Uchiha Akaishi Tour

Chapter 24 Plan

At four o'clock in the afternoon, Minato, Ranmai, and the now taciturn Akaishi met up with catcher Kurokichi and patrolled the entertainment district.

But it's obvious that with uniformed constables carrying scimitars on their waists, they'd be even less likely to spot thieves...

"Unfortunately, we didn't gain much as expected," Heiji said somewhat helplessly after leading the three young ninjas on a stroll through the red-light district.

"Mr. Heiji, it seems the thief is too scared to commit the crime... Does that mean our mission is impossible to complete?" Lan Wu said somewhat indignantly.

"Well... we can discuss this with the sheriff later?" Heiji suggested hesitantly.

"Mr. Kurokichi, how did Chief Inspector Naku come up with the idea of ​​issuing a ninja mission for something like theft?" Minato asked at this moment.

"Sorry, speaking of which, the security of the entertainment district is supposed to be my responsibility, but I've never been able to do anything about them..." Heiji scratched his head upon hearing this: "When the sheriff went to the capital last month, he posted a mission in Konoha on the way. I was quite surprised when I found out about it."

Lan Wu's eyes sharpened upon hearing this, but just before Hei Ji noticed...

"Ah! A thief!"

Suddenly, a cry of surprise rang out. A woman dressed as an older, wealthy lady came running over, swaying her thick waist, and said to Blackie, "You're the catcher, right? Just now... just now someone stole my purse!"

"What? Who is it?" Heiji asked hurriedly.

Upon hearing this, Minato and Ranma immediately jumped onto the nearby rooftop, and Akaishi followed half a step later.

"It was just a short while ago... twenty minutes ago! And it was stolen like this... They must have taken the opportunity to molest me!" The older socialite said, starting to coax the robust Blackie.

Overwhelmed, Heiji retreated repeatedly, saying, "I understand, I understand... I'll register the police report for you!"

The three of them immediately searched the surrounding area, but found nothing. They then took Heiji with them and visited the places the complainant had passed by.

We can't say we got nothing, but... three more people have filed reports!

……

"It's already this late...it seems the thieves have already gone home. Let's continue tomorrow," Minato said to Kurokichi, seeing that it was getting late and there were hardly any people left in the red-light district.

"Yes..." Heiji replied helplessly.

"Mr. Heiji, don't be disappointed, this is a good thing! After all, the key to catching a thief is to have a thief come out and get caught. Now that guy has started committing crimes again, we can finally put our skills to use!" Lan Wu said casually.

"That makes sense... Hehehe, then I'll trouble you all." Heiji Qian laughed.

"That's right, we Konoha ninjas will definitely take full responsibility for our missions, so don't worry," Minato added.

After watching Kurokichi leave, a while later, "Akashi" disappeared with a "bang".

At the same time, Minato seemed to breathe a sigh of relief...

"As expected of you, you actually maintained the Shadow Clone Technique for more than four hours, and the Shadow Clone Technique even used the Transformation Technique during that time," Lan Wu said to Minato with admiration.

That's right, the reason why Akaishi was so silent just now was because it was all fake!

Minato had been using clones to impersonate Akaishi, and even... to avoid ordinary clones easily disappearing and being exposed due to lack of physical form, he specifically used "Shadow Clone"—the Konoha-style physical clone technique developed by the Second Hokage.

At the same time, Akaishi appeared on the treetop of a nearby tree, perfectly positioned to face the moonlight, and calmly said, "Looks like things are going relatively smoothly. With these, the mastermind should be getting anxious, right? Are you sure it's that Blackie?"

"What are you posing for? Come down and talk!" Lan Wu said irritably.

Akaishi:……

Akaishi jumped down, tossing several money bags in his hand as he said, "I caught them easily. Six people, and they didn't even notice how the money bags were lost!"

That's right, this was Minato's plan—since they already suspected there was an "insider" tipping them off, they decided to do the opposite and pretend to be thieves to commit the crimes.

It is conceivable that the "mole" or "mastermind" behind this will not stand idly by.

After all, judging from the fact that he immediately became more cautious after learning that the sheriff had issued a mission in Konoha, he must have been very wary of the Konoha ninjas and certainly didn't want other thieves to cause trouble at this time, causing the Konoha ninjas to remain in the Flower Capital.

That way we can lure him out...

Of course, the primary suspect was already identified as Blackie, who was in charge of security on Flower Street.

He had previously used "they" to describe thieves, and his first reaction upon discovering a thief was "Who is it?"...

This doesn't sound like a proper way to address someone whose identity is unknown!

"Remember to keep track of who you stole from, so you can return them later," Lan Wu reminded her.

"Do you need to tell me..." Akaishi rolled his eyes at her.

The three of them returned to the inn as they talked. As soon as they entered, they saw Jiraiya in the inn's lobby, drinking wine and eating grilled fish and other dishes, looking quite relaxed.

"Hey! Kids, how's the mission going?" Jiraiya waved and asked as the three entered.

The three of them looked on with a sense of helplessness.

"It'll probably take another day or two..." Akaishi said truthfully.

"Two days is fine, but if it's three days, the reimbursement will be over." Jiraiya reminded him—planning mission budgets is also a required course for ninjas.

Once or twice is fine; you can apply to the village to increase the proportion of the reward distribution, meaning the village gets a smaller share. This is what is known as "reimbursement."

But if you lose money on every mission, the village won't be able to afford to support you in doing missions!

In theory, no matter how much reimbursement is provided for a task entrusted by an outsider, it will not exceed the total reward for the task itself.

"Don't worry, Jiraiya-sensei! We already have a plan!" Akaishi said confidently.

Just then, footsteps and voices were heard outside the hotel...

"Let's stay at this hotel; the price is quite reasonable."

"Yeah, finally almost back to Konoha..."

Upon hearing the sound, Jiraiya and Akaishi immediately looked towards the door.

The next moment, a young ninja with white hair, a long face, and fair skin, wearing a Chunin vest, pushed open the door and walked in, followed by two "junior ninjas" who were slightly older than Akaishi and the other two.

Akashi didn't recognize the leading Chunin, since there were too many Chunin in the village, and only a few were well-known.

"Hiru! It really is you." Jiraiya seemed to know the newcomer well, and greeted him warmly, "What a coincidence, let's have a couple of drinks together..."

"Lord Jiraiya, it's been a long time since I last greeted you." Hiruko bowed and greeted Jiraiya upon seeing him.

Jiraiya paused upon seeing this, feeling as if a thick barrier had already separated the two of them.

Ignoring Jiraiya's feelings, Akaishi looked behind him at the genin with the "fan" family crest on his clothes and exclaimed with delight, "Yashiro-nii, you're here too..."