Root's orphanage.
There was no playfulness, no nursery rhymes—only synchronized breathing and dull thuds.
Dozens of children no older than ten stood bare-chested, like precisely operating components, repeating brutal physical training over and over.
Their movements were so standard they sent chills down one's spine. Every punch and every kick had been forcibly corrected by the instructors' whips, striking the training posts before them with perfect accuracy.
When Naruto walked in, he caused no disturbance.
The noise of training swallowed his footsteps.
He merely stood quietly, his gaze slowly sweeping over every "component" like the most precise scanning instrument.
Unit A-07: muscle endurance rated excellent, but coordination required improvement.
Unit C-12: extremely fast reflexes, but strength was his weakness.
His gaze finally settled on a boy standing toward the middle of the back rows.
Among all the children, that boy's training results were the most outstanding. Every movement was flawless.
Yet his eyes were also the emptiest of them all.
Like a dead well drained dry, there was not a single ripple within them—only endless nothingness.
"Stop."
Naruto's voice was not loud, yet it was like an invisible blade that instantly severed the noisy sounds throughout the training ground.
Every child froze mid-motion, as though they were machines with their pause buttons pressed.
Their indifferent gazes turned toward the unfamiliar boy.
Naruto fixed his eyes on him.
"Sai."
He directly spoke the name written in the file.
"Today's training is over."
"Your mission is to go into town and wander around as you please."
Sai's body did not move, but the corners of his mouth reflexively curved upward into a perfectly standard smile.
There was no emotion in that smile. It was merely a programmed response.
Looking at the blond boy before him, who appeared to be around his own