Four Years

Early the next morning, at the Hokage Building,

Danzo pushed open the door to the Hokage's Office and walked in.

Without even looking up, the Third Hokage said, "You're here. What is it?"

"Yes. I want Beichen Haotian transferred into Root."

"Hm? No. Beichen Haotian cannot go to Root. That would be stifling his talent, and the environment there would lead him down the wrong path." The Third Hokage looked up and rejected the proposal without hesitation.

"Heh, the wrong path? Hiruzen, you're still somewhat naive. Don't be so quick to refuse. First, I spoke with him privately, and he has already agreed. Second, he is different from those Root ninjas. I intend to cultivate him into Root's future commander. Frankly, I think highly of him." Shimura Danzō looked calmly at the Third Hokage, determination gleaming in his sinister eyes.

"Oh? You think highly of him? His talent? His ideas?"

"Both. Haotian's ideas may not entirely align with mine, but some of them coincide perfectly with my own. Given his age, strength, talent, and the abilities he displayed in the war, no one would be more suitable to command Root in the future."

"Haotian is indeed exceptional. Not only did he survive the war, he also slew so many enemies... Do you truly intend to train him as Root's future commander?"

"Yes."

"Very well. Though I do not agree with your thinking, we can set aside our differences. It is all for Konoha, after all. Transfer him into Root."

"Yes."

"Alright. Koharu and the others should be arriving soon. Let's go to the conference room and discuss Sunagakure's situation." The Third Hokage stood and headed outside.

Beichen Haotian told no one of his plan to join Root. That day, he did not rush to train and instead decided to rest properly for a day. He sampled Konoha's foods that he had yet to try, wandered the streets, soaked in hot springs, and thoroughly relaxed.

On the third day, Beichen Haotian attended Konoha's memorial funeral for the fallen ninjas. Though the sky was clear and cloudless that day, the atmosphere was heavy and oppressive. Fortunately, Beichen Haotian was carefree and had long since let his mind drift elsewhere, so he was not affected at all.

On the fourth day, Beichen Haotian followed a Root ninja to Root's base. Root was officially called the Anbu Training Department, and could also be referred to as the Anbu Special Operations Corps. It possessed extremely high autonomy and accepted only Danzo's orders. The Hokage and Anbu held pitifully little influence there.

Root's base was located deep underground, even deeper than the Anbu base. The entire facility was dim, illuminated only by weak lights, making it appear somewhat eerie.

After he arrived in Root, Shimura Danzō did not immediately promote Beichen Haotian to a high position. He started him off as an ordinary Root ninja.

Still, he received special treatment. During missions, Root agents secretly lay in wait to protect him. It was no ordinary protection either—they were willing to leap out and use their bodies as human shields.

However, they never got the chance to die for Beichen Haotian. He possessed abundant combat experience. While his mission experience might have been lacking, preventing him from achieving a perfect mission completion rate, he was quite skilled when it came to staying alive.

After spending a month in Root, Tsunade finally left Konoha as well, taking Dan Katō's niece Shizune to travel through the Ninja World. Beichen Haotian would have a hard time seeing her for some time to come, unless war broke out again and her Medical Ninjutsu was needed. Although Tsunade could no longer fight on the battlefield because of her hemophobia, her Medical Ninjutsu, medical experience, and Summoning Jutsu were still immensely useful.

Konoha's war temporarily came to an end. Beichen Haotian had heard that Kumogakure and Iwagakure had begun fighting, and the battle was supposedly quite fierce. However, it had nothing to do with him. Though he wanted to witness the power of Ōnoki and the Third Raikage, improving his strength remained his foremost priority.

Beichen Haotian's days passed between carrying out missions, returning home to rest, and training. In the blink of an eye, four years went by.

That year, Beichen Haotian was thirteen years old and nearly fourteen. Over four years, he had gained the strength and experience of an Elite Jonin. As for the limits of his combat power, neither Root ninjas nor enemies had forced him to reveal them during those four years.

Over those four years, Beichen Haotian did many things and gained much. First, by carrying out Root missions across every corner of the Ninja World, his experience as a ninja increased dramatically. His mission success rate rose higher and higher, reaching one hundred percent in the final year.

Second, Beichen Haotian did not slack off during breaks between missions. He only set aside half a day to relax. He spent all his remaining free time training, primarily practicing swordsmanship while scheduling time for other pursuits.

For example, Kami-e from the Six Powers, the Lightning Water Release he had obtained, the Lightning Water Release stored in Root's ninjutsu archive, all sorts of secret techniques, even Forbidden Jutsu and Fuinjutsu—Beichen Haotian had begun dabbling in all of them.

He also read every kind of book and scroll in Root's library, greedily learning about this world and greatly expanding his knowledge. Now, if someone named any famous clan or country in the Ninja World, Beichen Haotian could recount its history and background.

Third, he had not neglected training his body. Through conventional exercise, stimulation from Medical Ninjutsu, and the Eight Gates Formation, Beichen Haotian could already open the first three gates, greatly strengthening his physique. Worth mentioning was that he had learned Tsunade's Monster Strength Fist and some of the Medical Ninjutsu she had left behind, making considerable progress in Medical Ninjutsu.

Fourth, his status within Root had skyrocketed. With Danzo's deliberate promotion, he had become Root's deputy commander—the only deputy commander. He held the highest authority beneath Danzo himself and wielded immense power. It could be said that in Root, aside from Danzo, even the Hokage's words carried less weight than his.

Over four years, Beichen Haotian had grown from a little brat into a spirited young man. Four years of relentless effort had brought enormous rewards, greatly increasing both his foundation and strength.

Years of unceasing training had allowed Beichen Haotian to develop exceptionally well. Though only fourteen, he already stood over 1.7 meters tall. His muscular body was sharply defined and perfectly proportioned, possessing both beauty and strength.

His formerly somewhat handsome face had changed drastically. Of course, it was not that he had grown ugly; he had become even more handsome. Beichen Haotian had grown his hair long, black locks falling to his shoulders. A black headband traced with golden patterns held it in place. He had sword-like brows, bright eyes, a high nose bridge, and a faintly wicked smile on his face.

He wore black trousers and a black shirt buttoned rather low, covered by a black trench coat trimmed with gold thread. Embroidered across the back of the black coat was a lifelike blood-red flying dragon—a Chinese dragon.

In his hand was a sword with a sheath dominated by red—no, blood-red. Strange patterns were engraved upon the sheath, while a long blade lay quietly within, its sharpness entirely concealed.

Today, Beichen Haotian wore this custom-made outfit rather than Root's uniform. Carrying his sword casually over his right shoulder, he somewhat roguishly pushed open a door deep within Root and said, "Old man, I need to talk to you."

"Haotian? Come in." A somewhat gloomy yet imposing voice came from inside. In truth, Beichen Haotian had already entered before the person inside could answer.

"Why are you dressed like that?" Shimura Danzō asked with a frown, wrinkles visible at the corners of his eyes.

"Old man, don't frown. You already have wrinkles at the corners of your eyes. I came this time because I want to leave Root for a while and properly travel through the Ninja World. My strength has reached a bottleneck. It's time to calm down and seek a breakthrough."

Shimura Danzō was a bad man, ruthless and unscrupulous in his actions. He was especially cruel toward Konoha's enemies and even some people within Konoha. Yet toward those he acknowledged, especially Beichen Haotian, he treated them exceptionally well. Resources, protection, money, guidance—he provided all of it in abundance. As for Beichen Haotian calling him old man in private whenever he saw the wrinkles at his eyes, Danzo had been angry for a time before ultimately accepting it.

One had to know that Shimura Danzō was extremely selfish and despicable, and attached tremendous importance to hierarchy. The fact that he could be so tolerant toward Beichen Haotian showed that he truly was cultivating him as Root's future commander. Of course, Beichen Haotian himself was also a factor. If their ideas had not aligned, if his mission success rate had not steadily risen, if his strength had not grown greater and his abilities more outstanding, Shimura Danzō would never have indulged him like this. If he had been hopelessly useless, Shimura Danzō would have discarded and quietly dealt with him long ago.

Shimura Danzō thought for a while before speaking with the same gloomy, stern expression. "Fine. You have completed quite a few of Root's difficult missions over the years. The people below can handle the rest themselves."

"Thanks, old man. Oh, right. How is Root's collection of forging materials coming along?"

"We have collected quite a few high-grade forging materials, but so far we have found only one truly top-tier material."

"Oh? What kind?"

Beichen Haotian was immediately intrigued. A year ago, he had begun considering reforging his own Tang Saber, using it as the primary material and supplementing it with other materials. Thus, he issued orders for Root ninjas to keep an eye out for good materials during missions and bring them back when possible.

Remembering it now, Beichen Haotian asked about it. He had not expected that they had already collected many high-grade materials, as well as one top-tier material. Top-tier forging materials were things one could only encounter by luck.

"Azure Crystal. Three Root ninjas died bringing it back."

Beichen Haotian's eyes lit up. Naturally, he knew of Azure Crystal. He had read through more than half of Root's library.

Azure Crystal could only form after undergoing strange changes over years or even decades in the deep sea, five thousand meters below the surface. Obtaining it required a stroke of luck, such as an undercurrent carrying it upward.

Azure Crystal contained pure water energy. If used to forge a Ninja Sword, it would give the blade terrifying resilience, and the sword would have an extremely high affinity for water. Under Chakra control, it could manipulate water.

For comparison, Azure Crystal was on the same level as Sky Thunder Stone. To put it another way, Raiga, one of Kirigakure's Seven Ninja Swords, had been forged using Sky Thunder Stone as its primary material. Raiga also possessed an extremely high affinity for Lightning Release, allowing it to use Lightning Blade Technique. Combined with Chakra, it could even draw down Falling Thunder from the sky.

"Hahaha, thanks, old man. Excellent. Give me those materials. While I'm out this time, I'll make a trip to the Land of Artisans to reforge my blade."

Without saying anything, Shimura Danzō handed him a scroll. It contained many precious materials for forging Ninja Swords, sealed away with Fuinjutsu.

Beichen Haotian accepted it and put it away before turning to leave. As he walked, he waved back without looking and said, "Old man, I've received plenty of favors from you over the years. If you need anything in the future, just give the order. As long as it isn't something I find too repulsive or simply cannot accept, I'll get it done for you. Thanks for training me. Until we meet again—and be careful not to let those wrinkles around your eyes multiply."

Bang. Beichen Haotian shut the door behind him. Inside, a hint of an ugly smile appeared on Shimura Danzō's gloomy, stern face as he murmured, "I didn't raise that brat for nothing. At least he has some conscience."

With a rush of wind, Beichen Haotian emerged from Root's secret passage in Konoha's back mountain and stood atop a tree, gazing into the distance. The sky was clear and boundless that day, without a single cloud. The weather was exceptionally fine.

"Seeing how you spared no effort in training me over the years, I'll save your life if you are ever in danger in the future." Turning around, Beichen Haotian cast a deep glance underground.

Then his figure flashed away, racing toward Konoha's gates at astonishing speed. All the procedures had already been completed.

This journey would not only be a trip to relax after four years of hard work, but also a path of transformation—of breaking free from his cocoon and becoming a butterfly.

The Sin Forged Blade Technique was still around fifteen people away from Thousand Man Slayer. Under the Sin Forged Blade Technique and four unchanging seasons of sword practice, Unity of Man and Blade was only one final step away. He needed only a small opportunity to break through.

He had finally met the training requirements for Armament Haki as well. This journey would definitely be devoted to mastering Armament Haki. As for Conqueror's Haki, it could only be encountered by chance and depended on fate.

Thanks to Heart Moon GG, Mtc Xu, Zhuhán Wàndāndàn, and that big brother with all the numbers in his name for the recommendation votes.