Turning from Darkness to Light!

Danzo sat on a stone seat, his knuckles tapping the armrest in a steady rhythm.

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

His single eye narrowed slightly.

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

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

"He... passed." Zero's voice was 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 deepening. "Zero, your Genjutsu is enough to shatter a Jonin's mind. Tell me what happened inside."

Zero's body shuddered again. He recalled that cold steel starry sky, that judgment—"You are humiliating me"—and the real chill against his neck.

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 being 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."

"His... his will was steel that could not be shaken. No, he simply had no so-called 'emotional trauma' to exploit. He was like... like a natural-born 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 wasteful of chakra."

The statement was half true and half false, yet it scratched precisely where Danzo itched.

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

"His mental fortitude is extraordinary. He is the perfect candidate to join Root." With that flawless conclusion, Zero ended his report and buried his recruitment attempt of Naruto Uzumaki deep in his heart.

Danzo fell silent. He felt like a gambler who had staked everything at the table, only to hear the goddess of fate smile.

He had bet right.

"Very good." Danzo leaned back into his stone seat, regaining his composed air of control. "Then from today onward, Naruto Uzumaki is a probationary member of Root, codenamed 'White Crow.' He will not need to receive the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal."

That night, in Naruto Uzumaki's apartment.

Someone lightly tapped on the window three times from outside—two long, one short. It was their agreed signal.

Naruto Uzumaki pulled aside the curtain, and Zero slipped inside like a ghost without making a 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, while excitement and struggle suppressed for years churned in his eyes.

"I..." He opened his mouth, seemingly with a thousand things to say, yet unable to find where to begin.

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

"This is the channel key and control authority for Crow. Aside from me, only you can activate it."

Naruto Uzumaki calmly accepted the scroll without opening it immediately.

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

"I was already at a dead end." Zero's body trembled slightly. "You gave me the chance to see another path. From this day forward, my life and my loyalty belong only to the 'system' you have envisioned."

He dropped to one knee again. This time, it was willing submission.

"Good." Naruto Uzumaki nodded and helped him up. "But we're in the same boat now. You doing this puts a lot of pressure on me too."

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

Naruto Uzumaki patted his shoulder, his expression turning serious again.

"Remember, do not come to 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 prove your loyalty to me, but to Danzo."

Zero froze.

"Show him your value." Naruto Uzumaki looked straight into his eyes. "What kind of energy would a tool suppressed for too long unleash after finally receiving recognition? What kind of 'overreaching' actions would a subordinate desperate to prove himself and gain greater power take?"

A flash of understanding crossed Zero's eyes.

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

"Right." Naruto Uzumaki nodded slowly in approval. "Go. Use your 'loyalty' to lay the first cornerstone for our blueprint."

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

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

Without even raising his head, Naruto Uzumaki took out a blank scroll and used specialized chakra ink to write rows of seemingly disordered symbols upon it. Then he tapped the table three times in a rhythm of one long and two short.

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

The first set of orders had been issued. Under the pretext of "optimizing Root's operational efficiency," the information review had begun.

The scroll contained a "proposal for optimization" intended for Zero.

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

[1. Intelligence consolidation process optimization: It is recommended that the third- and fourth-level reporting nodes be eliminated. Intelligence from repetitive surveillance assignments should be consolidated directly from front-line personnel to regional supervisors, improving efficiency by approximately 15%.]

[2. Personnel allocation rationalization: C-3 and C-5 squads have overlapping surveillance targets. It is recommended that they be merged, with the freed manpower redirected into new intelligence screening work.]

[3. Proposal for electronic management of mission archives...]

Zero's ability to act exceeded all expectations.

Or rather, talent suppressed for too long had erupted with astonishing force after finding a target truly worth serving.

The following day, beneath Root's headquarters.

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

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

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 consolidated through me before I report it."

Under Zero's "rationalized" adjustments, intelligence that had once required layer upon layer of delivery now traveled along greatly shortened routes. Repetitive surveillance assignments were consolidated, and some cumbersome paperwork was simplified.

Root's entire operation was like a rusted machine that had been injected with lubricant, beginning to run with unprecedented smoothness.

Danzo quickly noticed the changes.

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

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

But then came a trace of displeasure.

Zero, his most useful tool, had actually dared to act on his own initiative.

"Send him to see me," Danzo ordered the shadows.

The atmosphere in the stone chamber was more oppressive than ever.

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

With a thud, Zero dropped to his knees, bowing so low that his body nearly touched the ground. "Lord Danzo, this subordinate knows his crime!"