The Mediocre

Hiruko's experimental base was not very large, but it had every piece of equipment it needed. Kato Osamu looked at the documents scattered around the chaotic laboratory as though a disaster had swept through it, and frowned slightly.

On one of the experimental tables lay a test subject who seemed to have completely lost all signs of life. His twisted face and convulsing, curled limbs suggested he had endured tremendous pain, yet the slightly opened eyes still revealed his final attachment to this world before death.

"You can leave now..."

The brightly lit underground laboratory was nowhere near as dim as the Root base. Kato Osamu turned around and stared directly at Hiruko, though no emotion could be seen in his dark eyes.

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

Hiruko gave a soft laugh and ignored Kato Osamu.

He was not particularly strong at the moment. Having read some information on Kato Osamu, Hiruko merely stepped aside slowly. The figure that suddenly appeared behind him made Kato Osamu's eyes reveal a strange glint.

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

"I think he'll listen to you... He'll obediently lie on the experimental 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 eyes were fixed on Kato Osamu, as though waiting for a good show to begin.

"Foolish..."

A deep blue light abruptly surged in Kato Osamu's eyes. The nearly tangible blue radiance burst wildly from his body like endless glaciers, surrounding Hiruko in an instant. The bone-piercing chill carried by that cold Chakra left Hiruko unable to move.

"Disappointed? You pathetic, lowly worm who thinks he can 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 sight—A-Three's eyes were also glowing deep blue, and he wore a mocking smile almost identical to Kato Osamu's.

"You...?"

In that instant, a chill rose from the depths of his heart and made his entire body tremble. Though he held some contempt for mediocrities like Danzo, who lacked the title of genius, he had no choice but to submit to Root's power and even rely upon it. He understood what Root represented.

Yet now, the boy before him with lake-blue eyes 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—and Root had not noticed at all...

When had it happened? And how many people were involved?

The Root he had once believed to be as impregnable as copper walls and iron ramparts now seemed riddled with holes...

The ultimate darkness lurking deeper within the shadows was entirely concealed within the body of the boy before him. The soul-deep sense of dread made his scalp tingle. He did not know what kind of emotion this was, but his body would not stop trembling.

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

"No matter the circumstances, they can do things beyond ordinary people... And I am merely an ant in their eyes... a lowly, pathetic worm..."

The tremor in Hiruko's voice exposed the weakness in his heart. What trapped him was an incomprehensible ninjutsu, and a profound sense of helplessness rose within him. It was so similar to that time...

Tsunade, Orochimaru, Jiraiya... Those were figures he could never catch up to even if he spent his whole life trying. And now, even their disciple had grown to such a level...

"I've worked so hard for so long... so long... Yet nothing has changed. Nothing has changed..."

"How laughable... So laughable..."

"Ha... Ha..."

A deep sorrow spread from within him. His gaze at Kato Osamu became slightly unfocused, as though life and death had lost all meaning in an instant.

"What meaning does my existence even have...?"

Being unable to accept one's own mediocrity was the greatest sorrow of a mediocre person unwilling to remain mediocre.

There was no sorrow greater than a heart that had died.

Kato Osamu had not expected Hiruko to cry.

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

This was a possibility Kato Osamu had never considered. Yet he could clearly feel the sorrow in Hiruko's heart and roughly understood what the man was thinking.

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

He was just a little too weak...

"How laughable..."

"Compared to someone stronger than yourself, no matter what you do, you are mediocre."

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

Kato Osamu paused and slowly withdrew the Chakra surrounding Hiruko. Then he kicked Hiruko in the chest, smashing him hard into the laboratory wall. Hiruko did not resist at all and immediately spat out a mouthful of blood.

"In all of Konoha, you are nothing more than an ordinary Jonin. What do your joys, angers, sorrows, and pleasures amount to?"

Kato Osamu chuckled, a strange mockery at the corners of his lips. It was impossible to tell whether he was mocking Hiruko or himself...

Yet the quiet breeze was not harsh. Standing at the laboratory entrance, Kato Osamu silently glanced at Hiruko as a streak of deep blue light slipped soundlessly into his forehead.

There seemed to be quite a few lunatics in Konoha...

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

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

As though clearing away garbage, A-Three dragged Hiruko out of the laboratory and threw him into the messy lounge, which resembled a storage room piled with miscellaneous junk. Hiruko only stared blankly at the ceiling. The chest of his white cloak had already been soaked crimson with blood, yet he still did not move.

"The meaning of life is to stay alive..."

"As long as you live, 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. Hiruko had never looked so seriously at this ever-silent Root shinobi...

"Living...?"

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

Who knew how long passed before a lump 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 Nether Abyss, making the surrounding air feel even colder.

"One day... One day... I'll make all of you look at me in fear, look up at me, and treat me with the utmost respect..."

"Orochimaru, Jiraiya, Tsunade, and that brat... I'll use my own methods to defeat all of you completely!"

"I'll make you experience the humiliation I'm enduring now..."

It sounded both like a declaration to himself and 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's departures were like their never having existed at all. No matter how one searched, there would ultimately be no trace of them...

More than a month had passed since they returned to Konoha, yet no matter how Obito Uchiha searched, he could not find a single trace of Kato Osamu. There was barely any evidence throughout Konoha that he had ever existed...

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

Obito Uchiha walked down the street toward Rin Nohara's home. In Konoha's early morning, everyone was busy with their own affairs. No one seemed to care about the thoughts of a half-grown boy.

For some reason, though the slightly aloof boy had only appeared in his life for a few months, his figure always lingered in Obito Uchiha's mind like 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 lowered his raised hand slowly and stood quietly outside Rin Nohara's door.

"Where the hell did that bastard Osamu go?"

As though he had suddenly remembered something, Obito Uchiha's eyes lit up. Minato Namikaze, who had gone to support the Stone Shinobi battlefield, should be back today. He had to be waiting for them at the training ground now. Obito Uchiha refused to believe that even Teacher Minato did not know where Kato Osamu had gone...

"I'm late... I'm late... Damn it, Teacher Minato won't refuse to tell me just because I'm late, will he...?"

The lethargy that had weighed down Obito Uchiha's steps for days suddenly vanished. He sprang repeatedly across the high platforms and raced wildly toward the training ground...

Sunlight spilled down. Konoha's distant mountains wore a deep green cloak, their early spring woods wreathed in shimmering verdant light beneath drifting white clouds that filled the sky, quietly watching the hurried passersby.

The clouds of life shifted endlessly, while spring green filled every branch.

This season was beginning to grow gentle.