Zero's Intelligence

"Oh? What crime have you committed?"

"This subordinate... this subordinate altered parts of the mission procedures without authorization, disrupting the Order you established. Please punish me, my lord!" Zero's voice trembled with just the right amount of fear.

Danzo gave a cold snort and was about to flare up when Zero pulled a scroll from his robes and held it high above his head.

"These are this subordinate's humble insights from the past few days. Please... please review them, my lord!"

Danzo gestured for a nearby ninja to take the scroll.

When he opened it, his expression changed.

The scroll was not a letter of apology, but a detailed "Root Operational Efficiency Optimization Draft." It listed every one of Zero's changes in detail, accompanied by comparative data showing the efficiency before and after.

Most importantly, at the beginning of the draft, Zero had written in neat handwriting:

"Respectfully following Lord Danzo's teaching that 'even darkness requires Order, and efficiency is strength,' this subordinate dared to make an attempt and put your ideals into Daily Life. All results stemmed from the brilliance of your thoughts. Any oversights are solely due to this subordinate's incompetence."

The flattery was silent, yet it struck with overwhelming force.

The frost on Danzo's face visibly began to melt.

Seeing this, Zero knew the moment had come. He suddenly bowed forward, slamming his forehead heavily against the cold stone floor, his voice taking on a sobbing tone.

"Lord Danzo! Everything this subordinate has was given by you! My family has a roof over their heads only because of your protection! This subordinate asks only to serve you with every ounce of his strength and offer everything to the Konoha you protect! Please, my lord... please, for the sake of this subordinate's loyalty, treat my family well!"

He had cast himself as an absolutely loyal subordinate who had risked everything to enact reforms after deeply grasping his superior's philosophy, only to be left terrified and forced to beg for forgiveness with his family's safety.

Danzo was completely pleased.

What he liked most was controlling tools that had weaknesses yet were smart enough.

"Get up." His tone softened. "Your ideas are very good. I have seen your loyalty."

"Starting today, this draft will be implemented throughout Root. You will be fully responsible for it."

"Th-thank you, my lord!" Zero's voice brimmed with "tearful gratitude."

Inside Naruto's apartment.

Under the moonlight, an enormous map lay spread across the floor.

It was not a map of Konoha, but an organizational chart of Root.

Every name and every codename represented a node. Every line represented the flow of information and the chain of authority.

This was the first batch of core intelligence Zero had risked his life to obtain.

Naruto's finger slowly moved across the map, like a monarch surveying his own kingdom.

[Intelligence Analysis Division, headed by Fu Yamanaka, core node.]

[Operations Division, three battalions, independent of one another and directly answerable to Danzo; information barriers exist.]

[Assassination Unit, personnel identities highly classified; currently managed indirectly by Zero, making it a potential point of breakthrough.]

A more precise and bolder plan was taking shape in his mind.

Dismantle it, then rebuild it.

He picked up a pen and circled several key names on the map.

Then he looked out the window, where a night owl silently landed once more.

The new orders were already prepared.

Inside an archive room in the Root Underground Base.

Zero was sorting, filing, and destroying stacks of backlogged scrolls with an almost mechanical posture. His movements were precise to the millimeter. Every turn and every reach seemed meticulously calculated, wasting not the slightest bit of effort.

The surrounding Root ninja felt their scalps go numb as they watched.

"Hey, has Senior Zero been... trying too hard lately?" a newcomer whispered.

"Trying too hard? He's practically turned himself into a scroll-processing machine." Another lowered his voice. "Yesterday, when I watched him organize intelligence, he blinked 0.2 seconds less often than usual. I timed it with a stopwatch!"

"Shh! Stop talking, he's looking over here!"

Zero turned his head at a stiff angle, his pure white mask facing them directly. The ninja fell silent at once, feeling as though an emotionless predator had fixed its gaze on them.

Zero said nothing. He merely placed a scroll marked "Top Secret" into the dedicated pneumatic tube leading to Danzo's office. But before the airflow whisked it away, he had already made a copy using the techniques Naruto had taught him.

[Chunin Ninja Exams intelligence synchronized.]

[Examiner roster, personality weakness analysis, and historical ruling records archived.]

[Sunagakure Jonin team leader Baki, records updated.]

[Irregularities found in Kusagakure's examinee roster; suspected Orochimaru infiltration.]

Zero's heart remained utterly calm. He savored this unprecedented "efficiency," this pure feeling of being the most precise component in a "system." In the past, risking his life for Danzo had been suffocation in darkness; now, serving that lord was the freedom of personally building Order within that darkness.

Though he appeared increasingly servile before Danzo, so loyal that he seemed willing to die for him, only Zero himself knew that every act of "loyalty" was merely another solid screw tightened into a different system—one grander and more perfect.

Inside the Konoha Training Ground.

"Yo, good morning, everyone. Have you gotten lost on the road of life today?" Kakashi still looked half-asleep as he lazily waved the application forms in his hand. "I've already submitted your recommendations for the Chunin Ninja Exams."

"Really, Kakashi-sensei?!" Sakura jumped up excitedly.

Sasuke gave a cool "Hmph," but the curve he could not suppress at the corner of his mouth still revealed his anticipation.

"So, to help you all pass the exam smoothly, I've tailored a training plan specifically for you." Kakashi cleared his throat, ready to launch into a long speech.

He cleared his throat again and struck the pose of a proper teacher.

"The main thing is reinforcing teamwork. For example, practicing coordination with the Three Body Technique, climbing trees, walking on water, that sort of thing. Build a solid foundation..."

"I think it can be revised, Kakashi-sensei."

A calm voice interrupted him.

Kakashi lifted his eyes from his book and looked at Naruto. Sasuke and Sakura also stared over in astonishment.

Naruto stood straight with both hands in his pockets.

"This training plan is outdated, lacks specificity, and has a time utilization rate below thirty percent. It is a typical example of inefficiency and cannot prepare us for the high-intensity confrontations ahead."

The training ground fell so quiet that only the rustling of wind through the leaves remained.

Sasuke's mouth twitched. Naruto was still acting like an old scholar; that dead last had already drifted farther and farther away from them.

Sakura, meanwhile, looked as though she were thinking, Naruto, have you lost your mind? You actually dared to talk to Kakashi-sensei like that?

Kakashi closed his book and scratched his silver hair. Rather than getting angry, he looked intrigued.

He had said that on purpose. Drafting training plans for students was troublesome too. If he deliberately proposed a stupid plan, this overly serious student would surely be unable to resist offering a perfect replacement.

Naruto got a sense of control, and he got to rest. It was a win-win.

"Oh? It sounds like Naruto has a more brilliant opinion?"

He smiled. He could sense that Naruto had changed, because this rebuttal was gentler than any before it.

"Sasuke," Naruto said, turning toward him.

"Your taijutsu pursues visual flair too much. Your power is dispersed, and your chakra utilization is below sixty percent. Starting now, you will engage in three consecutive hours of high-intensity sparring. I will personally instruct you until you learn how to inflict the greatest damage with the smallest movements."

"Sakura." He turned to Sakura Haruno. "Your chakra control is an advantage, but your physical stamina and mental resilience are fatal weaknesses. Emotional fluctuations directly affect the stability of your chakra output. Your task is five hundred pull-ups, five hundred push-ups, and a ten-kilometer cross-country run. After that, you will spar with me while in a state of extreme exhaustion."