The Root's Probe, Flash Step First Revealed

Deep beneath Konoha.

There was no sunlight here, only dim, yellow lights casting flickering, ghostly shadows against the stone walls.

The air was damp and cold, permeated by a foul, unpleasant odor.

Shimura Danzō sat alone in the stone chamber, his single remaining eye fixed on the scroll in his hands.

The ink on the scroll was still wet, detailing everything that had transpired yesterday at the Ninja Academy and the Uchiha compound.

Uchiha Ryūha, unknown Kekkei Genkai, complete hypnosis, the summons from Fugaku...

"Uchiha..." Shimura Danzō spat the word out from his withered lips, as if chewing on something nauseating. "A clan that truly refuses to fade away."

He set the scroll down, his gaunt fingers tracing the armrest of his chair, his eyes filled with loathing.

"Uchiha Fugaku wants to use this branch-family brat as a pawn? Hah, naive." Shimura Danzō sneered.

"The Sharingan is already troublesome enough, and now a Kekkei Genkai that can manipulate the five senses has emerged... The Uchiha bloodline truly has no place in Konoha."

He raised his head, looking toward the two figures standing like statues in the shadows.

"Torune, Fu." Shimura Danzō's voice echoed through the stone chamber. "Go and 'make contact' with this new toy of the Uchiha.

I want to know the true extent of his Kekkei Genkai and the method to break it."

"Remember, show no mercy.

If necessary, bring back the corpse—provided those eyes still hold research value."

In the shadows, the two figures bowed silently.

"Yes, Lord Shimura Danzō."

The next morning.

Uchiha Ryūha stepped out of his newly renovated home, holding the slip approved by Fugaku, ready to collect his monthly training resources from the clan's supply depot.

Early morning Konoha was shrouded in a thin mist, and villagers were already busy on the streets.

A woman selling breakfast lifted the lid of a steamer, releasing a cloud of hot, fragrant steam.

Patrolling ninja moved silently across the rooftops.

A few children chased each other around a street corner, their laughter crisp and clear.

A very peaceful scene.

But Uchiha Ryūha's heart tightened slightly.

It was not because of the curious and scrutinizing gazes occasionally cast his way, but because—

[Warning: Two highly concealed, malicious chakra signatures detected. Strength assessment: Special Jōnin.]

The system's notification rang out in his mind, cold and clear.

Uchiha Ryūha adjusted his glasses, his gaze sweeping across his surroundings without changing expression.

In the shadows of the eaves to his left, there was a silhouette that had almost merged with the environment.

Behind a trash can in the alley to his right, breathing was suppressed to the point of being nearly inaudible.

Is it the Anbu? Or...

Uchiha Ryūha thought of the organization hidden in the shadows of Konoha from the original story—"Root."

That's it.

He had exposed his "Eye of the Heart" in full view of everyone yesterday.

Given Shimura Danzō's paranoia toward the Uchiha and his greed for Kekkei Genkai, it would be strange if he didn't send someone to test him.

He did not stop, nor did he speed up, continuing at a steady pace toward the edge of the clan compound.

The supply depot and the exclusive training grounds were in that direction; the route was logical.

But Uchiha Ryūha intentionally took a detour, turning into a secluded grove.

This was an abandoned training ground on the outskirts of the Uchiha compound; few people came here, making it the perfect place for "contact."

The moment he stepped into the woods, two sharp gusts of wind struck from behind!

There was no warning or probing; they went straight for the kill.

Two poison-tipped kunai shot toward Uchiha Ryūha's heart and neck at tricky angles, sealing off all room for evasion.

At the same time, two figures emerged from the air on his left and right like ghosts.

One performed hand seals, spitting out several wind blades that tore through the air with a shrill whistle.

The other threw three senbon attached to explosive tags, aiming directly for Uchiha Ryūha's legs.

Their coordination was seamless, their killing intent absolute.

A cold glint flashed in Uchiha Ryūha's eyes.

Flash Step.

Swish.

His figure vanished from the spot.

It was not the afterimage left by the high-speed movement of the Body Flicker Technique, but true instantaneous movement.

Poisoned kunai, wind blades, and senbon all missed their mark.

They collided and exploded at the spot where Liuyu had been standing, kicking up a cloud of dust.

The pupils of the two Root ninja constricted sharply.

"He disappeared?!"

"Where is he?!"

Their gazes scanned frantically, their sensory perception pushed to the limit, yet they could not capture a single trace of chakra fluctuation.

No, that wasn't right.

It wasn't that there were no fluctuations, but that the fluctuations were too subtle, too well-concealed.

It was as if... as if this person himself simply "did not exist."

"Left!" the Root ninja codenamed Torune suddenly barked, backhanding three shuriken.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The shuriken were precisely struck down by a single kunai.

Liuyu's figure had appeared on the trunk of a large tree to the left at some unknown moment.

Balancing on a slender branch with one foot, his body swayed gently with the wind, as if he had no weight at all.

"Decent reaction," Liuyu commented indifferently, as if he hadn't been the one attacked just moments ago.

"Fu, restrict his movement!" Torune growled.

The Root ninja codenamed Fu rapidly formed hand seals—Snake-Dragon-Hare-Tiger.

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"

Violent air currents surged from his mouth, not aimed at attacking Liuyu, but sweeping across the entire area.

The gale whipped up fallen leaves and dust, creating a visual obstruction while using the air turbulence to track the enemy's movement trajectory.

A very clever tactic.

But unfortunately, they were facing Flash Step.

Liuyu tapped his toe lightly against the branch.

His figure vanished once again.

It was less of a disappearance and more that he was so fast that even visual afterimages could not be left behind.

"Behind!" Fu's perception finally caught a trace, but it was too late.

Liuyu's figure emerged behind him like a ghost, a hand-blade striking precisely at the back of his neck.

"Ugh!" Fu groaned, his body going limp, but before losing consciousness, he used his remaining strength to throw a poison mist bomb.

Purple toxic fog permeated the air instantly.

"Got him!" A flash of joy crossed Torune's eyes.

One breath of this poison mist would paralyze the nerves within three seconds and render the target combat-incapable within five.

But the next second, his joy froze on his face.

Liuyu's figure was already standing outside the range of the poison mist, not even a corner of his clothes touched by the vapor.

He looked down at the collapsed Fu and shook his head:

"Poison is useless against me."

The moment the poison mist exploded, Liuyu had used Flash Step to put distance between them.

The entire process was fluid and seamless, as if it had been rehearsed a thousand times.

"How is this possible..." Cold sweat beaded on Torune's forehead.

What kind of speed was this?

No hand seals, no signs of chakra eruption, and even the movement trajectory was so bizarre it was impossible to predict.

One moment he was in place, the next he was ten meters away, with absolutely no "movement" process in between.

It was... it was just like Space-Time Ninjutsu!

But wasn't that a technique developed by the Second Hokage? Where could he have learned it? And how could he have mastered it!

Furthermore, Space-Time Ninjutsu would have obvious spatial fluctuations; what this kid used wasn't ninjutsu at all!

Was it Taijutsu? But what kind of Taijutsu could achieve such an effect?

"What exactly are you?!" Torune gritted his teeth, his hands forming seals once more—this time, more complex ones.

But before he could even finish forming the hand seals, a figure was already pressed right up against him.

So fast!

Torune couldn't even see how Liuyu had moved; he only saw a pale palm rapidly enlarging before his eyes.

BANG!

A clean, crisp straight punch slammed into his abdomen.

"Gah!" Torune's eyes bulged, gastric juices mixed with blood spraying from his mouth as his body arched like a shrimp.

Yet, the training of a Root ninja granted him willpower far beyond that of an ordinary person.

Enduring the agonizing pain, he slid a poisoned dagger from his sleeve and thrust it backhanded toward Liuyu's ribs.

A suicidal tactic.