[Mission] Shadow Patrol

[Saiyuki]

[Enter]

Sai had stopped by his apartment earlier to start some much needed laundry and get into new waterproof clothes. He peered out from his balcony, his eyes searching for a good place to start patrolling. After seeing a place that was fairly hidden from the street view, he vanished from the balcony and used a flash step to propel him towards the secretive alley he had spotted. Fairly certain that no one had seen him, he commenced his patrol. He first checked the area for any living beings. Aside from the city animals, there were only a few people around. It was getting to be late, around 8pm now. People were home, enjoying the company of their friends and family around a meal. Those who were still out were either hard workers, unfortunate souls or up to no good. Sai was looking for the last of the three.

The Chuunin's method of patrolling was simply moving from spot to spot, spending roughly ten minutes or so at each one. He would look around from angles where he was not easily spotted, such as an abandoned balcony or from the corner of a narrow alleyway. He had not seen much so far but still he kept himself vigilant. There were a few unsavory characters but Sai knew them personally. The most mischief they could get into was get drunk and pass out in front of a place where people often went. Those type of people were often dealt with in the morning. No, Sai was seeking something else. But as of now, there were no signs whatsoever. What was this rumor that caught Sai's attention?

Thinking back earlier, he remembered what he had heard two women say when he had gone into a teahouse to warm himself up after a long journey. He heard them whispering as they worked, for he was only one of two customers at the time. He heard them talk of a thief that eluded all capture, no matter what the trap. Even shinobi had failed to capture this thief, which then captured Sai's full attention. How was there someone capable of not being caught by even the shinobi of Amegakure? He had only but one clue to go on.

The phantom thief only goes after heirlooms.

[Saiyuki]

After a while of patrolling and searching the street for this elusive figure, he noticed that someone was clearly very distraught with their main door open. The fuss was starting to get out of hand so Sai decided to step in. He politely went up to the two figures that were bickering over something.

"I told you we should have gotten a new vault!"

"You were right outside in the hallway! How on earth did you not notice anything?!"

And that was when Sai made this entrance.

"Excuse me. I'm a shinobi currently on patrol here and I could not help but overhear the two of you. May I be of assistance?"

The residents, who Sai later found out were siblings, took a little while to calm down and the Chuunin had to gently ease them out of pointing the blame at each other. After he did so, he asked detailed questions about what had happened inside their house. As expected, a theft had occurred and it was of a heirloom. Sai showed no change in expression but he felt one step closer to his prey now.

"I will take a look at the scene, if you two do not mind."

At his request, he was allowed into their abode and he started to cast his eyes around. He had already scanned the whole surrounding area but he found nothing out of the ordinary. Granted the man could have blended in with one of the locals or perhaps he was one of the locals that Sai may have knew already. His Sensor abilities would not help him here.

Arriving at the room, he carefully looked for how the thief would have his or her entrance and escape. There were no visible signs. As for the heirloom, it was a jeweled dagger. And it so happened that the siblings were planning on selling it due to financial difficulties that had befallen upon them. And then, he noticed something interesting...

[Saiyuki]

There were very faint traces of a seal being used here. What that seal was, Sai could not tell. From the faint markings and his ability to sense chakra, he saw that something had been done here. He wondered what exactly that was. He quickly took out a note and drew the seal on it, recording it down for investigation later. He had seen his fair share of seals but he had never seen anything like this one before. Then he turned to the siblings, who were still fuming at each other, albeit silently now.

"Thank you for cooperating. I will make sure to notify the two of you of anything that comes up in the investigation."

After he was shown out, he headed out with a direction in mind. There was someone he knew who stalked the darker streets of the Village, but was also very well informed about the going-ons in the city. The man also happened to be an expert on grimoires, seals and curses. Sai never made sure to be too close to him for he knew the man himself was cursed, though he could not fully comprehend what exactly was the spirit that was haunting him. After a short while, he would arrive at the man's abode. Outside was a sign where he had scratched his name: "Vid"

Sai knocked on the door and a hooded man opened it. Sai greeted him and threw him a bag. The man always wanted something he was requested of his services. The things he wanted varied from organs to herbs to rare animals. Thankfully, the Chuunin had just found one of those things on his travel. He then showed him the seal and the man took the note to retreat back into his small library. After a few minutes, he came out. He looked a little confused but he seemed confident in his answer.

"The base of this seal comes from a long lost royal family line. Additionally, the special ability of this family was its power to transform their bodies into spirits and wield great power as one. I do not know where you found this but this line died out almost a thousand years ago."

Sai nodded and asked if the man could replicate the chakra signature the seal gave out. Vid promptly did so with a wave of his hand, infusing his special chakra into the note and giving Sai a glimpse into what the chakra signature was. After doing so, he thanked Vid and went out. This would not take long now as Sai activated his Sensor abilities to max power.

[Saiyuki]

Not long after, Sai discovered a very similar chakra signature. It was moving at a fairly quick pace but not too fast for the Chuunin to swiftly catch up. He hid his presence, erasing all traces of himself and his chakra while he shadowed his prey from a distance. It looked like a young man from the glimpses that Sai could get. He smiled as he could tell from the carefree way the man was running that he had not noticed he was being followed. Soon, the shinobi would be able to unravel the mystery of this man's identity and just exactly what was the purpose of all these thefts.

Previously, Sai had received word from his confidante in the black market that none of the reported heirlooms had actually been listed for sale. For some reason, the thief was keeping all of his loot to himself. Perhaps he had another reason for collecting them? It would not be long now. As they drew closer to their destination, the Chuunin could tell that this thief was careful. Sai had picked up no signs that his target had noticed that he was being shadowed, yet he still took roundabout ways and winding paths, just to throw anyone off just in case. And even with someone with Sensor abilities, if Sai had not been vigilant in keeping his eye on the thief, he would have lost him to some trick path and wondered how the man seemingly walked through walls. This thief was capable.

Shame he does not put his talents to better use...

Soon the thief arrived at his hideout. This was in a rather shabby place, near the outskirts of the village. Moreover, it was underground and Sai had trouble with a long tunnel that the thief took on their way here. He had to be extra careful to not be noticed while not losing his target. Now he was finally at the door. He would unlock the door, using a series of keys, each for their own lock. As soon as he put his keys away and opened the door, the thief would feel a sharp object in his back.

"With the powers vested in me as a shinobi of this village, I am placing you under arrest."

As soon as he said that, Sai's eyes widened at the sight that he saw beyond the thief's shaking figure.

[Saiyuki]

A great horde of treasures were mishapenly placed everywhere. It was a giant mess inside. If it were not for the inherent value of each and every treasure, then Sai could have mistaken it for simply dirty objects. In fact, the whole place was a giant mess. There were cobwebs everywhere, all except for one place and that was a desk at the end of the other side of the rather wide room. There was a short hallway, which Sai and the thief were standing in and from there, the Chuunin could see into what looked like a home library. As he pressed the thief to move forward so he could take a look, he could see that the shelves reached quite high, though several places were in shambles as well. There was one lone clean place and that was a desk with two candles still burning. He then spoke to the thief.

"Now that you are caught, do you want to explain yourself?"

"It's not what it seems! I know I'm stealing all this but not for profit! Hear me out, please!"

Sai bound the man's hands and legs with his Dhenada techniques and had him sit in a chair while he heard the story. So it appeared that the man himself was trying to find his own heirloom through a long lost treasure quest that was connected to several other ancient clans and their treasures. And it seemed that he was trying very hard to connect the missing dots. It was a little pitiful seeing how the man had to resort to stealing but it did not seem reasonable for people to lend their treasures to simple strangers. And from what his abilities were telling him, the thief was not lying. After ignoring his pleas, Sai took the main clues the man was referencing to and took him back to jail.

A little while after, Sai was going over the treasure map and he sighed. It was all a fake. The man was living a false life. Regardless, he had everything confiscated and returned to their rightful owners. He even put in false trails. The sentence was not that long but he wondered if he wanted to the one to tell the man that everything was simply one big fat lie. However it was interesting how the man was using two artifacts that allowed him to use a technique akin to teleportation. Sai gave in one while keeping one for himself for future research...

[Exit]