Before Mana had even left to confront the small crowd of people she could feel a slight disruption in the rhythm in which the chakra signatures outside used to move. Given how minuscule the signatures were and how used she got to feeling various numbers of them just bustling about outside the Security building, Mana had reconciled with the fact that she completely missed the crowd, given how she was looking for a signature which was an entire planet, compared to the ants of these civilians. One often missed an unnatural behavior of ants when looking at the stars…

The magician left through the door, but not before giving her team of rookies a confirming glare back. Seeing the four take up on the given assignments, as lowly as they were. These guys were good people: Sora was a bit of the handsome douchebag type, Shira had seen plenty of pain in his life and held his feelings and thoughts inside too much, Burgoniya had a nasty and rebellious temper and Toiya would have betrayed the squad if that meant protecting her newly built family due to her conflict of interest but… None of them deserved what the Diamond Hand were willing to dish out to their enemies.

"You know, The Middle Finger will keep on stacking troubles on top if you don't keep moving and just stand around." Thumb objected with a whiny voice. Mana dismissed her with a gesture before walking out the door.

"So the Middle Finger is the one in charge then? Is Yokotomo Donyoku the Middle Finger?" Mana wondered.

"I feel like you know full well I can't answer that question but you asked it regardless…" the burglar objected.

"I figured maybe as long as you didn't say any names, you could answer yes and no questions. The seal on your tongue looks different to the silence seals villages use. I've seen some pictures in history books, your hieroglyph is different and the seal is weaker. It probably has some loopholes we don't know about." Mana shrugged.

"And you're just willing to risk my life to find out those loopholes? You're so cruel…" Thumb teased Mana with her playfully sarcastic whining.

The crowd outside was not even what could have been qualified as a public outrage. There were a good thirty people standing around the Security HQ, just talking and occasionally yelling out something of the demanding nature at the closed Security door. The crowd got collectively shocked when Mana and Thumb opened the door to greet them as they must not have expected any attention from the officials at all at this rate.

"My name is Nakotsumi Mana, I came out here to answer all your questions and, hopefully, ease your minds somewhat." Mana bowed to the people politely, standing on top of the staircase that lead into the Security offices. It was a good thing that she was used to performing in front of crowds hundreds of times larger than this, she may just need to lie, as bad as she was at that and as much as Mana hated that option, for the sake of maintaining the public order.

"How come we can't see the Security?"

"I heard that the Governor has run away, is that true?"

"Is our town shut down? Are we just fishes in a barrel? What if mercenaries and criminals invade us, do we have any defenses working?"

These and countless more questions flew from every corner. It was once she heard the thirty people fling well over a hundred questions in her general direction that Mana understood just what she has signed up for. Frankly, in that moment, as much as Mana loved standing in front of people and easing their worries, she'd have preferred having given this assignment to someone better spoken and wittier, like Sora, and taking up the task entrusted to him for herself.

"Yeah, okay, I guess this is not happening, how about I just tell you everything I know, while I have your most pressing concerns in mind?" Mana shouted out with a slightly raised voice to silence the crowd somewhat as sixty curious eyes penetrated her with glares willing to dissect everything she said, just waiting for her to trip up. It was not that much different than the first few times Mana performed on stage. When new performers started out it was quite common for the villagers to dissect their performances and judge the value of the money they paid for seeing them with completely different sets of eyes compared to old and established wolves of the stage.

"Shukuba is not shut down. It is just suffering from a backlash of a grievous corruption ring. Plenty of public figures, entertainers and Security officers were involved in it. I did not want it to become public to avoid a state of public outrage but it appears that the criminal organization named the Diamond Hand wants to play it differently, I am ready to play this game by their rules. I will bring this out to the public if that's the way they want to play this." Mana felt the slowly creeping up anger, it was affecting her words and strategy significantly, she tried to control it and push it down.

Thumb grabbed Mana by her shoulder and shook it.

"What the hell are you doing? Calling the Diamond Hand out?" The woman hissed into Mana's ear.

"Why are you talking to us? Why can't we speak to the Security or see the governor about this?" Someone in the audience yelled out.

"Who told you that you can't? Shukuba Security is currently short-staffed but operational. The clean-handed officers are willing to accept your complaints and do their job. As far as the governor is concerned, he may have fled from the town, but you can talk to him at about the same percentage of success as you could when he was actually here…" Mana nodded in the direction of the public addresser. Her speech soothed somewhat when the Diamond Hand was not the main subject and cause of what she had to talk about. She even made the audience break into a few controlled laughs by acknowledging how inaccessible the governor was, somewhat she had herself learned when trying to reach him.

"As far as why I am speaking to you is concerned, I am a kunoichi of Konohagakure and I am cooperating with the local Security force with the orders of Lord Sixth Hokage, in order to defeat the Diamond Hand and free your town. I assure you that Konoha will play no part in your reformation after the criminal ring is busted, we will not impose on your political rights in any way." Mana did not have to work too hard to make her speech believable. Her complete disinterest in political and monetary matters must have leaked out like water from a busted dam.

"Would you stop saying their name already?" Thumb kept objecting quietly to Mana's ear.

"What about the incident in Shukuba's vault, what comments does the Security force have about that?" Someone spoke up from the public. Just when Mana felt like she was almost freed from this and ready to tackle the task at hand.

"What are they talking about?" Mana turned at Thumb with a whisper, the female burglar just shrugged.

"I'm… I'm afraid I am not entirely aware of which accident you are addressing." Mana whimpered in embarrassment. Being someone who liked to over-prepare for every event in her life, there was nothing that drove the breath out of her lungs and made her voice tremble like an aspen during autumnal winds than being oblivious to something important so close to her.

"There was a big blade fight in Shukuba vault. Most of the town's funds are reportedly gone and a barely alive body of a Security officer was found riddled with blades inside. Rumors say that more than two-thirds of the budget of the town has been emptied." Mana gathered from the audience, one member adding on to another's recollection. Some fixing the finer details of something the other said.

"Itemi…" Mana whispered to herself, her lips paled realizing that by giving someone so despaired and disillusioned so much freedom to do as he pleased she may have driven a kunai into her own foot. Mana's voice just froze in her chest. She wanted to talk, to try and explain something, give the audience anything that would sound the least bit affirming but her throat just dried out and her heart pounded heavily in her chest with fear for the officer's life and blame for giving him this much freedom.

"No comment…" Thumb smiled like a mischievous child whom everyone knew to blame for a busted priceless vase but who was not quite caught in the act and therefore stubbornly denied any responsibility. The woman dragged Mana away by her elbow before the magician could completely collapse in front of the audience. After a brief while of confusion and bemusement, the gathering thinned out as some of them entered the Security HQ while the others just left to do their thing, being somewhat reaffirmed that the sky above their head was shattered but not yet falling on top of their heads.

"No comment?" Mana wheezed, taking far too long to regain the ability to speak. Whenever lives were at stake, whenever the magician felt like there was any way she could have blamed herself for a failure of any kind, she just froze and collapsed. She may have grown stronger, older and wiser but… Some things never changed.

"That's what Security says, instead of saying anything, you should learn that phrase, it's quite useful…" Thumb gave Mana a thumb up before letting go of the magician's elbow and tilting her chin and shrugging her shoulders.

"So… Where to next?" She wondered.

"I… I must see Itemi-san…" Mana's eyes changed, she could feel that much, the wetness in her eyes, the sorrowful look… She probably no longer looked in charge, her calls and her decisions had almost cost someone their life and they definitely cost this town most of the budget kept in the vault.

Itemi was an adult, more so, he was significantly more experienced than Mana at this crime-busting business, even if he kept himself occupied with paperwork more than anything else recently. He was not someone who would have listened even if Mana had told him to stick by her side, nothing useful would have come if Mana restricted him by force either. Still, just like most things in life, the magician couldn't help but feel responsible for not being there and not helping him, even if her mind, one more creative and imaginative than most, failed to find a plausible way for her to have done so.

"What's wrong?" Thumb stopped and looked back after Mana stopped in her tracks and looked back for just a brief moment. In that instance, the magician's eyes changed from those filled with regret and sinking in despair to those of a ninja, ready for combat, analytical and goal oriented. That change lasted for just an insignificant fraction of a second, too frail in the flow of time for anyone but the most perceptive and quick on their feet and minds to notice.

"Nothing, let's keep moving." Mana lowered her head and stuffed her hands into the pockets of her jacket, hunching over and continuing the trek to the Shukuba hospital.

Compared to the relatively hi-tech and colorful Konohagakure hospital, where modern décor, colorful renovations and technological marvels adapted to serve the medical needs of the ninja village reigned, Shukuba hospital was a grey and dreary, depressing hole. Cracked tiles, rotten wallpapers and the stuffiness of air that made Mana wonder just what sort of reek she'd be picking up on if she still had her ability to smell. If she ever ended up placed in such an establishment, the magician would be thankful to never wake up and just stay asleep as just catching rare glimpses of what the inside of wards looked like, what with the barred windows and such, she couldn't imagine feeling any semblance of hope for recovery in such a building.

This is where people could have only been brought to suffer and die. The corruption of the Diamond Hand now just made Mana feel even more infuriated.

There was almost no security and no one asked any questions when Mana asked to see Itemi. This almost made the magician feel outraged but if she voiced a single qualm with this place to anyone, she had no reason to single this one out. She'd have to go on a rant that would continue for weeks upon months to no end or a possible thing to gain.

"Wow, they just let you in, no questions asked, we'll be lucky if the Diamond Hand hadn't already gotten to your pal here." Thumb grinned.

"Would they do such a thing?" Mana looked back at her companion of questionable allegiances.

"I mean… Not unless he really pissed them off. The Diamond Hand was always more about control and getting rich off of someone else's account. Murder and racketeering always came as a final resort or a capital punishment. Very few of the Rings are actually bad people, this just the only way they see to get ahead." Thumb looked around, likely getting tackled by similar depressing thoughts about the place that Mana had.

The lack of any manner of medical ninjutsu healing was evident. People walked around in casts, bandages that were so soaked in blood and medication that the fluids dripped on the ground leaving repulsive looking trails testifying on where and when someone was going. Mana could not even begin to imagine how long these people would have to suffer such treatments and recovery without the aid of medical ninjutsu and only natural and scientific healing methods.

"All this must look really shocking, huh?" Thumb noticed Mana's creeped out eyes and trembling lips, her pale expression. Not surprising given how Mana didn't attempt to cover it up in any way whatsoever.

"I mean… It's obviously depressing and makes me want to do something. Becoming a medical ninja is something I always wanted as a student but… I lacked the skill for it. My grades were average, my chakra control was average, I was rejected both times I applied for Konoha High before graduation." Mana walled herself off by wrapping herself in her arms, walking across people that looked and grunted like the walking dead was seriously freaking her out and she had seen some quite messed up stuff in her short life.

"That's not what I meant. I'm not blaming you for not being able to change this. I'm just saying… You know how that scarred giant fellow showed off his scars and said something about how you survived an even more gruesome version of that torture? Well, it's just that you have no scars to show for it. You've been having it easy back in Konoha, compared to this, huh?" Thumb voiced her thoughts, Mana was not sure if this was supposed to be teasing, as it was always the case with Thumb, or if it had some even deeper hidden meaning of some kind.

"I have plenty of scars to show. Not everything can be removed with medical ninjutsu. Chakra over matter and all that. My father was burnt by something so dense with chakra that even medical ninjutsu could not treat the nerve damage. Even I carry some nasty scars down there, I just am in no rush of removing them because they don't get in my way, as ninja or a stage magician." Mana replied she had no idea why she came off as so defensive as there didn't appear to be an assault of any nature to defend against.

Itemi looked strangely calm and peaceful, laying in his room, halfway covered up with hospital sheets, his lower body wrapped in a sarcophagus of bandages with red stains dyeing it in several places. Thumb pinched her nose, suggesting to Mana that the stench of medication was especially powerful in this room.

"Eye for an eye, huh?" Thumb spoke up in a high-pitched and distorted voice, similar to that of a piglet. One that would have normally made Mana laugh if the circumstances were not so sorrowful.

"What do you mean?" Mana looked at her companion.

"Well, that's just the way the Diamond Hand seems to operate, it's a psychological play, I think. It's not a rule or anything, more like a coincidence of Middle Finger's decisions. Okasune hit the Diamond Hand where it hurt – she got killed, Itemi hit the Diamond Hand by attempting to stop their attempt to recover financially, he got put down. Because he failed, his punishment was less severe." Thumb somberly explained her point.

Mana seemed to understand Thumb's point. It was a psychological play. The Diamond Hand seemed to ignore you when you were no one of importance to them. Whenever you hit them in any way, they hit back just as hard, making any sort of attempt at defeating them look fruitful. If Shukuba Security ever tackled the Diamond Hand, the syndicate would hit them back in places where it would hurt them proportionately to the degree in which Security attacked the Diamond Hand. It's a crushing psychological play when subjected to it one couldn't help but feel the hopelessness of fighting back.

It was not even close to how different criminal organizations operated. It had its own specific taste to it. When you crossed the Syndicate in any way, they may have just killed you, if they needed something – they tortured it out of you. It was dead simple, they operated in a very cold, logical and efficient manner that lacked any moral semblance to it. The Diamond Hand was not cold, was not efficient. It was the perfect mirror, the perfect contrast to what its opposing force was. It was psychological and it played games. It did not beat their competition by being better or stronger than their opposition, it beat them by making their competition get worse, get sloppy and question their every action.

"Itemi-san…" Mana's lips whimpered out, just barely breathing out enough air to ruffle the stuffy air in the ward. That was enough. Mana was prancing around the matter for too long. She tried to do this rightfully and by the book for too long. She had a clue rolling about in her hand and she was hesitant to exploit it, getting involved by distraction after a distraction. No more. No one else will suffer because Mana wasn't willing enough to be a bulldozer when she needed to be.

"Hey, where are you going? You just saw your friend, don't you wanna stay around some more?" Thumb raised an eyebrow after seeing Mana just jump up and head for the door.

"No. I'm going to pay Yokotomo Donyoku a visit, I'm going to expose him as whichever ring of the Diamond Hand he is, then I'll tear everything the Diamond Hand calls their own down. I'll give them no quarter to counterattack from, I'll just keep pressing them until they break. I won't let this happen to anyone else, not the rookie squad, not you, not a single person in that audience or this town." Mana muttered out from a position of blinding rage, but still not blinding enough for her to yell in the middle of a hospital.