Kakashi and Daichi were moving through the streets of the Land of Tea. They were sticking to the shadows and making their way to their target location.
At that moment Daichi asked a question that's been on his mind. "Hey sensei. We might encounter a ninja in this mission. So shouldn't this be labeled as a B Rank instead of a C Rank?"
"That's a valid question. There are a couple of reasons for that. One, is that this mission was specifically assigned to our team because most other Jonin and Chunin were away with their own tasks. And since an encounter with a hostile shinobi is a possibility this type of mission won't be given to a normal rookie Genin team."
"But we aren't a normal rookie team."
"No we're not. Now a few other Special Jonin would have taken the mission but the threat level described by the client doesn't warrant their participation. So the Hokage decided to give it to us. He knows that while you might be a Genin in Rank, you would be more than capable of holding yourself against an ordinary Jonin. So we're the best team to complete this without any problems. The second reason is that while this mission is marked as a C Rank, its pay is on the upper end bordering on B Rank missions."
Daichi nodded with that reason. "So essentially a C Rank mission with an almost B Rank mission pay. I can live with that."
The two Leaf ninjas quietly moved through the trees and soon the large fortress was in their sight. They stood under the cover of shadows and observed the bandits guarding their temporary home.
Daichi looked at the structure of the fortress and was impressed. "The people who created this fortress were smart. They designed the castle in a symmetrical shape to help give the occupants a broader line of sight and built taller towers which would maximize the view."
The Jonin nodded with his student's assessment. "And this one even has a moat. It's several feet deep and filled with water. While it's rare, with how we can walk on water, it's not that surprising.." He added.
"I think that was the point. I took a sample of the water earlier and tested it. There's poison mixed in it. It won't spread to the surrounding lands but whoever gets in the water will have a very bad day." Daichi said.
Kakashi understood the reason behind such a move. "They want the intruder to walk on water. That way they'll be able to spot them quickly and attack."
"Based on the recon and blueprints, only one way in and out. And the drawbridge is closed. We'll have to use an Earth jutsu and move underground."
The silver haired Jonin agreed with the plan. "We'll create a few shadow clones and surround the area. Then we'll use Earth burrow jutsu and move about 8 feet under the moat. We'll resurface in the south east section of the fortress."
"Yes. Got it."
Once the plan was made, Daichi and Kakashi made a seal and a few shadow clones popped up. They slowly moved around the giant stone structure and took up their positions. The real Kakashi and Daichi, without wasting any more time, went through several hand seals.
'Earth style - Earth Burrow Jutsu.'
[Earth Style - Earth Burrow Jutsu - Active(LV.27): This jutsu allows the user to travel through the earth undetected by most ninja. The chakra kneaded in the body is spread into the ground and softens the earth around the jutsu caster. The user disappears underground while the earth hardens on the surface. This jutsu allows the user to create a small tunnel by compressing and softening the earth around the person and helps the user move underground in any direction. Once the chakra dissipates the tunnel collapses.]
[Rank: C.]
[Type: Ninjutsu]
[Hand Seals: Snake - Boar - Bird - Ram.]
[CP Cost: 67 Per Use.]
[Note: The movement speed of the user and creation speed of the tunnel will depend on the chakra supplied and the proficiency in earth nature of the user.]
Daichi and Kakashi sank into the earth. Daichi's senses allowed him to know the position of his clones and he was able to make an earth tunnel in the direction of their destination. The two ninjas moved beneath the ground and the people keeping a lookout didn't sense anything amiss.
A couple minutes later Kakashi and Daichi slowly poked their heads out of the group and looked ahead.
"Good. We're within the castle walls. Let's stick to the shadows. We'll scale the walls and capture the targets. We need to interrogate them. So put them in Genjutsu and get what you need. After that, knock them out and create a clone in their place."
Under Kakashi's orders Daichi moved. The Genin had excellent stealth skills and the Jonin had a wealth of experience. The people keeping a lookout couldn't even detect a hint of their presence.
The two ninjas made their way to two guards up in the towers keeping an eye on everything. Daichi looked at his target and used 'observe' skill.
'Sasagawa Fujio. Level 11. High for a civilian but that's expected considering his lifestyle. No special abilities or background. His stats all look normal. Looks like this guy is nothing special.'
Once in position Daichi and Kakashi used Genjutsu on the two bandit guards. The Jonin used his Sharingan and quickly put the bandit under its powers.
In another tower Daichi went through seals and used a simple interrogation Genjutsu. It was a jutsu Daichi had developed after learning about the brain during his time under Tsunade's tutelage.
'Genjutsu art - Hollowed Spirit.'
Daichi chakra quickly entered the man's system and in moments he was under Daichi's control. The Genin smiled as he saw the effects of his jutsu.
'This Genjutsu puts the target at ease and makes them believe they're talking to someone they trust. That reduces their chance of rebelling or resisting the technique. This technique also puts restrictions on the areas of the brain that help in lying.'
Daichi remembered the conversation he had with his teacher during his study of the human brain.
Flashback.
"Is it possible to create a simple jutsu that can manipulate the brain and make the target give up the information easily? Based on the information I've read, the ones we currently have all employ some sort of brute force into the brain or mainly use pain as a stimulus. The exception is the Sharingan and a few other powerful Genjutsu." Daichi asked Tsunade as he was looking through the many books in front of him.
"You're talking about creating a simple jutsu for interrogation aren't you? Do you think techniques like that don't exist?" The Sannin raised an eyebrow at him.
"I know they do. I'm sure Genjutsu specialists and the Yamanaka clan have techniques like that. But it's just that until I reach a much higher Rank, jutsus of that nature won't be available to me. So I'll have to create something similar myself."
The blonde woman looked at her student for a few moments and then sighed. She decided to help Daichi with creating the jutsu. "A lack of impulse control. That's the key. Lying is much harder than telling the truth. One needs to have good impulse control to lie or the truth will come out."
The medical trainee listened closely as his teacher spoke. Daichi committed every word to his memory.
"The main thing you need to remember is that when a person lies their brain expends much more energy in controlling and regulating their body functions than when they're telling the truth. There are three areas in the brain that generally become more active during deception. The anterior cingulate cortex, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the parietal cortex. The Anterior cingulate cortex is in charge of monitoring errors. The Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is to control behavior and the Parietal cortex processes sensory input. When someone's lying, these areas will work much harder." Tsunade said to her student.
Daichi nodded his head and rubbed his chin. "So I need to create a jutsu that limits their involvement. It should also have a component that will reduce their resistance and make them compliant."
The Sannin nodded as she took a small sip from her sake bottle. Daichi raised an eyebrow looking at the scene.
"Should you really be drinking so early in the day?"
The buxom woman looked annoyed and just waved her hand. "Give me a break. You're starting to sound like Shizune."
Flashback End.
Daichi had a small smile on his lips as he remembered that day. He let go of the memories and focused on the task at hand.
'This is a perfect jutsu for a weak minded guy like this. But the problem is, a competent Chunin or Jonin will be able to see through this jutsu. They will be able to resist and break out. Well, this jutsu is only at Level 4 right now. Once it's higher I'm sure more effects will be added and this will be much stronger... Time to start my interrogation.'
"Are all of your friends currently inside this fortress?" Daichi asked the man whose eyes looked glazed over as if he was in a trance.
"Yes. They're all here." The bandit Sasagawa replied.
"Have you captured any citizens from the Tea country or nearby areas?"
"No. Boss specifically said not to kidnap or kill anyone."
The Genin was somewhat surprised at that admission. "How many shinobi are here in the fortress?"
"One."
"Including yourself, how many in total are here in the fortress?"
"15."
'So 14 bandits and one Ninja.' Daichi thought about the situation and it didn't make much sense to him. "Why did you come to Tea country? What's the plan?"
"Boss made us come here. He's looking for something in the castle. We just did what he told us."
A theory was beginning to take shape in the Genin's head about the whole situation.
"How strong is your boss? Where is he from?"
"We don't know. He just appeared around a month ago and none of us could beat him in a fight."
'Not surprising. These guys wouldn't survive against a decent Genin let alone a possible Chunin.' The Genin nodded his head in thought. "Have you set up any traps in the castle for intruders?" Daichi asked his last question.
"Boss set some up in the outer walls but nothing else."
"Alright. Since you were very cooperative, I'll let you take a nap."
Done with his questioning, Daichi knocked the man out and hid him in a corner. The Genin created a shadow clone and had it transform into Sasagawa.
"Make sure nothing goes wrong."
The clone nodded in silence and the real Daichi went to his sensei. By the time Daichi reached Kakashi the Jonin was just standing there leaning against the wall with a carefree attitude reading his book.
"What took you so long? I was getting bored." The Jonin said with a smug attitude.
"Well excuse me for not having a bullshit eye that can read people's minds with a look."
Kakashi just chuckled at Daichi's deadpan tone and pocketed his orange book.
"One ninja. Rank and strength unknown. Fourteen bandits, no hostages and some traps on the outer walls." Daichi gave his report.
Kakashi nodded his head. "Yeah that's about what I got too. Hm... But still, we need to make sure. With your sensory abilities you should be able to locate everyone here. Can you confirm?"
Daichi made a seal and his chakra sensei skill activated. He expanded the range to cover the whole castle and found the one with the biggest chakra aside from them.
"15 chakra signatures in total confirmed. I didn't sense any distress or erratic movements in their chakra. So not hostages. They're all enemies. I also found the location of the enemy ninja. Based on his chakra I'd say he's low to mid Chunin."
Hearing that Kakashi created a shadow clone and dispelled it. "My clone outside will disable the traps on the outer walls. Let's save the enemy Chunin for last and capture the bandits now."
Daichi nodded and the two ninjas split up. Daichi gave his sensei the location of their targets and they went to work.
With a sleeping Genjutsu here, a swift hand chop to the neck there and the sparse use of Sharingan, Kakashi and his student incapacitated and restrained the enemies. The two moved in such perfect coordination that they were able to complete their first task without anyone raising the alarm.
They brought the captured bandits and locked them in a small room in the fortress.
"That was easy."
"Please don't jinx us sensei." Daichi said with a sigh.
"Come on. There's no such thing." The Jonin gave Daichi an innocent smile as he said the words.
Daichi looked at the man and just gave a tired groan. "It's like you're intentionally tempting the universe to conspire against us... Let's just go get this guy and complete our mission."
The two stealthily made their way to where the leader of the bandit team was. The enemy ninja was currently in the large bedroom located in the middle of the fortress. The Genin sensed the other person's chakra and noted that the man was agitated.
'He seems stressed. Did he find out about us? No. If that were the case he'd be trying to flee. Based on his movements I'm guessing he's looking for something in that room.'
Daichi recalled the blueprints he saw earlier and found that the room was the largest in the whole fortress. 'The personal room of the former owner of this fortress.'
Kakashi gave his student a nod and then knocked on the door several times. Both of them heard an irritated groan coming from the other side along with hurried footsteps.
"I thought I told all of you that I'm not to be disturbed!" The man shouted as he quickly opened the door. He expected to see his underlings but found two Leaf ninjas waiting for him.
"Sup." Kakashi greeted the enemy ninja with a wave of his hand.
The man's eyes widened and before he could make a move, he suddenly froze in his place. He felt as if something was restraining his arms, legs and torso.
Before the enemy ninja could even utter any words, Daichi used chakra strings to quickly immobilize him and he then converted the strings to lightning, electrocuting the man.
"Grrr..." The man resisted for a few seconds before dropping to the floor.
"Night night." The Leaf Genin smiled as he looked at the intruding shinobi who fell unconscious.
Kakashi looked at the downed ninja and looked at his student. "See. Easy."
Daichi just shook his head at his teacher's words and picked up the knocked out ninja.
"Let's go see the Daimyo. I'm sure he'd love to meet this guy." The Jonin said and they left the fortress.
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Author's Note:
If you enjoyed the chapter then vote with a Star. It brings a smile to my face.