The long corridor was dimly lit.
"Huff… huff…"
Ragged breathing echoed off the walls.
Arashi held saliva in his mouth, terrified to swallow. He stayed perfectly still while the girl gripped the soft spot beneath his ribs. Warm blood seeped through his clothes, dyeing them a blackish red. Wind Release, sharp enough to tear steel, scraped against the bone membrane, sending tremors from the inside out.
Iwa Kuma trembled all over with killing intent. Lightning Release had threaded through his nerves. His muscles refused to obey.
The three of them froze in a deadlock.
At their feet, the lone short blade lay on the ground, yet strangely cast not even a sliver of shadow.
By the door, the contrast between black and red, red and black, grew sharper.
Pitch-black shadow beasts pressed against the ceiling, hemming everyone in from every direction. Four thick water pythons twisted as they shielded the girl from behind, necks arched, fangs bared, roaring soundlessly.
After pinning down the two who had exploded into action, Konome shot a glare at Chō, who was pretending to form seals and "cast" a genjutsu. Then she turned her eyes back to the two freaks at the door, the ones with transplanted Sharingan.
That shadow control had to be from the Nara clan.
No hand signs. Just a stare and a pulse of ocular power, and the shadows outside moved at will. Nara shadow techniques paired with the Sharingan actually produced this kind of linked effect.
With a large supply of Sharingan and Hashirama cells to support them, Root's secret-technique shinobi were going to be even more troublesome than she had imagined.
"Hngh."
The hand on Arashi's ribs tightened. He let out a muffled groan of pain. Blood still wouldn't stop pouring from his abdomen. His legs were starting to go weak.
He never expected her to be proficient in Fire Release too.
No seals, no warning, and even the way she produced flames was nothing like standard Fire Release. Who in the world breathes fire out of their back? As a Wind Release close-combat specialist, he simply had no way to fight someone like this.
"The… the lords of Root are all inside the conference hall. If you kill me…"
Konome's fingertip lightly traced along his ribs.
Arashi's body went rigid, visible to the naked eye.
Once he finally behaved, Konome glanced toward the wooden door at the end of the corridor. Above it, tiny insects shimmered with chakra light as they crawled out in a steady stream.
She had noticed the abnormality the moment she was brought here.
There was an Aburame expert inside Root. That meant Danzo already knew everything happening outside.
She had no intention of killing anyone here.
Like Arashi said, killing Root shinobi right in front of the conference hall was the same as slapping Danzo across the face. Her plan to steal Hashirama cells would be declared dead on the spot.
No leader could tolerate that kind of humiliation.
Still, what she did was not meaningless.
One punch to open the way, so a hundred punches never come. Showing power and attitude was how you earned status and resources and avoided pointless trouble. It was not about showing off.
Danzo wanted those two monsters to give her a warning at the door. Then she would give him one back.
Coaxing was fine. Intimidation was not.
While the stalemate dragged on, more and more insects crawled out from the crack of the door. Everyone's attention was pulled.
Bzzzz.
Kikaichū swarmed. In moments, they gathered into a human silhouette.
"Let her in."
A dull male voice issued from the insect-formed head. After delivering the order, the insect clone scattered immediately, not waiting for any reaction.
"Yes."
The two guards answered softly.
The tomoe in their Sharingan stopped turning, then slowly closed. The shadow beasts blanketed across the corridor flattened into the walls, reverting into plain silhouettes shaped like Konome and the others.
A thin shadow finally appeared beneath the blade on the floor.
The corner shadows twisted. The two guards' bodies turned hazy, then vanished.
Drip.
Blood fell.
Konome slowly withdrew both hands from Arashi and Iwa Kuma's bodies, dragging out splashes of blood. Both men shuddered at the same time.
One water python tilted its head, its forked tongue flicking as it licked her crimson fingertips.
Chō, completely uninjured, hurried forward to support his two teammates.
It was not that he did not want to help. In a narrow, sealed corridor, a genjutsu specialist had limited value, especially against a taijutsu-focused elite jōnin. Being alive at all already counted as luck.
Outside, he might have had room to work. In here, the three of them together still were not enough for her.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
With the obstacle cleared, Konome waved away the water pythons and walked straight toward the mysterious wooden door that her Byakugan still could not pierce. Chō half-dragged the two injured men as he followed.
At the door, she swept the corners with her gaze. Even with her Byakugan pushed to its limit, she could not detect a single flicker of chakra. Those two were hidden inside shadow itself, as if they did not belong to this world.
Impressive.
Konome gave a faint, appreciative shake of her head, then pushed the wooden door open and stepped into Root's meeting chamber.
The chamber was the opposite of the cramped corridor.
It was a vast hollowed-out space, like the inside of a mountain. It was brightly lit, and a dense constellation of chakra lights flooded into Konome's vision.
There was only one chair, placed atop a massive platform.
An old man with a cane and a single visible eye leaned back in that chair, staring down from above.
On his left stood a man in a black cloak and dark glasses, with a purple marking on the right side of his face. The chakra signature matched the kikaichū at the door perfectly.
Everyone else wore uniform black hoods, standing below the platform. At the sound of Konome entering, every head turned toward her.
Masks with distinct patterns reflected the light dully. The atmosphere was so cold it made the skin crawl.
Ignoring the oppressive stares, Konome swept her Byakugan across the room and collected everyone's chakra data.
One elite jōnin.
The number of chūnin and jōnin combined was under ten.
Fifty-three tokubetsu jōnin.
Judging strength by chakra volume alone was not perfectly rigorous, but excluding anomalies like Naruto, the difference usually did not lie by much.
Including Iwa Kuma and the others who entered behind her, there were exactly seventy shinobi in this chamber.
This was enough force to wipe out any country outside the Five Great Nations.
Was Root really this strong?
Konome lifted her brows in surprise, then walked up the steps on the right side of the platform under everyone's silent gaze.
"Teacher."
Her clear voice echoed in the stone chamber. Below, Root shinobi did not speak or ask. They stood like statues.
If not for the faint emotional fluctuations above their heads, Konome might have questioned whether they were even alive.
Gold dust mixed with pale pink emotional light leaked out. Konome ground her molars in disgust. She could barely stomach looking at the so-called Darkness of the Shinobi World.
Danzo stared at the silver-haired girl before him.
The two "shadow guards" at the door, along with Iwa Kuma's team, were meant to be her warning. He already knew the outcome through Aburame Ryūma.
The bad news was that Konome truly did not listen. She refused even a simple body search. His warning had failed completely.
The good news was that she was absurdly strong.
Danzo examined her from head to toe. He had assumed the rumors Hiruzen released, about her taking severe injuries and still killing a Cloud elite jōnin, contained exaggeration.
There was no exaggeration at all.
If anything, it sounded too conservative.
Who was "counter-killing" whom?
Were Cloud elite jōnin really that strong?
Removing Danzo himself, Aburame Ryūma, and certain "unpresentable" experimental subjects, Root had eight jōnin in total.
The two at the door were experiments. Add Iwa Kuma's three jōnin-level fighters, and there were five jōnin-tier combatants involved. Two were killed instantly the moment they moved. The remaining three, in that cramped corridor, would not have been her match either.
Aburame Ryūma could probably do it too, but he excelled at infiltration and reconnaissance. In pure battle power, he could not compare to Konome.
This girl was a freak. Skilled in ninjutsu and taijutsu, highly resistant to genjutsu, more well-rounded than Hiruzen, more gifted than any shinobi Danzo had ever seen.
If she simply maintained this pace and let her body and chakra core mature normally, reaching Kage level was inevitable.
Looking at her still-childish face, Danzo almost felt grateful.
Grateful for his decisiveness. Grateful for his "wisdom." He had used Kotoamatsukami to seize her from Hiruzen's hands before she fully matured.
If she were allowed to grow to completion, aside from sealing techniques, he could not even find a proper way to target her.
"Teacher, Danzo?"
Konome stared at Danzo, her disgust deepening.
Was he deliberately staying silent, just to make her call him "Teacher" so he could enjoy it in his head?
Hiruzen truly had committed sins in a past life.
"From today onward, you officially join Root."
Hidden beneath the bandages, Danzo's Mangekyō slowly opened.
He could sense that the power of Kotoamatsukami still lingered inside the mind of the future "twin-flower red staff." It had not been consumed. It had not been cleared.
She was disobedient now, but no human will could resist the might of the Mangekyō forever. Turning her into a tool without emotion was only a matter of time.
Danzo believed his body was still strong enough to wait.
Stripping away her last "flaw" in his mind, Danzo grew more and more pleased. Even his tone no longer sounded so icy.
"All official members who are not on missions attend the routine council at this time every weekend. It is the perfect occasion for everyone to recognize you."
Danzo lifted a hand toward the crowd.
Recognize her?
More like make her Root identity official.
Seeing through him, Konome looked down at the deathly quiet shinobi below without a care.
She felt no moral burden about joining Root.
First, she had zero interest in becoming Hokage. Being labeled a Root member was a political stain that meant nothing to her.
Second, Danzo's Kotoamatsukami was a universal shield. Joining Root could always be framed as being controlled, not her true will.
Finally, once she obtained a Sage Body, not only would it solve the Grey Bone problem, but anyone who disagreed could settle it with their hands. When that time came, scholars would appear out of nowhere to argue her righteousness.
"I am Uzui Konome, Danzo-sensei's newly accepted disciple. From today on, I officially join Root."
She kept her introduction brief. She had no interest in circling words with Danzo.
Below, Root remained silent.
"Did none of you hear her?"
Danzo's cold voice rang through the chamber. Only then did the shinobi seem to wake from a dream. Yet facing the silver-haired girl on the platform, they looked at one another, unsure how to respond.
"Greetings, Lady Konome."
At the critical moment, the most tactful one was Chō. He shouted and lowered his head, half-dragging the two injured men with him.
That movement jolted everyone else.
"Greetings, Lady Konome."
A sea of heads bowed. The greeting sounded rehearsed, perfectly uniform, echoing through the empty hall without a hint of feeling.
By age, Konome was not remotely someone others should call "Lady." Yet as she looked down at the kneeling mass, she could not help feeling it.
No wonder so many people were addicted to power.
This sense of control was intoxicating.
"How is it?"
Danzo leaned forward slightly, watching her face.
"Did your former teacher, Hiruzen Sarutobi, ever give you this kind of treatment? He did not even dare make your relationship public."
His Mangekyō flared again.
Transparent Yin Release chakra was activated, extending phantom spikes that pierced into Konome's mind.
Kotoamatsukami could not be used again immediately in full, but that did not mean the eye was useless. Anyone influenced by it carried a lingering residue in their mind. With a simple tug of ocular power, Danzo could still nudge their will.
His right eye's Kotoamatsukami was not inferior. It could not rewrite forever, but it could be guided and "remotely steered," making it more flexible.
Only by using both eyes together did Kotoamatsukami truly earn the name of the strongest genjutsu.
Konome cooperatively tilted her head slightly.
Not affected by the genjutsu, and with Danzo's emotional glow practically spelling out the answer key, Konome knew exactly what he wanted to hear.
"Danzo-sensei's… guidance is better."
"Hmph."
Satisfied, Danzo hummed in extreme pleasure.
Making Hiruzen's carefully raised disciple call him "Sensei," then admit he was better than Hiruzen, was almost the greatest joy in the world for him.
If there was something greater, it would be having her stab Hiruzen in the back and help Danzo seize the Hokage seat.
"You may leave."
Having made her identity public, Danzo waved and dismissed the tools below.
"Yes!"
They answered in unison. Then flashes of Body Flicker Technique lit the room, leaving only the three figures who were half-supporting one another, hurrying out.
"Ryūma."
"Sir."
Aburame Ryūma, cold as ice, bowed his head. His face did not change in the slightest.
"Take her to the armory. Issue her a Root uniform and mask. Register her. Then send her to Chihaya for reporting."
"Yes."
Aburame Ryūma remained deathly still.
"Why was Doctor Chihaya not at the meeting?"
Konome finally realized. Chihaya was not among the members below, even though by his position he should have been a core figure.
"He has something more important to do. Once you finish registration with Ryūma, you will understand."
Danzo bared a smile that was unsettlingly sinister.
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