"Kakashi?" Danzo asked with suspicion.
"Yes," Aburame Ryōma continued:
"The other team was composed of one Chunin and two Genin."
"All three members of the team are confirmed dead. According to the mission report, all three were killed by Kawada Nao."
Danzo instinctively focused his attention on Kakashi:
"A penetrating wound... Kakashi..."
Was it the Chidori?
Danzo couldn't be sure.
Aburame Ryōma suddenly remembered something else and added:
"Lord Danzo, that other squad had also brought a Hyuga clansman with them at the time."
"The Hyuga are so arrogant, why would one of them join a Genin squad?"
"He's a Ninja Academy Student, named Hyuga Aokawa."
"Hyuga Aokawa, huh... We don't need to investigate this person. Focus your efforts on Kakashi's teammates."
"Understood. However, this Hyuga Aokawa is also connected to the deaths of the other two bounty hunters. Those two bounty hunters had previously supplied us with experimental subjects."
Danzo frowned, feeling somewhat irritated.
Why was it this Hyuga Aokawa again?
Why was this guy like a persistent fly, constantly buzzing in his ear, appearing everywhere?
Ever since Hiruzen recommended him, he'd been annoyed by this person every single day.
Just thinking about it made the nameless fire in his belly burn hotter.
"Go and sound out Hyuga Aokawa. See if he knows anything."
"Yes."
"Has the approval for the personnel application come down yet?"
Danzo Shimura suddenly remembered this matter.
Ever since his last failed attempt to demand personnel from Hiruzen Sarutobi, he had switched to a bombardment of official documents.
Waving the banner of Konoha's grand development plan, he applied pressure every few days.
Using righteous causes to coerce Hiruzen Sarutobi.
But that bastard Hiruzen would agree on the surface.
Yet in reality, he would fob him off with a bunch of dead-last students like Uchiha Obito and Hyuga Aokawa.
They had gone back and forth several times, with no resolution yet.
In truth, after several rounds of back-and-forth with Hiruzen Sarutobi, Danzo was starting to feel some regret.
He shouldn't have provoked him by using Asuma back then, just for a moment of anger. After all, Hiruzen was the Hokage.
But regret was one thing; having him bow his head and admit fault was impossible.
It would only further fuel his determination to become Hokage.
Aburame Ryōma struggled to follow Danzo's train of thought. Why had he suddenly jumped to this topic?
But he still answered quietly, "Not yet."
"If Hiruzen tries to fob us off with this Hyuga Aokawa again this time, we might as well just accept it."
"Once we get him, regardless of whether he knows anything or not..."
"Once he enters Root and receives the Cursed Seal, he won't have a choice."
"If he's truly useless, just send him on a mission to get rid of him. That'll save me from being annoyed by him every day."
"Focus your other efforts on investigating Kakashi."
"Yes."
...The next day.
Hyuga Aokawa went to the Hospital as usual, toiling like a beast of burden.
As he passed a fork in the road,
he suddenly felt a chilling cold from behind.
His senses detected a sharp gaze fixed upon him.
He was startled inwardly. Why did this feeling seem so familiar?
He pretended to be completely unaware and continued forward.
"Hyuga Aokawa!"
The person behind him called out, stopping him.
Only then did Hyuga Aokawa turn around with a puzzled expression.
He saw a Ninja wearing an Anbu mask standing on a rooftop, looking down at him from above.
"And you are?"
The other person jumped down, but his chin was still slightly raised, looking down at Hyuga Aokawa with great arrogance.
"I am an Anbu member. I am here to conduct a routine inquiry with you."
"Routine inquiry?" Hyuga Aokawa was somewhat puzzled.
"Regarding the deaths of the three members of your previous squad, and the matter of you killing two bounty hunters."
After Yūhi Shinku submitted the mission report, hadn't the Anbu already come to understand the specific details?
Why were they here again?
Sensing the chilling aura and Evil Qi emanating from the other person, Hyuga Aokawa began to understand.
This was probably Root.
He remained impassive and repeated the story he had fabricated for Yūhi Shinku.
Sure enough, this "Anbu" member used the deaths of the three squad members as a pretext for questioning, but rarely inquired about the details of their deaths.
Instead, he showed great interest in the big man and the two brothers.
Fortunately, after the last Anbu inquiry, Hyuga Aokawa had prepared for every detail regarding this part.
He recited the pre-prepared account one by one.
During this process, he noticed something.
This "Anbu" member kept talking in circles, trying to prevent Hyuga Aokawa from discerning his true purpose through repeated questioning.
At the same time, he was verifying the authenticity of the events Hyuga Aokawa described.
But Hyuga Aokawa had already prepared for all this. His powerful spiritual energy made his mind much clearer than an ordinary person's.
Moreover, he wasn't a child. He could roughly sense
what this "Anbu" member was truly interested in.
It was whether the few words spoken by those three men had revealed any information.
Regarding this aspect, he had nothing to hide, so he told the truth.
Because he really hadn't obtained any information from them.
The materials seized from the three of them had already been submitted in full.
Seeing that he couldn't extract any other information, the "Anbu" member didn't even say goodbye. He vanished directly using the Body Flicker Technique.
"It seems Root's entanglement with these bounty hunters runs deep,"
Hyuga Aokawa thought to himself.
He suddenly felt a sense of urgency. Once he started dealing with Root,
it meant he had already entered their field of vision.
Now, it wasn't just the Third Great Ninja War; there were also threats from these internal rats.
He headed straight for the Hospital.
Because Root had delayed him considerably, he was already somewhat late when he arrived at the Hospital.
He hurriedly changed into his medical protective clothing and began his rounds for the day.
Konoha Hospital was newly established and hadn't yet developed to the point where,
like in later generations, it was strictly divided into many departments based on illnesses.
However, the part involving asking patients about their feelings and conditions was left to the nurses to record.
He was only responsible for checking the patients' recovery status.
With heaven-defying divine techniques like Medical Ninjutsu, there weren't as many hospitalized patients as in later generations.
Furthermore, with the Byakugan, the checks were also very fast.
Soon, the rounds were over.
He hurriedly rushed to the conference room to attend the daily morning meeting, where they discussed treatment plans for difficult patients.
The Hospital didn't know where Hyuga Aokawa had learned such rich knowledge and experience.
But given that his medical knowledge was more solid and comprehensive than most doctors',
and he could always provide very practical and feasible suggestions,
he was required to attend the daily discussion meetings.
As soon as he entered the conference room, he noticed there were far fewer doctors attending the morning meeting today.
He didn't even see Hattori Kako, the leader of his group, or the deputy leader, Ishida Yuki.
The injury case discussed in today's meeting was very severe. They had been discussing it for a full two hours and still hadn't finished.
But he hadn't seen any sign of his two group leaders for so long.
He nudged his colleague Chiba Yuzu beside him and asked quietly:
"Yuzu, where are our two group leaders? I don't see them."
"Huh? They're not here?" Chiba Yuzu looked around. It was true; she didn't see them.
"Maybe they went to participate in the Medical Team selection."
Hyuga Aokawa was startled inwardly:
"Medical Team selection
?"