Chapitre 241: CH_7.23 (241)
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The link is also in the synopsis
———
.
A group of workers busied themselves in the Goharu family's drug house, packaging the crushed brown crystal powder of heroin into bricks and small packets. The packets were tagged with an umbrella insignia and the workers wore leather gloves and had long scarves wrapped around their faces to reduce their contact with the drugs.
The number of workers had doubled recently from the increase in business from the Hidden Frost shinobi army occupying the city. Not only were they selling their product to the army, it was also being sent into the Land of Frost to be packaged and sold in neighbouring nations.
Among the workers was a bald man with a stick-like figure in his late thirties. Yamada was one of the new hires. He was previously a carriage driver, but since the city's invasion, he had lost his source of income, and had been unemployed for months before he was hired by the Goharu family to work in the drug house. He had never worked with people like the Goharu family and knew the danger associated with those sort of people , he had a wife, two children, and his elderly parents depending on him as the sole breadwinner of the family—and in tough times, he was willing to work anywhere, and the Goharu family was among the few offering work. At the end of his shift, Yamada stepped out of the preparation area. He removed his gloves and scarf before walking to the office in the back, joining the queue in the front of the office to receive his daily pay.
The boss in charge of the drug house was Waichi, the brother-in-law of the Goharu family's head. He had a mean reputation which Yamada had found to be true from his experience working in the drug house. Waichi had a tendency to yell at workers when they made even the smallest mistakes and cruelly dock pay for each mistake. He ran the drug house with fear and Yamada always felt like he was walking on a tight-rope when the man was around.
The line moved up and Yamada could hear Waichi tearing into others for their mistakes, lack of packing speed, too much talking, and every little thing possible. He clutched the hem of his shirt and prayed for a light to talk to. His turn came and unexpectedly, Waichi directly handed him the pay without any nasty words.
"Good job, today," said Waichi.
Even though it was the bare minimum decorum that should be expected in a place of work, but the words of simple praise made Yamada's heart swell with pride and happiness. He bowed deeply to Waichi, who hummed in approval.
"Keep working like today and I might raise your wage."
"T-Thank you, sir!"
After leaving the factory, Yamada went straight to the butcher and bought some meat for dinner even though he couldn't afford it, but he knew that that his family would be happy—and as long as he continued to work to the best of his ability, his wage would increase, improving the life of his family. He decided to apply for a double-shift twice a week to show initiative.
"I'm home!" Yamada called with a smile. "Dear, I bought meat from the butcher! Have you started dinner preparation?"
The house opened up to a living room where Yamada expected to see his father reading a book, but the room was empty, so he went to the kitchen beside the living room to put down the meat to find it empty.
"Where's everyone?" he whispered to himself.
Not thinking about it too much, he quickly headed straight to the bigger washroom to take a bath as he did every day since he started working at the drug house. He didn't want to interact with his children with any traces of harmful drugs on him. Upon entering the washroom, he was surprised to see not only was the bath unprepared, the change of clothes his wife prepared every day wasn't present.
That's when he realised that the house was too quiet, and when he focused, he heard the faint sound of sobbing from inside his and his wife's bedroom. He instantly recognised his daughter's voice and a chill went down his spine as a hundred bad thoughts exploded in his mind.
"Maiko!"
He sprinted into the bedroom and had just caught the sight of his parents on the bed holding his children close to them and a figure dressed in black robe with a white robe standing near the bed when another similarly dressed figure tackled him into the wall.
"Papa!"
Ignoring the pain from being slammed into the wall and the arm pressing against his neck, Yamada looked at his family. They looked utterly exhausted and scared, but didn't seem to have any injuries on them. He noticed that his wife was missing from the room.
"Where is Hiromi?" he asked in panic as he was dragged out of the bedroom and thrown onto the living room floor. "W-Who are you!? Why are you in my house? Where's my wife? What have you done with her? I swear if one hair on my head is harmed, I will—!"
There were two people dressed in complete black wearing white porcelain masks. Other than their height, their only distinguishing features were their hair, and the patterns on their mask—snake and eagle—and the person standing beside his family had a badger pattern on their mask.
"Quiet down, Yamada," said Snake—she had a woman's voice. "Your family is unharmed."
"My wife—" He tried to get up but Snake kicked him down and kept her foot down on her chest. No matter how much he tried, he could barely shift.
"If you don't stop yelling, your wife won't be fine," she said. The sheer casualness with how Snake threatened him sent a spike of fear down his body, bringing his struggling to an end. He shut his mouth and gulped deeply as the weight of the foot on his chest made breathing difficult. "Good. Now that you're listening, let me make something very clear. The safety of your family is firmly in your hands. Follow what we say, and we won't be forced to make them suffer."
Snake removed her foot from his chest and took a step back. Yamada immediately pushed himself away from Snake, but could only move a few paces back before Eagle kicked him in the back.
"W-Where is my wife?" he asked from the floor, looking up at intruders. His eyes fluttered to the bedroom, his entire being wanting to go console his crying children.
"She's not here. Rest assured, she's completely safe," said Eagle.
"Please b-bring her back; don't hurt her," he begged. His imagination went back to the worst scenarios; the fear of never getting to see her again was too overwhelming.
"As we said, the safety of your family is firmly in your hands... We want you to do something only you can do for us," said Snake and threw a sachet filled with brown crystal powder on the ground.
One look at the umbrella insignia was enough for him to recognise the Goharu family's mark. He knew it by heart as it was put on all packaged products that went out of the drug house.
"T-This is..."
———
.
Two days ago in the factory base, Takuma sat down with Anko, Kameko, and Rikku for a discussion about poisoning the Hidden Frost shinobi through the drugs they had seized from the Renge gang during the police station bombing.
"The drug house is small and well-protected. Sneaking inside to switch the drugs going to the enemy is technically feasible, but I don't have the confidence to pull it off flawlessly," said Anko.
Daiki and her had done reconnaissance on the drug house. The guards at the drug house weren't chakra practitioners. which made them non-threats, but the team couldn't knock them out or get rid of them as that would raise alarms later, potentially sabotaging the plan. The building was small and open enough that completing the mission with total stealth was extremely risky. They also didn't know the drug house's interior and which drugs would go to the shinobi, making the switch unreliable.
She had asked Takuma for two more days to see if she could figure it out, but unfortunately, she still deemed the mission completion without outside help unfeasible without great risk.
"Did you find someone?" asked Kameko.
Takuma, sitting across from them on a sheet metal table, nodded. "We need someone who has access to the drug house and thus has the required knowledge to know which drugs will go to the enemy," he said. "Our new partnership with the Kumi family has already bore fruit. They confirmed that none of the guards are chakra practitioners, and they've given us the information about all the regular workers in the drug house."
If the team couldn't do it, they needed someone else to do it—and who better than a worker inside the drug house.
He pushed the files he had made on the workers and tapped one of them.
"I like him the most," he said.
Rikku opened the file and read. "Yamada... wife, two children, both parents alive. Has been working in the drug house for nearly three months. He's new," she said looking up at him. "Previously worked as a carriage driver. No previous association to the Goharu family or any shady organisations..."
"He has a reputation as a family man. We can use him to sneak in the tainted drugs and have him switch them out," said Takuma.
"Family man, huh," Anko said, taking the file from RIkku. "I can work with that."
———
.
Anko threw down the drug sachet with umbrella insignia on the floor in front of Yamada.
"T-This..."
"Can you tell the difference," she asked him. The Kumi family had procured a sample of the Goharu family's product—sachets with the umbrella stamp— but they had to confirm if they were doing something else with the drugs going to the enemy to avoid raising suspicion. As a worker, Yamada
Yamada nodded.
"Look at it carefully. Is this identical to what's sent to the shinobi? Pick it up and look at it," she said, urging.
Yamada with trembling hands picked up the sachet and observed it after wiping the tears out of his eye. After a few seconds, he once again nodded.
"Do you want your wife back, Yamada?" she asked.
"Y-Yes," Yamada nodded rapidly. He grovelled at feet, trying to grab her leg while wailing. "Please, l-let my wife go."
Anko kicked him back the moment he touched her.
"Good, because we don't want to hold your wife," she said.
To ensure that Yamada would do what they wanted, they had taken his wife hostage. Daiki was with them when they broke into the house and he had taken her away in a carriage provided by the Kumi family to a safe house also provided by the Kumi family.
"Here's what we want you to do: we will give you a bag full of sachets, and you have to replace them with the sachets that will be going out to the shinobi. Refusing to do it or lying to us in any way will result in your children never seeing their mother ever again."
Yamada looked utterly shocked for a moment, but he hastily nodded after. "I'll do it—I will do it. Whatever you want, I will do it—p-please don't hurt my wife. She has done nothing wrong. I will switch the drugs, so please return her," he was once again crying by the end of it.
"Switch the drugs and your wife will be back by the time you come back home," said Anko.
"Please return her now. I will still—"
"This is not a negotiation, Yamada." Anko looked at Kameko in the eagle mask. "Take one of the kids as well, that way the mother won't be lonely."
"NO! I will do it! I will do it! Don't take my children away," Yamada yelled.
"Great," Anko smiled behind mask. "The next delivery is the day after tomorrow, right?"
"Y-Yes."
"We will be staying with your family until then—"
"What?"
"—I promise we will be good guests. Now go take a shower, you're filthy."
.
———
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The link is in the synopsis!
Chapitre 242: CH_7.24 (242)
Want to read ahead of schedule? Head over to Patreón @
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The link is also in the synopsis
———
.
Yamada stood at the street corner looking at the drug house in the middle of the street. The intimidating guards he had gotten used to once again looked frightening. He clutched the old, scuffed shoulder bag close to his body; it carried the drugs he was supposed to insert into the delivery going out to the Hidden Frost shinobi.
He wasn't able to sleep as he protected his family from the kidnappers in his home. It had been the worst time of his life—comforting his children asking for their mother was the most difficult and heartbreaking thing he had to do. It hurt to wonder how his wife was being treated and whether she was safe.
He took a deep breath and walked toward the drug house, each step heavier than the last. He had to remind himself to keep breathing as he neared the building.
"—Make proper eye contact, loosen your body, and hands off the bag—"
He recalled Snake's words and realised that he was doing everything wrong. A wave of panic shot through him, but he quickly gathered himself when he thought about his family and stopped for a moment in the middle of the street to follow the instructions before proceeding. His heart was trying to beat out of his chest as he climbed the steps of the building. He stopped in front of the guards and slipped the bag off his shoulder, showing them the contents.
"Different bag and no lunchbox today?" the guard asked.
"N-No, my wife fell ill, and my boy tore my bag while playing," said Yamada, doing his best to keep the shake out of his voice.
"And why the clothes?"
There was a set of clothes in the bag which usually wasn't there.
"I'm meeting a friend afterward. I'm going to change here before meeting him."
The guard reached into the bag and Yamada felt his heart come up to his throat. The guard pressed the clothes to check if there was anything underneath and motioned him to go inside when he was satisfied with his search. As Yamada walked past the guards, the tension drained from him and he had to clutch the bag to stop his hands from shaking. The bag was given to him by the kidnappers. It had a false bottom to hide the drugs with a tiny zip to open the hidden compartment with the drugs. The bag was big enough to carry a significant amount of drug sachets, but it didn't catch the guard's attention because his usual bag was just as big as he often used it to carry groceries he purchased after work.
Entering the building, he went straight to his seat on the rows of tables and put the bag below his chair. He waited until everyone on the factory line was seated and ready before work started.
For the next few hours, Yamada shut down his mind and did his work of stamping the umbrella emblem on the sachet. The worry about his family continued to weigh down but the mindless work helped alleviate some of the pressure. Though as he worked, he was acutely aware of the bomb sitting beneath his chair that could kill him and endanger his family if discovered. His heart stopped every time one of the "supervisors" passed by behind him.
Eventually, lunch break was announced and everyone headed out to the tea stalls outside with their lunch boxes.
"You're not eating, Yamada?" asked one of his fellow workers.
"N-No, not today," he smiled at them pitifully.
Almost immediately, they understood what Yamada was trying to say. With how expensive food was, there were times the workers would often forgo food. That wasn't the case for him, but today, he wanted to be in the building during the lunch break for the switch.
"Oh well, take care."
The workers shuffled out of the stuffy building for lunch. Even the supervisors went out, leaving the building empty for a short time.
Yamada knew that he had perhaps ten to fifteen minutes before people started coming back in. He had to move quickly. Very casually, he went to a cupboard in the corner of the room to retrieve one of the duffle bags that were used to deliver the drugs. The readied sachets were piled up in a tray and Yamada transferred them into the bag. This wasn't his duty, but he also knew that no one would mind if he did it.
He looked around to confirm no one was in the room before taking out his bag, opening the hidden compartment, and dumping the sachets given to him by the kidnappers into the duffle bag. He knew how many drugs went out to the shinobi every week, and the quantity given to him by the kidnappers made up nearly three-quarters of it. Yamada didn't know what they had done to the drugs, and he didn't want to know, but he could guess they had done something harmful to them.
By the time he was done, he was breathing heavily and the tiny zip of the compartment slipped from his hand multiple times as he closed it. When he was done, he quickly returned to his chair, put his bag underneath the seat, and took deep breaths to calm himself.
I've done it, thought Yamada as he wiped his sweat from the end of his scarf.
"Oh, you prepared the bag, Yamada?" One of the supervisors asked when he returned from lunch.
"Yes, I... I had nothing better to do," Yamada replied with a smile.
The supervisor stopped and gazed at him before smiling widely. "Boss praised you yesterday, didn't he? I'll tell him you're doing good work when he comes in tomorrow to collect the delivery. You'll definitely be getting that promotion."
"T-Thank you," Yamada said, trying his best to put on a grateful smile.
Yesterday, he would've been elated; but today, all he wanted to do was to return home and get his wife back.
———
.
Yamada all but ran back home after his work was done. Everything hurt by the time he arrived but. without caring what his neighbours thought about him, he burst into his home to see Snake sitting in the living room.
"I did it! Where's my wife?" he yelled with wide-eyes, ready to fight if they refused to return her.
Behind him, Racoon entered from the front and closed the door behind her. "No one followed him," she said.
Yamada felt a chill go down his spine. He hadn't thought they would have someone follow him, but then he saw a snake slip out of Racoon's sleeve.
"A s-snake," he exclaimed, darting out of its way.
The small serpent slithered to Snake, who picked it up and held it near her ear as though she was listening to the snake. Yamada had a bad feeling that the masked kidnappers were mad—and mad people were already difficult enough to deal with without them being shinobi.
"He made the switch properly," said Snake before asking him for the bag.
Yamada threw the bag at her. "When will my wife get home?" He looked back at Racoon to find her staring at him.
Snake ignored him and took out four random sachets from the bag and dropped some unknown transparent liquid into them. The liquid turned blue the moment it touched the drugs. He didn't know what that meant.
"He made the switch," she nodded to Racoon.
Racoon went out of the house from the back entrance and returned a minute later with Yamada's wife in tow. Racoon removed the black cloth bag from her head and untied the rope tying her hands behind her back.
"Hanako!" said Yamada as he walked toward her.
"Dear!" Hanako eyes were red and puffy. Her face was pale and she looked utterly exhausted; in one night, she had aged several years.
The husband and wife hugged before facing the kidnappers in fear.
"I have done everything you asked for. P-Please leave now," said Yamada.
"Of course," said Snake. "But before we leave, I shouldn't need to say it, but no one can know about any of this. Tell your children and parents that your family will be in trouble if this gets out." Yamada nodded fervently. "Also, don't quit your job at the drug house, or you'll attract unwanted attention that might get you in trouble with the Goharu family."
Yamada felt a pit in his stomach as he understood the implication. The kidnappers were unknown, which was dangerous on its own, but the Goharu family was a known danger—he knew what they were capable of, and what they would do to his family if they found he had betrayed them.
"For your troubles," said Snake, pointing to three jute bags brought in by Racoon.
"We don't need it, please take it away," said Yamada—whatever it was, it was from shinobi.
Snake laughed merrily. "Throw it away if you want, but I think you won't."
The kidnappers left the home promptly, and for a couple days, Yamada felt like they would return at any moment, though they never did. As for the jute bags, Snake was right, he didn't throw them out. The bags were filled with food that his family desperately needed, and even though he felt uncomfortable, he kept it.
———
.
For the first time since the team infiltrated the city, Takuma arrived at Chinatsu's house. In the month and a half they had been in Yu, the place had changed so much that it was unrecognisable. Either Chinatsu earned too much money or Anko had blown their mission budget on furniture. Takuma was envious because he had been sleeping in camping bags on top of an old and depressed couch.
He sat down on the comfy couch and kicked his legs up on the centre table. The team sat around the living room, together for the first time since they had arrived in the city.
"Are we ready?" Takuma asked Chinatsu and Gaku across from him.
"We are set to meet tomorrow," Gaku replied with a smile.
Takuma looked at Chinatsu, the team's star. "And what about you?"
"It's just a day's work for me," she said nonchalantly.
Chinatsu had been sleeping with a Hidden Frost chunin for the past three weeks. And as it turned out, the chunin had been dealing the Goharu family drugs to the enemy shinobi army. It was a surprise that the shinobi Takuma was tracking and the shinobi Gaku had procured as clients were one-in-the-same—but it made sense because a man who could afford to hire Chinatsu twice a week would be loaded and drug dealing was definitely enough to support his expensive hobby.
"And what about you?" Takuma asked Anko.
"I'll just follow her lead," Anko sighed, looking at Chinatsu.
For the last month and a half, the team had been mostly passive while they prepared, but as they drew closer to the two month mark, it was time to start making their move. They had to create chaos in the city to find an advantage the main force could exploit. The main force was set to arrive at the end of the second month, giving them a little over a fortnight to gain the advantage.
The first step of that chaos creating process was to poison a portion of the enemy army using the tainted drugs and then frame the dealers as the culprits. It would seem like the dealer had betrayed the Hidden Frost side by intentionally distributing poisoned drugs—and the Hidden Frost shinobi would then go after the Goharu family for their role as the suppliers. Not only a portion of the shinobi would be sick, the rest of the shinobi would stop doing drugs due to fear which, damaging the relationship between the shinobi and the Goharu family and loosening their control over their city.
To accomplish that, they needed to abduct the shinobi dealing the drugs—which they were planning to do while he was with Chinatsu—and to fortify the impression of betrayal, they were going to abduct one of the dealer's helpers as well, a genin. For that to happen, Anko, who had been disguising herself as Chinatsu's handmaid, would debut as an escort.
Under Gaku's instructions, Chinatsu had managed to convince the shinobi dealer to bring one of his helpers as Anko's "first customer."
While the two shinobi had their guards down, the team would attack and abduct them.
"What if they don't come?" asked Kameko. "What if, when people start to get sick, he cancels on you to deal with the problem?"
"That's a possibility, but I bet they'll still come," said Takuma. "I don't think someone in his position would forgo a chance to blow off some steam and get his mind off the whole fiasco. And under stress, he would instinctually bring his favourite with him—helping our narrative."
He cracked his knuckles,
"Let's light a fire under their asses."
.
———
Chat with me and the rest of the community on our DISCORD server.
The link is in the synopsis!
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
200+ Classement
Power Stone 
109 Power
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