At the mention of "Root," Kenya stopped counting his money.
He casually tossed the thick stack of banknotes onto the table, a cold smile curling his lips.
"That old dog Danzo has quite a nose."
"He caught the scent this quickly."
Beneath Konoha lay the Root Base, where sunlight never reached all year round.
The dim lights flickered, making Danzo's gloomy old face look even more sinister.
At that moment, Danzo's face was livid, and his whole body trembled with rage.
Crack!
He slammed his palm onto the stone table before him, making a sample of black iron wood purchased at a high price on the black market vibrate with a hum.
"Useless! Every last one of you is useless!"
Danzo pointed at the row of Root ninja kneeling below him and roared furiously.
"The Land of Fire daimyo's fortification contract was supposed to be a sure thing for the chamber of commerce under our Root!"
"How did some 'Iron Fist Chamber of Commerce' suddenly come out of nowhere?!"
"The daimyo would rather pay a hundred times the price for their wood than buy the high-quality stone we offered!"
Danzo was so angry his liver hurt.
As a massive organization operating in the shadows, Root's annual expenses were astronomical.
Besides the village's official funding, Danzo secretly controlled numerous chambers of commerce to rake in money.
And the building materials business had always been one of his most important sources of income.
Now someone had forcibly cut off that income stream!
The Root Jonin in charge of intelligence raised his head fearfully, his forehead covered in cold sweat.
"Lord Danzo, this Iron Fist Chamber of Commerce suddenly rose to prominence in the Land of Waves recently."
"They obtained some kind of black super-lumber from an unknown source. Its hardness is even more terrifying than steel."
"And it has a natural resistance to Ninjutsu. As soon as they introduced it, they monopolized the entire high-end building materials market."
The Jonin paused and cautiously glanced at Danzo's expression.
"And... during their investigation, our intelligence operatives discovered..."
"Discovered what?! Spit it out!" Danzo barked.
"This black lumber, in both its material and its properties..."
The Jonin swallowed, his voice trembling slightly.
"Is extremely similar to the mutated Wood Release Senju Kenya used when he defected from the village a few months ago!"
At those words, the entire secret chamber instantly fell deathly silent.
Danzo's lone eye flew wide open, flashing with disbelief and fury.
"Senju Kenya..."
Danzo ground out the name through clenched teeth, as though he wanted to chew it to pieces and swallow it.
Of course he had not forgotten that brat!
A few months ago, it was that very Senju orphan he had dismissed as useless.
He had sent Danzo flying with a slap, shattered Hokage Rock with a punch, and sauntered off in front of the entire village!
It was the greatest humiliation of Shimura Danzō's entire life!
He had sent out countless tracking squads and even activated covert assets in other countries.
But Kenya had vanished without a trace, with no word of him at all.
To think that brat had actually gone to the Land of Waves!
"Not only did he survive, he even used the Senju Clan's Wood Release to steal my business!"
Danzo was so furious he laughed, the sound particularly sinister in the spacious secret chamber.
He walked over to the black iron wood sample and reached out to stroke its cold, hard surface.
"Wood release cells... and a perfect mutation capable of hardening to this degree!"
Undisguised greed filled Danzo's eye.
"If I can get this power into my hands, I will surely become a Hokage who surpasses Hiruzen!"
Danzo spun around, pounding his cane hard against the floor.
"Pass on my orders!"
"Assemble Root's most elite assassination squad immediately, with Kinoe personally leading them!"
"Target: the Iron Fist Chamber of Commerce in the Land of Waves!"
A trace of cruel coldness flashed through Danzo's lone eye.
"First, burn all their lumber warehouses to the ground and cut off their income!"
"Second, capture Senju Kenya alive and bring him back to me, no matter the cost!"
"I will personally put him on the dissection table and wring every last cell out of his body, bit by bit!"
"Yes!"
The kneeling Root ninja answered in unison, then instantly turned into dark shadows and vanished into the darkness.
The Land of Waves, headquarters of the Iron Fist Chamber of Commerce.
After hearing Yosuke's report, Kenya showed not the slightest panic. Instead, he stretched comfortably.
"Boss, Root's people have always been unscrupulous. Should we tighten security?"
Watching Kenya's carefree demeanor, Yosuke reminded him somewhat anxiously.
"Security? Against what?"
Kenya stood up, walked to the window, and gazed at the Land of Waves' bustling harbor.
"I was just worrying that I haven't had anyone to spar with these past few days. My bones are practically rusting."
"Since that old dog Danzo wants to play dirty, I'll play along properly."
Kenya turned to Yosuke, a dangerous smile curling his lips.
"Yosuke, pass the word down. Keep security at the chamber's warehouses loose on the outside and tight on the inside."
"Move all our valuable goods to the deserted island base."
"Leave only some scraps in the warehouses to give them the illusion that our defenses are weak."
Yosuke froze for a moment, then his eyes lit up.
"Boss, you mean... lure them into a trap?"
"Smart."
Kenya snapped his fingers.
"Since Danzo wants to burn my warehouses, I'll give him a chance."
"But while getting in will be easy, getting out won't be so simple."
Late one night, a few days later.
Thick sea fog blanketed the waters off the Land of Waves.
At the edge of this Mist Sea, known to the locals as the "Death Forbidden Zone."
Several unmarked black boats glided silently across the sea.
Aboard them sat more than twenty fully armed Root elites wearing animal masks.
Using special ninja tools and a route that avoided the undercurrents, they silently approached the deserted island hidden deep within the fog.