Meanwhile, deep underground in Konoha, within a bottomless ravine, a steel bridge stretched outward, linking the four cardinal directions to the sheer rock walls of the abyss.
At its center stood a steel tower embedded deep underground, its structure resembling the intake tower of a massive dam.
This was Root—the department publicly known as Konoha's ANBU Training Division.
Inside the tower's high-level office, two figures stood before a floor-to-ceiling window, gazing into the endless darkness below.
One was an elderly man with black, spiked hair and neatly trimmed sideburns. His head and right eye were wrapped in bandages, his face lined with deep, grim wrinkles. He held an unfurled scroll in his hand, eyes scanning its contents.
When his gaze landed on the conspicuous word "Hyuga" listed under the Employer section, his brow furrowed slightly.
This man was Shimura Danzō—leader of Root, and the one known as the Darkness of the Shinobi World.
The scroll he held was none other than the mission commission form Hyuga Yuu had submitted at the Hokage Building not long ago.
"Hyuga Yuu…" Danzō muttered. "I remember this brat. He was already on our observation list."
He glanced sideways at the man standing beside him.
Aburame Ryōma was cloaked from head to toe, his body concealed beneath a hooded robe. Black sunglasses hid his eyes completely, giving him an air of detachment.
"Born among civilians," Danzō continued indifferently, "with resentment festering in his heart."
"It's a pity," he added coldly. "Just a common sparrow with mediocre talent."
Aburame Ryōma nodded.
"The Chūnin Exams already confirmed that his potential is unremarkable," he said calmly. "However, the reason he stands out now is simple."
"He noticed our surveillance—and chose to approach us on his own, offering conditions directly to you."
"Hmph."
A low, mocking laugh escaped Danzō.
Since becoming the Hokage's advisor and founding Root, he had long been regarded as a venomous snake or a lurking scorpion—someone others avoided at all costs.
This was the first time a mere genin had dared to approach him proactively.
"How should we handle it?" Danzō asked.
Aburame Ryōma raised a finger to adjust his sunglasses, his tone measured.
"The Byakugan possesses undeniable strategic value. Even if he is only a branch-family genin, that alone gives him worth."
"However…"
His words trailed off. Danzō already understood the implication.
The Caged Bird Seal.
A Hyuga branch member branded with it was, in essence, a slave to the main family. Information, relationships, wealth, power—everything could be seized or controlled at the main family's whim.
Under such circumstances, even branding Hyuga Yuu with the Tongue Root Curse Seal would not guarantee secrecy. Information leakage would remain a constant risk.
And for Root—an organization that lived and died by information—that risk was unacceptable.
Danzō frowned, pinching his chin as he fell into thought.
At present, Root was undergoing a period of aggressive expansion.
Using the aftermath of two consecutive Great Ninja Wars as justification, Danzō had convinced the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, to grant him special privileges—allowing him to bypass normal procedures, rapidly expand personnel, and operate independently of standard ANBU oversight.
In sheer numbers, Root now rivaled—and even surpassed—the Hokage's ANBU.
Yet the organization suffered from a fatal flaw.
Its structure was singular.
Or more bluntly—there were too few strong individuals.
Those who could truly be called elite numbered only a handful: Shimura Danzō himself, Aburame Ryōma, and the "Three Sannin" Orochimaru—who followed orders, but never commands.
Below them were mostly civilian-born shinobi recruited from ANBU or the Ninja Academy.
Future elites—Hatake Kakashi, Tenzo, Yamanaka Fū, Aburame Torune, Shin, Sai—were either not yet born, serving directly under the Third Hokage, or still incubating within Orochimaru's laboratories.
To address this imbalance, Danzō had once proposed recruiting talented children from Konoha's major clans.
The Third Hokage had agreed—then smiled and told him to negotiate personally.
The result was predictable.
Every clan treated Danzō like a thief.
Some refused him outright. Others claimed their clan head was away. A few insisted that all eligible children were afflicted with incurable illnesses and regrettably unavailable for Elder Danzō's service.
Even the relatively close Aburame clan had deflected him, insisting there were no promising candidates in their generation.
Danzō was not lacking in cannon fodder, spies, or disposable operatives.
What he wanted were elites—shinobi capable of standing alone. What ordinary people would call geniuses.
Or rather, elites that met the standards of a Hokage's personal guard.
Hyuga Yuu clearly did not qualify.
But…
"If he serves as a stepping stone," Danzō thought, "this brat… barely suffices."
Decision made, Danzō reached into his robes and withdrew a blue scroll marked with the Shimura clan crest. He tossed it to Aburame Ryōma.
"Absorb the brat as an external member of Root."
"External?" Ryōma paused, surprise flickering beneath his hood.
Danzō's gaze turned icy.
"Disclose nothing to him. Involve him in no Root operations. Provide no training related to our core plans."
He paused, his voice dropping lower.
"But those eyes of his must be used. Make him give everything to strengthening the roots of Konoha."
With that, Danzō turned away and returned to his desk, burying himself once more in the mountain of intelligence reports and tedious paperwork Hiruzen Sarutobi had offloaded onto him.
The matter of Hyuga Yuu was nothing more than a passing thought to a man who aimed for the Hokage's seat.
Useful or not—it would reveal itself in time.
Once Danzō made a decision, the process no longer mattered. Only the outcome did.
The gulf between their statuses was like a chasm—no different from flicking an insect off one's sleeve.
Hyuga Yuu's fate had quietly begun to shift.
As the saying went: when the leader moves his mouth, the subordinates run themselves ragged.
Faced with Danzō's sudden decision to create an "external member of Root," Aburame Ryōma felt an immediate headache forming.
"Don't allow this, don't allow that…" he thought wryly. "Yet I'm expected to exploit his Byakugan perfectly, without letting him touch Root intelligence at all."
"How exactly am I supposed to place this brat?"
Then, a thought surfaced.
"The Second Hokage's Zero-Tailed Beast research has hit a bottleneck," Ryōma murmured to himself. "The project team was dismantled by Orochimaru. All members are currently idle…"
His lips curled slightly beneath the hood.
"I can assign this brat to the 'Shukaku' squad."
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