28 Chapter 27

[A/N:- I'm not some kind of investigative genius, heck I don't know how investigations work so this chapter and the next would be sloppy, and somewhat on the nose. It would most likely feel like I'm feeding Indra the information.]

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Clad in his usual flowing white robe with vertical black lines on the sleeve and coattails, loosely fastened at the waist with a tasselled belt, with a matching red tie, with black shinobi pants and sandals. Due to leaving the village, Indra also decided to don a black hooded cloak.

[A/N:- Basically Jigen's outfit, and Sasuke's cloak over it with a hood.]

....

'Hnn. I don't like the cloak, but it would do for now,' Indra mused, staring at his outfit.

Taking a cursory glance at the notes he made concerning the Senju clan's reduced numbers, 'I guess I'd be going to the Land of Stone, then Iwagakure. They seem to be the most likely option considering their hate towards Konoha.'

While Indra decided his first destination, Hiruzen walked beside him. "Indra, I want to avoid another war so don't be seen crossing into the other four great nations. And..."

"I get it, Hiruzen," Indra exclaimed, cutting him off. "Don't be seen fucking around in the other nations."

"I don't think you do, Indra. I'm only letting you do what you want due to you being the First Hokage's student, and the head of the Senju clan, but..."

"Let me?" Indra chuckled. "I'd like to see you when you actually try to stop me then."

"That's beside the point!! You think with your fist most of the time, that's the problem I have with you," replied Hiruzen. "You're stronger than most people, if not everyone around you so you tend to think you can just do what you want. While that is fine during wartime, it becomes different immediately after, when we're living on a fragile peace," he added, before looking at Indra who was no longer listening to him.

*Sigh!*

"If you cause an international incident, Indra. First Hokage's student or not, you'd be branded a rogue-nin," Hiruzen warned before leaving.

......

......

After entering the Land of Earth, I didn't immediately go to Iwagakure. I spent a few weeks gathering information while I made my way to the village. Although the name Himeyuri group kept popping up in my investigations, I couldn't find anything outrightly connecting them to the missing or dead Senju.

I groaned In frustration at the lack of inroads I was making concerning the investigation. I didn't have a spy network so all I had to follow was Hiruzen's mission report and then hearsay which just lead to some bandit group or civilian slave trade.

'I'd have to infiltrate Iwagakure if I want to find something worthwhile.' I finally decided. Although I could have done this in the first place, I wanted to cover all the stops before infiltrating Iwagakure.

Sneaking into Iwagakure was very straightforward. I concealed my chakra, shrunk myself, and entered the village. The Tsuchikage's residence was also easy to find, it was basically the tallest building and had the word 'Earth' on it.

Iwagakure had skilled sensors so I couldn't activate my Byakugan while inside or remotely near the village which means it would take longer and also be harder to find the information I need.

Entering the Tsuchikage's residence, I eavesdropped on the guards and the shinobi going in and out of the building before finding the exact office of the Tsuchikage. It was currently midday so the office was occupied by the Tsuchikage.

Leaving the office, I began to eavesdrop on every single person remotely engaged in a conversation hoping it would assist me when it comes to finding the archives or where the secret scrolls are stored.

After spending the entire day eavesdropping on everyone, I still couldn't find what I wanted. 'I guess it won't be easy,' I muttered.

It was nighttime so I snuck into the office of the Tsuchikage since he'd retired back to his living quarters for the night. The table was riddled with scrolls but none of them contained what I was looking for. After going through the scrolls on the desk, I quietly opened the drawers and then read the scrolls tucked in them before then checking the cabinets that contained somewhat important documents.

'Someone's coming,' I muttered, hearing the footstep and voices of two people.

'Shit!!!' I hissed, trying to arrange the scrolls the way I found them. 'Isn't it late, why would they be returning now?' I frowned upon looking out the window. I was so immersed in reading every scroll I found in the office, I didn't notice it was almost dawn.

'Fuck!!! fuck!!' I hissed, the footsteps stopping right at the door.

Looking at the remaining scrolls, it was obvious I won't be able to rearrange everything before they come in, so I shrunk the remaining scrolls and stored them before shrinking myself.

The door slowly opens and the Tsuchikage entered the office alongside an older man.

"I could have sworn I heard paper rustling in here," the Tsuchikage exclaims.

"Maybe it was the wind, there's no one here," replied the older man.

"The windows are closed though," replied the Tsuchikage. "Maybe I was imagining things, I've been stressed lately. Ensuring none of our dead shinobi falls into the hands of the other villages has been hard. We lost so many shinobi that it would still take a lot more time to determine how many of them died," he added, letting out a tired sigh.

"I'm sorry, but I'd have to add more to your workload, Tsuchikage-sama," the older man said.

"The Himeyuri group," the man explains. "With the war over they're finding it hard to complete their job, and they are now threatening to withdraw if we don't pay them more."

'Himeyuri group,' Indra mused. 'Are they a band of mercenaries? But what sort of job would they b.....'

Indra was forced to end his line of thought as the man began speaking once again.

"Someone has been snooping around the Land of Earth. They've managed to hide their traces so far but the risk is getting higher for them."

"Just pay them whatever they want," Onoki replied.

"As you wish, Tsuchikage-sama," the man said before leaving.

Seeing the man leave the office, I hurriedly followed him out, taking a sit on his shoulder. The man walked towards the far end of the village before entering a walled area that seemed like a regular clan residential area.

Looking around the path the man took, I could see regular shinobi and civilians going on about their day. That's when it donned on me, I've been so focused on the Senju clan as a whole decreasing by about 80% I completely overlooked the individual members of the clan.

With widened eyes, it became convincingly more obvious to me the Senju clan was targeted. And the realisation left me with more questions than answers. 'How did the none shinobi population of the Senju clan die?' It made no sense, I thought. The shinobi dying or disappearing while battling out on the frontlines was questionable but somewhat reasonable as their bodies could have been destroyed or something like that, but the ones back in the village are also dead, or possibly missing.

'Am I imagining this?' I wondered. I didn't know them individually so I couldn't tell if anyone in particular had gone missing, but Mito should have noticed at least.

'Although Mito didn't interact with the rest of the Senju clan, she should have noticed someone from the clan had gone missing. It would also have been reported too if it had happened,' I let out a breath, deciding I was just over-thinking.

'This is why I prefer fighting. I wouldn't have to think too much when I am fighting.'

I spent the entire day watching the man, waiting for him to contact this Himeyuri group but nothing happened. Late at night when the entire village was asleep other than the guards, I snuck out of the village and created a shadow clone when I was far away from the village.

"Inform Hiruzen of my findings," I ordered the clone. Although I think my suspicions about missing civilian Senju were wild, I still wanted to be sure.

'I need to get some kind of aerial summon. I cannot be using my shadow clones to pass information everytime.' Returning back to the village, I could see every shinobi was on high alert, with most of them running towards the Tsuchikage's residence.

'What's going on,' I thought, making my way to the Tsuchikage's residence.

"Scrolls from the Tsuchikage's office were stolen. Lockdown the village, and find the culprit," an Iwagakure elder ordered.

'Well shit, this just made my job harder.'