"The ANBU Gives Up? Naruto's Recollection"
Naruto is in a room lit by a single candle. He's already told these three ANBU interrogators all he knows. They start from the beginning. You first met him at the ramen shop, what did you discuss? Do they expect him to remember everything? That's what they are hear for, yes. If they analyze the whole thing they might figure out what is going on. They know all about the last two weeks but they need to dig deeper as he doesn't remember. They are going to try regressive hypnosis. They tell him to relax as the one in white uses Back to the Past Jutsu! Ticking clock and crazy green waves. One day ago. Two days ago. Three days ago. The day you met the old man. Where are you?
He's in the woods! He was out there training on his own but it was lunch time so he headed to Ichiraku, where he met the old man outside the stand. Genno was deciding whether or not to eat here, is it any good? Naruto knows he is an outsider with that response, it's the best in the universe, old timer. That's quite the review so he has lunch with him. Genno likes it but is impressed with how fast Naruto eats his lunch. Well he is a growing boy/shonen protagonist. The old man decides to share with him, then they said their goodbyes. When did he meet him next? In front of Ichiraku again...
Neji meanwhile is using his Byakugan on one of the buildings. No traps in this building. Lee has a clipboard and is taking notes. Twenty and Hinata are doing the same elsewhere. Nothing here either. Team Akamaru Kiba Shino are looking on the roofs. Akamaru can't find any scent and Kiba says he used an odor masking agent in his smokescreen last night, he came prepared. Then why did he get caught, inquires Shino. Kiba thinks the ANBU outsmarted him but Shino thinks he foresaw that ahead of time and had another escape route. Kiba agrees that it doesn't make sense but it's too late now and Shino says that dead men tell no tales. Ino and Sakura are heading into the morgue, lead by DR. Steve Blum. (Damn that Orochimaru and his plans with plans) They walk in as three other medical ninja are poking and prodding the body while chakra flashes go off. Ino wonders what they are doing to him. They are putting his body back together. Do they have to do it? He was in bad shape as he had paper bombs head to toe. Dr. Orochimaru asks her if she wants to wait outside and she does, but Sakura wants to watch. Ino outside on the bench decides that Sakura is stronger than her.
It had eggs and bbq pork and he treated me to everything. Does this kid only think about ramen? Shhh. (He also thinks of Orochimaru, Sasuke, Pervy Sage not training him, and Sakura every once in awhile) wait he remembers one other thing. He showed me a photograph. A picture of a kid that looked my own age. That picture of his grandson does look like Naruto. That's why he treats him so nice, he's not really a stranger in his mind. He wants to retire and live the life of treasure hunters with his grandson. When the old man hands over his bowl this time Naruto notices his hand is injured and he said he got it from an accident with a saw. ANBU is confused, records show Genno had no relatives. They started tailing him the day after that so it looks like this lead has dryed up. The leader doubted Genno would tell anything important to a ninja, even a Genin. A new ANBU soldier drops in with a message from Lady Tsunade...
These six are going over the results of the trap examinations. Nothing unusual in any of the buildings. All built to spec, no traps or sabotage says Neji. Hinata agrees. Lee wonders if the carpenter angle was just for a reason to migrate here. Too soon to know that for sure says Shikamaru but if his only goal was the plans there's no reason to pose as a carpenter. Lee wants to know what Shikamaru was up to. He was talking to carpenters and checked all the places Genno frequented. No clues. Twenty thinks the list is weird, all restaurant. Shikamaru assigns Hinata to the body investigation and Lee and Neji to the search for the plans with Shino and Kiba. He doesn't give Twenty orders but she nods her head and leaves with them. It's a drag but he and Choji should get back to it as well. Oh shit Shizune is here to bring him to Tsunade. It seems the Land of Waterfalls is on battle alert. They are claiming training exercises. Tsunade says this is old hat for them, claim training exercises, invade another land. Shizune adds that before coming to the Leaf Genno briefly stopped in the Land of Waterfalls so there might be some connection there. The ninja are already deployed and if anyone crosses the border from there they are to treat it as a full scale invasion. She orders him to prepare his group for immediate departure. Shikamaru hesitates and says that if she wants his honest opinion then he sees no reason why his group should go. Shizune is SHOOK and Tsunade wants to hear more... Naruto is at the Ramen stand with his head hung low. Hello darkness my old friend. Teuchi is yelling at him, quit standing there like a zombie, you'll scare off the customers. He apologizes and leaves. Naruto starts thinking about it. Why did the old man hang around this stand so much if he never finished even a single bowl.
Back to Shikamaru's explanation. Sending in 10 genin and 1 chunin won't make much of a difference. What's his point? Something is not quite right about this situation, we're missing something about Genno and he thinks he knows what it is. All they've learned so far is that he's remarkably unremarkable. Average at his work, never stood out, never made big mistakes, friends, enemies, the kind of person who could just fade away. His undercover work was so good it oughta be in the shinobi textbooks which is why his getting pegged by the ANBU so easily doesn't fit, doesn't it seem strange? Tsunade agrees. Then the escape, he had no trouble evading the black ops before but then he happens to get caught so easily and that splashy death just doesn't fit the expert trap maker. None of it makes sense unless it was all according to plan from the beginning. His true identity being revealed, dying right in front of the ANBU, it was all part of his Aizen like plan. Same with the Waterfall village mobilization forcing the strength of the Leaf outside the borders. Interesting theory but all the facts say that this is a legitimate threat. With all that being said she agrees with him, the rookie 11 won't make a difference out there so the investigation continues.
Naruto meets up with Shikamaru and Choji and they start going over the foreman's books. Naruto's head hurts from all the research they are doing. Shikamaru doesn't like doing this much work either but research is the basis of any good investigation. The foreman pops in and says he still can't find the original recommendation letter. Naruto wonders why he'd want it and Shikamaru says it's just a hunch...maybe the old guy stole it along with the plans for some reason. It's weird that he'd get rid of that one instead of the forgery. Team scroll is at ground zero of Genno's suicide explosion. The site has already been picked clean. Shino says the ANBU left nothing behind. Our girl Twenty though has found something, a tree that was burned on both sides. Kiba says that with all the paper bombs that isn't surprising but he's wrong. Neji goes over it before starting his magical eyes, an explosion from one side would leave the back unmarred and Twenty continues that to make burns like this multiple explosions would be necessary. Lee claims the ANBU report stated all of the paper bombs were wrapped around the subject. Shino isn't too sure, the cowardly ANBU had to take cover before the explosion happened and doubts any of them saw the actual explosion. They scatter to look for more trees. Twenty and Akamaru find more trees like this and she proposes a new theory. A ring of paper bombs were set off on exterior trees first then the huge explosion in the center, timed so they seemed like one gigantic explosion. Neji brings up the obvious, he'd need time to set something like that up and he was chased and cornered here. Maybe he was chased...or maybe he lead them here. If that's true, then why. Detective Neji wonders if the paper bombs really took him out. Jinkies!
Hinata and Ino are waiting outside of the autopsy room. The light goes off and Sakura appears saying it's over. As Doctor Orochimaru leaves he is overheard talking with the others by Hinata, he doesn't get it and thought his identity was confirmed by the Black Ops. Ino doesn't want to see what is under the sheet, she's not a medical ninja and doesn't know where to begin...Until she figures out where to begin. She sees his hand under the table and asks Sakura if he was posing as a carpenter. He was. His hand is too clean to be a carpenter. She knows hands from handing people flowers at the store. Those aren't carpenter hands. Not rough enough. Same goes for a trap ninja. Sakura doesn't get it. Hinata asks to take a look. No developed chakra network. This isn't a ninja and certainly isn't Genno. Might Guy is standing there when a status report comes in from one half of our favorite cameo duo, the bandaged one with Gaara's VA. Hidden Waterfall forces are near the border. What about our defenses? Not quite ready yet. The Chunin doesn't get it but Guy says it doesn't matter, they cross that river and there will be war. A hawk comes flying into village as we resume the paper trail with Naruto and company. Shikamaru found notes about the academy...but no blueprints to go along with it. He asks the foreman about payments the academy made last month. Ah yes, repairs to the facility. Shikmaru doesn't see any blueprints. Where did they go? Naruto hears a bustle going on outside and goes to check.
It's the hawk carrying a sack of scrolls. Back to Guy. Why haven't they struck? The Chunin comes back and says the forces are retreating. It really was a training exercise. Meanwhile Shikamaru opens one of the scrolls. It's a blueprint to...his own house. It was drawn using a complex code for security purposes but why are the plans Genno stole falling from the sky? Find out next episode!
NEXT EPISODE: "The Missed Target"