We spent the next hour looking for clues that could lead to their location, but we couldn't find anything. There were no signs of struggle or footprints, which meant that the kidnappers were professionals or they threatened him.
"Shikaku, maybe we can find something if we ask one of the bodyguards." Shikaku nodded. I left to go ask the merchant some questions.
He was in his room, so I knocked…
"Knock knock knock"
"Daisuke-sama, are you in here? I need some help with something!"
A tall, bulky man with a full beard opened the door. He was so big I couldn't even see what's on the other end of the door.
"Leave!"
He said in a deep voice.
"Let him in Hotaru."
He moved aside as I entered. His room was insanely big and filled with antique books and weapons. I grabbed an antique sword and checked it out.
"Please, don't touch anything!"
He said as he took the weapon and put it back.
"Sorry Ryuu, that's the head of security here and he's the one who was to protect Kenji."
"Oh, that's perfect. I was coming to ask you if anyone was protecting him. If you don't mind, can I ask him a few questions?"
Daisuke nodded.
"It's Hotaru, right?" He nodded.
"Do you remember anything from the night that it happened? Even a little information will help me?"
He shook his head.
A man of few words, I see.
Ryuu folded his wrists.
I'm getting nowhere in this investigation and if we don't do something soon, Kenji could die!
Hotaru saw that Ryuu was getting frustrated.
"It was all a blur I heard something suspicious and went to check it out, the next thing I know Kenji is gone and no traces of him, when I asked the others all of them had the same answer, they all didn't know how it happened and as far as they can remember nothing out of the ordinary happened."
I see… Ryuu held his chin as he entered deep thought. He went to ask Daisuke a question.
"Daisuke-sama, do you have any rivals that would harm your family or anything?"
He looked shocked about the question and he hesitantly said, "N-n-no, why?"
Ryuu noticed this.
"Nothing. I just thought it would be helpful." He said before leaving Ryuu left and went to Shikaku and the rest.
"Ryuu, did you find something?"
I nodded.
"It's not much to lead on but when I asked Kenji's Bodyguard he said he can't remember anything, it's all a blur to him, he heard a suspicious noise and went to check it out, the next thing he knew was Kenji gone.
That leads me to believe the kidnappers, or kidnappers, might have a special Jutsu. I think it's a genjutsu, but either way, this isn't good."
"Man, this is such a drag."
I nodded.
"Shikaku, there's something else…"
He nodded.
"I also asked if there are some rivals who would seek to hurt Daisuke-sama. He said no, but it sounded like he was hiding something.
If he is, this could lead to his son getting killed and us failing our mission. If we can't persuade him to tell us who they are, can inoichi search through his memories?"
Shikaku thought about it for a while.
"Fine, then you have to follow my plan. We can't get caught doing this."
I nodded.
He made a plan and gave us an explanation of how we would do it. Later that night, it was time to proceed with our plan.
"Are You guys ready?"
Shikaku asked. We all nodded.
Choza was the first to go. He went outside and stood guard. Inoichi was our way of communicating without making noise. Once he confirmed Choza's position, I teleported Shikaku and inoichi inside Daisuke's room.
Shikaku held Daisuke and his bodyguard using the Shadow manipulation Jutsu.
"Ryuu, do it fast. I can't hold this guy any longer!"
I put them in a genjutsu, knocking them both out.
Inoichi read his mind. It didn't take long, just five minutes.
"So? Did you find anything?" I asked.
He nodded.
"From what I could see, the Satō family are losing money because of continuous robberies, Daisuke became broke a few months ago and sent a few of his guards to get their money back from their rivals, the plan was to get their money back and send a message by killing their leader.
This plan failed and the Satō family got attacked, Daisuke and his family got attacked and they nearly got killed, for the exchange of their lives he made a deal to pay them each week, but recently he ran out of money to pay them back so instead, they took his son for Motivation."
They all frowned, thinking about this.
"Ryuu, it seems your suspicions were right. The merchant's rivals sent a rogue ninja from the hidden mist village who specialises in genjutsu techniques. Luckily, we were called here, which means they couldn't have gotten far. Let's go!"
Just before they left.
"Wait! Shikaku, should I release the genjutsu?"
He nodded.
I released the genjutsu and teleported us out of there. We took Choza with us and left.
"So, where exactly are we going?" Choza asked.
"We're going in the direction where the kidnapper was heading, if we're lucky we could sense them, my guess is they're in an abandoned area where few people would see them, that's where we'll find them, the bounty hunter and the other merchant."
Ryuu replied.
"Ryuu, since you graduated from the academy, I'm sure you've learned quite a lot of jutsus, right?"
Shikaku asked.
I nodded.
"Yes, even though I lack experience, I make up for it with power and jutsus. I mastered Fire style techniques."
He nodded.
The rest of the journey was quite silent.
"These roads look like they haven't been used that much, which means that we're near them."
Ryuu touched the ground to try to increase the range of his sensory abilities
"Prepare for a fight. There are 40 ninjas but only ten of them pose a threat. He's alive. I don't think they've done anything to him. We should still hurry, just in case."
They all nodded.
It wasn't long before we reached their warehouse.
We started making a plan. Since this is a rescue mission, we'll need to be careful.
Ryuu placed his finger on the ground.
"There are 20 shinobi outside the warehouse, and 10 on top. The rest are inside, guarding Kenji. The ones inside are the ones we should be worried about. Based on their chakra levels, each of them is at least jonin level shinobi."
"Your sensory abilities are even greater than mine Ryuu," Inoichi stated.
"To best inoichi in sensory abilities at this age, you don't fail to amaze me Ryuu," Shikaku said while smiling.
"Shikaku, what's the plan?" Choza asked.
"We take out the ones above first. If we go for the ones surrounding the building, they'd easily spot us and we can't put the kid in danger. After taking out the ones above, we take out the ones below.
This will be harder because we have to do it in one move. Inoichi will keep us linked. That way, it'll be easier to do this. They could alert the others inside, which will lead to them killing the kid and we obviously don't want that.
After that I'll trap the others inside with my shadow possession Jutsu,
Ryuu is the fastest one here, so after you get the kid to safety, come back and help us take care of the rest. Is everyone ready?" We all nodded.
I left a seal there so that after I get Kenji, I'll just teleport him out…
Soon Ryuu and the Ino-shika-cho formation reached their warehouse.
"So how do we get up there, Shikaku?"
Choza asked. They were using inoichi's jutsu, so they didn't make any noise.
"Shikaku, are you ready?" I asked.
He nodded.
Ryuu opened his Sharingan and threw two kunai. He placed his hands on Shikaku's shoulder and teleported there.
"Shadow Stitching Jutsu: Kuro Higanbana!" Shikaku's shadows formed a spider-like shape and started pulling them in.
"SLASH" I cut through them all with my sword.
"All done here." I said.
"Choza, get in position."
"I'm already there, Shikaku."
I placed a seal on the building. They can't hear anything unless they come outside.
"Everyone is in position. Let's go!"
"Shuriken shadow clone jutsu." Everyone got hit with my shurikens.
"Shikaku, are you ready?" I asked.
"Yeah let's go."
I threw a smoke bomb inside.
"What's going on!?" One of them asked.
"Get the kid!"
One of the shinobi tried to grab Kenji, but I was too quick. I got Kenji and left with him.
They tied him up and blindfolded him. I opened his blindfold and released his bindings.
He clenched my hand. His hand was so cold, and he was shivering.
"It's Kenji right?" He nodded.
"Don't worry, you're going to be fine."
He looked down and said.
"It's so cold." I could barely hear what he said. He must've been shy or scared.
I ignited a small fire using Phoenix Flame.
"It shouldn't burn him unless I want it to, from what I understand."
I placed my hand on him and the flames turned green. They climbed onto him and surrounded his body. His eyes lit up in shock and wonder.
"Cool, this is awesome!" he said.
"Please keep this a secret for me," I said. He nodded and started smiling.
I left him there with 4 of my shadow clones. I had to help Shikaku and the rest fight off the other ninja.