Chapitre 129: CH_4.29 (129)

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———

Takuma entered the headquarters after his one-week suspension with heavy eyelids. He hadn't gotten much sleep last night. The events of yesterday bore heavily on his mind. The awareness he would be at Sasuke's house five times a week was a stressful realization.

It went without saying that he preferred if things were different. But they weren't. He was stuck with visiting arguably one of the most important buildings in the Hidden Leaf village. However, after a night of thinking, Takuma realized that things weren't as bad as he initially thought. He was using his lunchtime for the lessons in the middle of the day. No one except Mikoto would be home— so Takuma wasn't worried about meeting with 'problematic' people on a regular basis. He was going to learn genjutsu and get out as soon as possible every day.

When Takuma entered the Organized Crime offices, he felt eyes fall on him. He had expected that, so he walked to his desk while staring down at anyone staring at him. Most of them turned their eyes away when Takuma maintained eye contact for more than a moment, some were frowning at him, but most surprisingly, a few even gave him appreciative smiles and discreet thumbs up as he passed by. One even wordlessly patted him once on his back.

He had not expected that reaction from anyone who wasn't directly involved. It seemed some people liked what he and his team had done.

"Look who decided to show up."

Takuma had just dumped his bag on his desk when he heard the voice. He turned back to see Arisu before him, her arms crossed and a faint smile on her face. He had been completely cut from the department in his suspension, so it had been a week since he had seen her.

"How are you?" she asked.

"Ready to get back to work," he answered. "What about you? How's the wrap-up going?" One week was more than enough to arrest multiple people, have multiple interrogation sessions, get confessions, and possess ample information to implicate more people. He was sure by this point; they had already finished the lion's share of their job and had passed the work to the state prosecutors who would press charges and present the cases in court.

"Still going at it. It has been a lot of work. Everyone had to pool their hands together to process everyone we bought in," said Arisu. It was crucial that they [department] moved quickly to ensure that the suspects they brought in didn't have enough time to get their stories straight, threaten people, and do things that might make their jobs difficult.

"Please tell me it's at least as good as we thought it would be," asked Takuma.

"It's much better," she said. "Big-wigs are very happy about it. A lot of good press."

"Yeah, I saw the articles. No wonder I got some smiles today," Takuma looked around the office.

"You know, some people came asking me if you had another big scoop planned… they would like to help, as they put it," said Arisu. "I mean, come on, big things like this don't come every day…" Takuma was smiling. "... do they? Do you have something planned?" she asked, stepping closer to him.

"I might have something. Why, you interested?" he asked.

Arisu was interrupted before she could speak.

"Genin Takuma. In my office, please," Kano entered the office and ordered as she passed by their desks.

Takuma took out a folder from his bag and turned to Arisu. "Well, wish me luck." Arisu had her mouth agape; her eyes stuck to the folder in Takuma's hand as he walked away from her.

Takuma entered the office as Kano was setting her things down. He waited patiently by her desk, not speaking a word until she addressed him. He observed her, trying to check her body language, but the woman gave nothing away.

"Sending Chunin Oishi to assist in the investigation. Trying to be helpful, Genin Takuma?" she said.

Takuma didn't apologize. If he did so, he would be admitting that he was at fault. He had made a suggestion in his report, which the higher-ups had deemed logical enough to follow— and in return, they had got a competent interrogator to consult and oversee the process. He wasn't at fault. In fact, he was the benefactor.

"I called in a favor for the sake of the case, ma'am," he replied.

"Yes, I can see that," she replied, sitting down behind her desk.

From the looks of it, she wasn't mad at him, but she wasn't pleased either. Meaning he was safe. As long as he continued to bring in the results, Takuma was sure their relationship as boss and subordinate would survive just fine. After all, Takuma wasn't really interested in making friends with anyone with 'Uchiha' in their name. That would only lead to hurt.

"What now, Takuma? Now that you're back," she asked.

"Work as usual, ma'am," Takuma said before taking a page from the folder. "This is my request to not be disturbed during my lunchtime. I would be out for an hour every day without fail and wouldn't be available through any means of contact except for the most concerning emergencies."

Kano received the request letter. "And why is that?"

"I'd be studying under Lady Uchiha at her house every day during my lunchtime," said Takuma.

"Lady Uchiha?" asked Kano as she read the letter.

"Jonin Uchiha Mikoto," answered Takuma.

Kano stilled for a moment before looking up from the letter. "Pardon?"

"I was given the chance to study genjutsu by Jonin Mikoto. And she's only free during my lunchtime. This is a heads-up that I'd be absent during that time period, and in case my presence is truly needed, you can fetch me from there," said Takuma. He knew no one would come looking for him at that house unless it was truly important. They wouldn't want to offend Mikoto; her status as a jonin was enough to keep most away. "You can confirm it from Chunin Setsuna. He'd be able to corroborate my claim."

He didn't need permission from Kano as his lunchtime was his lunchtime. He was off-duty. But he understood that sometimes he might be needed, so this was his way of telling Kano where to find him.

"… I will do so," she muttered. Kano looked up at him. "Any other surprises you want to get out of your way before I let you return to work?"

"That depends on what surprises you, ma'am." Takuma placed the folder on her desk.

"What is this?" she asked.

"A proposition," he said. "During the week I was at home, I thought a lot about the Maiko Triad case. I believe the time I worked on the case was the most productive I have been. Due to how I handled it, I had to work alone, with help coming in the last stages. All that time spent alone forced me to learn faster and more than I had ever done in my life. I felt good about myself during that time— I was good at what I was doing," those feelings were partially true; Takuma did feel great when his plans slowly came together; he was proud of what he had accomplished. "I would like to on narcotics cases, ma'am. I live in a place with a big drug trouble. I see what they do to people who abuse them. I have seen civilians a little older than me running their lives. I want to stop that. I want to return to the community. What you have in your hand is a proposal to create a team that targets reducing the presence of drugs in the Hidden Leaf village. I want to go after every major and minor player that operates within our jurisdiction in hopes that one day our village would be narcotics free. No more lives lost due to the terrible substances which harm our loved ones, our youth, our shinobi."

If Takuma wanted to accomplish what he had planned with Enomoto, he needed control over the cases he worked on, so he could target whatever information Enomoto provided. If he had that freedom and hopefully a team behind him, the most difficult part of the challenge would already be solved.

Of course, Takuma knew things wouldn't be so easy.

"You realize you didn't pull the shutter on the Maiko Triad," Kano leaned forward in her chair. "We only got our hands on their low-level and some middle-level members. They're still very much running strong. This would be appropriate," she pointed at his proposal, "if you had put an end to them. You're overestimating your accomplishments."

Takuma spoke, "Ma'am, the truth right now is that the Maiko Triad isn't going to wage a territorial war. Due to the fact we caught so many of them, they're forced to take a step back and pull back their activities until the wind blows over. I did all that in less than two months while also handling other cases under you. Imagine what I can do much more if I can dedicate myself to one target— imagine what we could do if I had a team with me. We don't have a dedicated narcotics team within our department, I want to create a team specializing in such cases for maximum efficiency and impact. It's a well-known fact that drug money bankrolls so many illegal operations in and outside the village. Money makes the world go round, and if we hit them where it hurts, the effects will show everywhere else."

He could see that Kano was still skeptical. He didn't blame her, but he could help her.

"That proposal includes something akin to a proof-of-concept," Takuma pointed at the folder. "If you assign me a small team of my choice and let me work with them for a month, I will provide results that will prove the feasibility of this idea."

He opened the folder to a page and let Kano read over it. His time working under Iruka had taught him how to do paperwork. The young chunin was obsessed with proper paperwork and had forced his team to learn the appropriate way. Takuma had gone to Iruka during the week and shown him the drafts. As Takuma had expected, Iruka had torn into him about the mistakes and had him go through revisions. The final product was what Kano was reading. It was so polished that it glimmered.

"… Let's say I push this above the chain of command, and it gets accepted there," Kano spoke after reading, "what would you do if you fail to come up with results."

"If I fail, my reputation will fall to someone who got lucky once. I will lose all the momentum I have going for myself. People will be less willing to listen to me. It'll be a pretty bad setback," said Takuma.

"Then why are you smiling?"

Takuma didn't know he was smiling, but he indeed was. "Maybe because if I succeed, I shoot up in the opposite direction. High risk; high reward. And I feel confident about this, ma'am."

Kano asked Takuma to leave. When he got to his desk, Arisu jumped him.

"What happened?" she asked.

"I can't tell you," Takuma replied. She frowned, but he continued. "Until Kano gives it a green flag, it's better if I don't say anything. If it goes well, she will come to you with a choice; it's up to you if you wish to accept it."

"What's the choice about?"

Takuma looked her in the eyes and said,

"An opportunity to do something great."

Three days later, a temporary narcotics task force was formed.

Takuma was declared the leader.

———

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Chapitre 130: CH_4.30 (130)

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———

Enomoto rubbed the back of his neck as he stood in front of the door. He took a deep breath before entering the room to be greeted by the crowd gathered to watch one of the rare events in the Ring— the debut of a newcomer in the ninjutsu category. It wasn't every day when the Ring allowed one of their fighters to enter the ninjutsu category. A "regular" ninjutsu category fight was rare enough, but when a new fighter debuted in the arena, people with time, money, and influence on their hands used the fights as an excuse to socialize. He looked around the area, and as expected, he recognized everyone he laid his eyes on—old shinobi with too much time on their hands and younger ones looking to network for their benefit. Enomoto wondered how many of them had actually come to watch the fight.

It was universally known that Tsubura's sense of taste was horrible, but it seemed that even the Ring's boss knew better than to force it upon his important guests. Tasteful music filled the room at an appropriate simmer so that people could converse without shouting; gorgeous civilian men and women served alcohol and food and to entertain if the patrons desired. The décor was kept simple and spacious, with enough seating to maximize practicality and comfort without excessive gaudiness, which Tsubura was known for.

Enomoto picked up a glass from a waiter and sedately walked through the room to see who he should talk to first. There was some time before the fight, and he might as well make small talk with some people.

He listened for the conversations in groups and found the one he could slip into easily.

"I heard this Scars is quite young. How young are we talking?" said a middle-aged man Enomoto recognized from the Hidden Leaf Mining Division, the governance office which handled mining activities that came directly under the purview of the Hidden Leaf.

None in the group seemed to know the answer. Enomoto saw his chance and seamlessly stepped in.

"I believe he's younger than fifteen," said Enomoto, garnering the group's attention. "They say he was thirteen when he started, and it has been a year since he began, so fourteen would be a good guess, but the management might have fudged the numbers to put attention on his young age— thus, fifteen or less."

In truth, Takuma was twelve and a half when he began. Being that young, Tsubura had decided to keep Scars' age vague in case someone "above ground," as Tsubura put it so eloquently: "tried to bullshit my position away from me!" In truth, the whispers Tsubura had asked his team to spread were that Scars was anywhere from thirteen to fifteen as to put Scars as someone who had at least one year as shinobi under his belt and not some green-as-grass rookie who had been duped into joining the Ring.

"And who might you be?" asked the man.

Enomoto smiled and introduced himself. "Chunin Enomoto, iryo-nin from the Medical Training Division."

Enomoto saw interest rise in their eyes when they heard that he was an iryo-nin. He smiled and continued to make small talk with them as any iryo-nin would. Never had his decision to pursue iryo-jutsu when he was a new genin let him down.

"What more can you tell us about this Scars fellow?"

He took a moment to spin a tale. "Not much is known about Scars as he never joined a team," a smart move given Takuma wanted to keep him as anonymous as one could be, "but I've heard a few things about Scars…"

The group physically leaned closer to him. Many looked down on gossip, but it held a strong power over people. There were few who didn't like to hear gossip. No one wanted to miss out on something others knew; it made them feel they were involved. And when people heard something interesting, they would pass it along regardless if they knew it to be true or not in an attempt to make them seem interesting and in-the-know.

"… It has only been a year since Scars appeared in the Ring arena, and he's about to make his debut ninjutsu category," which was highly unusual; usually, it took several years of hard work to reach the stage, "and because of that, it's believed that he's from a great clan tasked with conquering the Ring as soon as possible— and from the looks of it, he's doing well."

If it were anywhere else, the charm would've been if Scars hadn't been from a clan, but in the Ring, which didn't see clan shinobi ever, a fighter from a clan held a certain charm to it. Moreover, almost everyone in the room belonged to shinobi clans or families; the story of a clan shinobi reaching Ring's pinnacle at record speed established a sense of superiority over non-clan shinobi. He was simply telling the people what they would like to hear while chuckling inwardly, knowing Takuma was as far from a clan shinobi as possible.

The false gossip had its intended effect. They continued to look interested and now were looking pleased.

"Which clan?" asked a kunoichi.

"Nara or Yamanaka," replied Enomoto. They looked confused and interested, so he continued. "There have been several complaints against Scars about his use of chakra augmentations, so it was speculated that he's close to Akimichi Tsubura…"

"The boss?"

"…Indeed. But one look at Scars will tell anyone with half a brain that the boy isn't an Akimichi. So, who else could have Tsubura overlook so many complaints but someone strongly allied with Akimichi? Thus, Nara or Yamanaka. Personally, I think it's a Yamanaka. A motivated Nara, if one exists, would turn their eyes somewhere other than the Ring."

The group laughed in response.

"It seems the fight is about to begin," Enomoto commented as everyone turned towards the arena below. "Let's get seated."

He enjoyed networking, but today, he had come to see Takuma. Now that they had deepened their 'friendship,' Enomoto was more invested in Takuma than before, not to mention every Scars victory meant a bit more money into his pocket. It was chump change, but that change did build up.

"Chunin Enomoto, would you like to engage in some friendly betting?"

Enomoto looked towards the group. It didn't happen often, but he was out-ranked by everyone in the group. He could clearly see in it in their eyes that they were trying to have some fun at his expense, who wasn't part of their group. He wanted to laugh. They were looking down at him. He felt something inside him bubble up, telling him to wipe those smirks off their faces. It wasn't a pleasant feeling because he knew he couldn't do so.

"Since you seem to think so highly of this Scars fellow, are you willing to set"

He turned to look at the arena below; there stood Takuma donning his mask. He might have been the one to recruit Takuma into the Ring and had kept a check on his performance through the year, but when it came to personally watching the fights, he hadn't seen many. Knowing the results was one thing, but knowing the fine details of how said fights progressed was another.

It wasn't wise, he thought to himself. If he lost the bet, he would be humiliated.

'I should politely refuse and say… that I do… not partake in betting. I should refuse…' But with every passing moment, the smirks felt more and more like mocking smiles.

"Of course, I'm more than willing," Enomoto smiled, keeping the smile on his face, "Let's spice things up, shall we?"

He wanted to see those smirks wiped off their faces.

———

Down in the arena, Takuma focused on his breathing with his eyes closed. Tsubura had come to see him when he was getting changed, and just the look of the blob of a man's face was enough to anger him. No matter what Masaaki said about Akimichi's greatness, he knew one of them was a spoiled piece of horribly gamy meat.

He took a deep breath and opened his eyes. The arena was bigger, and the cage was higher. There was only one ninjutsu category arena in the Ring due to the rarity of such fights. According to Tsubura, Takuma would have to wait for at least a month before he got a chance to participate in another ninjutsu category fight— and that was only if Takuma gave him more 2v1 fights, which Takuma was more than happy to give him.

Takuma resumed focus on his breathing. He needed to focus on the current fight instead of thinking about the next one.

The arena wasn't the only different thing about the ninjutsu category. Takuma looked down at the gear he was wearing. Due to the involvement of ninjutsu, the fighters were allowed a set of gear of their preference approved by the Ring. Takuma had chosen what he usually wore during the day.

In the moment, the chainmail draped over his torso felt like an unbreakable armor. He felt powerful.

"Are you ready, sir?" the fight referee asked him.

Takuma looked at the man with a strange expression hidden behind his mask. 'Sir?' But he nodded, nevertheless. He hadn't been called that before. The respect in the man's voice felt strange and foreign. The last time he had felt something similar was the gratitude from the villagers he had saved from bandits in the Land of Frost.

He shook the thought off his head and turned towards his opponent.

Viper. A tall and skeleton-like woman with a slightly hunched back and inky black hair that flowed beneath her butt. Her armor was lighter than his, which told Takuma that she was more concerned with her speed than protection. He noted down the observation for later.

But the most striking thing about her was her mask. Unlike the flat mask that most Ring fighters wore (including Takuma,) Viper wore a mask that was in the shape of a snake with a surface texture mimicking a snake's scales. It was stylized to suit her. The mask reminded him of another stylized mask he had seen before. Slash Baron, the leader of the Troupe, a famous team in the Ring, wore a stylized mask.

When a fighter won their first ninjutsu category fight, they were rewarded with a stylized mask as a sign of prestige.

If Takuma won today, he would be awarded a mask of his own.

———

The person Takuma had thought of had come to watch Takuma's first ninjutsu fight. In a private booth reserved for prestigious Ring fighters, a handful of them, all wearing stylized masks, sat to spectate the fight.

Among them was Slash Baron, sitting in the front. The other ninjutsu category fighters had left the seats around him empty. Most of them were active fighters, which meant they were genin— and the few who had been promoted to chunin, too, didn't dare sit near Slash Baron.

They could feel it. Even though they all wore stylized masks showcasing their status, the man sitting in the front was far beyond what they could handle. Their instincts as shinobi honed by numerous fights in the Ring told them that if Slash Baron wanted, he could kill all of them combined without breaking a sweat.

Which was why none of them said a thing about the woman Slash Baron had bought along with him, even though it was reserved for ninjutsu-category fighters.

"I didn't think I would be hearing about him so soon," said Slash Baron to the woman beside him. "He has progressed much faster than you anticipated."

"Faster than I anticipated? You had a different opinion?" the masked woman shot back.

Slash Baron shrugged. "I hadn't thought about him since I last saw him. I charged you to keep an eye on him for a reason."

The woman clicked her tongue.

Slash Baron chuckled before turning his eyes back to the arena.

'He has changed,' thought Slash Baron as he observed Scars in the arena. The fight hadn't started, but he could already tell from how Scars held himself to the progress the young shinobi had made.

He understood that Tsubura wouldn't have allowed Scars if he didn't think the latter wasn't ready. It meant that Scars had indeed progressed enough that he had a chance to fight in the ninjutsu-category against opponents who would use ninjutsu to tear their opponents down.

Slash Baron looked to the woman at his side, ""So, what has he been doing outside the Ring… Sango?"

———

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