Outmaneuvered

Kurenai Yuhi looked at Kawata Genji's wide-open eyes. Her pupils contracted, and her heart sank as she clenched her hands.

She had just checked Toji and every ingredient. He had not been controlled by genjutsu, and the food had not been poisoned. Yet Kawata Genji was dead from poison. With the three of them keeping watch outside, no stranger could have entered. The old cook was the only one who had had a chance to poison him.

"I'm sorry. I wasn't thorough enough."

Kurenai's voice trembled, and her face turned pale. Her teammates had entrusted the task to her, but her oversight had ruined their entire plan. Guilt swept over her.

"My inspection was too cursory... I think Toji must have slipped poison into the food while he was cooking."

Asuma tensed. "He was the only one who cooked in this house from start to finish. Kawata Genji died from poison, so it had to be him. We can't let him get away."

They exchanged a glance and reached the same conclusion. They were about to turn and seize Toji in the break room.

Tsukimi remained where he was. The sense that something was wrong had only grown stronger, and he frowned.

"Something still doesn't add up. Let's check the break room first!"

He still had doubts, but he did not hesitate. Toji was the cook here; whatever had happened, they needed to find him.

The three rushed out of the bedroom toward the break room beside the kitchen.

The wooden door stood ajar. Tsukimi gave it a light push, and it swung open. The room was cramped and dim.

Toji, the old cook, rested quietly in a reclining chair, eyes closed and body relaxed, as though he were taking a nap.

But when the three stepped closer, they froze.

Toji's face had turned bluish too. His limbs hung limp, and he had stopped breathing.

There were no signs of a struggle. Just like in the upstairs bedroom, he had died without warning.

Kurenai stood rooted to the spot, her guilt giving way to utter confusion.

Kawata Genji was dead, and so was the cook. If Toji was the killer, why had he been poisoned too? If he was innocent, where had the deadly poison come from?

"Just as I thought, Toji wasn't the killer. He didn't know we were hiding nearby. If he'd poisoned the food, he would have fled immediately, not settled down for a rest."

Tsukimi's words brought the other two back to their senses, but they raised an even bigger question.

Kurenai turned to him. "If it wasn't Toji, how did they administer the poison?"

Asuma followed up, anxiety in his voice. "Both people in the house are dead from poison now, and every lead's gone. What do we do?"

Standing beside the body, Tsukimi raced through every detail, from last night to this morning, from the cleaning to lunch and the enemy who had disappeared. The pieces began to fit together.

"I've got it!"

Tsukimi's gaze sharpened as the crucial detail clicked into place. He turned and headed straight for the kitchen, with the other two close behind.

Around the corner of the kitchen, the bowls and chopsticks used at lunch had been washed by Toji and stacked neatly in a cupboard. Their surfaces gleamed without a speck of dirt.

They looked like perfectly ordinary tableware.

Tsukimi took out every bowl and plate. "No trace of genjutsu. The cook didn't do it, and it wasn't the ingredients. That leaves the tableware!"

At his gesture, Kurenai understood. She took out the Toxin Reagent she carried and dripped it onto each piece of tableware.

Produced by the Konoha Medical Department, the reagent was designed to detect hidden toxins.

The three watched with bated breath. The instant the reagent touched the spotless tableware, a faint blue-green glow flashed across its surface. Anyone who blinked might have missed it.

"There really is poison on them!" Asuma exclaimed.

He understood now too. Kurenai's inspection had covered only the people and the ingredients. All of them had overlooked the washed tableware. They had been looking in the wrong place.

"Unfortunately, there's too little residue." Kurenai shook her head helplessly. "We can confirm there's an unknown toxin on the tableware, but we can't identify it or determine how it works."

"One thing we do know is that plain water can't remove it completely. Otherwise, Kawata and Toji wouldn't have died."

Asuma's voice was grave. "When they came for the medicinal powder last night, they must have erased every trace and clue, smeared poison on the tableware, then left for good."

"Even if Toji washed the tableware before the meal, the water couldn't remove the poison. So both of them died."

Their enemy had never shown themselves. Tsukimi had tried to set a trap, only for the other side to take the bait and slip away.

"None of us know enough about poisons," Tsukimi said decisively. "We need someone to examine it."

He raised a finger. Two dark figures emerged from the shadows and brought over Kawata's and Toji's bodies. At the same time, the Shadowkhan scattered throughout Bluestone Town set out and found Orochimaru.

A moment later, a figure in white dropped from the roof and walked into the kitchen.

"Orochimaru-sensei, could you help us identify this poison?"

A faint smile hung on Orochimaru's face when he saw the scene, as though he had expected it. He crouched and examined both bodies, then picked up the poisoned tableware and used his Chakra to probe the remaining traces. He even wiped a finger across it and put it in his mouth to taste.

Ugh!

The sight sent a shiver through all three of them.

A few minutes later, Orochimaru set down the tableware. His narrow golden eyes, with their slit pupils, turned toward the three as he delivered his verdict.

"It's a very obscure poison. The residue on the bodies and tableware isn't enough for a definite conclusion. We'll need to collect samples and test them with precision instruments."

"Understood. We'll take everything."

With a clear answer, Tsukimi took a Sealing Scroll from his Ninja Tool Pouch and channeled his Chakra into it. He sealed away the bodies of Kawata Genji and Toji, along with all the tableware bearing traces of poison.

After putting away the scroll, Tsukimi looked at Kurenai and Asuma's somber faces. His tone lightened again.

"Come on, you two. Stop looking so miserable. We've already completed our escort mission. This investigation was extra, so there's no need to get discouraged if it failed."

"Besides, we didn't come away empty-handed. Look, this mission even taught Asuma to use his brain."

Asuma's face darkened at the jab, and he rolled his eyes.

"You bastard, Tsukimi. I wasn't stupid to begin with, okay? Who do you think I am, Obito?"

"Aren't you?" Tsukimi looked at Asuma in surprise.

The second- and fourth-ranked fools had earned their reputations.

Asuma clenched his fists, his face full of indignation. Kurenai could not help laughing, and the tense atmosphere eased a little.

"All right." Tsukimi dropped the joking tone. "We've sealed the remaining evidence, and there's nothing more to do here. Let's get ready to head back to the village."