Infiltrating Root

Neji wore the Tiger-Pattern Mask and a black cloak patterned with Red Clouds. A few uses of the Body Flicker Technique carried him through the shadows of the streets to a hidden exit of Root Base.

He naturally wasn't going in through the front gate. Only a fool would do that.

Root Base had more than one entrance. Buried beneath Konoha, it had plenty of concealed ways in and out.

Anyone outside Root had no idea where those entrances were or how to reach them.

Even if someone stumbled upon one and went inside, they would only end up in Konoha's Sewer.

But Neji was different. To his Byakugan, Root's maze of secret passages offered no concealment.

He could see the correct route at a glance.

For Neji, sneaking in with the Byakugan was like playing a game with wall hacks on.

This looked like an ordinary Sewer entrance, but one of Root's hidden entrances lay inside.

In his black cloak patterned with Red Clouds and his Tiger-Pattern Mask, Neji silently approached a door disguised as a wall.

He stopped and suppressed his presence as much as he could.

Through his Byakugan, he could clearly see what lay beyond the door.

Following the method he'd seen Root ninja use, Neji knocked three long beats and one short beat.

He had learned the pattern with his Byakugan. Every Root Ninja who entered Root Base through this door used it.

Neji wasn't worried that no one would use the door today. From what he'd observed, several Root ninja came and went through it every day.

Metal scraped against metal as the heavy iron door slowly rose, revealing a dim passage.

A Root Ninja in a pig-faced mask stood beside the door, holding down a dark gray switch. "Ox Head, back so soon?" he asked quietly.

"Ox Head!? Where is he?" The door was only halfway up when the Root Ninja in the pig-faced mask realized something was wrong. There was no one outside.

Before he could react, a fair-skinned palm pressed against his back, directly over his heart.

The Root Ninja couldn't make a sound. He fell straight to the ground.

The instant the door had opened wide enough for a person to pass through, Neji had slipped inside.

Neji glanced at the surveillance camera he'd already smashed, then vanished with the Body Flicker Technique.

He moved so quickly that the cameras of this era couldn't capture a clear image of him entering. At most, they would record a blurry Kage.

The camera pointed straight at the entrance, so that much had been unavoidable. His intrusion was bound to be discovered.

"But that's fine. Even the camera only caught a Kage." Neji flickered toward a room where he suspected Root kept its Secret Techniques.

He had reached a speed that Root's outdated cameras couldn't capture.

The entrance camera had caught him only because the opening door restricted his movement. And even if it had, all it showed was Akatsuki clothing. What did that have to do with him?

The staff in Root's surveillance room soon noticed something was wrong.

One of them picked up a headset. "Lord Ryoma, someone has infiltrated Root Base through G Entrance!"

Aburame Ryoma shot to his feet. His face went cold as he spoke into the darkness behind him. "Gather every combatant in the base at once. Three standard squads will come with me to search G Section. The remaining squads will patrol every area. If you find anyone suspicious, kill them on sight."

"Yes, sir!"

Several voices answered from the darkness.

Aburame Ryoma didn't wait for the Root squads to assemble. He headed for the G Section where Neji had entered on his own.

As Danzo's right-hand man, he was confident that fewer than ten people in Konoha were stronger than him.

Neji knew time was tight, but he felt no panic. His mind remained clear.

I'm already here. Might as well make things harder for them, so they don't get here too easily. Neji settled on a plan.

He soon reached the Laboratory where he suspected Hashirama Senju's flesh was stored. Facing its closed door, Neji placed a hand against the wall. "Divine Vacuum Strike!"

Boom!

The entire Laboratory blew apart under Neji's blow.

All of Root Base shook violently.

Through his Byakugan, he could see large numbers of Root Ninja gathering. Some were already rushing toward him.

"Aburame Ryoma? That's a lot of insects." Neji saw a man approaching at a respectable speed.

"Too bad you won't be getting through anytime soon." Neji extended a hand toward the passage Ryoma was in. "Divine Vacuum Strike!"

Boom! Another deafening blast shook all of Root Base.

Dust billowed up as the wide passage collapsed.

Satisfied with his handiwork, Neji used the Body Flicker Technique to head for the room where he suspected Root kept its Secret Technique Scrolls.

The corridor lights had never been particularly bright. After Neji's attack, they flickered on and off.

An ordinary ninja might have been affected, if only slightly. But behind his mask, Neji had his Byakugan active and wasn't hindered at all.

In the flickering corridor, a bright blade suddenly cut through the darkness toward Neji.

A Root Ninja hidden in the shadows struck before Neji could launch into another burst of speed.

Without looking back, Neji raised a hand and pressed it against the air. A smaller Divine Vacuum Strike erupted.

The Root Ninja grunted and flew backward, embedding himself in the corridor wall. He went completely still.

The ninja had hidden himself well and moved skillfully, but Neji had the Byakugan. He had seen every move the man made.

Even in the flickering light, Neji could see clearly with his Byakugan. His attacker was one of the three guards assigned to the room where he suspected the Secret Techniques were kept.

Root Base wasn't small, but it wasn't enormous either. After a few more uses of the Body Flicker Technique, Neji spotted his target.

"A barrier like the Four Violet Flames Formation? Or an improved version of it?" Neji ignored the other two Root Ninja lurking in the darkness.

The room ahead looked like an ordinary Laboratory, but inside it was entirely different. Four Root Ninja sat cross-legged, one in each corner.

They were the source of the dark violet barrier Neji could see with his Byakugan.

Pretending he hadn't noticed them, Neji raised his palm toward the room at the end of the corridor.

Three passages converged in front of that room. The two remaining Root Ninja were concealed in them.

When Neji raised his hand to attack the room, the two could no longer stay hidden. They formed Hand Seals at the same time and unleashed their Ninjutsu.

"Wind Release: Vacuum Wave!"

"Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!"

Wind and fire surged from the two passages. Sickle-shaped wind blades carried searing flames that lit the entire corridor red, like magma erupting from a volcano.