บท 62: Chapter 62: Planning
If Tekku were mentally a normal child, he would have agreed with the assessment and worries of Asuma. Shinobi like Kakashi, Itachi, and he were exactly what the First and Second Hokage wanted to prevent with the foundation of Konohagakure.
They didn't want children growing up on the battlefield like they did. Many of Tobirama Senju's policies were introduced to prevent that. The Shinobi Academy, the Chunin Exams as a threshold before being allowed to go onto the battlefield, or even the age limit of thirteen, which he introduced when he founded the ANBU.
That the Third Hokage was making exceptions for these rules was a bit of spitting on his teacher's legacy. But Tekku could follow the man's logic since he had good reasons each time.
Kakashi, Itachi, and he were all exceptional Shinobi who had to be treated differently. They were simply too good for their own good. They were the exception that confirmed the rules, and they still applied to everyone else. Now, the Third Hokage, by limiting early graduation to the age of 11, made it even harder for children to land on the battlefield.
The First and Second Hokage simply didn't experience something like the three Great Shinobi Wars during their lifetime. Both of them died before them, the First a few years after his battle with Madara in the Valley of the End, and the Second Hokage's death triggered the first Great Shinobi War, he never participated himself.
It was unfortunate that human nature twisted their good intentions into even greater conflicts with more deaths. It forced the Third Hokage to send children onto the battlefield to protect Konoha.
At least during peace times, ninja children could grow up in peace, unlike during the Warring States Period, where they had to always be ready to die from the moment they could walk and think.
Also, Tekku was different even from Kakashi and Itachi. He only had the body of a child with the experience of three lives, two of them as adults. Technically, he was older than the Third Hokage; the sum of years he lived overall was easily over 100, though some of his memories were messy.
"Owl is a fully trained ANBU operative. There is no need to be concerned about him! He finished the ANBU training at an exceptional speed," signed Tenzo confidently.
Seeing that there was nothing more he could say, Asuma just sighed, "If you say so. I hope you are sure about that. This mission can't fail. The Daimyo made this clear in his message. Follow me!" He signaled them as he led them to the capital through a secret path usually used by the twelve Ninja Guardians to enter the city without troubles and delay.
On a tour through the city, Asuma showed Team Ro the different locations the Guardian Ninjas had discovered during their investigations, which were used by Takeshi Yotsuki for his various shady businesses.
From warehouses and hideouts to full brothels and clubs, with some of the prostitutes looking quite young, the Guardian Ninjas did a thorough job in discovering that network. They uncovered many of these businesses hidden behind false names.
"And that would be the personal mansion of Takeshi Yotsuki. It's quite close to the Daimyo's castle," showed Asuma as they arrived on a roof beside the last location.
"Thank you, Asuma. You gave us a good starting point," signed Captain Tenzo back.
"Don't worry about it. Just doing my job," replied Asuma while taking a deep breath from his cigarette. "Take as much time as you need. The Daimyo expects this network to be rooted out completely once you take action. Before you start with the actual assassination, he expects a report so we can coordinate how we handle their customers. He wants all of them taken care of, so we shouldn't give them a chance to escape," warned Asuma, which Team Ro took with a nod.
"And kid, be careful! The things you will see will be hard to take. I don't know what the old man is thinking, but if you have troubles, ask your team for help. We'll see you around. The Daimyo is expecting me." He warned before he disappeared in a gust of white smoke.
"Don't worry, Owl, you will do fine," comforted Yugao. "He is just worried because you are so young. Asuma is the son of the Third Hokage and had, in the past, a lot of troubles with his father's decisions, especially with the deployment of children during wars. He lost many friends and classmates during the Third Great Shinobi War. But he also could see how that was affecting his father. So when the Third Hokage had to take his office again after the death of the Yondaime, they had a great dispute. In the end, he joined the twelve Guardian Ninjas. Seeing you must have triggered some of these memories." She explained through hand signs.
"Well, it doesn't matter for our mission," reminded Tenzo, "Does anyone have any questions about our objectives?" He asked while looking at Ryota.
"Why are you staring at me?" questioned the young Hyuga.
"Because you often don't listen when we are explaining something," signed Tenzo back with a scary look behind his mask, "Well anyway, we have quite a bit of ground to cover. And you have heard the will of the Daimyo. We need to uncover the whole network before we eliminate them in one direct turn. This is how we will start." Announced Tenzo as he began to explain his plans and assigning each of them different tasks.
Tenzo had decided, under the agreement of the whole team, that it would be most effective if each one of them would infiltrate another big facility. Splitting the team up with so many possible targets was the natural course of action.
For example, Ryota should, for now, secretly break into each of the known warehouses and look for documents and the wares they contained. With his Byakugan, he would have the easiest time scanning their contents and even finding hidden stores. After that, he should do the same for the other locations. His main task was to find hidden documents and registries.
Meanwhile, the other three members of Team Ro should, for now, observe each other's different establishments under Takeshi's control. They should each pick a suitable candidate to study and replace with the Henge, to gather as much information from inside the organization.
They should also use clones to shadow anything that comes into their eyes, from workers to customers, and gather as much intel as possible. Maybe one of them gets lucky and discovers something useful.
While Tenzo and Yugao each got one of the greater brothels assigned, which had a higher likelihood of something disgusting hidden inside, Tekku's target was the personal mansion. He should learn as much as possible and try to learn the schedule of Takeshi, possible contacts for further assassination targets. And most importantly, get as close to Takeshi as possible. After all, it would be Tekku's job to strike him down this mission.
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