Chapter 19: Theft Operation (Part 2)

At this moment, Kenji's inner turmoil was roaring. Firstly, is it common for a sensei to encourage their student to become a thief?

Secondly, do you think I'm clueless? I mean, even with my limited knowledge about Naruto, I know about the Scroll of Seals.

Thirdly, sure, you can easily go there, touch whatever you want, but for me, it's like walking into a potential trap. After being caught, who knows what kind of horrifying fate awaits me? I might end up as some twisted experiment!"

But he realized he couldn't just rant at his sensei. He respected Kushina to much to yell at her for being an idiot.

Okay, to be honest, he didn't want to annoy the Red Hot-Blooded Habanero right now.

So, with a pitiable look, Kenji faced Kushina and said, "Sensei, can we not? I feel uneasy about this."

After hearing Kenji's words, Kushina slammed the table again, although not as forcefully as before.

Heh, did that hurt your hand this time?

In a tone filled with unstoppable determination, she continued, "We're helping you steal forbidden techniques, so why are you complaining? We are going to steal the scroll of seals! Stop the pointless chatter."

Wait, Sensei, did you just say "steal" twice?

"What could go wrong? I'm always prepared," she said.

Am I hearing things? Am I?

"Anyway, it's decided. We're moving tonight."

Kenji, helpless and on the ground, unable to stand up.

Kenji, giving up without a fight.

Kenji, beyond salvation.

Kushina continued while standing up. She somehow produced a piece of paper and a pen out of nowhere, then started plotting the route to infiltrate the Hokage's office.

"Why are you just standing there? Clean up the table," she ordered.

"Ah, right away!" Kenji snapped back to reality and swiftly cleared the dishes from the table.

Kushina laid out a large sheet of paper and began sketching the layout of the Hokage's office building.

She started by drawing an old monkey on the paper.

Needless to say, that represented the Third Hokage.

Then she drew a smaller circle outside the monkey, symbolizing the top floor of the Hokage's office.

After that, she drew two larger circles outside, representing the lower two floors of the office building.

Then she sketched some stick figures within the circles, representing the ninja guarding the office building. Let's just say the stick figures were recognizable as humans, though you shouldn't expect top-notch ninja drawing skills.

"There are 24 ninja guarding the first floor of the Hokage's office, all of them are at special Jōnin level and above."

"About sixteen on the second floor, all Jōnin."

"But the ones hidden in the Hokage's office are elite ninja, at ANBU captain level. It's nearly impossible to infiltrate without alerting them."

For Kushina, knowing how the Hokage's office was defended wasn't surprising at all.

What was surprising was her genuinely considering the feasibility of the infiltration plan.

"We can't just create chaos outside and sneak in. The four ninja in the office are there to guard classified files. They won't leave their posts for anything."

"Or maybe we should just destroy the whole office building?"

Kushina then shook her head, rejecting her own idea. "That's not an option, too much commotion."

"Disturbing the peace in the middle of the night wouldn't be a good idea."

Kenji found her focus on disturbing the peace a bit odd. Was that the only concern?

"And in the middle of a pile of ruins, finding the Scroll of Seals might not be so easy."

Of course, Kushina was just thinking aloud; she couldn't actually go through with destroying the Hokage's office. But her imagination was getting wilder and wilder. I think she was having fun planning the heist.

And at that moment...

Beep, beep. Your heartless thief friend, Kenji Nakamura, is now online.

As they say, if you can't beat them join them.

Since avoiding it was impossible, Kenji decided to actively participate in this "charitable" activity to prevent Kushina from going too far.

In short, he had given up. He was just an accomplice; Kushina was the mastermind.

"Kushina-sensei, I don't think we need to confront those ninja at all." Kenji wasted no time and shared his suggestion.

"What do you mean?" Kushina asked. Could they really infiltrate the Hokage's office peacefully?

Yes, they could infiltrate peacefully. Or rather, it wasn't even infiltration.

"With your status, Sensei, we can stroll right into the office building. The lower-level ninja won't even bat an eye at us. The only issue is the four elite ninja inside the office."

"We need to quietly take them down before they raise the alarm."

Kenji's reminder led Kushina to realize her thinking had veered off track. Indeed, with her status, she could come and go from the Hokage's office without any issues. She usually treated it like visiting a friends house. So why is she being so cautious this time?

What she didn't know was that her earlier thought was academically termed "the guilty mind of a thief."

"Continue," Kushina said as she considered the viability of Kenji's approach and allowed him to elaborate.

"To avoid arousing suspicion, we should choose a time for the operation when it's neither too late nor too early. If it's too early, the Hokage will still be in the office."

"And we shouldn't take the scroll out of the office. We'll record as much as we can right there." The difference between stealing a couple of techniques and stealing the entire Scroll of Seals was significant. Kenji was actually planning their escape route.

The challenge of this plan wasn't the infiltration itself; it was knowing when to infiltrate. They needed to time it right when the Hokage was away from the office. This was a bit challenging but not insurmountable. After all, as the leader of the village, the Hokage had various village matters to attend to, so his activities followed a fairly regular schedule.

The second challenge was how to silently incapacitate the four elite ninja. Kenji, on his own, wouldn't be able to achieve that no matter what.

The key was rendering these four ninja unable to resist, without actually killing them. After all, the mission was breaking and entering, not robbery or homicide.

If only Minato Namikaze were here. His Flying Thunder God Technique was the ultimate skill for lockpicking and stealth. If he were here, he'd resolve the four ninja in an instant. But then, if Minato were here, they wouldn't even need to worry about dealing with the ninja. They could just fly away with the scroll.

Yes, if Minato were here, he wouldn't even consider neutralizing the ANBU ninja. He'd directly report these two criminals.

So, dealing with the ninja was up to Kushina.