Chapitre 253: CH_7.35 (253)
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The link is also in the synopsis
———
.
The old barber was cleaning and sanitising his tools when he heard the chime above his door ring. He turned to see a young teenager wearing a brown hooded coat enter his barbershop. The simple black shirt and grey track pants he wore underneath it hung on his wiry-thin frame like clothes on a hanger.
He removed his hood to reveal his long greasy black hair that was frayed at ends, tangled in places, looking like it hadn't been combed in ages.
"Take a seat," said the old barber.
The teenager removed his coat and threw it on a couch near the door before sitting down in the barber chair.
"So what are we doing today?"
"Haircut," said Takuma as he stared at himself in the mirror. "Take away as little length as you can, but make it presentable."
He'd kept his hair short his whole life because of the low maintenance, but it had grown a lot over the last six months and was becoming a bother. He would've cut it short again, but the long hair helped conceal his identity without looking suspicious.
The old barber looked and touched his hair before nodding.
"We can do that, but you'll have to pay upfront." Takuma looked up at the barber with a raised brow but it only made the old man shrug. "These are desperate times." Takuma sighed before handing the asked price and then closed his eyes, allowing the barber to cast his magic on his hair. Even though it was a simple haircut and dye, he enjoyed the short half hour of someone taking care of him.
It was a pity that he couldn't completely let his guard down.
The old barber washed his hair and then proceeded to cut and style it. But as the barber was cutting his hair, he noticed the deep scars peeking out of Takuma's shirt and wondered how a young teenager received injuries like that. He looked at his face and was dumbstruck when he recognised it, looking at the wanted poster on the wall behind him through the mirror.
The face was more gaunt and the hair changed his look, but it was the same face—the person sitting in his chair was the criminal wanted by the shinobi.
"Keep cutting, old man."
The barber looked down at Takuma and noticed him looking up at him. The tired eyes from before were sharper than the pair of scissors in his hand.
"P-Please, I... I don't want trouble."
"Neither do I. The moment you're done with the cut, I'll leave. I already paid you for it, so don't make me repeat myself," Takuma said and then closed his eyes, making himself comfortable in the chair.
The barber cut the hair slowly to ensure that his trembling hands didn't make any mistake. It didn't make any difference that Takuma was trying to free the city because he was still a symbol of fear. He didn't mind and let the barber go at his own pace; it gave him more time to relax—he had turned the door sign to CLOSE when he entered without the barber noticing it.
"I'm done."
Takuma opened his eyes and looked at himself in the mirror. His hair was straight, not greasy, and barely swept over his shoulders; he didn't like the look, but that was because he wasn't a fan of long hair.
The barber had done a good job.
"Thank you," Takuma said as he headed to the door, but spoke again when he reached it. "I shouldn't need to say it, but don't tell anyone I was here. I don't mind if you do, but the shinobi will come and when they do, they'll take you away, interrogate you, might even torture you when you don't give them anything—which, let's admit, you won't because there's nothing to tell.
"Take my advice and forget that I was here, or you'll end up like the mill factory workers; if you don't know about them, a lot of them haven't been able to come back to their family," He paused, "well, that's mostly because their families were also taken away... so think about that before you do anything."
He didn't look back to gauge the barber's expression and flipped the door sign to OPEN as he left.
———
.
After getting a haircut, Takuma entered the factory base.
It had been more than a week since he had stepped foot in the abandoned factory. Initially, the plan was to use the factory base as the safe house to hold Aranai and Ryoya captive, but Anko rejected the idea because the majority of their gear was in the factory as well and if the Hidden Frost tracked him down while he was interrogating the two shinobi—they would lose all their gear.
Takuma sat down on the dirty couch for a couple minutes before opening a trunk to retrieve a set of water resistant explosive tags. There weren't many of them—only two dozen—because they were situational and standard explosive tags were already slightly water resistant. However, these tags would work even if they were completely submerged in water for about an hour.
He then retrieved his own personal gear before using makeup from a cosmetic bag to hide his dark circles and make himself look 'healthy'. He smiled and the makeup combined with his fresh cut made him look energetic and presentable. Moreover, he looked less like himself, which was always a plus in his situation.
He didn't stay for long and was out of the base in under an hour after changing into neat, but worn down clothes.
His destination was a banquet hall in the ultra affluent part of the city.
When Aranai told him that the jonin named Ebi handled everything, Takuma wondered what the other jonin were doing during their 'vacation'. So he pulled up the research that he had been doing since he'd arrived in Yu and found a big party held for no apparent reason.
However, the part that interested him was there were shinobi who were going to attend the party—one jonin, four chunin, and seven genin. He eventually reached the large, posh banquet hall and went around the back where he saw workers hurrying around doing their jobs, unloading stuff from carts, carrying carpets, flowers, fake pillars, and a dozen more things.
He scouted the area and spotted a person who was ordering people around and managing the commotion.
Takuma took a deep breath, put on a smile, and walked to that man.
"Excuse me," he said.
The man with salt and pepper hair dressed in a white shirt and black pants turned to look at Takuma. He wasn't in a good mood and looked annoyed to have been interrupted from doing his work.
"What?"
"Do you have a job? I'll do anything."
"No, there isn't. Now go away and don't waste my time."
The man turned away to walk away, but Takuma called out to him with a tone of rising desperation.
"I'll do a job for food." Takuma continued when the man turned to look at him. "You don't have to pay me if you feed me." It was a desperate man's offer who just wanted a place to work and was even willing to work for 'free'—and that was any manager's dream.
"Will you wash dishes?" asked the man.
"You'll be able to see your face in the reflection when I'm done with them," said Takuma.
"Good, then you're hired."
"Thank you," Takuma smiled.
———
.
The evening arrived and the guests began to roll in as the sky darkened. The banquet hall was shining like a jewel, casting its light to the sky above. The front of the banquet hall was filled with glitz and glamour with impeccably dressed men and women trying to outdo each other, holding the deep desire to display their affluence.
Among them were a dozen or so shinobi who were the centre of attention as they held the power among the guests. Most of them were genin, who had been brought by the jonin and chunin, but even then, the genin remained as the centre of attention because there were simply more of them. The affluent natives tried to curry favour with them because it was much easier to do so and the other shinobi could easily diminish their influence if they desired.
Takuma was stowed away in the back of the kitchen, away from the celebrations, and very genuinely washing dishes and cooking utensils, putting his back into scrubbing the grease off of the large woks and pans.
"Yeah, keep at it, you're doing good," said the man who had hired Takuma, who happened to be the manager.
"Thank you, sir!" Takuma grinned and scrubbed vigorously.
He took the rack of clean dishes to the front and observed the waiting staff as they came in with empty glasses and went out with full glasses to keep the guests liquored up. He couldn't see outside in the hall, but he had to confirm that the shinobi were here.
"Hey, are there really shinobi here?" he asked one of the waiters.
"Huh yeah, the last of them arrived a few minutes ago."
Before Takuma could ask more questions, the waiter rushed back outside. The manager saw Takuma and yelled at him to go back to his station. Takuma had more questions, but getting the confirmation about the shinobi's arrival was enough. He returned to his station and continued to wash the dishes for the next hour until the party was at its highest.
"I'm going to replace the clean water," Takuma said to the other dishwashers and dragged the huge water basin outside to the tap.
As the basin filled up, Takuma took out the stack of waterproof explosive tags and dropped them into it one at a time. When the basin was completely filled, Takuma weaved hand seals for the Water Clone Jutsu and the water rose, trapping the tags within the writhing mass as it formed a clone. Unlike Takuma, who was wearing a checkered shirt and pants, the clone wore the waiter's outfit.
"I know the answer, but I've to ask: are you sure?" the clone asked after he stepped outside of the basin.
"I fucking don't want to do it, but I'm choosing to," said Takuma, looking straight into his clone's eyes. There was no reason to make excuses to himself—he was more aware than anybody what he was about to do, and what would happen if he was successful.
He was a shinobi of the Hidden Leaf and even though he and his team had limited authority to operate in the country as part of the war effort, he was essentially an outsider and didn't have the authority to operate on the same level as a Hidden Steam shinobi. He could kill a couple people here and there who had clearly colluded with the enemy—allowing him to dispose of someone like Gyon—but that was it—he didn't have the power to be the judge, jury, and executioner in a foreign country.
"I guess we will have to live with it," said the clone with a grim look. "What about Anko? She won't support this… she'll be furious," said the clone. "You might lose her trust…"
"I know," he nodded.
He was operating alone from the start and had autonomy, but there was an implied limit to what all he could do. His actions affected all of his team and his autonomy was granted to him by Anko, the team leader, and all of his actions were her responsibility. His wins were hers, but simultaneously, if he did something wrong, she would be held responsible in addition to him.
"Sucks, doesn't it."
"Go now."
"We always can not do it—"
"Go!"
The clone walked into the building and Takuma stood there silently, staring at the little water left in the basin. He was glad he couldn't see his face in the turbulent water's surface... he didn't want to know what he looked like at that moment.
———
.
The clone entered the hall with a plate of food. The guests had all sat down for the ten course meal prepared by the best chef in the city. He had just swiped the plate of food from the counter and had no idea who it belonged to. Roaming along the edges, he kept within the shadows as the guests sat rapt, their attention fixed on a dance performance taking place.
The shinobi sat in the centre, close to the front, and were gathered in a tight cluster of tables alongside the most affluent residents of Yu. They enjoyed exquisite food and expensive drinks as they watched the performance. He spotted the jonin's table and took a moment to gather himself.
Because he was the one doing it, Takuma wouldn't have any memory of what was about to happen—that was both good and bad—and he himself wouldn't have to wait around to find what the consequences would feel like.
As he stepped out of the shadow, the clone stopped and looked at his stomach. It rippled as the edge of an explosive tag peeked out. The original didn't have the practice of creating clones with things floating inside—and even the most skilled water clone user would have difficulty keeping one with multiple foreign objects inside perfectly stable. He had to hurry.
He took the shortest path toward the jonin's table, and at the same time, used the chakra the original had given him to trigger all the explosive tags inside of him. Their detonation period was ten-seconds-long and he could feel the instability climbing as the tags neared detonation
He was two tables away from the jonin's table when the manager who had hired him stepped in front of him. He was dressed in a clean uniform and was frowning at him.
"What are you doing here?"
"Fuck off."
The manager stumbled when the clone pushed him away and desperately controlled himself to not crash into a guest's table.
The clone finally arrived at the jonin's table and stood a few inches away from the jonin, switching out the plate in front of him.
"Thank you," the jonin said as he glanced at him for a split-second and then returned to looking at the performance.
"Are you sure about that?" said the clone.
"Pardon? What was that?"
The jonin looked up at the clone having missed what the clone said but then looked at his glowing torso. He looked up at the clone with wide eyes, the horror only just beginning to dawn on his face. He immediately rose up to get away, but it was too late.
The clone whispered, "Vacation's over."
BOOM!
The two dozen heavy-duty explosive tags inside the clone's body exploded simultaneously and created a blast so intense it blew everything and anything near it across the room. The table, chairs, people, cutlery, food, decorations, floor tiles—everything—was hurled away from the sheer force created by the two dozen tags.
Not a single person in the hall room—the guests, staff, performers—was left unharmed. The people near the epicentre were ripped apart beyond any hope of recovery while those far from the splash zone sustained severe injuries.
When the noise of the explosion died... only screams filled with pain, fear, and horror remained.
———
.
In the same second, Takuma felt his clone die, the banquet hall was hit by severe tremors. All of the staff in the back screamed in fear when they felt the building shake. They would've thought it was a strong earthquake if not for the noise of the blast that scared everyone
He calmly got up and walked out of the building with the rest of the people who rushed as though their lives depended on it, pushing each other to be the first one out. And while they gawked at the building, he continued to walk and broke into a sprint when he was out of sight. He got away as fast as possible, not willing to risk coming into contact with any of the shinobi that would be at the location in a few minutes' time. If he got caught, he would have a fate worse than death.
He eventually stopped behind in a back alley he wasn't familiar with and leaned against a fence-wall. He had just massacred the city's elite to kill one jonin, a few chunin, and half a dozen genin. The enemy shinobi aside, he had killed the turncoats traitors who had betrayed their home and country—they were scum who deserved to die.
However… in doing so, he had sacrificed several innocent people who were simply in that banquet hall to earn a living for themselves and their families. They hadn't done anything wrong. Takuma's chest heaved as the consequences of actions hit him with full force. What had he done? Those people didn't deserve to die. Not even someone from the Hidden Steam would be justified to kill them.
'I killed a jonin.'
He had made the upcoming battle safer for the main forces which would most definitely save lives which would've been lost if that jonin was on the battlefield. A hundred thoughts populated his mind, trying to justify his actions so he could send away the horrendous feeling attacking his mind, body, and soul.
Takuma closed his eyes and suddenly all of the chaotic thoughts parted and a single memory took centrestage.
A tragedy of fire painted the scene as the screams and cried of innocent refugees filled the space. Men, women, elderly, and children, all begged and struggled for their lives as a team of shinobi razed the camp to the ground, massacring everyone without any mercy—all of it done in the name of sowing chaos in the heart of the enemy to gain an advantage.
The smiling face of a sweet little girl with a missing front tooth playing with her doll flashed past Takuma's mind and he felt something inside him break. He felt something coming up and bent down as a thick rush of fluid hurled out and splashed on the wall, twice. A sharp winy stench filled the cool air.
He staggered, nauseous, and squatted in the middle of the street with his face buried in his tucked knees. Breathless sobs echoed in the dark and empty street for a minute before they abruptly ended.
Takuma got up with a blank slate of an expression with dull eyes. His body trembled that he stopped by clenching his fist to wrestle back control of his body from his emotions.
"I… k-killed a jonin," he said to himself.
Even if the shinobi had somehow survived, which he doubted, one thing was for sure, when Yu was liberated, the power balance and social ladder of the city would go through a massive change...
...For he had plunged the city into chaos and from that dark night of chaos a bright future would emerge.
Four days remained until the main forces arrived at Yu.
.
———
Chat with me and the rest of the community on our DISCORD server.
The link is in the synopsis!
Chapitre 254: CH_7.36 (254)
Want to read ahead of schedule? Head over to Patreón @
[ https://www̧̧.patreón.com/fictiononlyreader ]
The link is also in the synopsis
———
.
Martial law was declared in the city and people were ordered to stay inside their homes and only leave if it was absolutely essential. Anyone wandering outside were subject to mandatory search and interrogations and even arrests if they were even slightly suspicious.
In Chinatsu's house, the entire team sat together with a sombre atmosphere bearing down on them. Even though the Hidden Frost shinobi were keeping an eye on them, it didn't mean that they were chained to the house. They had to keep up appearances and go about their days as usual—which meant finding new clients, meeting those clients, taking care of their regular needs.
They had found out what had happened last night—or at least, a part of it. There was no official news regarding the explosion that killed dozens upon dozens of people, and their source of information was a varying cluster of rumours floating around the city. They were calling it a terrorist attack that had killed many of the city's well respected and beloved people.
Of course, given the location of the blast—a high-end banquet hall—those people were neither well respected or beloved, but at the same time, there had to be staff that worked in the banquet hall who were also killed.
"He really blew them up?" Daiki gulped nervously.
"Why would he do that?" Kameko asked, her brows locked in a furrow.
The team couldn't be sure that it was Takuma behind it, but they had to assume so. After Motohiro's group had been arrested, the various resistance groups had gone silent in fear that they would be pulled in and were biding time until the heat subsided.
"We can't just assume it was him," said Iori, defending her youngest teammate.
Even though Takuma had been largely operating independently from the rest of the team, Anko was still their leader, and most things were pre-approved by her before they were executed. If Takuma was the one behind the blast; that plan wasn't approved by her. Gyon's murder wasn't approved either, but the team understood why he had done so, and that he needed autonomy when they were under surveillance—but killing so many people... it was hard to come to terms with that.
Killing came with the trade, but most shinobi didn't enjoy it—at least, not at first.
"The bosses won't be happy," Daiki commented.
Yu was a city in the Land of Hot Water, thus it came under the purview of the Hidden Steam, and even though Hidden Leaf was heading the mission, they couldn't just kill such a large amount of civilians even if they were turncoats who were helping the enemy—that duty and right belonged to the country's Daimyo and the Hidden like them weren't supposed to overstep like that and there were real chances that Takuma and the team would get in trouble because of it.
"You're silent in all of this," Anko looked at Gaku sitting beside Chinatsu. "This is your city; don't you have any thoughts?"
Gaku stared at his lit cigarette; he hadn't taken a drag in a minute. He looked up at Anko and chuckled,
"As long as it benefits him when he returns home... he will do anything," recalling Takuma's words when they had gone to renew the prisoner seals.
Everyone was confused and when Anko asked him what he meant, Gaku remained silent and just smoked his cigarette.
"Let's worry about this after we have confirmed that it was him. It's useless to speculate when we don't know if it was him—and if it was him, then I believe there must've been a reason." Rikku walked away from the group and went up to the second floor.
Even though what she said was true, it didn't alleviate their worries one bit.
———
.
Rikku went to the room she shared with Kameko. It was small and felt claustrophobic when she was agitated—like she was now. She stood by her words of not judging Takuma before they had all the facts, but she was still nervous if it was true.
She couldn't help but think that the blast might be an act of revenge. Motohiro and his group were Takuma's contact that he developed, and they had been arrested because Gyon from the Kumi family had turned traitor. Rikku wondered if Takuma blamed himself for that. He had obviously punished Gyon, but what if he had taken revenge against the turncoats by blowing them up when they were enjoying their lives as the rest of the city suffered.
There was also the unspoken problem of the banquet hall staff that had died during the blast. She could tell that Anko didn't like that Takuma might have killed so many people, but Rikku didn't care about the traitorous turncoats, but the death of the blameless staff didn't sit well with her. If Takuma was indeed behind the blast, then she was of the opinion that he was in the wrong.
Fwip!
Rikku's instincts sharpened when she heard the familiar sound of a kunai and immediately hugged the wall to get away from the window where she was an open target.
She got ready to jump to the door so she could rush down to inform her team about the attack when she noticed the kunai embedded in her floor. Its handle was wrapped in cloth like they usually were, but she noticed that the cloth had black spots of ink. She considered that for a second and then crawled across the floor to grab the kunai before jumping back to the wall.
Unwrapping the wrap, she noticed that there was writing on the inside of the cloth. It was in code, so it took her a moment to decode and understand, but when she did, she walked down to the living room where the team was still discussing the explosion.
She stopped on the stair steps when she registered what she just read before rushing into the living room.
"He killed a jonin, four chunin, and seven genin," she announced.
The conversation died down and everyone looked at her.
"What?" asked Anko.
Rikku gave her the cloth wrap and Anko's lips parted in surprise as she read the words written by Takuma.
Anko gulped, "H-He killed a jonin? He killed a jonin... He killed—!"
The room went silent before exploding into questions. Kameko got up and snatched the wrap to confirm for herself. They couldn't believe it even after they read it with their own eyes. Their source of information was gossip they had heard from others and in that gossip there was mention of shinobi being part of the dead was nowhere part of the gossip.
The death of a jonin changed everything. The team was sent to Yu with some expectations, but killing a jonin was nowhere in those expectations. That one jonin off the board was so big that the four chunin that he had killed weren't noticed.
The impact he made was so huge that if the entire team decided to duck out of the mission right now, it would still be considered a massive success.
But that wasn't the entire message from Takuma.
"What about his suggestion?" Iori asked.
At the end of his message, Takuma had suggested abandoning their cover and going into hiding because after his blast, the Hidden Frost shinobi would be picking up people who were even remotely suspicious—and the team was more than remotely suspicious. For their safety, it was better for them to go into hiding before they were arrested by the shinobi.
"I think we should go into hiding." Gaku looked at Chinatsu with a sombre look. "Your job is done; I think it's better if both of us go into hiding as soon as possible so I can keep you safe."
"Wait, both of you? You're planning to split up?" Kameko asked with a frown.
The entire team looked at Gaku because of that.
"Like Chinatsu, my job as your native contact is over. I'm going to take Chinatsu with me to hide somewhere safe none of you can find us," Gaku said as if stating the obvious. "We're going to only show up after the main forces invade the city and the dust settles—until then, it's going to be like we don't exist."
The team was taken aback because Yu was Gaku's hometown and he was refusing to fight for its freedom. They thought about their respective hometowns and they would've done anything to protect their home, so they thought that Gaku would be fighting with them.
"Don't give me that look," Gaku sneered at them. "I was pulled out of retirement. I'm not a shinobi anymore for a reason... I'm not going to put my life in danger by participating in a full-on battle."
There was a silence in the room. They couldn't force Gaku to participate and even though it felt morally wrong, he was only brought in as their inside connect and not an active combatant. It was as he said: his job was done.
"Do you need any help?," Anko asked Gaku.
"I'll manage," Gaku smiled lightly.
"Very well," Anko stood up. "We leave in the evening—all of us."
After two months, they were going to shed their covers and return to their lives as shinobi.
———
.
Ebi was nursing a drink alone in his office when he heard a knock on the door. He looked up to see Kon at his door. Before he could send him away, Kon stepped into the office and settled down across from him on the table, sighed as he rubbed his shoulder.
"I'm not in the mood, tree hugger. If you value your life, leave this instant," Ebi said as he picked up his glass. He wasn't always sure where Kon was from; he had a few guesses that he shaved down from observing the man, but when he provided detailed information about 'Takuma'—it made him sure that Kon was from the Hidden Leaf.
Kon didn't move and even had the gall to smile. Ebi wanted to punch a hole in his face.
"Were you close to any of those shinobi?" he asked.
They hadn't known each other for long, but Kon hadn't seen Ebi drink once in that time. The jonin was a workaholic with absolutely no vice—or he had done a great job hiding them from him. Seeing him drink meant that he must've been affected to get intoxicated.
Ebi sighed. "The Hidden Frost is a small village. I don't know about the big villages, but for us—if you were a jonin, you knew other jonin because there aren't many of us in the first place. I wasn't his friend, but I knew him; we went on missions when we were chunin and even did a couple missions as jonin. Hell, he even invited me to his wedding... all three of them."
"Well... I can't relate. Don't have much experience with weddings," Kon chuckled.
Ebi put his glass down and his chakra flared. Kon froze up in his chair and clutched the armrests as he faced the jonin's full, blood-stained fury.
It was intense, but nothing he hadn't faced before.
"If you want me to put you out of your misery, just say it," Ebi rose up from his chair.
"I-It was him," Kon said, the killing intent making it difficult.
"Who?"
"Takuma."
"Again, how does that help me?" asked Ebi as he walked around the desk, increasing the bloodlust expressed through chakra, suffocating Kon.
"H-He k-killed a jonin. T-That was his true t-target." The muscles in Kon's neck flexed as he continued, "T-The Hidden Leaf is coming for the c-city, and they are coming soon-n."
That made Ebi stop; he pulled his blood lust back and glared down at Kon.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
Kon took a moment to catch his breath and comfortably slumped in the chair before continuing. "He took out a jonin and four genin—just in a day, your combat ability has taken a significant dive. I think the Hidden Leaf sent him to the city to weaken you from the inside and prepare you for the forces who will take the city back."
"You said: soon. Why do you say that?"
Kon raised his fingers one at a time. "He poisoned your shinobi... Kidnapped two of your shinobi the next day... Murdered one of the city's criminal big shots in his own home... And now he took out the city's most powerful along with some powerful shinobi." A look of begrudging respect appeared on Kon's face. "Not only are the civilians fearful because of the blast and martial law—but your men are restless because one day they were ruling the city and in the next day, they lost a jonin and four chunin.
"They're scared—scared that they'll be abducted like Aranai and Ryoya and disappear, or die in a freak explosion. There's nothing you can do to remedy that. That guy has primed you guys to be an optimal target for an invasion."
"...How soon?"
Ebi had noticed how agitated his men were as they sifted through the debris in search of clues, wondering if the chunk of meat they found belonged to their fellow shinobi. He had to imagine everyone else was feeling the same.
"I'll give you less than a week."
Three days remained until the main forces arrived at Yu.
.
———
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The link is in the synopsis!
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200+ Classement
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