Infiltrating Root

Wearing a Tiger-Pattern Mask and a black cloak patterned with red clouds, Neji used a few Body Flicker Techniques through the shadows of the streets to reach one of the Root Base's concealed exits.

Naturally, he would not go in through the main entrance. What kind of idiot would do that?

The Root Base had more than one entrance and exit. Built entirely underground, it had numerous hidden access points throughout Konoha.

Anyone outside Root had no idea where these access points were or how to navigate them.

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

But Neji was different. Under his Byakugan, Root's intricate network of secret passages might as well not have existed.

The correct route lay fully exposed before his eyes.

For Neji, who possessed the Byakugan, an infiltration like this was practically like playing a game with a wallhack enabled.

This looked like an ordinary sewer entrance, but one of Root's concealed access points was actually inside.

Dressed in his black cloak with red clouds and wearing his Tiger-Pattern Mask, Neji silently approached what looked like a wall but was actually a disguised door.

He stopped, suppressing his presence as much as possible.

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

Following the method he had seen Root ninja use to enter, Neji knocked on the door with three long knocks and one short one.

He had observed this knocking pattern through his Byakugan. Every Root Ninja who entered the Root Base through this door did the same.

Neji was not worried that no one would use this entrance today. His observations showed that several Root ninja regularly came and went through this door every day.

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

The Root Ninja opening the door wore a pig-faced mask. Holding down a gray-black switch beside the door, he said quietly, "Ox Head, back so soon today?"

"Ox Head!? Where are you?" When the door was halfway up, the pig-masked Root Ninja realized something was wrong. There was no one outside.

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

The Root Ninja collapsed stiffly without making a sound.

The moment he had opened the door wide enough for one person to enter, Neji had slipped inside.

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

He moved so fast that the surveillance cameras of this era could not clearly capture his entry. At most, they could record a blurry shadow.

The camera had been pointed directly at the entrance. There was no avoiding it, so his intrusion would definitely be discovered.

"But that's no big deal. Even the camera could only catch a little shadow." Neji flickered toward the room he suspected held secret techniques.

His speed had already reached a level where Root's antiquated cameras could not capture him at all.

The camera at the entrance had only caught him because the opening door restricted his movement. Even if it had recorded him, all it showed was an Akatsuki cloak. What did that have to do with him?

The staff in Root's surveillance room soon discovered that something had happened.

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

Aburame Ryoma, who had been working at his desk, immediately rose. His expression icy, he addressed the darkness behind him. "Assemble all combat personnel in the base at once. Three standard squads will accompany me to the G Section to search for the intruder. The remaining squads will patrol every section immediately. If you spot anyone suspicious, you may kill them on sight."

"Yes!"

Several responses came from the darkness as soon as he finished speaking.

Without waiting for Root's squads to assemble, Aburame Ryoma headed alone for the G Section where Neji had entered.

As Danzo's right-hand man, Aburame Ryoma was confident that fewer than ten people in Konoha could surpass him in strength.

Neji knew his time was extremely limited, but he did not panic. Instead, he remained remarkably calm.

Since I'm already here, I might as well create a few obstacles for them. Can't let them get here too easily. Neji settled on a plan.

He soon arrived at the laboratory he suspected contained Hashirama Senju's flesh and blood. Looking at its tightly shut door, Neji pressed his hand against the laboratory wall. "Divine Vacuum Strike!"

Boom!

With a thunderous crash, Neji blasted the entire laboratory apart.

The whole Root Base shook violently several times.

Through his Byakugan, he could already see large numbers of Root Ninja assembling. Some were even rushing toward him as fast as they could.

"Aburame Ryoma? That's a lot of insects..." In his field of vision, Neji saw a man approaching at considerable speed.

"Too bad. You won't be getting through for a while." Neji extended his hand toward the passage Aburame Ryoma was in. "Divine Vacuum Strike!"

Boom! Another thunderous crash shook the entire Root Base twice.

Dust and smoke billowed up in an instant as the broad passage collapsed.

Neji gave his handiwork a satisfied glance, then flickered toward the room he suspected contained Root's secret technique scrolls.

The lights along the passage, already rather dim, began flickering in the aftermath of Neji's attacks.

An ordinary ninja would certainly have been affected to some small degree, but with his mask on and his Byakugan active, Neji was not affected in the slightest.

Suddenly, a brilliant flash of steel cut through the darkness of the flickering passage, hurtling toward Neji.

A Root Ninja lurking in the shadows launched a surprise attack just before Neji could initiate another Body Flicker Technique.

Without even turning his head, Neji extended a hand and pressed against the air, having anticipated the attack. A small-scale Divine Vacuum Strike erupted.

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

The ninja had concealed himself in the darkness, and his stealth was certainly impressive. Unfortunately for him, Neji had the Byakugan and had already seen his every move.

Even in the passage's flickering light, Neji could see everything clearly through his Byakugan. The ninja who had just ambushed him was one of the three guarding the room he suspected held secret techniques.

The Root Base was not small, but it was not enormous either. After a few more Body Flicker Techniques, Neji caught sight of his destination.

"Is it enclosed in a barrier similar to the Four Violet Flames Formation? Or is it a modified Four Violet Flames Formation?" Neji paid no attention to the other two Root Ninja lurking in the darkness.

The room before him looked no different from an ordinary laboratory, but its interior was completely different. Four Root Ninja sat cross-legged, one in each corner.

They were the source of the violet-black barrier he could see through his Byakugan.

Pretending he did not know they were there, he raised his palm toward the room at the end of the passage.

Three passages converged in front of the room, and the remaining two Root Ninja were concealed within them.

Seeing Neji raise his hand to attack the room ahead, the two could no longer stand by. They simultaneously formed Hand Seals and unleashed their ninjutsu.

"Wind Release: Vacuum Wave!"

"Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!"

From two passages came wind and fire. Weasel-shaped wind blades carried searing flames, bathing the entire passage in crimson, like underground magma erupting from a volcano's crater.