Konoha's Root

Day had already broken when Kato Xu dragged his still somewhat weary body out of bed.

He stared blankly at the smiling dolls beneath the eaves, feeling that they seemed somehow different, though he did not know whether that was merely an illusion born from never having paid them attention before.

He stood on the windowsill and took them down.

"Why... can I feel a warmth from these...?"

He was now somewhat certain that it was not an illusion. He seemed able to feel a faint warmth from the two teru teru bozu hanging by the window.

"So warm, like being wrapped head to toe in a quilt filled with the scent of sunshine, happy from the inside out."

He gently rubbed the two teru teru bozu, savoring that faint warmth.

Little specks of fluorescent light slowly rose from the two teru teru bozu, drifting bit by bit into Kato Xu's spiritual platform.

Kato Xu looked at those points of light in surprise. It felt like an illusion; he only felt two warm pairs of hands gently embrace him before slowly fading away with smiles.

He had not seen anything, yet two smiling faces involuntarily surfaced in his mind. In that instant, he understood who they were.

"These are... my parents..."

Kato Xu stood blankly on the windowsill, feeling a warm, gentle love.

Though he no longer retained any memory of them, and had never truly regarded them as his parents, the emotion still made his nose sting slightly.

"Xu, are you up...?"

Kato Yuan's voice interrupted Kato Xu's inexplicable sadness.

He came back to himself and felt somewhat more energetic. The fluorescent light that had entered his spiritual platform seemed to have strengthened his spiritual energy by the slightest amount; if his senses had not been so sharp, he might not even have noticed.

"Uncle Yuan, I..."

"I'm already up... I went to sleep a little late last night..."

Kato Xu had stepped outside intending to ask something, but for some reason, he did not speak. He merely sat down and silently ate breakfast.

Over the past few days, he had thoroughly studied the clan's secret techniques, yet he had never encountered such a description. He did not know whether this was some ability of his or something else, so he temporarily buried it in his heart.

Kato Yuan also ate silently, though he occasionally reminded him of a few things. Kato Xu's thoughts remained fixed on those fluorescent lights, and he only responded now and then.

"Xu... don't be afraid. Remember what Uncle told you..."

Seeing Kato Xu like this, Kato Yuan hesitated. He set down his bowl and chopsticks and was about to say more, but abruptly stopped. His gaze gradually turned cold and stern.

Kato Xu suddenly sensed two chakra signatures behind him. A murderous air made him stop what he was doing.

"By Lord Danzo's order, Kato Xu is to be taken into Root..."

"Kato Xu, come with us..."

"So soon..."

Kato Yuan sat in his wheelchair, looking somewhat helpless as he murmured to himself.

Yet his gaze remained fixed on the somewhat bewildered Kato Xu, his eyes filled with concern.

"Uncle... I'm leaving..."

Kato Xu said nothing more. Meeting Kato Yuan's gaze, he gradually calmed down and gave a faint smile.

Facing his life head-on, fear and avoidance would be of no use. Kato Xu could only face it with a smile, like an adult.

"Xu..."

Kato Yuan said nothing, but Kato Xu could read his meaning—survive.

The two masked shinobi continued to watch everything coldly. In Kato Xu's perception, their emotions were like stagnant water; even if ripples arose, they vanished without a trace in an instant.

What clearly distinguished them from ANBU shinobi was their bearing: sharp, gloomy, carrying the lethal, bloody aura of venomous snakes.

Bang...

In the brief moment Kato Xu spent observing them, the Root shinobi wearing an owl mask directly knocked him unconscious with a single blow.

"Confirmation complete..."

Whoosh...

The two of them vanished from the bamboo building with Kato Xu, leaving only Kato Yuan gripping the armrests of his wheelchair tightly as he gazed at the distant mountaintop and sighed for a long time.

Konoha's ground level seemed like a dividing line. Above it lay majestic mountains beneath the sunlight—honor and disgrace, friendship, struggle, and tender love held alongside flowers, rain, and dew.

Below that horizon, however, were darkness, decay, dampness, pain, and—death.

Root's base was enormous. When he awoke, there was only a one-eyed middle-aged man with his arm wrapped in bandages standing before him.

Kato Xu did not know where in Konoha he was, only that this place should be underground.

"Wei, from now on, your name is 'Wei'..."

The one-eyed middle-aged man looked down at Kato Xu. Dim firelight flickered around them, filling the place with an eerie atmosphere.

"Do you remember, Wei!"

The one-eyed man's cane struck the floor with a thud, and the entire underground chamber seemed to grow several shades darker.

He was still somewhat dazed when pain suddenly shot through the back of his knee, forcing him to the ground. An overwhelming aura swept over him, making it hard for him to breathe.

Two masked Root shinobi stood to either side of the middle-aged man. They silently watched Kato Xu prostrate on the ground without uttering a word.

Kato Xu could feel that their emotions did not fluctuate in the slightest.

"I-I remember..."

If he had truly been a five-year-old child, he might have felt terror and fear, perhaps even had a seed of dread planted in his heart from that day forward. But Kato Xu felt only humiliation. Remembering Kato Yuan's words, he spoke haltingly.

"A-Three, take him away..."

"Yes, Lord Danzo..."

So he was Danzo... Something about the middle-aged man named Danzo made him deeply uncomfortable. It was the scent of darkness and decay.

Kato Xu did not have much time to think. The Root shinobi named A-Three grabbed his clothes and took him out of the room.

"Wei, you will live here from now on. Without Lord Danzo's orders, you are not permitted to leave the base."

There was only a small bed and barely any daily necessities. Only then did Kato Xu have the chance to roll up his pant leg; his calf was already red and swollen.

"Trust no one's words. Conceal yourself, and survive..."

Kato Xu sat on the small bed. The cramped living quarters made his mood sink even lower.

On the first day, no one paid him any attention. Starving, Kato Xu desperately pounded on the door to his quarters, calling for the food a normal child ought to have, but there was no response.

It was not until the following morning that the tightly shut door slowly opened from outside. Kato Xu's wary eyes instantly turned toward the entrance.

"Wei, enter the taijutsu class for training..."

"Follow me..."

Was A-Three my handler now? Seeing that it was still A-Three, whom he had met once before, Kato Xu felt slightly reassured.

"Yes, Lord A-Three!"

Kato Xu followed A-Three into Root's taijutsu training class.

Several days later, Kato Xu finally seemed to have gained the tiniest understanding of Root.

He no longer remembered what he had looked like when he first entered the taijutsu training class, though only a few days had passed.

He only remembered a towering gate. Beyond it were many people, and the air was filled with the sounds of whips and screams.

And now, he was one of those being whipped.

This was a place where tears were not allowed to exist.