The second floor of the Police Force.
"This is where we train in genjutsu."
Naoshu pushed open a room that looked like a shooting range and pointed to three dummies leaning against the wall as he explained:
"They're lifelike dummies the clan paid a fortune to have custom-made. Let's take a closer look."
As he spoke, he led Sou over and pried open one dummy's eyelids. Its pupil looked much like an ordinary person's, but the interesting thing was that three circles had been etched onto it.
"These three circles represent three areas, showing how powerful your genjutsu is when used on it. The innermost area is the weakest, and the outermost is the strongest. Right now, no one but the Clan Head can fill all three areas completely."
"The Clan Head?"
Sou raised an eyebrow at that.
That old geezer was that good at genjutsu?
He'd still been a little unsure before, but now it seemed clear that the old man had to be hiding Forbidden Jutsu as outrageous as Izanagi.
Otherwise, his Dojutsu Power couldn't possibly have been developed to that level.
"What do you think?"
Naoshu glanced back at him with a faint smile. "Hard to believe, isn't it? When I joined the Police Force two years ago, I couldn't believe it either. Normally, all he does is pound the table and glare..."
"When he's got nothing else to do, he likes showing off with that teacup he's rubbed until it's practically oozing," Sou casually added.
"Exactly!"
Naoshu seemed to have hit a nerve. His face flushed with excitement as he agreed fervently. "A few of us on the team have noticed it. He doesn't even like tea that much, but he carries that stupid cup around all day. Nine times out of ten, it's just plain water.
"And that's not all. At several Police Force meetings, he was the one who screwed up, but every time he blamed us. If he weren't so old, we'd have..."
"And then there was that time..."
The two of them walked along, complaining about the Clan Head.
The second floor wasn't all that big, but somehow they spent half an hour wandering around and stopping to chat.
Of course, Naoshu kept explaining things, too. But aside from the rather novel genjutsu practice room, everything else was fairly ordinary.
There was a practice area for the Puppet Shuriken Technique, a sparring area, and a mission assignment room.
When they reached the noticeboard in the mission assignment room, Naoshu stopped and tapped the posted rules with his knuckles.
"Oh, right. The most important rules are here. The team's missions and pay are divided into two main arrangements. One is the 'monthly assignment': every month, you must complete an A-Rank Mission assigned by the clan, either alone or in a team. You split the pay fifty-fifty with the clan. It gives you more freedom and you can earn more, but the pressure's greater, too."
He paused and pointed to the other option. "The other is the 'regular duty' arrangement. You take part in patrols around the village every day and receive a fixed salary. It's more stable.
"Even so, you still have to complete at least one A-Rank Mission assigned by the clan each quarter. But with these missions, the clan takes seventy percent of the pay and you get only thirty. Think of it as a basic 'obligation' that comes with the job."
Naoshu shrugged and looked at Sou. "You just got here, so you'll probably start with regular duty while you get used to things. But later, you can choose whichever suits you. So, after hearing all that, are you still sure you want to live here?"
Naoshu pushed open the door to a break room and earnestly advised him:
"Even though the dorms here are cleaned every day, you'll run into Qiongyue Clan Leader all the time. With his temper, sometimes all he does is yell and glare. That's the best-case scenario."
Though Naoshu hadn't spent much time with Sou over the past half hour, he felt as if they'd known each other for ages.
Of course, it wasn't because they shared any particular interests. They'd simply bonded over complaining about Qiongyue.
"Hey..."
Sou sighed deeply, as though making this decision was a reluctant last resort, then said:
"You know my parents died early. Aside from Brother Jing, I don't have any other relatives in the village. Living here is perfect; I won't have to clean, and it'll be convenient when I go on missions.
"I'll also get to spend more time with the other members and build closer relationships with them."
That was what he said, but his real goal was to trade for Izanagi.
Qiongyue had awarded him credit for an S-Rank achievement, but he definitely wouldn't give up a Forbidden Jutsu like Izanagi unless Sou was one of his trusted confidants.
As for taking it by force, Sou had considered that, too. But given his current strength, he'd put the odds of getting killed in the attempt at over ninety percent.
The reason he'd come to that conclusion was that he suspected the old geezer had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan long ago. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to sit securely in the Clan Head's seat for so long.
Better to play it safe.
"Ah... all right, then."
Naoshu let out a long sigh and patted him on the shoulder, showing that he understood.
"I'll get those two downstairs to bring your ninja tools up in a bit. Get settled in here for now. When you move tomorrow, let me know if you need any help."
"I couldn't ask you to do that. You've already done so much for me."
Sou waved his hands repeatedly, then took the initiative to invite him. "By the way, are you free tonight? If you are, I'll treat you to a drink. If you hadn't shown me around today, I don't know how long it would've taken me to get familiar with the Police Force."
"Let's do it another day. I'll invite a few colleagues, too, so you can meet them."
After a little more small talk, Naoshu said his goodbyes.
But just as Sou was about to close the door, he noticed Naoshu lingering in the doorway. After a while, he couldn't help asking in confusion:
"Naoshu, is something wrong?"
"..."
Naoshu stood there in silence for a long time. He looked around, and when he saw no one nearby, he turned back and spoke in a very low, rapid voice:
"Be careful around someone named Uchiha Yōha for a while. He's Uchiha Setsuna's cousin. You got your spot in the Police Force by bumping him down to the bottom of the list."
As he spoke, he cautiously glanced around again. "I hear... he holds a grudge. You'd better watch your back for a while."
"Thanks for the warning."
Sou's gaze sharpened, and he nodded solemnly. "I'll be careful."
"..."
Naoshu nodded silently, then changed his tone and called out loudly, all exaggerated cheer:
"No need to see me out! I'll invite you to get together sometime!"
"Hm? Oh!"
Sou immediately caught on and called back just as loudly: "Sure! I'll definitely be there!"
Naoshu hurried away without looking back, as if he was wary of something.
Watching Naoshu's hurried retreat, Sou's gaze flickered.
Setsuna's cousin?
Looks like getting promoted had made him a few enemies without his even realizing it.
Setsuna was a clan powerhouse on the same level as Brother Jing. His cousin must be pretty strong to have made it into the Police Force.
If this Yōha really did try to assassinate him, he'd have to tread carefully.
He knew all too well how strange Sharingan genjutsu could be. No matter how much he strengthened his body, one moment of carelessness could still leave him caught in it!
Still, he couldn't completely trust this information.
He'd only known Naoshu for half an hour. Naoshu seemed honest on the surface, but there was no telling which faction he belonged to.
Perhaps he wanted to provoke a conflict between Sou and Yōha, so Brother Jing and Uchiha Setsuna would fall out.
Or perhaps he wanted to use Sou to eliminate Yōha.
Thud!
Sou shut the door and sneered.
"I've only just taken the position, and certain schemers are already itching to make a move against me?"
Still, that was only to be expected. If you wanted greater rewards, you had to face more enemies.
There was no such thing as getting all the candy without taking a few hits.
It was easy to dodge an open attack, but hard to guard against a hidden one. The best thing to do now was improve his strength. Once he was strong enough, he could break through any scheme with sheer force.
In a world where individuals held such power, trying to outsmart people was just plain foolish.
With that in mind, Sou didn't wait for the two people from the Logistics Department to come up. He went down himself and collected the Chakra Blade and all the basic ninja tools.
What surprised him was that the ninja tools had been packed so conveniently inside a Space Scroll about thirty centimeters in diameter and half a meter long.
As far as he knew, those scrolls weren't cheap. Even at a ninja tool shop, one would cost at least a hundred thousand ryo.
"So this is one of the Police Force's perks..."
Sou looked at the scroll, which he could lift with one hand, and shook his head with a smile. "No wonder people resent them."
He'd taken a quick look inside and seen that less than half the space had been used. So he made a detour to the clan's Equipment Shop and bought all the training equipment he'd ordered the day before, then put it into the Space Scroll.
By the time he got home, it was already a little after noon.
"I'll eat later."
Sou murmured, then pulled a beef-flavored Ration Pill from his robes, popped it into his mouth, and crunched it up.
He'd already completed one round of Thunder Breathing that morning, using up more than half his chakra. He wasn't hungry anyway, so he might as well strike while the iron was hot.
Besides, he really wanted to see what rank Thunder Breathing would reach once its progress bar was full!
As he thought, he looked at the Skill Panel in front of him.
[Thunder Breathing: 98/100]
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