Chapter 21: Mentality

Before he arrived at the inn, his cold analytical mindset, which he inherited from Dr. Gero, stopped working, and the parts of his personality belonging to the tortured child and average student shone through. Tekku's heart pounded violently against his chest as he stumbled through the populated streets, his breath ragged and shallow. The weight of his actions bore down on him, threatening to crush his spirit. He had to stop in an empty alley, leaning against a wall.

Doubt and guilt consumed him as he questioned his actions just now. Were they justified? 'I did it to save an innocent woman from a fate worse than death.' He tried to calm himself, but a tiny voice in the back of his head wouldn't let him. 'No, you did it so you could gain some bodies to dissect and study. That is the only reason they are dead. You could have just knocked them out and saved the woman. You are a murderer.'

A whole discussion happened inside his mind as his breathing became worse and worse, trying to grasp for air, as his chest felt tighter. 'I murdered them, even though I didn't need to. There were other paths I could have chosen.' He realized as cold sweat ran down his back.

In this moment, the calm, cold, and analytical feeling came back. 'No, I did what was necessary for me to survive. This is the Shinobi World, if I hesitate, I am dead. Dying and killing are normal parts of this world. Being too weak just means I die. I need their bodies to progress further.' He realized as his breathing calmed down again. This was a necessary action for his own survival in the future.

Having managed to calm himself down, taking a short breath, he continued towards the inn, ready to report his progress and findings today.

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"You did what?" asked Hana, concerned, as she looked at her younger teammate retelling his findings.

Tekku just blankly looked at her, "Well, I could confirm that Golden Skull is unrelated to our target. After interrogating one of their deputy leaders, I could confirm that they didn't even know our target," repeated Tekku seriously.

"I understand that. What I mean is how you did that... Are you okay?" she asked, trying to grasp the concept that her teammate took a life. She was well aware of how the reality of ninja looked. She was from a ninja clan and had experienced many members never returning. But she didn't think that she would see that reality so soon, especially with their youngest team member making the first kills in their team.

"Yeah, I am fine. Well, as good as I can be. It's better targeting such scum the first time rather than during a really nasty mission where I have to target innocent civilians or even children," explained Tekku logically. "I simply chose not to stand aside and save an innocent life while also working on the mission. Two advantages with one move. Now we no longer have to monitor them and can focus on something else."

"If you say so," muttered Hana, still not convinced that he was fine. Her three ninken nudged their heads against her, trying to calm her down.

Inoichi had more experience with the situation. As one of the psychological experts, he knew that there was no point in pressing him for a reaction. The reaction would come naturally and would be different for everyone. The best thing he could do was wait and see. "I am sorry that you had to go through that by yourself. I was planning to take a mission where all three of you should have your first kills in a few months when you had more experience. If you want to talk about it in the future, my door is always open," said Inoichi calmly.

Haruto, meanwhile, was very quiet and just stared at Tekku. The Kenjutsu user was deep in his thoughts about how he would have reacted. He was unsure whether he could have taken down all three of them. In reality, he would most likely have frozen after the first kill and would have been in serious danger.

"Did you properly take care of the bodies?" asked Inoichi. It was their responsibility in the Land of Fire to take care of their own mess.

"Yes, I burned them and buried their ashes," lied Tekku without hesitating. "I also sent the woman away from Tanzaku-gai."

"Good, from now on, you will assist Hana in observing the target. Haruto, keep up your observation work. I will try to stay close to you. If you encounter a similar situation, flare your chakra. I will come to assist you," decided Inoichi on their further action.

"Okay, Sensei," agreed the team as they finished the meeting and turned in for the night.

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Early in the morning, after Hana and Tekku watched Minoru-san saying goodbye to his wife, leaving the house towards work, they had to decide how they were doing it. "How did you keep an eye on him?" asked Tekku, Hana, who was accompanied by her three pups.

"I always followed him from a distance. With the help of my ninken, I could always find him when I lost him out of sight," explained Hana as they followed the man to his workplace.

"Okay, I will keep a closer distance. Maybe I will hear something interesting. I will use the Transformation Jutsu multiple times to be able to keep close," decided Tekku as he changed his appearance. He should be able to keep up the transformation for the whole day. His training had raised his chakra reserves quite a bit, and he had already reached Chunin levels. With his high level of chakra control, it was no problem for him to use only the perfect amount of chakra required for the technique.

While Hana followed the target from a distance, always keeping an eye on the perimeter, Tekku followed him closely, using the masses of people to maintain his cover. From time to time, he turned around the corner, changing the transformation before rejoining the masses to keep a close eye on Minoru-san.

Minoru-san was a chef in one of the restaurants in Tanzaku-gai. During his work hours, Tekku headed into the establishment in different disguises, ordering a small snack. He always stayed within reach of the restaurant, spending quite a lot of time hidden on the roof while continuously monitoring the location of his target with the Sensing Technique.

Unfortunately, neither he nor Hana could see anything strange going on. Since they weren't able to keep an eye on him the whole time or be close enough to listen in, they weren't sure what he was talking about with different people.

Tekku really hoped this mission would end soon. Yes, his proficiency in the Sensing Technique had improved quite a lot, but there was only so much he could do while on a mission that required him to focus on a target. In this manner, they spent the whole day monitoring the target.

After his shift in the restaurant ended, Tekku and Hana once again followed him. They kept this up for the next two days, until one day Minoru-san after work left the Restaurant again. But instead of directly heading home, Minoru-san took a turn that he hadn't taken before. He was heading for his house but somewhere else, causing them to be excited as they may finally figure out what was going on.

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