Shirakawa Village lay quiet by the trade road in the first fall of dusk. A neat wooden fence ringed the settlement, and the heavy gate stood open.
A few villagers chatted on stone blocks by the gate. At first they hardly noticed the approaching figures. When they saw the Konoha emblems and shinobi garb, their faces grew solemn. The leading man stepped forward and bowed. "Honored shinobi, what brings you to our village?"
Shuji's calm gaze moved over them. He drew a scroll from his breast and unrolled it. "Konoha shinobi, here by order of the Land of Rivers' daimyo." His voice was not loud, yet it carried an official weight. The villagers straightened and exchanged looks. The lead man stepped back and held his tongue.
Itachi sensed how Shuji's bearing differed from the ease he had shown at the restaurant in Koizumi. He masked his thoughts, kept a steady calm that matched Shuji's, and watched in silence.
"Where is the village chief?" Shuji asked.
"At... at home," a villager answered at once and pointed the way.
They walked into the village. Night had just fallen, yet points of lamplight already glowed across Shirakawa. Warm light spilled through paper windows and traced the shapes of the houses, a peace that felt carefully maintained.
The grand inn at the center stood out most. Its curved eaves and bracketing showed clearly in the lamplight, though the entryway was quiet. It made a subtle contrast with the glow in other homes.
Moving along the lane, Itachi felt gazes from behind shutters and fences. He held a relaxed posture with tightened focus and watched the edges with the tail of his eye. Shuji's stride stayed even as he went straight for the chief's house.
An elderly man with white hair and a slight stoop waited in the lantern glow. He hurried forward when he saw them and ushered them inside with respect.
Seated in the simple hall, the old man spoke carefully. "I am Shirakawa Keisuke, the village chief. What matter do you gentlemen wish to investigate?" His callused hands twined unconsciously in his lap.
"I thought the chief might have some idea." Shuji leaned forward slightly. His eyes settled on the old man's face, a faint smile touching his lips without warmth. "You are surely familiar with the bandits troubling the trade road near your village."
"This... this..." A fine sheen rose at Shirakawa Keisuke's temple in the oil-lamp glow. "The daimyo's office did send people to ask... but I truly..."
"Oh?" Shuji tapped the table with a fingertip. The clear click cut the air. "Let me ask another way. Are all registered villagers of Shirakawa present in the village right now?"
"Ev—" Shirakawa Keisuke began.
"Senior." Itachi's clear child's voice sounded at the right moment and broke the brief silence. "When we entered, I noticed several houses with dark windows that looked unoccupied."
The old chief's body tightened in a way that was hard to see. He hurried to explain. "A few families... have gone out to make a living..."
Shuji's gaze moved over the furnishings. They were not lavish, yet the materials were solid and the workmanship was fine. His tone was even. "From what I see, your village lives rather well." He paused and spoke with intent. "With such steady comfort at home, it is rare for the young to leave."
"Y— yes." Shirakawa Keisuke dabbed his brow with his sleeve. "Because the road is busy. Traders often stop at the village inn." He worked to keep his voice level. "The young see the world. Their hearts... grow restless."
"I imagine the bandits have hurt business." Shuji's eyes seemed to pass through the paper window and fall on the inn that had grown so still. "That inn is fine, yet the door stands quiet."
The old man lowered his gaze. His voice sank. "It is as you say. I pray day and night that you will rid the road of this trouble soon."
Shuji withdrew the pressure he had been applying and spoke more gently. "In that case, do you have anything to share? We want the same thing here." He met the old man's eyes. "Any small detail may matter."
"Yes. Yes. Only... I truly do not know anything useful..." Shirakawa Keisuke sounded helpless.
Shuji showed no change. He went through the routine questions about the village's numbers and recent outsiders, then rose. "We will stay at the inn. If you find anything, tell us at once."
In their room at the inn, the oil lamp cast a steady light. Itachi checked the windows and doors, then the quiet outside. He turned to Shuji. "Senior, did you find something at the chief's house?"
Shuji had returned to his usual mild manner. Seated on the tatami, he smiled a little and asked back, "What do you think, Itachi?"
The eight-year-old genin thought for a moment and answered in order. "You believe the bandits are connected to this village, and the village leadership knows, perhaps even participates. That is why you changed your attitude at the gate and before the chief."
"If you already thought that, why not pretend to notice nothing when we entered? Why not keep it low and gentle to make it easier to find clues?" Shuji watched him with interest.
That was exactly the doubt Itachi still held.
Shuji had laid out two possibilities back in the restaurant at Koizumi. The bandits stayed for important lost goods, or they were locals. Now it seemed he leaned toward the latter.
"Showing that we are not easy to handle is a setup," Shuji explained. "Too much warmth invites tests and trouble. After we arrived, the attention on us from behind the windows was far more than for ordinary travelers. That alone is telling. A village with such a fine inn must host guests often. A place used to travelers should not react so tightly to strangers."
"So I chose to pressure the chief and act as if we already knew something. If I had been too mild, a man of his experience could have smoothed everything over and left no gaps." He paused. "Judging by his reaction, the young who left and the bandits are hard to separate from this village."
Itachi nodded slowly. These bits of observation and judgment were not in the Academy curriculum.
"What would you do next?" he asked.
Shuji did not answer directly. He looked at Itachi. "If you were leading, what would you do?"
The young Uchiha considered for a moment. "I would try to use genjutsu on the chief to obtain more precise information, such as a likely hideout. Once we had a location, we could move to eliminate them."
"A good tactical line," Shuji said with approval. Then he shifted the topic. "What might we face after using genjutsu?" He held up a finger. "First, the chief truly does not know the core details, and genjutsu yields little. Second, the bandits are hidden somewhere inside the village. Third, they are lying low in the hills outside."
"The last two are especially complex." Shuji sat straighter. His gaze was calm. "Without hard proof, and if they show no open hostility, those bandits might be nothing more than neighbors or kin in the villagers' eyes. The brief emphasized that the Rivers pursuit teams do not even know their faces. That means even if we find the target, we may see people who look like simple villagers living by dawn and dusk."
He looked into Itachi's clear eyes that were already deeper than his age. "What will you do then? If you act at once, you will likely provoke a strong reaction. Without iron proof, people tend to trust those they know. They will question, argue, and block. You cannot predict what they will do."
The room fell silent. Only the lamp wick gave a faint crackle now and then. The young Uchiha furrowed his brow and sank into thought. This problem of hearts and rules went beyond missions solved by force. The lamplight cast his intent profile on the wall, the shadow stretched long.
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