Chapter 179 - Treasure - Part 03

As Kakashi thought about their next move, Daichi took a look at the quest rewards.

[Quest 'Find the Secret of the Heirloom' Completed.]

[Rewards:]

[3000 Exp.]

[450 Exp.]

[+2 Intelligence]

[Reputation increases with Kakashi, Sarutobi Hiruzen and several other people.]

[Reputation increases or decreases with the client. (Depending on the action of the player.)]

'Not bad. I won't say no to more stat points and experience. Now it's time to check the next quest.'

[4th Quest]

[Quest Created - The Great Treasure]

[Many people from all over the world have been searching for the items that were stolen by the Phantom thief. Since the value of the items has only increased due to their infamy over time, it is considered one of the greatest hidden treasures in the world. Find the hidden Great Treasure.]

.

[Rewards:]

[Large unknown amount of money.]

[+2 Dignity.]

[Reputation increases with the Daimyo and people of the Fire country.]

[Reputation increases with the Hokage and people of the Leaf village.]

[Reputation increases with some people around the world.]

[Reputation slightly decreases with some people around the world.]

.

[Failure:]

[Incomplete Chain Quest.]

[-5000 Exp.]

'Wow. A Treasure hunt. How exciting… My guess was right.'

Daichi went through the quest and quickly accepted it. 'A large unknown amount of money? Will the system give me that reward or is it going to be the Hokage? Regardless, this quest is far too profitable not to accept.'

Daichi didn't mind the reputation decrease portion of the reward. He knew that the attention he'll receive once he completes this quest would be negative and positive.

At that moment Kakashi spoke up, bringing Daichi out of his thoughts. "Let's just review what we learned so far. Decades ago Kiyoto Inagi decided to become a thief and he amassed a large amount of stolen items. He decided to mark the sigil of his house on to the world map with the location of his robberies. And once that task was completed he disappeared. And this was over a decade ago. He kept the stolen items in two locations. In the octagonal room in the basement, we found items of secondary value. And the rest were hidden elsewhere. Somehow around the time when the Phantom was active Kenichi's father Ichiro Garoya found out about Kiyoto and possibly the location where he hid his main treasure. This is on the assumption that the secret message is indeed about the stolen items."

Daichi nodded his head. He took over from his sensei. "Kenichi said that during the last years of his life he suffered from memory loss. So it's possible he wanted to record the information in a safe place."

The silver haired Jonin nodded. "Yes. So Ichiro went to a skilled chemist and created an invisible ink that would only appear under specific conditions. I'm sure he must have a blacklight that would reveal the information. And he must not have told anyone in his family. Even his son. If he had, Kenichi would have kept that heirloom in a much more secure location."

"And somehow during the last couple years or so, Kiyoto found out about what Ichiro did and after the man's death, went to his house to steal the heirloom and make sure his hidden treasure is never found. He probably stole random objects to confuse and mislead the people who were going to investigate." Daichi concluded his theory.

Kakashi stopped and looked at the two ninjas in the room. "But there is still a problem. We don't know if Kenichi is aware of the secret message hidden underneath the teapot. We don't know if that's his goal or if he truly regrets letting his family heirloom get stolen and is genuinely trying to get it back."

Daichi tilted his head in slight confusion. "Why is that a problem?"

"If the man was genuinely trying to get the heirloom back then it wouldn't be a problem. If we tell him everything we've learned the last few days there is a good chance he might help us." His sensei answered.

Daichi took a slight breath as he realized where his sensei was going. "But if he did learn about the treasure and is after that wealth and if we tell him, he'll just play dumb and be a lot more cautious. He won't solve the cipher and go after the treasure until he's sure we aren't watching."

"Precisely. And we can't exactly torture the guy for information." Kakashi nodded.

"But why not? And if you're worried about repercussions then why don't you just use your Sharingan on him? Put him in a Genjutsu and get the answers needed. Then erase his memories." Daichi asked.

"It's not that simple." Akai Hyuga was the one who answered. Daichi turned his attention towards the new temporary addition to the team.

"As far as I understand, this Kenichi is the client, yes."

Daichi nodded.

Akai continued. "The mission that was originally given to you was to locate his stolen property. And despite the information you've come across during your search, if you put the client in a Genjutsu or torture him for information without a very good sufficient cause it could effect our standing with the people poorly. And not to mention that this client is wealthy and has ties to the Daimyo. So even if it is an efficient logical move, it is a bad one."

"Yes." Kakashi agreed with his fellow Jonin. "If we put him in a Genjutsu and it turns out he didn't know anything, there will be serious backlash against us and the village. We need to proceed carefully."

"What about going to the Hokage? Get him to negotiate with the Daimyo for us to interrogate Kenichi."

Kakashi shook his head. "No, it's risky. If we don't have any results then it could put a strain on our relationship with the capital. No matter how small that might be, it's something we should avoid."

Daichi shook his head upon hearing that. "Look I get what you're saying but he knows about the treasure."

"And how would you know that Daichi? Do you have any solid proof that Kenichi is aware of what his father did?" Kakashi questioned his student. He looked at Daichi and he couldn't figure out why the boy was certain of this theory.

Daichi was silent as he heard that question. 'Damn it I can't tell them, it's because of the quest that just popped up. So what do I do?'

Kakashi sighed seeing the frustration on Daichi's face. "Look. I understand your frustrations. But right now all we have is speculations. Even that hidden cipher isn't enough. We need something more… And we need to be careful before taking the next step. If Kenichi has figured out that the Phantom was the one who stole the heirloom and we return the Teapot then he'd know we figured out Phantom's identity and tracked him down."

"He doesn't. I'm sure of that." Daichi said in absolute confidence.

"What makes you say that?"

"When we asked him if he had any idea as to who stole the teapot, he said he didn't have a clue. He wasn't lying. I'm sure of that. I believe he thinks this was just a random robbery. And if he knew it was the Phantom Thief then he would have at least tried to send us in that direction but he didn't." The young Genin said confident in his deduction.

After taking a few deep breaths Daichi looked at his sensei. "So what now? What do we do?"

Kakashi silently thought about the matter. "Lord Hokage will be here by tomorrow afternoon. We'll speak with him and then we'll make a plan. Right now you should get some rest Daichi."

"What will you be doing?" The boy asked.

"Akai and I will go to Kiyoto's house again. We'll check the whole place one more time just to make sure we didn't miss anything." Kakashi replied.

"With my Byakugan we'll be able to spot if there are any more hidden structures underneath the compound." The Hyuga added.

"We'll be back by morning. Try to get some sleep. Okay?"

At Kakashi's request Daichi simply nodded his head. A short while later Kakashi and Akai left the capital once again. Daichi was on the couch thinking about what to do. At that moment he thought of something and opened the scroll containing the details about the robbery at Kenichi's home a year ago.

Daichi opened the scroll and looked through certain documents. 'There will be changes to the number and formation but it won't matter. I'll have to make my move soon though. Just need to find the right time. And I can't draw anyone's attention.'

With a few plans in mind Daichi soon went to sleep.

He woke up a few hours before dawn and went outside to complete his daily exercise. An hour later by the time he was done Kakashi came up to him.

"You didn't find anything did you?" It was more of a statement on Daichi's part.

The Jonin simply sighed and after a few seconds of silence replied. "No. There wasn't anything else other than what we found."

Daichi nodded and went back to training while Kakashi relaxed and read his book. Soon by the time it was noon there were a few knocks on the door.

Kakashi opened it and immediately bowed. "Lord Hokage. Please come in."

Hiruzen with a smile slowly entered the room. A ninja from the Nara clan and Akai Hyuga also followed the old kage into the room.

Daichi also stood from his spot and greeted the Kage. "Lord Hokage."

"Daichi, Kakashi, you two certainly know how to make things interesting for me." Hiruzen said with a small laugh.

"Please tell me you're not complaining that we cracked one of the biggest unsolved cases in the last few decades." Daichi said with a small smile as he looked at the old man.

Hiruzen just laughed at that. "No no. While this will certainly cause a headache for me, it is a minor one. The rewards far outweigh any problem that might arise."

He looked at the two ninjas and spoke in a somewhat more serious tone. "Akai has filled me in on the situation. I haven't spoken to the Daimyo yet and the people of Fire capital are under his protection. So using Genjutsu or any means of direct interrogation will cause problems. So how are you two planning to proceed?"

At that Kakashi spoke up. "Well, Daichi and I came up with a plan. It's a simple, straightforward idea and I believe it should work nicely."

Kakashi explained his plan and the Hokage gave his permission to move forward with it.

The Next Day.

Daichi and Kakashi were in Kenichi's office. Daichi held the precious Teapot in his hands and showed it to their client.

"I believe you were looking for this sir." Daichi said with a smile.

Kenichi's eyes were wide as he looked at the item in front of him. "Oh my God. You actually found it. After all this time I didn't have much hope but you two actually did it."

[Reputation increases with Kenichi Garoya]

"We couldn't find the jewels that were stolen. This is what we were able to track down." Kakashi said.

Kenichi shook his head smiling. "Those jewels don't matter that much. This is what I wanted. Now I'm sure my father will be able to rest in peace." Kenichi said with a wide smile as he carefully took the teapot from Daichi and inspected it.

"You retrieved it without any damages. Well done." The man placed the teapot on top of the table and looked at the two ninjas he hired with a happy smile.

"I should have hired you two from the start. I'm amazed. How did you even track this down? Who had it?" Kenichi asked them eager to know the details.

"Well as for how, we can't reveal the tricks of our trade I'm afraid." The Jonin said with a polite smile. "Now as for whom, it was a skilled thief from a nearby village. He was at the fire capital and heard of your valuable heirloom. So he broke in and stole it along with whatever else he deemed valuable."

"The nerve. Where is he at the moment?" Kenichi asked with slight anger.

"Dead. He died of an illness a few months ago." Daichi replied.

Kenichi let out a small breath and calmed himself. He smiled again. "Well, I guess this is it. You two have completed your mission perfectly. Thank you."

"It was our pleasure." Kakashi replied.

[Quest 'Locate and Retrieve the Missing Item' Completed.]

[Rewards:]

[15000 Exp.]

[2250 Exp.]

[Reputation increases with the client.]

[Reputation increases with Kakashi Hatake and Hiruzen Sarutobi.]

For Daichi, at that moment the quest completion notification appeared but he only briefly glanced at it. He kept his full attention on the man in front of him.

"Will you two be staying at the capital? You two are more than welcome to stay at the Inn. You could enjoy some free time and tour the places. It will be my treat." The offer from Kenichi sounded genuine to the two ninjas. And his face only expressed his joy at the return of the heirloom and satisfaction at the two ninja's impeccable work.

"Thank you for the offer but maybe another time perhaps. Now that our mission is complete here, we'll be returning to the village promptly." Kakashi said smiling.

"If you're leaving already, then please take this." Kenichi took two coupons from his desk and handed them to Kakashi. "You two will no doubt be looking to relax once you reach the village. Please show these coupons at my shop and the staff will treat you to some excellent tea. Please, I insist."

"Thank you." The Jonin took the two coupons and stashed them in his pouch.

The two ninjas soon left Kenichi's home and headed to the capital gates. They showed their identification documents and left the Fire Capital.

Daichi had a small smirk as he jumped through the trees. 'Now the plan begins.'

—-------------

Author's Note:

Writing this chapter, I had some new ideas pop up in my head for a few coming arcs. I've been mulling over them all day. A proper villain, maybe a few tragedies… I haven't decided anything solid yet…. Well, we'll see how it goes after I'm done with this arc….