Fujin's squad went straight into the Ito family's mansion. Seeing that another Anbu squad from Konoha had arrived, they were quickly welcomed into the mansion.
Ito Yuya immediately appeared and said, "I am glad that Konoha sent another squad so quickly. Come with me. I'll update you on the recent incidents."
He began walking inside the mansion while the Konoha ninjas followed him. As he walked, Fujin looked to his left and right. Numerous servants were staring at them. On seeing his gaze, they quickly averted eye contact and continued their work.
A frown formed on Fujin's face behind his mask. He thought, 'That's weird. Not all of those gazes were filled with curiosity. Though no one showed it on their faces, it felt like someone was excited to see us. There is a problem in this mansion.'
He remembered their faces and continued following Yuya. They soon entered a large room with a lot of maps. The room had several ninjas and people from the Ito family, who were trying to come up with a solution.
As soon as they entered, all eyes landed on them. A look of relief appeared on their faces. While Fujin identified several faces, one stood out. He looked at one person and thought, 'Hara Yuto. As expected, he is here as well.'
Hara Yuto was a capable Jounin from Takigakure. In terms of strength, he was about the same level as Fumito. Around a year ago, Fujin's previous Anbu squad had taken a mission to eliminate the ninjas from the Kawaguchi family who wanted to kill Ito Yuya and Kara Yuto. So Fujin had some impression of them.
Fujin walked towards a circular table that had a large map. The map was of the territory they controlled. He asked, "So, what's the current status?"
Yuto answered, "This is the most detailed map we have. The villages crossed out in black are villages where the entire population disappeared."
He pointed towards one village and said, "This village faced their fate five days ago. The remaining three happened before your previous Anbu squad had arrived.
As for the other villages, the numbers next to them state how many people have gone missing. We have tried searching for them continuously but have had no luck until now.
There is no pattern to their activities. The people kidnapped are of both genders, all ages and all professions. The attacks are also at completely random places. We have tried forming a pattern to deduce what they will attack next, but have never succeeded."
He took a pause and looked at the Konoha ninjas. He continued, "However, there is one thing. Not a single Ninja has gone missing. The villages where we sent a ninja squad didn't experience such incidents. But if we withdraw the squad, then such attacks resume. In addition, when the Konoha Anbu squad was here, not a single attack took place. But after they left, it resumed."
Everyone in the room was completely helpless. They had tried all they could but couldn't do anything to resolve the situation. Previously, they had specifically asked for a squad that specialized in tracking. But that didn't help them either.
Yuto concluded, "So our analysis is that the culprit is someone who specializes in stealth but either isn't strong enough to face our ninjas or doesn't want to risk facing us."
Fujin's subordinates also fell into thought while Fujin focused on the map, trying to find any attack patterns. Bunjiro asked, "Why don't you deploy a ninja squad to every village? Wouldn't that solve the issue?"
Bunjiro's analysis was on point. Though they won't find the culprits, they would avoid taking any more losses. However, Yuya helplessly replied, "Unfortunately, we don't have that many ninjas. We tried asking our village for it, but the request was refused because they were afraid that these attacks would spread to other territories."
Yuto nodded and replied, "In addition, if we do that, then the defenses of Takigakure will be weakened. We have to shield against the possibility of this being an attempt to launch an attack on our ninja village."
Their explanations made Bunjiro's solution unimplementable. He didn't say anything else. However, Fujin muttered while staring at the map, "Yeah. But you might not have a country if you don't stop this."
Fujin's words caused a few frowns to appear in the room. However, no one said anything. They were concerned about it as well. And since Fujin was staring at the map, they didn't want to disturb him.
Fujin continued observing as he thought, 'Random incidents… Nothing is random. Even if they used a chance-based system, patterns will appear. If they tried avoiding that by having a human decide, even then the patterns will appear due to that person's mentality.'
He stared at the map for 5 minutes before concluding, 'Unfortunately, it is too complicated. I should have brought a Nara with me.'
Finally, Fujin stopped looking at the map. Yuya looked with a hopeful expression and asked, "Did you notice anything?"
Fujin shook his head and asked, "No. Can I kill some of your servants?"
A frown appeared on his face. He couldn't decide what to say. Seeing him struggle, an old man said, "You can, but we need a proper explanation. You can't kill anyone on a whim."
Fujin thought, 'Alright. They don't seem to be complete scumbags. So it shouldn't be done by them.'
The Ito family was one of Fujin's suspects. After all, every incident occurred in their territory. And wherever their ninjas went, the incidents didn't happen. So all the helpless people in their territory would begin looking at them as their protectors from the mysterious enemy that keeps kidnapping ordinary citizens. However, Fujin had no proof for the same. And from their previous record, such behaviour was unlikely. So, he decided to move ahead with the lead he had.
Fujin replied, "Alright, summon all your servants."
Attempting to calculate the pattern and predict the next attack was a helpless proposition. Not to mention, they could stop attacking like they did when the previous squad was here. Fujin had no intention of wasting a month in that town. So he could only solve it through a different approach.
In around 15 minutes, all the servants in the mansion were gathered in a large hall. They were confused as no information was provided. Ito Yuya asked everyone to maintain silence and stand in discipline.
Fujin looked at Yuya and asked, "Are they all?"
Yuya nodded.
Four shadow clones appeared next to Fujin. They walked towards the servants and carefully observed them. After seeing a servant, the clone said, "You can leave."
The other clones acted similarly. They took their sweet time in dismissing the servants.
Due to the time and since they didn't know what was happening, every servant who hadn't been sent away was getting more and more tense as time passed. Half an hour later, only 16 servants stood in the room.
Fujin observed them and thought, 'These were the sixteen staring at me in the corridor.'
Fujin's clones dispelled themselves as Fujin said, "Lock down the doors. You 16, stand next to each other."
The ninjas from the Ito family closed all exits while the servants nervously stood next to each other, while Fujin continued staring at them. Finally, one couldn't bear the tension. He asked, "Can you say what this is about?"
Fujin gazed at him and observed for a minute. He concluded, 'Not him.'
He said, "We have come here to investigate the recent incidents happening around this town. After looking for a long time, we realized that a servant working in the mansion has turned traitor."
Fujin's words surprised the servants and the Ito family. The Ito family ninjas looked at Fujin with skepticism. After all, they had already investigated each of their servants and hadn't found anyone suspicious.
The servants quickly began defending themselves. One said, "We will never betray the hands that feed us."
Another said, "Lord, please recheck your information. We will never do that."
Others complained as well.
Fujin said, "My information is accurate."
He made a hand seal and said, "I will give the traitor an opportunity. Confess. If you do, then I will let the Ito family handle your punishment."
He released some killing intent and stated very coldly, "But if you don't, then not only will I kill all of you, I will also slaughter each and every member of your families!"
'Boufura no Ekirei jutsu'
The Ito family frowned again. Once again, Fujin had done something that they didn't approve of. However, since he hadn't acted yet, they controlled themselves. After all, they had already talked with him.
Only Yuto noticed what Fujin did. He thought, 'A Genjutsu? But which one?'
Since Fujin used only one hand seal, Yuto couldn't identify what he did.
The servants began arguing and pleading hysterically. They didn't want their families to suffer.
However, as they shouted, they suddenly felt a pain in their stomach. They all held their stomach and fell to the ground while screaming in pain. The Ito family finally had enough, but Yuto said, "It's fine. Stay back and watch."
Meanwhile, a frown appeared behind Fujin's mask as well. He thought, 'That's strange. None of them are ninjas. And I didn't sense anyone speaking lies. Was what I felt wrong? Or is there such a good civilian spy?'
The pain soon turned into panic as the servants noticed maggots drilling through their abdomen and crawling out. They pleaded with Fujin to spare their lives.
Fujin looked at them and said emotionlessly, "For one last time, have you done anything to betray the Ito Family or passed information to someone else?"
All 16 servants replied negatively. However, Fujin's and Fumito's eyes landed on one servant. Both detected that he was lying.
A few seconds later, all the servants lost consciousness. Fujin looked at Fumito, who nodded in response.
