Chapter 18: Truth
Ando was in shock. He could have sworn Daniel was standing quietly against the wall of the cell, but now he wasn't. "That was a shadow clone," Daniel clarified to Ando.
"I've been waiting," Nana said. "Then I'll also get to my own work," she added, puffing into smoke as well.
"Wait, what is going on? Can someone explain this to me?" Ando asked, now even more confused seeing his sensei was also a shadow clone.
The previous night, before Takumi was caught, Daniel had created a shadow clone and headed outside the village. He not only followed the memories of the ninja he had absorbed during the attack but could also sense them as clear as day. "There should be some documents linking Takashi's father to all this," he said as he hopped from tree to tree.
"There seem to be roughly 30 people. More than the last," Daniel remarked as he suddenly stopped. He clasped his right hand, and a V-shaped blade materialized as his chakra took shape—a weapon made fully from energy. The blade flickered from the high vibrations it made. "By materializing my chakra into the form of a weapon and then vibrating it at high frequencies, I can increase the overall damage it can do," Daniel monologued. With his strength, it wasn't really necessary to go that overboard. "Now it's time to stretch my limbs," he said as he moved quickly, barging through the left wall of the bandits' hideout.
"It's not fun if everyone is sleeping," Daniel remarked, making sure to alarm the bandits. He set up a barrier that would keep all sound out and prevent anyone from noticing any anomalies from this side of the forest. "Genjutsu is great," he said casually as he dodged a hurl of attacks. Weapons of various kinds were launched at Daniel in a coordinated attack.
"First squad, with me!" a bandit yelled. "Second squad, focus on immobilizing him," he added as five bandits attacked, trying to restrain Daniel's movements as much as they could. Another three came running, stopping at a distance and weaving hand signs.
"Earth Style: Bottomless Swamp," one said as the surface Daniel was standing on turned muddy. The five shinobi jumped back to avoid getting caught in the jutsu as the other two made more hand signs.
"Earth Style: Stone Pistol Jutsu," they chanted, shooting a slur of stones towards Daniel's direction.
"Did we get him?" one of them asked.
"Not even close," Daniel said as the eight looked upwards, seeing Daniel standing above them.
"What? Impossible!" a bandit said, shocked to see Daniel above them.
"To think you guys would be so skilled. I'm kinda happy you put in so much effort just for me," Daniel mocked them, swiftly descending.
In an instant the bandit Daniel stood atop of split in two with Daniel now standing where he stood, the others froze in fear, how could a mere child do something like that. Daniel kept to his momentum opening his palms as the chakra blade he made vanished his palm slammed the bandit infront of him causing a hole to irupt from contact and next the two on the left he grabbed each by the neck lifting them up and slamming them to the ground, the sheer shock from it all caused the the coughed up blood as the shock ruptured their organs. Seeing this the other bandits tried to run but it was too late not only was there a barrier but they could hope to go far, Daniel raised his hand "Distructo dist" he muttered in a low voice as a green disk appeared from his raised hand as if he held a plate, swinging his hand the disk flew as it cut up every person it could find
In the rubble of the bandit camp, only one building remained standing. Inside, Daniel rummaged through the entire structure, searching for documents that would tie Takashi's father to the bandit group. "Aha! Found it," he exclaimed, holding up the incriminating papers. "Now then," he said, creating shadow clones to gather any and all valuables in the place before heading back to Takashi's village.
Morning came, and a commotion erupted in the village. "It seems Takashi's father feels wary of us and wants to put us out of the picture," Daniel observed, spying on his team and the clone he had left with them. "Oh, and this," he added, noting Nana-sensei was also doing some digging of her own.
Daniel watched as his team was falsely accused and imprisoned. He observed everything until he sensed Nana moving towards the team. He canceled his shadow clone and proceeded to free them.
"Does this mean you and Nana-sensei knew what was going on?" Yuki asked as they walked out of the prison.
"Hey, what about me? Don't leave me here!" Takumi yelled from his cell.
"More or less," Daniel replied to Yuki's question.
"Hey, don't ignore me!" Takumi cried, feeling abandoned.
Takashi was still grappling with mixed feelings about everything. Now, after Daniel returned with the documents proving his father's schemes, the evidence was undeniable.
"Will you be okay, Takashi?" Yuki asked, concern evident in her voice.
"I'm fine. I just need to wrap my mind around everything," he replied, standing for a moment before leaning on his knees. "Why? Why... Why would you do something like this?" A single thought ran through Takashi's mind. He had held his father in high regard, and seeing this side of him changed things profoundly.
Daniel watched intently, seeing the turmoil in Takashi's eyes. "Wait, what about sensei?" Ando asked.
"She'll meet us there," Daniel replied, leading the way.