Chapter Fourteen

[Indra POV]

I have spent the last month mapping out every aspect of the Land of Rice capital, as well as the compounds of my targets. Due to the death of the Fuma clan elders and patriarch, the security around the compounds of the clans, and Daimyo had increased significantly, although they were just samurai and third rate shinobi so it wasn't anything I needed to worry about, I still had to be careful since my mission wasn't to commit a mindless slaughter in the Land of Rice. I had a group of targets, and that's who I'd be eliminating, unless of course something significant changes, then I'd be killing off everyone that gets in my way.

It was currently past midnight, and I was going to look for information on the various bandit groups and slavers groups supported by the clans and Daimyo.

Sneaking out of my room at the inn I was staying in, I created twenty shadow clones. Ten of them were heading towards the clan compounds, three of them including me would head towards the Daimyo's compound, with me going directly to the Daimyo's mansion. While the last seven would head to the mansions of the Daimyo's Kuge.

If I find the information I'm looking for tonight, I still won't be able to carry out my mission just yet since I need to wait for the delegates from Kumogakure that would be arriving in two days. Their deaths were included in my mission, so it is more straightforward I carry out the mission once they're all gathered here in the Land of Rice. I don't have the energy to hunt them down later on.

With the clones and I using the 'Body Flicker Jutsu', I disappeared and landed on the roof of the building I'd designated to be the scroll storage room, there's the Daimyo's study I'd check for information later on but for now, the storage room was my destination.

Giving my surroundings a sweeping glance with my Byakugan, I shrunk myself to a minuscule size and then entered the storage. The storage room was big, so it would take a few hours to go through everything in here but I wasn't going to waste that time going through every single scroll.

'I better get on with it," I thought with a sigh.

I created ten extra shadow clones, each of them going to different cabinets at which various scrolls were stored.

I expect the various cabinets to only have a specific type of document, so I just needed to find the I'm looking for.

"Only check for financial records. Although, do not hesitate to keep digging if you find something you deem important," I said to the clones as they dispersed.

"Hai," the monotone tone I possess resounded from the ten clones simultaneously.

Going to one of the cabinets, I activated my Byakugan again and then peered into the scroll.

"Of course!"

The scroll was filled with the glorious history of the Daimyo and his family. And apparently, they've been the leaders of the Land of Rice since the country was first established. Although, that would end in three days.

Taking a glance at every scroll in that section of the cabinet. I then checked the middle of the cabinet, and then the end of the cabinet. While I expect the cabinets to have just one type of information stored on a scroll, I couldn't be certain so I divided each cabinet into three sections, and then I'd check the respective sections.

Moving to the next cabinet...and then the next...and the next...and then two hours passed.

'Phew!'

I let out a breath as I dropped the last scroll. Looking around the storage room, I could see the clones were just about to finish up their section.

"Did you find anything?" I asked them.

"Yes, we've marked every cabinet with scrolls concerning what we're looking for."

"Good, go through them, and dispel when you're done," I said to the clones as I left the scroll storage room, with my next location being the Daimyo's study.

I shrunk myself and entered the Daimyo's study. Looking around with my Byakugan, I saw every hidden crevice, the scroll hidden in a false wall behind a painting of the Daimyo on the wall, and the hidden stairway that led to the small room below the study.

Walking towards the painting while ensuring I didn't make any sound whatsoever. Although there's no one within my Byakugan range, which covers over 5km when passively used, and about 1km when I focus on every little detail within its range.

Carefully taking down the picture, I then removed the false wall covering the location of the hidden scroll. I frowned as I took out the scroll, I could already read a tiny part of it and the word 'Kumogakure' was written on it.

Opening the scroll, I found out the scroll contains the alliance details between the Land of Lightning and the Land of Rice. And just I'd expected, the alliance between both nations was very one-sided, completely favouring the Land of Lightning.

'The land of Lightning would buy rice from the Land of Rice for 50% of the market price. Kumogakure Shinobi would be allowed to occupy the Land of Rice, the Land of Rice would act as reinforcements if Kumogakure was ever invaded. Kumogakure would assist the Land of Rice in 'occupying' the neighbouring territory.'

There were more conditions for the alliance with the majority favouring Kumogakure but I stopped reading, sighing at the blatant stupidity of the Daimyo. The man was so stupid that he was willing to sign away his country away to Kumo on a technicality. If the country gets occupied by Kumogakure shinobi, it would only be a matter of time before he's assassinated, and then a puppet Daimyo is installed in his stead, or Kumo just outright takes over.

Putting the scroll back in its place, I opened the hidden stairwell and walked down the stairs into the room located below the study. The room was bare for its 100 square meter size, containing just one cabinet right at the middle, with ten scrolls in it. I then took out the first scroll from the cabinet, before opening it slowly.

'This!!'

I felt my blood boil as I read the contents of the first scroll, the urge to march up to the bedroom of the Daimyo, and brutally gut him while he's awake and screaming. I could feel an unknown rage threaten to burst out, my eyes were turning bloodshot with my heart rate increasing at an alarming rate.

'What is a picture of my mother doing here?!'

'Who is this child? Why is mother holding him with the Daimyo?'

'This bastard!! did he kidnap mother and force her to have his child?!' I thought in anger, but I knew the Daimyo had no child, so I dismissed that as Konoha's Anbu would surely have known, and such an important piece of information would have been added to my mission brief.

I couldn't understand what the picture on the scroll meant and why it was here, so I just duplicated the scroll before shrinking and then storing the duplicate with 'Daikokuten', then I placed the original scroll back on the shelf. Opening the other scrolls, I went through them with haste, peering over them like a hawk while searching for any more information, but all I could find was the Daimyo's illegal business ventures.

I placed everything back the way it was, before leaving the Daimyo's mansion with more questions than answers. My mission was simple before coming to the Daimyo's mansion, and after my mission, I was going to start searching for my mother. But now, I had to think about my mother posing with a newborn, and the Daimyō in what looked like a family picture. The Daimyō had no child as far I knew, and my mother had no other child other than me. While I didn't know her exact age, she was too young to have a child that would be vastly older than me, so it could only mean the child came after she was kidnapped.

Right as I was about to leave, memories from the clones flowed into my brain confirming they were done with their investigation.

I teleported from the Daimyo's mansion using the 'Body Flicker Jutsu', and then appeared back in the inn. Directly going to the bed, I quickly became absolved in my thought trying to understand the information I'd discovered, but I ran up a blank. I couldn't think of anything tangible whatsoever.

'Is my mother the sister of the Daimyo?' I asked myself, the thought of her possibly being the Daimyo's wife not even coming into contention. I adored my mother a lot so the idea of her being married to such a useless person didn't even come to mind.

.........

It would have been a straightforward conclusion if Indra had known his appearance was different from what it was when he was born. Inanis was thorough in completing his side of the deal he had with Indra's soul, his appearance was altered, and the memories of everyone that had ever interacted with him had their memories tweaked, and this included Indra. With Indra's current appearance, only his now dead-mother would be able to recognise him.

If Jigen finds out about Indra's abilities and dojutsu, it would be more of an enigma to him as he wouldn't be able to recognise Indra. For all he knew, the only child to ever survive the Kama implantation and then the subsequent Otsutsukification was killed by him when the Kama on the boy's body disappeared.