Chapitre 168: CH_5.25 (168)
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Takuma observed the people on the road from the rooftop café, sipping on a large glass of cold lemonade. There were only four more days before he had to leave the village for the journey to the Land of Hot Waters. He had made it his mission to enjoy the delicacies of his hometown before he was shipped off to war for who knew how long.
He had done his packing, and two days before his deployment, all of his belongings sans the stuff he had sold off would be shipped off to a storage unit, and he would surrender the keys to his apartment to the landlord before moving into Masaaki, Nenro, and Ai's shared house as a guest. In the next few days, he had planned to meet a number of people before he left.
His visit to the café was for that very reason. He was meeting someone.
Takuma felt someone looking at him. He looked to the side to see the waiter pointing him out to Kano. He raised his hand, and Kano walked right over.
"The cold drinks here are good. You should try some," Takuma said as Kano sat down.
"You should've come to the office," said Kano.
"Should I order you something?" Takuma looked at her before sighing. "I don't have enough self-control to walk into that building and contain my anger. I prefer doing it here where I don't feel the urge to bash some faces in."
Kano was wearing her red shades so Takuma couldn't study her eyes, but he had known her long enough to understand that she wouldn't be offended by his words, which were obviously aimed at her clan members. But he also knew that she wasn't going to apologize for the clan and office politics, which had led to him being removed from his station.
"Did you bring my rewards?" asked Takuma.
Kano nodded and placed a storage scroll on the table. Takuma opened it and weaved hand seals.
"They are real," Kano sighed.
Takuma ignored her and released the fuin-seal for multiple scarlet scrolls to appear on the table. The puff of smoke startled the civilians on other tables; Takuma ignored them and opened every scroll to check the contents.
"It does seem that way," Takuma muttered as he continued to check.
The Police Force was in a delicate position after the assassination attempt. One of their officers was attacked at his home, and then they had lost the assassins' bodies. On top of that, they had managed to anger Takuma by booting him from his team. They were concerned by their recruitment program, which was still in its infancy, if Takuma, who was in the first recruitment batch and was by far the most successful, decided to badmouth the Police Force. They needed top talent in the Police Force to maintain the legacy, and Takuma's words could have a snowball effect. They were scared that if shinobi started to think the Police Force didn't care if one of their outside recruits almost got assassinated and had even demoted him.
So, after Takuma decided to accept his conscription, the Police Force extended a reward for his excellent service. Takuma understood the situation and recognized the hush money for keeping his mouth shut. Takuma wanted to badmouth the Police Force from the rooftops to placate some of his anger, but after giving it a rational thought, he decided to take the reward.
He asked for jutsu scrolls.
Scrolls of C-rank jutsu and above couldn't be taken out of the jutsu archives, and if a shinobi wished to study a jutsu they had purchased, they had to go to the archives to look at the scrolls. The scrolls had intensive information written on them with dozens of references to research papers, and because no stationary was allowed inside, copying the scrolls from memory was a chore. There was a niche black market for jutsu scrolls, but the discounted price wasn't enough for the risk. Both the Police Force and ANBU had a no-tolerance policy for the illegal trade of jutsu scrolls with extremely high punishments.
Takuma's ask was simple. He wanted C-rank jutsu scrolls he could own. It wasn't an impossible ask; bigger shinobi clans had their own jutsu archives and were known to distribute scrolls to their members. He was going to a conflict-filled foreign land and thus was losing his ability to visit a jutsu archive; he wanted personal scrolls he could study at his leisure.
Takuma understood that even though the reward was from the Police Force, he was actually dealing with the Uchiha clan. And there were not many things the Uchiha couldn't do in the Hidden Leaf.
As he had expected, they agreed. At first, Takuma had wanted them to foot the bill of the jutsu he wanted, but they had outright refused with no room for negotiation when they heard how many jutsu Takuma wanted. Takuma—very unwillingly—had come down to buying the scroll at a small discount from the Uchiha clan.
The sale of jutsu scrolls of C-rank jutsu and above was banned. Even the clans couldn't do it; they were only allowed to distribute scrolls to their members. So, the deal was highly illegal. But that was what made it binding. If Takuma broke his side of the agreement, the Uchiha clan would screw him by sticking charges against him. And even though they had sold the scrolls to him, they were the Uchiha clan, they were the Police Force—they were big enough to get out of it with a slap on the wrist, something Takuma couldn't do.
"Everything checks out," Takuma smiled as he put the scrolls away. "Now, onto why I specially asked for you to deliver the scrolls."
"I was curious about that as well," said Kano.
Takuma took out No#4's weapon pouch. It had everything, including the small dagger inside.
"This is the fourth assassin's weapons pouch, the one you guys didn't know existed until I told you about it," said Takuma. Kano stared at the pouch in surprise. "I didn't have enough weapons that day, so I pulled it off his body after I killed him."
"Why didn't you give this to us before!?"
"Because it was with the hospital until now." Takuma sighed, "And my memories of the fight have gaps in it… I didn't remember that I had taken it until I saw it."
He was too injured that day and even kicked in the head. Takuma remembered the fight, but some particulars escaped him. It was frustrating, but Dr. Oichi said that his memories would return eventually, but if he wanted something fast, a Yamanaka could help—Takuma had no intention of opening his mind to a Yamanaka.
"Take out the black dagger from inside," said Takuma.
"It's broken?" Kano asked as she held the separated blade and hilt.
"I removed the hilt. There is a smith's touchmark on the tang."
Kano looked. "We can track it. This is a great lead—" She stopped and looked up at Takuma. "You had no intention of giving this to us if you weren't going to the war, did you?"
Takuma shrugged. "You guys lost the bodies. I looked around but couldn't find a weaponsmith with that touchmark. But the tree motif indicates that the smith might be in the village. The special stitching on the pouch flap is also an avenue you should pursue."
"Anything else?" asked Kano.
"You can't expect me to do all the work."
Kano put the pouch away.
"I heard you refused to be there when Yakumi officially took charge of the Narcotics Taskforce. You know Yakumi is just doing his job," she said.
"My job," said Takuma, sternly.
"Don't you think the rest of the team would've felt better if you were there for a smooth change of command."
Takuma didn't answer that one; not even a quip.
Kano sighed as she stood up. "Be safe out there. Wars like this one can be complex. Follow your commander's orders, and stay out of trouble. Let's have a drink when you return..."
"… Alright," said Takuma.
Kano nodded before leaving.
His gaze followed her until she was gone.
Takuma looked at the lemonade. The ice had already melted away with the condensation heavy outside the glass.
———
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Sitting on a park bench with his cane sitting on the side as he fed bread to a flock of pigeons made Takuma feel old and slow. It was a strangely uncomfortable feeling, but he already had a loaf from the nearby bakery because he had come to the meeting early and had nothing to do. He was meeting a lot of people, but he didn't especially want to do this one. Unfortunately, it was an important one.
"Is that cane going to stick?"
Takuma didn't glance at the bench behind him. He could recognize Enomoto's voice everywhere.
"I don't think I can pull off a cane as a fashion statement," said Takuma.
"I must say, I'm disappointed to hear that you are leaving. I doubted our agreement would last long, but then you started to produce results and I started to… dream," said Enomoto.
"That's new," Takuma chuckled. "Well, adding to the confidence, I thought I would continue on for at least a couple more years. Alas, you put your cart behind a horse with a short race life."
"At least, they aren't putting you down after you fractured your foot… Well, you might soon die in the war."
"Really? I mean, someone did try to take me out," Takuma threw the last piece of bread to the birds. "You wouldn't happen to know who was behind that little prank, would you?"
"Why would I try to kill my gold-laying goose—"
"The goose died in the fable."
"Well, I'm not a colossal moron. Because it was you, I looked into it, but whoever it was, they didn't leave any clues behind."
"That they didn't…"
"Well, if you're leaving, that means my commissions from the Ring also stops. God… I will miss the returns on my investment," said Enomoto. "I do have a question though. Did you meet me first or did you make time for Sango before me."
Takuma smiled. "I came to you first. I value our relationship."
"Aww, that's sweet."
"But I like to leave the best for the last."
"There it is."
The conversation died as soon as it had started. Takuma and Enomoto weren't close. They were business partners connected through mutual benefit. Without that, they had no reason to associate with each other.
"Do you perhaps have a recommendation for a possible replacement?" Enomoto asked.
"Well, I can refer my team to you, but I fear that they would invite you to stay permanently."
"Ah, that's too much hospitality for me."
Takuma had no intention to give Enomoto's information to the Narcotics Taskforce. Enomoto was his asset; they would need to work with the informants the team had built since their inception—which wasn't going to be pretty, the Narcotics Taskforce was still new. Right now, Takuma didn't care about how much effort he had put into building up the Narcotics Taskforce—he couldn't care less if Yakumi burnt the thing to the ground.
The feeling would pass, he was sure, but he wasn't mature enough to settle his feelings quickly.
"I figured that. You will either have to be satisfied with your current position or find a new way to trim down your competition," he said.
"Being satisfied doesn't seem satisfying." Enomoto stood up. "Don't go dying in the war. Maybe we can work together when you come back."
"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Takuma replied.
Enomoto's footsteps stopped. He said, "You never know. In the life we live, you never know what's going to happen."
Takuma stood up as well and for the first time in the conversation, he turned to look at Enomoto.
"Enomoto… If I ever find that you were behind the assassins, I am going to kill you."
Enomoto stopped walking again and turned. He smiled, "I don't think you'll be able to pull that off successfully, genin."
"In this life we live, you never know what's going to happen," said Takuma.
"Truer words haven't been said," Enomoto smiled before walking away.
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Chat with me and the rest of the community on our DISCORD server.
The link is in the synopsis!
Chapitre 169: CH_5.26 (169): TIMELINE
AUTHOR'S NOTE
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Only 1 chapter this week because of IRL stuff—and I wanted to put out something today.
The [Created At] date of this story is October 31, 2022, but I actually posting this story on November 01, 2022. I created the page for this story on October 31, 2022 and instead of the first chapter, I posted a "Coming Soon" placeholder in its place as I was preparing to post across all the six sites I post this fic across.
The story has had its ups-and-downs, but I think I'm satisfied with what I have written till now. Sometimes it can be really difficult for me to write this story because I'm not used to writing this type of story, but I have had a lot of fun writing The Outsider's Resolve.
I'm proud of the rendition of the world, satisfied with the plot I have spun up, somewhat content with how I have developed Takuma, and not really happy with the support cast.
Well... I hope I will do better this coming year, and put out some entertaining stuff with this story.
I hope you all keep enjoying this story
1-year,
5 ARCs,
169 chapters,
360,000~ words.
Thank you for reading,
FictionOnlyReader
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———
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Takuma stared at the class of children running an obstacle course. There were the few in the lead, competing against each other; the large middle pack; and the small group in the back, making up a trail. He was once in a similar situation, but it seemed so far away in the past that it looked alien to him.
"Thanks for meeting me here," said Iruka, standing beside him.
"It's okay. Sorry, I couldn't find free time in the evening," Takuma smiled at Iruka before returning his gaze to Iruka's academy class.
If it were only a couple of weeks back, Takuma would've refused to set foot in the shinobi academy while classes were in session. He had zero desire to see Iruka's class of students. But Takuma was going away for war, and when Iruka asked to meet him, he agreed to meet him in the academy because Takuma had no free time in the evening. He wanted to see how the future of the Hidden Leaf was doing before he went away, which was why he had set up the meeting so that Iruka couldn't take him to a meal during the lunch break. He figured just seeing them from afar while he conversed with his old chunin leader wouldn't be strange.
"I didn't think you would be conscripted with your position in the Narcotics Taskforce," said Iruka.
"Neither did I, but here we are," said Takuma as he looked at the yellow-haired ball of energy in the front of the pack. The whiskered kid was athletically superior but lacked in dexterity, which made him lag behind the onyx-haired leader after every complex obstacle—though he seemed to be trying his best to be in the first position. "My superiors in the Police Force said it would be good for me to take some time off from my duties before they relieved me of my duties."
"War is not taking some time off."
"It will be a change of scenery for sure." Takuma looked to Iruka, "How is teaching suiting you? Is it everything you imagined and more?"
Iruka chuckled as if he had heard a joke. "Not at all. These kids, with their ungodly energy, can be nightmares if I don't handle them properly. They are a hassle and a half on a good day." He smiled, "But it is indeed more than I imagined. These children are so much better when I was their age."
Takuma knew that feeling. He had a cousin in middle school who was just so much smarter than him when he was that age. Kids were generally always smarter.
"That cane is worrisome," said Iruka.
"Doctor's orders," Takuma glanced at the cane he had been carrying for the last month. He didn't want to admit it, but he still sometimes felt stiffness in his lower back. It was improving every day, and even though Takuma didn't use the cane, it did give him a sense of safety.
"In situations like yours, the most important thing is the commanding shinobi under whom you will be serving. Did they give you a name?" asked Iruka.
"Yes, they did. In fact, I just got the information earlier today," Takuma said. "One Jonin Toridasu Kossori. Any idea who that is?"
"Can't say I do. But if it's a jonin, he will have chunin under his command; you will probably be assigned to one of those chunin." Iruka glanced at Takuma. "Are you nervous?" he smiled.
"Shouldn't I be?" Takuma rolled his eyes. His relationship with his commanding shinobi and his peers was crucial. He didn't want a repeat of his initial days in the Organized Crime—it had taken a long time to get the people to warm up to him. And unlike the well-protected Police Force headquarters, his new place was a conflict-torn border. He couldn't afford a rocky start.
"Act and perform like when you were working under me, and you will be just fine. They will be lucky to have an asset like you," said Iruka. "Your versatility will shine much better there than it ever did when you were working the same few types of C-rank missions under me."
"I hope so," said Takuma. "So… that's the jinchuriki, huh."
"…Yes."
"And how is that side of things going?"
Iruka sighed. "It's as you said. He's the jailor… and he is just a dumb kid."
Takuma was relieved to hear that. He would've shit bricks on the spot if Iruka told him that he hated Naruto.
"Oh no, what now?" Iruka muttered.
Takuma followed Iruka's eyes to see Uzumaki Naruto running towards them with a heavy frown.
"Iruka sensei! Tell the jerk that I won the race," Naruto yelled.
The "jerk" in question was Uchiha Sasuke, who followed after Naruto with a relaxed walk. Unlike the Sasuke he had read about, the kid in front of Takuma was different. Sasuke was an aloof kid, but he lacked the coldness one would gain from a certain traumatic experience.
'He will gain that soon—' Takuma shuttered that thought faster than it had come up.
Sasuke spoke, "Even an idiot like you should be able to tell that the one crossing the line first is the winner."
"This wasn't a race," Iruka sighed. The young teacher looked like he was already tired. "I wasn't looking, so I couldn't tell who won, so let's just leave it at that."
"Eeeh! That's not fair!" Naruto pouted.
Sasuke didn't say anything, but you could see the crease between the boy's brows. No decision meant Sasuke couldn't concretely claim he was the first.
"I was watching," said Takuma.
All three sets of eyes locked onto him. Iruka had a pleading look, asking him to stop. Naruto looked outwardly immensely interested, while Sasuke's eyes held a subtle interest.
"Both of you crossed the finish line at the same time. It was a draw," said Takuma.
As Takuma expected, neither looked satisfied. So, Takuma took out the secret weapon he had prepared before coming to a school full of children. "Here you go, a reward for completing the course," Takuma handed each of them a chocolate each.
What child didn't like sweets? The effect was immediate. Naruto jumped in giddiness as he opened the foil. Sasuke hesitated for a moment before picking up the chocolate from Takuma's palm, joy in his eyes.
"Thank you," said Sasuke. "What are you doing here, Mr. Takuma?"
Takuma had been visiting Mikoto's house five times a week, and it was natural that he would have some level of interaction with his teacher's family. Because of the meeting time and that they met during the weekdays, Takuma had close to no interaction with Fugaku, who was at work. As for Itachi, the number of times Takuma had talked to him could be counted on one hand; the ANBU shinobi wasn't home often, but when he was, Itachi stayed away while his mother was conducting lessons. Sasuke was the family member Takuma had the most interaction, but it wasn't a lot—much like his brother, Sasuke considered Mikoto and Takuma's lessons as something not to be disturbed, and the little boy was very well-behaved. Takuma and Sasuke had only exchanged small talk occasionally, but nothing else.
"Your Iruka sensei here was my commanding shinobi before he became your teacher. I came to talk to him," said Takuma.
"Mother told me you got injured on a mission. Is that why you haven't been coming to the house?" asked Sasuke.
Takuma smiled. There was no need to tell a kid someone had tried to assassinate him. "Yes, I had a bit of a tumble," he raised his cane. "I'm alright now. Not good as your teacher here, though."
Iruka shook his head with a small smile.
Takuma then noticed Naruto staring at him. He had chocolate around his mouth. "Is something wrong?" he asked.
Naruto narrowed his eyes at Takuma before his brows went up. "Ah! You're the big bro who gave me the chocolate!" Naruto shouted while he pointed at Takuma.
"Naruto! It's rude to point," Iruka rebuked.
Takuma was surprised. He didn't think Naruto would remember. It was more than a year away, and they talked barely for a few minutes. That was like a lifetime away in kid's time.
"You met Naruto?" Iruka looked surprised.
"…Ah yes, we crossed paths a while ago," Takuma said as he gazed at Naruto.
"What's your name, big bro!" Naruto asked abruptly.
The memory of him telling Naruto to ask his name the next time flashed past Takuma's mind.
"My name is Takuma." He took out the bag of chocolate from his bag and handed it to Naruto. "Here you go; share it with the rest of the class." He turned to Sasuke. "Will you make sure everyone gets one, Sasuke?"
The two kids ran away to the rest of the class. A big bag full of chocolate was probably the most exciting thing to them right now.
"You never told me that you met him?" Iruka said.
"I had forgotten to be honest," Takuma lied. "I met him the same day you told me about my transfer to the Police Force. I didn't know he was the jinchuriki when I met him. I mean, it's not like I knew what he looked like. I was just consoling a… sad orphan."
Takuma felt Iruka's gaze on him.
He did not feel guilty lying to Iruka.
—
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"You should get out of the Narcotics Taskforce before it gets bad," Takuma said before stuffing his face with a big piece of fried chicken.
Arisu, who was sitting across from him, raised her brow. "Are you saying that because you were kicked out or because you're looking out for me? I'm afraid I can't tell right now."
He had invited Arisu out for dinner before he left. He wanted to thank her for all the support she had given him since Day-1 of joining Organized Crime.
"Why not both? I won't give up my informant, so the performance will plummet after the team runs out of the current investigations. You should leverage your position into something promising—like getting assigned directly under a jonin. Let the Narcotics Taskforce be a stepping stone. Diversify and whatnot."
"What if I think the team can continue at the same level without you?"
"First, I will ask you to stop lying to yourself," Takuma smiled, "but then I will say I'll be happy if you prove me wrong. If the team can continue working as usual, it will mean that we were able to develop an excellent team."
"We, you say."
"Give yourself more credit. The Narcotics Taskforce wouldn't exist if you didn't convince people to join. The team would've been me and Minoru, and we wouldn't have made it out of the first trial month."
"That's true. You would be nothing without me," Arisu smiled as though pleased with herself.
Takuma simply smiled.
"You know I never asked you this, but why aren't you participating in the Chunin Exams?" asked Takuma. "I think most people in our batch are going for it. And it's not like you're like Taro, who didn't go for it because he was lazy."
"I don't think I'm ready yet," said Arisu. "I'm in no rush to advance the ranks. I want to take some more time to learn before I start trying diligently. There's no use half-heartedly when I'm not ready."
Takuma put his chopsticks down for a moment. "Chunin is a leadership position. You have been managing a team for a while now, and you have done it with great success. I personally think you're ready for the exams if you want to, but if you want to take time, sure, go ahead." He paused for a moment as he picked his chopsticks back. "And well, you're a Fuma. If you do well, you will be promoted through the Police Force."
"You had to say it, didn't you," Arisu narrowed her eyes. "It's not my fault that I'm from a clan."
Takuma shrugged and winked. "Hey, your family background is a resource. It will be a waste not to use it. I would've if I had it. A good shinobi uses all the tools in his repertoire."
Arisu sighed and said no more.
Takuma raised his hand to order more food. He had been stuffing his face for the past few days, and today would be no different.
They eventually came out of the restaurant. Takuma took in a deep breath and enjoyed the cool air. The weather was nice enough that he wanted to take a walk and was about to ask Arisu if she would like to accompany him when she called out to him.
Takuma turned to face her, and even though he was a trained shinobi with excellent reflexes, he couldn't react when Arisu leaned forward to kiss him. It was a chaste kiss that barely lasted a couple of seconds, but Takuma froze up like an ice block.
"W-What was that?" Takuma exclaimed.
"A-A parting gift," said Arisu, flustered, before immediately leaving with the Body Flicker Jutsu no less.
A thousand thoughts rushed past Takuma's head as he tried to make sense of what had just happened, but he immediately shut them down. He did not want to think about it because he knew where his thoughts would eventually lead him.
Screw the walk, he thought.
Takuma now wanted to smoke some weed and knock himself to sleep.
.
———
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TIMELINE
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———
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YEAR-1 (Takuma-10yrs old— Student: Academy)
- Takuma spends this year in Academy
- Trains with Maruboshi Kosuke
- Takuma ends up in the hospital after suffering from a panic attack.
- Based on the current curriculum, an academy student graduates at 11yrs old as opposed to 12yrs old like Naruto's generation.
——
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YEAR-2 (Takuma-11yrs old— Shinobi: Genin)
- Takuma graduates at 11yrs old. SPECIAL NOTE: Naruto's generation starts attending Academy.
- After graduation, he spends 2 months in basic training. Here he meets with Nenro, Masaaki, and Ai. He also makes friends with Taro, who was in his class at the academy. They are put in a team for the basic training.
- 4 months of D-rank missions.
- Enomoto extends the Ring offer to Takuma (total 6 months after graduation.)
- After 3 months of Ring fights and more D-rank missions, Takuma participates in his first C-rank mission under Umino Iruka. On the basis of this mission, Iruka invites Takuma to join his Chunin Team.
- 3 months of C-rank missions with Iruka.
- During the above 3 month period, Enomoto introduced Takuma to Ryuu, who starts him on drug dealing.
- Land of Frost mission where Takuma and his team is ambushed by enemy shinobi. Everyone except for Takuma, Iruka, and Aburame Susumu, everyone dies. (Iruka leaves behind Takuma to get heavily injured Shimura Raiden and Aburame Susumu to medical help—but Raiden dies in the hospital)
- Takuma reaches home safely.
——
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YEAR-3 (Takuma-12yrs old— Police Force: Genin)
- After Land of Frost mission, Iruka submits an application on Takuma's behalf. He gets accepted.
- 2.5 months of Police Force basic training.
- After Takuma is placed in Organized Crime Department under Uchiha Kano with Fuma Arisu as his partner.
- 4.5 months of handling cases in Organized Crime. During this time period, Takuma is forced by Ryuu to make a delivery, which leads him to investigate the Maiko Triad.
- Takuma plans a raid on the Maiko Triad, and enlist Fuma Arisu's help, who assembles him a team for the raid. The raid is successful. Takuma submits a proposal for a dedicated Anti-Narcotics group inside Organized Crime.
- Because of the non-approved raid, Takuma is suspended for a week. During that week, Takuma participates in his first Ninjutsu-category Ring fight and wins.
- A Narcotics Team(temp.) is formed and Takuma is given 1 month to show results.
- Takuma starts learning genjutsu under Uchiha Mikoto. Uchiha Fugaku is aware of Takuma's involvement with the Ring—and the fact is noted in his Police Force personnel file.
- The temp team shows results and the Narcotics Taskforce is formed. Takuma is placed as its leader.
- 4 months in the Narcotics Task Force.
- Somewhere while Takuma is in the Narcotics Task Force—Shisui uses his MS on the Uchiha Clan leadership
——
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YEAR-4 (Takuma-13yrs old— Police Force: Genin)
- 4 more months in Narcotics Task Force.
- Big Farm Raid where Takuma and his fellow genin are forced to fight and kill an experienced chunin. The drug farm was connected to ROOT.
- Within 1 month of the raid, ROOT trainees attempt to assassinate Takuma and fail.
- Takuma spends 1. 5 months in rehabilitation [ONGOING].
- During his rehabilitation, Takuma gets an conscription order to join the conflict between the Land of Frost and the Land of Hot Waters (which is a proxy war between Hidden Leaf and Hidden Cloud.)
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