{The plan got canceled (As expected LOL)}
Once Ren finished his words, Yoru flickered into the room.
"Your conjecture is correct. We also have evidence that can further help the case," he said, placing several letters in the center of the room. "These were the letters that were exchanged between the ambassador and Minister Gendo."
Everyone in the room picked up a letter. Ren took one and began reading.
As he read the letter he was surprised by the content. According to the report he had read earlier, Minister Gendo and the ambassador had a bad relationship. But from the tone and wording in Shikeru's letter, it could be inferred that the two of them, in fact, had quite a good friendship.
He narrowed his eyes, thinking, 'Were those reports fake too?'
But then he dismissed the thought. 'No, if that was fake, it could be easily verified by asking around. So that means they were pretending to have a bad relation in public. But why?'
He read the letter carefully again. That's when something caught his eye.
A few characters had slightly different strokes from the rest. The difference was extremely minor but noticeable if someone looked through each letter individually. Ren traced the odd characters with his finger.
They formed the kanji for "Work."
He placed the letter aside and picked up another, this one from Gendo. After scanning it, he didn't find any irregularities.
He went through the remaining letters in the pile, but they were all from Gendo and had nothing unusual.
Looking to his side, he noticed Yugao reading one of Shikeru's letters. He snatched it from her and flipped through it quickly, not for content, but searching again for the distinct strokes.
He found them.
This one formed the kanji for "Moment."
He frowned, then looked up and said, "There is a message in the letters."
Utakata nodded and turned to Yoru. "Have you deciphered it?"
Yoru shook his head. "No, we just found them. I couldn't go through it since there wasn't much time due to the security at both the minister's and the ambassador's houses. But there are some words hidden among the letters."
Homura stood up and ordered, "What words did all of you find?"
Ren began. "Work and Moment."
Utakata went next. "General."
Juichi spoke. "Horse."
Homura added, "For."
Yoru spoke instantly. "Shunpei works for General Ryuma*."
As soon as Ren heard the name, he recalled Shunpei Araragi. That was the man who had broken up the fight between Gendo and the ambassador.
The reports also said that Minister Shunpei and Shikeru were often seen drinking or eating together and were good friends.
However, this message made no sense to Ren, other than revealing Shunpei's allegiance, however, at that time Homura muttered, "So that was it."
This confused Ren even more. It seemed to make sense to Homura. Juichi also looked like he had understood.
Utakata asked, "What is it?"
Juichi began explaining.
"In the Land of Iron, whether it's internal ministers or foreign diplomats, they all choose to work under one of the three generals. Shikeru chose Sayo-chan. He once told me that Shunpei Araragi also worked under her."
He paused, then concluded, "But if this message is true, then he was a spy for General Ryuma."
As soon as he finished, it clicked for Ren.
So Shikeru, who was under General Sayo, was framed by Shunpei, who actually worked for General Ryuma, by pinning the blame for framing Shikeru on Minister Gendo.
"Who did Gendo work for?" Ren asked.
Hitoshi replied while waving the letter he was reading.
"General Sayo."
Hitoshi continued, "As per this letter, Minister Gendo worked for General Ryuma. However, his actual allegiance was with General Sayo."
He handed the letter to Utakata, who read it carefully and confirmed with a nod.
Juichi spoke, "So all this mess is due to internal conflict between General Ryuma and Sayo-chan."
Homura agreed, "It appears that way."
Yugao muttered, "Then wouldn't it be difficult for us to prove the ambassador's innocence? The Land of Iron would never admit that it was the fault of their own general."
Ren looked at Yugao and explained quietly, "We don't need to pin the blame on the general. We just need evidence against Minister Shunpei. If we have proof that Minister Shunpei framed our ambassador wrongly, that would be enough to clear the ambassador's name."
Yugao thought for a moment, then asked, "But isn't General Ryuma the one who was actually responsible for it?"
Ren answered calmly, "Why does that matter?"
He continued, "The work we have to do is clear our ambassador's name. Even if General Ryuma was actually responsible, it'd be in our favour if his name didn't come up."
Yugao turned to Ren, confused. "Why?"
Ren responded, "That would mean even a neutral nation like the Land of Iron has internal conflict. This means that the chances of them allying with another nation, which was already low, would become even lower. This way, all the countries would maintain the current status quo."
Yugao frowned as she heard Ren but didn't speak further.
Even though Ren and Yugao were speaking lightly, everyone else in the room was an accomplished ninja and could easily hear them. No one commented on it, but they all agreed silently that Ren's point was valid and all of them also had the same opinion.
Homura then asked, "Did you find any evidence on Shunpei?"
He looked at Yoru, who answered, "There is no direct connection between them. However, Minister Gendo's assistant is connected to Minister Shunpei. But the relationship between them is very distant, so that wouldn't prove anything."
When Homura heard Yoru, he fell silent for a moment, then spoke calmly.
"Everyone, go and rest for now. Tomorrow, the genins will search for evidence with the minister's assistant while the ANBU investigate Shunpei."
As he said this, he discreetly signaled for Yoru to stay behind.
Team 1 and Juichi left after receiving a nod from Utakata. Utakata stayed behind a bit to talk something with Homura and then left. Soon, only Homura and Yoru remained in the room.
Yoru quietly moved to the corners and set up a few sealing tags, activating a sound barrier. Once the room was secure, Homura turned toward him and asked:
"What is the actual operation that you have?"
He had suspected something ever since the Hokage personally approved Yoru's squad for this mission. Even after asking Hiruzen directly, the old man had refused to explain. That silence alone had made Homura uneasy.
Yoru remained quiet for a moment.
He had received his orders straight from the Hokage. He had been instructed not to reveal the mission to anyone. But the Hokage had also added one specific condition that if Homura asked again, he was permitted to explain the truth.
So, Yoru began.
"Shikeru Nara suspected that someone from the Land of Iron was leaking information to outside forces. The details were vague, but the type of information being accessed pointed to high-level internal records, security routes, internal communications, access points."
Homura's expression darkened.
Yoru continued, "Due to the political sensitivity, he couldn't conduct a formal investigation. So he reached out to the Hokage, and the two of them created a covert plan to lure out the mole. Once the mole was out there were plans to feed this information to high-level authorities in the land of Iron which would cause some internal tension."
He paused, then added, "The plan involved planting a fake merchant, one of our ANBU operatives disguised as a civilian trader. He would be given falsified documents made to look like they were part of a classified leak. The idea was to let the documents circulate just enough to tempt the real mole into acting."
Homura crossed his arms. "A bait operation."
Yoru nodded. "Yes. Originally, the entire mission was supposed to be handled by Shikeru himself. He would monitor who reacted, who moved, and who tried to access the documents, but," he paused a little and continued.
"Shikeru lost control of the mission. Someone framed him before he could finish it. Not only did he get implicated, but the ANBU merchant we planted was also arrested."
Homura's expression grew grim.
Yoru continued, "The operative was ordered to act like a normal civilian unless instructed otherwise. So when he was arrested, he couldn't blow his cover. He went along with it, trusting the mission would be salvaged from the outside."
Homura gave a slow nod as he absorbed everything. "So he's still in play."
"Yes," Yoru confirmed. "Which brings us to our current orders."
He took a breath and finished.
"Our mission is to exonerate Ambassador Shikeru, recover the original operation data if possible, and determine whether the ANBU merchant has been compromised. If he has then we are to contain it."
Homura nodded as he heard this.
His two friends, Hiruzen and Danzō, often made plans like this, covert strategies meant to destabilize foreign nations from the inside. But this time, due to unforeseen circumstances, the mission had gone completely off-track.
He sighed.
Why hadn't his old teammates told him about this mission from the beginning if they had planned to involve him eventually anyway?
He asked Yoru, "Have you met with the merchant?"
Yoru shook his head. "No. He has been placed in the dungeon of General Ryuma's castle. It appears that he already suspects some things. My subordinates are working on sneaking in as we speak. We will have the information from the operative by this time tomorrow at the latest."
Homura narrowed his eyes. "Did the merchant have orders to take Shikeru's name in case things went south? Or did he betray him?"
Yoru shook his head again. "It is not certain. However, getting himself arrested might also have been part of Shikeru's plan."
Saying this, Yoru flickered away, leaving only Homura behind.
The elder sighed, 'I hate working with Nara. You can never guess what their real plan is.'
~~~
Meanwhile…
After Team 1 and Juichi had left the meeting, Juichi decided to show the kids a bit of the nightlife in the Land of Iron.
Even though the nation was said to be on lockdown, the inner districts still remained lively. There hadn't been any direct orders to shut the civilian sectors, so the streets bustled quietly beneath the snow.
Snow-filled roads reflected the lights from warm shops and decorated stalls, creating a peaceful yet scenic night.
Juichi brought the three to a famous restaurant and had them try the food the Land of Iron was known for. After eating, he told Yugao and Hitoshi they could explore on their own if they wanted.
That left Juichi and Ren walking side by side, continuing their light stroll through the snowy streets.
Juichi spoke, "That was some good explanation you gave to the girl."
Ren shrugged, eating his ice cream. "It's all basic if you think about it. However low the possibility, there's always a chance the Land of Iron allies with someone. If it's having internal conflict, then it wouldn't have time for war."
Juichi chuckled and rubbed Ren's head with his only arm. "Looks like you've got a good head above you."
Ren gave a small laugh, then asked, "By the way, what was your relationship with General Sayo? It looked like you knew her, but she just ignored you."
Juichi blinked, then chuckled as he recalled, "Ah, that."
He explained, "Well, I spent some time in the Land of Iron when I was young. During that time, I developed a good friendship with Sayo. When I was leaving, she confessed to me, but I had already met your mom by then, so I turned her down."
He laughed.
"Looks like she's still quite angry."
Before Ren could say anything, a cold female voice interrupted them.
"It looks like you're having fun, Juichi-san."
Juichi flinched, immediately stammering, "Ah-ah, Sayo-chan, how are you?"
He turned behind and saw General Sayo, still wearing her armor while her hand hovered above her sword.
Taking his chance, Ren quietly slipped away, licking his ice cream as he prayed for his dad's safety.
~~~
{2142 Words}
{Ren is not a real bro, leaving his father to die like that.}
{* - Shunpei means moment in japanese, Ryuma means noble horse. If you still don't understand, you can ask here.}
{I know some of you might not be happy about the truth of the mission and Ren's non-involvement in it but you have to agree, there is no way I could have arranged a scene where Ren knew the truth of the mission designed by Hiruzen and Danzo when Homura didn't even know.
This is how it is for now, Ren being a Genin and all but later Ren would also be a part of secret operations like this so stick around.}
{Anyway, you know what to do.}
{STONES!!!!}