Root, Once Again

At eight in the evening.

Despite White Fang's determined attempts to keep him, Ying Shu still resolutely chose to go home and sleep.

His wall had not yet been repaired. He had merely taped it up, turning it into a temporary window. If some thief set their sights on his house, that would be troublesome.

After walking along a mountain road and passing through a park, Ying Shu saw elderly men and women exercising there, which gave him the urge to do some evening training.

He had not exercised much today, and he had barely practiced Water Release at all.

Although the "resistance against Root" plan had made some progress and White Fang's response had been positive, meaning he needed to keep working at it, Ying Shu also understood that one had to be strong oneself to forge iron.

Half past eight, Training Ground Three.

This was not the training ground closest to Ying Shu's home, yet he still came here. Unfortunately, the old man was not around.

"Ox—Monkey—Rabbit—Rat—Boar—Rooster..."

Ying Shu continued forming hand seals without much difficulty. Water Dragon Bullet had an astonishing number of seals, and apparently there were many different versions.

The old man's version had a full twenty-five seals, while Hiruzen Sarutobi's had twenty-one, making it somewhat streamlined.

If Ying Shu had not looked carefully, he truly would not have noticed.

He just wondered why Zabuza needed forty-four seals for a Water Dragon Bullet. The key was that Kakashi on the other side had copied his homework exactly, which was downright embarrassing.

What Ying Shu used now was the Refined Water Dragon Bullet Hiruzen Sarutobi had given him.

It had two activation modes: drawing upon the surrounding water and gathering it into a water dragon, or using one's own chakra to spray out a water dragon.

Ying Shu naturally disdained borrowing the momentum of water. The Senju Clan had the Senju Clan's pride.

He wanted to do it himself.

Following the chakra circulation method stored in his memories, Ying Shu steadily formed seals and mobilized his chakra. The process went smoothly and felt good. Delight flashed through his eyes. This might work!

"Water Release: Water Dragon... damn?"

Ying Shu spat out quite a bit of saliva. He had still made a mistake at the final step, directly consuming more than twenty percent of his chakra.

"Why aren't you going home to sleep instead of messing around at night?!"

Ying Shu irritably looked at the two people in his field of vision. They were of average height and looked to be around eleven or twelve.

The important thing was that they had suddenly appeared and were staring straight at him like ghosts, disrupting his focus and recreating Obito's tragedy from that day.

"Damn it, it almost worked... Again!"

Irritated as he was, the training ground was public. He twisted around to continue, only to spot two more half-grown kids in his field of view, also staring straight at him!

"..." No matter how unwilling Ying Shu was to face it, he had no choice but to temporarily put aside his Water Release training.

He looked toward the two directions behind and beside him. Sure enough, he had been surrounded.

There were eight of them in total, all half-grown children around eleven or twelve. They wore no forehead protectors, but each had a ninja tool pouch strapped to a leg.

Ying Shu concluded that they were definitely all ninjas, because the Ninja Academy was still a three-year program at this stage.

As for why they were not wearing forehead protectors... whatever their purpose was, it was definitely not good.

"Are these Uchiha people? A group beating?" Ying Shu searched all around for his cousin Uchiha Beiying. He remembered that Uchiha Retsu had made some harsh threats.

Come to think of it, this was all Danzo's fault.

The credit for bringing back those Kumogakure ninjas had probably been suppressed. There might still be rewards, but few people likely knew about it.

Otherwise, the Uchiha would not have dared come looking for trouble with him.

But soon, a figure suddenly appeared, wearing a Root mask Ying Shu recognized, and he immediately understood.

"It's Root!"

Ying Shu's expression instantly turned serious.

Root's persistence had exceeded his expectations. In two days, they had already come after him three times!

But the key point was... were they seriously sending a bunch of people without even masks?

Ying Shu curled his lip. Rounding up, this situation was in the bag.

Then, under Ying Shu's gaze, the older youths surrounding him from all sides began walking closer, putting on masks as they walked.

"..." Ying Shu was speechless. What was this supposed to be now?

"Genin Ying Shu, I have come on behalf of Konoha elder Danzo." The Root operative walked forward. His tone remained cold, but this time Ying Shu heard a composure he had not sensed on either of the previous two occasions.

They were certain of victory.

Ying Shu somewhat regretted being so reserved in front of White Fang. He really should have stayed at his house overnight.

Still, he was not overly worried. During this trip to Kakashi's house to stock up, besides a pile of ninja tools, White Fang had instructed Kakashi to give him several signal flares before he left.

In White Fang's words, it was better to be prepared. The next time Ying Shu went out of the village to fool around, he had to make sure he could contact the village quickly.

At that moment, White Fang had displayed the bearing expected of an ANBU squad captain. Kakashi's dead-fish eyes had immediately turned into starry eyes. His father worship was confirmed beyond doubt.

Ying Shu watched the encirclement draw closer and closer.

One hand rested on his ninja tool pouch as he looked directly at the Root ninja, but he revealed an innocent smile brimming with excitement and anticipation.

"Really? Has Lord Danzo agreed to my request?!"

"Can Kakashi and Obito join Root too?!"

Root ninja: "..."

One was the son of Root's greatest current target, while the other was an Uchiha clansman. Elder Danzo might want that, but how could it be so easy?

"My answer is the same as yesterday, Genin Ying Shu." The Root ninja responded flatly, his gaze unmoved and even colder than before.

"And there is no need to put on that act. You were not like this yesterday when you left the gas on at home."

Ying Shu shrugged, no longer pretending. He laid all his cards on the table.

"Then my answer is the same. If you want me to join Root, then Kakashi and Obi—"

"You needn't rush to answer." The Root ninja interrupted Ying Shu. "Elder Danzo said that you have the right to refuse, but that right can only take effect after you join, once you have learned about the true Root."

"..." Ying Shu choked. He did not know whether those were Danzo's exact words, but the meaning was certainly Danzo's style.

If he did not understand Root, he could not refuse to join Root. He had to join Root and understand Root before he could refuse to join Root.

So there was nothing left to discuss, then?

Once in Root, there was no leaving. A Root member for one day was a Root member for life, unless Hiruzen Sarutobi personally pulled someone out.

But Ying Shu was not arrogant enough to think Hiruzen Sarutobi would fall out with Danzo over a commoner like him. This was not the era of the Third-and-a-Half Hokage; the two of them were on very good terms now!

Nor could he reveal his identity as a member of the Senju Clan. That identity would only put him in greater danger.

"So, can I choose not to learn about it?" Ying Shu still wanted to make one final attempt. In reality, one hand had already gripped a signal flare.

But the Root ninja sneered, his body flickering backward. With that motion, the eight older Root youths simultaneously drew their kunai!

Killing intent surged, and the atmosphere became taut as drawn blades.

"You may choose one group of opponents. Only by defeating them will you have room to choose."

At those words, Ying Shu lowered the signal flare.