"You're saying Minazuki Yuzuru left the village!"
Underground, Danzo fixed his single exposed eye on the Root operative before him.
"Yes, Lord Danzo, and he was alone."
Hearing this, Danzo could no longer sit still and immediately headed for the Hokage's office.
Hiruzen was currently nursing a headache over matters at the Land of Fire's border, his office wreathed in smoke, when Danzo's voice arrived ahead of him.
"Hiruzen, Minazuki Yuzuru left the village without permission. Declare him a missing-nin at once and have him arrested."
The office door was shoved open with unceremonious force, and Danzo's sinister figure appeared before Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"He isn't a ninja. How am I supposed to declare him a missing-nin?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi took a drag on his pipe and looked at him helplessly.
"So we just let him leave? The village needs people right now. Never mind that he won't help, but leaving the village at a time like this gives me ample reason to suspect he's a mole from Kirigakure."
"Danzo, enough. Sakumo brought Yuzuru back when he was little. Are you suggesting the Mist Ninja sent a one-year-old baby to Konoha as a mole? And kept him at it for years? Would a baby understand any of this?"
Hiruzen looked at Danzo, somewhat speechless.
"Besides, Sakumo is still at home. If you issue an order declaring Yuzuru a missing-nin now, how will you explain it to Sakumo? He may no longer be a ninja of the village, but he is still its hero."
"If you really want to help the front lines, Danzo, send Root there. The village is short on people. It's time you did your part."
Hiruzen Sarutobi had just been worrying about the front lines, and Danzo's interference provided the perfect opportunity to send his Root there.
"Hiruzen, Root carries out the most covert, most important missions!"
Danzo was, naturally, utterly unwilling.
"What mission could be more important than the coming war? It's not as if you don't know the situation the village is facing. The Stone Ninja may seem quiet, but who knows whether they'll turn on us? In any case, this is not up for discussion. Root must go to war. I am issuing this order as Hokage!"
"You'll regret this!"
Seeing that Sarutobi was determined to deploy Root, Danzo's face turned cold, and he stormed out of the Hokage's office.
With a loud bang, the office door slammed shut.
On his way back to Root, Danzo's gaze grew even fiercer.
He had tried to gain an advantage only to suffer a loss. This time, he had been outplayed, but Sarutobi could not stop what he intended to do!
Meanwhile, Tsunade also learned that Yuzuru had left.
"You're saying that brat has already left the village?"
Tsunade immediately sat up on the sofa and looked at Shizune in surprise.
"Yes. Kurenai told me when she came to see me."
"Tch, that little brat. What is he trying to do?"
Tsunade slammed her fist down on the tea table before her.
Two months later.
Yuzuru arrived somewhere within the Land of Lightning. During that time, he had shaken off or dealt with everyone watching him.
As though something had occurred to him, Yuzuru took out a book.
He had found it on the Senju Clan's grounds while studying Medical Ninjutsu under Tsunade.
It contained no ninjutsu, but rather records of events from the Warring States Period.
Seeing his interest in the past, Tsunade had thought nothing of it and let him take it. After all, the Senju Clan and the Uchiha Clan were the oldest clans in the shinobi world and possessed the most historical records.
Naturally, Yuzuru had not borrowed the book merely to learn history.
He had no interest whatsoever in the history of petty village brawls during the Warring States Period. He was simply looking for someone important, an Uchiha with terrifying potential-a sealed Uchiha girl who had lost her name and her very existence.
Unfortunately, even the Senju Clan's records mentioned her only in passing. Clearly, they did not want anyone discovering this sealed Uchiha girl either.
But once something had existed, however thoroughly it was hidden, someone would still find traces. Following those threads often led to unusual discoveries.
The Uchiha Clan had come from the Land of Lightning, though, of course, this place had not been called the Land of Lightning long ago.
When a great war broke out between the Uchiha Clan and the Senju Clan, the other clans of the shinobi world had actually enjoyed a brief peace out of fear of those two clans' terrifying strength.
Everyone feared their opponents would win over one of the two first, so the Warring States Period entered a strange lull.
It was truly laughable that the Uchiha Clan later simply abandoned their ancestral lands and moved to Konoha.
And after the girl regarded as the ultimate weapon was sealed by the Senju Clan together with the Uzumaki Clan, she too was completely forgotten. Incredibly, the ones who remembered her were the Senju Clan.
Following the Senju Clan's records, Yuzuru arrived at the ancient battlefield.
By now, it had become a lush forest.
With so many human bodies providing nutrients, even the soil had grown fertile, and it was filled with chakra.
Yuzuru could even sense the hatred that still lingered here.
He climbed a tree and sat cross-legged, instantly entering a state of concentration. The chakra and natural energy flowing around him now seemed almost tangible.
However, Yuzuru did not absorb even the slightest trace.
In his view, none of the Sage Modes of the Three Great Sage Regions were truly authentic.
This was a living world, not merely what an anime depicted. Everyone was flesh and blood, and every kind of creature had its own abilities.
Senjutsu was merely a method the Three Great Sage Regions had created themselves based on ninjutsu, incorporating natural energy into it.
The so-called Three Great Sage Regions were merely what a bunch of snakes, a bunch of toads, and a slug called their own homes.
Looking further back, how had the creatures here used natural energy before the Ōtsutsuki Clan discovered this planet?
If creatures at the very bottom of the food chain, such as slugs and toads, could absorb natural energy, how powerful were the stronger creatures?
Why was there talk of transforming into a dragon at Ryūchi Cave? What exactly had happened in this planet's distant past? Had creatures such as dragons truly existed?
All of it filled Yuzuru with an inexplicable excitement.
Perhaps Ryūchi Cave had more information, but Yuzuru had no way to get his hands on it.
After all, even Orochimaru was not on particularly good terms with those snakes.
Following the flow of chakra, Yuzuru opened his eyes, jumped down from the tree, and headed in a certain direction.
He had no definite direction. Here, Yuzuru trusted only this ownerless chakra and natural energy.
Although most of it drifted about chaotically, a very faint portion was still being drawn somewhere. Little as it was, it was clear to Yuzuru, who could already fully sense natural energy.
Whatever could attract it in this place could only be a lingering seal, or...
Yuzuru closed his eyes and walked toward the deepest part of the forest, relying entirely on his senses.