The wind in the forest carries moisture, and the trees on the Land of Fire border always grow too lush and intertwined, as if they want to bury all the secrets in the soil.
Sai stopped on a thick tree trunk, and tapped the scroll twice with the brush in his hand. Several small ink-colored mice jumped out of the paper, landed silently, and followed the grass into the seemingly ordinary gap in the rock wall ahead.
"No Chakra reaction." Sai put away the scroll, with no expression on his pale face, "But my mouse told me that the air flow underground is not right. The exhaust port is carefully disguised, and the smell is very light. It is a high-level barrier."
Sasuke stood beside him, holding down Kusanagi Sword with one arm. He didn't speak, just stared at the rock wall. Although Sharingan didn't open it, his battle-hardened intuition made the hairs on his back stand up slightly.
He has been to this place before.
A long time ago, when he was a young boy bent on revenge and defected to Orochimaru in pursuit of power, he had passed a similar stronghold. That was the legacy of Danzo, the abscess beneath Leaf's glorious appearance.
"Go in directly?" Sai asked, "Or do you investigate first according to the rules?"
"The rules are for living people." Sasuke unsheathed his sword, and the lightning flashed on the blade, but he controlled it extremely well, without making any harsh noise like a bird's song. "If there are dead people inside, there is no need for rules."
He raised his hand and waved.
There was no earth-shattering explosion. Lightning Release Chakra Like a red-hot table knife cutting into butter, the thick gate disguised as a rock was silently cut into a neat square hole.
The metal at the incision is still red, and Sasuke has already drilled in.
"What a rough way to infiltrate." Sai shook his head and followed, "In the past at Root, this practice would have resulted in three broken ribs by the instructor."
The passage was dark, with only the dim red light emitted by the emergency lights in the corner. The air was filled with an old Machine Oil smell, mixed with the pungent smell of Formalin.
The two walked very lightly. The layout here is the same as that of all Root Base, with maze-like corridors, countless dead ends, and the walls are sandwiched with lead plates that suppress perception.
"Be careful." Sai suddenly stretched out his hand to stop Sasuke.
On the ceiling of the corridor ahead, there is a row of black things hanging upside down. At first glance, they look like bats, but upon closer inspection, they turn out to be some kind of mechanical device, with red electronic eyes that flicker on and off in the darkness.
"Automatic defense puppet." Sai whispered, "It seems that the "abandonment" document signed by consultant Utatane Koharu was not completely implemented."
Before he finished speaking, those puppets moved.
They did not sound an alarm, but directly opened their mechanical wings, and several quenched Senbon poured down like a torrential rain.
Ding-ding-ding-ding.
Sasuke didn't even swing his sword, but turned slightly sideways, and his cloak whipped up a strong wind, sweeping all those Senbon to the ground. At the same time, the paintbrush in Sai's hand danced rapidly in the air.
"Ninja Technique·Super Beast Scroll·Hum Gate."
Two huge black Nioh statues appeared out of thin air, one on the left and one on the right to protect the two of them, then they suddenly clasped their hands together and smashed the mechanical puppet in mid-air into scrap metal.
"Let's go." Sasuke didn't even look at the wreckage on the ground.
The deeper you go, the stronger the nauseating feeling becomes. This is not only due to the oppression of the environment, but also because of the texture of Chakra. There is a sticky, cold energy floating in the air, as if there are countless invisible ghosts whispering in the ear.
Finally, they came to a huge double Gate of Opening. The familiar pattern - the "root" logo - was printed on the door, but it was crossed out with red paint, and a line of number was crookedly written next to it: Proving Ground B-09.
Sasuke recommends Gate of Opening.
The sight in front of them stopped the two ninjas, who were used to seeing life and death, for a moment.
This is a huge circular hall, with hundreds of Glass Cultivation Tank densely arranged on the surrounding walls. Most of them are empty, with only turbid liquid remaining. But the circle in the middle is filled with something.
Not a complete person, but a member.
Pale arms, twisted torso, and the iconic skin covered with wood texture.
"White Zetsu." Sai's voice became colder, "And it has been transformed."
Some White Zetsu's arms were replaced with mechanical gun barrels, some had glowing Energy Core implanted in their chests, and some had their heads cut open, exposing the chip circuits inside.
"This is what they stole." Sasuke walked to a Culture Tank and looked at the half head floating inside, "Mass-produce weapons. It seems that Code not only wants to use that half-finished child, he wants to form an army."
"It's not just the army." Sai pointed to the console in the center of the hall, "Look at that."
On the console, several old-fashioned monitors were still beating with data. On the screen was a Leaf defense map with numerous red dots marked on it. Each red dot corresponded to a weak link in the Leaf barrier.
Next to the screen, there is a document.
Sasuke picked it up and saw the seal of the advisory group on the cover, but the date of signing was yesterday.
The content is a "material allocation order" approving the transfer of this batch of "waste biological samples" to a private port in the north of Land of Fire.
"Transfer?" Sai came over and took a look, "They want to transport these things out? Who will they sell them to?"
"No matter who it is sold to, it shows that someone at Konoha High Command is making double preparations." Sasuke stuffed the document into his arms, "If a war breaks out again at Shinobi World, the person who holds this army will be qualified to sit at the head of the negotiating table."
Suddenly, a burst of applause came from the shadows deep in the hall.
Snap, snap, snap.
The sound was dry, like the tapping of dead wood.
"As expected of the descendant of the Uchiha Clan, his vision is still so vicious."
A rickety figure slowly slid out in a wheelchair. It was an old man in a white coat, half of his face was burned, exposing his yellow gums. His legs were gone, replaced by complex mechanical tracks on the base.
"Who are you?" Sasuke pointed the tip of his sword at the old man.
"The name has been forgotten for a long time." The old man grinned, and the smile looked particularly ferocious in the shadow, "In "Root", we only have a code name. You can call me "Gen'ō", or... the heir of the old ghost who almost blew up Leaf."
"Gen'ō died decades ago." Sai frowned, "I have read the archives."
"Yes, he is dead." The old man patted the armrest of the wheelchair, "But the technology lives on. Although Lord Danzo is no longer here, the legacy he left behind, coupled with the progress of Scientific Ninja Tool over the years... is simply a perfect combination."
The old man raised his skinny finger and pointed at the top of his head.
"Do you think that half-finished kid is the only trump card? You're wrong. It's just a bait, used to test actual combat data."