"What are you planning to do with us?" Temari demanded.

"Don't worry! I'll just give you three back to your employers so that they can ship y'all back to your village, your dear Konoha." Chino replied after which the trio just shut up. Their shame was already enough to drown them.

It was quite the humiliating spectacle when Chino paraded the three genin across the streets of the capital as she made her way to the Daimyo's palace.

After being granted an audience, the official that was the main supporter of the anti Mugetsu faction int the Daimyo's court immediately jumped out of line to demand an explanation.

"How dare you attack our fellows from Konoha instead of those vile bandits! I demand and explanation!" He screamed.

Chino let out a bit of killing intent, nearly causing the official to wet his pants.

"You have no qualifications to make demands." Chino chillingly said.

"But, I shall still explain the situation to Daimyo-sama of course." She continued.

"Mm. Very well Chiryu-san, please explain." The Daimyo courteously requested.

"First of all, I'd like to report the success of my task." Chino started.

"You mean . . ." The Daimyo started.

"All of the bandits that ravaged this country are not dead." Chino declared.

"As for these three, they attacked me as I was performing my duties." She continued and then turned to the antagonistic official.

"I brought them here so you can have them sent back to their village, or you can ask Konoha to pick them up, I don't really care." Chino said.

Once again directing her speech to the Daimyo, she left her last words before vanishing under everyone's watch.

"Mugetsu awaits for your positive response Daimyo-sama."

And thus, things were finished for Chino in the small country. A while later, the three genin were picked up by their sensei Might Guy who had to apologize for their failure.

The incident made them all feel quite incompetent and weak. Lee joined his sensei for more hard training while Neji returned to the Hyuga compound to get his, only Tenten was left behind.

'Shiki-san . . . That woman said he had beaten her before, quite easily too I think. I wonder If he would be willing to train me.' She considered.

The very next day, she had made her decision and elected to find Shiki where he usually trained with Hinata, Naruto and the rest of his prospective students.

Regretfully, Shiki was currently enjoying his time, flirting around with the beauties of Suna while Naruto and Sasuke were on a mission as such, the only individuals in the training field were Hinata and Hanabi, the two Hyuga sisters were training as Shiki had taught them when the sensed the approaching Temari.

Hanabi just bowed slightly in silence while Hinata greeted the new arrival.

"Tenten-san. What brings you here?" She asked.

"Umh, hey. I was looking for Shiki-san." Tenten replied, making Hanabi's eyes narrow with suspicion.

"What for?" The younger Hyuga asked.

"I wanted to ask him something . . ." Tenten said.

"Well, he said he would come and check on our progress tomorrow morning so why don't you come then?" Hinata suggested.

"Thanks, I think I'll do that. See you both tomorrow." Tenten said her goodbyes.

"Nee-sama! You need to be more proactive or you'll never be able to get together with Shiki-nii-sama!" Hanabi declared.

"What are saying Hanabi!?" Hinata shouted, flustered by her sister's words.

"I meant that Shiki-nii-sama is very popular so Nee-sama need to take the initiative."

And so, the two sisters started arguing about Hinata's romantic affairs.

"You say that Hanabi but I know you like him too!" Hinata accused.

"So what?" Hanabi countered with a blush.

"I'm just waiting until I'm a bit older. I'm sure nii-sama will enjoy having us two sisters one on each arm!" She fantasized.

"Hanabi!" Hinata admonished.

"Hmph! I know nee-sama has though about it too!" Hanabi insisted.

The discussion ended up devolving into a more aggressive spar than usual and by the time it was over, the two very embarrassed, tired and slightly injured Hyuga sisters finally returned home.

Back onto the matter of Team 3's clash with Mugetsu, it did provoke some waves and made a few people worried for a few reasons.

First of all, seeing that a traitor to the village might actually be the boss or at the very least, a high ranking member of a powerful organization with many ties to the criminal underworld and worldwide notoriety.

It both made him much harder to capture and/or eliminate and it could also reflect badly of the village's reputation.

Speaking of which, the deplorable showing that Team 3 had on their mission drew a lot of dissatisfaction. Not only did they fail to do what they were meant to, they were also easily restrained by their opponent after initiating a pointless conflict.

Trailing the suspect or informing a higher ranked shinobi would have been a much wiser decision but, in trying to confront the so called Chiryu, they not only alerted the enemy, but also drew mud across Konoha's face by being paraded around the capital while bound.

Might Guy of course, defended his students and, in the end, no action other than the standard penalty of a failed mission was forced upon them. Mostly thanks to Tsunade's efforts and a few of the jonin who had good relations with Guy speaking out.

Still, this only made the three genin hunger for strength even more, they wanted to reach a level where such a thing would no longer happen.

The Hyuga clan leader, much to the dissatisfaction of some of the clan's elders, took Neji under his wing and started to teach him the more secret techniques of the Hyuga clan.

Rock Lee started an even more harsh and demanding training with his sensei Might Guy.

As for Tenten, she only grew more determined to have Shiki teach her. She knew that all of his students were the most powerful members of the younger generation after all. Hinata, Naruto and Sasuke who were the first to be promoted to chunin.

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P.a.t.r.e.o.n is officially up!

The link is: https://www.p.a.t.r.e.o.n.com/lusoba without the extra dots of course.

You'll get to read up to FOUR week ahead, a full month, but I'll still post here.

There's also my other novel Archon of DanMachi, do check it out!

I would greatly appreciate any support since this is going to be my breadwinner.