Uchiha Chonhua raised an eyebrow.
He watched the man disappear into the crowd, then lowered his head and opened his right hand.
A slip of paper lay in his palm.
Uchiha Chonhua glanced at it. It bore a code used by Konoha Ninja.
His eyes narrowed as he pondered it.
"Mikoto, I have something to take care of."
Uchiha Chonhua showed Mikoto the slip of paper. It said not to let anyone else find out.
He didn't care about that at all. If something seemed fishy, it was better to make it public. The more people who knew, the better.
Mikoto Uchiha deciphered the code, and a strange expression crossed her little face.
Lord Hokage had assigned Chonhua a mission, but he was supposed to go alone to meet the ninja who had come to give it to him.
She knew Chonhua was powerful, and that Lord Hokage thought highly of him and valued him.
It was possible something like this would happen.
But Chonhua had told her about a note that was supposed to be kept secret...
"I'll tell Senior Ono and Hizashi."
At that, Uchiha Chonhua patted Mikoto's little head. She'd understood what he wanted right away.
"That's not enough. You need to make sure the Uzumaki Clan knows, too."
Mikoto Uchiha nodded. "I understand. I'll head back right now."
"Miss, your seafood is all packed."
Mikoto Uchiha pulled out some bills and tossed them onto the stall without even looking. Then she grabbed the bag and ran off.
The stall owner counted the money, slapped his thigh, and looked anxious.
"Hey, you paid too much! Little girl!"
Little Mikoto had already run out of sight.
Then he'd find the little boy. They were together, weren't they?
The stall owner turned around, only to find that the little boy was gone, too.
He looked at the extra money in his hand and swallowed.
"This is... a lucky break!"
"You're here."
Uchiha Chonhua arrived at the place mentioned in the note and surveyed the surroundings.
He was in a shadowy forest, with trees packed tightly together. Their lofty canopies joined overhead, breaking the sunlight into scattered flecks.
It was rather dark.
Hearing the man speak without turning around, Uchiha Chonhua replied in a deep voice, his expression serious.
"I'm here."
The man turned around, revealing an utterly unremarkable face.
The sort of face you'd see in a crowd and forget the moment you looked away—a Passerby Face.
"Come with me."
Uchiha Chonhua raised an eyebrow. "Weren't you here to give me the mission from Lord Hokage? Where are we going?"
The Anbu and Root Division Are Different
The man turned back and stared at Uchiha Chonhua without expression.
"That's not something you need to worry about."
Uchiha Chonhua smiled amiably and didn't move.
He asked in return, "A ninja must always be cautious. The note did use Konoha's code, but that doesn't prove you're a Konoha Ninja."
"After all, there was that Cloud Village spy incident not long ago, wasn't there?"
"Uchiha Chonhua, you're making baseless assumptions." The man spoke in a flat, emotionless voice. "This isn't the place to hand over a mission. Come with me, and you'll find out whether I'm a Konoha Ninja."
With that, the man pushed off the ground and leapt onto the treetops, heading forward without looking back.
He wasn't even worried that Chonhua might run away.
Uchiha Chonhua followed. Of course, he wasn't going to run. He had a hunch about where the other man was from.
With his current strength, he wouldn't claim he could do as he pleased, but he could escape unharmed.
Since that was the case, he might as well see it through and find out what they were planning.
They traveled through the forest, one ahead of the other. Uchiha Chonhua estimated the distance; at a ninja's pace, they were getting farther and farther from the coastal city.
Whoosh!
Uchiha Chonhua followed the Passerby Face out of the forest. The dazzling sunlight stung his eyes, and his vision blurred for an instant.
The man stopped, and Uchiha Chonhua halted ten paces behind him.
They were in a flat clearing surrounded by dense forest. From above, it would look like a spoon had scooped a patch out of an endless sea of green—a stark, conspicuous clearing.
Uchiha Chonhua looked up. Someone was already waiting there.
The man wore Anbu gear and carried a short sword on his back. His mask's design and markings were different from those worn by the Anbu Chonhua had seen.
It wasn't an animal motif, and its patterns were more intricate.
Uchiha Chonhua kept his expression neutral, but inwardly he thought, Shimura Danzō can't hold back anymore, huh?
Ordinary ninjas might think all Anbu were the same, but Uchiha Chonhua knew better, thanks to his knowledge of the story.
The design and markings on the masks were what distinguished the Anbu from the Root Division.
The Root Division was part of the Anbu organization, but it didn't answer to the Hokage. It was an independent ninja force under Shimura Danzō's personal command.
Uchiha Chonhua held his position and watched them.
The Root Division ninja nodded to the Passerby Face, then looked at Uchiha Chonhua.
He spoke in a dry, emotionless voice, as if reading from a script.
"Uchiha Chonhua, you've been temporarily recruited into the Anbu. Put on these clothes. We're going to the Land of Hot Water to carry out a secret mission."
Uchiha Chonhua's pupils shifted. Out of the corner of his eye, he looked to his rear right, where someone had suddenly appeared.
[Another Root Division ninja.]
The man held out the same uniform and short sword as the others. Uchiha Chonhua glanced at the mask he was supposed to wear.
It had a red spider lily design.
"Do you have a mission order from Lord Hokage?"
The Root Division ninja took a scroll from behind his back and tossed it to Uchiha Chonhua.
Uchiha Chonhua caught it and opened it. It looked like a proper mission order, and he even saw Sarutobi Hiruzen's Hokage seal.
The mission order looked quite genuine. Given the relationship between Shimura Danzō and Sarutobi Hiruzen, getting hold of a real one wouldn't be difficult.
After all, he was Sarutobi Hiruzen's trusted Hokage Assistant. They were old comrades, and their friendship ran deep. Surely Danzō wouldn't do anything to hurt him?
Uchiha Chonhua rolled up the mission order.
"I need to inform my team leader."
"No need. Anbu missions take top priority and are highly confidential. You can't tell any ninja outside the Anbu. Put on the clothes. We need to leave at once."
The Root Division ninja added, "This mission is a test from Lord Hokage. If you perform well, he'll consider letting you join the Anbu and serve him once it's over."
"Oh?" Uchiha Chonhua rolled his eyes, then asked with apparent confusion, "I clearly told Lord Hokage before that I didn't want to join the Anbu. Lord Hokage understood and respected my wishes."
"That doesn't match what you're telling me." Uchiha Chonhua looked at the Root Division ninja. "Whose words am I supposed to believe, Lord Hokage's or yours?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen had never told him to join the Anbu, and Chonhua had never said he wanted to join.
It was a lie.
Although Sarutobi Hiruzen had a good opinion of him, Chonhua was still young, and Uchiha Ryutai, Uchiha Shohei, and others were watching him closely.
Sarutobi Hiruzen could force Uchiha Chonhua into the Anbu, but he wouldn't do it so openly... He was a little more decisive now than he would be in his old age, but only a little. Hesitation and reservations were part of his nature.
He might let Uchiha Chonhua join the Anbu, but not now, when he was only ten.
Uchiha Chonhua figured Sarutobi Hiruzen would rather have him be the one to ask to join the Anbu.
"This is Lord Hokage's decision. I'm only delivering the mission."
The Root Division ninja carrying the Anbu gear moved closer to Uchiha Chonhua and said, "We're tools. We only need to complete the missions Lord Hokage gives us. We don't need reasons."
"Lord Hokage must have a good reason for doing this. Uchiha Chonhua, stop wasting time. The mission is urgent—we can't afford to lose a second!"
"Are you sure this mission came from Lord Hokage?"
Uchiha Chonhua turned around and looked at the Root Division ninja with a faint smile.
"Of course this mission came from Lord Danzō."
The Root Division ninja spoke as if he hadn't noticed anything amiss, blurting out the real mastermind behind them.
!?
The Passerby Face and the other Root Division ninja's expressions changed dramatically. They stared at their companion, stunned.
This was... a genjutsu! When had it happened!?
The Root Division ninja quickly calmed down. He was a seasoned veteran who had seen plenty, and he immediately understood what was going on.
They'd been exposed.
But they could still salvage the situation.
The Root Division ninja said in a low voice, "This mission came jointly from Lord Hokage and the Hokage Assistant. It involves secrets concerning the northern battlefield, after all, so Lord Hokage and the others needed to discuss it further..."
Before he could finish, the Passerby Face beside him started talking on his own.
"Lord Danzō said we're to find out what you're really capable of. If possible, bring you into the Root Division. If not, make it look like you went to the battlefield and were killed by the enemy because you weren't strong enough. Remember, don't expose the Root Division..."
"Damn it!"
The Root Division ninja immediately drew his short sword and charged at Uchiha Chonhua.
The plan had fallen apart so badly there was no point trying to cover it up. He'd just kill Uchiha Chonhua!
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Three figures leapt out of the forest to the left. Their masks had different designs and markings, but they were all Root Division ninjas.
The Root Division recruited its members from the Anbu's training corps, selecting only the best. They were quite powerful.
They moved with incredible speed, closing in on Uchiha Chonhua in an instant. Short swords, Kunai, and Flying Swallow Blades stabbed viciously into his body.
Splurt!
"Gah..."
Uchiha Chonhua looked horrified as blood welled up in his mouth.
It's All Because I'm Too Underhanded
Seeing this, the Root Division ninjas grew even more wary.
Uchiha Chonhua was a genius, no doubt about it. No one would believe he could be killed so easily. That was a ridiculous fantasy.
Seeing that he couldn't fool the Root Division ninjas, Uchiha Chonhua dropped the act and came clean.
He smiled at the Root Division ninjas surrounding him, looking downright malicious.
Before you continue