Shimura Danzō's Desire

Uchiha Ryūha's gaze turned cold.

He held back no longer.

His right hand shot out, precisely locking onto Torune's wrist as he held his blade, and twisted with force.

Snap.

The sound of bone fracturing set one's teeth on edge.

The short blade slipped from his grasp and hit the ground.

Simultaneously, Uchiha Ryūha raised his left knee, slamming it heavily into Torune's chest.

Bang! Snap!

The sound of ribs breaking was clearly audible.

Torune flew backward like a discarded sack, snapping a tree as thick as a bowl before rolling onto the ground.

He vomited a mouthful of blood and could no longer climb back up.

From start to finish, the battle lasted less than a minute.

Two elite Root members at the Special Jonin level had been completely crushed without even touching the hem of Uchiha Ryūha's clothes.

Uchiha Ryūha clapped his hands, walked over to Torune, and crouched down.

The eyes visible beneath Torune's mask glared fixedly at Uchiha Ryūha, bloodshot and bulging.

Mixed within them were shock, resentment, and a trace of imperceptible fear.

"What... what kind of jutsu... did you use..." With every word he spoke, a froth of blood bubbled from the corner of his mouth.

Uchiha Ryūha did not answer; he simply reached out and removed Torune's mask.

Beneath the mask was a face of about thirty years old, ordinary in appearance but with a fierce, vicious look in his eyes.

"Go back and tell Danzo." Uchiha Ryūha's voice was calm, yet carried a chill that seeped into the marrow.

"If he wants to test me, send someone capable next time. Trash like this—"

He stood up and stepped on Torune's head, grinding his face into the dirt.

"—doesn't even have the qualifications to make me get serious."

Torune groaned in humiliation, but he was powerless to resist.

Uchiha Ryūha withdrew his foot, cast one final glance at the two men sprawled on the ground, and turned to leave.

After walking a few steps, he stopped. Without looking back, he left behind a light, airy remark:

"Oh, and pass one more message to Elder Danzo for me: Roots hidden in the shadows can never see the light.

If he insists on reaching out too far... I don't mind helping Konoha prune its excess branches."

With that, Uchiha Ryūha's figure flickered a few times and vanished into the depths of the forest.

Only the two heavily injured Root ninjas remained, struggling to breathe amidst the swirling dust and the scent of blood.

[Defeated Root ninjas, Karma Points increased by 500]

Half an hour later.

Root base, stone chamber.

"Useless trash!"

Danzo slammed his palm onto the stone table, causing the hard rock surface to crack.

Before him, Torune and Fu knelt on the ground, wrapped in bandages, their auras withered.

"Two of you, ambushing a ten-year-old brat, and not only did you fail to gather any intelligence, but you were beaten into this state by his taijutsu?"

A cold light flickered in Danzo's single eye. "You are Root, not some useless students from the Ninja Academy!"

"Lord Danzo..." Torune spoke with difficulty, his voice hoarse. "That Uchiha Ryūha... he didn't use the Body Flicker Technique.

There were no hand seals, no chakra fluctuations, and his speed was so fast that... so fast that we couldn't even track his movement. Furthermore..."

He swallowed a mouthful of bloody saliva, a lingering fear flashing in his eyes. "His fighting style... was too calm.

Too calm for a child; it was more like... he was toying with us."

"Toying with you?" Danzo narrowed his eyes.

"Yes," Fu added with difficulty. "He didn't use any ninjutsu throughout the entire fight, not even genjutsu—at least not the kind that 'dominates the five senses.'

He used only taijutsu and that bizarre speed to completely suppress us.

Moreover... he seemed very familiar with our fighting style. Every movement he made targeted our blind spots, and every strike hit our weakest points."

Danzo fell silent.

He paced slowly around the stone chamber with his hands behind his back, the sound of his cane striking the floor exceptionally clear in the silence.

"Familiar with Root's fighting style... is it because the Uchiha Police Force has our files?"

"No, impossible. The tactics of Root are top secret."

"Then that means... combat intuition?"

"No, even the strongest intuition couldn't reach this level."

"Unless..." Shimura Danzō stopped in his tracks, a sinister glint flashing in his single eye, "he saw through everything you did."

A Kekkei Genkai that dominates the five senses...

If he could "perceive" and "predict" even the enemy's intentions, chakra flow, and the subtle signs of muscle contraction...

Doesn't that mean that in front of him, all tactics and all techniques are rendered useless?

"Uchiha Ryūha..." Shimura Danzō muttered the name, his voice laced with deep apprehension and killing intent.

"Pass down the order. Spread the news of his Kekkei Genkai in the shadows."

This boy must not be allowed to live.

But he could not make a move yet.

Fugaku had already taken notice of him, and the Third Hokage likely had the news as well.

Assassinating an Uchiha genius who had just emerged and was valued by the clan head so blatantly carried too much risk.

"Go and tend to your wounds." Shimura Danzō waved his hand, his tone icy, "I don't want to see you again for a month."

"Yes." The two acted as if they had been granted a pardon, stumbling away.

In the stone chamber, only Shimura Danzō remained.

He walked to the wall and pressed a hidden mechanism.

The stone wall slid open, revealing a massive glass container behind it.

Soaking inside the container were rows of scarlet eyeballs with spinning tomoe.

Sharingan.

"Uchiha... Sharingan..." Shimura Danzō stroked the cold surface of the container, his single eye flickering with greedy, fanatical light.

"A Kekkei Genkai that dominates the five senses... If I could obtain it, if I could combine it with the Sharingan..."

He whispered, his voice like a viper flicking its tongue.

"Ryūha-kun, we... will meet again."

Meanwhile, in the Uchiha clan grounds, at the third training field behind the mountain.

Uchiha Ryūha sat cross-legged in the center of the newly arranged training area, a B-rank ninjutsu scroll he had just received spread out before him.

But he did not look at it.

He was reviewing the battle that had just taken place.

"The consumption of Flash Step is smaller than I imagined, but the physical burden is immense."

"With my current spiritual pressure and physique, using it five times in a row is my limit."

"The Root ninjas were indeed skilled, with tacit coordination and ruthless methods."

"If it weren't for the speed of Flash Step being completely beyond their comprehension, combined with the sensory prediction of Kyōka Suigetsu, winning wouldn't have been so easy."

"However..."

Uchiha Ryūha adjusted his glasses, a look of contemplation flashing in his eyes.

"Shimura Danzō will not let this go."

"This was only a probe; the next ones to come will likely be true elites."

"I must accelerate my progress."

He looked up toward the center of Konoha.

There were three months left until the incident with the White Fang.

And if he wanted to get close to that hero of Konoha, he needed a suitable opportunity.

An opportunity that would not arouse suspicion from anyone.

Uchiha Ryūha closed his eyes, a map of Konoha appearing in his mind, along with the intelligence he had gathered over the past few days regarding Hatake Sakumo.

"The izakaya he frequents... the route he habitually walks alone after missions... and that white-haired boy who is always training alone at the training field until late at night..."

A plan gradually took shape in his mind.

He stood up and walked to the edge of the training field, looking at the statues of the past Hokage on the Hokage Rock in the distance.

"A hero shouldn't end in that way," Uchiha Ryūha whispered to himself, "especially not by dying at the hands of... the people he protected."

He gripped the hilt of Kyōka Suigetsu at his waist.

The blade hummed slightly within its scabbard.

As if responding to its master's will.

"Graduation and team assignment day is in two days, isn't it? I hope I get a reliable captain."