197 CH_6.26 (197)

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Fourteen teams gathered in the town hall of Camp Banana. The building wasn't meant to handle fifty people, much less the over ninety crammed into that hall. Only a few secured actual chairs, more sat on the floor, but most barely had enough space to stand comfortably. But they had to, as the town hall was the largest building, and it was raining buckets outside.

Takuma stood somewhere in the back, leaning against a pillar. As they had arrived separately, the team was separated because of the crowd. He looked around and could see them scattered around the hall.

"Shuffle to the side, will you?"

He was not alone, however.

He looked to the side at Kameko, who didn't look very pleased to be touching shoulders with him.

"There's no space," he replied.

"Then make some," she rolled her eyes.

"Why don't you jump up to the ceiling and hang there like a banshee," he said. Then he looked up, and seeing the flat, wide ceiling, began to think his taunt wasn't a bad idea.

Kameko only scoffed.

The chatter simmered down when the two jonin walked into the hall. Toridasu sat on the chair reserved for him beside Tokubetsu Jonin Benzou from Hidden Steam while Shirakumo took center stage, facing the gathered shinobi.

"Good afternoon, ladies and gents," Shirakumo greeted as he took the center stage. "Seven days from now, we will be mounting an assault on the Gojiro Gold Mines. All of those gathered here will be participating in the operation. The rest of this camp will remain here, defending the camp."

He pulled the sheet behind the big boards behind him and revealed a huge wall-wide mission board. His assistant rolled in a cart and passed on the individual mission packets to everyone in the room.

Takuma flipped through the pages as Shirakumo began speaking.

"The first problem to solve is the miners working in the mine. Before we attempt anything, we need to clear out the civilians. With them around, we won't be able to operate freely—so getting them out is the first priority because we don't want to get caught up covering for them in the face of an enemy attack."

He used a large stick to point at the board.

"The mining operation shuts down with sunset, and the miners live in the dormitories," he pointed at a map, "it's in the northeast corner, which is to our advantage as we can go in and shepherd them out. But we will have to do it carefully… While the miners sleep at night, the shinobi keep an eye all day round. Security will be tight around the dormitories.

"We would need to be stealthy; one mistake could lead to the entire mines being alerted before we clear them out." He looked towards the chunin spread among the crowd. "Jonin Toridasu and I have our preferences, but who wants to volunteer who wishes to take on the evacuation components."

A lot of the chunin raised their hands. Among them was Anko.

"Do you want to do it?" Takuma asked her.

"Of course," said Kameko, "we will be the first ones in, the first one to make contact, and we get to rescue people—those four teams are going to have the most important job."

"Sounds about right," Takuma smiled. "Do you think we would get selected?"

Kameko pursed her lips; she looked like she didn't want to say it.

"If… If Anko was assigned under Shirakumo, we would have a higher chance… but under Torirdasu, it'll be difficult if we get selected with how many chunin want to do it."

They were standing so close that he didn't need to lean in as he whispered. "Really? I mean, I know other chunin don't like her very much—but Jonin Toridasu? I didn't know he had a problem with her."

She whispered back. "He doesn't show it openly, but it's clear from how he's treated the team that he has something against her. You were not here for two months—two months of our team being incomplete. He could have allotted someone from the quartermaster's crew or the medical tent so she could at least have a complete team to go on missions, but he didn't. What does that tell you?"

"… That he doesn't like her," Takuma sighed.

Shirakumo nodded and continued,

"The second problem and the most dangerous is the enemy shinobi. After the civilians are evacuated, we hit them hard. Now, I realize that the gossip has been going around for a while here, and gossip tends to grow out of proportion. Until very recently, the pit was occupied by five jonin, thirty chunin, and eighty-something genin. But most of you are aware of the new base we have built in the nearby valley—that has put pressure on the enemy, and they have moved their troops around.

"The mines only have three jonin, twelve chunin, and fifty genin."

The chatter grew in the room as they heard the numbers. The troops involved in the operation outnumbered the enemy on the genin and chunin level, but they had one more jonin, which was a very significant advantage. That single jonin, given the proper opportunity and time, could eliminate the numbers advantage they had.

The plan Takuma had once suggested, thinking it wouldn't turn into anything, had now become a reality. The open valley was now home to a new base, which had caused the enemy to counter and move troops to the other side of the valley. It was an expensive move on both sides, and very difficult to coordinate, but they had made it happen.

"That puts us at even with the enemy at the mines. With enough preparation, we are confident we would emerge victorious and retake the mine." He pointed at another spot on the wall. "The pit itself is an open area, having its obvious advantages and disadvantages—the point of concern is the mining tunnels. It's safe to say that once the attack starts, some or many of the enemies would head inside for cover or to hide until the conflict's over, and they can sneak out afterward.

"Engaging them in those close, dark, narrow spaces would be a challenge and a danger. I advise every team here to take note of that and prepare accordingly."

"You can sense them, right?" Kameko said to Takuma.

Takuma nodded. The Earth Style: Earth Tremor Sense Jutsu made that possible. "Exposed earth like that of the pit makes it easy; it might get a bit overwhelming with people running around, but I think I'll be able to focus. I just hope no one pulls a suicide bomber and cave in the tunnels while we are in there."

Kameko gave him a dirty look with a click of her tongue.

"You couldn't keep your mouth shut, could you? You jinxed it, you bastard," she cursed.

"I don't believe in that bullshit," he said.

Takuma looked down at the mission packet. There was a lot of information from routes and timing, to protocols, terrains, and weather, among other things. Clearly, the jonin and chunin had already done the lion's share of planning for the operation.

"I will make this clear. No one here is to give a deep chase. Our objective is to shutter the mining by destroying the infrastructure beyond recovery. After we clear out the enemy, we will bomb the entire place and then leave. If everything goes well, we will be back within a few days," said Shirakumo.

'And we will have to relocate all the miners,' Takuma thought. Returning to Camp Banana as quickly as possible was extremely important as they couldn't leave the camp with less than half capacity for long—and with the miners in tow, their travel speed would slow down considerably, and leaving as soon as possible was a requirement.

The meeting went out for an hour before the group was dismissed. As everyone was leaving, Anko gestured for the team to gather on the side.

"We aren't meeting today. Us chunin are going to meet with the jonin and Hidden Steam people to finalize team responsibilities." Anko pointed at the mission packets in their hands. "I want everyone to become familiar with the packets. I expect everyone to at least know the big strokes when we meet tomorrow."

Anko nodded before leaving the town hall.

Iori faced everyone on the team and asked, "Should we meet later and go through it together?"

"Sounds good," said Takuma.

Everyone agreed and decided to gather at the girls' house after an hour to read the mission packet.

"Genin Takuma, may I talk to you for a moment."

As Takuma was leaving the town hall, he was called up by Tokubetsu Jonin Benzou. Takuma gave a nod to his teammates to tell them it was fine and told Daiki to go ahead when he asked if he should wait.

"Good day, sir," Takuma greeted the man. He held up the mission packet. "A lot of work to do, sir. I can't believe it's actually happening."

"Walk with me," said Benzou. Takuma tucked the mission packet within his clothes to protect it from the drizzling rain that still fell. "This is happening because I decided to take your suggestions… It was as you said: it wasn't a popular suggestion. They shut me down and out completely until they one day told me that the plan was approved."

"They must've slept on it only to realize it was a viable option," said Takuma.

"That they might have… I want to thank you for suggesting it to me," said Benzou.

"Please, I didn't do anything. It was your effort."

Benzou smiled before asking, "Are you nervous? I'm assuming this would be your first time with something like this?"

"Something of this scale; yes, this will be my first time," Takuma said, cracking his knuckles. He glanced at Benzou for a moment. "I'm worried about the operation."

"Of course, you are. It's dangerous; no matter who you are, it's normal to be worried," said Benzou.

Takuma shook his head. "No, it's not about that. I'm worried about the miners; I'm worried that they are being looked at as liabilities. Get them the fuck out of the way so they don't end up being a burden. They might be criminals, but they're still civilians of this country. I think the evacuation teams need to be extremely careful how they approach their part."

Takuma felt Benzou's gaze on him. He looked at him and noticed how the look had changed.

'Okay…'

"If you're so worried, how about getting your team into the evacuation unit," said Benzou.

'Excellent!'

Takuma laughed bitterly. "I don't think that's going to happen."

"Really, why?" asked Benzou.

Takuma looked at Benzou, smiled, and shook his head. "I can't say. It's an internal problem." Benzou was a Hidden Steam shinobi; they might be an ally, but he was still an outsider to the Hidden Leaf. There were things no Hidden Leaf shinobi would share with him, no matter Benzou's rank.

And that worked to Takuma's advantage.

Benzou furrowed his brows but nodded in understanding.

"It doesn't matter anyway. The evacuation unit is the first one into the enemy territory. It's the most dangerous; thus, the most glory. The mission will go to the jonins' favorites. I just hoped that it would go to someone who actually cares," said Takuma, pretending that he didn't notice what he had given out from his words.

There were two possibilities: Benzou noticed and thought that Takuma's words were a genuine slip-up, or Benzou noticed and realized what he was trying to do. It was good for Takuma either way. He didn't mind as long as he had a chance to get what he wanted.

"Anyway, I must take my leave, sir. I have a lot to prepare," Takuma patted his chest where the mission packet was taking cover. "Let's continue this some other day."

"Of course," Benzou smiled. "I must thank you once more."

"I was just trying to help," Takuma replied before leaving. He didn't look back and jogged until he was in his home.

"What was that about with Hidden Steam's Benzou?" Daiki asked as the first thing as Takuma closed the main door behind him.

Takuma removed his shoes and put the mission packet on the table. He looked up at his teammate and roommate and answered,

"I was getting a return on investment."

Daiki looked confused. "I don't understand."

Takuma leaned against the table and smiled,

"I'm curious if it will pan out. You know, everyone likes good people—especially when they're trying to help them."

Daiki's confusion didn't improve, but Takuma hummed a tune, satisfied with himself.

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The link is in the synopsis!