Purple Cat rarely asked Yōkō for anything. Seeing Purple Cat's anxious state, Yōkō said, "I'll go investigate first and assess the situation."
Yōkō left the office and headed for Root.
Only two ninja remained in Root. Yellow Dog had Yōkō bring three Anbu ninja to Root to help train the new recruits. This identity conveniently allowed him to enter Root.
Yōkō thought to himself that they had killed too many Root members, pushing Danzo to the brink, forcing him to conscript many ninja into Root.
He wondered if forcibly conscribing ninja from the clans would cause resentment among them.
It was just pitiable for the civilian-born ninja; with no one to stand up for them, they could only obey when faced with conscription.
Yōkō thought he understood how desperate Danzo was, but he was still shocked when he saw the 20 children.
How did Danzo find 20 four-year-old children?
It was true that ninja matured early, but only four years old? Wasn't that excessive?
Hei walked over.
"I didn't expect the Anbu to send Captain Fox himself to serve as the Jonin instructor for the new recruits."
Yōkō said, "Vice-Chief Yellow Dog places great importance on the quality of Anbu recruits, so he sent me to take a look."
Hei said, "Captain Fox, this Root training session is divided into the Ninja Group and the Juvenile Group. You will be responsible for training the Ninja Group. These 20 children will be trained by me and Ki. The Ninja Group is required to become combat-ready within 3 to 5 months, and after assignment, they will join either the Anbu or Root."
The members of the Ninja Group at least had Chūnin-level strength.
Yōkō saw that everyone wore white, featureless masks, making it impossible to distinguish who was Yamanaka Ryuu.
Hei handed over a scroll containing the training content.
Hei informed all the new recruits that for the next three months, they would be trained by Anbu Captain Fox.
The new recruits looked at Fox.
Unlike the standard Anbu's black hooded robes, the Captain wore a white long robe.
The weak need disguises; the strong always stand out from their environment.
Yōkō had the three Anbu divide the 20 new recruits into three groups for a taijutsu assessment.
After speed tests, endurance trials, and kunai throwing assessments, Yōkō divided the 20 new recruits into a fast-track class and a slow-track class.
The fast-track class began sparring in pairs, targeting improvements in taijutsu techniques.
The slow-track class underwent extreme training, pushing them to break through their physical limits as quickly as possible through repeated muscle strain, making up for their foundational shortcomings.
Taijutsu was the foundation of Anbu ninja. Infiltration techniques, taijutsu, and explosive tags were the most commonly used assassination methods by the Anbu.
Based on the information about height, hair color, etc., provided by Purple Cat, Yōkō found Yamanaka Ryuu.
Her taijutsu foundation was relatively poor; she was in the slow-track class and would probably take five months before assignment.
Five months would bring them almost to the end of the year, giving Yōkō enough time to figure out a way to rescue Yamanaka Ryuu.
Yōkō looked towards the other end of the training ground; he was more interested in that area.
Twenty four-year-old children, wearing oversized masks, stood listening to Hei's instructions.
In his previous life, four-year-olds were still at the stage of being noisy and troublesome.
These children, however, stood quietly, knowing they must never cry or make a fuss, or they would face dire consequences.
Under Ki's direction, the children picked up kunai and shuriken, familiarizing themselves with the ninja tools.
For adult ninja, a kunai was like a dagger, but for a four-year-old child, a kunai was like a long sword.
After training until noon, Yōkō left Root and returned to the Anbu to find Purple Cat.
"Purple Cat, no need to worry for now. Your sister, Yamanaka Ryuu, has average skills and needs another five months of training. She's safe for the time being."
Hearing Fox's words, Purple Cat breathed a sigh of relief.
With a few months' time, there were still many opportunities.
Yōkō was resting in the Anbu when he suddenly opened his eyes.
Someone extremely powerful was rapidly approaching the Forest of Death!
Yōkō quickly rushed out, emerging above ground from the Anbu's central courtyard.
Tsunade?
Tsunade, wearing a green dress, charged into the Forest of Death.
Golden Eagle was about to move, but Yōkō said, "Wait! Look at Lady Tsunade's direction. She's heading for Root, not our Anbu."
Hearing this, Golden Eagle signaled all his subordinates not to act rashly.
Sure enough, Lady Tsunade headed straight for Root.
Upon reaching the Root base, Tsunade fiercely punched the ground.
Yōkō and Golden Eagle exchanged glances. With a punch like that, wouldn't Root collapse?
In all of Konoha, only Tsunade dared to do such a thing.
Yōkō was curious, what had happened to Tsunade?
No matter how deep the hatred, she couldn't just openly attack Root, could she? This was too crude.
Couldn't she learn from Yōkō? His hands were stained with Root's blood, yet he could still serve as a Jonin instructor within Root.
The roof of the underground Root training field was shattered, a large hole blown open!
A figure in a pale green dress crashed down through the hole.
The sudden sunlight was blinding.
Hei was startled to see a fist rapidly enlarging in his vision.
"Stop!"
Advisor Danzo's voice rang out, halting Tsunade.
When the dust settled, Hei realized what had happened!
Lady Tsunade had smashed through the training field's roof and almost punched him to death.
Seeing Advisor Danzo nearby, Hei quickly said, "Lady Tsunade, what are you doing?"
Tsunade shouted, "Hand over Shizune!"
The Kato surname was rare.
After Kato Dan's death, the most important person bearing it was his niece, Shizune.
Upon hearing Tsunade demand Shizune, Hei replied neither humbly nor arrogantly:
"Lady Tsunade! Everyone must be prepared to sacrifice for Konoha!
These children were carefully selected by Root and must undergo Root's harsh training to become the roots that protect the village in the shadows!"
Tsunade was beyond furious; she felt nauseous hearing these lectures about the Will of Fire now.
"Konoha was founded to give children a chance to grow up!" Tsunade shouted:
"Your Root has captured 20 children to train them from infancy, you make them sacrifice for Konoha, why don't you sacrifice for Konoha?"
Hei said, "I have long been prepared to sacrifice for Konoha! As for the children's chance to grow up, please rest assured, Lady Tsunade, we will train them into qualified ninja."
Tsunade raised her fist again, not wanting to waste words.
A sudden gust of hurricane-force wind shot out from the side.
The hurricane blew Hei away, preventing the fist from landing squarely.
Tsunade couldn't put her full strength into it; Hei's sternum was shattered, but he survived.
Hei believed that even without Lord Danzo's hurricane wind, Tsunade wouldn't actually kill him, so he wasn't afraid of her.
Killing a Konoha compatriot was something Tsunade couldn't do.
This was more about venting anger and frustration.
Retracting her fist, Tsunade turned to look at Danzo, who was slowly approaching.
Danzo's face was half in shadow, half in the light streaming through the hole, appearing extremely sinister.
Danzo said, "Tsunade, do not disturb Root's training of new recruits. Come with me, let's talk."
"Who wants to talk to you! I'm taking Shizune!"
With that, Tsunade went to remove the mask of the nearest child, searching for Shizune.
Ki had already picked up a little girl from the back.
Unnoticed, Ki had quietly positioned herself next to Shizune.
Just as Tsunade was about to pursue Ki and Shizune, Danzo instantly appeared in front of her.
"Let's talk, Tsunade. Use one jutsu in exchange, and you can take Shizune."
***
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(Chapter End)