The night was as thick as undiluted ink, spilling across the entire sky.
It was still raining outside the cave. The wind swept up the raindrops and whistled through the desolate alleys, making the dead grass atop the broken walls rustle and tremble, as though someone were weeping in the dark.
A figure in a black cloak embroidered with red clouds crept out of the cave, released a lizard, and tucked a note into its mouth.
The figure let the lizard go, but suddenly a foot appeared and crushed it.
The figure stared in alarm at the newcomer, whose short, jet-black hair and dark, almond-shaped eyes belonged to none other than Liao Wu, whom the Akatsuki had hailed as their savior that very day.
"Uchiha Liao Wu, you—"
The man was shocked, but not because Liao Wu had become young again. He was stunned by how Liao Wu had discovered him.
"Well, well. You know who I am, so you must be with Root. Tell me everything you know, nice and easy!"
Before the Root infiltrator lost consciousness, all he saw was a pair of scarlet Sharingan.
But Liao Wu couldn't interrogate him. Danzo had planted a Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal on Root's members. If anyone bearing the seal tried to reveal information related to Danzo, their whole body would go numb, leaving them unable to move.
Whenever Liao Wu asked the Root infiltrator about Danzo, the man just convulsed. Even when Liao Wu made him write, he couldn't get a thing down.
"Damn it! Danzo's a crafty old bastard!"
"Hmph. Don't think I can't figure out why you're here."
Liao Wu studied the intelligence the Root infiltrator had been carrying.
The man was a Root ninja, sent by Danzo to infiltrate the Akatsuki and keep Danzo and Hanzō informed