Root's Bond

After being led through a meticulous examination by Yozuki A, Tamura Hiroshi saw that Yozuki A looked like he wanted to say something but hesitated, and couldn't help smiling: "Brother Yozuki, we're practically fellow disciples now. If you have something to say, just say it directly."

"When's your next masterpiece coming out?"

Yozuki A glanced left and right, and only after confirming no one was around did he lower his voice and ask.

He was a loyal fan of this junior disciple, having purchased every masterpiece, and was always looking forward to the next one.

Although this junior disciple was highly prolific—one book a month, each around a hundred thousand words—it still wasn't enough to satisfy him.

He'd finished the last book on the very first day he bought it, and for the past half month, he'd been craving more.

Seeing that Yozuki A was asking about this, Tamura Hiroshi's eye twitched, and he replied helplessly: "The manuscript has already been sent to the publishing house. It should be in printing now, and you'll be able to buy it on the first of next month."

"Junior disciple, you're prolific!"

Yozuki A gave a thumbs-up, his inner desire even stronger.

Fortunately, he only had to wait another week before he could get his hands on it.

"Do you need to change your residence?"

He then brought up another matter. During the examination just now, he'd talked with this junior disciple and learned that his current residence was in the civilian district—a messy, complicated area that wasn't ideal.

"No need. Lord Dodai seems to have some ideas, so it's better for me to stay there."

Shaking his head slightly, Tamura Hiroshi could roughly understand Dodai's intent. Simply put, he was to act as a semi-double agent, using this to scheme against Shimura Danzō and Konoha.

He had no objection to this. Only by showing enough value could he reap greater rewards.

"That works too. I'll ask an elder from my clan to live nearby and keep an eye on you. If there's danger, use an Explosive Tag immediately. It's best to set up some traps inside your home. Once the elder sees the commotion, he'll come to your rescue right away."

Yozuki A pulled out a stack of high-grade Explosive Tags and handed them over. He'd just had someone fetch them—a full hundred sheets.

"Thank you, senior brother!"

Tamura Hiroshi accepted the stack of Explosive Tags gratefully. Right now, he needed exactly these to protect himself and keep secrets.

"Work hard. Whatever Konoha can give you, we can give you more."

Patting the youth on the shoulder, Yozuki A had high hopes for this junior disciple and didn't want him to make the wrong choice in the future.

As for his identity as a spy, that really didn't matter. As long as he genuinely integrated into Kumogakure and showed enough value, Kumogakure could accept him.

After all, Kumogakure itself was extremely hungry for talent. Over the years, they had launched multiple external raids to seize talents and secret techniques. Once those people sincerely joined the village, they were given decent treatment.

If they could accept those people, there was even less reason not to accept this junior disciple.

"I've taken note. I won't let senior brother or teacher down."

Nodding solemnly, Tamura Hiroshi truly had no desire to return to Konoha, much less work under Shimura Danzō. There was no future there—hard to stand out, and even a risk to his life.

Look at how many people died in Konoha in the original story, how many Ninja Clans were wiped out. In the end, even the two founding clans were destroyed. The darkness and bloodshed hidden beneath that were unimaginable.

And later, it was leveled multiple times. Truly a simple and honest village, yet plagued by disasters!

So while Konoha was powerful, with many talented ninja clans and deep foundations, that was both its strength and its weakness. It caused internal conflicts to pile up layer upon layer, complex and tangled. One misstep and you'd be dragged in and finished off.

Among the Five Great Ninja Villages in the ninja world, the one with the best reputation was Kumogakure, and it also had the fewest defectors, especially during the Third Raikage's administration.

As for Konoha, no need to mention it—there were countless pitfalls.

Kirigakure had implemented the Blood Mist Policy since the Third Mizukage took power, killing their own people with glee, let alone an outsider like him.

Sunagakure was all sand, with few resources or secret techniques, and he didn't like puppetry either.

As for building a giant mecha by hand—sorry, he didn't have that ability.

Iwagakure was also relatively xenophobic, with plenty of internal issues.

Unless he could become a disciple of the Third Tsuchikage himself, but with that old fox's personality, convincing him would be too difficult. At the very least, he'd be subjected to a round of genjutsu interrogation.

So relatively speaking, Kumogakure was the best choice. Mainly because the Third Raikage's personality was, in some ways, easy to deal with, and he never went back on his word.

That was precisely why he dared to reveal his identity as a spy.

After chatting with Yozuki A for a while, Tamura Hiroshi parted ways and left the Raikage Building, returning to his apartment unit.

He immediately took out the Explosive Tags and thin wires to set up traps inside the room, not even sparing the surrounding walls, ceiling, or floor, to prevent anyone from sneaking in silently and slitting his throat.

"The first hurdle is cleared!"

Letting out a long breath, Tamura Hiroshi took off his clothes and went into the bathroom for a shower.

Earlier, no matter how calm he pretended to be, inside he was panicking like crazy. His undershirt was soaked through with sweat.

This was a gamble. If he lost, he was dead for sure. Even though the odds were in his favor, it was still a risk, and the pressure he bore was beyond what ordinary people could imagine.

Fortunately, he succeeded in the end. Though he'd only passed the first hurdle, it was the most critical one.

As long as he remained loyal to Kumogakure from now on, upheld the Will of Lightning, abandoned the Will of Fire that Shimura Danzō had taught him, and showed more value, there should basically be no problem.

"I wonder how you're doing now?"

From under the drawer of his bedside table, he pulled out a photo. Tamura Hiroshi stared at the blonde girl in it with an unreadable expression.

Back then, the reason he'd been able to obtain the mission to infiltrate Kumogakure and thereby escape from Shimura Danzō's grasp was largely due to his scheming involving this girl.

Five years had passed. He wondered how she was doing now.

But given how capable he was, he definitely wouldn't have ended up badly off under Shimura Danzō's command.

His thoughts wandered for a moment, then Tamura Hiroshi pressed the photo back under the drawer's bottom.

The reason he kept this photo was mainly to mislead certain people—to make Shimura Danzō's side believe his attachments were still intact, so that old geezer wouldn't send someone to eliminate him.

At the same time, he could use it to scheme later on; that old man had plenty of good things in his hands.

"What was that feeling earlier?"

Tamura Hiroshi pondered the strange sensation he'd felt when entering the Raikage Office. At the time, it seemed like some kind of power had entered his body—more precisely, entered his head.

He'd initially thought it was some kind of genjutsu-based reconnaissance technique, after all, that was the Raikage Office.

But later, he'd asked Yozuki A indirectly and found out it wasn't.

And afterward, when he'd demonstrated the firearms in the Training Room, that same inexplicable feeling appeared again—as if something had entered his head.

Even after returning home, he'd felt that eerie sensation once more, right while he was bathing.

What exactly was it?

After thinking for a while without figuring it out, Tamura Hiroshi closed his eyes and began refining Chakra while focusing his attention on his head.

When refining Chakra, both Spiritual Power and the body's life force become active. If something abnormal was happening inside his head, he should be able to sense it.

And it turned out that not refining Chakra was fine—but the moment he did, it triggered something. The Chakra in his head instantly surged toward the depths of his brain, as if being devoured by some entity.

Then the Chakra from other parts of his body seemed to sense something and rushed uncontrollably toward his head, while Tamura Hiroshi's consciousness was pulled into a pitch-black, empty void.