Assassination and Turning the Tables

Deep within an underground base in Konoha lies the headquarters of Root, the lair of Danzo.

Root, as the name implies, takes its meaning from the roots of a tree. Unlike the Hokage, who basks in the sunlight preaching the Will of Fire, this organization dwells beneath the shadow of Konoha, driving its roots deep into the darkness. Its primary purpose is to secretly eliminate any obstacles that might hinder the village's prosperity.

It is an extremist organization that obeys Danzo's every command. Those who enter Root can no longer be viewed as normal people; they are death-defying soldiers who will stop at nothing to complete their missions.

Danzo arrived at his office, sat down, closed his eyes for a moment, and said in a deep voice, "Aburame Torune, I have a mission for you. The target is named Obito! Bring me his head at all costs!"

"Yes! Lord Danzo!"

Aburame Torune, a genius of the Aburame Clan, wore a protective suit that covered almost his entire body.

His body hosted highly toxic, nano-sized insects, and he possessed an immunity to toxins. If anyone else were infected by these insects, they would die as their cells were destroyed from within. These insects could only exist within biological cells, reproducing by consuming them; once the host died, the insects perished as well.

Because of Aburame Torune's unique abilities, every target he assassinated died unknowingly from the potent poison. He was highly valued by Danzo.

Obito was sleeping soundly at Tsunade's house, unaware that an assassination attempt against him had already begun. The Root organization's intelligence network was formidable; within minutes, Obito's photo, home address, background information, strength, and known ninjutsu were clearly documented on a single sheet of paper.

Aburame Torune scanned the intelligence quickly, burned the document, and vanished using the Body Flicker Technique.

Upon reaching the vicinity of Obito's home, he commanded the insects within his body to fly toward the house. He raised different types of insects—some for reconnaissance, others for killing.

The insects transmitted what they saw back to Aburame Torune, and he slowly pieced together the interior of Obito's home in his mind. "Hm? No one?"

He recalled the intelligence mentioning that the target sometimes stayed at Tsunade's house. Tsunade was one of the Sannin and possessed immense power; if he alerted her, his mission would be difficult to complete.

Aburame Torune controlled two or three scout insects to fly toward Tsunade's house, not daring to use too many. Found him! He directed the toxic insects within his body to head straight for the room where Obito was staying.

However, what Aburame Torune did not expect was that the moment he sent the insects into the house, Obito knew. Over the past year, Obito had accumulated a pile of miscellaneous items from his card draws. Not only in his own home but also in Tsunade's, he had placed a warning device called the Big Horn. It was of blue quality and had only one function: to sound an alarm. Its defining feature was that the alarm was incredibly loud!

Danzo, or is it the Third?

He activated his Mangekyo Sharingan, turned his body intangible, and vanished from the room.

"Hm? Gone? Has he already discovered me?" Aburame Torune whispered, but he did not consider retreating. In his heart, a mission passed down by Danzo had to be completed. Even if he might face an attack from one of the Sannin, Tsunade, and even if he might die, the mission had to be finished!

Aburame Torune stopped worrying about stealth and unleashed his nano-toxic insects in a full-scale swarm!

"Nothing! Where did he go? He couldn't have just vanished into thin air! Even his scent is gone!"

"Are you looking for me?"

"When!" Aburame Torune was horrified and hurriedly commanded the insects to attack behind him.

He turned around instantly, but when he saw the eyes of his opponent, he knew he was doomed! The intelligence was wrong; he hadn't awakened an ordinary Sharingan!

I must get this information back to Root! I believe Lord Danzo will be satisfied.

When Obito saw the person who had turned around, the name Aburame Torune automatically surfaced in his mind. A man who excelled in the use of poison.

Ever since he had consumed the medicinal pill, his brain's memory capacity had reached a terrifying level. This also led him to a realization: things you have seen or heard that you cannot recall are not gone; they are merely hidden by the brain. Once your brain develops to a new height, these hidden contents reappear in your mind.

Aburame Torune watched as the insects lunged at the target, while the opponent stood motionless like a fool.

He was immediately stunned by the scene before him: those insects had passed directly through the target's body! They hadn't caused the target any harm at all!

This is a monster! Run! Run! Aburame Torune screamed in his heart, cold sweat pouring beneath his mask.

"Kamui!" Lu Ming focused his gaze on Aburame Torune's head, and the man's head was twisted off as easily as a cilantro root...

Fresh blood sprayed from the neck...

"So disgusting..." He suppressed the urge to vomit, his first time killing someone, but there was still work to be done. He stored the corpse in the Kamui dimension.

He picked up a kunai and gestured toward his own chest for a long time, truly unable to bring himself to do it...

"Damn it, for the sake of future happiness, go for it!"

He took the kunai and stabbed it into his chest...

"Fuck, that hurts like hell!" Obito clutched his bleeding wound and stumbled back toward the house, making no effort to hide the sound of his footsteps or the opening of the door.

Tsunade heard the sound of the door opening and the stumbling footsteps. Relying on years of combat experience, she judged that someone was injured! Who is injured and running to my house?

She stood up, threw on some clothes, and pulled open the door, only to see Obito stumbling toward his room.

Suddenly, her pupils constricted! Blood! Everywhere Obito passed, blood dripped, drip by drip!

A sense of panic flooded her heart, and the strength in her limbs rapidly faded...

With a "thud," Tsunade sat weakly on the floor, her hands pressing firmly against her face.

He naturally discovered Tsunade. Is this hemophobia?

"Lady Tsunade? What's wrong?" Obito acted as if he had only just noticed her because she had sat on the floor. Ignoring his own injuries, he turned and stumbled over.

"Don't come over... don't come over..." Tsunade kept whispering.

"Lady Tsunade, it's me, Obito. Are you okay? Is something wrong?"

Tsunade struggled to look at Obito through her fingertips. Although his face was pale, he was still smiling and showing concern for her, which moved her deeply...

He is injured, yet he is still worried about me.

"I got up to use the bathroom just now and heard someone outside. I didn't want to disturb Lady Tsunade's rest, so I went out myself. I didn't expect it to be a powerful person wearing a mask... Although I repelled the enemy, I got hurt myself... I'm really useless..." Obito said in a low voice.

What? A masked ninja! Was it Anbu or Root? He is so young, yet he fought an Anbu alone! Just so I could sleep well?

If she had been somewhat moved before, now her entire heart was filled with emotion...

How long had it been since someone pampered her like this?

She could not watch him bleed out right in front of her! She had to save him!

Tsunade took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the fear in her heart. Perhaps it was because the power of the emotion she had just felt was so overwhelming, but Tsunade felt as if her body had regained some strength.

"Come here, take off your shirt, and lie down."

"Oh, right..." Obito took off his shirt, but the movement tugged at the wound on his chest, sending a sharp jolt of pain through him that made him hiss...

Tsunade reached out and placed her hands over the wound on Obito's chest, green chakra flowing from her palms to cover the injury.

Mystical Palm Technique

He felt a tingling, numb, and itchy sensation over the wound; it was a rather unpleasant feeling.

Seeing Obito undergoing treatment, Tsunade was reminded of Dan from several years ago. She had treated him too, yet he had still died. In Tsunade's vision, the image of little Obito slowly began to overlap with that of Dan...

Five minutes later, the wound on Obito's chest had stopped bleeding. Ninjutsu was truly miraculous...

"Although the wound has temporarily closed, your lung was injured. You need to rest for a while, so just stay here," Tsunade said, pulling her hands back.

"Okay! Lady Tsunade, are you alright? You really gave me a huge scare just now," Obito asked with concern.

"I'm fine now. Let me help you inside to rest," Tsunade said, bracing herself as she stood up.

Teacher, I hope it isn't you...