Dark Phoenix of Konoha by White Angel of Auralon

Part 45 - Katabami Goldmine Rescue

Katabami Goldmine Rescue

The way to the goldmine was fairly uneventful, if you didn't count the brief stop at a restaurant that the team took, shortly before reaching the area directly around the goldmine. The restaurant was led by an old woman called Sansho. She told them the story about many people being drawn towards the mine, but never returning, including her grandson Kabashi. She served them her specialty, which was called the Curry of Life.

Well, the curry certainly had a noticeable effect onto the ninja team, as Sansho had somehow made it devilishly hot and they needed a litre of water each to deal with the burning of their mouths and throats.

"Damn, that was worse than my mother's special chili recipe. Uchiha extra hot version," Sasuke coughed when they had left the restaurant, after Sansho had described the last part of the way to the mine and gave them a picture of her grandson, asking them to see if they could convince him to return to her.

"If a pyromaniac like you complains about it being too hot, there has to be something to it," Naruto commented, "But yes, I think she totally overdid it on hot spices and the like. I wouldn't be surprised if a bottle of something tipped over while she was distracted. Thanks for the quick help, Hinata."

"You're welcome, Naruto. I'm just glad that I always first try a small bite of something before I eat it. But even that was burning my mouth. And I normally like hot and spicy food," Hinata replied.

"I vote that we don't try that curry again. But perhaps we could give Anko and Ibiki the recipe to use on uncooperative captives," Shikamaru suggested.

"Anybody confronted with that curry would spill all secrets, just for enough water to drink to get rid of the burning," Sasuke nodded, "What plan will we follow now?"

"We need more information about the site itself to see where the workers are held captive by Raiga Kurosuki and his minions. This will be a job for our scouting techniques before we work out the final plan. We can't risk the workers there. We need to draw the fighters away to defeat them," Naruto answered.

"Then we should probably let Hinata spy with her byakugan first, then you and I can add to that with my shadow sneaking technique and your shadow clones, transformed into unsuspicious things and animals, like stones, small birds and the like," Shikamaru pointed out.

"Yes. Hinata, how far can you look with your byakugan by now?" Naruto wanted to know.

"About five kilometres," Hinata answered confidently.

"That should be far enough to not attract attention too early on," Shikamaru happily noted, "We need to know the position of the guards, how far apart they are and the like."

"I will take care of that. Sansho mentioned that the mine was about eight kilometres away from the restaurant, so we should soon be close enough for me to find out what we need," Hinata stated.

"Then let's go, but be vigilant for anything out of the norm. We don't know yet what kind of jutsus Raiga can use, but if he managed to keep control over this mine for such a long time, he can't be underestimated," Naruto warned.

The others nodded and they ran off to find a good point from where to start their scouting.

The scouting was quite informative. There was clearly a strong presence of Raiga's underlings, but they didn't seem to be highly trained. At best the stronger ones were chunin level. Not a problem for the Konoha team at all. Shikamaru managed to get past all guards, cloaking himself into his shadow, and he investigated the set-up of the main mine's area. The workers were kept in cells inside the mine during the time they didn't have to work, which happened in four shifts of six hours on end. They were only allowed to sleep six hours on end as well, with the remaining twelve hours being spent inside the cells. The guards kept a strict schedule and anybody not obeying was punished harshly.