Uncovering the secret

Team 10 was sneakily following Sato; all three genin were doing this together. But if Ino was being honest, she brought them together for mental support. 

God forbid, she needed a lot of mental support; she had no idea who they were going to fight or who was the writer of that mystery letter.

Sadly, her teammates were giving her stress instead of mental support. 

"Choji, stop making so much noise!"

Ino almost punched Choji; the boy was clapping his hands constantly, making a lot of noise.

"But there are mosquitoes here; they are trying to bite me."

Choji complained while trying to kill another mosquito, and Ino was gritting her teeth. These goddam bugs!

"But if we make so much noise, Sato will notice us!"

Ino complained in a low but urgent voice; she didn't want Sato to think she was being nosy by following him secretly.

"It's a little too late for that."

Weirdly, Shikamaru grumbled as if they were already exposed.

Ino quickly looked at Sato, who was still walking normally, and then angrily questioned Shikamaru. 

"What do you mean? Sato Kun didn't notice us; he is still following the smell."

*Swish*

Suddenly, Ino felt a strong arm curl around her neck. Ino was about to scream thinking this was an assassin, when she noticed the hand holding her.

She knew this hand, specifically the sharp cat-like fingernails on it.

"Sato kun, it's you! I swear, I didn't mean to follow you secretly."

Ino stuttered, but Sato angrily knocked her on the head. He was not buying her lies.

"Hush, I had a feeling you were going to follow me; your smell practically gave that information away."

"I thought Shikamaru would stop you two, but he followed you instead!"

Sato clicked his tongue and let go of Ino. Ino turned around and kept her head down. Shikamaru rubbed his hair, and Choji just smiled in a silly way. 

Sato rolled his eyes at their antics. None of them were ready to leave.

"So be it; now that you are here, you don't have to leave. I will tell you what we are trying to do."

Sato grabbed Shikamaru's shoulder and walked forward; Ino and Choji quickly followed them.

"I am going to kill Orochimaru; for that, I need to know his plan. If I know his plan, I can trap him in his own game."

"This letter is a possible clue; if we figure out who wrote it, I can take them down and ask I want."

Sato explained his plan; it was a simple idea: defeat the author of this letter and check if they know about Orochimaru's plan.

"You want to ask about Orochimaru's plan but for all we know, the author of this letter IS Orochimaru."

"Although you seem sure Orochimaru didn't write the letter himself, how are you so sure about this?"

Shikamaru asked with a frown. Sato folded his hand and explained.

"The smell on this letter."

"I wasn't sure at first, the smell here was weird. Whoever wrote this letter wasn't fully human."

"Orochimaru fits this description perfectly. He is half-snake. At first I thought he was indeed the one who wrote this letter."

Sato stopped speaking, then looked at Choji for a few seconds. He then smiled and turned around.

"But now I have my doubts. I am basically sure Orochimaru didn't write this."

Ino and Shikamaru looked at Choji in confusion. Sato saw something they didn't. Was Choji hiding something they didn't know about?

"What did you notice, Sato kun? What is Choji hiding? Please tell us?"

Ino grabbed Sato's hand and squeezed against his body, trying to make him talk. 

"I won't say anything before I am sure."

"But if I am correct, we will reach a forest as we keep following the smell. And it must be a damp forest."

Sato replied confidently, and Ino pressed on, wanting to know more information.

"Which direction is the smell pointing towards Sato kun? Maybe I know that place."

Ino beamed with giddiness; she loved the feeling of solving a mystery with Sato.

"The smell is leading east; is there something similar in that direction?"

Sato pointed east and asked his friends; Shikamaru was the fastest to reply, much to Ino's frustration.

"There is a forest owned by the Aburame clan in that direction. Their forests are indeed damp; it helps their insects grow."

Shikamaru spoke in amazement; he had no idea how Sato was analyzing this. Even his sharp mind was unable to keep up with Sato.

Sato really was much closer to his father in intelligence. Shikamaru knew he wasn't as good.

"Sato Kun. How did you know there would be a forest in that direction?"

Ino asked with curiosity, Sato smiled and he took out the mystery letter. He handed it to Ino before saying.

"Feel it closely. The paper is slightly damp. The whole paper is like this."

"But it's winter right now, so it couldn't be sweat; I thought, Why was it so wet then?"

"I knew one thing clearly: whatever made it wet had no smell; it had to be something odorless and colorless."

Sato snapped his finger and smiled. 

"The answer was obvious, it was water. This letter was written in a place where the air was full of moisture."

"The only places in Konoha where such a damp environment exists, even in this season, are the forests."

Sato's reasoning left the trio speechless. Sato was absolutely right, but this level of deductive reasoning was insane. 

Shikamaru had only seen his dad do stuff like this, and this was hard work even for him.

Sato's supernatural abilities left the trio numb, and by the time their minds were back to normal, the whole group had stepped into the Aburame clan's forest. 

*Snap*

Ino Shika Cho was starting to get nervous. Choji was particularly nervous about this whole situation. He really wanted to know who they were going to face. 

"Sato, are you 100% sure Orochimaru didn't write that letter?"

"You can look at me again if you want; maybe you will find some more information."

Choji was sure Sato would find some answers if he looked at him again. 

Choji noticed how Sato had looked at him once, and immediately knew Orochimaru didn't write this letter. 

Sato twitched his eyes and said.

"That is not how it works, Choji; I already saw what I wanted to see."

"I had a feeling I knew who wrote this letter. Looking at you back then only confirmed my suspicion."

Sato muttered while moving a large leaf, behind which was an empty area. 

A pale girl was standing with her back to them in the middle of this field. 

"Shit! Get ready!"

Ino Shika Cho were shocked; they quickly took out their kunai, but Sato just smiled.

"Remember the mosquitoes who were trying to bite you, Choji?"

Sato continued without a care; even if Ino Shika Cho were sweating from pressure, Sato smiled softly. 

"None of those mosquitoes bit you. Isn't it bizarre? So many mosquitoes were around you, but I didn't see one mosquito bite on your body."

"That's when I had my doubts; the aburame forest only confirmed my doubts. And after seeing her, I am sure of my conclusion."

Sato rubbed his chin and smiled at the girl.

"Those weren't normal mosquitoes Choji, they were controlled. They were spying on us, watching our every move."

"The clues added up perfectly. This girl is someone who knows me, well enough to notice my new cat characteristics."

"She should also have a reason to pay close attention to me, and most importantly, she must have the ability to control insects."

Snapping his finger, Sato concluded the results, he already had the answer. 

"The answer is clear already. Isn't that right, Fu?"

"Although It's a shame I can't know anything about Orochimaru from her. She might not even know this name."

The pale girl slowly turned around with a big smile on her face. With a sudden puff of smoke, she transformed into a green-haired girl with insect wings.

"I knew you would find me! But Sato kun, I have some news for you."

"I have heard about Orochimaru before; in fact, he is the reason I secretly called you here."

"Why don't you come a little closer? I will tell you what I know."

Fu smiled widely, but Sato's smile slowly vanished. What did Fu mean by that? She called him here for someone else? That seemed a bit weird.. Maybe she knows something he doesn't?

Advanced chapters ahead on patréon

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