TitoVillar
patreon
JST Chapter 118: A New Root, A New Path
🕑 Added 2024-11-25 02:21:33 +0000 UTC"Kazuki, if there's anything you need me to do in the future, just tell me without hesitation." Sakumo said calmly as he poured a cup of tea. "Even if it doesn't fit the so-called Will of Fire, it doesn't matter."
Kakashi looked up at his father in surprise, unable to believe what he had just heard.
Kazuki smiled and waved his hand. "Sakumo, putting aside duties and expectations... if you were to listen only to your heart, what would you really want to do?"
Sakumo remained silent for a moment. Then he took the white fang hanging from Kakashi's belt, examining it carefully.
"Maybe become a samurai? Or a ronin?" He answered in a low voice, as if he were talking to himself.
"Oddly enough, after being on the brink of death, I feel like I understand the art of the sword better." Hatake Sakumo gently stroked the blade of White Fang. "Not as a Konoha ninja, but as Hatake Sakumo... as myself. Using the sword from my true essence seems to be... much simpler."
Kazuki smiled.
Extreme emotions and difficulties can always stimulate potential, and it is not just the Uchiha clan that is like this...
Senju Tobirama looked at Hatake Sakumo and whispered: "He has become stronger, Kazuki..."
To Tobirama, Sakumo had always been like a sword that was too rigid, on the verge of breaking. But now, having walked the edge between life and death, he seemed to have been tempered again, with a new spark of power rising from deep within him.
"That's true, Sakumo." Kazuki mused aloud. "I don't have any specific tasks to give you, but I do have a position that might interest you. Sakumo, wouldn't you like to retain your identity as a Konoha ninja?"
Sakumo nodded slowly.
Although his perception of the people and the Will of Fire had changed after what he had experienced, it was not something extreme enough to consider deserting.
He wanted something more similar to Jiraiya's path: traveling the shinobi world, following where his heart led him, and using those experiences to sharpen his mental state and strengthen his skills.
But this time, even if Sarutobi Hiruzen disagreed with him leaving the village, Hatake Sakumo would not care.
Your apprentice can travel outside the village, why can't I?
Hatake Sakumo had a hunch that his swordsmanship, which had not improved for a long time, might have a breakthrough opportunity.
"That's right, the Root is now under my control..." Kazuki said slowly: "And I need an exceptional shinobi for my intelligence operations abroad. If you are interested, Sakumo, you could take on the position of head of root intelligence."
"I'm sure that with your experience, you'll know exactly what kind of information to gather. You'll be free to act as you see fit. When there are specific missions, I'll contact you myself."
"The former Root of Konoha wanted to destroy you, but the new Root in my hands welcomes you to become a part of it..."
[From the target Hatake Sakumo: You have obtained a special talent - the edge of the White Fang.]
[The edge of the White Fang]: Your swordsmanship, dynamic vision, and nerve reaction ability are greatly improved!
Sakumo was stunned. His serenity after accepting death was momentarily broken as he looked at Kazuki in confusion.
He had assumed that even after Danzo's latest atrocity, Hiruzen would only have given him a mild, weightless warning.
After all, when Sakumo discovered the extreme human experiments performed by Orochimaru and Danzo, although both were briefly sanctioned, Danzo resumed his position as advisor to the Hokage and root leader within months.
These kinds of cycles repeat themselves constantly in Konoha. Sakumo was already tired of them, to the point of having become numb.
However, Kazuki broke that cycle. He had managed to depose Shimura Danzo!
"Shimura Danzo is now imprisoned..." Kazuki added as he enjoyed the shocked expression on Sakumo's face and Kakashi's confused look. "I will temporarily replace the leader of the Root, and Tsunade will be the assistant to the Hokage."
Sakumo blinked several times, still not fully understanding. Even though he had been on the brink of death, his simple mind could not process how Kazuki, in such a short time, had managed to overthrow Danzo.
The reputation Danzo had built up over decades of absolute power within Konoha suddenly crumbled. His ability to be forgiven by Hiruzen, no matter how heinous his actions, had been crushed.
Sakumo let out a long sigh. "Kazuki, I accept the position of chief of intelligence for Root."
Now that Danzo had been eliminated, Sakumo had no reason to hesitate.
"Okay, Sakumo. Then, this will be your first mission. You will work alongside this person…"
Kazuki took out a piece of paper and wrote a few words on it.
[Kakuzu is hereby assigned the position of chief financial officer of Konoha's root unit. Hatake Sakumo will be his partner. Should you require anything, please contact me. Good luck on your missions.
Sincerely,
A chief with a conscience,
Uchiha Kazuki.]
"This is a very interesting person, Sakumo." Kazuki said jokingly. "In the past, he was assigned a mission to assassinate the First Hokage. He failed and was imprisoned, sentenced to death. His story doesn't sound much different from yours, does it?"
"I'm sure they'll have a lot to talk about and become great companions."
Sakumo scratched his head and sighed. "It seems that I am not the only unlucky guy in the shinobi world..."
However, upon reading the name on the note, his pupils constricted.
For someone like Sakumo, with years of experience on the front lines, Kakuzu's name was familiar.
The legendary immortal ninja, the most feared bounty hunter!
"What's wrong, Sakumo, is there any problem?" Kazuki smiled and said: "I fought him before, and later we became friends. He has always wanted to find a stable job with a regular job. This time I helped him solve it."
Hatake Sakumo slowly exhaled. "No problem, Kazuki, I am looking forward to meeting him as a partner of the Root..."
"That's good, Sakumo, contact me anytime."
"Yes, Kazuki-sama!" Sakumo replied, quickly adjusting to his new role as he stood up to see Kazuki off.
After Kazuki left, Kakashi looked at his father, who seemed full of renewed vitality, and gently pushed him on the arm. "Father, how did Kazuki do it?"
Sakumo smiled, ruffling his son's white hair.
"I don't know, Kakashi. But there's one important thing I want you to remember: never try to investigate someone else's secrets."
"Especially if that person outranks you and acts for your benefit."
"Remember, Kakashi. During my missions, visit Kazuki's house frequently. Don't worry about Shisui or Asuma, even if they aren't very hospitable. Kazuki is my superior now, so it's completely reasonable for you to go."
"Do your best to enter the Root on your own merits."
Kakashi sighed, resigned to his father's instructions.
In his mind, everything his father said could be summed up in one idea: Get as close to Kazuki as you can.
...
Root Base.
Kazuki sat in the position where Shimura Danzo used to be, and a group of Root shinobi half-knelt on the ground.
On one side, more than a dozen Uchiha with the three-tomoe Sharingan, recently recruited to the Root, stood as the organization's Uchiha squad. Their eyes shone with a reddish glow that made them look particularly intimidating in the darkness of the base.
These Uchiha had been carefully selected by Uchiha Yashiro.
"Dear fellow Roots, some of you are members of my clan, with whom I am very familiar..." Kazuki commented, looking around at the people present. Then, he paused. "And there are others who are completely unknown to me."
Kazuki smiled slightly. "But it doesn't matter. Although you have already received your orders, allow me to introduce myself: I am Uchiha Kazuki, the new leader of the Root. From now on, I will be in charge here."
A murmur of unease ran through the group of former Root members.
Although they had all received their orders directly from the Hokage, the Root shinobi's loyalty was not directed to the Hokage. They had been subjected to the absolute control of Shimura Danzo through extreme indoctrination and various restrictive methods.
Cursed seals that prevented one from speaking secrets, inscriptions in the brain that nullified one's will, and curses that paralyzed one's body with just a thought from Danzo.
"Where is Danzo-sama?!" One of the Root shinobi suddenly stood up, his gaze burning with fury. "The Root can only have one leader, and that leader is Shimura Danzo-sama!"
Uchiha Yashiro's eyes were sharp, and he silently took out the samurai sword.
However, before he could act, the Root ninja who had screamed was frozen in place, as if he had been engulfed by an endless darkness.
The moment the Root ninja recognized Kazuki as his enemy, the talent [Darkness of the Shinobi World] was activated.
Kazuki slowly stood up. A sharp aura of chakra, coming from Senju Tobirama, mixed with Uchiha Izuna's ocular power and Uchiha Madara's bloodline. His gaze, with the Sharingan activated, swept across the shinobi present.
The combination of the auras of the Darkness of the Senju, the Darkness of the Uchiha, and the Demon of the Shinobi World fused perfectly within him, amplifying the effect of [The Darkness of the Shinobi World] and crushing the spirit of every person present.
Kazuki began to slowly walk among the kneeling Root members.
"I feel that some of you harbor hatred and dissatisfaction in your hearts… I give you the opportunity to express it."
As he walked, his red eyes shone brightly. His almost tangible chakra exerted a suffocating pressure on the Root shinobi. The coldness of his ocular power seemed to pierce their very souls.
Among the root shinobi, those who had been most deeply indoctrinated by Danzo still held some grudge against Kazuki…
But at this moment, that hostility in their hearts transformed into an explosive detonator. Their minds trembled uncontrollably, dominated by a fear that far surpassed the one Danzo had instilled in them. It was an abysmal, dark terror, a horror they had never witnessed.
At that instant, although the cursed marks Danzo had implanted did not activate, their bodies became increasingly stiff and numb. Cold sweat ran down their foreheads as their heads bowed lower and lower under the weight of the chakra, until they touched the ground.
