Seiji took the offered file as they made their way out of the Hokage's office and down the adjacent hall, flipping open the manila envelope not even two seconds before Koji snatched it from his grasp. The blonde flipped it open, idly flipping back and forth through pages so fast that, had Seiji not known him better, it would have looked like he wasn't reading anything at all, let alone processing any of it. Despite his childish and often noncommittal attitude, he was a Jonin for a reason. Aside from being extraordinarily talented in the ways of genjutsu, his memory was impeccable, and he was likely taking a special interest in this assignment anyway. Hikari wasn't the only one from up north - Koji hailed from Yukigakure, only a little ways off from the Land of Water.<br/><br/>Biting back a sigh and offhanded remark, Seiji just looked over Koji to read over the information. The victim list alone was absolutely ridiculous. They weren't all diplomats, though they were definitely a main target. This man almost looked like he was killing indiscriminately, though there had to be<span style="font-style: italic">some</span>sort of connection. Rarely did someone this organized wreak bloody havoc for no purpose. There was some sort of rhyme or reason to this, and Seiji wasn't seeing it.<br/><br/>The criminal in question, known only as Kaito by the looks of it, had gone rogue from Kirigakure some time ago. He likely wasn't vagrant. He was far too prepared and well-supplied for that. And another thing, the part that set Seiji on edge, is that he likely wasn't acting alone.<br/><br/>He reached over Koji's shoulder, pointing to one paragraph in particular. The blonde elbowed him away and Seiji elbowed him back, pointing to the paragraph again. "Do you notice anything about this?" he asked to no one in particular. When all he got was a vacantly curious look from Koji, he took the file from him altogether and read aloud from it. "Reported execution of three diplomats from Sunagakure and a six-shinobi escort. Passerby fled to Suna to report the finding. First responders found no bodies." He let the file flip closed, waving it around a bit for emphasis. "One man couldn't pull that off, regardless of talent."<br/><br/>"You think he's one of many," Koji observed, taking the papers from him with more delicacy this time, reading over the paperwork with that in mind.<br/><br/>Seiji nodded as they reached the front door of the building, standing in front of it so it wouldn't slam shut on the others as they made their exit. "That's exactly what I think," he confirmed, waiting until Koji and the girls were out to let the door fall back to the threshold. He was oddly reminiscent of the reports of Gato's criminal ring in the Land of Water so many years ago.<br/><br/>The blonde let out an almost exasperated sigh as he considered that this may be bigger than he'd hoped, making his way back to the large tree in front of the Hokage's office, all but throwing his weight onto it for support. "Even if we could take this Kaito into custody, and even if we could confirm your theory, there's almost negative guarantee that he would leak any information about a larger setup. Save for torture, of course, and it wouldn't even be a certainty then, either."<br/><br/>"We're representing Konoha," he reminded his shorter companion. "This village has explicit statutes in place barring torture."<br/><br/>Koji seemed unnervingly prepared for that response. "If we captured him on their soil, he'd be a ward of Kirigakure, and their laws on physical interrogation are more lenient than ours." Seiji stared at him from behind his glasses, quirking an eyebrow at the surprisingly thought-out defense. For someone so small and delicate-looking, Koji was alarmingly sadistic. As if to blow off his defense of torture, he threw his arms up in the air in agitation. "I don't<span style="font-style: italic">know</span>, it's just an idea. Would you guys like to discuss this more over lunch?"<br/><br/>"You<span style="font-style: italic">just</span>ate."<br/><br/>"Yeah, like half an hour ago."<br/><br/>Amazing.