Naruto: The Outsider’s Resolve

CH_9.40 (355)

Two ANBU-nin sat around an outdoor table in a beautiful, serene guest courtyard usually reserved for only the most important visitors. The refreshments and confectioneries set for them on the table were untouched, and the tea had long grown cold.

"It'll be an hour in a few minutes," said Campbell as he glanced at the three shinobi sitting in the corridor there to serve them with anything they needed but, in truth, were stationed there to keep an eye on them. "Should we go see what's taking so long?"

"No need. It's just a power play," Barbary replied as he leisurely read a paperback. "Jōnin Kumagoro will arrive when he feels he has demonstrated that he has more important things at hand and won't drop everything just because ANBU showed up at his door..."

Onikuma Kumagoro was a jōnin commander in charge of one of the biggest Leaf military installations. His rank and position allowed him to keep ANBU-nin like them waiting, especially when he knew they didn't bring good news. Only another jōnin could have made someone like him move against his will—and neither Campbell nor Barbary were jōnin—which wouldn't have mattered as ANBU operatives never revealed their general rank and only used their internal hierarchy when necessary.

Campbell was a squad leader while Barbary was a lieutenant. They would've needed a captain, who was always a jōnin, to make Kumagoro move. But that didn't mean they didn't have a sway. Sooner or later, Kumagoro would have to face them.

"Call over Ratel," said Barbary. He guessed that Takuma would want

Campbell raised his ANBU-issue handheld radio. "Already did."

———
 .

"Why is the inspector not here yet!" Kumagoro asked his adjutant, who felt like he was walking on pins.

"I have sent word. He should be here soon, sir," Shen replied, nervously glancing at the door, wishing the inspector would come through in the next word.

"I wanted him here yesterday!"

Kumagoro was a strict man who followed a strict schedule every day. He did everything from waking up in the morning to sleeping at night at the same time and disliked any deviations from schedule. Around now, he would've been at the office, ready to start work—but today, that schedule was disrupted, and he was still at home, which didn't bode well for anyone.

There was a knock on the door, but it wasn't the inspector like they had hoped. The Head of the Fist Division, who was summoned urgently a little after the news of the ANBU's arrival, stepped into the lounge.

"You called for me?" asked the First Division Head, a veteran chunin and one of Kumagoro's closest confidants he had brought with him when he assumed control of Maizuru Quarters.

"Shen... you have a list of Kanaoka agencies?" asked Kumagoro.

"Yes, sir."

He looked at the First Division Head. "Take that list. Head to the town with two squads without uniforms and clean out those agencies. I don't want to see a trace of them active. Warn the agency people to go underground if they don't want to be hunted by the Hidden Leaf. I want them to really understand that...

"Get this done by the end of today; you must leave within the hour."

The First Division Head nodded. "Have the list sent over," he told Shen and left without further questions.

A moment later, an anxious genin entered the room with silent steps in hopes he wouldn't attract Kumagoro's attention, but it was for naught as the jōnin clocked him the moment he entered the room. He hung his head as he approached Shen to whisper something in his ear. Even before Shen could convey the message, Kumagoro's face darkened.

"What?" he snapped.

"...The inspector isn't in his room."

Everyone in the room expected Kumagoro to blow up, but he took a deep breath before standing up.

"Let's go meet the ANBU."

———
 .

Takuma, dressed in full ANBU gear he had brought along with him, sealed in a scroll which he carried on his person, walked into the courtyard where his team was waiting for him.

"Hey, stop! You can't..." A guard tried to stop him from entering but stopped when he saw the ANBU get-up.

Takuma walked to the circular table in the middle of the yard and took an empty seat beside Campbell and Barbary.

Barbary closed his book and looked over at him. His lion mask hid his usually jovial self, leaving only his imposing physique on show. "Report, Ratel," he said with a tone of authority.

Takuma gave both of them a rundown of everything he had done since coming to Maizuru, expanding on what he had written in his short-form, coded report.

"Is this enough?" He wanted confirmation that the evidence and testimonies he gathered were enough to proceed with arrests and a formal investigation. The evidence, such as leave records, was enough to indict, but it wouldn't be enough for sentencing. They needed more, which could be obtained by interrogating the people involved.

"It's enough," Campbell answered before sighing. "To think a trash mail would turn into this. It almost doesn't feel real. This is big; the aftermath will be colossal. We'll need to turn over the entire base to find how deep this scandal goes."

"It'll be a greater mess depending on who they've been assassinating," Barbary added.

Running an off-the-books assassination squad was bad in itself, but the actual influence of their destruction could only be calculated by the identities of their targets. Assassinations were a heavily regulated class of missions. All hidden villages took assassinations, but the majority of their targets were always foreign nations because missions where a citizen was the target were rarely accepted.

It would go against national security if the Hidden Leaf were commercially assassinating Land of Fire's citizens. So, Leaf shinobi were hired to assassinate a target in the Land of Wind, and vice versa, with Sand shinobi taking the contract for a Land of Fire citizen's life.

Such a dynamic didn't stop people from buying assassination services, but it made it difficult as they would have to contact shinobi from another country, which was a dangerous endeavour if someone didn't know exactly what they were doing. Of course, people could hire non-shinobi chakra users or former shinobi, who the hidden villages didn't regulate, but that was equally shady and expensive.

Folks who knew they were prone to being assassinated hired shinobi for security—but those who could afford it paid protection retainers to hidden villages to reject every assassination job against them that came their way. So, someone living in the Land of Fire would pay every hidden village—including the Hidden Leaf—to reject contracts on their lives.

It was a more profitable endeavour because an assassination resulted in a single payment, whereas rejecting contracts meant a repeatable retainer.

"About that squad, I put up—" Takuma went silent and straightened his back when he felt a rush of memories flood his brain. "I put up a clone on the Third Squad's squad leader; he just popped himself. It seems they're preparing to head somewhere." He had slipped out a clone at night when the guards on the night shift dozed off.

"Go after them," Barbary said to the other two. "I will deal with things here."

"Got it. We'll be back soon," Campbell said as he stood up. He glanced at Takuma, who followed after as they left the courtyard with Body Flicker Jutsu.

Barbary looked at the shinobi there to keep an eye on them, who turned stiff when they felt his gaze. "You shouldn't follow them. But I won't be unreasonable; you can go report to your seniors." His voice was soft and barely above a whisper, but it reached their ears loud and clear.

"Shit, I forgot the page number," he whispered under his breath as he opened his paperback, but just as he was about to flip through the book, he glanced at the entrance to the yard. He closed his book again, and a few moments later, Onikuma Kumagoro entered the yard.

Barbary stood up to greet him. "Jōnin Kumagoro, thank you for meeting with me."

Kumagoro walked past him without replying and sat down at the table.

"Yeah, you're not welcome. Not at all," he sighed.

Barbary smiled behind his mask and sat down, ready to start the conversation.

———
 .

Asawa Fukoji was the leader of the Third Squad. He had joined when he was a genin and was now its leader as a chunin. He attributed a lot of his success to the squad.

He was there when they had crossed the unspoken boundaries of Kanaoka jobs and taken an assassination. It was a civilian with local influence in his area, protected by a gang of chakra users with close to zero ninjutsu skills. It had gone exceedingly well, but they didn't think they would get any more assassinations—and that was true for half a year, after which they had another offer to consider.

He was hesitant back then. It felt that accepting another assassination would set them on a risky course that could ruin them if they weren't careful. But he wasn't the leader back then, and the rest of the squad was enthusiastic about the chance to earn money. In the end, he agreed. The mission paid more as their target was a Leaf rogue-nin past his prime. They had succeeded without much problem.

That was the start of the Third Squad moonlighting as a hit crew, and it changed the lives of everyone involved. They started earning more with each job because they became more difficult as their reputation grew. Money wasn't the only thing that improved. Conducting assassinations was not easy; it took planning and execution to do a clean hit. Doing a job every two to three months gave the team valuable field experience that translated to high performance on official missions from Maizuru.

The Third Squad's then leader was promoted to the Second Division Head, while Fujoki was given a field promotion to chunin and made squad leader.

The moment he became leader, Fukoji changed how the Third Squad operated. Their missions had grown to the point where they were not only targeting wealthy and affluent targets with security teams made up of Leaf shinobi—but also powerful targets like chunin or equivalent. They were doing high-profile assassinations that brought in a lot of money, which meant more eyes looking for them.

He established several rules. The maximum number of jobs was capped at five per year. The members weren't allowed to flaunt the money they earned because wealth attracted malicious curiosity. He had the Division Head assign them low-profile, mundane jobs at Maizuru so they wouldn't garner attention. When they got their second chunin, Fukoji went as far as constructing a false dispute between the Third Squad and the Second Division Head as an excuse for why they had two chunin.

By establishing a narrative that the Third Squad was being kept down because they had offended the Second Division Head who was abusing his authority against them, they avoided any questions about why such a squad wasn't doing difficult missions. Of course, the Division Head was getting paid handsomely to cover their tracks and to compensate for the hit to his reputation.

Those who broke the rules were punished. When Uyegita Gekin started flaunting his money by buying all the pub drinks, flushing his money down the drain, gambling, and just being an overall nuisance, he caused a ruckus and risk for the squad—Fukoji knew he had to go, so he orchestrated it.

His teammates said they were blessed by fortune to have not faced any major road bumps other than Gekin—but he disagreed with that sentiment. They had a smooth road because Fukoji had paved it properly with sound decisions.

Even his latest decision to go forward with the job felt worth it to maintain their perfect record reputation. But as he stared at the two masked shinobi, one cloaked in white and the other in black, standing in their way, he felt that the risk had finally caught up to them.

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