Before he knew it, evening had arrived.
After a day of traveling, fighting, and more traveling, Hyuga Yu finally reached the Kusunami Coast.
The Konoha camp was situated in a coconut grove on another stretch of coastline about twenty kilometers away from Yu's current position.
The Kusunami Coast sat on the eastern border of the Land of Fire. Across the sea lay the Land of Waves; however, at this point in time, the Great Naruto Bridge had not yet been built. The two nations still relied on ships to travel back and forth.
The primary battlefields where Konoha and the Hidden Mist clashed during the Third Shinobi World War were spread across three locations: the Land of Bears to the southeast of the Land of Fire, the ruins of the Land of Whales, and the Land of Waves.
Due to the Hidden Mist's superior naval fleet and advantage on the water, the isolated battlefields of the Land of Whales and the Land of Waves would soon fall. The front lines would then be pushed further toward the eastern coast of the Land of Fire and the Land of Bears.
In the near future, the very stretch of coast before Yu would become a new primary battlefield.
In his estimation, it would be a tragic and bloody struggle for a beachhead. Whether the main force of the Hidden Mist could successfully land and establish a secure supply route between the sea and the Land of Fire's mainland would directly influence the situation and direction of the entire eastern front.
But for now...
This pristine white beach had not yet been stained by blood. The broad shore was covered in shimmering, fine sand, with coral and shells scattered haphazardly. The shadows of the coconut groves and mangroves behind the beach were pulled long, very long, by the light of the setting sun.
At that moment, Aburame Ryōma stood in the shadow of a large coconut tree.
Ninjas from Root seemed to have a particular fondness for these dark, "edgy" positions. From Yu's perspective, the man stood with his back turned, facing the tree; it was impossible to tell what he was even looking at.
And so, they stood in silence.
It wasn't until the horizon swallowed the last sliver of sunlight that Aburame Ryōma exhaled a soft breath. He withdrew his gaze from a coconut beetle that had begun to crawl across the trunk, ending his brief moment of leisure.
It was a Red Palm Weevil, a species of the Curculionidae family. During the day, they usually hid beneath leaf bases or in crevices, only becoming active at night.
Much like Aburame Ryōma himself.
Having stood in place for nearly three hours, Yu—who was beginning to tire of the seaside scenery no matter how beautiful it was—saw Ryōma finally move and quickly spoke up.
"Ryōma-sama."
"Mm."
Ryōma gave a muffled grunt in response and slowly turned around. He cast a faint glance at Yu, but instead of mentioning his formal induction into Root, he spoke these words first:
"You are dissatisfied."
Yu froze.
Then, he heard Ryōma continue in a cold, matter-of-fact tone.
"You already guessed that the Hyūga Head Family was merely bait, and that Root has been in control of the overall situation from the beginning. Consequently, you tried to flip the script, attempting to use Root to help you eliminate the risk of your information being leaked."
Ryōma stared indifferently at Yu's twitching eyelid and stated calmly:
"But I did not help you."
Yu's heart jolted, but for a moment, he didn't know how to respond.
Ryōma didn't dwell on the point, merely offering a faint reminder:
"In this incident, you misjudged one thing. You indeed displayed 'value' worthy of being accepted into Root. However, you mistakenly tried to weigh that 'value' against the 'entirety of Konoha' on the scales."
"Therefore—"
"You will be used as a bargaining chip, becoming the second bait in the plan."
Yu's heart tightened as he suddenly realized the situation was slipping out of his control. He immediately asked, "The second bait? A plan? What is it?"
Ryōma calmly revealed information that was, at this moment, a top-level secret:
"Konoha is already fighting on three fronts, facing the Hidden Sand, Hidden Stone, and Hidden Cloud simultaneously. At this time, we absolutely cannot afford a war on four fronts. According to the intelligence assessment sent back by the 'Walking Maiden,' the probability of the eastern front's forces—comprised of the Hyūga, Uchiha, and other clans—winning a head-on confrontation with the Hidden Mist is... essentially zero."
"Therefore, Root's current operation, having received the recognition and permission of the Hokage and the three Elders, is titled—"
"The Kirigakure Collapse Plan."
Hearing such an exaggerated title for the plan, Yu's heart hammered against his ribs. He knit his brows and asked, "Then what is the bait? What do I need to do?"
Ryōma looked at Yu as if he were looking at a dead man.
After a long silence, he shook his head and said faintly, "You don't need to do anything."
Hearing this, Yu finally understood why Ryōma had let Ao go. At the same time, he felt his throat go dry.
Needing to do "nothing" meant that regardless of whether Yu was willing or not, he would be arranged to be the second bait to lure the Hidden Mist into action again. He would be targeted by the Mist for an extremely logical reason.
Furthermore, Yu currently possessed exactly that kind of "value."
As for the life or death of the bait...
It was irrelevant.
After all, do you care about the life or death of the earthworm you use as fish bait?
Yu's current role was that of that helpless earthworm. Root was never a beautiful place, and it would never be an Eden where one could escape reality.
Yu had expected this. He just hadn't expected this day to come so soon!
He turned back to Aburame Ryōma and asked with a heavy, serious expression:
"Ryōma-sama, if I want to live... what should I do?"
Seeing the change in Yu's expression, a faint, almost imperceptible smile finally tugged at the corner of Ryōma's mouth. He said tonelessly, "Increase your strength."
Yu's heart pounded. He pressed further, "To what level?"
Ryōma's gaze sharpened as he looked at the boy with the Byakugan. He said in a low voice:
"Increase it until you possess the 'value' to participate in the next stage of the mission."
"And what is the next stage?"
Ryōma spat out two sentences with steady, calm conviction:
"The subversion of the Hidden Mist."
"The assassination of the Third Mizukage!"
Yu suddenly grew calm.
But it was by no means the calmness of someone giving up because a task was impossibly difficult. Rather, it was a sudden sharpening of focus—a willpower like steel that took countless complex goals and twisted them into a single line, one that could pierce through a sea of fire and cross the very ends of hell.
"I understand."
"It is good that you understand."
Ryōma didn't say anything more on the subject. He nodded calmly, then pulled a scroll from beneath his trench coat and tossed it to Yu.
Yu caught the scroll and unfurled it.
The large character for "Root" (根) was written in the center. Beside it was a list of the supplies stored within the scroll:
Ninja tools, a Root uniform, three scrolls of Wind Style essentials, one standard Root mask, poisons, suicide pills...
Yu carefully read through the contents before looking up.
Ryōma then asked, "You also have one opportunity to browse Root's library of collected secret techniques and choose one A-rank Jutsu. What do you want?"
Ryōma asked without setting any specific limitations. This meant that aside from the S-rank Kinjutsu (Forbidden Techniques) stored in the Scroll of Seals, almost any technique in Konoha was Yu's for the choosing.
Countless options flashed through Yu's mind in an instant.
Finally, he spoke, requesting an A-rank technique:
"Fūinjutsu: Five Elements Seal."
Ryōma nodded. "It will be delivered to you in three days."
Then, he turned and walked slowly toward the shore. His body dissolved into a swarm of kikaichū bugs that scattered into the sea breeze.
From the distance, a single sentence lingered:
"Welcome, brat... to the Shinobi of Root."
————
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