Abandon Darkness, Embrace the Light!

Danzo sat upon his stone throne, his knuckles tapping rhythmically against the armrest.

When the stone doors of the Zeroing Room slowly rose, he saw Zero's figure—but not the boy in the orange jacket.

His lone eye narrowed slightly.

A moment later, Zero entered the stone chamber, dropped to one knee, and bowed his head deeply. His breathing was unsteady, and his body trembled faintly.

"The result?" Danzo's voice held no warmth.

"He... passed." Zero's voice was somewhat hoarse, as though he had just been dragged back from the brink of drowning.

Danzo's knuckles stopped tapping. "How long did he take?"

"Three minutes."

"Three minutes?" Danzo leaned forward slightly, the scrutiny in his lone eye growing sharper. "Zero, your genjutsu is enough to break even a Jonin's mind. Tell me what happened in there."

Zero's body trembled again. He recalled that cold steel starry sky, the judgment of "You are humiliating me," and the real icy sensation at his throat.

Fear and hope battled within him.

He could not tell the truth. If he did, he would die, and his family's last shelter would vanish with him. And that boy... that existence who claimed he could grant "true order" was his only way out.

"Reporting to Lord Danzo." Zero raised his head, his eyes beneath the mask filled with fervor and lingering fear. "This subordinate... was incompetent. My genjutsu had no effect on him whatsoever."

"His... his will is steel that cannot be shaken. No, he does not possess any so-called 'emotional trauma' that can be exploited. He is like... like a natural-born member of Root, even purer than any of us."

"He was not resisting the genjutsu. He was... analyzing its structure. He told me my methods were inefficient, crude, and a waste of chakra."

The words were half true and half false, yet they struck precisely at Danzo's heart.

A monster unbound by emotion, who saw everything as a tool and pursued ultimate efficiency? Was that not the perfect successor he had dreamed of?

"His psychological resilience is exceptionally strong. He is the ideal candidate to join Root." With that flawless conclusion, Zero ended his report and buried Naruto's attempt to recruit him deep in his heart.

Danzo fell silent. He felt like a gambler who had placed his entire fortune on the table, and now, he seemed to hear the Goddess of Fate smile.

He had bet right.

"Very good." Danzo leaned back against his stone throne, regaining his air of calm control. "Then from today onward, Naruto shall become a probationary member of Root, codenamed White Crow, and shall not be required to receive the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal."

That night, at Naruto's apartment.

Someone gently tapped on the window three times from outside—two long knocks and one short, their agreed signal.

Naruto drew back the curtains, and Zero's figure slipped inside like a ghost without making the slightest sound.

He removed his mask, revealing a pale but sharply defined face. Unlike the composure he had shown before Danzo, his breathing was rapid now, and his eyes churned with excitement and struggle suppressed for years.

"I..." He opened his mouth, seeming to have a thousand things to say, yet not knowing where to begin.

In the end, he merely took a small scroll from his robes and offered it to Naruto with both hands.

"This contains Crow's channel key and control authority. Aside from me, only you can activate it."

Naruto accepted the scroll calmly but did not open it at once.

"From the moment you hand this over, there is no turning back."

"I was already at the end of the road." Zero's body trembled slightly. "You gave me the chance to see another path. My life, my loyalty—from this day onward, they belong only to the system you have described."

He knelt on one knee again. This time, it was willing surrender.

"Good." Naruto nodded and helped him up. "But we're on the same boat now. If you pull something like this, it puts a lot of pressure on me too."

The ill-timed joke left Zero's tightly wound nerves momentarily stunned.

Naruto patted him on the shoulder, his expression turning serious again.

"Remember, do not come looking for me directly again. Any direct contact increases the risk of exposure." He handed Zero a bottle of chakra ink he had made himself. "Use this to communicate. Also, what you need to do now is not pledge your loyalty to me, but to Danzo."

Zero froze.

"Show him your value." Naruto looked directly into his eyes. "What kind of energy would a tool, suppressed for too long and finally recognized, unleash? What kind of 'overreaching' actions would a subordinate desperate to prove himself and gain greater authority take?"

A flash of understanding appeared in Zero's eyes.

"I understand. I must become the sharpest and most 'ambitious' blade in his hand."

"Exactly." Naruto nodded slowly in acceptance. "Go. Use your 'loyalty' to lay the first cornerstone for our blueprint."

Late the next night, a night owl perched on the windowsill of Naruto's apartment.

This was one of Root's methods for transmitting urgent information internally.

Without even raising his head, Naruto took out a blank scroll and used special chakra ink to write lines of seemingly disordered symbols upon it. Then, he tapped the tabletop three times with one long tap followed by two short ones.

The night owl spread its wings and flew away, vanishing into the darkness.

The first batch of orders had been issued. Under the pretext of "optimizing Root's operational efficiency," information sorting would begin.

The scroll contained an "optimization proposal" for Zero.

[Preliminary Rectification Plan Regarding Redundancies in Root's Daily Operations]

[1. Intelligence Consolidation Process Optimization: It is recommended that third- and fourth-level reporting nodes be eliminated. Intelligence from repetitive surveillance assignments should be compiled directly by frontline personnel and sent to regional supervisors, potentially improving efficiency by approximately 15%.]

[2. Personnel Allocation Rationalization: Teams C-3 and C-5 are monitoring overlapping targets. It is recommended that they be merged, with the freed manpower assigned to new intelligence screening work.]

[3. Proposal for Electronic Management of Mission Archives...]

Zero's ability to act exceeded all expectations.

Or rather, talents that had been suppressed for too long erupted with astonishing force after finding a target truly worthy of his loyalty.

The next day, beneath Root's headquarters.

A ninja responsible for delivering intelligence had just been about to head to Archive Room A-3 as usual when Zero stopped him.

"Send this intelligence directly to the analysis division. A-3's filing work has been merged with B-5. Do not waste time." Zero's tone allowed no argument.

Elsewhere, two reconnaissance squads assigned to monitor the same area were forcibly reorganized by Zero.

"The target overlap exceeds fifty percent. Personnel are redundant. Team B will handle the perimeter, while Team C will become mobile support. All intelligence will be compiled and delivered to me before I report it upward."

Under Zero's "rationalized" adjustments, intelligence that had once needed to pass through layer after layer saw its route drastically shortened; repetitive surveillance assignments were consolidated; and cumbersome paperwork was simplified.

Root's entire operation was like a rusted machine injected with lubricating oil, beginning to run with an unprecedented smoothness.

Danzo quickly noticed the change.

The number of scrolls submitted to his desk each day had decreased by a third, yet the accuracy and timeliness of the information had doubled. Several unsolved case files that had been backlogged for years were actually reorganized, categorized, and given handling recommendations within mere days.

He felt satisfied—a satisfaction born of having everything under control.

But then came a trace of displeasure.

Zero, the tool he found most useful, had actually dared to make decisions on his own.

"Have him come see me," Danzo ordered the shadows.

Inside the stone chamber, the atmosphere was even more oppressive than usual.

"You have been making quite a few moves lately, Zero." Danzo's voice was like ice.

Zero knelt on the ground with a thud, bowing as low as he could. "Lord Danzo, this subordinate knows his crime!"