When they reached the town, they immediately went to the lumberjack's property. It was a very big square of land filled with machinery for processing wood and large amounts of trees all around.
The property bordered the forest, and according to the owner, that was where the bear had come from. The team walked through the cleared paths between massive logs and busy workers who stopped to stare at the Konoha shinobi.
They visited the lumberjack in his wooden office near the center of the property. The man was middle-aged, with tired eyes. When Choza introduced them, his eyes brightened with clear relief.
"We are from Konoha," Choza said. "We are here about the bear problem."
The lumberjack stood up quickly, nearly knocking over his chair. "Please, find that monster. I swear it is here. I am not lying. Every time a Konoha team comes, the bear disappears like smoke. But then it comes back after they leave. I have seen it with my own eyes. It is huge, bigger than any normal bear. Its eyes glow when it started at me. It destroyed two of my best cutting machines and scared all my workers away. I cannot operate like this. My quota is impossible to meet now. I will lose everything if this continues."
He paced back and forth, gesturing wildly with his hands. "The first team said there was no bear. They searched for one day and left. Two days later, the bear came back and roared so loud that three of my men ran away and never returned. The second team came and found nothing again. The same thing happened. It appears only when I am alone or with my closest workers. It is playing with me. Taunting me. I know it sounds crazy, but I am telling the truth. I have lost months of work. My family is suffering. Please believe me."
The man's voice cracked with desperation. "I am not a liar. I have lived in these woods my whole life. I know when something is wrong. This bear is not normal. It moves too smartly. It knows when shinobi are coming. I beg you, find it and kill it before I lose my land and my livelihood."
Choza listened patiently. "Don't worry. We will find it. Can you tell us where you last saw the beast?"
The man showed them several places around the edge of the property. He pointed out broken branches and flattened grass where he claimed the bear had walked.
But for such a large beast as the man described, there were almost no claw marks on the trees and very few clear footprints on the ground. The signs were too faint and too clean.
"I think he is lying," Genma said quietly after they had checked the areas.
"Or my hypothesis could not be more right," Shunsui replied. "It is a summoned beast, and thus it knows some ninja techniques like walking without leaving a trace. It is a basic art."
"But how do we know it was a summoned beast?" Guy asked, scratching his head.
"The beast has come from the forest and from that direction mostly," Shunsui said, pointing to one specific location. He had noticed that every time the beast was seen, it was around that same radius.
They walked toward that area. Shunsui used his sword to cut away some tall grass that had grown thick. He looked around carefully for nearly an hour, moving slowly and checking patches of ground.
Both Genma and Guy watched him in confusion, wondering what exactly he was searching for.
Finally, Shunsui stopped and grinned. He pointed toward the grass below him. There was a small, dried patch of blood hidden under some leaves. He took the grass and poured a clear liquid from a small bottle he had taken out of his backpack. When the liquid touched the blood, it turned a bright blue color.
"Now look what we have here… blood," Shunsui said. "Human blood, in fact."
Genma's eyes widened as he finally realized what Shunsui had been looking for. "I get it now. Blood is used whenever someone wants to do something as a medium for summoning."
"But now how would we find the culprit from this?" Guy asked.
"The blood is too old. So we would need some fresh one to track. I think I know what we have to do next. Not only to track the shinobi but also to find out who is responsible for all of this," Shunsui said as he headed toward the town hall.
---
After paying a small fee for access and a moderate bribe for assistance, Shunsui found what he was after in the town hall records. As he was about to leave the small office, he turned to the bribed female functionary. She was a nervous woman in her thirties with documents piled high on her desk.
"Oh, and, Miss?" he said calmly. "Do be sure not to tell anyone that I was here, or what I was here for. Only you and I know that, so if I find out that someone else knows, I'll know it was you."
He walked right up to her, pushing down on her with his chakra, not all of it since she was a civilian.
The woman stood there, shivering slightly as he leaned forward to whisper in her ear. "It doesn't matter who you tell, because they can't protect you from me. The town lord can shield you if I try to get you censured for having loose lips, but that isn't what's going to happen. One day, all your colleagues here will wonder why you didn't turn up. Your family will wonder where you've gone, but they'll never find out. Do you know why?"
"B-because you've killed me?" she whispered, voice trembling.
Shunsui's voice stayed soft and friendly, which made it even more terrifying. "I doubt you have any idea what my secret jutsu could do, so I'll explain the portions that are relevant to you. First, your body will die. Not of anything in particular; it'll just stop being alive. Then, I'll suck all the moisture out of your corpse. I'm not sure if you're aware, but life force is a beautiful, vibrant red."
"I'll be taking any that your body has left, which will dry out your remains nicely. Then I'll collect you in a cask. Not a big one, because there won't be much of you left, but I have a storage scroll, so it's fine either way. Whatever remnants there are, I'll clean off the floor with a simple water jutsu. Are you familiar with it? Marvellous stuff."
"Suffice to say, it will clean up any residual stains of what used to be your body. Then, on my next trip out to the village, I'll scatter what's left of you, scoop by scoop, into the bogs and marshes, until your final resting place is just sticky patches of mud." He stepped back, flashing her a friendly smile. "So let's just make it our little secret, yes?"
The woman nodded rapidly, her face pale and eyes wide with terror. Shunsui smiled gently at her one last time before turning and leaving the office as if nothing had happened.
The door closed softly behind him, leaving the frightened woman alone with her shaking hands and racing heart.
------Author Notes---------
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