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Kakashi had several ideas on how to proceed but he needed to know a few more things from the Daimyo.

"You said the Toujin Fortress is important to the Tea country. So I assume you want us to complete the mission and make sure no damages come to the building."

The tea Daimyo nodded his head. "Yes. It's another reason why I hired you ninjas. I want you to get rid of them before they do any damage and you have to complete this task without damaging the property."

Kakashi nodded. "Then I'm going to need the blueprints of that fortress. I assume you have them?"

"I do. I'll have someone bring them to you quickly." The Tea Daimyo turned to his attendant and nodded his head. The attendant quickly left to fetch the item Kakashi requested.

"Why do you need a blueprint of the fortress?" Yukata asked the silver haired man.

"If they see us coming and set off any booby traps or paper bombs then that will definitely cause damage. Since we have to complete this mission without any damages to the building, we need to take them by surprise. We'll have an idea of the best entry points if we take a look at the structure of the fortress."

The Tea Daimyo nodded his head to the logic.

At that moment Daichi asked a question that's been on his mind for a while. "Are you sure they haven't taken any hostages? It's surprising that they haven't taken any to hold leverage over you. If they do have any, then we'll have to rescue them."

"Well see, the thing is, we don't know if anyone has been taken. There haven't been any reports thus far… But…" The man looked down and clenched his fists as he thought about such a possibility.

"You're not sure, are you…" Kakashi said in a soft voice. "We understand. If they have taken any of your citizens in secret, we'll rescue them."

Yukata looked at the two ninjas and smiled. "Thank you."

"It's what you paid us to do sir." Kakashi gave an eye smile and reassured the man.

At that moment the Daimyo's attendant came in with several large sheets of paper. He handed the sheets of paper to the Leaf ninjas and stepped back. "The blueprints for the Toujin Fortress as you have requested."

"We'll take our leave and get to work." Kakashi took the items and sealed them in a scroll.

At that moment the attendant handed the Jonin a slip of paper with an address. "Your lodging will be at that Inn. I have already made the arrangements." Yukata informed the two ninjas.

The Jonin nodded and the two Leaf ninjas left the small mansion shortly after.

The Tea Daimyo wanted to ask when they would complete their task but held his tongue. 'They have their ways. I should just be patient.'

—-

"Don't you find this whole thing weird?" As the two ninjas walked through the streets Daichi asked his sensei.

"Hmm..." Kakashi merely glanced at Daichi and didn't reply.

The Genin sighed and elaborated. "The bandits attacked a place so close to the Tea Daimyo's home. And they even looted several people here according to him. That's a pretty stupid thing to do. They should have known that the people of Tea country or the Daimyo would hire ninjas to protect them. So why go through with something like this?"

"You are right. It doesn't make much sense. But it could also be because of that unknown ninja. He could be controlling them. Forcing them to do it or…"

"Or they're just stupid."

The Jonin chuckled at that. "Or that. The sad thing is, most bandits are people who don't have any formal education and come from poverty. So they take from others and slowly it becomes a way of life for them."

The two ninjas soon reached the Inn. They quickly got into the room assigned to them and Kakashi took out the blueprints. He placed them on a table and started examining it alongside Daichi.

"It's almost evening. We need to gather some intel on these guys." The Jonin said looking out the window.

The ninja duo created shadow clones and then the two clones transformed into civilians with nondescript attire. The two shadow clones nodded to their creators and quietly left through the window of their room.

"Ok. So our priority is to complete this mission all the while making sure no damage comes to the Fortress either by our hands or theirs." Daichi said as he looked at the papers with the building plan written on it.

"We need to make sure they didn't take anyone in secret. If they did, then we have to rescue them as well. And we also need to know their number and strength. The number of bandits and ninja could be more than what the Daimyo has said. We should conduct our own investigation." Kakashi said, rubbing his chin.

"We need to interrogate one or two of their members."

The Jonin nodded to Daichi's suggestion. "I'm pretty sure our shadow clones came to the same conclusion. We'll just have to wait for them to finish their work."

"When do we strike?" Daichi asked his teacher.

"If this were the usual mission where damages were acceptable, then this would have been a really simple straightforward mission. But since the Toujin Fortress is an important landmark of Tea country we should proceed cautiously. How would you go about this Daichi? How would you make your move?" Kakashi answered with a question of his own.

The Genin was silent and thought for a few minutes. "This mission needs stealth. We'll have to infiltrate the fortress and once inside we need to make sure they have no hostages and need to disable any and all traps they might have set up. And after that we strike them all at once. Since they're common bandits they won't be any threat. The only one that could be a problem is the ninja, since we don't know what he's capable of or if he had set up any traps beforehand."

Kakashi nodded. "True. And you're right. This plan of theirs to attack in the middle of a country like this… It's brazen and down right idiotic. They must have a reason. We should find out what."

"I'm sure we can get the info we need if we capture a couple of them. We should infiltrate at midnight and once we confirm everything we can strike. At the latest, an hour before dawn."

Kakashi nodded and the two fell into comfortable silence as they studied the blueprints. A few minutes later Daichi spoke. "Hey sensei. I've been thinking about something."

The Jonin looked at Daichi who had a serious air around him. "What is it?"

Daichi let out a deep breath of air and looked at his teacher. "I'm thinking about creating a jutsu that combines Change in chakra form with change in chakra nature."

Kakashi's one visible eye widened as he heard that statement. He immediately knew what Daichi planned on doing. 'I knew he might one day try it but I didn't think it would be so soon.'

"You're going to combine the Rasengan with a Chakra Nature aren't you?!"

Daichi looked at the man and nodded. "Yes."

Kakashi was silent for a few moments and then spoke. "Daichi, something like that has never been done before. The Fourth Hokage, the man who created the Rasengan, had theories that the jutsu he created could be combined with a Chakra Nature. But he passed away before he could try and accomplish it. And I've tried to follow his work. I've tried to combine Lighting Nature with Rasengan. I've always failed. A jutsu like that… I'm not even sure it's possible… Are you really going to attempt it.?"

"Yes." The quick resolute response surprised the Jonin.

"Which one? Which Nature are you going to try?" Kakashi asked because he knew Daichi had already mastered the second step of all 5 basic natures. He had a feeling it was going to be water nature but he didn't want to assume.

"Water. It's the one I'm most proficient in. I'm going to combine the Rasengan with the Water Nature chakra. I've been meditating and ran several simulations in my head. The jutsu that would be created from such a combination… I already have an idea as to what it would look like and it's effects."

Kakashi was shocked by that statement. 'Even before attempting the jutsu, he already knows what the finished product would look like and it's effects? Such foresight. His intellect and shinobi talent is on a completely different level than mine. With each passing day, it feels like I can't even measure him.'

"When do you plan on starting?" The silver haired Jonin asked his student after several seconds of silence.

"Soon. Once this mission is completed I'm going to take some time off to create the new Rasengan."

The Jonin nodded with that idea. 'If he can create a jutsu like that, then it'll prove that adding Chakra Nature to the Rasengan is possible.'

The two ninjas discussed plans for the coming weeks as they waited for their clones.

—-

The disguised shadow clones left the building and quietly entered the streets of Tea country from a nearby alley.

"Split up and gather information. But do not engage if you find the enemy. We don't want to take away the element of surprise." Kakashi gave his instructions and his student nodded. Both of them went their separate ways as they collected intelligence on their enemies.

Daichi investigated the places that were robbed by bandits and got some of their features. As the Genin spoke to the people, he understood one thing. 'They wore masks and dark clothes to cover their identifying features. So they're afraid of being recognized or hunted down. They rob different locations and go to their fortress for a few days before they do it again. They looted several stores yesterday so they won't be active today.'

Daichi asked around and retraced the steps of the bandits. He visited various homes where the bandits struck to make sure they haven't kidnapped any Tea citizens without anyone knowing.

'Based on the info, these guys haven't killed or even seriously hurt anyone. The most they did was bruises and a few broken bones. And the doctors here took care of that. How strange. They are restraining themselves. A bandit group with morals or is it an order from the ninjas controlling them?'

Hours passed by and it was night time. Daichi in his stealth mode was observing the Toujin Fortress from a distance. 'There are a few on guard duty. Keeping an eye on any intruders no doubt.'

As Daichi stood there looking at his target he sensed the presence of his sensei coming near him.

Kakashi walked up to his student and looked at the towering structure. Both of them were in the cover of darkness and the bandits on the lookout towers couldn't even see them.

"Based on what I found, they haven't caused any serious injuries or death. And they haven't kidnapped anyone as far as the people know." Daichi relayed what he found out.

"Hmm… Same here. They only struck high value targets and businesses. They were after money and took precious jewels but that's it. And their leader. The unknown ninja. He rarely leaves the fortress." The Jonin said as he looked ahead and noted the position of the Toujin Fortress.

Both Daichi and Kakashi observed the Fortress and movements of the guards and an hour before midnight they dispelled themselves, relaying their memories and chakra to their creators.

Daichi was meditating and Kakashi was reading his book when they got the memories of their Shadow clones.

The Jonin closed the book and got up off his chair. "Looks like they did excellent work. The chances of a hostage is low but we should still be cautious. We'll interrogate one of their men once we infiltrate the Fortress. And if there aren't any traps set up then we proceed to capture."

"Since these guys haven't caused anyone any serious harm, lethal measures aren't needed right." Daichi asked the man.

Kakashi nodded his head. "Yes. Incapacitate and capture. Let's move."

Author's note:

I wanted to post this chapter yesterday but certain outside factors prevented me from doing so. Anyway, a few of you guys did ask why this mission is a C Rank mission instead of a B Rank, the answer will be given in a couple chapters.

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