Minoru sat huddled behind a bush. His eyes scrunched in concentration as he opened his "sixth sense" to the outside world.

He was twelve years old when one random day, he suddenly could sense the chakra of people around him. At first, it was so overwhelming that his life was turned into hell. He couldn't control his chakra sense, and they were dialed up to eleven— and in a village teeming with shinobi-like cockroaches, it was literal torture for him. Every waking moment his senses were bombarded with other's chakra emissions. Headaches were all but constant— he couldn't focus on anything, and even the littlest things became herculean tasks.

He didn't know what was happening, and for a week, he tried to push through it, but then he passed by a roadside stall where a group of jonin were having a meet-up. He passed out in the middle of the road and had to be taken to the hospital, where he was finally told that he had the talent to become a sensory-nin. Minoru wasn't happy about the news at all until he was informed that he would be assigned a teacher who would help him control his new sense.

It took half a year to get his ability under control. During that time, he lived on the outskirts of the village, away from the shinobi population and their chakra emission. He was taught to close his senses and, more importantly, regulate them so he could officially become the sensory-nin.

After his training, Minoru officially became part of the Sensory Corp— which didn't turn out to be as good as a deal he initially thought. One week after his training, he was called in to be informed that he was transferred to a conflict region on the Land of Fire – Land of Rain border where Hidden Leaf and Hidden Rain (Amegakure) shinobi were stationed because of border disputes. Multiple sensory-nin were stationed on the border to monitor the Hidden Rain shinobi and their activity in the conflict region.

For three years, Minoru was on the border. At first, he hated it. He was born and raised in the Hidden Leaf and had no desire to live somewhere else, but slowly, he made friends and eventually got used to his new life. He became proud of his job; he was protecting his nation from outside forces.

But then the news came from home. The Leaf Military Police Force was recruiting— for the first time, the Police Force was going to be opened to shinobi outside the Uchiha and their cohort.

Minoru was proud of his contribution and had made friends, but that didn't mean he no longer missed the village. All of his family lived there, and he hadn't seen them once since his transfer. He immediately sent an application, and half a year later, he was officially called back to the Hidden Leaf.

He was transferred to the Leaf Military Police Force.

Minoru was happy to be home; his family was especially elated at his return and new posting.

The new job… wasn't as glorious as his previous one. He was no longer keeping his nation safe; instead, he was posted at a Police Force facility with sensitive information and material. He still used his sensory-nin talent, but now he was a security guard at a building. Yes, his pay was better, but he couldn't help but feel dissatisfied with his professional life.

But then, Fuma Arisu approached him with a job. They didn't know each other, but he worked with one of her cousins. She told him that there was a raid that could use a sensory-nin like him.

Looking back at it, Minoru had agreed too quickly.

But it had turned out quite well because not only did the raid do some visible good in the village by disrupting the Maiko Triad's operation and opening a dozen more cold cases, but it also allowed Minoru to feel good about his job. Ten days after the raid, he was contacted by Takuma, who asked him to join a temporary Narcotics team that could turn into a full-on task force.

Looking back at it again, Minoru had agreed too quickly.

But things turned out quite well once again. He joined the Narcotics Task Force under Takuma's leadership. And what followed were the most satisfying nine months of life. They went after actual bad guys, decimated drug trade networks in the village, disrupted money supply to potential illegal operations— they did some real good.

And now he was on a B-rank mission. They had faced plenty of shinobi during raids, but this was different

"Minoru, update?" he heard Takuma's voice from the earpiece.

Minoru spread his senses as far as possible. Not every sensory-nin was the same; everyone had their strengths and weaknesses. In Minoru's case, his strength lay in his range; he could sense chakra from long distances, making him perfect for places like a nation border— but he also had a weakness, the way he sensed chakra was "inconvenient." The higher the chakra emission, the brighter it appeared in his mind's eye. When a shinobi with an enormous amount of chakra was standing close by to others with low amounts, the shinobi with the high chakra could mask the ones with low chakra levels.

He had once tried to look at the Hokage's Office with his senses; the entire building looked like one big light splotch to his senses. He could tell there were several jonin in the building, but shockingly, the Lord Hokage overshadowed every single one of them.

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His accuracy was also not the best. The margin of error was quite high compared to some other people he knew. He could judge the bracket accurately, but the exact amount was hazy when the people were far away or were actively suppressing their emissions.

"One minute at most," Minoru replied.

He felt a ripple go through the chakra emissions through half of his allies. They were nervous. He was sure all of them were— he was not good at sensing fluctuations either.

But Minoru didn't feel overly nervous. The chunin coming for them had hefty chakra reserves, but their side also had someone with comparable chakra levels. His leader might be a straightforward person, but when he was in combat, he fought like a damned demon.

———

.

"One minute at most," said Minoru.

Takuma rubbed more mud on his body to cover the scent he was wearing. Even though it wasn't strong enough to be smelled from a distance, he couldn't let it risk the ambush. Plus, he had an additional vial.

He removed his earpiece as it would only get in the way of fighting and began focusing. The front end of the ambush wasn't reliant on him, but there was a chance it could all go wrong, and the 'Tank' team would need to step up to do damage control. He trusted his allies— he needed to at the moment despite not knowing most of them personally, or else none of it would work— but a little bit of skepticism helped everyone.

As his father once said: "trust, but not blindly."

Takuma's enhanced hearing picked up footsteps, and he got ready to blaze out with augmented fists. The entire group slowly shifted in total silence to put the four-man squad within their circle of ambush.

Takuma's nerves began to tighten as they slowly tightened the circle. A few seconds later, their targets finally entered the sights. Four men dressed in traveling cloaks came into view. They were traveling in the standard diamond formation, but perhaps they were so close to their destination that they seemed lax.

The lowered guard, the no suspicion of mishap, the fatigue from the long journey— the pieces were all advantageous for Takuma's side. They just needed to strike fast and hard to end things quickly.

'3… 2… 1.'

The moment the four men stepped into the middle of their circle, the ambush began.

'Step one. Yuhi would cast a genjutsu on the chunin.'

The chunin suddenly stopped and grabbed his head with a groan.

"Sir?" one of the genin exclaimed as all three accompanying genin took out their kunai.

It took all but two seconds for the chunin to raise his hand to form a kai hand seal.

'Step two. Before the chunin breaks the genjutsu, Yamanaka would use his Mind Body Switch Jutsu to take control of the chunin's body.'

The chunin's head jerked, and the hands froze mid-air a moment before they could form the kai hand seal.

"Hurry, c-can't hold o-on!" the chunin suddenly yelled in a strained voice.

'Step three. Minoru and Inuzuka would separate the genin away from the chunin.'

Minoru and Inuzuka leaped out of hiding towards the three genin, revealing the team's presence for the first time. Minoru kicked one of the genin deep into the forest while Inuzuka and his nin-ken dragged the other two in another direction.

Chains rattled in his arms as Takuma jumped out toward the chunin.

'Step four. 'Tank' team will move in to restrain the chunin.'

Two chains shot out of the forest, wrapping around the chunin's torso, trapping the arms snugly to the sides. Takuma and Akimichi jumped out of the bushes and tugged harshly on the chain, wishing they could rip the chunin apart.

'Step five. The 'Damage' team will move in for the kill.'

Nenro and Gouki revealed themselves as they jumped the chunin. They stood opposite each other, weaving hand seals for two C-rank jutsu.

Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu

Lightning Release: Lightning Bolt Jutsu

As Gouki breathed fire and Nenro shot a bolt of condensed lightning, Takuma felt the chains snap, and the loss of tension made him stumble back. On the other end, Akimichi, too, fell as her chain snapped.

"He's free!" Takuma yelled.

The two C-rank jutsu met in the middle with the chunin as the target, but Takuma knew the chunin was free. His eyes darted everywhere to locate the chunin; every moment they didn't have eyes on the chunin was a moment their chances of death increased.

Takuma caught a shadowy blur.

"Canopy!" he yelled.

Suddenly, two white glows erupted from within the forest bushery. Masaaki's chakra metal knuckles blazed with his bukijutsu as he pounced like a wild animal toward the chunin, decking him in the jaw and sending the man crashing to the ground.

The chunin did a barrel roll to mitigate his momentum and stood up with a slight stumble. The travel robe was beyond tattered, and the chunin ditched it to reveal gear modeled after the Hidden Leaf shinobi uniform, but it was modified to be a bit heavier and was made up of darker colors. This was another Hidden Leaf missing-nin.

"An ambush… and a Yamanaka?" the chunin grunted as he rubbed his bruised jaw. He turned to look in the direction where Inuzuka was fighting the two genin; he sighed, "Useless grunts." The chunin then looked at everyone within his view. "Well, you guys fucked your chance, and I'm not charitable to give you another one."

Takuma ditched the chain and took out a kunai. He placed himself in front of the chunin while Akimichi walked behind him. Nenro, Masaaki, and Gouki stepped back but stayed in view. Yuhi and Yamanaka stayed hidden.

"Surrender, this is your final warning… I'm not charitable enough to give you another one," said Takuma.

The chunin laughed. "You all are already dead," he said.

Takuma cracked his neck before charging toward the chunin. He slashed for the chunin's neck, but the chunin dodged and grabbed Takuma's wrist. Takuma didn't falter and shot out with a punch to the throat. The chunin laughed as he caught the fist, but his smile vanished when the punch almost made his shoulder pop out of its socket.

Takuma dropped the kunai and grabbed the chunin's arm, and his other hand mimicked the moments until Takuma was clenching both wrists. He planted both his feet firmly into the ground and smirked. The chunin frowned and, without warning, slammed his head into Takuma's face.

"Remove that smirk from your face, boy—"

The chunin's eyes widened, and he immediately tried to move, but Takuma tugged sharply on his hands to keep him in place.

*Shing!*

*Thud!*

The chunin's body jerked as a giant Fuma shuriken struck him from behind, lodging itself in his back.

"I hope they don't need you alive," Takuma said as he spat blood in the chunin's face. "Because I'm going to reap the bounty on your head, and it's going to be dead, not alive."