Feng Zheng and Mieko, according to their plan, split up and headed in opposite directions, beginning to clear the remaining rooms.
Hodaka, meanwhile, stayed put, setting traps at the main room's entrance to prevent the bandits from escaping in that direction.
He created quicksand at the entrance and many stone spikes around the quicksand trap.
The second Ninja bandit was closer to Mieko's position than Feng Zheng's, so she was the first to reach him after killing six more bandits.
Despite Mieko's best efforts to be stealthy, the Ninja sensed something was amiss and had two of his subordinates prepare.
When he saw Mieko rushing towards him at extreme speed, he threw several Shuriken to disrupt her.
Seeing the Shuriken thrown at her by the enemy, Mieko thought, "Oh no, they've noticed."
Mieko cleverly dodged the Shuriken with her Sharingan, thinking, "Ugh, well, this will make it more interesting."
She quickly closed in on him. To avoid alarming others, she couldn't use destructive Fire Release Ninjutsu and could only close the distance to use Fire Release: Four Technique.
Soon, she reached the appropriate distance and unleashed her Ninjutsu.
Her right hand extended, middle and index fingers pointing at the bandit Ninja's heart, releasing a glow.
Although the bandit Ninja didn't know what Ninjutsu Mieko intended to use, her outstretched fingers warned him, and he quickly stepped back.
Mieko followed, but the Ninja hid behind one of his subordinates. Mieko inwardly roared, "Coward!"
and changed her target. She focused the heat ray on the subordinate, killing him.
However, the bandit Ninja used this opportunity to throw three Shuriken at Mieko.
Due to the close proximity, Mieko had to dodge quickly. She barely managed to evade them at the last moment.
She regained her composure and was about to continue her attack when a sword pierced the Ninja's heart from behind.
This annoyed Mieko, as Feng Zheng had stolen her kill. She said angrily, "I could have killed him myself..."
But a scream interrupted her.
Seeing his boss's heart pierced, the remaining bandit was terrified. He screamed in horror.
Mieko realized her mistake, quickly threw a kunai at the bandit, and killed him.
Feng Zheng ignored Mieko and instead watched the main room.
The battle had already created a lot of noise, attracting some attention. And this scream, even more so, caught the attention of all the bandits in the hideout.
Feng Zheng sighed and said, "You weren't stealthy enough."
Mieko snorted and replied, "Well, but that doesn't matter anymore."
She began to make Hand Seals. Feng Zheng flickered to her side and also made Hand Seals.
At the same time, they each released their Ninjutsu - Fire Dragon Technique and Wind Dragon Technique.
In the main room, the bandits were busy organizing their recently acquired loot. Some bandits heard the commotion from Mieko's side, but most paid no attention.
But soon, a scream attracted everyone's attention. The remaining three Ninja bandits were also on high alert.
One of them ordered two bandits to go in and check the situation. The two cautiously walked towards the exit in that direction.
However, just before reaching it, they suddenly felt a wave of heat.
Before they could do anything, a dragon head made of flames entered the room, engulfing them.
They immediately screamed in pain.
The Fire Dragon quickly entered the room completely. Seeing a Fire Dragon, the bandits were all stiff with fear, stunned.
The Fire Dragon began to unleash Wind Blast Technique throughout the room.
Upon seeing this, one Ninja bandit quickly made Hand Seals, slammed his hands on the ground, and a rock shield formed in front of him. Some nearby bandits quickly ran behind the shield.
The Wind Blast Technique directly hit seven bandits. The fierce winds generated by the explosion cut the throats of two bandits, killing them instantly.
However, they were much luckier than those who didn't die. For the remaining five, Wind Blades caused many small wounds on their bodies.
Because it was a combined Ninjutsu, the wind was very hot.
So, while cutting, it also caused minor burns to those bandits. When their wounds were exposed to the hot wind, the pain was excruciating.
Among those five bandits, one was even more unlucky; he didn't even close his eyes. As a result, a large amount of hot air bombarded his eyes, causing them to be burned.
So, although the Ninjutsu didn't kill them, they were scarred and in immense pain.
Even nearby bandits were cut by the hot wind.
However, they could still fight or flee. This attack caused panic among the bandits.
Three bandits quickly wanted to escape the base. They rushed to the ladder and began to climb up.
Unfortunately for them, Hodaka was standing above the exit.
Hodaka waited for the three bandits to climb the ladder, then made a few Hand Seals and used Stone Spear Technique.
Dozens of spears began to emerge from the walls around the ladder.
They pierced all three bandits on the ladder, killing them instantly. They also blocked the remaining bandits' access to the ladder.
Two bandits ran towards the area previously cleared by Feng Zheng. Sensing the bandits running in that direction, Feng Zheng made a gesture, waiting for them.
As soon as the bandits left the main room, Feng Zheng detonated the Exploding Tags he had placed there. This caused rocks from the ceiling to fall, crushing those bandits. It also blocked that exit.
Five bandits ran towards the room where Hirotada had originally been. However, as soon as they exited the main room, they fell directly into the quicksand trap.
The quicksand created by Hodaka was four meters deep and covered the entire entrance. All five bandits were trapped there, slowly sinking.
Eleven bandits hid behind the rock shield created by their leader, and eight bandits were still trying to escape in the direction of the other bandits.
However, after seeing what happened to their comrades, they stopped.
Feng Zheng took this opportunity to have the Fire Dragon unleash three Wind Blast Techniques, inflicting varying degrees of damage on all eight.
The Fire Dragon then circled once to get a clear view of the bandits hiding behind the rock shield.
The Ninja leader quickly made another rock shield.
However, tragically, Feng Zheng and Mieko had already anticipated this.
Instead of directly attacking, the Fire Dragon circled more, casting two Wind Blast Techniques to prevent them from escaping from there.
The two sides were surrounded by rock shields, and the other two sides were surrounded by Wind Blast Technique.
Only three Ninja managed to jump and move to the other side of the rock shield. The remaining bandits were trapped and suffered minor injuries.
The Fire Dragon then moved forward, engulfing all those bandits. All eight bandits caught fire, causing the Fire Dragon to dissipate at the same time.
This attack incapacitated all the bandits in the hideout, except for the three Ninja.
Two of them were rookies with no actual Ninja combat experience beyond banditry.
Only the leader had some experience; he used to be a Genin from Grass Hidden Village. He sensed that the Ninjutsu was about to dissipate and said, "Quickly, follow me."
