Naruto: The Outsider's Resolve: CH_572: Infiltration (Patreon)

The party at the Hewn Stone Estate marked the twentieth anniversary of Kikyo Transit & Protection—more specifically, when the mercenary group first formed under the leadership of Kyohei Watari.

“What do you know about Kyohei Watari?” Amakura asked, snapping open his folding fan to cool himself.

Takuma glanced at the ‘Minister of Divination’ for a silent moment. He doubted Kurosawa had told Amakura anything about their objective, but since they were going to Kikyo’s twentieth anniversary celebration, it wasn’t strange to assume their target was the host.

“You must know more than me, Lord Diviner,” he said.

“Come now, what’s the harm in some entertainment on the ride?” Amakura said, his fan covering the lower half of his face, but then he raised it so his entire face was hidden behind it and suddenly started convulsing.

“…What is happening?” Takuma asked, bewildered and cautious.

“Don’t you know anything?” Riki's eyes shone with excitement as he gazed at his principal, not at all worried about his well-being. “Master is about to make one of his famed divinations. They are rarely wrong.”

“So they are wrong sometimes?” Takuma asked, but was ignored.

Amakura stopped convulsing after a few seconds and lowered his fan, revealing a slightly sweaty face—impressive, but not more impressive than the fact that the sweat hadn’t ruined his makeup—and laboured breathing. He looked at Takuma intently and spoke his divination.

“Kyohei Watari will face misfortune in his future. He’s someone blessed with deep luck, but what comes may not be something that he can overturn with his fortune, for it will be entirely out of his control.”

Takuma stopped himself from snorting. Everyone faced misfortune in life; that was a fact of life, and Watari was no exception. Not to mention, Kurosawa had just asked the man to sneak an unknown into the Kikyo party; it was safe to assume that it wasn’t anything good for the mercenary head. Watari was the head of a prominent mercenary group that had managed to thrive under the Leaf’s monopoly—of course, the man was lucky even if it took blood, sweat, and tears to reach his position. The final line was intentionally vague once again. If nothing bad happened to him, it’d be a blessing of his ‘deep luck’, but if something did unfold against him, then it would be because it was always out of his control.

The conman called the ‘Minister of Divination’ had covered all his bases while making it all sound esoteric and impressive.

Riki cheered and clapped as though he were having a spiritual experience. He gave Takuma a proud look, as though he were the one who had done the ‘divination.’

Takuma decided there’d be no end to it if he indulged them, so he simply closed his eyes and felt his body heat rise. Amakura didn’t like that his divination had failed to impress, and he tried to get Takuma to talk, but Takuma expertly dodged his questions with short answers that led nowhere, much to his chagrin.

Fifteen minutes later, they crossed the boundary into the Hewn Stone Estate. The castle grounds were beautifully maintained, unlike what you'd expect from the headquarters of a group of rough and uncouth mercenaries. The paved roads were flat and free of leaves despite being lined with trees. Beautiful stone sculptures lined the path to the castle. A small lake was visible, with a delicate pergola peeking through the trees.

To Takuma, it looked like the height of luxury.

“Acceptable,” Amakura said, watching everything pass their window—and somehow Takuma didn’t doubt he was telling the truth. The scale was different in the opulent inner city.

The drop-off was at the entrance at the base of the castle.

“Only one bodyguard may accompany the guest into the castle and be stationed at the assigned area. All the other personnel are to remain outside,” said one of the Kikyo personnel, not one of the core circle.

At such a large event, if they allowed everyone’s security detail into the party, there wouldn’t be space for the guests. Thus, only one guard was allowed into the main tower, but even they were sequestered in a waiting area close enough to respond to any commotion, and were not allowed into the gathering. Kikyo was responsible for the event's security and had hired extra guards outside of their own people to protect the important guests. It was very important that there were no unexpected incidents during the celebration for the sake of their reputation as a mercenary group and a growing presence in the capital.

There were a few who opted to use their plus-one to bring their guards into the party, dressing them so they wouldn’t stand out. Takuma had been hoping that would be the case for him, but Kurosawa hadn’t been able to make that happen.

“Riki will come with me,” Amakura said.

Takuma fixed the charlatan with a stare, and the charlatan smiled sweetly as he leaned in to whisper. “You can’t blame me, dear Tobi. I don’t know what you’re here for, but I doubt your first instinct would be to protect me… I also don’t need to divine it to know that if something does happen today, you’ll have a hand in it. I hope you won’t take offence at this feeble man choosing safety.”

Takuma couldn’t say anything because an argument would look suspicious.

“Of course, Master,” he said, bowing his head respectfully.

“Enjoy yourself, Tobi.” Amakura snapped his fan open in front of his smiling face, then turned and walked away.

Takuma followed the man with his eyes until he crossed the threshold, as any good bodyguard would do, and then boarded the carriage headed to the expanded stables that seemed to have employed every other stable hand in the city for the day.

“Tobi, you can follow the other bodyguards. You’ll be able to find some arrangements they’ve made for you folk. They usually have tea and coffee stations along with some refreshments,” the carriage driver said as he drove towards the stables.

Takuma thanked the man and eyed a pair of bodyguards walking like they knew their destination, and followed them to a small tent where they were serving refreshments. He didn’t approach the area where they had set up chairs for relaxing; instead, he walked around the property near the main tower.

“Well, that man was utterly useless.” Grey materialised beside him, displeased. “We could’ve gotten in here without his help anyway.”

It was true. Getting into the Hewn Stone Estate wasn’t that difficult as long as they managed to evade the watchtowers. Once inside, they could pretend to be a bodyguard by wearing the black suit that many wore, and no one would bat an eye at seeing one.

The real challenge was to get into the main tower. He had been expecting Amakura to get him inside, but seeing as that wasn’t an option, he had to find a way in.

“If we get caught, he can still help us,” Takuma replied.

“I don’t think he’d be in a helping mood if we screwed up. He might rat us out immediately.”

“But then he’d have to admit that he was the one who brought us inside. He can’t lie about not knowing us because they saw our faces when we were driving in. It’d be in his interest to smooth things over with the hosts using his position and, at the very least, get us outside.”

“Don’t want to rely on that piece of booger.”

“Neither do I, so let’s be careful.”

As expected, while there were a few entrances into the main tower, all of them were well-guarded. There were at least two guards in front of every door. He looked up, scouring for an entry point through a higher floor, but spotted patrolling guards. The party space also covered the two floors above ground; he wanted to avoid a guest seeing him entering through a window. Not to mention, there was no cover outside; the chances of getting spotted while he scaled the wall were far too high while the sun was still up, and he couldn’t wait till sundown.

Knocking out the guards at an entrance was unviable because he didn’t know if they had shift changes, radio check-ins, or a recurring patrol that would notice them missing if he stashed them in the bushes.

Before he knew it, Takuma had circled the main tower. The tent for the bodyguards was in sight when he noticed a large entrance wide open. It was the only gate like that he had seen.

Several large and small boxes were stacked and placed near the entrance as the staff working the party shuffled in and out with supplies. He even noticed one of them walking to the tent with freshly cooked finger food.

“That’s our entrance,” Grey said.

Takuma nodded. It seemed antithetical because there were too many people who would see him going inside. There were even half a dozen guards around the entrance, cognizant that it was a weak point in security.

“Let’s get inside,” Takuma said.

Even though they had only arrived in the Ember Imperial City the day before yesterday, they had made preparations other than Amakura.

Takuma found a bathroom and unsealed a mini-scroll, revealing a dark mustard-and-black uniform worn by most of the staff working the event. The party was a big deal, which made finding the company working the event really easy, and after lining a pocket, getting a pair of uniforms had been as easy as buying clothes from a store.

Takuma sealed his bodyguard suit in an empty scroll and dumped the spent, shredded scroll into the garbage with the food waste.

“Yeah, this suits you more. That sleek black suit was too good for you.”

Takuma ignored Grey’s teasing remark and confidently approached the open entrance. He hoisted a large sack of potatoes over his shoulders, and his body language immediately shifted from effortless stability to the hurried gait of someone carrying too much to bear.

“Clear the way, folks,” he said hastily as he walked through the entrance, and, as expected, no one spared him a second glance and even cleared out of his way.

The thing about event planners brought in from outside was that their staff didn’t know the layout of the venue, and no one wanted them to get lost—especially in a place like the Hewn Stone Estate with plenty of restricted areas—so to combat that problem, everything was clearly signposted to ensure everyone knew where they needed to be. Unfortunately for the hosts, it also allowed Takuma to know exactly where to go as someone who had never once been in the castle.

“Here, I’ve brought it as ordered.” Takuma dumped the sack on a kitchen staff member.

“Huh, are we running out of potatoes?”

“I don’t know. The pantry told me to bring it here. I gotta go, a lot more stuff to do!”

Takuma didn’t care whether the kitchen needed the potatoes because they wouldn’t have time to care; the service was about to begin, and the guests had started arriving in earnest.

———

At the front entrance to the castle, Kurosawa stepped out of a carriage. He wore a dark blue kimono made of lighter material than traditional ones, yet it still had intricate designs hand-stitched across the cloth.

He turned around and offered his hand to his partner, who immediately attracted the attention of nearby men and women.

“You should consider changing your everyday appearance, Azami,” Kurosawa said earnestly. The simple braid that she usually wore had been replaced by her black hair tied into an intricate hairdo that left her sharp jaw and swan-like neck exposed, highlighting her sharper features that were often hidden behind hair and clothes.

“Maybe I will,” Tern responded, smoothing her violet satin gown while thinking about how exactly she would rip it in places to make it easier to move in, which was a pity given how pretty the dress was.

She could feel the eyes on her, which was a good sign because she wanted to attract attention today. She had purposefully ditched the traditional kimono that would’ve been more appropriate for an event attended by the bigwigs of the capital for a provocative dress that hugged her body more, because she wanted to attract a certain someone’s attention. Kikyo being an upstart made the dress possible because they weren’t as entrenched in the traditions of the old society.

“He must’ve arrived by now,” Tern said as they climbed the steps to the main tower gates.

“If nothing went wrong, he should have,” Kurosawa replied. “Amakura is a tricky man who doesn’t appreciate being leveraged. I’m sure he will try to do something petty. Let’s hope Tobi will be able to adjust.”

“He will,” Tern said confidently.

“Ideally, we don’t want to see him at all,” Kurosawa said.

Tern nodded. The thing they wanted was on the fourth floor of the castle, far removed from the party. If Takuma was found roaming around at or near the party, it meant something had gone wrong.

“What about you? Are you ready to adapt and improvise? I doubt this is your usual wheelhouse,” Kurosawa said, looking her up and down. She looked comfortable in the dress, but he knew it wasn’t part of her usual wardrobe. “His success is very much dependent on you being able to complete your part.”

“So, I just can’t screw up at the stuff I have no real field experience with? Easy.”

“Just saying. Because I won’t be of any help.”

“I know.”

“In fact, I can’t be anywhere near you.”

The duo entered the main tower and immediately came face-to-face with those they planned to rob.

“Ready or not, he’s here,” Kurosawa said, nodding toward the man.

Standing near the door of the first hall was Kyohei Watari, the founder and leader of Kikyo Transit & Protection. Dressed in a midnight kimono, he was greeting the guests as they came in. The group around him seemed to be hanging on his every word and laughing like he was the most interesting man in the world, which seemed to check out because he was known to be very charismatic and likeable.

Tern ignored him; even though he was the head honcho, he wasn’t her target.

Her eyes went to another man standing a small distance away from Watari. He didn’t have as large a group as the leader, but he seemed just as effective at entertaining them. He was taller, four years younger, and more handsome than Watari, with his rugged look.

His name was Ono Hayato.

He was Kikyo’s second-in-command and a high-class sensory-nin, and thus the biggest obstacle to their success.