Meeting Danzo

"Why would Root have their eye on this kid?"

Not long after Yun Xi left with the two Chunin from Root, a shadow appeared outside his home.

If Yun Xi had seen this...

He would have realized that the person before him was Uchiha Itachi, whom he had run into outside the village earlier!

After returning to the village from outside, Uchiha Itachi had originally planned to head straight back to the Uchiha Clan compound.

But he was worried Yun Xi might reveal that he had been outside the village.

So he decided to come here and warn him.

But he hadn't expected...

That kid Yun Xi would be taken away by Root...

A note of caution flashed across Uchiha Itachi's face at the sight!

After all, he knew all too well what kind of place Root was...

After some thought,

Uchiha Itachi finally decided to follow them and find out what was going on...

Meanwhile...

Blindfolded, Yun Xi followed the two Root Chunin at a steady pace,

while secretly trying to think of a way to escape.

"Why would Root come after me...?"

Ever since leaving home, Yun Xi had been turning that question over in his mind.

And he still hadn't figured it out...

"Forget it. I'll see what that old geezer Danzo wants when we get there!"

In the original Naruto story, Danzo was basically Konoha's greatest villain.

He was also the scapegoat for everything.

But...

Yun Xi wasn't actually that worried.

Although Danzo often carried out missions like assassinations and reconnaissance,

Yun Xi had never seen him kill innocent people indiscriminately!

In other words, nobody knew Yun Xi had come from another world.

In everyone's eyes, he was just an ordinary Konoha civilian.

Danzo wouldn't have any reason to target him...

"Go on in."

About half an hour later, the Root Chunin who had led the way removed the blindfold from Yun Xi's face and gestured for him to enter.

After being in the dark for so long, Yun Xi instinctively squinted as soon as the blindfold came off...

"So this is Root?"

Rubbing his eyes, Yun Xi looked around Root's headquarters as he followed the two Root Chunin.

The overall setting of Root was not all that different from ordinary buildings in Konoha.

It was mostly made of wood, and scattered points of firelight illuminated the dim corridors.

The only difference was that Yun Xi could sense some inexplicable presence inside the building.

It felt like killing intent...

But not quite.

It was like a strange, chilly breeze blowing on a scorching summer day...

Aside from that, there was nothing particularly remarkable about the place.

If not for the killing intent that made Yun Xi vaguely uneasy, and if he hadn't been told beforehand that this was Root's headquarters,

he would have thought it was just some abandoned building.

"Kid, stop looking around!"

Seeing Yun Xi glance about as he followed, the Root Chunin on his right was the first to warn him. Then he stepped directly in front of Yun Xi and said sternly, "If you don't want to die, behave yourself..."

"Mm."

When you're under someone else's roof, you have to bow your head. Faced with the Root Chunin's killing intent, Yun Xi could only lower his head in resignation.

Then he followed the two of them onward...

"I have to get stronger!"

Yun Xi wasn't resisting at the moment, but his resolve to get stronger had only grown!

If Yun Xi had Kage-level strength or greater right now, would he have to fear a mere Chunin?

Unfortunately...

Yun Xi didn't have the strength to overturn Konoha just yet...

But that didn't mean he never would!

After quietly memorizing the figures of the two men before him, Yun Xi made a silent vow.

One day, he would send those two bastards' heads down Konoha's sewers!

"Lord Danzo, we've brought him."

After walking along the dim corridor for several minutes, Yun Xi arrived with the two Root Chunin in a fairly spacious hall.

The hall's decor was not much different.

It was just as dim as the corridor before it.

The same sparse lights...

The same eerie quiet...

The only real difference was that the space was more expansive.

And there was one more person...

Danzo...

"I know."

Realizing Yun Xi was standing before him, Danzo slowly turned around.

He looked much the same as he had in the original story.

He still wore a white robe and had that gloomy, dead-fish expression.

An aura that made Yun Xi deeply uncomfortable still emanated from him...

"You two, leave..."

Danzo's cold words rang out.

With a careless wave of his hand, the two Root Chunin standing beside Yun Xi glanced at each other, then vanished from the spot...

In an instant,

only Danzo and Yun Xi remained in the spacious hall.

"What the hell is this old geezer Danzo up to?"

Looking at Danzo, who remained silent but kept staring at him,

Yun Xi couldn't help wondering.

From the way things looked, Danzo had clearly come here to see him.

But...

Yun Xi had no idea what it could possibly be about!

As Yun Xi puzzled over it,

Danzo spoke...

"Yun Xi, male, orphan, the student who has repeated the most years at the Konoha Ninja Academy..."

After reading Yun Xi's file aloud, Danzo slowly lifted his expressionless face. He fixed Yun Xi with dead-fish eyes brimming with killing intent, then asked, "Is that right?"

"Lord Danzo, if you already know, why bother asking me?"

Yun Xi had been about to answer automatically.

But then he realized that rather than passively endure an interrogation,

he might as well take the initiative!

Sure enough, when Yun Xi spoke in a teasing tone, a strange smile appeared on Danzo's face.

It was a peculiar smile...

But to Yun Xi, it looked worse than crying.

"Interesting. What an interesting little brat..."

At last, Danzo shook his head, the smile still lingering at the corners of his mouth.

He slowly pulled a white file from his robes and walked toward Yun Xi.

First he handed the file to Yun Xi, then he asked, "Dead last, do you want to get stronger?"

"Holy crap?!"

At those words,

Yun Xi, who had been feeling a little drowsy, instantly perked up!

"This Danzo really doesn't play by the rules!"

Yun Xi immediately started grumbling to himself about the man in front of him!

Seriously.

Before coming here, even if someone had beaten him to death, Yun Xi would never have guessed that Danzo would send people to invite him to Root's headquarters.

And that he would be waiting for him here...

All because he wanted to recruit Yun Xi!

And what was more!

The most important thing was, judging from what Danzo had just said,

he seemed to want to help Yun Xi get stronger!