Chapter 177 - Treasure - Part 01

Daichi looked at the 3rd quest that appeared.

[Quest created - Find the Secret of the Heirloom.]

[Kenichi's family heirloom contains a vital secret. Find the Teapot and figure out its secret.]

[Conditions:]

Retrieve the heirloom and identify its secrets without damaging it.

.

[Rewards:]

3000 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.)

.

[Failure:]

[Cannot open the 4th quest]

[Reputation decreases with the client. (If heirloom is damaged.)]

'So that teapot does have some secrets. And the quest says it's a vital secret… And my reputation might decrease? So if I take a certain action my reputation may increase or decrease with him. That's strange. And it's not given in the failure part of the quest but the reward.'

The young gamer thought about the clue hidden in the wording and quickly came to a conclusion. 'This quest. It's about finding the secret of the heirloom. After I find out the secret, depending on what I do after, the client will be pleased or displeased with me… It must be it… Hmm…. If I want to take the right course of action then I need to find out what the secret is…'

Daichi looked around the place. He was beginning to have an idea as to what this was all about? 'There is no way this is a coincidence. This whole thing must be connected with the thief…'

"Daichi!" Kakashi suddenly called out to him.

"We have our evidence. I need you to search the whole house. We need to find the other items…" The Jonin said to the boy.

"What will you be doing sensei?"

"I need to send an urgent report to the Hokage." He then turned to Hirohito. The man was shocked at what he had just learned and was quietly sitting on the couch with a downtrodden face.

"Hey. I need you to please stay here for the moment. Don't leave the premises for any reason." Even though Kakashi had worded it as a request, the man knew it was an unconditional demand. The young Lord only nodded to the order. After everything that just happened he didn't have the energy to argue.

Kakashi took out a scroll from his pouch and started writing. Several minutes later after his report was completed he went outside the house and made the five hand seals.

"Summoning jutsu."

In a puff of smoke a single dog appeared. It had tan fur, white snout and long brown ears. And the blue vest and the forehead protector it wore indicated that it was a ninja dog.

"Guruko. I need your assistance."

The ninja dog was on guard and was looking around. "Kakashi, please tell me we're not fighting that crazy student of yours." The ninken still remembered the feeling of dread from that day.

"No. No. Nothing of the sort."

The ninja dog Guruko let out a breath of relief. "What do you need?"

"I need you to deliver this scroll to the Hokage as soon as possible. Go directly to the Hokage. The information on this scroll is very crucial. And wait for his orders."

Guruko nodded and took the scroll from the Jonin. The next second he disappeared from his summoner's view. Kakashi sighed and slowly went back into the house.

Daichi looked all around the house but couldn't find anything else that was stolen. 'There has to be something else here. What am I missing?'

"Didn't find anything?"

Daichi shook his head to Kakashi's question.

"Hmm…."

The young Genin looked at his teacher who appeared to be in deep thoughts. "You got something sensei?"

"Maybe. When people want to hide something they usually put it under them…"

The boy quickly caught on to what his sensei was implying. "The basement? But I already checked. It was empty save for a few desks and chairs." Daichi said.

"Let's go check again. It's possible you might have missed something."

Daichi didn't argue since he had nothing else to go on. As both of them headed down to the basement, Hirohito joined them. He wanted to see if his father had hidden anything more in the house.

They quickly reached the basement and looked around. There was nothing else except for a few desks, chairs and a few wall mounted hooks with a hat on one of them.

Both the ninjas started looking around the basement but there was nothing that was out of the ordinary at first glance. As Kakashi made his way across the room he noticed something peculiar on the floor.

A few drops of some black stain was on the floor but what was strange was that the wall was over half of the small drop. Kakashi lifted the headband over his Sharingan eye and looked at the spot.

"Daichi, could you come over here for a moment?"

The boy looked over to his sensei and saw that the man had his Sharingan out examining something. Daichi walked over and looked down to where his teacher was looking.

He quickly noticed the anomaly and heightened his senses. Daichi bent down and took a whiff and looked closely at the stain. Seeing the two ninjas crouched at the other end of the room Hirohito also made his way over.

After a few seconds Daichi came to a conclusion. "It's an ink stain."

"Yes. But the shape is strange. It's in a semicircle. Only half of it is on the floor and the edge of this wall is clean. There isn't any stain on where the rest should be." With his Sharingan, Kakashi quickly made his analysis.

Daichi looked at the wall in front of him and focused his attention on it. A few moments later he sensed something. He placed his fingers a few millimeters above the bricks and slowly moved.

"Sensei. I can feel a draft coming from this area. It's faint but it's there." Daichi said.

Kakashi nodded and knocked on the section of the wall. "Yes. You're right. I'm pretty sure there's a passage behind this wall."

"Wait, hold on. Are you saying there's a secret passage behind this?" The young lord was surprised. He looked around when he first came here and didn't find anything out of the ordinary. 'Today is just full of surprises. And not the good kind.'

"Yeah. It seems so. Stand back." Daichi told the man and was reading his hand to punch right through when Kakashi stopped him.

"If we force our way inside, who knows what will happen. We can't just break through. We need to open it." Kakashi said.

"You think there might be traps?"

"It's a possibility. Let's look around. There might be something here."

With that the duo renewed their search and focused their attention on every inch of the room. As they searched Daichi noticed something.

"Sensei. I think I found it."

Kakashi walked over and looked at what Daichi was pointing at. "These four wall mounted hooks. One of them doesn't have as much dust or cobwebs as the others. I think this must be the key." Daichi deduced this by the state of the hook. He also used 'Observe' just to make sure and he was right.

Kakashi pulled the particular hook down and the sounds of gears moving were heard. Then the wall they examined earlier started going down revealing a narrow stone passage.

'I can't believe this path was here the whole time.' Hirohito couldn't believe his eyes.

Daichi was also excited. 'This is incredible. Solving a mysterious theft. Finding hidden treasures. I feel like Sherlock Holmes. My life is so awesome.'

They saw fire torches hanging on the side of the wall and Kakashi quickly lit one and took it. With light from the flaming torch as a guide the three people made their way forward. They walked for several meters and soon came to the entrance of a large octagonal shaped room. Kakashi lit fire to the torches hanging in the room and soon light illuminated every inch of the place.

"Wow…" Daichi and Hirohito couldn't help but exclaim. "I can't believe there was something like this under the house all along." Hirohito muttered.

There were over a dozen paintings hanging on the walls. Daichi turned his head and saw jewelry boxes neatly placed on a table. There were a few rare statues among the collection as well.

"Looks like we found the loot of the century. Hahaha…" Daichi said in a glee.

Kakashi looked around and he wasn't as joyful as his student. "This isn't it…" He said with a sigh.

Hearing Kakashi's serious tone, Daichi sobered up. "What's wrong?"

"Look around Daichi. Yes these are many of the stolen items but many more are missing. The Phantom thief stole two items during his robbery. One that's priceless and another that's not worth as much. Granted it's still valuable but… What we have in front of us are items that have secondary value." Kakashi explained.

"What? You mean there's more?" The young lord was stupefied. 'I can't believe my father got away with so much treasure and hid them till now.'

Daichi carefully looked at the items in his view and realized that his sensei was right. 'So this is only half the stuff huh… He must have hidden the ones with greater value at another location… Or maybe there might be another hidden room here somewhere…'

"We have to search this house. Maybe there's another hidden room."

Kakashi nodded with that theory. "It's possible… But right now we need to move forward with our mission. We have to find our client's heirloom."

Daichi agreed and the two of them started going through the stolen items. The client had shown them a picture of the item that was stolen so they knew what they were after. Several minutes later they found what they were looking for.

Kakashi found the item stashed away inside a small box. Along with it were the jewelry and scrolls that were stolen from their client's home.

The teapot was black with a gold design and several precious stones embedded in various patterns.

"Finally. We found it. You were right, Daichi. The Phantom was the one who stole from Kenichi's house."

Daichi nodded and looked at the item. 'Observe'

[Inochi no Okurimono]

[Inochi no Okurimono also known as 'Gift of Life' is a teapot created by a master craftsman and given to a Kagura Garoya by the Fire Daimyo as a gift for saving his life. The Daimyo gave the name to the teapot due to the life saving incident. Several rare and expensive stones were used in the creation of this item. The Garoya family consider this their heirloom and most valuable item. Several years ago Ichiro Garoya came across valuable information and with the help of an artist, stored it in this teapot in secret.]

[You have witnessed an item created by a master craftsman.]

[+1 Intelligence.]

'So the story was true. This was indeed a gift from the Daimyo at that time… But moreover…'

Daichi's eyes were focused on the information shown last. 'A secret information stored in this pot with the help of an artist… Hmm… That's a clue…'

"Um sensei, may I?"

Kakashi looked at his student and then gave the teapot to Daichi. The Genin carefully took the heirloom in his hands and began examining it. He carefully scrutinized every inch of the black teapot and even took a look inside. He tried to see if there was some sort of hidden pattern inscribed on the pot.

'There isn't anything inside and it doesn't appear to have any storage or any other seals of any kind on this… So what secret are you hiding?'

"What are you looking for?" Kakashi asked his student.

"The design and craftsmanship of this item are spectacular. And the diamonds and several other stones on this are real. Moreover, based on its appearance I'm pretty sure this thing is at least several decades old. This teapot is indeed worth a fortune. The story was true. I believe his ancestor did save the Daimyo of the time and got this as a gift." Daichi said.

The Jonin raised an eyebrow at Daichi's conclusion but didn't disagree. "Well, I guess now we know why Kenichi wanted to find it so bad."

Daichi slightly shook his head. "I'm not so sure about that… Why would the Phantom Thief steal this after so many years. He disappeared for almost a decade and right after the guy dies he steals this from his house a year ago. No, I don't think that's some coincidence."

"So what's your theory?" Kakashi asked his student.

"I think there is more to this Teapot than what we know. And I'm gonna figure out its secrets." Daichi said with confidence as he looked at the precious item in his hands.

Hokage's Office.

Hiruzen was relaxing in his chair, smoking his pipe in comfort when he heard knocks coming from the window. He looked to the side and saw a ninja dog and immediately recognized it as one of Kakashi's.

'Kakashi wouldn't send his summon unless something serious happened…'

There was a worry in Hiruzen's heart that the team might have encountered dangerous enemies. He made a small gesture with his hand and one of the hidden guards opened the window to the office. The ninja dog jumped inside and hopped up onto the desk.

Guruko took the scroll and placed it on the table. "Lord Hokage, Kakashi tasked me with delivering this directly to you. He says it's important and I'm to wait for your response."

Hiruzen nodded, took the scroll and began reading its contents. As he went through each line his eyebrows began to rise. And as he reached the end of the scroll he was completely shocked. "You've got to be kidding me…"

The Hokage groaned thinking about the headache that will certainly arise when the other Kages and Feudal lords are made aware of the situation. 'They were supposed to be on a simple tracking mission… But now…'

"Is everything alright Lord Hokage?" The Hokage's guard Special Jonin Genma appeared kneeling and asked.

"It seems Kakashi and young Daichi have encountered something that will definitely spark an international incident…"

"Sir?" Genma and the hidden guards in the room were surprised at how a routine Genin mission could turn into something of such magnitude.

"Genma! It seems I will need to make a trip to the capital. Most probably early tomorrow morning. I need you to make the arrangements." The old Kage gave the order.

"Yes sir."

"And summon Akai Hyuga and Nomoru Nara."

Genma nodded and vanished. The Hokage then turned his attention to Guruko. "Tell Kakashi to stay the course. Since he and Daichi have found the identity of the culprit we can't let this opportunity pass by. Tell him I'll be sending a Hyuga to help with the mission. He will be at the capital at the Inn by tonight. And also inform Kakashi that I will be there by noon tomorrow."

Kakashi's summon nodded its head and quickly left the office.

Hiruzen sighed and leaned back in his chair. He thought about the conditions placed by the other Kages and Feudal lords when the information on the mysterious thief was shared.

'Whoever finds the thief or his stolen items will get 10% of the total value of everything that's found. The other kages placed that condition in the hopes that if one of their ninja finds the stolen treasure then the money they get would be diverted to the village. That's a lot of money. Enough to finance several dangerous missions. And that's just one of the conditions placed… This needs to be handled diplomatically.'

He let out a breath and stood from his chair. He paced in his office thinking the best move forward. He slowly came near the window and stopped. 'I can't believe this whole time that Kiyoto Inagi was the thief. But that doesn't make any sense… He certainly wasn't in need of any money. And even though I've only met the man on a couple occasions I'm certain he didn't possess the skills to commit these acts… So how…? Is there an accomplice? Or was the innocent man I met just a facade…'

At that moment someone knocked on his door.

"Come in."

Two people entered the room. Both wearing a Jonin vest. One had distinctive white eyes indicating that he was from the Hyuga clan and the other had the Nara clan symbol etched on his shoulder.

"Akai, Nomoru. You two are here. Good. There is an urgent matter that needs to be discussed."

Both ninjas straightened and had their full attention on their kage.

"Akai. I need you to travel to the Fire capital and meet up with Kakashi and his student. Your task is to help them with their C Rank mission. This is a priority mission with great implications. And the sooner you reach the location the better. Kakashi will fill you in on the mission details. Go."

The Hyuga nodded in seriousness and vanished using the body flicker jutsu.

The Hokage then turned to the Nara in the room.

"Nomoru, you'll be accompanying me to the Fire capital tomorrow. I need you to prepare for a coming meeting with the diplomats from the other 4 nations. There was an incident and once the news reaches the other nations the Kages will definitely send their diplomats to the capital. I need you to prepare."

Nomoru nodded. "Lord Hokage, what's this about?" He then asked.

"The identity of the Legendary Phantom Thief has finally been revealed." The Hokage replied after a couple seconds.

The Nara's eyes widened in shock. He now understood the magnitude of the events taking place.