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Naruto: The Outsider's Resolve: CH_412: Participating in a Scheme
🕑 Added 2025-07-27 20:14:00 +0000 UTCIt was the fifth day of Takuma's stay at the border outpost, and things weren't looking good for Tokubetsu Jōnin Fujita. Even though they knew someone had replaced the patrol reports, there was no proof of wrongdoing.
The only evidence was the testimonies of shinobi who were on the patrol, but that couldn't be taken as concrete evidence, no matter how many shinobi confirmed their patrols to be different. Even if someone did find an original report, it would still be viewed with suspicion because the legitimacy lay with the fake "official" reports filed in the archives. The higher-ups would make their decision on the basis of his report, and unless he blatantly lied, there was no way to dress up the situation in Fujita's favour. All he could do was to soften the blow.
"ANBU-nin!"
Takuma, who was observing the warehouses, turned back to see Hyouma running towards him. Other than the meeting with the investigation party, the second-in-command hadn't taken a single step out of the way. That much was expected; who would risk it with ANBU breathing down their necks?
It was a problem for Takuma because he needed something to lure Hyouma into making a mistake that would give him justification to pursue a line of investigation to reveal secrets.
"What is it, Chūnin Hyouma?" he asked.
"An Earth-aligned courier group just passed the border. It's the first in the past few days," Hyouma said while he lit a cigarette. The man was either a true addict with zero self-control, or he was nervous and wanted to soothe his nerves.
"Why share this information with me, Chūnin Hyouma?" Takuma asked despite knowing what the man wanted. His heart began to beat as he felt the opportunity was in front of him.
Hyouma was about to make a mistake.
"I don't wish for anything bad to happen to them, but perhaps it would be wise to follow them just in case. There is a possibility that the bandits may show up. It would be big if you're able to catch them. Would that help in easing the pressure on Tokubetsu Jōnin Fujita?"
The look of hope and sincerity in Hyouma's eyes as he asked the question could be seen as sickening when he was praying for his boss's downfall, but it was only funny to Takuma.
"Yes, it would help if we caught the bandits. Did you stop them?" he asked.
"Unfortunately, I wasn't busy with other responsibilities at the time of their arrival at the outpost. I came here to inform you as soon as my subordinates informed me." Hyouma took out a half-page of paper alongside a local map. "I have their destination. If you hurry now and follow the path I've marked on this map, you can catch up to them within fifteen to twenty minutes."
"This is great work, Chūnin Hyouma. I will leave promptly," Takuma said while being as animated as possible so his "intentions" were clear through his mask.
"I will go inform Tokubetsu Jōnin Fujita immediately and set up a support team to follow you. They'll catch up to you as soon as possible," Hyouma said, throwing his cigarette on the floor.
It was a trap.
"Thank you for the information. I'll be off," Takuma said before moving away with the Body Flicker Jutsu. He didn't hang around to see if Hyouma would actually alert Fujita or if he would gather a support team.
None of that was going to happen. All of this was an attempt to get rid of him. During their late-night meeting, Renjiro had mentioned that the ANBU report could trump whatever the investigation party submitted. Hyouma clearly didn't like that and was now trying to eliminate that report by getting him taken care of.
Takuma didn't mind.
The moment he had pulled the knife from the evidence bag, he wanted those bandits more than anything. As long as he had those agents in his custody, he couldn't care less what happened with the outpost.
———
.
It took roughly fifteen minutes for Takuma to reach the trio of couriers who had stopped by the roadside to rest under tree shade. He carefully positioned himself across the road from them to observe them and their surrounding, waiting for the bandits to show up.
"I'm going to take a leak," said a courier as he stood up to head deeper into the woods.
A minute later, Takuma's eyes widened, and he immediately weaved hand seals for Earth Release: Earth Tremor Sense Jutsu. There was a real possibility that the bandit/ROOT agents were hiding, and the courier who had gone to take relief himself was in danger. The numerous murders had created tension between the two countries and their respective hidden villages. It could be any day that another murder could shatter the delicate balance between them. Perhaps that was ROOT's objective—to plunge the Hidden Leaf into chaos and take advantage of its moment of weakness. He had to ensure that no more innocent couriers died.
As the information from the jutsu returned to him, Takuma chuckled. "Clever bastards," he muttered under his breath while slowly standing up.
The courier who had gone to take a leak was now somehow sneaking behind him.
His eyes caught the eyes of another courier, most probably a sensory-nin, who had sensed his presence as he was following them.
He thought he would be ambushed while he was distracted by the couriers, but he didn't think he would be ambushed by the couriers themselves.
The sensory-nin made no suspicious movements and even averted his eyes naturally, as though he hadn't seen Takuma, probably in an attempt to ensure that his teammate's surprise attack wouldn't be foiled.
Takuma weaved hand seals and sank into the ground two seconds before the agent behind him threw a kunai to stop him from escaping, but missed as the kunai struck a tree trunk. The sensory-nin froze up for half a second with trembling eyes as his mind caught up with his senses. He turned around to push his teammate away at the last second before two arms that shot out from the ground could drag him down to hell.
As Takuma emerged from the ground, he was instantly surrounded by two ROOT agents. It was dangerous to be surrounded from both sides, but he stayed put because he wanted to assess the situation.
He was instantly attacked by both sides. He ducked under a sword that ripped through the cargo box behind him. The second agent also stabbed his sword at him, but he deflected it with a kunai and rolled away to put some distance between them.
The agents were well-trained and didn't give him any room to breathe. The sensory-nin closed the distance with a quick step while swinging his sword in unison. Takuma met it with his kunai, but the humming blade cut clean through the metal.
Kenjutsu, he noted—the quick delivery at the start of the fight indicated confidence and proficiency.
He stepped in the opposite direction of the blade's flow and kicked the agent in the knee before shoving him away with both hands. There was no time as the other agent charged in with a swift sword dance. Each individual strikes connected seamlessly, but Takuma kept moving, ensuring the blade never reached him.
The agent favoured his left leg—an only injury, perhaps, but one that spoke of combat experience rather than weakness. Iryōjutsu could heal multitudes, but there were still things that couldn't be fixed completely. Or perhaps this was purely psychological; an injury that was left untreated for a while and took root in the mind over time.
Takuma glanced towards the edge of the road that cut through a forest. The third agent who tried to ambush him was weaving hand seals for a ninjutsu. He was too far away for him to stop him, so he just had to ensure the ninjutsu didn't reach him.
———
.
The agent completed the Fire Release: Flaming Spear and aimed it at his target. The target was moving freely while avoiding a sword dance. He just needed a second of a clear shot to strike the target down.
'There—'
The target moved away from his teammate, giving him enough space to launch where his teammate would receive minimal damage. But just as he was about to launch the spear, the target shifted with alarming agility, putting the teammate between them.
The agent clicked his tongue and re-focused his aim, but the target never stepped into a clear position. There were split-second opportunities where he could have been hit, but the agent's teammate was always in the damage radius. It didn't take a genius to see that the target had deliberately planned his movements to ensure there was never a clear shot. The ability to do so while actively dodging another agent was difficult, to say the least.
He glanced at the fire spear. The flames were becoming unstable. The fire was consuming the chakra, pouring into it as fuel. It had already lost nearly half of its destructive capabilities and was about to explode in his face when there wasn't enough chakra to keep the flames bound together.
The jutsu was wasted.
He safely disarmed his jutsu and drew his sword. He had not wasted chakra, but wasted an opportunity where he could've been pressuring the target with his teammate instead of just standing around and ultimately doing nothing.
———
.
Takuma noticed that the agent had dismantled his jutsu and immediately took a giant leap back, now that he didn't need to hold the other agent "hostage" to keep himself safe.
He has bad aim, he thought—the agent hadn't moved once from his spot. It would've been difficult to avoid the fire spear if the agent had moved to compensate for his movements, but the agent stayed put with his feet planted. It could mean he wasn't confident with his aim. Takuma related heavily to his enemy. Until very recently, he had a bad aim as well.
He glanced at his three opponents. All of them had swords. That had to change because he worked the best when he could get up and close. He weaved hand seals, and a bubbling orb of water, the size of a baseball, appeared in his palm.
He pointed the orb at one of the agents as they tried to surround him. A chain gushed out of the orb and wrapped itself around the agent's sword before he could react. He threw the orb into the ground, anchoring the chain to that point.
Water Release: Flowing Chain Binding
It was one of the C-rank utility ninjutsu he had learned on the suggestion from Tapir, ANBU's Master Instructor. The jutsu could create chains that could be held or anchored to any spot. The chains were surprisingly strong for a C-rank jutsu. The lower the number of chains, the stronger they were. One chain was the most durable.
Takuma threw an explosive tag at the agent, who had no choice but to leave his chained-up sword and jump away to get out of the blast radius.
'Alright, let's get to work.'
———
.
The agent jumped away before the explosion could get him. Two seconds later, he heard another explosion. He gazed to verify his teammate's position through the unsettled dust from the explosion.
His nerves were taut when the target rushed through the dust at him. He was prepared. His sword was taken for a reason; he was clearly the intended target for a follow-up. He crossed his arm as the fist crashed into his arm.
Sound caught in his throat as he felt the force travel up his arm.
It was too powerful.
Within a few seconds, they exchanged over a dozen blows. The target was quick on his feet and agile with his movements, making it difficult to dodge his blows, but he managed to block almost everything—and that was a mistake. The agent felt his left knee tremble. He had been there twice with such force that he was feeling it. He didn't doubt his own durability; the target was simply too physically strong.
"Taijutsu adept; physically str—"
Feeling that the target was going to be a tough opponent, he opened his mouth to share information when the target suddenly attacked.
The agent once again crossed his arms to eat a blow and immediately counterattacked. The first struck his arms, and just as he was about to counter, a force—incomparable to before— penetrated into his body. He felt his breath catch in his throat when he felt an aggressive burst of chakra crash into his body.
It was an augmentation.
His left knee almost gave as he stumbled back. It felt as though no strength was left in his body as he took a few more steps back to put some distance. But there was no way an ANBU operative was going to give him a chance like that.
The target closed the distance in the blink with his fist already cocked back. The agent could only watch as the fist closed in on his face.
Comments
Arana 1
ty for the chapter! loving to action so far
Barney The Dyno
That was my interpretation of the first half of the chapter then it kinda jarringly changed. Honestly I think Fiction wrote this chapter in parts and Honestly just forgot his original intentions. Honestly it feels like Fiction is a little burnt out and has been forcing himself to write recently.
Xardas2995
Fiction I love the C rank jutsu you came up with. Also I think Takuma should not trade in his next two B rank jutsu access passes right away. First think what would make sense. Would love a scene where he consults Tapir on this and we see it from Tapir's POV also on hisbpadr encounters and opinion on Ratel because I think he leaves quite a lasting expression on Tapir. Have Tapir be suspicious on how Takuma git so proficient in his least two B rank jutsu so quickly.
Xardas2995
When we finally get the Takuma vs Momoe spar and he just pulls her sword from her hand like he did with that Root agent here and just beats her up in taijutsu...
Lazybeep
really @fictiononly your fight scenes which were already fantastic are still becoming more fun to read though not a fan of chapter ending mid fight
under_heaven
To answer your second question they were ROOT pretending to be couriers, this was set up by Hyouma.
Sarah McHugh
This was all put together by Hyoma, so they might have only been pretending to be couriers this one time.
Javier Ricaurte
Plot twist, they're actually not ROOT but Stone Ninja sent to figure out of it's just bandits or something more, also Hyouma doesn't know and this was just to get Takuma out of the outpost for a while.
Barney The Dyno
Ngl. Them being root agents was kinda jarring. I thought the bandits where root not the couriers. And the first part of this kinda goes along with that until the attempted ambush
Joaquín Repetto
Fiction, a question. When you said that Takuma had three B-rank ninjutsu, which ones were they? The first was the Shadow Clone Jutsu. The second was the Stone Spear Jutsu, the one that hardens the skin. And the third one, which was it? And by the way, Fiction, I didn't quite understand the end of the chapter. The messengers that Takuma was going to rescue - were they the ROO. pretending to be the messengers? Or what? I didn't get it.
HYP3R
Loving the Jack Reacher vibes that Takuma has from ANBU
Siva Chandan Chakka
Finally some action
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