CH_3.9 (068)

CH_3.9 (068)

'—a shinobi is much more than the chakra he wields—'

Did Takuma fully understand the depth behind the meaning of the words that Maruboshi had said to him nearly a year ago? The answer would be 'No'. His teacher had put him through many different skills that he initially thought would be of no use to him. To this day, there were skills he thought he would never ever use.

However, at the same time, the cycle of D-rank missions had shoved him into many paths of life. He had done more different things in his life than ever before. From farming in the soil to sewing with a needle to construction work under the sun to balancing books in an office to standing at a gate and smiling at people as they walked by— he had done a lot of jobs. And surprisingly, some of Maruboshi's teaching had helped him along, and he had learned much more things along the way that had come to his aid in one way or another.

Looking back at it, he was surprised at how little his previous self knew. The stupid college bozo wouldn't have been able to survive in the world if he was one day kicked to the street to fend for himself.

So, while he didn't fully agree or even understand his teacher's words, Takuma had to agree that having knowledge and skill of various kinds was beneficial in general.

Simultaneously, he was still a shinobi. He believed that if he was to learn different skills, they should be more suited to his job title and not just anything until he could call himself a jack of irrelevant trades. His time was better suited to learning and trying things he deemed more useful.

Which was why he decided to test out something practical and valuable to him in the future... and not all because he thought it was fun and something he always wanted to do.

Across the street from him was the headquarters of the Hidden Leaf's— nay, the Land of Fire's— biggest publishing house— Sume Publications. Takuma didn't have time to read many books in his time here, but he did follow the newspaper, and book reviews were a thing in it, and he had heard much about books from Sume Publications.

Takuma wanted to see how deep he could get into the building without getting caught. He could, of course, transform as one of the employees and walk into the building, but the risk of getting approached and talked to by someone was high. If that happened, his disguise would be outed with his inability to talk back— he could act rude and ignore everyone or pretend as if he was in a hurry, but that wasn't ideal.

Moreover, as useful as Henge no Jutsu (Transformation Jutsu) was, trained shinobi could catch flaws. They had gone over it during basic training, looking for flaws in each other's transformations. And while Sume Publications was a civilian establishment, he didn't want to use that tactic. It was a self-restriction.

He had something else in mind.

Takuma looked down at the simple set of repairman clothes— they were the equivalent of the high-vis vest— and tucked the ladder under his arm and picked up the red toolbox before jumping down from the building's roof.

He walked up to the entrance of the building where two shinobi stood guard. Even though it was a civilian establishment, a couple of genin guards were hired by the business. The building was both the headquarters and a large printing press. In the Leaf village, a shinobi hub, having one or two genin guards, was considered the basic level of security for those who could afford it.

Taking a calm breath, Takuma crossed the road with his head held high. He had the toolbox, ladder, and a clipboard with blank paper— that was all he needed. Even if they were shinobi, they were still humans. He just needed to believe that this was where he belonged. He could do it.

Without slowing down or looking at the guards, he walked past them into the building. Takuma felt their eyes on him, and for a moment, he felt his heart skip a beat, but as he kept walking, they didn't stop him.

His lips twitched upward as he stepped inside the building. It worked! 'Holy shit, I didn't think it would actually work!' he cheered to himself. But as it turned out, a simple suitable disguise and the right attitude were all he needed to get into most places.

Putting away his smile, Takuma continued. To his surprise, even the receptionist didn't stop him as he walked deeper into the building.

Well, better for him.

His destination was on the floor with the editors, specifically fiction editors. His target: Shindo Eru, a senior editor for Semu Publications.

The reason why Takuma had chosen Semu Publications and Shindo Eru was that he knew both. During one of his delivery stints, he had been asked to deliver a package to Semu Publications, and the recipient had been Shindo Eru. He had been in the building once and had seen the man once.

If it wasn't his first exercise of the type and he wasn't participating in the Ring and thus short on time, he would've chosen a fresh target and would've done scouting— but since he still had to do missions, he deemed that experience as scouting.

As long as he entered Shindo Eru's office without raising suspicion, he would consider it a win.

From what Takuma remembered, Shindo Eru's office was on the edge of an office space that was shared between junior editors in an open-cubicle style. Shindo Eru, being a senior editor, was given his own closed office. For Takuma to enter the office, he needed to go through an entire floor of people without raising any eyebrows.

He had delivered the package directly into Shindo Eru's hands in his office— and he could've used the delivery boy's identity again, but that would've only given him a few seconds in the office, and that's only if Shindo Eru was in his office. If the man wasn't in his office, he would've been forced to hand the faux package to someone else.

There were more documents inside, a packed lunch, a jar of candy, a change of clothes, a formal suit, and more. None of the things interested him. He just wanted to test out his lock-picking skills on the 'field.'

And for the final step... Takuma picked up a blank paper and a calligraphy brush from the desk

Takuma grinned as he put ink on the page.

. . .

Getting out was easier. Takuma threw a smooth decoration pebble from Shindo Eru's decorative bowl across the office space and made a large glass jar fall. The crash was loud enough that it caught everyone's attention for a moment, which was sufficient for Takuma to sneakily get out of the office.

He replaced the woman's bulb, packed his stuff, and walked out of Sume Publications with no one knowing any better.

And later that day, lady luck continued to shine on him as he got a sub-three-minute knockout on his opponent.

It made him think if he should go prowling into buildings as a ritual before fights.

It was a good day of quick in-and-outs.

———

.

Shindo Eru looked up at the faintly flickering light bulb in his office with a frown before looking down at the manuscript envelope. He pulled out the manuscript with the title:

[Icha Icha – Part 1]

— Jiraya

As he got ready to read the first manuscript by the one of the three great Sanin, Jiraya, another folded page fell out of the envelope. It was an unruled page, different from the manuscript paper.

He spread it open,

"Huh?"

Written on it in bold writing were the words:

[BIG DADDY WAS HERE]

Shindo Eru frowned before shaking his head.

He could never understand the eccentric minds of shinobi.

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