Perhaps this mission was set to test Takashi. Since in an investigatory mission you should look for clues, but Takashi's not all that good do go all Sherlock Holmes on stuff. Instead Takashi can go and ask around everyone:"Are you the silver saboteur?" Maybe that won't work very well, but that's the purpose of this test.
What a coincidence, the worker who hired Takashi, was also named Takashi. The worker however was way older and doesn't dress like it's Hanami every day. As soon as the genin met up with Takashi, he introduced the boy with the refinery, it's workers and work schedule.
By now Takashi Nekomata had understood that the only way to find the sabotaged section is to find the culprit first.
First Takashi tried to interview Takashi, the worker:
"So, tell me, what do you do around here?"
"Whatever the boss tells me. But what about you? I hired you to find the saboteur and it's not me. Go talk to others!" this guy was really impatient.
Next, the genin made his way to the supervisor, the one that Takashi called his boss:
"Who and why do you think would try to sabotage this place?"
"Probably one of our competitors. You know, this isn't the only silver refinery. Recently, we scored a new long-term contract with Kumogakure. Our competitors probably want them to break this contract." the boss sounded more knowing about the situation here than Takashi did. However, the boss also pointed out that he wasn't the one doing this sabotage:"You surely would agree that I've worked here for more than 30 years and I've no reason to sabotage this place. So how about you move on and find the culprit somewhere else?"
Takashi Nekomata never implied that the supervisor might be the saboteur. He has no direct impact in the manufacture. But the workers did have, so the young genin next talked with a worker named Sam: "Hello, Sam, want to take a little break?" Obviously Sam didn't since he yelled:"Get out of here! I gotta do my quota in time!"
Maybe the provider of ores knew something? His name was Fred. "Fred, do you know anything about sabotages?"
"Yes, we all know. It's obviously Takashi, but no one has any proof." Fred answered without hesitation, pointing to the workstation where Takashi worked.
"Why do you think it's him? You think he hired me to make himself less of accused?"
"Probably. It's not like he is lacking money now that he is getting paid both by our boss and a rival refinery. You should make him absent for a while and see how our goods differ. I can bet you 20 ryo that our goods will be top quality like it was before all these sabotages."
It was a good idea - testing the tools that were made. Takashi grab one of the final products and tested it against his kunai. The material quickly came apart and smelled very bad. Not like the silver jewelry he had seen on some richer people. The genin then returned to Fred with a favor to ask:"Fred, give me a silver ingot. I just need to smell it." This request did weird out Fred, but he gave the boy the ingot anyway. This ingot didn't smell the same and the boy also tried to quickly damage it with his kunai. The kunai barely left a scar, before Fred forcefully took the ingot out of Takashi's hands. "Get out of here!" he yelled and continued his work.
Back to the supervisor - "What other ores do you use for production to make silverware?"
"We use some iron to make it last longer and be more durable. The young Henry is responsible for that if you want to find out more."
Takashi quickly made his way to Henry. By now you might wonder - how did the blind boy was making his way across the refinery so quickly, while not guided by Takashi. While being shown around, he remembered every section. And now he was just using his hands and legs to not hit anything. Of course, it was dangerous since there were places with high heat to process the minerals, but even a blind person can feel temperature changes and places to not go near to.
"Hello, Henry, can you spare me a moment?"
What a surprise - Henry could spare a moment:"Sure, what's wrong boy?"
"How much copper do you use per every ton of silver?" Takashi tried to trick Henry with a single slip of words. It could all end in a big misunderstanding, but it was worth a shot.
"Just like the boss told me. 60 kilograms per every ton to make it more durable. Anything else?" Didn't it seem weird that Henry could spare so much time knowing that the production didn't stop? He should be adding those extra ores right now.
It could be a misunderstanding, but Takashi made his way to the other Takashi, the worker. He had good news to tell him, he was no longer a suspect by everyone else, since he needed the worker to help him prove that Henry was the saboteur. "Henry is the saboteur. Go call the supervisor and see what's beneath the iron ores he's supposed to be adding."
"If this proves wrong, you are not getting any payment. You hear me?!" Takashi didn't sound very pleased if something was wrong or overlooked.
The next episode that unfolded was a funny one. It's a shame that the blind genin could see what he had resolved, but he could hear Takashi punching Henry and even inviting Sam to help him. Brutally dealing with an unarmed criminal wasn't a shinobi's way, so the genin just decided to leave and come back for his payment when things had settled here.
"You saved me big time! They really were ready to get rid of me by the end of that day!" Takashi was being praised by Takashi, the worker, "here's your ryo. We will keep up the good work. If you ever need some silver decorations, feel free to come over. We don't make silver weapons though, sorry for that. I don't think our silver would really be good enough against anything that's not a vampire, haha" he laughed and patted the genin on his head.
1087
[Exit]
C rank mission 1000/1000
Leftover 87 words.