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"Come on! Let's go join the others."

Shikamaru's words brought Daichi out of his thoughts. Choji, Naruto and Shikamaru quickly jumped and headed to the others with Daichi slowly following them. His mind was still on the failure part of the quest.

'Why is the failure part of the quest so severe? And why the hell is there a warning for this quest? What kind of a ripple effect will this quest completion have? Isn't that the case for all other quests? What's so special about this one?'

Daichi couldn't understand why this quest was different and had a warning unlike the ones he had so far. 'I thought Yota wasn't important but then why does rescuing him trigger such a warning?'

'Can I really complete this quest? Should I even accept this?' Doubt filled Daichi's mind as he landed near the group.

"Alright. Now that everyone's here, let's begin. If we're going to save Yota we need a plan." Shikamaru announced.

"Yeah." The other agreed.

"Ok. First we-..."

"Wait." As Shikamaru was about to begin, Daichi interrupted him.

"What is it, Daichi?" Kiba asked.

Daichi looked at everyone gathered. He took a breath before saying what was on his mind.

"Look. I want to save Yota too. But before we begin, are you sure about this? Have you guys thought this through?" Daichi asked them.

"What do you mean?" Choji asked.

"I mean we're about to go up against Anbu ninjas from our own village to save someone not from the Leaf. Once we do this, we'll be in big trouble." Daichi explained to them. He could see the faces of some get slightly angry after hearing him.

"Are you saying we should just let Yota be imprisoned? I thought you cared about him." Naruto exploded in anger.

Reputation slightly decreases with Naruto.

"I do care about him! I'm not saying we should just leave him to his fate and let the Anbu do whatever they want. But right now we need to consider things from their perspective too." Naruto got angrier as he listened and he was about to walk over and punch Daichi but Shikamaru held up his hand stopping him.

"What exactly are you saying Daichi?" The young Nara asked.

"The tensions between the Leaf and the Stone village are high. And this in-turn has increased tensions between the 5 great nations. I'm sure you've heard that a spy was captured some time ago during an incident…"

"Yeah…" Shikamaru slowly nodded.

"My grandpa told me that small border skirmishes have been happening around the fire country for a while and things have gotten somewhat intense. The Jonin and Anbu are on high alert for any spies or intruders trying to infiltrate the village. If we cause a commotion during a time like this, we would be in serious trouble." Daichi explained his thoughts.

"But Yota isn't a spy or a threat to the village. He's just a poor lost kid looking for some friends to play with." Ino said to Daichi.

"I know that! And you do too.! But the other people in the village don't… If we do this, and we fail, Yota will still be captured and we could even lose our place in the academy. We might never be ninjas. Or maybe even worse…” Daichi paused for a moment and looked at everyone.

“Look… I'm just saying this so you guys know the risks of what we're about to do." Daichi said his piece. For the first time, he wasn't sure about taking a quest or not.

They listened to Daichi and understood where he was coming from. But they still couldn't accept it.

"Daichi!" Shikamaru stepped forward. "Do you believe Yota is a spy or a threat to the village?" He asked.

Daichi looked at Shikamaru. After a couple seconds of silence he answered. "No. I don't."

"I'm going to save him. Those of you who don't want to come with me can stay here." Shikamaru said in a resolute voice.

"I'm coming too! I don't care what happens to me. I'm gonna save him." Naruto joined him.

"Same. Yota is no spy."

"And he was fun to hang around with." "Arf."

Choji and the Kiba-Akamaru duo made their decision as well.

"We're coming too." Ino and Sakura chimed in.

"Well… looks like the 6 of us are ready. What about you Daichi? Coming or staying?" Shikamaru asked.

He didn't know why, but as Daichi looked at everyone's faces and saw their determination, a grin slowly widened on his face.

"Reckless fools! Guess nothing I say will change your mind… We're gonna get in so much trouble for this." Daichi answered them with a wide grin.

Reputation slightly increases with everyone here.

"Yeah we probably are…" Shikamaru smirked as well. "Alright. Here's the plan…"

As Shikamaru was laying out his strategy, Daichi looked at the quest box. He accepted the quest hoping and praying that nothing would go wrong.

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hokage Tower - Anbu Interrogation Room.

Yota was tied to a chair in the middle of the room surrounded by three Anbu ninjas. Two of them were watching a monitor for variations in the chakra and effects Yota is having. The third one was interrogating the young boy.

"Where did you come from? How did you get past the barrier?" An Anbu, wearing a mask with red stripes asked. "Which village sent you?"

"I dunno… I don't get it." Yota answered in a small voice. "Ask me something easier."

"Where did you come from? Which village sent you?" The ninja just repeated the question in a cold tone.

Scared, young Yota started crying.

"We're not getting anywhere." The Anbu watching the monitor said.

"Should we ask Lord Third to come down before we have to use force on him?" Questioned the other one. As they were discussing what to do with the boy, the Anbu interrogating Yota felt a malicious intent. He felt as if a dangerous predator was stalking him.

'Genjutsu?... No. That was something different.' The masked shinobi concluded.

—---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Elsewhere in the village.

Naruto was atop the Hokage monument. He was yelling loudly and throwing paint all over the carving of the Third Hokage's face and making a mess. He had to make sure Shikamaru's plan worked.

Flashback.

“Alright. Here's the plan. I've visited the Hokage Tower over a dozen times with my dad. So I think I have an idea as to where they might be keeping Yota. But there will be a lot of people guarding the tower. So first, we need someone to create a distraction. Something big that will draw their attention so the rest of us can sneak in…”

“Ohh! I have an idea! I'll do it.” Naruto said excitedly.

"Ok. The moment the guards are distracted we'll sneak into the tower and get to the lower floors. That's where the Interrogation rooms are. I know a few vents that we can crawl through to get inside the room. Once inside I'll use my shadow jutsu to trap them and then we can save Yota." Shikamaru laid out his plan. He told Naruto where to go when he was done.

Flashback - End.

"Hahaha…. Come and get me, you fools." Naruto yelled loudly and laughed.

"Oi! Stop it you brat! Get down here." A ninja standing atop the tower screamed.

"You're a moron. There's no way I'm getting down. I'm Naruto Uzumaki, the ninja." Naruto mocked them.

At this moment the Hokage was in his room listening to his Anbu's report. "What?"

"We found the child in question with several academy students."

"Interesting." Hiruzen slightly smiled. At that moment they heard the commotion outside and went to check it out.

"Catch me if you can dumbass. Bring every ninja you got." Naruto threw another bucket of paint on the third's head carving.

"Get back here you troublesome brat!" The old Hokage heard the people shouting at Naruto. He then noticed the rain falling down on the tower. 'Strange. Sun Shower?… It seems the report is accurate. The boy is somehow able to affect the weather.'

At this moment Daichi and the others were sneaking through the hallways and were heading towards their destination. There were a few close calls where they almost got spotted but luckily they managed to make it to the lower floors without any incident. They were in front of the vents and Daichi was opening them.

"Ok. Let's go get Yota." Kiba said excitedly.

"Wait. Someone needs to stay here in case anything happens." Daichi told them. "Choji, Sakura! Stay here and keep a lookout. And wait for Naruto. He should be here soon. The rest of us will go get him."

Everyone nodded their heads and agreed to Daichi's plan. Shikamaru took the lead in crawling through the small vents and behind him was Daichi followed by Kiba and Akamaru and finally Ino. After several minutes they found the room in which Yota was restrained.

"Please let me go." They could hear Yota pleading.

"Alright. Get ready. I'm going to trap them with my Shadow Imitation Jutsu." Shikamaru said in a low voice. Just as he was about to weave the signs, Daichi stopped him.

Shikamaru gave Daichi a questioning look.

"Always be aware of your surroundings." Daichi muttered to him.

This was one of the many lessons Kensei taught Daichi and something he learned inside the dungeon the hard way. He took a look around the room.

It was a circular chamber with high ceilings. It was then that Daichi noticed something. There were several bulbs hanging, situated above the room. 'His shadow possession jutsu will weaken if there is intense light. If Shikamaru captures them and the lights trigger, his jutsu could fail.'

"Shikamaru!" Daichi spoke in a very low voice. "Take a look at the ceiling."

The boy looked and saw what Daichi had and came to the same conclusion.

"The moment you use your jutsu I'll destroy those lights. That won't be a problem will it?" Daichi asked him.

"No!" The young Nara shook his head.

"Then get ready."

All of them got ready to make their move. Shikamaru weaved the hand seals and his shadow extended, swiftly connecting with the shadows of the three Anbu.

"Shadow imitation jutsu successful!" He smirked as he got out of the vents and stood looking at the ninjas.

Daichi quickly stepped up behind him and several shuriken appeared in his hands. He aimed them at the light high above them and let them fly without wasting any time. All of them hit their marks and within seconds small glass debris was raining down on the ground.

"Nicely done you guys!" Ino cheered for them.

"Yota! Hey! We're here!" They called out to their friend. Yota saw them coming and became happy.

"You guys! You're here!" He smiled seeing his friends.

The academy students ran towards Yota and quickly reached him.

"You're amazing Shikamaru." "Arf."

"Yeah. You caught real ninjas with your technique."

Kiba and Ino praised him for his success.

"Oi! Oi! Don't go celebrating. We just got lucky. We caught these guys off guard."

Daichi was the one who said it. Unlike his friends who were looking at Yota, Daichi had his eyes firmly fixed on the 3 Anbu in the room in case they made any moves. He used ‘Observe’.

[??] [Asashi Bokta]

???

[??] [Jiro Itsuki]

???

[??] [Riku Sota]

???

‘Of course I can’t read them! Their levels must be too high. Why did I even bother?’

"He's right. You greenhorns just got lucky." The cold tone in which the Anbu ninja said it, sent shivers down the student's spine. Even though he was a little scared, Shikamaru didn't let go of his jutsu.

"You're interfering with village security matters."

"We won't show mercy to anyone who acts against the interests of the village. Even if they happen to be kids."

"This boy could well be a spy sent here to infiltrate and learn about the village."

The three elite ninjas started releasing their killing intent. It was the first time Ino, Shikamaru and Kiba experienced killing intent. To them the presence of the three ninjas changed and they were terrified.

You have sensed killing intent.

You have sensed killing intent.

You have sensed killing intent.

Skill Danger Sense's level has risen by one.

Due to the Gamer's Mind being turned off, Daichi was experiencing emotions at a much higher level. So the killing intent he was feeling now was much greater than what he had experienced before. The words the masked ninjas said also frightened him.

'Is this what it means to be a ninja? To do whatever it takes for our own, no matter how cruel or vicious we have to be to others?'

At that moment a conversation he had with Kensei during their visit to his son's grave came to Daichi's mind. He remembered the words his grandfather had said.

“The leaf village isn't the center of the world.”

“I saw teammates killing teammates to keep the secrets from spreading on the orders of the higher ups.”

“There is no right or wrong. Only those with strength can make their own path!”

It was at that moment Daichi noticed his classmate's expression. They were terrified. Due to experiencing such killing intent Shikamaru couldn't keep up his technique and released it.

Even though Daichi knew he was living in a dangerous world where the people could be cruel and merciless, this was when he truly understood that fact. A new emotion bloomed in Daichi's heart. And seeing the scared, helpless faces of his friend's, that emotion only intensified.

Overwhelming Rage.