Chapter 13: Ocean’s Under Eleven 

The desperation is palpable between both master and apprentice as Shogo and Gengetsu scramble to prolong their wellbeing by completing their respective tasks. While Gengetsu is in the process of crafting his girlfriend a last minute anniversary gift. Shogo currently stands in front of the largest home on the main island of Water country besides the daimyo’s palace of course. Will Shogo be able to come up with a decent plan to steal from the shipmaster’s vault and execute it perfectly? Probably not... . But it will definitely prove to be interesting! 

Shogo POV 

I stand about 200 meters away from my point of interest looking upon its many obstacles in absolute dread. The ship master’s mansion is an absolute behemoth of a house. It had to be about 100 meters in width and 40 meters in height. There are 2 stories each with large windows and balconies in every room on the top floor. The house is bordered by 20 foot walls with an archer perched on little towers in every corner of the rectangle shaped facility. Also, the outer walls and the roofs are topped off with lethal looking spikes. All in all it is the most secure house I’ve ever fucking seen. 

I already knew there is a 24/7 security detail of maybe 12 heavily armed guards patrolling the premises. Two of the guards stood in front of the only exterior gate while the rest are likely stationed at random points inside the mansion. I think about 10-11 of them aren’t ninja but there’s always at least one ninja guard on duty at all times. The more I thought about how staunch the house of the shipmaster is, the more difficult it becomes for me to even fathom the smallest idea of how to get in and out of there at all let alone completely undetected as the blonde doofus wants.

The reason I know so much about the house’s defenses is because Tako had some of the orphans and I scout the place out from a distance a few months back. We got caught and chased away a total of four times before Tako called off any idea of a heist as he deduced that there must be a “sensor nin” on the premises making him deem the heist impossible. 

Seconds tick by as I watch the tall spiked walls filled to the brim with hazards to little thieves like myself. The sinking feeling of hopelessness creeps in from every corner of my mind, slowly encroaching upon any half hearted idea I think up. A total of ten more minutes pass by when I finally come to a realization, I couldn’t pull this off alone. I needed decoys, and a LOT of them. I know exactly where to get about 9-10 of them if I can figure out a way to finesse their little brains into helping me out since they would definitely need a good reason given their general hate/dislike of me. 

“Welp, staring at a wall isn’t going to help me? Time to get going…” I murmur before standing up on the roof I had been hiding on for the past 20 minutes. I turn around and start heading toward the eastern side of the island.

45 minutes later…

Jumping all around the main island blasting my chakra to my legs is starting to make them cramp up. Physically I feel like I could run around the whole island maybe two times but at same time my inner tank is running half-full. I should chill on using my chakra for now I guess. It’s puzzling to me that using my chakra just for running around for a few hours has had this much of an effect on my reserves. When I was running across the ocean the other day, I didn’t really have any problems. In fact I felt invigorated the whole time. It's definitely a dilemma for the future as we walk along the beach toward Tako’s base of operations. 

As I get closer and closer to the disheveled shanty house that the orphans reside in, the sound of very familiar guttural moos and numerous high pitched shouting can be heard in the distance. I start to pick up the pace with hope welling up in my chest at what I think is causing all the commotion. I get maybe a 100 yards away when I see about 12 orphans grappling with a huge struggling black figure. I rush to get closer to the violent scene being played out and get a quick scan of the situation. The orphans are continuously circling around the bison taking turns rushing it from the back or its sides to deal out damage with miscellaneous objects. The bison looks incredibly haggard and its movement is hampered due to some unnoticeable injury. The black behemoth tries with all its might to fend off its attackers but it could only muster the occasional buck or kick in the general direction of an orphan that got too close. All in all the bovine is fighting a losing battle, the fiendish kids are getting more vicious and bold by the second. It’s likely they’re going to kill and eat the bison, I guess the food that Tako would have left them has run out. I can’t let them eat a product of my hard work! I reach one of the older orphan’s while running full speed and punch him/her in the back of the head, hard. My victim goes down face first and doesn’t get back up. Everyone in Tako’s gang now has their eyes trained on me, the animosity they have for me is more potent than ever. The bison falls onto the sand looking absolutely spent as if it has given up. 

“What fuck are you doing here, Black Fish?! Aren’t you supposed to livin’ it up in that clan of psychos, blowing that blonde turd!”

Everyone around me starts to chuckle at the insult.  

My eyes dart in the direction of the obnoxious squeaky voice, my eyes narrow at the smug expression on the older brown haired girl’s face. It is the same bitchy girl who was on that fateful mission that put me in this fucking position. Rage bubbled through me at the thought that she could’ve prevented or taken my place. I see red as I whip out my katana and point it at the smug looking bitch instantly shutting up all the kids in front of me.

“I’d stop talking shit right NOW! Piss me off anymore and I’ll cut all of you into fucking ribbons starting with you!”

 “Tskk” 

The girl crossed her arms over her chest and sucked her teeth. She muttered under her breath but ultimately shut her trap.

I didn’t really expect all of the orphans to get silent so quickly, they must be more fearful of me than I initially thought. Then I look around and see that all of the kids have their eyes glued to the katana in my left hand. 

‘Of course they're more worried about my weapon than anything else. Knowing these jerks they’d try to jump me the second this blade is sheathed or leaves my hand. I need to speak quickly and pick the easy targets carefully…’

I take a step forward and put both of my hands on the hilt of my katana. In turn each one of the kids takes a step back clearly intimidated by my aggressive stance. Quickly taking advantage of their momentary fear, I launch into my desperate pitch. 

“I have a heist and I need all of your help to pull it off unscathed!-” 

I already see the contempt as the bitchy mouth of the older brown haired girl opens no doubt to tell me off but I beat her to the punch. 

“SHUT YER FUCKING YAP AND LET ME FINISH!” 

I shout while taking a big step in the girl’s direction causing her to take a few steps back in response. Her terrified expression made me confident that she wouldn’t be interrupting me any further. I wait a few seconds before I divulge my bargain to the disgruntled children. 

“If you help me get into my target without any mishaps then I’ll swipe some ninja weapons and tools for a handful of you while I steal my mark. None of you will actually be going inside with me, I just need all of you to divert the attention of the outside security while I sneak in and out. You don’t even have to get that close to the actual residence if you don’t want to, all I ask is that you give me 5-10 minutes to slip through detection.”

I look around at each member of Tako’s gang as their eyes bore into mine showing that I indeed had their interest. 

“That sound like something you lot can manage?..”

I let the question hang in the air with a little bit of sarcasm to see if I would get any biters on the thinly veiled insult. Anything I could do to hook these fuckers onto the idea is extremely necessary given our mutual distaste of one another.

*Scoff*

‘Annnndddddd SUCCESS!’ 

I could barely keep the smirk off my face when I see who responded to the bait that I put out. 

A rail thin black haired older boy comes from the back of the crowd to take up front and center right in my line of sight. This kid is Tako’s second-in-command, as he is the strongest and oldest out of all the kids, no one could oppose him when Tako left town. His name is ironically Tanaka, but his name was similar to Tako; they couldn’t be more different in how they governed the gang.   we have never got along in fact we’ve gotten into more than a few fights that usually ended in both of us being bloody. Me more so than him. I wish I could beat his skull in now but this damn necklace has precedent before any stupid grudge.  

If I can convince him to participate in my plan then rest would follow. 

Tanaka crossed his arms against his chest and frowns at me, 

“You're not as slick as you think you are, Black Fish. What is this target that you are so desperate to ask us for help? Tell us then we’ll entertain the thought of helping you!”

*Tsk*

I had hoped to prolong their ignorance for as long as possible to prevent them from asking for more rewards but Tanaka shows me why we could never get along. He is sometimes as smart and sly as me on most days. Makes me wonder where he got his education from because he’s definitely not as dumb as the rest of the orphans. I’m sure more than a few of them were ready to jump aboard my mission with just the mention of ninja weapons. 

“I need your help to sneak into the Shipmaster’s man-”

Tanaka turns around and starts to walk away before I can finish waving along the gang to follow him.

“Hey! WAIT! At least hear me out…!!!!”

I pursue Tanaka’s retreating back intent on holding him down so I can at least finish pitching my idea.

1 hour later…

I stand on the same cliff overlooking the Shipmaster’s compound flanked by Tanaka and three others from the gang. I wanted to bring the whole fucking group of orphans to come with me but Tanaka, being the “righteous” asshole he is, doesn’t want to put any of the younger orphans in “danger.”

I mean what a tool. The guards wouldn’t be so ruthless as to fire their arrows at a bunch of little kids...I think. Anyway this operation just got a lot fucking harder now that there’s only about four of us but ultimately I’m enough of a genius to make this shitshow shake anyway. 

I look to my side at my temporary accomplices and nod signalling to them to get into position below the cliff to prepare to run to the south wall. As I watch Tanaka run down to the bottom of the hill, I reach down and grab a fist sized rock with my right hand from a pile on the ground I prepared previously. I look at the top of the corners of the south wall at the archer’s perched on top. Thankfully they aren’t very attentive. I'm sure if they look hard enough maybe even squint they would see our ragtag group sticking out like sore thumbs on this big rock. We can’t be more than 200 meters away from them! Whatever they’re dumbness is to my infinite benefit. 

I cock back my arm and line up my body to the archer on the left corner of the south wall then I let loose rock in my hand with all the energy I can muster. I even use chakra to push it even further but I am not prepared for the after effects. 

**CRACK**

**POP**

My right arm feels like it’s on fire! I immediately grab my right elbow and groan in pain. 

‘WHY THE FUCK DO I GET INJURED DOING EVERY DAMN THING?!!!’

Ignoring the pain in my arm for now, I keep my eyes trained on the soaring rock heading for the perch of the left archer hoping that it at least hit the area around him. 

**DING**

The rock continued its course through air only to collide flush with the side of the metallic helmet that the archer is wearing. The archer then drops like a sack of potatoes and I watch with my mouth a gape in absolute disbelief. Tanaka rushs to get into position from the far left to below where the now downed archer was previously standing and the archer on the right side of the south is completely oblivious to the fact that his comrade was now taking an assisted nap. It took a little more than a minute before Tanaka made contact with the wall making sure to give me a thumbs up as a signal. I signal at Tanaka by putting my arms out in a painful T pose. My right arm strains as it won't straighten itself out but another thumbs up from Tanaka confirms that he got the message anyway. 

Now all I can do is watch the right archer carefully for the rest of our chance and the plan will continue to unfold. 

??? POV

*YAWNNN…*

‘Man I should’ve gotten more shut eye last night’ 

The morning shift is always the driest for me since all my pals usually take the night shifts. Unfortunately, I can’t work late nights anymore because my wife demands it. She thinks that as the man of the house I should always be there at night. I see her reasoning given how dangerous this island can be but it just sucks to not be able to work with any of my good friends. These other guys on the job are just plain weirdos if I’m being honest. I swear saw one of them using the metal part of an arrow as a toothpick! Like who the fuck thinks that is a good idea. 

Today, I’m paired with a real mouth breather. Any attempt I make at conversation is shot down immediately with extremely vague one worded answers. About an hour ago, I stopped trying when the dude just began to nod to my questions even if they weren’t yes or no.

‘It’s like he actually is invested in our job! All we have to do is stare at trees and grass! There’s no way in hell anybody would try to break into the shipmaster’s mansion with all these excessive countermeasures. The shipmaster has to be the most paranoid bastard on the entire island.’

**DING**

I take a glance at the other archer post closest to me only to not see the silent bastard at his post where he should be! 

‘He’s lucky I’m not a squealer or his ass would be put on trial for high treason. We’re not supposed to leave the tower once the shift starts even if we have to go to the bathroom! Hopefully this guy going AWOL doesn’t come back to bite me in the ass-’

**THUNK**

**THUNK**

“Cawww! Cawww!”

Look up at the sky trying to see what is making the sudden noise above my tower. But I don’t see anything above me or near the roof. I expected to see maybe some birds flying around the area but nothing is in sight as usual. 

“Arf! Arf!” 

‘A dog! What the hell is a dog doing anywhere near the mansion?!’

I go to the edge of the tower and peer down over the edge of the tower making sure to put the bow on my back intent on shooing away the four legged trespasser. However, my eyes met three other pairs of eyes. I feel panic arise in my chest and I turn to ring the alarm bells hanging to my immediate left-

**CLUNK**

My world is spinning all of a sudden and I’m down on my knees trying to regain some semblance of balance. The ringing in my ears along with the smell of copper in my nose tell me that my head isn’t right at the moment. Through my impaired vision I can see the small stilouthe of my attacker looking down at my crumpled form with what seems to be a big rock in hand. 

**CLUNK**

Shogo POV

I watch the negligent archer collapse on the wooden floor of the tower. I am confident the man is now out like a light. The blood coming from the wound I gave him on the back of his head made me breath hitch in my throat but the rising of his chest signified his continued living making me breathe a sigh of relief.

‘I’m a thief after all not a murderer! Hopefully sleeping beauty didn’t get a good look at my face when he saw me behind him earlier. Either way now would be a great time to put the bag over my face before I go any deeper into the Shipmaster’s territory.’

I slip the large wooden and now bloody stick into a large sack before pulling out a small brown potato sack with eye holes cut out of it which I put on over my head. Then I peer over the edge of the tower at my accomplices waiting down below. I flash a thumb’s up then flare all of ten of my fingers two times to let them know I would need about twenty minutes before we start the extraction part of the plan. 

In response Tanaka frowns and shakes his head, then flashes up that I only get fifthteen minutes before he and his crew cut their losses. 

‘FUCKKK!!!’

I wanted more time but I couldn’t spend anymore time arguing with him. I simply nod then go over to the ladder on the tower. I understood Tanaka’s reasoning for shortening the time because honestly this operation should only take me ten minutes at the most given I knew exactly where the vault is located and how to get into it without anyone noticing. Who knew that the blueprint that Tako had all of us memorize would come in handy only a year later. Honestly, the only thing that stopped us from doing the heist in the past was the fact that the mansion always had a sensor on the premises but I had an epiphany while I thought of ways to get around such a big security measure. A sensor had already fucked me over in the past when I tried to sneak on to the island before but apparently that was because I was brimming with unused chakra at the time. So I wondered if I would still be noticeable if my chakra is all used up and totally not in use. After running around the island with my chakra full blast till I felt myself running close to empty, I did a small covert operation involving me being rolled through the very dock gates where I got caught the first time inside a barrel by Tanaka. Either the sensor at the docks was slacking or my plan worked like charm but me being a gambler I would rather take the risk and do the operation anyway. 

So far I’d say my nefarious plan is working amazingly, sure a lot of it was pilfered from Tako’s original plan but I made a few tweaks to it. Enough to call it my own! First was distracting the archers so all four of us could get into position under one tower. That part went swimmingly as I knocked out one archer unintentionally and the other archer was so nonchalant about his buddy going missing that he continued twiddling his thumbs completely missing our mad dash to the back wall.  

One severely miscalculated three person assisted boost later, I had landed on the roof of the right lookout tower instead of the side as planned but I used my quick thinking to play off the noise as that of a bird. Tanaka quickly noticed that the archer’s attention still needed to be diverted enough so I could climb down from the roof and made a horrible impression of a dog. It proved to be enough as I was able to proceed with disabling the archer unnoticed. A quick look around at the inside of the mansion area confirms that the security info I am currently working on isn’t outdated as the four guards who patrolled the inside of the premise carried long spears and walked really slowly. Hopefully they wouldn’t notice the two missing archers until I’m long gone. I go over to the ladder and quickly climb down halfway before jumping down onto the ground. The nearest patrolling guard is far enough away to where my landing isn’t heard.

I rush underneath the elevated mansion and creep towards the middle right where there should be an entrance in the floor. I plug my nose as the rancid stench tells me that I am getting close to my desired location. Through much gagging and retching, I have now successfully entered the Shipmaster’s mansion undetected. I have a total of eleven minutes left to find the necklace and get back to the main entrance. I creep out of the washroom and head down a long hallway that should lead me directly to the Shipmaster’s study. I expertly use the sides of the wooden floor to avoid any creaking. There shouldn’t actually be any guards inside the mansion besides the ones stationed down below in the cellar protecting the entrance to the vault. I still choose to be extra cautious because you never know who could be in this house and the guards are literally a thin wall away from being inside. The Shipmaster himself isn’t here as he is at his post near the docks so his study should be completely clear. 

I reach the end of the hallway, I stand in front of an extravagantly painted sliding door. I couldn’t tell what the painting is supposed to be but the colors used were eye-catching to say the least. I quickly look around then slowly slide back the door before tiptoeing inside then sliding it back shut softly. 

I glance around the study and I have to stop my jaw from dropping and the exceedingly boisterous nature of the decor. Everything inside the office is an unusual color and none of them remotely went with the other. It seems that the Shipmaster is a collector of sorts that doesn’t care for things that match. I respect it a bit but honestly the display hurt my eyes. Ignoring the extravagant furniture I walk slowly around the study looking for my entrance to the heavily guarded vault. The shipmaster had a vent leading directly to his vault built so he could just throw coins, jewelry and other valuables in it, all to avoid having his guards tempted to steal from the daimyo. However, the Shipmaster’s shrewdness is going to be to my benefit as the vent is large enough to fit the size of a child. Remove the large sack I’ve been carrying from over my left shoulder and take out a makeshift rope made out of tied together fabric. The rope had to be about twelve feet long and it is sturdy enough for me to climb back out of the vault through the vent when I’m done getting what I need. I tie the rope around the leg of the Shipmaster’s desk then toss the remaining rope into the vent. To see how deep of a drop it is I also throw the sack down the vent and hear it hit what I can only assume is a pile of coins. Lastly, I remove the katana from my back and slip it inside the front of my robe. 

‘Alright! I have about ten minutes to grab any purplish jewelry and also take a shit ton of money back to Tanaka. This is going to suck!’ 

I grab hold of the rope with two hands and begin to climb down into the vent. The climb down is incredibly tight with me having to wiggle through the vent. It would have been way easier without the sword pressed against my torso but there is no way I’m going into an  extremely hostile territory like this one without some form of weapon. The pain in my elbow has subsided quite a bit since I hurt it probably due to the adrenaline but every now and again I get a sharp pang of pain as if to remind me of its condition. I soon reach the bottom of the vent as I kick around my legs to feel the open space at the top of the vault. Everything is completely pitch black as I cannot see the spot of where to land. As I reach the end of the rope I let my feet dangle for a bit before taking a deep breath and letting go of the rope.           

**SRRHHH**

My legs sink into the coins and the sound echoes throughout the vault. I wade through the coins, it being somewhat difficult with them reaching past my knees. I paw around for the sack I threw down here earlier, occasionally stuffing what felt like bills of currency into my robe. After another minute of searching, I find the bag and I immediately take out a match with the large stick I used on the guard. A few tries later, I had lit up the vault and the amount of gold almost blinds me. It shakes my very core seeing all this treasure in one place for just one man. How a personally weak individual could be allowed to control so much wealth and power is beyond my comprehension. Not willing to waste anymore time, I start to scour the vault for anything remotely purple. Not even giving anything a second glance before tossing it into the sack. 

Outside of the Shipmaster’s mansion...

10 minutes later…

??? POV 

I’ve been on edge all morning. At first, it felt like something was teetering on the edge of my sensing range. Then the feeling disappeared for a while then a weaker signal returned in the exact same place and what felt like a small animal or something crept up to the back wall. I also felt dormant chakra signatures near the animal but I must have been confusing the location of the guards patrolling the mansion. I had convinced myself that I was being overly cautious but then I began to notice the small animal moving closer to the mansion before vanishing on my radar altogether. For the last ten minutes, I’ve been frantically trying to get an idea of where the fuck damn thing could be since it didn’t seem to be a bird of some sort. I am tempted to go to the archer’s at the back wall and ask them if they noticed anythi-

**WSSSSTTLLLEEEE!!!** 

Whistling sounds so sharp and loud coming from multiple directions pierce through the air all at once. It is so disorienting that I almost missed the small chakra signature popping up on my radar once again. Immediately I feel all the guards scatter and into separate directions as if they were each chasing their own thing while the tiny signature high tails it toward the now unguarded front gate. My body reacts on its own as I stand from my seated position and open the window to the dark room at the top of the mansion that served as my base. I hop out of the window and sprint along the roof to the front of the house. As I peer down toward the ground I see a small lithe figure with their head obscured by a bag of some sort darting toward the front gate. 

“HALT!!”

I shout hoping that the thief would give up seeing that their plan had failed but my voice only serves to make the runner move faster out of the compound doors. I can’t help but sigh before I kick it into high pursuit. Leaping off the roof and clear over the wall chasing the thief into the surrounding forest. Whoever this person I am chasing is they are definitely now using chakra because they were nearly out of my sensing range already! I haven’t seen any real action since I secured this cushy position ten years ago. Hopefully I’m not so out of shape that I can’t hunt down this speedy midget. I take a deep breath, lightly hop up and down to loosen up my joints before I surge my chakra. My sensing range expands 100 meters more to the point where I can gauge where the thief would be heading. The direction the offender is going wasn’t towards town so I would have to chase him down the old fashion way. I crouch down then start running in the direction of the thief gradually pumping chakra to my legs to gain speed. 

30 minutes later...

The chase goes on through the trees as I follow the zig zagging trail through the thick foliage. It seems the culprit is heading towards the southern coast but I don’t think I can speed up to cut the thief off as I am already tiring out from the serpentine running.

‘Man I am really out of shape! I’ve only been sprinting for a half an hour and I'm already starting to get tired. I can keep this up for much longer, I have to end this before I completely lose sight of the target!’ 

With one last ditch burst of chakra, I zoom forward enough to lock on to the back of my prey and start weaving through my hand signs. Just as I get to the last of my signs for my jutsu a huge cliff in front of the thief comes into view! I have to cripple him before he can hit the open sea. I feel the highly pressurized water build up in my stomach so with a final leap into the air I let go my jutsu towards his unprotected back, “Water Release: Water Bullet!” I watch my water bullet soar towards my target rapidly but it is in this moment that I realize that the sack the thief was carrying from earlier is now missing.       

‘FUCK! Where is the giant bag full of the stolen stuff!? When would he have had time to stash it somewhere!?’ 

The water bullet strikes the bandit in the back with a loud cracking noise and the momentum carries his now likely disabled body clear over the cliff into the water. I hear a splash but just in case I go over to the edge and check to see if the thief did manage to survive having his spine shattered only to be greeted by bloody water. 

‘Well, that takes care of him. I don’t sense his chakra signature anymore either. That little shit ruined my whole afternoon! Now I have to scour the entire woods for a damn bag this could take me forever!’

I walk off to retrace my steps through the forest in hopes that I can spot the sack lying somewhere.

Shogo POV

I hold the left of my definitely fucked ribcage as I wait underwater for the shinobi to get far enough away from me so I can resurface. I knew it I was going to get away from a full fledged shinobi unscathed in a full high speed chase but to think I would get hurt so bad in just seconds. If I didn’t turn to avoid most of the damage from that water thing then who knows if I would’ve been able to walk it off. I rip the bag off of my head and let it drift away. Moving hurts so much right now and I think I’m bleeding or something on top of it all. I loosen my robe and look at my bare torso and while there was indeed a sizable gash there it is not what took the majority of my attention.

‘WHAT FUCK IS THIS!?’

The fucking scar I got from that octopus thing whipping me across my body with its tentacle is currently glowing an angry orange color. How in the world had I not noticed that I had a whole lightshow on the entirety of my torso until now?! But besides that what the hell did that thing tag me with?! Is this how it’s been chasing me all this time? As I am furiously trying to get a gauge on this new revelation the scar now shifts into a purple color. It changes colors too?! I have to get somebody to look at this shit just in case I hit my head or something and I’m hallucinating about this whole rainbow scar situation. I set my robes back in place ignoring that the color of the scar had changed once again. 

‘All I know is that I need to get the fuck out of the water if I want to avoid another confrontation with the world’s angriest giant sushi monster. Why can’t it ever be just one extreme case of bad luck?! So far all of my ill-fated fuck ups have to lifechanging as shit. First, I get kicked out of the temple. Then I get forcibly inducted into a gang. After that I get turned into the apprentice of the most psycho blonde on this side of the equator. NOW I find that I can’t stay in the water for too long or eight arms are going to hug me to death!’ 

I could feel the world’s longest sigh coming out but that would only make me lose my limited air supply. I have about an hour and  some change before I have to meet that old builder. I need to get these injuries bandaged up then buy a professional looking mask or scarf. Then finally meet with Tanaka to get my stuff from the sack. Hopefully the necklace and bracelet are in there I must’ve nabbed like 30 of them. Time to get swimming. 

‘Ohhh the pain… Maybe I should wear armor or something? Especially since this is the second time my ribs have been broken in such a short period of time.’

After about 15 minutes of floundering around in the water, I found a small beach coast and managed to roll myself onto shore with a little help from my trusty katana and the tide. 

40 minutes later… 

I hobbled to the east beach to confront the gang for my part of the loot. My ribs had just been freshly bandaged by the local doctor but they still hurt like a motherfucker. I could see Tanaka and some of his comrades sitting on the sand chatting it up. The sack was in the middle of the group lying there looking relatively full. As I got closer Tanaka turns to me and gets up. 

“Sheesh, that shinobi really did a number on ya huh? And here I thought with your new chakra powers you’d never get caught!”

“Tsk, whatever! He got a lucky shot in before I could get away cleanly. Now let me get my shit so I can leave. I still got a ton of stuff to do before sun down.” 

“A deals a deal, Black Fish. Make sure you only take the two sparkly things ya need and you can have your cow and silks back.”

“Yeah yeah I remember now hand the sack over!”

One of the kids behind Tanaka tosses the sack over to me. I briefly judge its weight to see if everything is still in it and then spill all its contents onto the sand in front of me. All the coins and jewelry on display for all of the orphans to see. The greed in all of their eyes is more apparent than ever before. I kneel on the ground and comb through all the purple bracelets and necklaces. Meticulously looking for the MM that is supposed to be engraved on the back of the pieces. It took me about 20 minutes to find both a necklace and bracelet, just in time because Tanaka was visibly starting to become impatient.  

“Alright, I got what I needed. As I agreed the rest of the stuff is yours.”

Tanaka nods and two of his lackeys come forward to collect all their spoils.

“We brought the cow thing and the chest of silk to the north beach like you said. Now do us all a favor and jet. We don’t know when Tako will come back from that mission of his and we definitely don’t want him to know we’ve been doing business with you.”

“Don’t have to tell me twice. Hope I never see you fuckers again!” 

With that I stuff the requested jewelry into my robe and hobble away from the beach while using my katana for support. The only thing left to do is get a bottle of wine from the damn daimyo’s cellar! I mean sure I just pulled off the heist of the century with a ragtag group of orphans but can I really fool the defense around the most powerful man in all of Water country? Worst part about it is, I don’t know jack shit about the layout of the palace so I would be going in completely blind! I guess I just have to be that convincing of a shinobi when I escort the old builder into the palace doors. 

‘What could I possibly use to make myself look older though?!’