He quickly recalled one, but Fubuki used the example first as she was also a part of the investigation looking into other Snow Country tech that had been popping up recently. "Now that you mention it, there were the murders of the crew of the Singing Whale."
Naruto recalled the ship saying, "That was the ship you were waiting on to appear in Sobota Port, wasn't it?"
"Yes, as well as the one that Haku, Naruko, and Sage learned had arrived in Land of the Sea with the crew slaughtered after it had been diverted," Fubuki answered. "However, the crew wasn't the only people killed. The Singing Whale was also transporting women that I believe were destined for the Land of the Night. They had been killed as well after suffering unimaginable indignations."
Naruto knew that the Spring-nin was stating that they had been raped before being killed, or perhaps even afterwards. However, he didn't have the feeling that Nyau's desire for Aisha had been purely sexual in nature as he would have likely tried to capture her to take his time with her rather than the flashy method he had chosen. Stating as much, he said, "Nyau might have been a sick monster, but he didn't seem to desire his victims sexually or not in that way I suppose would be a better way of putting it."
"Which is why I believe he had been active with some new group," Hanare explained. "That this ship was also suspected of carrying tech linked to Spring does increase the likelihood that Gantetsu is telling the truth."
"Please explain," Gaara said in his typical monotone. "Gantetsu might just have had the right connections to get his hands on a set of Chakra Armor before any other groups. Plus if Nyau had a hand in slaughtering the ship's crew then it would make sense that Gantetsu could contact him to kill his singer."
"True, but Gantetsu was just a low level criminal at best," Hanare replied. "He certainly doesn't have the connections necessary to break Nyau out of a prison like the Iron Mountain. However, a much larger group using him would, especially one looking to test their new weapon before putting it out on the black market. Both as a means to work out any bugs the armor might have, as well as to generate an interest in potential customers. But you can't attack someone like Killer Bee without attracting all the wrong kind of attention. So what do you do? You create a narrative using Bee's infatuation with Aisha. I'm sure he's broken free of his protection detail to sneak off to her concerts in the past." When Mabui nodded the former Jomae kunoichi continued, "So all a group would need to do is wait for a time Bee broke containment to go see a concert and then unleash Nyau onto Aisha. From that fight they would be able to collect base data on how well Nyau did against what many consider a perfect jinchuriki."
"A close second at best," Kiyomi said lovingly causing Naruto to blush as a few of those around the table chuckled.
Hanare was one of them and when she regained her composure said, "Well with that matter settled. I think this second encounter was to see what improvements were gained by Nyau wearing the armor. Since both incidents took place in crowded areas it limited just how wild Bee could get allowing for similar data sets to be collected to showcase the improvements."
"It does fit together nicely," Ibiki said in agreement. "The locations of the fights also allowed for multiple witnesses to be present who could be working for this group to collect that data."
"I concur," Gaara said. Focusing on Koyuki he stated, "I think the best way to find out who is behind this is to uncover more details about the creation of these weapons. I believe you were going to give us a history on their development"
"I'm afraid Fubuki is going to have to be the one to fill you in," Koyuki replied. "I was not a part of their creation, and much of the data disappeared in the chaos after my uncle's downfall."
Fubuki stood as she moved towards a projector she had set up knowing the matter of the armor would come up. The lights of the war room dimed in preparation of her report so she turned on the projector stating, "Doto was many things, but most of all he was ambitious and like many despots before him planned to grow his strength through conquering other countries. However, he knew that in order to contend with any of the main Shinobi villages his own forces would need an edge. That was what gave birth to Project: Everyman."
She clicked the button to have the projector go to the first picture which showed a bunch of men in lab coats standing for a group photo. "Project: Everyman was a research and development think tank to create weapons using technology which would make sure Snow's shinobi forces had an advantage in battle. Their research created Doto's personal train and air ship, Gatling kunai launchers, the chakra suppression device, and finally Chakra armor. There even were projects to use artificial techno-organs as a means to mimic certain Kekkei Genkai such as the Sharingan. It was thought that through technology our forces would prove to be more than a match for any opposition. After all, while creating a seal to bind a person's chakra is standard fare for a seal master to make. It is a rather labor intensive process as if just one part of the formula is off the whole thing fails. However, the chakra suppression device achieves the same thing and once the assembly process was perfected could be mass produced easily."
"How did Snow go about recruiting people capable of such advancements?" Ibiki questioned.
"Well a lot of the first scientists came to us from the defeated nation of Sky Country. Doto recruited the survivors having been impressed with their gliders which were behind the success of their powerful air raids," Fubuki answered. "In fact it was Koyuki's father that actually laid the groundwork for their recruitment."
"What!" Naruto said surprised.
Koyuki gave a sad smile as she said, "I'm afraid so. My father recruited a lot of them for his project that created the heat generators. The reason Doto didn't know exactly what my father had built was because he had compartmentalized the project so only he knew what they were working towards. He took the results of their research to build the prototype he first showed me as a child."
"Unfortunately Koyuki's father underestimated the bitterness these Ex-Sky Country weapon designers had towards their old enemies," Fubuki explained upon resuming her report. "They quickly jumped at the chance to design weapons that would end up being used against the Five Great Elemental Countries. A lot of the successes in transportation and vehicle design that Snow had were from these former Sky-nin engineers." She clicked the remote again causing the projector to change to a photo of a young man with a stoic looking assistant standing behind him. "This man though was the genius behind the Chakra armor as well as the Chakra Suppression device. His name was Varrick and despite being a rather eccentric individual and appearing rather scatterbrained. His theories on combining electronics and chakra made these devices possible. The woman behind him is Zhu Li his assistant."
"Is there a way for us to speak with this Varrick?" Tsunade asked.
"I'm afraid not," Fubuki said with a shake of her head, "Most of the scientists disappeared just after Doto's death. Those that didn't were apparently killed to insure their silence. What prototypes weren't looted, were destroyed along with many of the files related to Project: Everyman. In hindsight though I believe this defection was going to happen regardless."
"What makes you believe that?"
Addressing Kiyomi's question the pink haired kunoichi replied, "Varrick felt stifled by Doto. If the man hadn't been so brilliant then I'm sure Doto would have had him executed. Varrick always gave me the sense of being an opportunist. All it would take for him to switch allegiances was to believe he would benefit from it. Zhu Li was loyal to him so would follow him to the ends of the earth. The rest of the scientists feared Doto, but fear only secures loyalty to a certain point."
Fubuki turned off the projector as one of the others present turned the lights back up. Moving to her seat, she said, "It's likely that whoever made off with these scientists had been planning his move for a while and just used Doto's death as a means to move up his timetable."
"Still," Kakashi said unsure why it had taken so long for the devices to begin appearing, "that doesn't explain why we are now just seeing this armor or the chakra suppression devices. If the group behind this more or less took all the scientists of the Project intact then that leads to the question of what exactly have they been doing all this time?"
"Perhaps these devices were not the primary reason for this unknown forces interest in the scientists," Hanare suggested. "It might be that the person or people behind it had another project that they wanted these people for. They might have turned the other items over to be worked on at a more leisurely pace."
"That doesn't exactly leave me feeling all warm and fuzzy inside," Kiba stated concerned.
"Nor should it pup," Tsume said feeling the same trepidation. "Are there any thoughts as to what groups could be behind this?"
"Nothing specific," Hanare said which Ibiki seconded, "The whole reason they went about testing their armor in such a roundabout fashion was to prevent us from even suspecting there was more to the matter." Nodding her head to Naruto, she said, "It's only because of the current level of cooperation between villages that we know as much as we do." Hanare noticed her words caused quite a few looks of happiness to appear on those linked to the blond and his ambition. "Sadly though despite our being thought of as shadow warriors, the shadows of the underworld still remain stubbornly resistant to the light we try to shine on them."
"Well that's easy enough to understand why," Fuka said speaking up. "You have no idea how the true underworld works while they know all your tactics inside and out."
"Why don't you enlighten us then," Yuugao said snidely, "That is the only reason you are here right now."
Fuka frowned as her face reflected her disappointment that the Anbu Captain's words were likely true. To her surprise Kiyomi said, "I can understand your anger at her Yuugao. However, perhaps instead of directing it at one offering to help, it would be best to listen to what she says so you can one day come face to face with those even more deserving of your ire."
Yuugao didn't appear pleased at the rebuke, but remained silent so Fuka said, "Unfortunately, even someone like me doesn't have much in the way of concrete answers. I just know that for every Bounty office you know of there are probably three that you don't. Not to mention even if you could take them all down, you'd be left with nothing in the way of answers as to how bounties are placed."
"You aren't telling us anything our own investigation hasn't already revealed," Ibiki said having a feeling that if he didn't speak up Yuugao's response would be rather cutting. "It is also a problem that we have known of for quite a while. In fact, the reason that we had let the Bounty Offices operate for so long was to prevent them from doing a better job of hiding them in hopes that they might lead us to the next link in the chain. Unfortunately, while they have led to some arrests, they as you point out, never seem to amount to anything. I do find it strange that considering your long history of being a criminal you still would claim to have no knowledge of how the underworld works."
"I don't have concrete evidence," Fuka replied quickly, "But I do believe that I have a basic understanding and it is only because of my long existence that I have that much." Fuka looked at Naruto and gave him a weak smile before stating, "Perhaps it was fate that brought me to you."
Naruto sighed before stating, "I don't ascribe much belief into destiny or fate." He saw Fuka wince as she likely saw his response as a rebuke so continued, "For a person to believe it was their fate to do evil so they could one day help out later… well it is a pathetic attempt to explain away the wrongs that they've committed in their past."
"I see," Fuka said feeling despondent at the notion that the blond man seemed uninclined to use her helping as proof of her desire to change. Getting ahold of her emotions, she said, "Regardless, the problem you face is that the group operating within the shadows of even the Underworld is extremely cagey and cautious, and that would be putting it mildly. They do not make their services available to just anyone so you should in essence consider them something of a premier club with several levels of membership."
"That sounds rather hard to believe," Tsunade said with a scoff. "There are literally dozens of organizations that could operate these Bounty Offices but keep their involvement discreet."
"It might not be as crazy as it sounds," Konan said recalling how after Kakuzu joined Akatsuki's resources seemed to double almost overnight. "After, Nagato and I joined forces with Tobi, he had us recruit Kakuzu. While it was for his power, he was also responsible for much of our group's growth into the criminal enterprise that it became. Mostly these criminal fronts were to acquire information about the locations of the jinchuriki. At least that was the extent that Nagato was interested in them. Kakuzu on the other hand viewed them as a business enterprise. Furthermore it was he who established most of our hidden bases or front companies, but one thing I never understood was how he could so easily locate such suitable places."
"Yeah, he was likely a highly regarded customer of the Shadow Cabal," Fuka said with a nod. "They don't commit the crimes so much as make it easier for the groups committing them to exist."
"So wait," Kiba said in disbelief, "You're saying that if some criminal group wanted to open up shop in say Konoha, this Shadow Cabal would send a real estate agent to make that happen?"
"In a manner of speaking that is a rather accurate way of putting it," Fuka replied giving him an amused grin. "It can be a rather difficult and expensive proposition to just buy a house under normal circumstances. Imagine how much harder it would be to establish a secret base in a mountain, or a business to act as a front for a drug operation. The Cabal would also have connections to put clients into touch with the right people to make issues go away, be they corrupt officials or the more lethal type of operative required to solve a problem."
Yuugao's already angry glare at the woman hardened as she said, "I'm guessing you would have firsthand knowledge of the latter being employed."
"It is possible," Fuka admitted looking down and trying to gauge Naruto's reaction without making it apparent that she was doing so. "There have been times when I've been approached by a stranger with an offer of some easy cash if I killed a target for him or her. But I can't tell you if these were ever contracts being offered by the Shadow Cabal even if I suspect as much."
"I'm guessing that you accepted these contracts," Naruto said calmly his tone not giving away much of what he thought of her doing so. When she nodded, he asked, "Why then, after so many years of existence, would you still sound like you are speaking of them as if they are an old-wives tale?"
Fuka frowned before admitting about herself, "Because I was just a force of destruction. I had no greater aspirations then to continue my existence. The Shadow Cabal is not going to make their services available to such a person. After all, more often than not when my sins catch up with a person like me it tends to be in a bloody and spectacular fashion. The person that they would though is someone that they feel would have some skin in the game. Someone that is actually building up to something grand and will proceed with, if not caution, the knowledge that to involve them would result in them gaining an enemy that knew all their secrets and could hurt them as a result."
"I don't know," Tsunade said dismissively, "That such a group could exist and remain secret for so long seems rather hard to believe."
Ibiki began to chuckle causing everyone to look towards him. "Well from my perspective it is just as unlikely that a group such as this one exists and has remained secret. A coalition formed by one man's dream to unite the Shinobi World and has been doing so from the shadows with no one the wiser."
"A fair point," Koharu said, "But it has still been discovered from time to time as your being here proved."
"That is true," Hanare said, "But so long as those that discover it have a unity of purpose does the discovery itself pose a problem. When Ibiki learned the truth, you invited him in to give assistance. The same for me, and I imagine if a person you were uncomfortable with learning the truth was close to finding out then you would take steps to make sure that they didn't. In truth the Shadow Cabal although with different goals and ambitions likely operates the same way. That they are still thought of as rumor means that although all their efforts to prevent the knowledge of their existence might not have succeeded. Their attempts to discredit them as crackpot theories offered by investigators being stymied in their investigations have been."
"That does leave two questions that we need to answer though," Gaara said.
"What's that?" Naruto asked unsure of what his friend meant.
Interlocking his hands in front of his face as he rested his elbows on the table, the Kazekage answered, "The first is, are we willing to perhaps go to war with another group that operates behind the scenes? They have been at it much longer it sounds like, and in truth their interest in this matter wasn't Naruto. They were simply providing a service, and fighting this Cabal is not going to bring us any closer to that person. Yet, it does pose the risk of possibly exposing us to the possibility of discovery."
Naruto frowned at Gaara's point and could see that even Yuugao, who he expected would have been the most adamant about going after such a shadowy group was beginning to second guess the idea. Having a good idea of what the next question would be he said, "Let me guess, the next issue you see would be how to draw them out into the open?"
Gaara inclined his head adding, "As Ibiki pointed out, past operations to find the next link to this Shadow Cabal have been fruitless. That is because in order to likely even be considered as a potential patron of this group, you would need to rack up a considerable number of crimes. They also likely have eyes everywhere, and are always evaluating new criminals that appear. The reason stings failed in the past is because they don't operate like a criminal would."
"He's right," Fuka said in agreement.
"Our operations have brought down plenty of scumbags," Yuugao said defensively.
"I'm not disputing that," Fuka replied quickly, "But even then, the people you are capturing are just small fish in a small pond that are probably unaware of the larger ocean that the Shadow Cabal operates in. As these bounty offices you had shut down prove, they don't need to know anything more than what contracts to payout to be effective fronts. Any sting hoping to learn more beyond this would likely attract attention since an investigator is going to be asking probing questions. Moreover, there is how the sting operates that would be an issue. Say you are going after a drug operation; you would set up a cover identity that would explain why the person is approaching the criminal group in search of drugs. You might purchase a few small batches hoping to next up the ante to get a meet with the main supplier to discuss terms and to make the bust. Once it happens, the whole operation is dismantled."
"I see what you are saying," Kakashi said a hint of interest in his voice, "You are basically stating that any operation set up to bring this group to light would basically have to not be targeting them directly. They would in fact have to operate like a pure criminal organization or rogue group."
"Rogue group," Koyuki said confused, "I thought we were just talking as if the Shadow Cabal was some kind of criminal one stop shop."
"That might be the case," Kakashi said with a nod. "But it is also likely that Orochimaru had ties to it which might explain all the hidden bases we have located."
"You've located," Tayuya said arching an eyebrow, "More like Karin, Kin, and myself fucking handed to you on a silver fucking platter."
Kakashi chuckled as he said, "I suppose I should have realized my student's cute little girlfriends from Sound must have had a hand in the luck we had locating so many of them." Tayuya blushed in embarrassment, but rather than continue to tease her, he returned to his explanation, "We also suspect that both Kabuto and Sasuke have been tied to this network as well which would explain the bounties we believe they placed on Naruto."
"I'm not sure that just because they worked for Orochimaru would be enough," Fuka said confidently. "In fact, I am quite sure that both Sasuke and Kabuto would be surprised to learn that they were using the same group's services. At least until this bounty was placed."
"Still we have no proof that Sasuke even placed the second bounty," Naruto said earning him an entire table of disbelieving looks, although Mikoto was simply looking down at her hands, he could tell she thought her son being the culprit was the most likely explanation. Not quite ready to admit his former friend would try to eliminate him in such a cowardly fashion he said, "I mean it." Pointing to Fuka he continued, "You said it yourself, they would likely approach each person they offer their services to on a case by case basis. Kabuto has been a rat bastard forever, but Sasuke…"
"Has all the requirements to be a major force to be reckoned with and a rap sheet that most missing-nin would spend a lifetime acquiring," Tsunade interjected angrily. "He defected to a village that attacked and murdered the Third Hokage after the fact. He also tried to kill you by stabbing you in the chest with a Class A jutsu for trying to stop him. He attacked the brother of the Raikage and attempted to kidnap him in order to further the ambition of a group seeking gods know what. Not to mention, even if he did not help in killing the Daimyo's guards at his summer home, he did nothing to stop their deaths either."
Naruto sighed, but said, "Still, if Sasuke had a grudge he would want to settle it himself."
It was Mikoto, who spoke up her tone filled with pain, "Only if he was in a position to do so. You said the jutsu you used on him does damage on a cellular level. It is possible that he is alive, but unable to face you directly any further. If so he would gladly avail himself of such a service in order to get his revenge."
"But, if he was so diminished, why would this Shadow Cabal bother with him?" Naruto asked.
"Because even if he was physically weakened he could still trade on his name and prior accomplishments to attract people to his banner," Fuka said confident in the truth of her words.
Looking at Naruto pointedly Ibiki said, "I think it would be a prudent measure to try and lure this group out into the open. If anything it would give us a new and interesting avenue in which to pursue the other matters we've discussed such as the missing Snow Country Tech that is turning up."
"Why are you looking at me," Naruto said nervously.
"Are you not the man in charge?" Ibiki asked amused. He quickly switched back to being serious as he added, "Furthermore it would have to be you heading it up."
"Why is that?" Kushina said not exactly enjoying the idea of her son taking up a life of crime.
"Did he not already establish a personality for one of his clones that lasted for nearly a year?" Ibiki said referencing the Clone D that had been the reason for Naruto's involvement in the scheme Iwa had been perpetrating against Claw and Fang.
"Well yeah," Naruto answered, "but creating a clone wouldn't exactly be a safe bet for a guy heading up a criminal enterprise. There were plenty of times were D almost was dispelled since he couldn't fight to my full capabilities. I imagine being a criminal would be twice as dangerous."
"Not to mention we are talking about him being undercover for years," Tsunade said not enjoying the idea. "Plus a group as cagey as this one is going to do a thorough background check on whatever alias we come up with. They will also likely check to make sure that he isn't using a jutsu to henge his looks and even if he used my technique, if he found himself in a situation where they sealed his chakra then he would be discovered either as a clone or himself."
Fuka quickly stepped in, "There are ways around that."
"Yes for one, why don't you just command her to resume her life of crime," Yuugao said pointing to the woman bound to Naruto due to her consuming his chakra.
"Because I believe that isn't what she wants," Naruto said calmly. Favoring Fuka with a smile he asked, "What do you suggest?"
Fuka felt her cheeks color from the kind smile being directed her way so hoping her suggest would be met favorably said, "Just make it that the persona that you create looks like you. That is the explanation that you went with for the Naruko woman."
"Like what?" Yuugao said dismissively, "This criminal would be an evil twin brother that the Third tried to dispose of."
"No, like he has a personal reason for desiring to look like Naruto. Say the two of them clashed and his face was disfigured so had some work done to look like the man that did it. It would give him a backstory that you could also use to prove that both Naruto and this persona were at one point in the same place, at the same time. Dye his hair black and wear some contacts to change the color of his eyes and you'd have a proper villain that the Shadow Cabal might one day contact. Furthermore, if you want to go one step further make it that most of the time he wears a mask so people do wonder what he looks like under it."
Naruto did consider Fuka's words, but admitted that his biggest hang-up would be that he would have to act like a criminal. He could think of a half dozen situations where a cautious group would test him in a way he wouldn't be sure he would pass due to his principles. He was about to state as much when Kiba said, "I say do it." When Naruto looked at him the Inuzuka said, "You're acting like you have to be a huge scumbag. But criminals don't all think like that, some are just after money with the violence being a byproduct of getting it. If this Shadow Cabal exists, they aren't going to be looking to see if you are nice or an asshole. They are just going to be interested in your capacity to make money and be looking to see if the enterprise you establish appears to be legit."
Naruto smirked before asking, "If you think that it is going to be so easy why don't you try your hand at it?"
Kiba shrugged with a wolfish grin before answering, "I would if I could create a shadow clone to keep up appearances when I'm performing my other duties. It sounds like it would be pretty awesome to establish a criminal empire."
The room burst into laughs as Tsume said annoyed, "Where did I go wrong with this boy?"
Kiba chuckled as well before continuing, "I'm just saying this isn't a challenge that comes along all that often, Plus If I'm not mistaken, the reason you couldn't even turn it over to Fuka is because she does have a record that stretches back hundreds of years. For her to suddenly want to be a criminal boss would he suspicious, but for some new player just back from having his face rearranged, well that's a story that only you can write while keeping up with your other duties due to your mastery of the shadow clone jutsu. It would also mean you can switch back and forth without running into the problem of not knowing what a third person playing the part might have said and done when you weren't around."
Koharu agreed with the Inuzuka stating, "It is an idea that does have merit." She noticed several of her fellow Family members didn't like it so quickly said, "But regardless this isn't a matter that needs to be decided here and now. Even should we proceed, we would need some time to prepare. It would require Naruto to effectively learn an entirely new set of moves. Not to mention coming up with ways around problems that we haven't even considered such as how would he fool a sensor type that he had encountered in the past. Change his looks all you want he would still…"
"Actually, I could help in that regards," Fuka said surprising everyone.