Your People Are Mine, and So Is Your Life

As a spy, Nonō was always sharp.

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The moment she heard the explosion, she realized it was a trap targeting Neji and herself.

What Nonō couldn't understand was why Danzo had decided to abandon her.

She had served the village with distinction during her years in Root and had done nothing wrong.

Besides, with the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal in place, there was no need to worry about her leaking secrets.

Who could have guessed she'd end up as a pawn to be discarded?

Yakushi Nonō glanced at Neji.

She remembered that Kabuto had been about Neji's age—only six—when Danzo took him away.

She wondered how Kabuto was doing now.

Had Danzo trained him to be a medical ninja? Or had he become a professional spy, like her?

Nonō turned her head again and stared at the ceiling with her beautiful eyes. Her heart deadened, she said, "Since you know who I am, you must understand that a Root ninja can't betray Danzo."

Though the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal was placed on the tongue, it directly affected a ninja's brain and nerves.

It made it impossible for Root ninjas to leak secrets in any way.

No one had ever managed to escape the seal's control.

Unless Danzo died.

But if that happened, Kumogakure wouldn't need her anymore.

After hearing Nonō, Neji narrowed his eyes.

This woman had been determined to break away from Root.

Her departure from Root to establish an orphanage after the Third Shinobi World War was the best example.

Unfortunately, Danzo couldn't bear to lose such a capable tool.

The orphanage had been operating for only a few years when Danzo used the village's lack of funds as an excuse to threaten Nonō into returning to Root and serving him.

With the orphanage and the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal as her two vulnerabilities—

especially the former—

Nonō could only let Danzo manipulate her.

But she'd never have imagined that Danzo, who had kept such a tight grip on her weaknesses, would choose to silence her.

Nonō couldn't understand it. Even Neji, with the benefit of an all-knowing perspective, couldn't make sense of it.

A woman like Nonō, who couldn't fight her way out of a paper bag, posed no threat to Root.

Killing her brought Danzo no benefit whatsoever.

Yet he'd done it anyway.

Neji gathered his thoughts and looked down at the helpless blonde woman on the bed with his Tenseigan.

If he wanted to win Nonō over and put her to work for Kumogakure—no, for him—he first had to remove the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal.

If even Kabuto, who'd mastered the Reaper Death Seal, could undo a seal, then the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal should be no problem.

In the original story, after Orochimaru recruited Yakushi Kabuto, he must have removed the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal from him.

"Aunt Nonō, every jutsu has a weakness. The Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal can be removed, too."

As he spoke, Neji walked up to her and said, "Open your mouth. Let me take a look."

Nonō's eyelashes trembled.

She didn't really believe Neji could remove the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal.

Still, there was no harm in letting him try.

Nonō parted her lips and stuck out her small, pink tongue.

Neji leaned forward, the veins on his forehead bulging as he examined it closely with the Byakugan.

Most Sealing Jutsu worked on the same principle.

The caster used their own chakra to influence the target's chakra.

The Five Elements Seal and the Four Symbols Seal were no exceptions.

Neji studied the seal intently for a long time.

He only stopped when Nonō started feeling uncomfortable and saliva began pooling in her mouth.

"Did you find anything?"

Seeing how intently Neji had examined her, nodding now and then and occasionally looking thoughtful, Nonō couldn't help feeling curious.

Neji nodded slightly. "Removing it wouldn't be that hard."

Nonō sat up in excitement.

"You can remove it?"

"No."

"..."

Nonō shot Neji an annoyed look, thinking, If you can't, why were you staring at it for so long?

Neji rubbed his temples.

To remove the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal, he first needed exceptionally precise chakra control. He also needed a certain degree of understanding of the seal itself.

Right now, he had less than a ten percent chance of success.

If he failed, Nonō wouldn't survive.

He had to be absolutely certain before trying.

Fortunately, there was no rush.

"For now, stay here and keep running the place as its proprietress."

"Wait."

Nonō watched Neji as he started to leave, panic creeping into her voice. "They won't let me go. Are you... are you planning to use me as bait?"

Neji shook his head. "I'm their primary target. They won't risk going after you again before they deal with me."

"The Patrol Team is searching the whole village for suspicious people. Root won't dare show itself for a while. As long as you stay in Kumogakure, you'll be safe."

Nonō stood up, hesitant and uncertain. "How about this? You can hand me over to the Fourth Raikage. Then you won't have to worry about the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal."

She trusted Neji.

But she didn't trust his abilities.

The Fourth Raikage was the one in charge of Kumogakure.

Neji might be a genius, but he was only six. How much could he really do?

Neji walked up to Nonō, taking in the sight of the gentle, beautiful blonde woman. He hooked a finger under her chin.

"Aunt Nonō, you're alive because of me. You'd better be clear about whose side you're on."

"I have to remind you: from the moment I saved you, you became mine—your life, too."

After leaving Ju Restaurant, Neji headed straight for the Raikage Building to meet with the Fourth Raikage.

Root ninjas had infiltrated Kumogakure.

And there weren't just one or two of them. There were at least a dozen.

The Barrier Team hadn't noticed a thing.

Clearly, Root had planted a mole in the village.

Kumogakure's barrier codes were completely different from Konoha's. They were changed regularly and followed no discernible pattern.

The mole knew the barrier codes. Their rank and status must be quite high.

They had to root him out.

Neji told the Fourth Raikage everything that had happened.

He kept the information about the Tenseigan to himself.

When the Fourth Raikage heard that Neji had been attacked, he flew into a rage and tore his desk in half with his bare hands.

But when he learned that a large number of Root ninjas had infiltrated the village, Dodai, standing beside him, knitted his brows and fell into a deep silence.

Neji took the cloaked man's left arm out of his storage scroll and said slowly:

"This cloaked man had an unusual sword style and was skilled in the Shadow Imitation Technique. He was probably a ninja from the Nara Clan."

"He lost an arm to me. We can start there and use it to expose Root."

The Fourth Raikage said, "Dodai, investigate thoroughly."

"If we investigate too openly, we might antagonize the major clans and unsettle the villagers."

Dodai thought for a moment, then raised his brows. "But if we don't investigate thoroughly, Root is so good at hiding that we may never find them."

The Fourth Raikage raised his brows. "You have a plan, don't you?"

Neji interjected, "Draw them out."

Dodai glanced at Neji. "Root ninjas are machines stripped of their humanity. They won't give up until they've completed their mission. Unless they receive orders from Danzo to retreat, they'll strike again. That'll be our chance."