Danzo's Invitation

Shimura Ayato was a character who had never appeared in the original manga, nothing more than a nameless extra.

Rogge did not take her seriously and quickly formed the Seal of Opposition.

The battle began, yet Shimura Ayato stood still.

Then, a middle-aged man's voice sounded beside Rogge's ear. "Rogge, I am Hokage Advisor Danzo Shimura."

"What? You're Lord Danzo?" Using Observation Haki, Rogge detected that the voice was coming from the girl across from him, Shimura Ayato.

"Yes. I am currently using Ayato's special Wind Release—Gone with the Wind—to speak with you."

"Lord Danzo, what do you need?" Rogge asked in an extremely low voice.

"No rush. Continue fighting Shimura Ayato normally. Do not let anyone else notice my presence." Danzo's voice reached Rogge's ears through Shimura Ayato as a medium.

As he spoke, Shimura Ayato said in her own voice, "Little brother Rogge, although you're strong, for the glory of the Shimura Clan, I won't surrender so easily!"

Then, a shuriken flew toward him.

Rogge dodged aside, then returned the favor with a Magma Fist, though he deliberately slowed the attack.

Shimura Ayato easily avoided it with the Body Flicker Technique.

Rogge knew that Shimura Ayato was a member of Konoha's Root and one of the loyal agents Danzo Shimura had secretly trained.

Thus, while putting on a seemingly fierce but actually half-hearted fight with Shimura Ayato, he secretly conversed with Danzo Shimura.

"Lord Danzo, what did you want from me?"

"Rogge, although your Lava Release is powerful, Uchiha Shimizu is an elite jonin who has awakened the Three-Tomoe Sharingan. Are you certain you want a life-and-death duel with him?"

"Yes. The Uchiha Clan has bullied me too far. I must retaliate."

"Rogge, I think highly of your potential. As long as you agree to join Root, I will ensure that you live. I may even help you ascend to the position of Hokage someday."

"Root? What is that?" Rogge pretended not to know of Root's existence and asked in a puzzled tone.

"You know ANBU, don't you? It is a ninja organization directly under the Hokage, and only jonin may join it. Root is ANBU's training division!"

"Root is the root system supporting the great tree that is Konoha, buried deep in the earth... Root carries out the necessary evils of Leaf Village... It is an organization that secretly protects Konoha. Incidentally, Root is currently under my command."

"Rogge, you are a highly gifted ninja. I formally invite you to join Root and protect Konoha with me!"

Rogge sneered inwardly. If he had not read the original work and known Danzo Shimura's petty nature and greed, he might really have been fooled.

Danzo Shimura's brainwashing skills were hardly inferior to Hiruzen Sarutobi's!

One used the "Will of Fire" to brainwash Konoha's young ninjas, while the other used "roots buried beneath Konoha's great tree" to brainwash young ninjas. One wanted to cultivate heroes who stood in the light, while the other wanted to cultivate nameless heroes hidden in the darkness.

Wonderful! Truly wonderful! Interesting! Truly interesting!

"Lord Danzo, I think... I'd better kill Uchiha Shimizu before joining Root!"

"Rogge, you are still young. It is good for a youth to be confident, but you are far too impulsive. Uchiha Shimizu is not an opponent you can handle right now."

Rogge suddenly sneered. "Heh heh, Lord Danzo, whether I can kill Uchiha Shimizu will become clear in one month."

With that, Rogge instantly flashed behind Shimura Ayato and struck the girl's slender neck with a hand chop.

The heavy blow disrupted the flow of chakra within Shimura Ayato's body and compressed certain nerves in her neck. Her entire body went limp as she collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

The "phone line" was suddenly cut, and Danzo Shimura's voice immediately vanished from Rogge's ear.

Below the platform, Danzo Shimura stood in the shadows with a gloomy expression and an ugly look on his face.

Defeat Uchiha Shimizu? What a joke!

Among the Uchiha Clan, the vast majority of ninjas who awakened the Three-Tomoe Sharingan possessed the strength of elite jonin, and Uchiha Shimizu was among the best of them!

No matter how powerful Rogge's Lava Release Kekkei Genkai was, even if he were given another month to train, defeating a chunin instructor would already be an incredible feat.

Wanting to defeat an Uchiha elite jonin in a month was nothing but a dream!

So-called elite jonin were elite ninjas whose "Eight Ninja Attributes" had all reached the highest jonin level, second only to Kage-level powerhouses!

The Eight Ninja Attributes referred to the eight basic attributes of ninjutsu, taijutsu, genjutsu, intelligence, strength, speed, stamina, and hand seals.

Ninjutsu referred to a ninja's ability with ninjutsu, their mastery and proficiency in it. Its representative figures were the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi, known as the "Professor of Ninjutsu," and the Copy Ninja Kakashi Hatake.

Taijutsu referred to a ninja's mastery and proficiency in physical techniques. Its representative figure was Konoha's Blue Beast, Might Guy, who had nearly kicked the story to its ending with one kick.

Genjutsu referred to one's mastery and proficiency in illusion techniques. A relatively famous genjutsu was Tsukuyomi, and its representative figure was Itachi Uchiha, who loved sweets.

Intelligence referred to a ninja's breadth of knowledge or level of intellect. Its representative figure was Orochimaru, the mad scientist of the ninja world.

Strength mainly included a ninja's arm strength, leg strength, overall muscular power, and so on. Its representative figure was the Fifth Hokage, Tsunade Senju.

Speed referred to a ninja's movement speed and reaction speed. Its representative figures were Shisui Uchiha, the Fourth Raikage, and others.

Stamina referred to the amount of "physical energy," the source of chakra—in other words, how much chakra one had. Its representative figures were the Uzumaki Clan, known for their "chakra tonnage."

Hand seals referred to a ninja's mastery or proficiency with forming seals. Its representative figure was Kisame Hoshigaki, the honest man of the ninja world.

The path of a ninja was taken one step at a time!

A genin might possibly kill a chunin through a sneak attack, but a genin could never take down an elite jonin. That was common sense!

And what Rogge wanted to do now was break that common sense!

"Danzo... so he really has his eye on me. Heh heh!"

After defeating Shimura Ayato, Rogge rested quietly in a corner.

"Hiruzen Sarutobi's ANBU, the Uchiha Clan's Police Department, Danzo's Root... These three forces are competing against each other. The situation in Leaf Village is far too complicated."

Rogge knew his own position well. Whether Hiruzen Sarutobi accepted him as an adopted son, Danzo invited him to join Root, or the Uchiha Clan suppressed him in secret, these were all merely surface appearances. In essence, they were tests between Leaf Village's internal factions, and he was nothing more than a chess piece placed wherever others pleased.

For the current Rogge, unless he became a rogue ninja and left Leaf Village, he would have to choose a faction to join in order to protect himself and develop in peace.

But Rogge refused. He wanted to break all of it!

With strength, with his fists, just like the First Hokage Hashirama Senju, he would crush everything with overwhelming power and unify the ninja world!

"Strength is still what matters most."

Rogge knew clearly that if he wanted to control his own fate in the ninja world, he had only one choice: desperately increase his strength.