ANBU Training Class

Lin Chuan had been unable to sleep all night in Root. Especially since he was sharing a dormitory with Kabuto Yakushi, that traitor, he found it even harder to sleep. Only in the morning, when he truly could not hold on any longer, did he doze off for a little while.

The moment he heard Kabuto Yakushi getting up and dressing, he instantly climbed out of bed and got dressed. He asked nothing and said nothing. Once dressed, he followed Kabuto Yakushi out and arrived at a fairly large underground training ground.

As the two of them arrived, more than thirty children gradually gathered in the training ground. Apart from Fū Yamanaka, whom he had met yesterday, Lin Chuan recognized only Torune Aburame, who wore a black eyepatch, as well as one child with short gray hair and another with short black hair. Everyone else was unfamiliar.

[Fū Yamanaka, Torune Aburame]

"Everyone is here." Danzo swept his gaze across them one by one. All of them wore Root's black training uniforms. He began delivering a brainwashing speech to the crowd. "Here, you have no names, no pasts, and no futures. You have only loyalty, orders, and missions..."

"They are Konoha beneath the sunlight, while we are the roots in the darkness. We support Konoha, that great tree, from behind. We are the roots buried deep in the earth... I am the will of Root. Self-sacrifice is the nature of ANBU. Even if we remain hidden in darkness, we must protect Konoha..."

"Lord Danzo!" Seeing the ANBU behind Danzo kneel on one knee, the thirty-odd children standing in the training ground all followed suit, kneeling on one knee with convincing form and lowering their heads in submission to that old schemer, Danzo.

"Very good." Seeing that the brainwashing had worked well and that everyone had submitted beneath his feet, Danzo was very satisfied with this batch of children. He turned to his subordinate behind him and ordered, "Ryūma, I'll leave the selection mission for this group of ANBU to you. Kabuto and Leopard will assist you in training these children..."

[Ryūma Aburame]

"Yes, Lord Danzo." Ryūma Aburame, Danzo's right-hand man, accepted the task of selecting this class of ANBU trainees. Kabuto Yakushi and Leopard were both ANBU training class students who had passed the previous selection.

"Begin." Danzo gave the quiet order and left the training ground, leaning on his cane. He cared only about results, not the process. There were quite a few geniuses among these children, but he did not know how many would survive in the end. As he walked, he muttered to himself, "Everything I do is for Konoha's future, Monkey..."

"Everything is for protecting Konoha. Some sacrifices are necessary. Konoha's darkness... I will bear it."

After Danzo left, Ryūma Aburame stood before the crowd and gave them a cruel smile as he explained, "I am Ryūma Aburame, the chief instructor responsible for training you in this ANBU training class. From now on, you will all address me as Chief Instructor. I will become your nightmare. Whether you are eating or sleeping, you will think of me..."

"Here, you have no names, no emotions, no pasts, and no futures. There are only missions. You will sever all bonds and familial ties, bury yourselves deep underground, and find it difficult to see sunlight again in the future..."

"Here, you have only one master, and he is your sole master: Lord Danzo. You will be absolutely loyal to Lord Danzo. Lord Danzo's orders take precedence over everything. Missions are above life itself. Mission failure means death. ANBU rules dictate that no corpses are left behind. We cannot allow enemies to obtain your bodies..."

"Next, you will face ANBU's cruelest training and selection, and witness true hell. The elimination rate for ANBU member selection approaches ninety percent. Only ten percent survive to become one of us. Who will be that lucky one?"

Ryūma Aburame merely released a faint trace of killing intent, yet he could already see some of the children trembling. He could not help but chuckle before continuing his explanation.

"The ANBU training class's training assignments include infiltration, disguise, tracking, intelligence gathering, silent assassination, wilderness survival, and extreme ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu training. Did you all hear that?" Ryūma Aburame smiled at the crowd. Only strong individuals who had endured the cruel selection deserved to live—becoming perfect tools without emotion or will, absolutely obedient to Lord Danzo.

"Yes, Chief Instructor." None of the thirty-odd children dared raise their heads. They all answered with their heads lowered. Those with strong mental fortitude forced themselves to remain calm, their fists secretly clenched tight. The weak and timid were already trembling in fear, while some children had even collapsed to the ground, weeping and sobbing without pause.

"Tsk, so this is the ANBU training class. It really is exciting." Hearing Ryūma Aburame's explanation, Lin Chuan felt excited rather than the slightest bit afraid. He was not going to die anyway. If training could not kill him, then he would train himself to death. His life had always been one of insane grinding, and he was truly looking forward to the coming week from hell!

"Kabuto, Leopard, take them to collect their equipment, have the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal carved onto them, then bring them back here to assemble." Ryūma gave the order to his assistants behind him. He knew both of them, especially Kabuto Yakushi. Back then, he had accompanied Lord Danzo to the orphanage to take Kabuto Yakushi away.

"Yes, Chief Instructor." Kabuto Yakushi and Leopard accepted the order, got up, and walked before the thirty-odd children. Looking at the little ones who had already been scared senseless, Kabuto Yakushi called out, "Those who can move, get up and follow me. Here, you must learn to obey your superior's orders..."

Kabuto Yakushi looked at Lin Chuan with a smile at the corner of his mouth. He had noticed that Lin Chuan had been assigned to share a dormitory with him, which meant the higher-ups valued this child greatly. He wondered what was so special about Lin Chuan.

Still, he would probably find out soon enough. He also wondered whether Lin Chuan could stand up. If fear had made his legs go weak and he could not rise, then perhaps the higher-ups had misjudged him after all.

The first to stand and follow Kabuto Yakushi away were Fū Yamanaka and Torune Aburame. Sai, with short black hair, and Shin, with short gray hair, also helped each other up and followed Kabuto Yakushi away.

[Shin, Sai]

Lin Chuan naturally stood as well. He was utterly unafraid of the killing intent released by Ryūma Aburame, a Jonin. He was a man who shared a dormitory with Kabuto Yakushi—how could he fear such trivial killing intent? He got up and hurried after Kabuto Yakushi.

Many more children gradually rose and chased after Lin Chuan's group. In the end, three children remained sprawled on the ground, unable to stand. Masked ANBU dragged them away, and their fate was self-evident.

Root was not a kindergarten. This was an ANBU training class—an even crueler Root. No one would give you time to adapt, and no one was willing to wait for you. If you were given an opportunity and failed to seize it, only physical elimination remained.

Elsewhere, Kabuto Yakushi led the group to the logistics department before smiling at the terrified children. "I'll take you to the logistics department to collect equipment. It is all standard ANBU equipment, unavailable for purchase outside..."

The group arrived at the logistics department and received ANBU vests and arm guards suited to their respective heights and weights, along with short swords, kunai, and shuriken to place in their ninja tool pouches, as well as standard-issue ANBU masks.

The masks of the Hokage's direct ANBU were mostly white masks modeled after animals, while Root's ANBU masks mostly bore patterns in various colors. Lin Chuan selected a white mask with a black opera-face pattern. There was not much to fuss over with this thing.

After everyone had put on their equipment, they went to Root's sealing class, where the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal was planted on their tongues. The Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal was a silence curse seal specially developed by Shimura Danzō, mainly used to prevent intelligence leaks.