Chapter 251 - Meeting Sai.

Daichi's plan.

"Hmm… I might have an idea as to how it got here. Sensei with your permission, I'd like to execute a plan I have in mind."

Kakashi glanced at his client and then turned his attention back to his student. "Let's hear it."

"Right now we don't know for certain if the enemy is among us. For all we know an outside attacker found out that you were staying here in this specific room through some special reconnaissance method." Daichi reasoned and Ryoma nodded as he realized the lack of evidence pointing to someone inside.

Ryoma suddenly thought of something. 'If the attacker is someone from outside then is it possible that they poisoned all the tubs in the 7 suits just to get to me?' He immediately disregarded that line of thought. 'No. That's inefficient and it might also put the other parties in danger. No ninja worth their salt would proceed with such careless planning.'

At that moment Kakashi spoke. "Daichi, we can't just rule out the possibility that there aren't any enemies among the people inside this building. It could be an accomplice or maybe even the culprit."

"Yes. I agree, sensei. It's why we need to know for sure who's involved and who's not." Daichi and his teacher turned to the mediator.

Ryoma sighed as he knew what the two might be thinking. "If you two are suggesting an interrogation then please remember that despite being civilians those two have great wealth and lots of connections. I'm afraid I can't authorize that."

Kakashi nodded as he understood the precarious situation they were in. "I had a feeling you'd say that." Daichi sighed but had a small smile on his face. "What if we force their hand? Give them a shot at their target one more time?"

"You're suggesting we use Ryoma here as bait?" Kakashi raised an eyebrow as he looked at his student.

Daichi nodded and turned to their client. "If you're up for it sir."

Ryoma agreed after thinking about it for a few moments. "What do you need me to do?"

"Take a nice long bath, relax, then put on your best garments and walk down to the evening meeting like nothing ever happened. I'll have a shadow clone accompany you and sensei will be outside the door with his boring usual self." The Genin had a smirk as he said the last part.

'Boring? I'm not boring.' The silver haired man just looked at his student with a deadpan expression.

Daichi continued. "At that time I'll be in this room hidden. If the attacker tries to tamper with anything here again, I'll know."

"What about the other people? How will you know if there is anyone working with the enemy.?" Ryoma asked the Genin.

Daichi held a mysterious smile as he looked at the man. "That… Is a secret. Trust me. If they try another attempt on your life, I'll find them."

At that time Kakashi asked a question that was on his mind. "You said you had an idea as to how the poison got here. Tell me, was it a special shape transformation jutsu?"

Daichi smiled and nodded. "Yeah. I believe whoever did this created the poison and added it to their jutsu. The jutsu most likely would be a small puppet or semi sentient chakra creature. Maybe a small rat, spider or a lizard."

The idea came to the Genin when he pondered on how the attacker could get in the building without anyone knowing. 'This particular jutsu used as a delivery method... I think it might be similar to Sai's ink creatures. Instead of Ink as the substance used, here it is poison and water style jutsu. Still, this is just a theory. I need confirmation.'

"I'll wait here and since the people downstairs won't suspect a thing they might be bold enough to try again. I'll track down the attacker and subdue him." Daichi explained to the two.

"Daichi, if there are multiple opponents with overwhelming strength then proceed according to protocol." Kakashi looked at his student with a calm but serious gaze.

"I know sensei. I'll be careful. I'll try to capture the enemy for interrogation if possible. That way we'll be able to find out who our opponents are and you might be able to use it to your advantage in the negotiations."

The two adults looked at each other and nodded.

"That could work." Ryoma said.

"Let's try it Daichi." Kakashi said with an eye smile.

—-

Evening: Ryoma's Suite.

As the two parties were in a heated discussion Daichi was in his client's room hidden from everyone's senses.

Daichi's Mana Scout skill had improved and leveled up a great deal during his dungeon battles. He was able to keep track of everyone in the building with ease. Daichi sensed everyone's movements and soon paid close attention to where everyone was.

The Genin was sitting crossed legged on the ceiling of the room. Daichi had his Mana Body Armor active as he waited. 'This will block my scent and chakra from being sensed. And with the Mana Cloak I'm invisible to the eyes of everyone.'

Daichi waited and waited and an hour had passed.

'There isn't a hundred percent guarantee that this will work. Whoever is behind this might also be paranoid and just give up.'

Just as he was thinking this he sensed a change in movement behavior in one of the people downstairs. Daichi sensed the person split up from the rest of the people and headed up to their room.

The Genin got up from his spot and stood upside down on the ceiling. He created a shadow clone with minimum chakra and it immediately concealed itself with Mana abilities while the real Daichi quietly exited the room through the open window. The Genin made his way to where the suspicious party was and saw a man he recognized standing near a window writing something on a small piece of paper.

'The guy definitely looks nervous. Now who are you waiting for?'

The invisible Daichi looked at the man and wondered. At that moment he sensed something coming closer from the distance. He looked in the other direction and a small smile tugged his lips. 'Not a who but a what.'

It was a small blue bird with red beaks and yellow eyes. It was even smaller than an adult's palm. The bird landed near the man's window and Daichi saw him tie a small note onto the bird's leg.

The Genin used 'observe' on the bird and to make sure that it was just a regular creature.

'A trained carrier bird huh. I see. Well well, this thing has a special sense of smell that's much stronger than normal. On par with an Inuzuka ninken. It's also trained to pick up any trackers and evade them. Not a bad pet to keep. Time to see where you're going.'

Daichi got within 10 meters of the bird and pointed his finger at it. He concentrated some of his Mana Energy and activated his recently acquired skill.

[Skill Mana Tracker is now active]

He saw the bird take off into the forest but Daichi was calm. With his new skill he knew exactly where the bird was.

[Mana Tracker - Active (LV.04): This skill allows the user to track their target even if the target is out of range of the user's other senses. This skill is activated by concentrating a very small portion of the user's Mana and implanting it into the target's brain. At the current level this skill has certain limitations.]

[Note: Stronger Minds can reject this skill subconsciously.

Target needs to be within 10 meters and must be in line of sight for the skill to activate. (This limitation can be removed at higher levels.)

Currently this skill can only track one target at a time.

Cannot track targets in different dimensions.]

[Effects:]

[Implanted Mana in the target will disappear after 2 Hours and 20 minutes.]

[Target location will be shown on Map till the tracker wears off.]

[100% Location accuracy.]

[MP Cost: 100MP]

'This is an excellent tracking skill. I need to level this baby up when I get back to the village.'

Daichi decided to follow the bird since he knew the clone would be keeping an eye on the man.

The invisible Daichi quietly followed the bird as it flew through the air for several hundred meters. He came upon several well hidden traps and moved around them.

'Ok. Whoever this is, is good with ambush tactics.'

Soon it began its descent. At that moment Daichi sensed the presence of two individuals hidden in the forest. He quietly arrived and stood in the shadows of a tree as he looked at the two ninjas present. One was a ninja around Daichi's age but the other was a few years older. The small avian creature landed on the palm of the older ninja but Daichi's attention was on his teammate.

'Of all the people… It's him. I can't believe I'm meeting him here.'

The younger ninja had short, straight black hair, dark eyes and translucent looking pale skin. He had on a short black jacket with red stripes, black shinobi pants and gloves. Near the ninja Daichi could see a small backpack, scrolls and brush.

'No fucking way. That's… Sai.'

The older ninja took the piece of paper and read the message. He turned to his teammate and spoke. "Tao. It seems the target is still alive and the negotiations are moving forward. He wasn't poisoned."

Daichi narrowed his eyes as he heard that. 'Tao. So that's what you're going by for this mission huh… Now then, who's your teammate?'

'Observe'

Daichi quickly went through the information his system provided. '17 years old. Enji. That's his codename for the mission. Real name unknown. Chunin level ninja with proficiency in trap making, ambush and stealth attacks. Higher than average talent in Water Chakra Nature. Allegiance: The Root.'

The older ninja was wearing similar garments to Tao. He had a small tanto on his back and had a face mask similar to Kakashi.

"Was the intel we received wrong?" Tao/Future Sai asked his teammate.

Enji shook his head. "It doesn't seem so. Perhaps I'm the one who made a miscalculation. I've only just started to mimic your techniques. So it's possible that my jutsu might have missed the mark."

"Is it possible our targets are aware of our assassination attempts?"

"It doesn't seem so based on the note. But we should still be cautious. Kakashi Hatake is the one guarding our target. And the medic nin Daichi Hekima is also present. The chances of completing this mission are slim."

"Lord Danzo will not be pleased with mistakes or failure." Tao said keeping a calm emotionless tone.

"I'm well aware. There won't be any this time." Enji replied and went through a few seals. He then spit out a liter of water which turned into a small transparent water mouse. The ninja took a syringe and injected the mouse. The next second it took off in the direction of the resort.

Daichi was looking at everything that happened with keen eyes. He was keeping close watch on the future member of Team 07. 'He's keeping his emotions as neutral as possible. Even his chakra is calm. But it's impossible to hide your micro expressions from me, Sai. You're trying to blend in and make sure to not be discovered by Danzo aren't you… Based on the information Observe gave me on him, it seems Sai's life has gone pretty much the same way as canon… Makes sense. There wasn't much that I did that could have affected this guy's life.'

Daichi had a grin as he looked at the two. With his camouflage Mana skills on, he easily got around the two and stood a few feet behind them. There was a mischievous grin on Daichi's face as he looked at the two Root.

'Time to make a proper introduction.'

He kept his chakra, sound and smell concealed and then let go of the active Mana skill keeping him invisible to the world. His body became visible but the two Root ninjas were oblivious to Daichi's presence.

"Psst! Hello there…" Daichi leaned forward and spoke from behind in a small tone.

The two Root ninja were startled when they heard the voice. Their heartbeat suddenly increased and adrenaline pumped through their veins. Tao and Enji immediately turned around with weapons unsheathed in their hands. Even before they laid eyes on their foe, the two Root ninjas tried to slash the person standing a couple feet behind them but they missed their mark.

Daichi expected the reaction and easily jumped back avoiding it. He grinned at the two shinobi while the eyes of the Root ninjas widened as they recognized the person in front of them standing with a calm smile.

"Yeesh. Kill first and ask questions later. Not a smart policy gentlemen." The Genin said with a smirk.

Only one thought went through the Root shinobi's mind. 'Daichi Hekima. How did he find us?'

—-------------

Author's Note.

A few things.

I want to complete this arc and get to the start of the graduation in the next few chapters. Or at least I'll try my best to do that.

Lastly how do guys like my introduction of Sai into the story? Hit me up with your thoughts.