As they were enjoying their meal, Jun noticed that the atmosphere was somewhat odd. The people inside the teahouse were either tense or quiet… Oddly so.
This made them stick out like a sore thumb, drawing annoyed glances every now and then.
"What's with the atmosphere?"
Hearing Jun's question, the other four nodded. They too had noticed something was wrong.
"I too am confused, degozaru. This is the first time that yours truly has seen the teahouse in such a state."
Flustered, Yamanoue called for the waitress once again, asking for her to sit. Looking at her, he asked what was going on.
Sighing, the waitress spoke in a desolate voice.
"Yamanoue-sama, while you weren't here, the city has suffered too much… Just yesterday, mysterious kidnappings started occurring all around the city… The odd thing was that it was only young women disappearing..."
"What?! Continue!"
Yamanoue's face paled. He couldn't believe what he was hearing… In a peaceful country like theirs? There was just no way.
Startled by Yamanoue's sudden outburst, the girl reluctantly continued as the four ninja paid extra attention.
"Well, at this point, there are almost no girls under the age of thirteen and over the age of ten left in the city… The lords of the noble families are investigating the matter, but nothing has been found yet. It's as if the girls just vanished... As for your daughter..."
Yamanoue looked like he'd seen a ghost. Because of the shock, he started falling backward, getting stopped by Minato, who caught him and helped him up.
"Are you alright, Yamanoue-san?"
"Fude… My dear Fude… My daughter..."
Hearing his words, Jiraiya immediately understood. Yamanoue's daughter was probably around that age and thus got kidnapped.
Gauging the severity of the matter, he bit his thumb and pressed his hand on the table.
With a puff of smoke, a small, blue toad appeared on it. On its back, it carried a brush and scroll. Taking both, Jiraiya got to writing.
"If I'm not wrong, this might be a ninja's doing... This mission is no longer a C-rank."
"What?!"
Both Nozomi and Yamanoue had their eyes wide open. Other ninja were involved?
Finishing up with the message, Jiraiya rolled the scroll back up and reverse-summoned the toad, ordering it to head for Konoha as soon as it got back. He knew they couldn't just leave the city as it was.
They had to do something about it, or it would weigh on his conscience...
Then again, there was a glaring issue… And it was pay. The old man would surely get mad if he took action without a reward.
Seeing things escalate, Jun rejoiced. Finally, he would get some long-awaited action.
"Jiraiya-dono, Minato-dono, Nozomi-dono, and Jun-dono…. Please… Yours truly begs of you… Please find my daughter! She's the only thing I have left… I shall pay, degozaru!"
Suddenly, Yamanoue got into the deepest Dogeza[1] he could muster, forcing his forehead against the ground so hard that he felt it burn.
"Of course we will! There's no way I'm going to sit here and watch you lose your daughter, Yamanoue-san!"
"Yeah!"
Nozomi and Minato immediately agreed, helping the man up. Seeing this, Jiraiya sighed… At least, Yamanoue had offered them pay, so they could take action without repercussion.
"Thank you! Yours truly is eternally grateful!"
Resisting the urge to cry, Yamanoue tightly gripped the genin's hands, worried to death. His daughter truly was the only thing he had left after his wife died in a tragic accident...
'Fude... Please be safe...'
[1] Dogeza is an element of traditional Japanese etiquette which involves kneeling directly on the ground and bowing to prostrate oneself while touching one's head to the floor. It is used to show deference to a person of higher status, as a deep apology or to express the desire for a favor from said person.
Getting to work, team Jiraiya split up, going around the city to collect information on the matter.
On the other hand, Yamanoue went back to the Ryokucha castle, to see how things were over there.
A few hours later, the team met back near the castle. They had all asked countless people but only managed to gather a few things from it.
"You three, report your findings."
"I asked around, and most people just depressedly asked me to leave them alone…"
Nozomi was dejected… Even though she had asked so many people, she got nothing out of it.
"I targeted middle-aged men and women, especially the ones that looked more haggard. One thing they all had in common was that their daughters disappeared overnight…"
Minato was at a loss… Although it was a clue, they had almost nothing to work with, frustrating him.
"As for me, I went around knocking on the doors of family homes… One of them allowed me to enter, and they showed me their daughter's bedroom, with clear signs of a struggle. I got lucky, and found this."
Reaching into his back pocket, Jun took out a small ring. It was made entirely of silver and had the kanji for 'spice' written on it.
"That could be useful... Keep it, for now. We'll show Yamanoue later, hopefully, he'll recognize it."
"What about you, Jiraiya-sensei? Did you find anything?"
Hearing Nozomi's question, Jiraiya smirked.
"Hehe… This city is divided into three main territories. The ones who control them are the Ryokucha, the Wasabi, and the Wagarashi families. Did you notice that, out of the few girls that are left, most are in the Wagarashi's territory?"
"Oh my god!"
Once again, Jiraiya demonstrated his skill as an information gatherer... There was nothing that could escape his sharp eyes.
"That would mean… Wagarashi[1]… Spice… The ring!"
Seeing Minato reach the same conclusion as him, Jiraiya smiled in approval. He'd really chosen the right disciple.
"But wait… It could've been a set-up. Don't you think that it's too convenient for the ring to have the 'spice' character on it?"
With his words, Jun threw a bucket of cold water on Minato's and Jiraiya's heads. He was right...They couldn't be so sure of it yet. Yamanoue had to confirm it first.
And even if he did confirm it, could they even tell if another person had purposefully set them up? The mystery was far from being resolved.
Reaching the castle gates, they were greeted by the guards.
Seeing them arrive, they bowed and one of them walked over, pointing his hand in the castle's direction.
"Greetings, venerable ninja from the land of fire. Follow me, I shall take you to see the family lord, degozaru."
"Seems like Yamanoue told them about us coming… Saves us the trouble."
Smiling, Jiraiya followed the man deeper into the castle, followed by the three Genin. Once inside, they went through long corridors until they finally reached a grand hall.
At the end of the hall were four seats, with one slightly more elevated. On them sat the elders of the family, along with the lord himself.
Minato looked around and noticed Yamanoue, who was sitting close to one of the elders.
Seeing them enter, that same elder rose from his seat and greeted them with a warm smile. He had a long white beard that reached his feet and looked like he already had half a foot in the grave.
"Welcome to Ryokucha castle..! Little Yama has told us a lot about you, exalted ninja!"
"Jiraiya-dono! You guys…! Did you find anything?"
Yamanoue still had a pale face. Seeing Jiraiya's confident smile at least made him feel a little better.
[1] After some research, I found out that Wagarashi is some kind of Japanese mustard… I don't know the details, but it made sense at least, with the whole ring thing.
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