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  Through the thick forest in the Land of Fire three figures moved at a steady pa a straight line formation. If anyoo look up from the road, they would only see three shadows for a brief sed before it disappeared from their view.

  Kakashi was in front and Daichi was in the back while their t was in the middle. A formation used when there are minimal shinobi escorts. They had been traveling for a few minutes in sile Ryoma decided to open a versation with the two Leaf ninjas.

  He gnced behind and spoke. "So Daichi, I heard that the in exams will be held in the Leaf. Will you be participating?"

  Hearing the question Daichi discreetly g Kakashi and the man just shrugged. Seeing his teacher's nonverbal reply, Daichi answered their t. "If sensei nominates me then yeah. I'll take part in the exams."

  Ryoma nodded his head and gazed forward as he leapt off another branch.

  At that moment Kakashi asked a question to his t. "Did you specifically ask for us for this mission? I remember you telling us that ynized us whe."

  Daichi thought about the reason why his teacher would ask that question. 'Normally Lord Hokage wouldn't give B rank missions to Genins with less than a year of experien the field. But then again I'm not most Genins. But still… It's best to know if the t has any ulterior motives.'

  The middle-aged t lightly chuckled and then replied. "No no. I simply requested for a B rank mission and implied that there might be some ninjas after me. And as fnizing the two of you… Well… You two made quite the stir when you uhed a rge hidden treasure. And then the whole mess with Lord Taji's nephew. It would be embarrassing if someone in my position didn't know the parties involved."

  Kakashi nodded and the mediator looked behind. "There aren't many shinobi who could make impacts like that when they're just starting out."

  "I'll take that as a pliment." Daichi said with a small grin. He decided to ge the subject. "You have shinobi training but you said that you've been a mediator for over two decades. Are you a retired ninja or…?"

  "Hmm… I suppose I am…" Ryoma had a slightly sad tone as he spoke. Kakashi and Daichi ily listened as the man spoke.

  "Well I was born in the capital and during my childhood my father seo the Leaf Ninja academy to train. I wao be a ninja at the time you see. A few years ter I became a Genin and spent two years in service. But during that period the great war was raging through the nds and my team was killed by a rogue ninja in an ambush. I was the only oo make it out alive."

  "I'm sorry for your loss."

  Ryoma nodded and gave a small smile. "It is the way of the shinobi. We 't ge that. Anyway, I made it back to the vilge. I hysically unharmed. Mostly. But there were wounds that cut much deeper. After several evaluations it was deemed that I could no longer tinue as a shinobi so I returo the capital… Well, that's the abridged version of my story… Sometimes I wonder if I'm disrespeg my teammates' memories by just giving up."

  Kakashi, who was listening, spoke up at that moment. "For some people tinuing through this harsh life of ours and serving a cause greater than them is their way to honor the ones who sacrificed their lives for them."

  The man looked down in sadness when he heard that. Kakashi looked at him and tinued. "But some people honor the sacrifices made by living their life to the fullest and keeping their rades' memories alive in their hearts. By showing that their deaths and sacrifices weren't in vain… It's different for different people. There is no shame in f a new path in life."

  Ryoma looked up and saw the silver haired Jonin giving him a small nod. "Thank you. That does ease my spirit."

  Daichi smiled and just as he was about to speak he sensed several chakra signatures ahead. The chakra signatures were stationary as if they were waiting. The Genin looked to his teacher and saw that Kakashi was also aware of the threat.

  Kakashi spoke. "We have pany. Not sure if they're here to ambush someone unlucky or if they're specifically waiting for us."

  Ryoma smirked. "I'm not worried. I know I'm in capable hands. If they are here for us then it would be helpful if you could find out who sent them."

  Kakashi nodded and made a few hand signals to his student. Daichi uood Kakashi's pns and got ready. The three kept going forward without any ge in their pad a few seds ter an attack suddenly came. Several shuriken flew out of the shadows directly aimed at Kakashi.

  The Jonin took out a kunai and deflected the throwing stars with ease while Ryoma and Daichi jumped down to the ground. A ninja covered in bck cloak suddenly appeared behind Kakashi and tried to kill him with his sword.

  The Jonin easily sidestepped the attad quickly tried to disarm the ninja but quickly ged tactid jumped back to aree branch when more ohrown his way by 3 others.

  Kakashi quickly looked around and analyzed the situatioook note of their attire, ons and posture. 'One ninja of unknown in. Strength low in. The 3 others look like bandits. No proper shinobi gear. They treewalk but they're not that good. And their aim is poor. So bandits with only minimal training.'

  As Kakashi was fog on his oppos, Daichi was being attacked as well. The area the young Genin was standing on became a small s and he began to sink into the ground the moment he nded.

  Another unknown shinobi slowly emerged from the ground a few feet away from the sinking Daichi and threw several shurikens at the Genin. 'This was easier thahought. Then again this kid is just a Genin after all.'

  This was the opening the enemies were waiting for. With the two Leaf ninjas seemingly in trouble ahird rogue ninja released his camoufge Genjutsu and appeared from the woods.

  He quickly took out a kunai and rushed towards his target. 'I got you now.'

  At that moment Ryoma was standing a few meters away calmly watg the two battles and looked at the ninja speeding towards him. Despite the situation looking bad he wasn't scared. He knew just hoable the two ninjas that were proteg him were.

  The shuriken thrown towards the sinking Daichi struck but the moment it vanished in a puff of smoke.

  And just as the third ninja was about to reach Ryoma a fast punch came from above that smmed the enemy into the ground kig up dust and small debris.

  Daichi looked at the ninja knocked out beh him and just sighed. 'My base strength is far greater than these ordinary guys. They would o augment their body with chakra to even e close to matg my strength. At this point taking down these guys won't even be a warm up.'

  The ue shinobi looked towards the se and saw Daichi standing above their downed and unscious rade. Without wasting time Daichi made a few seals and used a bindisu on his attacker.

  Kakashi too made quick work of his oppos and within a mihey were all securely tied up to a tree.

  The Jonin began to interrogate them. "3 Bandits and 3 rogue ninjas. From your iions we know your target is Ryoma. So what we want to know is who sent you."

  The bandits were subdued but the three ninjas struggled for a few moments. Seeing that escape was impossible they decided to stay quiet. The silver-haired Jonin groa that and turned his head to look at Daichi.

  The Genin uood his teacher's iions and took the t to another area.

  Kakashi watched as the two disappeared from his view and then turned back to captured enemies. He gave them a sweet smile that sent shivers up their spine. "Let's have a chat shall we…"

  —-

  "We haven't even reached Tanzaku Town and already they're ing for me." Ryoma sighed and shook his head at the situation.

  "I get why you would be a target but wouldn't the families of the two panies also be in danger?" Daichi asked the man.

  Ryoma smiled at that question and replied. "Despite my reputation, my influence has certain limits. If these people were sent by a third party, a pany that doesn't want to see an alliahen they must think that it's easier tet me than face the wrath of the families of two biggest resource corporations in the Land of Fire…"

  The Genin nodded. "I see…"

  "But there could also be others who are bold enough to go after the two families and if that happens there will be chaos and it'll be such a headache for me."

  "I assume they have guards."

  "Yes. They have their own security. Still if there is ohing I've learned in life, it's that anything happen when we least expect it."

  Daichi pletely uood that se. 'Murphy's w. If that erpower I could have probably solved all of my problems by now.'

  At that time Kakashi came into view and the two turowards him for answers. "What did you find, sensei?"

  The Jonin turowards the mediator and spoke. "Well, someone paid them a lot of moo kill you. They were given your description aold that you would have a team to protect you but they didn't know the details. I got the facial features of the man who hired them for the job but they don't have anything more useful."

  Ryoma nodded. Kakashi gave the man information on the person who hired them but he didn't know who it was. "I don't reize the features. Could be someone in disguise from one of the two families or could be from another pany. At this point we don't have much."

  "Let's not waste anymore time here. We should get to the town quickly. The patrolling squads should be here in a few mihey'll take them to prison."

  Uhe Jonin's instrus the trio resumed their journey and by te evening they reached Tanzaku Town. The 'dealmaker' made his way to one of the wealthier private Inns iown.

  The head manager of the Inn reized Ryoma and weled the man. "Wele to Paradise Inn. My name is Kotohaku. Please enjoy your stay." He was a retively good-looking old man in his te 60s. He had a lean body, short white hair and a goatee.

  Ryoma nodded with a polite smile. "Are the other two parties here yet?" He asked the man.

  "No sir. But I'm sure they'll be here in a couple of hours." Came the reply from the host.

  "Then please show us to our rooms." Kakashi spoke and soon the t and his two guards were in front of a rge luxurious room.

  Daichi whistled as he saw the amenities. "This is nice." 'This pce is like a 5 star resort.'

  Ryoma chuckled seeing the Genin's rea. "Your room will be o mine."

  Before the wealthy mediator could ehe room, Kakashi stepped through and did a sweep of the area. A few mier he found nothing that indicated a threat and stepped aside.

  "As I'm sure you already know, I will worry about the iations. You just o keep me safe till we return." The mediator said with a smile aered his suite.

  The two ninjas nodded seriously. After they ged into a more fortable attire, the two ninjas found their t rexing near an open window. Daichi asked the mediator a question. "If you don't mind me asking, how exactly do you form an alliah two rival petitors like this?"

  Ryoma sat on a chair overlooking the beautiful garden outside and replied after a few moments. "Well, the first step would be initial discussion. The two panies would have an informal dialogue to gauge the other's i and potential. All of this will of ch me."

  "A ral third party." Daichi spoke in uanding.

  "Indeed. Now the step would be to find and identify potential areas of colboration. That could include shared resathering and processing, cooperative farming, joint distributioworks and shared prote against potential threats. Then es the evaluation of each corporation's physical and security strengths. This includes the abilities of the shinobi they may have on their payroll."

  "How strong is their security? Do you know?" Kakashi asked.

  "I'm not absolutely sure but if I'm right they have a few retired Jonins and ins in their anization." Ryoma replied.

  The Jonin nodded and the mediator tinued. "After that es iations then drafting terms and ditions that the two should abide by. Once acceptable ditions are set es the Legal aory approval. Daichi, do you knoould preside over that?"

  "The third minister. Lord Taji Mayima." The Genin replied. Daichi was aware of the w of the important dignitaries in the capital after his enter with the minister.

  "Yes. Lord Taji is in charge of public retions and business overview. The two panies would have to get his approval on the erms for the alliao be official."

  Ryoma then stood from his chair and looked at the two ninjas with a serious gaze. "Despite this being a matter between two civilian pahe oute of this meeting will have an impa the Fire try. So I o make sure this is a win-win sario for everyohat's my problem to deal with. I'm trusting you two to handle anything that gets in the way of me doing my job."

  "You t on us." Kakashi reassured the man with a fident to that sed Daichi slightly turned his head and narrowed his eyes.

  "Sensei. Several strong individuals have just ehe building. There are several civilians with them." The Genied.

  "Other than the parties of the two corporations, Is there anyone else expected to arrive here these few days." Kakashi asked the mediator.

  "No. I specifically requested it to be that way."

  "Then I'm guessing they are one of the two parties involved."

  Ryoma o the Jonin's assessment. "Yes. It won't be long before the other arrives. Then tomorrow we'll begin."