Somewhere beneath Konoha lay an underground base—the headquarters of Root, Danzo's den.
Root took its name from the roots of a tree. Unlike the Hokage, who basked in the sunlight and preached the Will of Fire, this organization operated in Konoha's shadow, sinking its roots deep into the darkness. Its primary purpose was to secretly eliminate anything that might hinder the village's prosperity.
It was an extremist organization that obeyed Danzo without question. Anyone who joined Root could no longer be considered normal. They were fanatics who would stop at nothing to complete their missions!
Danzo went to his office. After sitting down, he closed his eyes and was silent for a moment before speaking in a low voice. "Torune, I have a mission for you. The target is named Obito Uchiha. Make sure you bring back his head!"
"Yes, Lord Danzo!"
Aburame Torune was a prodigy of the Aburame Clan. He wore a protective suit that covered almost his entire body.
His body was host to poisonous, nano-sized insects, and he was immune to their venom. Anyone else infected with the poison would die as their cells were destroyed. These insects could only live inside the cells of a living organism, reproducing by destroying those cells. Once their host died, the insects died with it.
Thanks to Aburame Torune's special ability, every target he assassinated died from poison without ever realizing they had been infected. Danzo valued him greatly.
Obito was sleeping soundly at Lady Tsunade's house, unaware that an assassination attempt against him had already begun. Root's intelligence network was extremely capable. Within minutes, Obito's photograph, home address, basic information, strength, and known jutsu were all neatly written on a sheet of paper.
Torune quickly skimmed through it, burned the intelligence, and vanished with the Body Flicker Technique.
When he reached the area near Obito's home, he sent the insects inside his body flying toward the house. He kept different kinds of insects in his body: some for reconnaissance, others for killing.
The insects relayed what they saw to Torune, who slowly pieced together an image of the inside of Obito's house in his mind. "Hmm? Nobody here?"
He remembered the intelligence mentioning that the target sometimes stayed at Lady Tsunade's house. Tsunade was one of the Sannin and immensely powerful. If he alerted her, completing his mission would become very difficult.
Torune sent two or three reconnaissance insects toward Tsunade's house. He didn't dare use too many. He found him! He sent the venomous insects inside his body straight toward the room where Obito was staying.
But Torune had no idea that the moment he sent the insects into Obito's house, Obito knew. Over the past year, he had accumulated all sorts of random items from his draws. He had placed one of them not only in his own home but also at Tsunade's: an alarm device called Big Horn. It was blue quality and had only one function—to sound an alarm. Its defining feature was that the alarm was incredibly loud!
Was it Danzo or the Third Hokage?
He activated his Mangekyō Sharingan. His body turned intangible, then vanished from the room.
"Hm? He's gone? Did he notice me already?" Torune murmured. But he never considered retreating. In his mind, a mission entrusted to him by Danzo had to be completed, even if he might be attacked by Tsunade, one of the Sannin, even if he might die!
Torune stopped worrying about staying hidden and unleashed every nano-sized venomous insect in his body!
"Nothing! Where did he go? Could he really have vanished into thin air? Even his scent is gone!"
"Were you looking for me?"
"When did—?" Torune was horrified and hurriedly sent the insects to attack behind him.
He immediately turned around, and the moment he saw the other man's eyes, he knew he was doomed! The intelligence was wrong. This man hadn't merely awakened an ordinary Sharingan!
He had to get this news back to Root! Lord Danzo would surely be pleased.
When Obito saw the man who had turned around, a name automatically surfaced in his mind: Aburame Torune. A man skilled in poison.
Ever since he had taken the pills, his memory had become terrifyingly good. He had also realized something: when you couldn't remember something you had seen or heard, the memory hadn't disappeared. It had only been hidden by your brain. Once your brain developed to a new level, those hidden memories resurfaced.
Torune watched the insects swarm toward their target, who stood perfectly still, as if he were an idiot.
The scene before him left him stunned. The insects had passed straight through the target's body! They hadn't hurt him at all!
He's a monster! Run! Run! Torune screamed inwardly, cold sweat pouring down beneath his mask.
"Kamui!" Lu Ming fixed his gaze on Torune's head. It looked as if someone had casually twisted off a cilantro root...
Blood gushed from his neck...
"That's disgusting..." Having never killed anyone before, he fought down the urge to vomit. He still had things to do. He put the body away in the Kamui Dimension.
He picked up a Kunai and held it against his chest, hesitating for a long time. He just couldn't bring himself to do it...
"Damn it, I'm doing this for a happier future!"
He grabbed the Kunai and stabbed himself in the chest...
"Fuck, that really hurts!" Obito clutched his bleeding wound and staggered back into the house, making no effort to hide the sounds of his footsteps or the door opening.
Hearing the door open and the unsteady footsteps, Tsunade drew on her years of combat experience and realized someone was injured. Who had been hurt and come to her house?
She got up, put on her clothes, and opened the door. She saw Obito staggering toward his room.
Suddenly, her pupils contracted. Blood! Drops of blood kept falling from the places Obito had passed!
Panic flooded her heart, and the strength rapidly drained from her limbs...
With a thud, Tsunade sank helplessly onto the floor, pressing both hands hard against her face.
He noticed Tsunade, of course. So this was her fear of blood?
"Lady Tsunade? What's wrong?" Obito acted as if he had only noticed her because she had sat down. Ignoring his own injury, he turned and staggered toward her.
"Don't come over... Don't come over..." Tsunade whispered over and over.
"Lady Tsunade, it's me, Obito. Are you all right? Do you feel sick?"
Through the gaps between her fingers, Tsunade managed to see Obito in front of her. His face was pale, but he was still smiling as he showed concern for her. She felt deeply moved...
He was injured, yet he was still worried about me.
"I got up to use the bathroom just now and heard someone outside. I didn't want to disturb you, Lady Tsunade, so I went out by myself. I didn't expect him to be a powerful masked man... I managed to drive him off, but I got hurt too... I'm so useless..." Obito said in a low voice.
"What? A masked shinobi! Was he Anbu or Root? He's so young, yet he fought an Anbu member alone—all just to let me sleep peacefully?"
If she had been moved before, now her heart was overflowing with emotion...
How long had it been since anyone had cared for her like this?
I can't just stand by and let him keep bleeding! I have to save him!
Tsunade took a deep breath, forcing down her fear. Perhaps the strength of the emotion she had just felt was overwhelming. She felt as though some of her strength was returning.
"Come over. Take off your shirt and lie down."
"Oh, okay..." Obito took off his shirt. The movement tugged at the wound on his chest, sending a sharp stab of pain through him and making him suck in a breath.
Tsunade placed a hand over the wound on Obito's chest. Green chakra flowed from her hand, covering the injury.
"Mystical Palm Technique."
The wound felt prickly and itchy, a thoroughly unpleasant sensation.
As Tsunade watched Obito being treated, she remembered Dan from several years ago. She had treated him too, but he had died all the same. In her eyes, the small figure of Obito slowly began to merge with Dan's...
Five minutes later, the wound on Obito's chest had stopped bleeding. Ninjutsu really was amazing...
"Your wound has temporarily closed, but your lung was injured. You'll need to rest for a while, so stay here." Tsunade withdrew her hand.
"Okay! Lady Tsunade, are you all right? You really scared me just now," Obito asked with concern.
"I'm fine now. Let me help you inside to rest." Tsunade braced herself and stood up.
"Teacher, I hope it wasn't you..."
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