They didn't expect something like this to happen. If you really want to hold someone accountable, there's definitely a problem here, because no one prepared for this scenario since it had never happened before. Being so careless and unprepared is quite inexcusable. However, on the other hand, the corpse disposal unit's workspace is within the military base, which is guarded by thousands of Leaf Ninja and allied Mist Ninja, forming an almost impenetrable defense. So, it's not unreasonable to think no extra precautions were needed—unless something like this happens, of course.

Because of this, it's more likely that an insider committed the act. It's much harder for an outsider to infiltrate the base without being detected. However, Sōgen still believed that, despite the odds, it was more likely that the theft was carried out by an outsider rather than someone from within.

"…That's the situation in a nutshell. Kakashi, your task is to investigate and identify the thief. If it turns out to be an insider, I give you full authority to arrest the suspect. If it's an external infiltrator, investigate their identity and how they managed to get in. Of course, if you can arrest them directly, that would be ideal."

Sōgen explained everything thoroughly, entrusting the heavy responsibility to Kakashi.

But—

Beneath Kakashi's mask, his face showed a deep sense of frustration. "This... isn't going to be easy!" With his intelligence, it was clear to him how difficult this mission would be. If it were an inside job, that would be easier to handle. Despite the large army, a search could be conducted quickly.

The real worry was if it was an outside infiltrator.

Someone who could sneak past all those soldiers and steal the most valuable scrolls from the corpse disposal unit wasn't just any weakling.

"I trust your abilities," Sōgen said with a smile.

"The problem is, I really don't like this troublesome task!" Kakashi complained inwardly, sighing as he nodded. "I'll do my best. Also… are these two my subordinates?" He turned his gaze downwards to notice two young kids.

"That's right. Uchiha Itachi and Kaguya Kimimaro will be assisting you."

"…Can't I have someone a bit older?"

Kakashi's face fell.

He had heard of Itachi and Kimimaro before. They were the youngest in the military, yet both had played vital roles during the war, proving their strength beyond doubt. However, this mission seemed to be more about investigation, especially in the early stages when combat wouldn't likely be needed.

Instead of powerful fighters, Kakashi would have preferred a sensory ninja with tracking abilities to assist in the investigation.

The two kids, meanwhile, reacted differently. Uchiha Itachi kept a straight face, revealing nothing, while Kimimaro, clearly upset at being looked down on, showed a slight scowl. Still, after glancing at Sōgen, seated behind the desk, he restrained himself from any outburst.

"Nope," Sōgen replied firmly, then added, "Don't worry, Kakashi. Itachi's a genius. His intelligence won't disappoint you. Enough talk—get to work! I don't want this dragging on too long. Get me results quickly."

"Yes, Assistant Hokage."

Kakashi sighed inwardly again.

He hated vague instructions like "quickly," "in the short term," or "don't keep me waiting." What did "quickly" mean? How short was "the short term"? The only answer would probably be, "as quick as possible." As short as possible. And the result? A mountain of pressure weighing down on his shoulders, making even breathing feel like a chore.

As expected, being a boss meant being unreasonable.

It had nothing to do with age at all!

…

After leaving Sōgen's office, Kakashi paused at the steps, ignoring Itachi and Kimimaro for a moment, and instead turning to a middle-aged man in his forties. "If I'm not mistaken, you're Squad Leader Takano?"

"Yes, yes, I'm Takano."

Takano answered politely.

This man was indeed a very honest person. When Sōgen instructed him to fully cooperate with Kakashi's investigation, he genuinely treated Kakashi as his superior, showing no signs of looking down on him—or Itachi and Kimimaro—despite their youth. In fact, Kakashi, Itachi, and Kimimaro combined weren't even as old as Takano alone.

"Don't be nervous, Squad Leader Takano. I just have a few questions. We can talk as we walk. The Assistant Hokage is waiting for our report."

"What do you need to know? Just ask! I'll tell you everything I know."

The honest Takano followed closely behind Kakashi like a shadow, his attitude as genuine as ever.

"First question—I heard you've already conducted an internal investigation within the corpse disposal unit, right? How did you rule out your own people as suspects?" Kakashi asked while walking briskly toward the unit's location. He could tell Takano was truly an honest person, unlikely to be hiding anything or playing both sides.

Of course, they couldn't completely rule out the possibility that someone was pretending to be innocent, but it seemed unlikely.

"We searched everyone and their belongings. Plus, each person accounted for their whereabouts last night. After cross-verifying everything, we're sure no one acted alone, and all personal scrolls were inspected with nothing unusual found. Oh, and none of the corpse disposal unit members know summoning jutsu."

"Interesting!"

Kakashi blinked. Squad Leader Takano might look simple, but his investigative skills weren't bad. He'd even considered the possibility that stolen items could have been hidden using summoning creatures. This made it unlikely that the theft was carried out by someone from the unit—unless they were all in on it together.

"Second question—do you have any suspects?"

"Suspects?" Takano looked puzzled.

"Have you made any enemies? Or noticed anyone suspicious hanging around your work area recently? Someone who entered under the pretext of work or some other excuse? Or someone who might be experimenting with forbidden jutsu? And is there anyone familiar to you who's in desperate need of money?"

Takano pondered this for a long time, and just as they approached the corpse disposal unit, the middle-aged man replied uncertainly, "No one I know is short on money, and none of us are skilled enough to experiment with forbidden jutsu. Our job involves handling dead bodies every day—there's no way a corpse could hold a grudge against us… that'd be ridiculous!"

"But, a couple of days ago, a young man came by with a body. He said it was a friend of his, and he was planning to bury him in his village. After thinking it over, he decided it was better to let us handle it. You know, his corpse-handling skills were quite impressive. The body didn't even need any additional work—it was ready for burial right away. That's not easy!"

"What was his name? Do you remember what he looked like?"

Kakashi cut off Takano's rambling. He had no interest in learning how to handle corpses—he was more concerned about the young man.

"I think… Oh, what was it again?"

Takano frowned, trying to recall the name that was on the tip of his tongue. "I think it was Sasori—yeah, Sasori. He had short black hair, black eyes, and his features were pretty average. He looked like he was in his twenties and was wearing a standard Leaf Chunin uniform."

"Sasori?"

Kakashi frowned. The name sounded vaguely familiar.

But he pushed the thought aside for now, as they had reached their destination.

The corpse disposal unit was located in the southwestern corner of town. Originally, it had been a small temple. When the war broke out, the monks fled with all the temple's valuables. Now, they were probably hiding somewhere in the Land of Fire. The temple, now abandoned, was repurposed by the Leaf Ninja, first as a storage for bodies, and eventually as the permanent location for the corpse disposal unit.

Kakashi stood at the entrance of the temple but didn't step inside.

He turned to look at Itachi and Kimimaro, who had followed him. He thought these two youngsters might rebel against him after his earlier disdain, but they had behaved quite obediently so far. "Itachi, Kimimaro, I have a mission for you!"

"Is it to investigate this guy named Sasori?" Uchiha Itachi asked.

"A bit clever," Kakashi thought to himself, "but nothing particularly outstanding for now." Out loud, he said, "That's right. This guy named Sasori seems suspicious. Whether he's the culprit or not, we need to investigate."

"Itachi, do you know which unit this Sasori belongs to?" Itachi asked Captain Takano, who was nearby.

"Uh..." Captain Takano looked troubled. He hesitated for a few seconds before responding, "I'm not sure. I didn't think much of it at the time. I just asked for his name and had him sign a document. Could that young man named Sasori really be the culprit?"

"Not certain yet," Kakashi said casually, watching Itachi to see how this young genius—praised by the Hokage's advisor—would handle the situation. It would be difficult to find someone in this army of thousands without knowing which unit Sasori belonged to. "Itachi, you can go…"

"Kakashi-senpai, Kimimaro and I will head to the logistics office. We'll be back soon."

"Alright, be quick. I'll wait here for you." Before Kakashi could remind him, Itachi had already thought of the most logical place to search. Instead of running around aimlessly, they'd head to the logistics office, where they could easily check the list of names to find out which unit Sasori belonged to.

Anyone could figure out how to handle this if they thought carefully about it. The key was in how quickly one could react, and for a boy his age, Itachi was impressively sharp. Itachi and Kimimaro left, quickly disappearing from Kakashi's sight.

Then, Kakashi bit his thumb and formed hand seals. "Summoning Jutsu!"

With a puff of smoke, Pakkun, his mini-ninken, appeared. Wearing a forehead protector and a blue vest, Pakkun jumped onto Kakashi's shoulder and asked, "Kakashi, what's going on now? Isn't the war over? And what's that smell? It reeks of corpses! Why is it so bad here?"

Pakkun scrunched his face in discomfort, even gagging a little.

"Something's come up. Pakkun, can you sniff around and tell if there's any scent here other than the stench of the corpses?"

"Huh? You want me to work in this stinky place? Kakashi, this is abuse. You're abusing your summon!" Pakkun grumbled, his face full of reluctance.

Kakashi scratched his head. This was going to be tricky.

"Pakkun, next time you can choose the shampoo for your bath," Kakashi offered, using a bit of bribery to coax him.

"Hmph... Fine. If it's all up to me, I'll do it. But don't forget your promise!" Swayed by the offer, Pakkun sniffed the air, his dog-like face scrunching up in exaggerated disgust. "Other than the smell of corpses, it's just human scent. Nothing unusual. Are you looking for something specific, Kakashi?"

Kakashi wasn't disappointed by the result. He turned to Captain Takano. "Give me that signed document."

"Signed document?" Captain Takano had been curiously watching the talking dog and took a few seconds to catch on. "You mean the one signed by that young man named Sasori? I'll go get it." The somewhat slow man rushed into the temple, with Kakashi following behind.

The temple wasn't large. Kakashi jumped up to the roof and looked around but didn't notice anything unusual. By this time, Captain Takano had hurried back with the document.

"This is the document," he said, handing it to Kakashi, who had just leaped down from the roof.

Kakashi took it and glanced at it. It was a simple contract, authorizing the corpse-handling team to deal with bodies. At the bottom was the signature, "Sasori."

"Pakkun, can you pick up the scent from this?" Kakashi held the document up to Pakkun's nose.

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