Orochimaru

Only ten people remained after the trial, something Kato Xu had not expected.

Rumble...

As the earthen wall slowly vanished, the remaining ten all dropped to one knee. Only then did Danzo arrive, leaning on his cane.

Hmph!

Danzo slammed his cane against the ground, and a fierce aura swept over them.

Kato Xu struggled, bracing himself against the overwhelming pressure.

"No past, no future, no names, no emotions.

"What supports Konoha from the shadows is the will of us 'Root,' deeply embedded in the earth!"

All ten shouted in unison. Seemingly somewhat satisfied, Danzo slowly turned and left.

After Danzo departed, A-Three appeared before them. The items in his hands immediately drew everyone's attention.

"These are your ninja forehead protectors and masks. From today onward, you are official Root shinobi."

A-Three handed Kato Xu a forehead protector, though he seemed to give him a strange look.

He had no mask.

Kato noticed the difference between himself and the others, but he said nothing. In Root, it was not his place to speak.

"Wei, come with me. Someone wishes to see you..."

Kato Xu did not know what expression lay beneath A-Three's mask, but he could clearly feel the cold gazes of the other children.

"Yes, Lord A-Three!"

It was a spacious training ground, one that was rarely used. At least, Kato Xu had scarcely ever come here during the past three years.

"Wait here..."

A-Three's voice was cold. After speaking, he vanished. Kato Xu silently examined the training ground. There were no wooden posts or target ranges like in ordinary training fields, only scratches across the black, exceptionally hard stone walls, seemingly left by blades and swords.

Flickering firelight danced around him. Kato Xu roughly guessed that this was a place for blade training, though he did not know why there was no one here.

"Do you know why no one comes here?"

Kato sensed neither Chakra nor soul fluctuations, yet an unfamiliar voice suddenly exploded beside his ear, making his scalp tingle.

This man was the strongest person he had encountered apart from Danzo.

He could not judge which of the two was stronger, but he could clearly feel that they differed from ordinary shinobi.

"No, I don't..."

He did not dare turn around. Though there could be no enemies inside Root's base, this man carried an aura that made him afraid to move.

"Because the man who once defeated everyone in this training ground, the greatest swordsman in all of Konoha, the man regarded as the goal by every Root and ANBU shinobi who trained in the blade, died in his own home today.

"Like a pitiful worm, he ended his own life."

The man slowly walked in front of Kato Xu. Only then did Kato Xu see his face. There was a faintly feminine quality to it, yet he was undeniably a strikingly handsome man.

"Lord Haku... How could that be?"

"Anyone who so easily abandons his own life is not worthy of respect."

Though the man's tone was icy, there seemed to be a trace of anger in it. He likely had some connection with Haku.

"Kato, Root codename 'Wei,' Genin. He has mastered the Spirit Transformation Technique and developed a special sensory secret technique from it. He possesses extremely high talent in soul-based secret techniques."

"He participated in twenty-three trials and fought ten times in total. He repeatedly abandoned his objectives, placing survival above all else."

The man took out a small scroll and read from it.

"A shinobi who thinks only of preserving his own life, utterly incompatible with Root..."

"It seems Danzo's instructors should be replaced."

Kato remained silent, standing quietly to one side. His days in Root mainly consisted of training, and he knew little about the village's affairs aside from occasionally hearing of particularly notable events.

He had never expected the renowned Haku to die in his own home. It was like a five-star general in America on Blue Star suddenly committing suicide at home—no one would believe it was something as simple as I just felt like killing myself.

"You treasure your life greatly. That is a very good way of thinking..."

The man's eyes were as sharp and cold as those of some beast. Kato Xu did not know whether that was caused by some special bloodline.

"The cruelest thing about life is that it dies. So long as death exists, even the longest life is fleeting. At the end of all glory lies eternal darkness."

"You may call me Orochimaru, Kato-kun. Since you practice the Spirit Transformation Technique, tell me: what do you think is the true essence of a person, the soul or the body?"

So this was Orochimaru, one of the Three Sannin? Only then did Kato Xu realize it. This was his first time meeting the famed Three Sannin.

Orochimaru's words were filled with reluctance. Kato Xu looked up at him again. This middle-aged man in his thirties was unlike every shinobi Kato Xu had ever seen. It was not merely his strength; he also carried the air of an explorer, a sage.

"The soul. The body is merely a tool that carries it. Perhaps what we call death is simply the soul traveling to another world."

Having lived a second life, Kato Xu did not hesitate in the slightest. The soul held special meaning for him.

"So that is your answer..."

Orochimaru looked at Kato Xu with some surprise.

For an ordinary eight-year-old child, this question seemed far too profound. Yet Kato Xu had not hesitated at all, as if he often thought about this question and had already found his own answer.

The same answer as his.

"Then, Kato-kun, are you willing to follow me?"

"Yes, Lord Orochimaru!"

There was no need to hesitate. Since Orochimaru could openly enter Root, Danzo must have known about it. Besides, he was merely a nobody, with no possibility of refusing.

"Then let me see how far you have cultivated your Spirit Transformation Technique, Kato-kun..."

"Spirit Transformation Technique!"

Kato Xu did not hesitate. He flashed backward and formed hand seals. In an instant, his body became completely motionless, while a faint, nearly imperceptible phantom floated out from it.

"Truly beautiful..."

"The same technique as Dan's..."

As Orochimaru watched Kato Xu skillfully use the Spirit Transformation Technique, an unusual emotion flickered through his eyes.

"Go!"

Kato Xu gave a low shout, and his spirit body turned into a streak of light, shooting toward Orochimaru.

"A secret technique that ignores distance, is immune to all attacks, and can only be resisted through one's own will. Other than the weakness of the physical body, it is nearly flawless."

Watching the spirit body drift toward him, Orochimaru licked his lips and flicked a small stone at Kato Xu's forehead.

Kato Xu's spirit body halted abruptly as it flew toward Orochimaru, then swiftly returned to his body. He fell unconscious as well.

"The weakness is too obvious. If someone targets it, death is inevitable..."

Orochimaru looked at the unconscious Kato Xu on the ground, picked him up lightly, and slung him over his shoulder.

"Elder Danzo, you truly have given me a great gift..."

"Orochimaru, I told you that if I supported you in becoming Hokage, then I would surely succeed."

Danzo had appeared there at some unknown moment.

"Do you think I would lose to Hatake Sakumo? The old man would never pass the position of Hokage to him."

"Even if he posed the slightest threat, he died as he should have."

Orochimaru licked his lips and said nothing more.

"This child is Dan's nephew, isn't he? I never expected the Kato Clan's last remaining heir to be brought here by Elder Danzo..."

"Dan's nephew is already dead. He is a shinobi of Root, with no past and no future."

Leaning on his cane, Danzo slowly walked deeper into the base. His figure, hidden in darkness and illuminated by the firelight, looked somewhat terrifying.

So this was Konoha's 'Root'...

Watching Danzo slowly turn and vanish from the training ground, Orochimaru also disappeared from Root's base.

Konoha's gentle sunlight shone over Orochimaru. Looking at the crowds in the streets, all abuzz over Haku's suicide, Orochimaru suddenly felt that they were profoundly foolish.

For the first time, he felt a deep loathing for this place.