Under Nawaki's lead, the group found a decent hotel to stay in. After all, days of reconnaissance had left them somewhat exhausted.
Uchiha Chen told Minato and the others to get some rest, then quietly slipped out on his own.
Of course, his sneaking out wasn't for personal enjoyment. As a potential Hokage successor, Uchiha Chen always demonstrated exceptional ideological discipline.
The same couldn't be said if the Sannin had been on this mission. As the notorious gambling, drinking, and debauchery trio, Jiraiya would've headed straight to the red-light district to "gather information." Tsunade would already be knee-deep in a string of casinos. And Orochimaru? He'd likely argue that abducting children was a far more interesting endeavor.
Compared to them, Uchiha Chen—who approached every mission with a responsible, serious attitude—was the kind of squad leader you couldn't put a price on.
That said, Uchiha Chen never claimed he wanted to be this way. Although this mission was only rated as B-rank, the information gap added a layer of complexity that forced him to take matters into his own hands.
As for his three teammates—sure, they might grow into powerhouses one day—but for now… they were basically dead weight.
After leaving the hotel, Uchiha Chen noticed the streets were nearly empty. The lack of foot traffic wasn't surprising, considering the ongoing war had cast a long shadow over daily life in the capital. After waiting a while in the dark, he finally spotted a lone passerby rushing along.
With a subtle gesture, Uchiha Chen caught him in a genjutsu and casually extracted the location of a major merchant association nearby.
He'd already marked the emblem of one such association during earlier reconnaissance, and he figured other associations would be in the know. That was the logic behind this spontaneous field trip.
After Uchiha Chen released the genjutsu, the passerby continued on his way as if nothing had happened—still in a hurry to get home and sleep.
In this city, ordinary folks like him might seem affluent to outsiders, but in truth, they still belonged to the class being ruled and exploited.
Once the man had disappeared down the street, Uchiha Chen emerged from the shadows. With the address now in hand, he was confident he could extract valuable information from the merchant association's leadership.
Rather than leaping from rooftops and announcing his presence like some flamboyant showman, Uchiha Chen moved like a textbook shinobi—sticking to dark alleys, minimizing exposure. The route given by the passerby guided him straight through the city's underbelly.
Within a short time, he had arrived at his destination.
It was past ten o'clock at night, and while most businesses were long closed, the merchant association's building was still brightly lit.
He silently scaled up to a third-floor window left slightly ajar and slipped inside. But because the lights were on throughout the wooden building, creeping around lost most of its value.
So Uchiha Chen took a direct approach. He opened the room door and walked right in.
With Whitey's infrared perception scanning a wide radius, there was no risk of being surprised.
He quickly checked all three floors of the attic and came up empty—no signs of life, and no useful documents.
"Could they all be downstairs?" he wondered.
Without hesitation, he descended to the second floor.
Sure enough, as he reached the second level, the muffled sounds of people moving came from the deepest part of the hallway.
The corridor was guarded by a mix of samurai and rogue ninjas.
The moment Uchiha Chen appeared, the guards converged like a wave, quickly surrounding him.
There were quite a few of them—some tough-looking civilians, others freelance ninjas of questionable skill. Most were mercenaries operating outside the jurisdiction of the major villages. They made a living taking on small jobs and under-the-table commissions.
They hadn't undergone formal academy training, lacked high-level techniques, and their combat sense was mediocre at best.
To the average citizen, they were formidable. Against a trained ninja from a village? They didn't stand a chance.
Against Uchiha Chen?
He dropped them all in one clean sweep with a genjutsu barrage. No drama. No wasted movement.
As the final guard crumpled, Chen walked confidently to the end of the hall and kicked open the door. Inside sat three chairmen of the merchant association.
Before they could react, he caught all three in a Sharingan-induced genjutsu.
Ah, the Sharingan—efficiency at its finest. Sure, Uchiha Chen had more than a hundred ways to extract information, but none were as clean or precise as this.
Under his control, the chairmen obediently spilled every relevant detail.
That's when things got tricky.
Apparently, this entire situation involved the Guardian Ninja Twelve.
That changed the game entirely.
The Guardian Ninja Twelve were elite shinobi tasked with directly protecting the Daimyo of the Fire Country. They weren't just figurehead bodyguards—they were highly capable, independent operatives with strong combat capabilities.
Uchiha Chen wasn't worried about facing one or two of them. But if all twelve deployed at once, even he would be outmatched.
"Good thing I decided to scout early," he muttered to himself.
Having collected what he needed, Uchiha Chen decided not to kill the chairmen. If they were found dead the next morning, it would trigger too much scrutiny. Once they awoke, the genjutsu would leave their memories conveniently blank.
Slipping back out the window, Uchiha Chen cranked up his speed and returned to the hotel in under a minute.
"You're back?" Minato greeted him.
It was close to midnight, and neither Minato nor Nawaki had gone to sleep.
Uchiha Chen vaulted in through the window and raised a brow.
"Didn't I tell you guys to get some rest? Why are you still up?"
"What kind of team lies in bed while their captain goes on a mission?" Nawaki asked, rolling his eyes.
Hey, hey—what's with that look, kid? You think I snuck off to the red-light district or something? Uchiha Chen groaned internally.
"I just went out to gather necessary intel," he clarified immediately.
If Nawaki happened to "accidentally" mention anything to Mikoto tomorrow, things would get annoying fast.
"Did you find anything?" Minato asked, eyes sharp despite the hour.
"I did. I'll share the mission details tomorrow," Uchiha Chen replied with a nod.
"Alright. Tomorrow it is," Minato said, laying back down.
Only Nawaki remained upright, sighing loudly, clearly still thinking about the Daimyo's daughter.
That made Uchiha Chen pause. Wasn't Nawaki only seven the last time he came to the capital? Was he already this "mature" back then?
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