Naruto: The Outsider's Resolve: CH_567: Work on Multiple Fronts (Patreon)

The next morning, Takuma called Hippo to his office.

“The day before yesterday, the Police Force arrested an academy instructor. He was selling information to the Land of Rapids brokers.” Takuma explained the nature of the information Mizuki was selling.

Hippo was stunned but then sighed. “Those guys sure know how to pick their assets. I’m almost envious of them.”

The level of access the Hidden Whirlpool had established—even when everyone knew what they were doing—took decades of slow and careful planning and execution to bear fruit. Most of their investments failed, but those that bore fruit made all the failures worth it.

“Shouldn’t ANBU be handling this type of case?” Hippo asked.

“The folks at Tachinid’s Inquisitor Unit handled the interrogation.”

Hippo made a face. The relationship between the two units was rocky at best. Even though Tachinid’s problem was with the Arborists, all other units and squads were being shunned for their connection. Both sides were dissatisfied; even the squads under Takuma’s unit were no exception. They hadn’t done anything to have their work suddenly made harder.

On an official level, Tachinid’s units couldn’t deny cooperation, but the lion’s share of cooperation in ANBU was done through ‘unofficial’ means. Work happened through personal connections and favours, but since the higher-ups were fighting, the people down the ladder couldn’t use the established systems that made much cross-unit collaboration possible.

“Do you remember what you told me about Yakushi Kabuto trading information cards on participants during the Chūnin Exams?” Takuma asked.

During the last Chūnin Exam hosted by the Hidden Leaf, Hippo participated so he could tail Kabuto, keep an eye on him, and see if he interacted with foreign shinobi—which he did, almost too much. His information cards were popular, and he traded them for information in kind about legitimate candidates from other villages. Before the official events even started, he had traded and amassed an impressive amount of information.

“You don’t mean…” Hippo thought back to what he had seen, and a realisation dawned on him. “His cards on the Leaf genin had an impressive amount of detail. I just assumed it was because he was a Leaf shinobi as well, but if you’re implying it's true…”

Takuma nodded. “He either purchased information from Mizuki or the brokers.”

The possibility that Kabuto amassed information on his own was low; he was a busy iryō-nin at the hospital by day and then did house calls on private patients after work.

“We’ll get to know if Mizuki knew Kabuto in a couple of days”—he had asked Amami to confirm—“but I think it’s more likely that he got it from the brokers and that he trades the information he gathers during the exams to the brokers.”

Fresh information on the talent of various hidden villages twice a year was a great deal even for the Land of Rapids brokers.

“Can’t say I know this Mizuki fellow,” Hippo said as the premier Kabuto expert in ANBU. “So, what do you plan to do with this?”

“Open an official file with Kabuto as a person of interest. There’s more than reasonable suspicion that he’s in contact with foreign brokers and has been in contact with many high-profile subjects.” Kabuto was famous amongst some really influential people who didn’t want to have their problems advertised. “It’s possible that he’s selling information that he heard from those people… You know, how people can be with their trusted doctors.”

“They lie? I always lie to my doctor about how much I drink,” Hippo said, gesturing like he was tipping a shot glass.

Takuma just stared at him.

“It’s embarrassing, you know. This job is stressful,” Hippo added.

Takuma acknowledged his subordinate’s joke with an appreciative nod before swiftly moving on. “Tachinid needs a win right now, and he will surely make a big deal out of this. By pointing suspicion towards Kabuto, we can make him a person of interest and then get increased surveillance on him.”

As a lieutenant, he had a budget to manage and run his unit with. He couldn’t pour much of his money into Kabuto without justification. But if Kabuto was made a person of interest, more resources could be poured into surveillance. Takuma’s unit wouldn’t run the surveillance, but that didn’t matter as long as there were more eyes on Kabuto.

“What if Tachinid’s people decide to bring him in?” Hippo asked. “Wouldn’t that spook whoever’s behind him?”

Takuma had carefully constructed a persona for Kabuto that hypothesised there was someone behind him, which was the truth, but there was no solid evidence to prove it. Fortunately, he had managed to convince Hippo without tangible proof. Replacing Hippo after the time he had spent keeping an eye on Kabuto would be difficult; he didn’t want that to happen so close to what was to come.

“That’s always a possibility, but with the people under his treatment, they’d hesitate to bring him in without something concrete. I’m not worried about it. And if by chance they do bring him in and then let him go, I’d authorise round-the-clock surveillance in case he tries to book it.”

If nothing else, he didn’t want Kabuto to leave the Hidden Leaf Village dead or alive.

———

.

After his meeting with Hippo, Takuma grabbed his cloak and mask on his way out of the headquarters to a black site in another part of the town. After going through security, he declined an escort through the site, and he made his way to one of the rest lounges.

“I appreciate all the hard work, but if you’re going to rest, go do it at home in your own bed,” Takuma said, switching on the light in the dark room, much to the sole occupant's annoyance.

Tern pushed the sheet off her and slunk off the bed in an oversized sleeveless top and baggy pants, her hair a mess. She stared at him for a few dazed seconds, then rubbed her face with a long sigh.

“I didn’t complain when you sent me away on this mission because I wanted to avoid home.”

“Fair enough,” Takuma said. He wasn’t in any position to say anything about the environment within the Shimura clan. He had done his job; there was no need to rub it in. “Still, if you want to get some privacy, there have to be a couple of empty safehouses that you can crash at.”

“Thanks, boss. I’ll think about it.” She clearly didn’t want to talk about it. “Give me a few minutes; I’ll change, and then we can go see him.”

The guards transferred Tern’s prisoner to an interrogation cell. Basara looked tired and terrified as he rocked nervously in his chair, muttering under his breath. His injuries had been healed to the point that they weren’t a danger, but not completely so as to ensure he didn’t forget about why he had gotten them in the first place.

“Do you think there are more like him out there?” Takuma asked as they stood in the dark observation room.

“He denies knowledge, but wouldn’t it be strange to let one guy handle such a big responsibility?” Tern replied with a mug of coffee in hand.

“One man is a minute footprint. It makes it harder to detect and catch if they’re careful and keep their mouths shut.” In Basara’s case, he kept his mouth shut, but he hadn’t been careful with how he went about completing his tasks, allowing Tern to identify and catch him. “What’s more likely is that they do have a couple of people out there, but they’re kept in the dark from each other. Controlling the flow of information is how you keep something secure.”

Tern hummed. “Shall we?”

Takuma nodded, and they both put on their masks and entered the room. Basara flinched at the sight of black-coated Tern and subconsciously leaned away when the stranger in the off-white cloak set a plate of warm food and a big bottle of water on the table before him.

“Mister Basara, my subordinate has told me a lot about you. You’ve been through a lot in the past week. Please, don’t be shy. We can talk after you have your fill,” Takuma said and then sat silently across the table.

Tern, standing against a wall, glanced at Takuma, who for once wasn’t modulating his voice in front of someone outside ANBU. In fact, he sounded almost warm. She instantly realised that he was playing sweet and sour. He introduced himself as her boss—she noticed Basara glancing at their cloaks—then offered him food that wasn’t cold, tasteless rations and offered to wait until he was done. It was a very basic strategy, but it worked because people were often ready to latch onto anything when they were under pressure and duress. In Basara’s case, she had chased him across cities, tortured him for interrogation, and then detained him with no hope of release.

Basara was hesitant at first but couldn’t deny the allure of warm food that smelled good. He ate tentatively before attacking the food with the intensity of a wild animal. During that time, no words were spoken, nor was he interrupted.

“Can you tell us more about the people that hired you?” Takuma asked after Basara finished eating and washed his hands with the last of the water in the big bottle. If not for his predicament, he would’ve slumped in his seat from eating his fill.

When Basara didn’t answer immediately, Tern played her role.

“Hey, answer when you’re asked to!” she yelled, aggressively stomping toward Basara like she was going to wring him out.

“Stop,” Takuma said sternly.

Tern stopped and acted as though she was displeased. “But, sir—”

“You may leave.”

“Sir!”

“Now.”

Tern acted frustrated as she left the cell, slamming the door behind her. Once outside, all the tension left her body, and she made her way to the observation room. An exact copy of Basara’s meal waited for her in the room. She removed her mask and started eating while watching her boss work his charm.

In the cell, Takuma was talking to Basara calmly. At first, the former shinobi stayed silent, but then Takuma started talking about his past.

“I looked into your past, Mister Basara. I must say, the punishment given to you was not fair. It was disproportionate to your crime. The noble did you dirty, and the system failed you. Personally, I don’t blame you for the choice you took.”

In the observation room, Tern sighed because she knew that a Shimura had helped Basara fake his death. She had gotten the name of that clan member, who was still roaming free as he hadn’t been implicated in anything major from the ROOT fallout. Worse, the Shimura clan member who was the prison warden of the prison camp was still in his position. Who knew how much else they had abused their positions for personal gain?

She was conflicted about whether she should keep quiet or pursue them. The conflict dominated her mind until she realised she didn’t need to do anything, because her boss also oversaw the Arborists, and this was exactly the type of case they handled. She didn’t need to do anything as he would take care of it.

As for alerting her clan members—while that thought occurred to her, she wasn’t enthused about doing so.

Her boss was going against one of the most influential clans and damaging the Hidden Leaf in the process. It was all with the goal of fixing their foundation and making them stronger in the long term by sacrificing in the short term.

If the Shimura clan wanted to rise again, they had to go through something similar.

“You’ve led a tough life, haven’t you?” Takuma said.

“Yes, I have,” Basara said in a voice barely above a whisper.

Inside the observation room, Tern smiled. “Here we go…”

When they opened their mouths, it was a sign they wanted to get a load off their chest; it was a subconscious plea to coax them into talking. Tern could’ve gotten the information out of Basara by force, but this way, he was going to volunteer more than he was strictly asked for.