The Ninja World's Hidden Evil

The indignant crowd continued to listen to the end of the story.

The siblings had learned the truth and wanted to go to the Hokage to expose Danzo, but after entering Root, all Root ninja had the Cursed Seal of the Tongue carved onto their tongues by Danzo.

Root ninja branded with the Cursed Seal of the Tongue were unable to speak any "ill words" regarding Danzo.

Once they attempted to speak, the seal would punish them, causing their bodies to stiffen, rendering them unable to move or even causing them to lose consciousness.

Thus, the siblings could only keep their thoughts to themselves, and in the end, they did not go to report Danzo because their bodies would seize up.

However, what the siblings did not realize was that the moment they triggered the seal, Danzo knew immediately.

Upon learning that the siblings intended to betray him, Danzo immediately assigned them a mission; both of their missions were assassinations.

Furthermore, they would only learn the identity of their target once they arrived at the same location.

He also made it clear that the penalty for failing the mission was death.

Desperate to survive, the siblings traveled to the mission site together.

Upon arriving, the siblings discovered that the person they were meant to kill was each other.

If they did not kill the other, they could not complete the mission, and those who failed the mission would die.

The two sensed that the people hiding in the surroundings were all stronger than them.

And so, the younger sister begged her older brother to kill her.

She said that after that incident, she had no desire to live anyway; she had only survived for her brother's sake.

Now that her brother could not live without completing the mission, she would not live on alone without him!

But before her words had even faded, her brother decisively cut his own heart with a blade.

As he lay dying, the brother said, "Little sister, live on. You have more talent than I do, and a better chance to take revenge!"

Following her brother's words, the sister personally severed her brother's head and returned to Root to complete the mission, surviving.

Looking at the sister who had lost everything, Danzo smiled happily, saying that those who have lost everything have no emotions, and a tool without emotions is a truly good tool.

"And so, the brother died. The sister did not cry at his grave; she only used the blade her brother had used to take his own life to carve the character for 'Revenge' onto her own face."

A small figure, wearing a veil and wrapped tightly in clothing, finished the story calmly, then walked straight away without even glancing at the indignant crowd.

She walked with a steady, unhurried pace, appearing completely unaffected by the story she had just told.

"This is outrageous! Just hearing this makes me want to beat Danzo up! How could he do such a thing?"

"Baka-yaro! Is beating him up enough? That bastard Danzo, he deserves to die!"

"Kuso! How could a person like that become a Hokage advisor? We must kill him!"

"Wait, who are you? Why do you know these things, and with so many details? Isn't it impossible for Root members to speak about Lord Danzo?"

"That's right, everyone, don't be fooled. How could such a thing be true? Lord Hokage and his advisors are always spreading the Will of Fire to everyone. How could they possibly do something like this?"

"Baka, it really is a bit suspicious. Aren't you just lying?"

The small figure, who had already reached the doorway, stopped and turned her back to the crowd, slowly raising a hand to remove her veil.

"Baka, I'm talking to you! Don't think you can run before you've made yourself clear!"

Someone with a short temper stepped forward and grabbed the small figure, turning her around.

The hot-headed person, who had been full of rage, stood frozen on the spot, incoherent after seeing the small figure's face.

"Uh, you... you are. You are her?"

The hot-headed person retreated in dismay, allowing the crowd to see the small figure's face clearly.

Everyone could tell that this youthful face should have been delicate.

But now, it was crisscrossed with scars.

The scars formed a single character—Revenge.

"Nani. Why... why would I think this is fake? It clearly happened, so why does it feel like a lie?"

A-Chou looked at the crowd expressionlessly, her tone devoid of doubt and her emotions devoid of fluctuation.

Yet, she felt a bit of agitation in her heart; she remembered what emotions were, but she had already lost them.

She could no longer smile, let alone cry, but now she felt something in her heart—it felt like discomfort.

"I should go find Tuoye. I don't feel well, and he is a doctor who can provide treatment."

A-Chou thought to herself, and so she headed toward the secret base.

Inside the secret base.

Ever since she had met the members of the Spark Society here one by one, she had first proven her strength, and second, she had transplanted the Ninja Tiger arms onto all the members.

Thirdly, she had removed the Cursed Seal of the Tongue from everyone.

The method was simple: excise the tongue bearing the seal, then submerge it in a nutrient solution to maintain its vitality. This way, the Cursed Seal of the Tongue remained intact and would not be triggered, preventing Danzo from discovering the truth.

As for the person whose tongue had been removed, Kimura Takuya could heal them with the flick of a finger.

Only after dispelling the Cursed Seal of the Tongue did Kimura Takuya truly come to understand the darker side of the Ninja World.

He couldn't help but sigh; true evil was far more than just the slaughter of the innocent.

Acts that violated the fundamental bottom line of human morality were the evils that truly stung the heart, leaving one unable to eat or sleep in peace.

These were things that no original work would ever reveal, yet they were truly hidden within this reality.

They could not see the light of day.

"Boss Takuya, is this really okay? Letting A-Chou expose her scars in front of everyone like this?"

"This is her own choice. In the past, she had no choice, but now she has chosen to act this way. I agree with her; only by facing the fear within her heart can she reawaken her emotions."

"Boss Takuya, is that jutsu you mentioned really true?"

"Yes, it is true. However, it is not perfect yet, and I will truly refine it. It will take some time, but not long. If I were to use it now, I wouldn't get the ideal resurrection effect."

Kimura Takuya was busy observing the cells of the Transparent Escape ninja, as well as those of Yakumo.

He also had the cells he had recently acquired, such as those of Neji and Kurenai Yuhi.

After concentrating on his observations for a period of time, he concluded that the Kekkei Genkai disease was almost unsolvable.

The power of a Kekkei Genkai came from one's genes, and the illness stemmed from those same genes.

To cure the Kekkei Genkai disease, one had to modify the genes, but modifying the genes would "cure" the Kekkei Genkai ability along with the disease.

This was something no Kekkei Genkai ninja could ever accept.

No wonder Orochimaru, the great scientist of the Ninja World, couldn't handle the Kekkei Genkai disease either.

It turned out it wasn't that he couldn't solve it, but that once solved, the matter would become meaningless to him.

To cure the Kekkei Genkai disease while retaining the ability—

Kimura Takuya had no way to do that for the time being.

Even if he managed to get his hands on Hashirama cells, that panacea-like existence in countless Naruto fan-fiction works, Kimura Takuya remained pessimistic about them.

After all, even the First Hokage himself died under mysterious circumstances; Kimura Takuya speculated that Hashirama might have also died from the Kekkei Genkai disease.

The more powerful the ability, the more terrifying the price often was.

The First Hokage's powerful Wood Release likely overtaxed his life force.

This was too similar to the pathology of most Kekkei Genkai diseases.

The more a powerful ability was used, the faster the body decayed.

However, since he hadn't obtained the First Hokage's cells yet, Kimura Takuya could not draw a definitive conclusion.

Once he killed Danzo, he would be able to get the First Hokage's cells; it wouldn't be long now.

"Takuya, I don't feel well. Help me heal."