Naruto: The Outsider's Resolve: CH_565: Arresting the Teacher (Patreon)

In a briefing room, a group of armed shinobi gathered around a large table with several documents, such as a map of the city block and a blueprint of an apartment unit, among others pertaining to the gathering.

“The target is Chūnin Mizuki, an instructor at the shinobi academy.” Uchiha Kano addressed the room of her peers. As usual, she wore her red-tinted aviators even indoors so no one could tell whether her dōjutsu was active. “He’s a Hidden Leaf Village native and currently lives at this location with his fiancée, Chūnin Tsubaki.”

Arisu stood next to Kano, handing the background documents she had prepared to the team formed to capture Mizuki. As promised, she was allowed to stay on the case, but her former boss, Uchiha Kano, was invited on as the co-lead. Since she was a chūnin, Kano was named the first officer on the record. While Arisu was miffed, she wasn’t surprised; it was procedure. It helped that she knew Kano from before. She had taught her a lot when she was a rookie in the force.

Kano continued, “He had an exemplary record before he took up teaching, but there was a black spot on his record that nearly cost him his spot at the academy. He claimed that one of his team members had died on the mission due to injury, but his other teammates disputed his account, claiming it was far too exaggerated compared to their recollection. It was suspected that he killed his teammate; though, the investigation was dropped due to the lack of evidence.”

Kano wasn’t the only addition to the case. She looked to the shadowy corner of the room where an ANBU-nin sat in a chair. After being informed of Mizuki’s meetings with the Land of Rapids delegation, they had opened their own case file and were collaborating on it with the Police Force. The Police Force was to handle the arrest and collection of any physical evidence, while ANBU would take charge during interrogations.

Arisu had had a few run-ins with ANBU as part of her job, but it was mostly through the departmental liaisons.

“Arisu?”

Kano’s voice brought her back. She addressed the room as the field leader. “We’ve confirmed that the target will be at home today. We’ll take him there. I expect him to resist arrest and attempt to flee. His fiancée will be at home; we’ve found no evidence pointing to her involvement, and we will attempt to draw her away as per the plan, but we don’t know how she’ll react, so remain vigilant and be prepared in case she attempts to help the target in any way.”

She had extensive experience with raids and arrests. When the Narcotics Taskforce was still new, she and Takuma had divided responsibilities, and planning the raids and arrests was part of hers. That role solidified when Takuma showed his heavy hand during raids; everyone on the team was more comfortable if she was in charge of the field operations. Even after the task force transitioned into the full-fledged department, she retained it as part of her responsibilities. Her proven track record and her history as the founding member of the Narcotics Taskforce were why chūnin followed her lead on the field.

“We need the target captured alive,” Kano said. “Lethal force against him is disallowed unless necessary. Injure him severely, and you’ll find yourself sitting before an internal investigative panel because they really want to talk to this guy.” She jutted her chin towards the ANBU sitting in the corner.

“We do,” the operative chimed in, her voice feminine.

“You heard her,” Kano said. “Let’s get this sucker into custody.”

———

.

People watched as a group of armed shinobi entered the apartment building. The residents gave them a wide berth when they saw the Police Force insignia and followed their instructions to return home and lock their doors.

Soon, the doorbell of Unit 305 rang.

“Yes, yes, I’m here.” Tsubaki put on her outdoor slippers and checked herself in the full-length mirror attached to the back of the front door before opening the door to greet a teenage girl with green hair holding a package. “Oh, a package?” she said, receiving the box that weighed nothing for its size as though there was nothing inside. “Do I need to sign for it? Please wait, I’ll bring my seal.”

“Chūnin Tsubaki, I’m an officer with the Leaf Military Police Force,” said Arisu, not letting go of the dummy box prop.

“What?” Tsubaki said, incredulously.

In the corridor outside, hidden from her view, was a group of shinobi on both sides of the door, ready to spring at a moment’s notice.

“Please remain calm; we have a warrant for your fiancée’s arrest.” Arisu glanced down at the top of the box. “Is Chūnin Mizuki inside?”

Tsubaki’s eyes widened in surprise when she noticed that the delivery detail slip pasted on the top of the box was actually a warrant. She stared for a silent moment before giving an almost dazed nod.

“If you follow my instructions, it’s all going to be okay, ma’am,” Arisu said, maintaining eye contact with Tsubaki. Usually, they would’ve let the target surrender, but because Mizuki suspected involvement with foreign forces, they had to be careful. “I want you to call him to the door. Take a deep breath and call out to him. It’s very simple: Mizuki, or whatever you call him,” she paused, “there’s a package for you.”

“What is this about—”

“Ma’am, we can discuss this later.”

Tsubaki turned to look inside with a conflict twisting her expression. Arisu got ready to give the signal in case she gave the target a warning.

“…Honey, there’s a package for you,” Tsubaki said, her voice flat as though she was forcing herself.

“Please step aside,” Arisu said.

A few seconds later, Mizuki appeared in the corridor. Arisu kept her face straight as he looked at her, oblivious to his imminent arrest, but he stopped in the middle of the hallway and looked surprised. It was only for a second that he looked at Tsubaki and then at Arisu before turning around to bolt inside the house.

Arisu was taken aback. Had Tsubaki alerted Mizuki somehow? But then she noticed the mirror attached to the back of the door. Mizuki had seen the hidden shinobi in the reflection.

“The target’s fleeing!” Arisu yelled as she rushed inside. She heard a rattle and saw the sliding door to the balcony at the back of the apartment open as Mizuki leapt out. “He exited the unit from the balcony!”

Mizuki landed on the balcony a floor below, then channelled chakra to the soles of his bare feet, twisting his body to slam them flat against the exterior wall. He sprinted vertically down the face of the building.

Above him, Arisu leaned over the balcony. “Target is rabbiting! North face, heading down!” She dug into her pocket and pulled out a mini-scroll that held one of her babies.

Mizuki clicked his tongue, his eyes darting frantically, and spotted two more officers reacting to the shout and looking up at him. His hands went to his waistband from habit, but he had no weapons on him. He didn’t even have boots. Desperation clawed at his throat as he quickly made a decision. He rapidly wove a sequence of seals and slapped his palm against the bricks beneath his feet. The wall rippled and a multitude of rocks shot out at the two officers coming towards him. They were unfortunate to be mid-air, couldn’t dodge, and fell to the ground.

It bought him a couple of seconds.

Mizuki weaved a couple of hand seals and pushed off the wall with a massive surge of speed from the Body Flicker Jutsu. With a sharp tug of air, he appeared atop the eight-foot boundary wall separating the apartment complex from the street.

He had just found his balance when he heard a very familiar heavy, whistling shriek tearing through the air. A medium-sized fūma shuriken slammed into the concrete cap of the wall a few inches from his bare toes, burying itself deep into the masonry. The impact rattled the wall. Startled, Mizuki lost his footing and tumbled backwards, crashing into the manicured bushes that lined the boundary.

He scrambled to his hands and knees, panic overriding the pain in his bruised ribs. He looked up at the fūma shuriken embedded in the wall above him. A weapon. He reached up, intending to yank it free—

Thwack. Thwack. Thwack.

The standard kunai slammed into the boundary wall near him. He flinched, his eyes locking onto the paper tags tied to the ring-pommels, the kanji already burning with glowing red chakra.

“No—!” Mizuki threw his arms over his face and curled into a tight, defensive ball, bracing for the concussive heat that would tear him apart. Only there was no fire. Just a blinding flash of pure white light and a deafening, high-pitched crack.

Mizuki cried out, his retinas burning as a sea of white afterimages overlaid his vision. His ears rang so loudly he couldn’t hear his own ragged breathing. He got up and, barely catching the sound of boots against concrete, ran away.

On the balcony, Arisu slapped the railing in triumph as she saw her team closing in on him as he ran towards the park inside the complex. She couldn’t hurt him, but she could definitely make him think they were going to push him to the corner where he would make mistakes.

Relying on memory, he leapt over a row of bushes and landed in the park. The moment he felt the soft grass, it was on instinct that he slammed his hands into a bunch of seals as he felt his pursuers close in on him. He could almost feel their hands grabbing his collar.

Earth Release: Subterranean Voyage

The soil parted around him like water. He sank rapidly into the darkness, diving deep beneath the root systems of the park’s trees. The earth was suffocating, pressing tightly against his skin, but he swam frantically through the loam, putting as much distance as he could between himself and the end of life as he knew it.

On the other side of the park, the ground rippled, and Mizuki breached the surface. He pulled himself out of the earth and stumbled forward. He looked up, saw the boundary wall ahead, and made the final sprint.

A sharp, metallic hiss sliced through the dark. Before Mizuki could react, a surujin lashed out from the shadows of the oaks. The heavy steel whipped violently around his ankles, the chain snapping taut in an instant. His legs swept clean; he hit the ground face-first. As he thrashed and clawed at the rope, a shadow fell over him. He looked up, ready to fight, only to freeze as he stared into the red eyes of the Sharingan of the woman with red-tinted aviators resting on her head.

He couldn’t tear his eyes away, nor could he move.

The surujin that he was struggling against now sat undisturbed around his head.

The next moment, a knee drove ruthlessly between his shoulder blades, pinning his spine to the earth. A heavy, gloved hand grabbed a fistful of his silver hair, slamming his face back down into the dirt before he could weave a single seal.

Mizuki suddenly realised he could struggle, but it was too late as chakra-suppressing handcuffs snapped shut around his wrists with a sealing click.

The chase was over.