Yakushi Nonō

Happiness was always fleeting, while pain was eternal.

At the training ground far from the main district, pale moonlight filtered through layers of tree shadows, casting faint white patches across the ink-dark ground.

On the quiet, deserted road, only overlapping shadows swayed slowly in the bleak breeze.

Kato Xu turned back. The dim streetlamp had receded until it was no more than a tiny point of light, and the figure that had suddenly appeared before him blocked even that last trace of brightness.

"Wei, Lord Danzo summons you..."

"Yes!"

Following behind the Root shinobi, Kato Xu suddenly felt something familiar. The Root shinobi in front of him seemed to be someone he knew.

"Wei, it seems you recognized me..."

The Root shinobi walking ahead was about the same height as him. Seemingly sensing his probing gaze, she paused briefly.

Through the mask's narrow eyeholes, Kato Xu saw two curved eyes, shaped like crescent moons.

"Wei—oh no, I should call you Xu-kun now..."

"So, Xu-kun, have you gone searching for your own light?"

An unprecedented radiance shone from D-Five's eyes, as though all the light in the night had been reflected from them.

"Perhaps..."

He took half a step back, but the girl in the black hood stepped forward by half a step as well, leaving less than thirty centimeters between them...

"But it was all Lord Danzo's mission..." Looking into the girl's eyes, Kato Xu somehow could not bring himself to say it.

"Let me tell you a secret..."

D-Five slowly removed her mask, revealing her fair face fully before Kato Xu.

She leaned close to his ear, making his entire body tense. The senbon in his mouth was ready to fire, and one hand had moved to his blade pouch.

"I gave myself a name: Nonō. In my hometown, it means lily..."

A faint floral fragrance clung to Nonō's body. It was unmistakably the scent of lilies, though only when he was this close could the subtle trace drift into Kato Xu's nostrils.

Although Kato Xu did not know why she was telling him this, at least she did not seem hostile.

"I can no longer remember my parents' names. I only remember that our home always smelled of medicinal herbs. I think they must have been doctors who gathered herbs to treat people..."

"So I gave myself a surname too: Yakushi."

"Do you think it sounds nice, Xu-kun..."

Kato Xu looked into Yakushi Nonō's gray-blue eyes. They were misty, like drifting clouds over water. The silver moonlight spilled across Nonō's face, making it seem as though her whole body glowed with a gentle radiance.

"Yakushi Nonō... I'll remember it..."

Even the wind around them seemed to dance at that moment. A few strands of hair circled her ears, and Nonō wore a softness Kato Xu had never seen before.

"Xu-kun, you're a very gentle person..."

Seemingly satisfied with his answer, Nonō said nothing more and merely led Kato Xu to an utterly unremarkable rock wall.

Danzo summoned him in a different place every time.

At a hidden corner of the rock wall, Kato Xu formed Root's secret hand seals. A faint ripple of chakra flashed, and the entrance to the barrier-protected cave gradually emerged. The dark opening resembled a giant beast waiting to devour its prey.

"Xu-kun, perhaps we'll never see each other again..."

At the very moment he entered the cave, Nonō's voice, soft as a mosquito's hum, whispered by his ear.

Before he could question her, the barrier had already closed. All that remained in Kato Xu's sight were those crescent-shaped eyes.

Within the deep cave, candlelight flickered dimly. Streams of light flashed over the surrounding stalactites as droplets fell into pools below, their echoes ringing through the silent cavern.

Kato Xu pulled his hood tighter. Nonō's words kept his thoughts churning, and the narrow passage now seemed filled with gloom and terror.

"Could it be... she knows something..."

"Was she warning me?"

Kato Xu still had not completely understood the last mutation of his soul, but merely discovering a few differences had already allowed him to develop several entirely new abilities.

After thinking briefly, he restrained his aura, swept his gaze around, and secretly formed several hand seals.

"Spirit Infusion Technique!"

A pale-blue seal formed from strands of faint fluorescent light rapidly spread from Kato Xu's spiritual platform, clinging to his skin and covering his entire body. After flickering a few times, it vanished into every corner of his body.

The Spirit Infusion Technique, created by combining Sealing Jutsu, genjutsu—the Darkness Technique—and the Spirit Transformation Technique, could lock spiritual energy within these tiny seals and form a passive defensive layer over his body.

Every probing spiritual consciousness that touched the seals would be stripped of all perception and fall into endless darkness.

As he traveled deeper through the gloomy passage, faint sounds gradually drifted from the vast cavern ahead.

But Kato Xu had not expected to encounter Orochimaru here...

"Xu-kun, it's been a long time..."

Orochimaru slowly emerged from the darkness. His emotionless voice made a trace of surprise flash through Kato Xu's eyes.

"Orochimaru-sensei?"

"It seems Xu-kun has been doing quite well these past few days..."

Even now, Kato Xu did not quite understand his relationship with Orochimaru. This man, like a great snake, seemed as cold-blooded as a reptile, devoid of any warmth.

As his nominal teacher, Orochimaru gave Kato Xu neither the oppressive feeling of a superior nor the affinity of a kindred spirit. There was only unpredictable change, like a secluded valley where one could never see its true face.

"My apologies, Orochimaru-sensei. I've been far too busy these past few days..."

Kato Xu respectfully bowed. No matter what, Orochimaru's help had been real. Whatever his intentions might be, at least for now, he was still Kato Xu's teacher.

"Someone as talented as Xu-kun will naturally have his brilliance noticed by others..."

Orochimaru said nothing further. With a faint smile at the corner of his mouth, he walked slowly ahead of Kato Xu, then gently pushed open the door to a hidden chamber within the cave.

An old man wrapped in bandages sat atop a raised platform in the secret room, his eyes slightly closed.

The sharp stares of the four or five Root shinobi at his side gave Kato Xu an uneasy feeling.

"Root, Wei, pays respects to Lord Danzo..."

Danzo ignored Kato Xu. He merely fixed Orochimaru with a stern gaze, his voice unusually low.

"Orochimaru... war is coming..."

"News has just arrived from the front. Cloud Shinobi has joined forces with Stone Shinobi to invade Konoha's border. They are coming in force, and the outermost sentry posts have already made contact with them."

"However, they do not appear to have launched an active attack. They are only harassing us with small units..."

A Root shinobi with gray-brown hair standing beside Danzo spoke slowly, yet his gaze rested on Kato Xu, who was kneeling on one knee.

Kato Xu faintly sensed hostility in the eyes behind his mask.

"That must be why the Third Hokage has not yet mobilized the Jonin corps..."

Orochimaru lightly licked his lips. War was something he had long been anticipating.

"Hiruzen will not send you to the battlefield..."

Danzo's words made Orochimaru narrow his eyes slightly. A chill seemed to enter his long, narrow gaze.

"It seems some things have happened in the village recently that I do not know about..."

"Orochimaru, you are too confident..."

Danzo's cane struck the ground heavily, and for the first time, Kato Xu felt the anger Danzo had buried deep within himself.

"Hmph. You, Tsunade, and Jiraiya have spent all these years viewing Hiruzen as your teacher. He has long since blinded you."

"Your wonderful teacher..."

"Is not as simple as you think..."

Danzo's gaze abruptly shifted to Kato Xu. His sharp, chilling presence made Kato Xu's heart sink.

"Isn't that right..."

"Wei..."

Danzo pressed his cane against Kato Xu's head. The cold chakra made him feel as if he had fallen into an ice cellar.

"You little brat who peers into souls..."

The rough-grained wood rose high with icy coldness, then swept down like a streak of light amid a howling gust and struck Kato Xu heavily across the face.

Kato Xu did not dare resist. His body flew like a soccer ball violently kicked away, crashing into layers of stalactites. He spat out a mouthful of blood, which flowed into the puddles formed by dripping water.

"Cough, cough..."

He did not know where things had gone wrong, or whether this was the first time someone had counter-detected his perception. Enduring the intense pain in his body, Kato Xu knelt on one knee.

"Lord Danzo... I do not understand what you mean..."

"You will understand..."

Danzo's lips moved slightly, while Orochimaru watched Kato Xu with an inscrutable look in his eyes.

"Argh..."

A stabbing pain erupted in his mind, causing Kato Xu's whole body to convulse. He could feel cold chakra surging from the root of his tongue straight into his brain, as if it intended to shatter all his mental resistance.

"Fū..."

At Danzo's command, the gray-brown-haired Root shinobi at his side slowly stepped forward and looked at Kato Xu with cruel eyes.

"Ninja Art! Mind Reading Technique!"

The Root shinobi named Fū seemed to use all his strength as he struck Kato Xu's forehead with his palm. If Danzo had not been present, he likely would have smashed Kato Xu's head without hesitation.

"A shinobi from the Yamanaka Clan... How interesting. I never expected Elder Danzo to let me watch such an entertaining show..."

"The fate of betraying Root is death..."

Yamanaka Fū's gaze slowly became vacant, and his head gradually lowered. It seemed that he had completely linked with Kato Xu's spirit, his consciousness entirely entering Kato Xu's mental world.

"Tell me your name..."

Danzo's voice slowly rang out. Orochimaru pursed his lips as he watched with great interest, seemingly curious about what his "disciple" truly hid in his heart.

"Wei..."

A low voice slowly came from Yamanaka Fū's mouth. Surprise flickered in Danzo's eyes, and his gaze narrowed slightly.

"Did you receive Hiruzen Sarutobi's orders to investigate Root's secrets through soul fluctuations..."

"Mission target: Minato Namikaze. Mission: approach Minato Namikaze and gain his trust... Soul fluctuations... An error during secret technique training..."

Within Kato Xu's mental world, a mass of dim blue light spun back and forth through endless darkness. Its shrill screams seemed poised to pierce the entire boundless space, while blade shadows cut again and again across the blue sphere.

"Kato Xu, you are deceiving Lord Danzo! I'll expose you! You'll definitely die, definitely!"

Yamanaka Fū's face emerged from the dim blue sphere. Standing before him was a gigantic spirit body, towering like a heaven-supporting giant.

The giant spirit body bore Kato Xu's face and held a pitch-black long blade. As the blue sphere was continuously sliced by the blade, it turned into strands of flowing light that the black blade slowly absorbed. Black soul flames began to spread across the blade.

"You will not have the chance..."

"Your soul will become nourishment for the Soul-Extinguishing Blade, and you will never be reborn..."

Kato Xu's voice was cold. He had recognized this person—one of the ten who had survived back then. He had just never expected him to be from the Yamanaka Clan, much less that he had detected Kato Xu's soul perception.

"I must have absorbed too much spiritual energy at once, making the soul fluctuations impossible to suppress. I'll need to digest it first over the coming days..."

"But war is about to begin..."

Kato Xu pulled the Soul-Extinguishing Blade from Yamanaka Fū's spirit body.

As the final trace of blue light vanished from Kato Xu's mental world, all of Yamanaka Fū's soul energy was absorbed by the Soul-Extinguishing Blade.

He also obtained all of Yamanaka Fū's memories, and only then fully understood that this man had been jealous of him for becoming Orochimaru's disciple.

"How laughable..."

Most people could only see the happiness in others' lives, never their misfortune.

Rather than envy others, it was better to let others see one's own worth.

Kato Xu turned his palm over. A pale-blue sphere of light slowly emerged from the spirit body's palm, then followed the soul channel constructed by Yamanaka Fū and vanished like a ghostly glow.

"It should last for about half a month..."

"If he dies amid the chaos of battle, Danzo probably will not suspect me..."