Finally, a servant came in to fetch them. Naruto was wearing a simple yet elegant red kimono. There was a pattern of autumn leaves on the bottom. He also had his hair in a neat ponytail. His leaf headband was on his forehead. Fuu and Torune were wearing simple brown kimonos.
While they were ninjas, this wasn't a formal ninja situation, so they were required to wear formal attire. They also left all their weapons and ninja-related items in the room in a visible place, as was the custom.
They went through a quick bodily check before being granted entrance to the room. Naruto walked in front with Fuu and Torune behind him. They all entered the room with their gazes lowered. They went to their prepared positions and did a full bow, waiting for permission before raising their heads from the ground.
The daimyo made a motion with his hand. "Rise and state your business shinobi of the hidden leaf." Daimyo's attendant said.
"We are here on behalf of the leaf village. To discuss the existence of the ROOT and the benefits of this organization." Naruto said in a calm and collected voice.
The daimyo made a motion for him to continue. "The ROOT was originally founded years ago. The main function was to take missions that would otherwise bring a bad reputation to Konoha and the land of fire."
"However, after the third war, it was disbanded by the Yondaime. Today I am here to discuss the possibility of a new ROOT. There are many political and sensitive missions that require a more delicate touch."
"Missions of high sensitivity that, if unsuccessful and the operators are caught, can lead to war among the nations. There is no need for me to explain the nature or existence of these missions."
"ROOT operators are all trained professionals. They spend years mastering a skill. Whether it's infiltration, assassination, or other missions, they have an advantage over the regular forces because they are faceless. Nameless and ready to do what is needed for the land of fire."
"If an operator is caught, many fail-safes are in place to ensure nothing is left of them. Another reason that normal shinobi cannot be sent on such missions is the danger. Each hidden village takes pride in their well-known shinobi and the loss of such shinobi can cause damage to the reputation of the village."
"Of course, there is the ANBU, but there is the problem with their limited numbers. While their missions are in difficulty above most Jonin, and they have to be in the top shinobi's to even consider joining the ANBU, their numbers are more limited, and we can't risk the higher ranking ANBU on death missions."
"These high-profile shinobi are the main reason that another war has broken out yet. ROOT shinobi are expandable. A good number of them can be sent on a mission to ensure success, and if an operator is killed, there are more to take their place."
"We want to ensure the peace lasts, and in case of another war breaking out, the land of fire will have many operators in the shadows to protect it and ensure victory. I am here to ask to officialize the ROOT as an organization under the direct command of the daimyo."
"While the Hokage is under the command of the daimyo, if the ROOT is subjected to the same rules as the other shinobi of the leaf, our actions will be more limited. Nevertheless, if we are under the command of the daimyo, we can take official missions through the Hokage and the direct command of the daimyo, but we will only answer to the daimyo."
"This can give ROOT a level of autonomy, and at the same time, our actions will still be under the direct command. The full proposal is written in the scroll I brought." Naruto said. A servant brought the scroll to the daimyo on a pillow.
Naruto stood straight while keeping his gaze and head low as a sign of respect and obedience. This was a great plan of Danzo.
Establishing ROOT as an official organization would help him with finding resources. While the ROOT would still be kept a secret from other nations and the civilian populace, those of a higher ranking would be informed of its existence.
If there were complications with a mission that required ROOT interference, all they had to do was to show up and ask the other shinobi to leave. This would give them an easier time in missions. Similar to some of ANBU missions.
At the same time, the Hokage and council won't be able to interfere with ROOT's work, and they can perform however they want within certain boundaries. No one but the daimyo would be able to question or interrogate them for their actions.
The daimyo was also not the type of person who cared. To many, he looked aloof and easygoing, but the truth was just like every other nation, as long as he got what he wanted, he didn't care whose hand would get dirty.
Many high-ranking assassinations were a direct order from the daimyo to eliminate threats to him and the land of fire. The ROOT would allow him to do such missions without worrying about consequences.
If there were any failures, no one could point fingers at Konoha or him. It was as if he had his own shinobi to command. The missions would still be sent to the Hokage and then given to the ROOT since the ROOT was still a part of Konoha, so the Hokage needed to be informed of what was going on.
Naruto was brought out of his thoughts by the attendant's voice. "You are to return to the rooms prepared for you. You will be called when there is a decision." He said.
Naruto and the others bowed again before leaving the room.
The discussions went on for a week. There were many questions about how the ROOT was organized and where their skills lay. Many questions needed answering, and Danzo had prepared Naruto to answer them all.
Naruto and others even had a few sparring matches with the guardians showcasing their skills. In the end, the daimyo decided to give them a trial mission.
The mission was to take care of a well-known merchant from a border village in the land of earth. The village was small, but they were famous for their metal. Most of the high-quality kunais were crafted with that metal. It was stiff but also lightweight. Many villages made frequent purchases from them.
The stone came from a wide geographic area but was deep underground and required special skills to mine efficiently. That was why only a few villages produced the material. Kushiri was the biggest village among them and where the merchants lived.
It was also on the main road to the stone capital, so the village had the best location for trade. Like many other shinobi villages, Konoha purchased a good portion of their metal from them.
The daimyo also liked to purchase it for his soldiers. However, a year ago, things changed. The daimyo suspected that the prices offered to the land of fire differed from others.
He sent a few undercover merchants pretending to be from different villages, and the land of fire was treated differently. He then had the logs checked and noticed an overtime increase after the third war.
He asked the Hokage to investigate. The ANBU was sent to a few of the merchants of other lands. They managed to sneak into a few of their archives, plus a few logs from the merchants of Kushiri, and the hypothesis was confirmed.
While there was a variation in prices, the land of fire was treated differently. The prices were consistently higher. The reason this fact went unnoticed for so long was that the outward treatment of the villagers of Kushiri was not different towards the merchants they sent.
Konoha then sent an undercover agent to investigate the matter, and they found out it was all because of a merchant named Machi Kichirou. He was the most well-known merchant in Kushiri.
Machi had control over most of the suppliers, and other merchants had to pay a percentage of their sales to him so they could continue. Machi also used his wealth to hire thugs and samurai to control the sales.
He was the one who would set prices for other merchants and control their amount of sales and who they sold to. He also held a grudge against Konoha. Apparently, during the third war, he lost his father in a crossfire between Konoha and Iwa near the village.
His father was a small merchant, and Machi took over the business after his death. He couldn't outright stop his sales to the land of fire since there was a rule against the refusion of sale to other lands in the conditions of the end of the third war.
Of course, individual merchants had the right to accept or refuse to sell their product, but if every merchant who owned the product did so, it had huge consequences from their own daimyo.
That was where Machi discovered a loophole. He could sell the product at a higher cost, but since he didn't want to raise the anger of the daimyo, they had to make it go unnoticed. So outwardly, they treated the merchants the same as others.
Of course, the daimyo wanted compensation and decided to leave the matter to Naruto. He was to find a way to settle this matter without it ever being traced back to Konoha and ensure that the prices would be fair in the future.
Naruto was given a big file with all the data gathered and sent to carry on the mission. He didn't have a solid plan, but there was the beginning of one forming in his mind.
Machi Kichirou was not a simple merchant. From the spy's reports, he liked to go around the town to bars to spend his nights drinking. He was always followed by his bodyguards. He would also pick young women and girls to drink with, and they would often go to his mansion.
However, the spy noticed that he would often pick girls that weren't from the town, and the girls wouldn't be seen afterward. Naruto suspected a case of human trafficking similar to Gato, but he wasn't entirely sure.
He wished he was wrong, but it was often the case with the big merchants coming out of the blue. The spy couldn't get into the mansion since it wasn't their specialty, and Machi had two shinobi bodyguards. One of them was a sensor.
The spy noticed that whenever there was an individual with high chakra, the bodyguard would often react and pay close attention to that person, so they decided not to risk getting noticed.
The mansion was also well-protected and hard to get in without being noticed. The people of the village weren't huge fans of Machi, but there was also a level of protection he brought to the village.
Usually, small villages far from the capitals were a good target for bandits, especially trade villages. But Machi had a good number of samurai who could take care of them. Overall he was a man villagers wanted to avoid but were necessary for their business.
The key to this mission was to overthrow Machi while keeping the balance of the village. Of course, there were ways to kill him without leaving a trace, but that could ensure chaos.
The thugs without a leader are like headless chickens. Running everywhere and making a mess. They would probably attack villagers, and after getting everything they could, they would go to the next place.
If Naruto were also to kill them, which were 150 people, it would drag the attention of Iwa. Someone who could kill so many without going unnoticed was definitely a shinobi, and a foreign shinobi killing a well-known merchant could cause war.
Of course, based on the history between Konoha and Iwa and the fact that the merchants were selling at higher prices to them would point all fingers at Konoha. Naruto needed to devise a way to not only get rid of Machi but make it seem like it had nothing to do with them.