The Mediocre

Hiruko's experimental base was not particularly large, but it had every piece of equipment it needed. Looking at the documents scattered through the chaotic laboratory like the aftermath of a disaster, Kato Xu frowned slightly.

On one experiment table lay a test subject that seemed to have completely lost all signs of life. Its face was twisted, its limbs curled and spasming as if it had endured immense pain. Yet in its slightly widened eyes remained a final lingering attachment to this world.

"You can leave now..."

The brightly lit underground laboratory was not as dim as the Root base. Kato Xu turned and looked directly at Hiruko, though his eyes were shadowed and unreadable.

"Who do you think you are? An arrogant little brat. Looks like you're an idiot who can't read the situation..."

Hiruko chuckled and ignored Kato Xu.

He was not especially powerful at the moment. Having read some of Kato Xu's information, Hiruko merely slowly stepped aside. The figure that suddenly appeared behind him made Kato Xu's eyes reveal a trace of amusement.

"Lord A-Three, Elder Danzo never said this test subject would be so arrogant..."

"I think he will listen to you... He'll obediently lie on the experiment table, if he doesn't want to bear the charge of betrayal..."

Though Hiruko stood sideways as if speaking to the Root shinobi beside him, his disdainful gaze remained fixed on Kato Xu, as though waiting for a show to begin.

"Foolish..."

A ghostly blue radiance suddenly rose in Kato Xu's eyes. The nearly tangible blue glow surged wildly from his body like endless glaciers, surrounding Hiruko in an instant. The bone-chilling cold carried by that sinister chakra left Hiruko unable to move.

"Disappointed? You pitiful wretch who thought he could rely on Root..."

"You know nothing about power!"

Hiruko, who had been waiting for A-Three to act, abruptly turned his head and saw an unbelievable scene—A-Three's eyes were also glowing with ghostly blue light, and he wore an almost identical mocking smile to Kato Xu's.

"You...?"

In an instant, a chill rising from the depths of his heart made his whole body tremble. Although he secretly held some contempt for mediocrities like Danzo, who lacked the title of genius, he still had no choice but to submit to Root's power and even depend on it. He understood what Root represented.

But now, the blue-eyed youth before him seemed to have completely overturned everything he knew. A-Three, the man Danzo had sent to monitor him and who had been by his side day and night, appeared to have betrayed Danzo long ago—while Root remained completely unaware...

When had it happened? And how many others were there?

The Root that had once seemed as impregnable as bronze walls and iron ramparts now appeared riddled with holes...

The ultimate darkness lurking even deeper in the shadows was entirely concealed within the body of the youth before him. A soul-deep trembling made his scalp go numb. He did not know what emotion this was, but his body would not stop shaking.

"So this is what a genius is..."

"No matter the circumstances, they can always accomplish things beyond ordinary people... And I am nothing but an ant in their eyes... a lowly, pitiful wretch..."

The tremor in Hiruko's voice exposed the fragility in his heart. What held him in place was an unfathomable ninjutsu, and a profound sense of helplessness rose within him. How similar it was to that time...

Tsunade, Orochimaru, Jiraiya... Those were backs he could never hope to catch up to, even if he spent his entire life trying. And now, even their disciples had grown to such heights...

"I worked so hard... worked so hard... Nothing has changed. Nothing has changed..."

"How ridiculous... So ridiculous..."

"Ha... haha..."

A deep sorrow spread from his heart. His gaze toward Kato Xu grew slightly unfocused, as though life and death had suddenly lost all meaning.

"And what meaning does my existence even have...?"

For an ordinary person unwilling to accept being ordinary, nothing was sadder than their own mediocrity.

No sorrow was greater than a dead heart.

Kato Xu had not expected Hiruko to cry.

His mournful voice choked with sobs before gradually turning into loud wailing. He seemed unable to accept how mediocre he truly was...

It was a possibility Kato Xu had never considered. Yet he could clearly feel Hiruko's grief and roughly understood what the man was thinking.

The man standing before him, a man who liked white and carried a trace of innocence, had for the first time completely felt his own mediocrity. He was utterly consumed by despair, with not even the slightest shred of pride left.

He was just a little too weak...

"How ridiculous..."

"Compared to someone stronger than yourself, no matter what you do, you will always be mediocre."

"By your logic, perhaps only the legendary progenitor of all things—the Sage of Six Paths—could be considered extraordinary in this world."

Kato Xu paused, then slowly withdrew the chakra surrounding Hiruko. He kicked Hiruko in the chest, sending him smashing viciously into the laboratory wall. Hiruko did not resist at all, and immediately spat out a mouthful of blood.

"In all of vast Konoha, you're merely an ordinary Jonin. What could your joys, anger, sorrows, and pleasures possibly amount to?"

Kato Xu chuckled, his lips carrying an inexplicable sneer. It was unclear whether he was mocking Hiruko or himself...

Yet the gentle breeze was not biting. Standing at the entrance to the laboratory, Kato Xu silently glanced at Hiruko as a streak of ghostly blue light slipped soundlessly into his brow.

There seemed to be no shortage of lunatics in Konoha...

"Figure out the Flying Thunder God research yourself. The copied formulas should be enough..."

"During this time, I don't want to be disturbed..."

As if clearing away trash, A-Three dragged Hiruko out of the laboratory and tossed him into a disorderly rest room that resembled a storage closet piled with miscellaneous junk. Hiruko merely stared blankly at the ceiling. The chest of his white cloak had already been stained crimson with blood, yet he still did not move at all.

"The meaning of life is to live..."

"As long as you're alive, there are endless possibilities..."

A-Three's final words made Hiruko turn his head slightly, but all he saw was A-Three's departing back. Never before had Hiruko regarded this always-silent Root shinobi so seriously...

"Living...?"

The dark, damp underground was filled with decay, gloom, and stench. Hiruko could no longer remember the last time he had faced death. He seemed to have grown accustomed to hiding in his laboratory all day, dreaming of developing ninjutsu that would allow him to surpass those once brilliantly gifted people.

After an unknown amount of time, a mass of filthy white sludge slowly staggered to its feet from the cold floor. The deathly stillness in his eyes was gone, replaced entirely by an inexplicable gloom. His faint voice seemed to come from the depths of the underworld, making the surrounding air feel several degrees colder.

"One day... One day... I will make you look at me in terror, look up at me, and treat me with the utmost respect..."

"Orochimaru, Jiraiya, Tsunade, and that brat... I will defeat all of you completely, in my own way!"

"I'll make you experience the humiliation I am suffering now..."

It was perhaps merely a declaration to himself, or perhaps an attempt to find a reason to live again. Hiruko's voice was not loud, and within the laboratory buried deep underground, it stirred not the slightest ripple.

Some people left as though they had never appeared at all. No matter how hard one searched, there was ultimately no trace of them...

More than a month had passed since returning to Konoha, yet no matter how Obito Uchiha searched, he could not find any trace of Kato Xu. There was hardly even any evidence in all of Konoha that he had ever existed...

"Why am I even looking for that guy...? He didn't even come to the dinner Sensei specially prepared for him..."

Obito Uchiha walked along the street toward Rin Nohara's home. In Konoha's early morning, everyone was busy with their own affairs. It seemed that no one cared about the thoughts of a teenage boy.

For some reason, though that somewhat aloof youth had appeared in his life for only a few short months, his figure kept lingering in Obito Uchiha's mind as if he were a ghost that refused to leave...

"Rin... are you there?"

No response came from the empty room. Obito Uchiha knew he seemed to be late, but for some reason, he merely slowly lowered his knocking hand and stood quietly outside Rin Nohara's door.

"Where the hell did that bastard Xu go?"

As if remembering something, Obito Uchiha's eyes lit up. Minato Namikaze, who had gone to support the Stone Shinobi battlefield, should be returning today. He had to be waiting for them at the training ground by now. Obito Uchiha refused to believe that even Minato Namikaze did not know where Kato Xu had gone...

"I'm late... I'm late... Damn it... Minato-sensei won't refuse to tell me just because I'm late, right...?"

The gloom that had weighed on Obito Uchiha for days vanished from his feet as he suddenly sped up. He leaped repeatedly across the high platforms and sprinted toward the training ground...

Sunlight spilled down. Konoha's distant mountains wore deep Ao, while shimmering halos of green lingered among the early spring woods. Beneath white clouds drifting leisurely across the sky, they silently watched the hurried passersby.

The clouds of human life changed like dogs, while spring greenery filled every branch.

This season had begun to soften.