Chapitre 107: CH_4.7 (107)
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The link is also in the synopsis
———
.
Takuma sat at his desk, his foot tapping an impatient rhythm on the floor as he stared at Kano's office. After hyping himself about it for a bit, he went and knocked on the open office door.
Kano hummed without looking up from the documents.
"It's about the Hirano case," said Takuma.
Kano heaved a deep sigh of subdued frustration. Takuma understood where that was coming from. The Hirano murder case should've been the responsibility of the Department of Homicide. It wasn't like the Department of Organized Crime didn't see murders; on the contrary, fifty percent of all deaths were directly caused by or related to organized crime. But there were no signs that the Hirano murder case was related to organized crime. The only reason the case had been forwarded to Organized Crime was that Homicide was swamped with other cases. The Hidden Leaf village was the hub of shinobi— and shinobi-on-shinobi crimes were unsurprisingly high for various reasons.
"I believe I have a solid lead to solving the case," said Takuma.
Kano looked up. "What is it?"
Takuma placed the photograph of Hirano's damaged door and lock on the table. "After checking after the boyfriend, I went back to the house to get some more photos. As you can see, someone tried to force it open, which leads me to believe that Hirano didn't let her killer in willingly. We found blood and scratched skin under Hirano's nail, meaning she didn't sleep through it all, leading me to believe there was an audible struggle. Even if we somehow assume that Hirano didn't make a peep, just forcing the door should've made enough noise.
And while I was there, I recalled how Hirano's neighbor was the one to give us the boyfriend tip… and ma'am, the walls are thin. I put my ear to the door and could faintly hear footsteps; a struggle would've been clearer," and he had taken his enhanced hearing into account.
Kano leaned into her chair. Takuma had her attention.
"I'm assuming this has something to do with the neighbor?" she asked.
Takuma nodded. "She's a junkie, ma'am. I questioned her, and the signs of withdrawal were clear as day. It seems she hasn't had a fix of whatever she's hooked to." He gave her a description of what he saw.
"And? Are you saying she killed Hirano for money?" Kano didn't sound satisfied.
Takuma shook his head. He hesitated before speaking out his thoughts, "Ma'am… I believe it was one of the enforcers."
Kano's eyes sharpened at the words. She reached for her aviators on her desk and fiddled with the shades for a moment. "And how would you know about the enforcers, Officer Takuma?" she asked.
"… I live right next to the eastern slums, ma'am," said Takuma. "Every third person in my neighborhood is hooked onto something, and most of them can barely afford their… hobbies." He looked Kano in the eye. "Enforcers are akin to regular guests in where I live… I'm well aware of what they are."
It was true. Takuma's residence wasn't in a great place. People lived miserable lives, and drugs were their way to cope with it. But due to the nature of drugs, people tend to indulge beyond their means— and that's where enforcers came in.
When people weren't able to pay up, enforcers were sent to collect debts. Enforcers were symbols of fear, lingering in the corner of people's minds, reminding them of the consequences— and most of the time, that worked. Fear was a great deterrent. People paid up by any means possible. However, there were times when fear didn't work, and people slipped up. That's when enforcers did their job— after all, fear needed to be built.
They threatened, confiscated property… and in some cases, they even killed.
Takuma's knowledge about enforcers didn't end there. Enomoto and Ryuu had their enforcers as well. Enomoto used his enforcers to threaten retailers like Ryuu if they weren't able to pay up for their purchase— while Ryuu used his enforcers against dealers like Takuma and lent them to the dealers to deal with problematic customers for dealers.
Because Takuma didn't reveal his true identity, Ryuu refused to sell to him on credit. Takuma didn't need enforcers because of how he had developed his clientele, his business practices that revolved around customer satisfaction, and because his bottom line was to pay up Sango's bills and not turn maximum profit— he didn't have many problems cutting people off if they refused to do business upfront.
And if someday he needed an enforcer… Takuma preferred to deal with his customers on his own.
"It may be a reach, but I think there's a chance that an enforcer might have mistaken the target," said Takuma. "However, I think we might be able to confirm if we bring in the neighbor for questioning. I'm sure she must've seen something." Takuma didn't push the questioning to be safe because he didn't have solid proof to put behind his conjecture.
Kano stayed silent, leaving Takuma standing without an answer, and with every second, Takuma thought if he had indeed overreached.
"Alright, bring her in; I'll interrogate her." Kano sighed, "It's not like we have any other leads to follow."
Murder cases went two ways. They were either easily solved, or cases died due to the lack of eye-witness to identify the murderer or a lack of clear proof tying someone to the murder. As long as the police had an eye witness, motive, and some evidence— suspects usually broke down during interrogation and confessed to the crimes. But if there was a lack of leads, it became harder with each passing day to nail down the guilty party.
Every cold case was a detriment to the department.
"Yes, ma'am!" Takuma clenched his fist, confidence filling him.
———
.
"You really went ahead with that lock thing, didn't you?" Arisu glanced at Takuma as they stood in the viewing area of the interrogation room.
Takuma watched Kano and Hirano's neighbor in the interrogation room. The woman looked as bad as before, if not worse. It was clear that she hadn't been getting her fix and that she was too deep beforehand for the withdrawal period to pass quickly on its own without help. With her condition, bringing her wasn't difficult. Takuma threatened her a little bit with some drug-related criminal charges, and she had no choice but to comply.
"She's in a bad condition," Arisu frowned. "Perhaps she's the one who killed Hirano for the money and belongings."
"She wouldn't be like this if she were the culprit," Takuma said. Let's say the money and valuables stolen from Hirano's house were used to pay off the debt or a part of it; the dealers wouldn't let the woman go and supply her with some more drugs, and with how the woman was suffering, she would take the drugs, and the cycle would continue. "Whatever it is, I'm sure if Kano is as good as you said, we will have the truth soon."
"Of course, she will!" Arisu harrumphed.
Takuma already had the name of the enforcer. For obvious reasons, he couldn't reveal it due to the source of it. Takuma as Tobi had kept his identity hidden, but that didn't mean he was invisible. Dealers had some level of interaction and awareness of each other, and Takuma was no different. He knew the other dealers, even those who sold different drugs than him. Territory, corners, and customers were an essential part of the drug space, and some 'etiquette' needed to be followed to maintain peace among wholesalers, retailers, and dealers. No one wanted conflict to arise, especially not the people on the bottom rung, most of them who were barely earning a living.
Especially not when conflict would attract the Police Force's attention to them. Unlike many drug organizations that had law enforcement in their pocket, the ones in Hidden Leaf Village operated without any assistance. The Leaf Military Police Force was the biggest enemy.
Takuma had prod around, and the answer had come about. Of course, no one could be sure, and even Takuma didn't have any proof, but the probability of him being right was high.
It was as Arisu said. Kano didn't take much time to get the truth.
"You were right," said Kano as she entered the viewing area. "She was there when the attack happened, she even got a glance of the killer and said she can identify him." Kano looked at Takuma. "It seems you were right. It was most probably an enforcer— which we can confirm after we get an identification— and he indeed mistook the target," she sighed, "to think it'd be so idiotic as mistaking the target."
As it turned out, Hirano's neighbor was in serious debt due to drugs and couldn't pay. When she couldn't get drugs from one dealer, she approached another, offered her body to extend a line of credit and surprisingly did it multiple times— a strawberry, as they called them in the business—the debt continued to pile up. It seemed the people got fed up with her and decided to get rid of her due to her actions.
A hit was probably issued.
Takuma could see where things had gone wrong. He didn't know where any of his clients lived. He knew their general area of residency, but their exact addresses were unknown to him. He never visited their home as transactions happened elsewhere, so he didn't care. Takuma believed that somewhere along the line, the home address had been miscommunicated. Moreover, there were no nameplates in front of the houses— only house numbers. The killer had gone into the wrong house, not asked any questions as it was a hit, and done the deed without listening to a word Hirano might have said.
"As soon as we identify him, bring him in," Kano said.
""Yes, ma'am!""
———
.
"The target is Nakai Gorou," said Arisu, holding a photograph in front of the three people. One of them was Takuma, and the other two were beat officers who were inducted alongside Takuma but weren't given the same training as him. "He's a former genin, left the system three years ago, and since then has been known to be part of the Haru Group, working as an enforcer for them."
Genin were signed to a whopping ten-year contract after they graduated from the academy. Only after that ten years could they leave the shinobi system to pursue other occupations. Every genin was subjected to that contract, and if they were trained after the academy in some technical field, as in iryojutsu and fuinjutsu, that contract was extended. When a shinobi was promoted to chunin, that contract was extended even further, and the same for jonin.
Every year, genin left the shinobi system throughout the nation. Some went to be employed by private organizations or whoever could pay them— and the market existed as these ex-shinobi were cheaper, but they were also less skillful. Others switched their occupation altogether and did something unrelated to the shinobi world.
There were also people who ended up joining illegal organizations who wanted shinobi in their ranks to boost their strength and standing. Especially in the Leaf Village, every criminal organization worth its salt had ex-shinobi (or even current shinobi) in their ranks so they could survive.
Nakai Gorou was one of those ex-shinobi and was employed by the Haru group and was involved in many illegal activities. Drug peddling being one of those activities.
"He comes to the casino every Wednesday," Arisu pointed at the building in the distance. "He's in there right now, and according to the intel, he will be out in some time. When he gets out, we will bag him. Officer Takuma and I will take charge." She turned to the beat officers. "While you two will provide backup…. I don't believe there will be much of a problem with our numbers, but let's be careful nevertheless."
After the briefing was done, Arisu turned to Takuma, who was checking his gear.
"Nervous?" she asked.
"Hmm? Not really," Takuma shrugged. "Well… I'm worried about civilians getting involved."
Arisu narrowed her eyes. She thought he would be nervous about a potential combat situation, but from the looks of it, he looked pretty relaxed. She wondered if he was experienced— and then recalled the rumors about the Land of Frost mission, which had been working its way around the department. She didn't know the details, but from what she had heard, there was a clash. Perhaps that's what gave Takuma his confidence.
"Hey—"
Arisu trailed off when she noticed Nakai Gorou exiting the casino.
"Get ready, let's finish this quickly," she said.
Takuma nodded, his eyes following Gorou like a hunter stalking his prey.
.
———
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The link is in the synopsis!
Chapitre 108: CH_4.8 (108)
Want to read ahead of schedule? Head over to Patreón @
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The link is also in the synopsis
———
.
"Nakai Gorou."
Gorou had an average height but had a build so wiry that it looked like he hadn't eaten in weeks. Upon hearing his name called, he looked back at Arisu standing a few feet away from him. His eyes went to the Leaf Military Police Force's red armband around Arisu; his face turned displeased. Standing behind Arisu was one of the beat officers, giving Gorou a stink eye.
Arisu caught Gorou's reaction and was prepared if he ran away, but she didn't make any hasty movements.
"… How may I help, officer?" Gorou's tone didn't hide his disregard.
"We'd like you to come with us for a talk," said Arisu.
Gorou's eyes narrowed. "May I ask what this chat is about?" he asked.
"No, you may not," replied Arisu.
"Then let's do it some other day, officer; I'm busy today," Gorou turned to walk away.
"I'm afraid you don't have a choice," said Arisu as the sound of metal clinked from the heavy handcuffs with thick bracers in her hands. "You're under arrest."
Gorou paused and turned his neck to eye the handcuffs in Arisu's hands. He then continued walking without sparing another look at the two officers. And before Arisu could say anything, Gorou unclenched his fist for a ping-pong ball-sized smoke bomb to drop on the ground, and before anyone could react, a wall of smoke rushed out, blocking out the part of the street.
A wave of panic immediately hit the area and the screams of civilians as they ran away from the smoke.
Arisu took out her walkie-talkie from her person. "We got a rabbit!" she yelled.
She ran through the smoke and barely spotted Gorou jumping over the wall. She kicked the pavement and shot forward toward Gorou, who immediately swerved into the narrow alleyways away from the main street.
Arisu clicked her tongue and followed him in. This part of town was crowded with old planning codes and poor construction, making buildings crowded, with lots of narrow alleyways and tight streets. Every corner was a chance for Gorou to disappear and get away. It was a chase where Arisu had to be dot on his tail, as a moment of delay could potentially allow Gorou to escape.
Gorou took a sharp turn to the right; Arisu followed, retrieved shuriken from her bad, and the moment she turned right, a volley of shuriken cut through the air for Gorou— but before the shuriken could bite into Gorou, he slid down on the ground. The shuriken flew over him and dug into the stone wall. Gorou used his momentum to stand up and ran into another corner without missing a beat.
Arisu gritted her teeth and pushed harder, but the moment she turned the corner, there was a poof of smoke, and two Gorou split up and dashed into opposite corners. Arisu faltered. In the rush, she missed the chance to check the shadows on the clone.
'Which one is he?!' Arisu's mind turned furiously.
At that moment, the walkie-talkie on her belt crackled to life,
"Your right. Over."
Arisu didn't spare a glance to the left and charged into the right corner, and Takuma was correct as she could see Gorou's shadow.
Gorou looked back with a smug smirk on his face which drained and turned into a frown the moment he saw Arisu on his tail. He clicked his tongue, jumped into the air, and started climbing the wall.
"He's coming towards you!" Arisu yelled into the walkie-talkie.
"I see him. Over."
Gorou climbed to the short rooftop and looked around in a hurry to chart a path to follow and escape. He turned his head only for a kunai to enter his sight. He immediately moved his body away, and if it were only that, it would've been fine, but then Gorou noticed a burning tag fluttering on the kunai's tail.
"Shit!"
Gorou immediately jumped away, but he was a beat late, and the force from the explosion hit his back and threw him against the raised ledge of the roof. He groaned but immediately got up and saw Takuma standing two roofs away. However, he couldn't take a proper breath as another kunai lined towards him— this one lined with an explosive tag as well.
"Crazy fuck!" Gorou jumped down from the roof and landed behind Arisu and the officer with her. "Fuck you!" Gorou kicked the officer into Arisu before running away with staggered steps.
"Gah!" Arisu almost fell but steadied herself at the last moment. "You alright?" she asked the beat officer.
"Y-yeah!"
That was all the confirmation Arisu needed before she started chasing Gorou.
"He's heading towards the 'Haru' district," Takuma said through the walkie-talkie.
Arisu clicked her tongue.
Gorou was from the Haru Group, and the Haru district was an informal area in the village that was occupied (controlled) by the Haru Group. Arisu understood what Takuma meant. If Gorou entered the Haru district, they wouldn't be able to get him. Someone somewhere in the area would hide him and cover for him. Even if they tried to look for him, as long as Gorou stayed in the Haru district without doing anything stupid, it would be incredibly difficult for them to catch him.
"Try to cut him off," said Takuma.
"On it!"
Arisu sprinted faster than she ever had.
Knowing that Gorou was heading towards the Haru district, Arisu knew she had to force him into one of the main streets. It was clear that he knew the area better than all of them combined, and if they let him weave through alleyways and side streets, it'd be inevitable they'd lose him— but if she was to force him to the main street, 'controlling' Gorou would be easier.
She took out half her cache of kunai and readied herself to force Gorou out. As they approached a corner, Arisu expertly placed a kunai to Gorou's left and immediately followed it with another to make sure he didn't go in that direction. It had the intended effect, and Gorou shot to the right. Arisu kept doing that, throwing direct strikes in tries to actually get Gorou and to ensure he didn't know what she was trying to do.
It didn't take a lot for Arisu to lead Gorou to the main street, and as Arisu skidded out of the narrow alleyway, she grabbed a storage scroll in her weapons pouch that contained her Fuma shuriken. She hadn't been able to use it in the narrow space, but now in the big street, she could unleash it, and by god, she wanted to do it.
Gorou had pissed her off, and she wanted to take some of the frustration—
"Ah!"
But Arisu hadn't considered that the main street wasn't much better than the narrow alleyways. Instead, the new space problem was because of civilians crowding the place. She clicked her tongue. The Fuma shuriken was a weapon that caused brute destruction, a weapon that was a hammer rather than a scalpel. If she threw it here, she would mow down civilians along with Gorou.
She growled at Gorou, but then her eyes went further to the red wooden archway that acted as the entrance to a market— and to the so-called Haru district. A crowd of people moved in and out of the market.
There was no time to contemplate. The crowd presents another problem. Even if she gave Gorou chase into the Haru district, which she could because nothing was stopping her, the crowd would add another level of difficulty as Gorou could hide in the crowd, use them as obstacles, or worse— take hostages in desperation.
"Gorou—"
Before the rest of the sentence could exit her mouth, a blue blur shot out of a side street and thrashed into the Gorou. An exchange of momentum took place. Gorou turned into a blur, and Takuma became visible. He had shouldered Gorou, who went flying into a building beside the road.
The impact cracked the wall— and just when Gorou's feet touched the ground as he slid down, Takuma was already beside him. He grabbed Gorou's face from the front and slammed the back of his head into the wall repeatedly before bending him down to place a devastating knee strike into his liver.
Takuma let go of Gorou, who fell down at Takuma's feet.
As one would expect, there was a large commotion due to the sudden outbreak. People who lived in the Hidden Leaf village had become desensitized to shinobi and the occasional violence that came with living in a village full of mercenaries. One would expect people to get as far as possible to avoid the fighting, but instead, they began gathering around Takuma and Gorou, trying to get a look at what was happening.
Arisu made her way through the viewing crowd to reach the front, where Takuma had already switched from chase-and-apprehend mode to crowd-control mode. He kept people away from Gorou, who was completely knocked out on the ground without a hint of consciousness.
"You really are vicious, aren't you?" Arisu said. He had bitten off her ear while fighting during the tournament, and the way he handled Gorou was a bit too heavy-handed.
"My experience tells me that an overwhelming force is often the best way to diffuse situations and end fights," Takuma said as he tied Gorou up and put his unconscious body over the shoulder. "Let's get going. I'm tired because of all the running around."
.
———
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The link is in the synopsis!
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
200+ Classement
Power Stone 
109 Power
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