NOVEL NEXT Chapter 267 – Save your Friends
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'I need to be very careful with what I say.' Daichi looked at Anko for a few moments and then spoke. "The only way that Naruto would have known the existence of such a scroll is if someone told him... I think someone is using Naruto as a patsy."
The look on Daichi's face and the certainty in his voice brought doubt to the three ninjas with Anko.
Yobu had heard of Daichi's talents and intelligence. He knew the child was skilled and was called a prodigy by many including Kakashi. So hearing him ask these questions made him doubt the whole situation. "How can you be sure about this?" Yobu asked Daichi.
"My theory holds value when you take into account the timing of this prison break. Right when the Forbidden Jutsu scroll goes missing. It's far too convenient timing. The only way those prisoners could have gotten free is if they had outside help. Naruto has no business with that place. He doesn't even know its location. So he wouldn't have been responsible. My theory is that the same person who made Naruto steal the scroll is the one responsible for the prisoner's escape. Or maybe one of their accomplices… I'm not sure but this is my theory."
"But…" Yobu wanted to argue but Daichi made good points. Even he could see that.
"Emotion is a powerful thing. Especially hate and anger. You get a bunch of people together with anger and hate buried in their hearts and if someone can bring those emotions out and weaponize them… That's a recipe for chaos." Daichi had a look on his face as he stared at Anko and the ninjas with her, and their eyes slightly widened.
"You know… Don't you?"
"Yeah." Daichi nodded his head. Even though Anko didn't say anything specific, everyone knew what she was asking him. 'How did he know? Did some tell him or did he figure it out on his own? Lord Hokage won't be happy if someone broke that rule.'
She then looked at the boy and narrowed her eyes. Something was strange to her. 'This kid… He's far too confident in his words… Is this just a theory or does he know something we don't?'
"You sound far too confident. Do you have a culprit in mind or something?" Anko asked with a casual tone but she was keeping a close eye on the boy's facial expressions.
Daichi was silent for a second. He was extremely cautious. He wanted to help Naruto and capture Mizuki but he didn't want to get into any trouble in the process. His many skills helped him with keeping a perfect mask.
For Anko and everyone else it was only a second or two that passed since she asked that question but for Daichi it was over a minute. He went through several scenarios and finally chose an answer.
"I might have… I'm not sure… I'd start with a Chunin in the academy. An instructor by the name of Mizuki. He hates Naruto. I've seen that. But I'm not sure if he's like all the others who blindly hate him or if there is something more… But if I were you I'd start with him."
Anko nodded and a grin formed on her face. "Well, looks like we have a suspect." She turned towards the three others and spoke. "Take these six back to the nearest retrieval teams. Then spread the word. We're looking for Chunin Mizuki. Academy instructor. If you find him, detain him."
"Anko, are you sure about this?" Rijin looked at his friend and asked.
"Yeah. If there is any problem, I'll take the blame." She replied and waved her hand in a nonchalant manner. Rijin looked at the other two with him and they all nodded. The three quickly secured the defeated enemies and left the area.
"You're awfully trusting. I'm just a Genin. What I just said is all theories. What if I'm wrong?" Daichi asked with a serious gaze.
Anko Mitarashi smirked. "You're the kid they call a genius. You helped figure out the identity of a legendary thief. I have a feeling you wouldn't have recklessly tossed out Mizuki's name without any serious forethought."
Daichi nodded with a calm face. 'She's a lot more shrewd and cunning than what's portrayed in the story. But then again you have to be, to become the student of Orochimaru.'
Kakashi sighed as he looked at his student. He then went over the whole situation in his head and spoke after a few moments. "Hmm… So that kid could be a decoy, huh…" Kakashi crossed his arms and thought about everything Daichi said.
"What is it, sensei?" Daichi asked, seeing Kakashi's serious gaze.
"Well, the thing is…"
'Ding'
Just as Kakashi began speaking, a quest box popped up in front of Daichi. The gamer Genin immediately looked at the details and even though he kept a calm face he was shocked inside.
[Quest Created - 'Save your Friends.']
[Your friends are in grave danger. Find them and protect them from their enemies before it's too late. Time limit: 30 minutes.]
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[Conditions:]
[Locate all your friends.]
[Heal any injuries they might have.]
[Do not let them die.]
[Do not die.]
[Capture or kill the enemies aiding Mizuki. Do not let any escape.]
[Secure the Forbidden Scroll.]
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[Rewards:]
[19000 Exp.]
[+10 Points to Special stats Charisma, Dignity.]
[+5 Points to Special stat Indomitable.]
[+2 Points to Special stat Luck.]
[+3 Points to Special stat Sense.]
[Reputation increases with Hiruzen Sarutobi, Kensei Yasaji and Kakashi Hatake.]
[Reputation slightly increases with Danzo Shimura.]
[Reputation massively increases with 'Rookie 9'. ]
[Reputation massively increases with people of the Leaf Village.]
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[Failure:]
[High probability of destruction of the Leaf Village.]
[Possible death of Naruto, Sasuke and others.]
[Reputation massively decreases with everyone.]
.
[Warning: Failure to complete any of the conditions in this quest will create a ripple effect that will have dangerous consequences in the future.]
.
[This quest is automatically accepted]
"...I went on a few missions similar to our current situation. This is a frame job. And in almost all frame jobs the decoy usually doesn't make it."
Daichi read the quest details just as Kakashi finished speaking. The gamer ninja was shocked at the conditions and the consequences of the failure. 'It's not just Naruto. The others are in trouble too. Even Sasuke… Mizuki even has help.'
"Shit." Daichi couldn't help but exclaim as he realized the dangerous situation.
"Crude but accurate considering our situation." Kakashi said. Even though he looked calm he was slightly tense.
Daichi immediately made a cross seal and created 10 shadow clones. "I'm going to find Naruto. I have a feeling he might be in serious danger."
Without waiting for Kakashi's response, Daichi and his clones vanished. All of them heading straight for the Leaf village.
Kakashi was about to follow his student but Anko stopped him. "I know you're worried about your student but we have a lot of rogue ninjas hiding or trying to escape. We could use some help, Kakashi."
The Silver haired Jonin nodded. "Are all the prisoners in disguise wearing our gear?" He asked Anko.
"No. Only a few. Most others are in their prison uniforms."
Kakashi nodded and made the seals for the summoning jutsu. "Poof!"
Kakashi's ninja dogs appeared with Pakkun sitting atop Bull. "Yo. Kakashi."
"Hey Pakkun. I have two urgent tasks for you and your team."
"What do you need? Where's the kid?" The small pug asked, looking around and not seeing Kakashi's student.
"Daichi is currently making his way to the village. His friend is in danger. Pakkun. I need you to track Daichi. Once he finds his friend, I need you to get back to me and relay their location. He has 10 shadow clones moving about as well, so this might be tricky."
"Right. I'm on it." Pakkun nodded and disappeared from his spot. The Jonin turned to the rest of the ninja dogs.
"We have escaped prisoners roaming these woods. Track and contain them. If not possible, report their location back to me."
"Right!" The seven disappeared and just then a small snake crawled near Anko. She picked it up and listened as it hissed. "Thanks girl."
Anko turned to the masked Jonin. "Hey Kakashi. I got a few rogues hiding a few hundred meters east of here. Let's go hunting."
"Lead the way."
—-
With Daichi.
The Genin was moving faster than most Jonins. Daichi sensed the presence of several individuals and small battles but he ignored all of them. 'So it's not just Naruto in danger. The others are also involved. Damn it. For the system to give me a quest like this… Things have gone off the rails from Canon.'
Daichi and his clones were using parallel processing and went to the most likely locations Naruto would be at. They looked at their map and didn't see Naruto or his friends anywhere on it.
'I found the old shed in the story where Mizuki told Naruto to come after taking the scroll. But I can't rely on that knowledge. Here Mizuki has help and he could very well have changed the location. He knows everyone would be searching for Naruto so he wouldn't have asked him to come to just any secluded locations. So there is a good probability that Naruto's usual hangout places would be empty. But I can't ignore them as well.'
Daichi clones would go to the back hills and Naruto's usual 'secret' training spots just in case but they didn't have much hope of finding him there.
Daichi reached the village gates after a couple minutes and saw many shinobi in a frenzy. He also saw smoke rising from a few places in the village. 'There has been an attack.'
Daichi immediately formed a map of the village in mind and compared the locations from where the smoke was rising from. 'All of them are non priority targets. It's just a distraction… Come on. If I was Mizuki, I'd want to leave immediately. Where could he be? It needs to be a place where he could meet Naruto and get the scroll. Mizuki has been observing the kid for a while so he would know that if any of Naruto's friends finds out he's in trouble then they'd look for him in their usual spots. Hmm... So somewhere nearby the village, secluded with few chances of coming into contact with the patrol ninjas or anyone else but a location with a direct route to get out of the country quickly.'
Daichi's mind immediately processed the layout of the entire terrain and surroundings of the village and bordering areas and in several seconds he had a location in mind.
'The East Canyons. It's the perfect place. But is Mizuki smart enough to choose that location? I guess I'll find out.'
Daichi changed directions and headed for that location. He was moving so swiftly that a few Jonin took note of his urgent speed and decided to follow. But they were forced to stop and engage in fights as they encountered prisoners on their way, but they kept the direction Daichi was heading in their minds.
The Genin kept moving to his destination as fast as he could. The East Canyons were about a dozen kilometers away from the village gates. He used chakra to boost his speed and even used the stamina consuming skill 'Sprint'.
'Come on. Come on.'
As he neared the location his senses alerted him to Naruto's chakra. Seconds later he began to sense Mizuki, Iruka and the rest of the Rookies. There were three unknown chakra signatures there as well but Daichi knew he could handle them based on what he sensed.
'Yes! Found them. Just hold on for a few more seconds. I'm coming. It's going to be fine. I'm almost there.'
But Daichi's relief was short-lived as he sensed Sasuke's chakra suddenly fluctuate and weaken rapidly. He reached near the battlefield and his sharp eyes caught Mizuki in his tiger transformation form with a raised sword, about to cut down Sasuke who was standing still in front of Naruto and Sakura. The rogue chunin instructor brought his sword down aiming to kill Sasuke.
"NOOOO….!" The scream came from Daichi's throat before he even realized it.
Mizuki's sword neared Sasuke but his eyes moved to the direction of the scream. He only saw a blur coming at him due to his extremely sharp senses but he didn't even have time to evade or even react.
Daichi entered the scene like lightning and came with the force of a giant several ton wrecking ball. He wanted to aim a punch straight at Mizuki's head and reduce it to pulp with his super strength but rational thought and Parallel Processing skill won over.
'I need to take him in alive. The villagers would be angry for the chaos caused tonight and they'll need someone to blame. If I kill him, they might take their anger out on Naruto… I need this guy alive. But that doesn't mean he has to be in one piece.'
Daichi sent his punch at the hand holding the sword. Mizuki's right arm was reduced to a pulp and exploded into a bloody mist. The sword he was holding fell straight to the ground. The force and strength of Daichi's fist traveled through Mizuki's entire body and blasted him away from the battlefield. Mizuki crashed through several trees and only stopped when his back slammed into a giant boulder.
"Bang!"
Daichi skidded several meters due to his momentum and had to use lightning to slow himself down. After coming to a stop he looked at everyone present. They were all looking at him with shocked wide eyes. The Rookies after realizing that their friend had just arrived had huge smiles.
"DAICHIII…!"
But a scream coming from Sakura erased their joyful expressions. Daichi turned to her just in time to see Sasuke Uchiha fall to his knees, going unconscious with Naruto holding on to him. Sasuke was bleeding profusely from his chest.
'Oh no.'
Daichi's eyes widened as he sensed Sasuke's chakra on the brink of being extinguished. An emotion he hadn't felt in a long long time appeared in his heart. It was only miniscule and Daichi crushed that emotion as quickly as it came but its brief presence still slightly shook him.
That emotion - Fear.