Chương 392: CH_10.26 (392)

Rui was on the road much longer than he had initially expected. Things had changed since he was stationed at Inahara and he possessed limited access to information. Being ousted from the Hidden Leaf had changed ROOT's situation drastically. After he conveyed his messages and asked to be brought back in, he was called to a base he didn't know existed in a region far from his current position, even when he knew the existence of bases closer to him.

He could only deduce that the organisation had abandoned much of the infrastructure that could be potentially found and tracked by ANBU. He travelled to a region deep in the countryside just off the Fire-Cascade border and found himself on a less-travelled trade route, standing beside a yellow stone marker. He was given a map of the region, but the base's location was left unmarked so that Ruie wouldn't lead the enemy to the base in case he were followed or the map was stolen.

Someone was supposed to confirm his identity and lead him to the actual location of the base, so he was forced toe wait an hour and a half until a masked man appeared before him.

"I need to verify your identity," said the cloaked and hooded man.

"The pass phrase, please," Rui asked.

"Strong roots will keep digging until they reach water for a stronger foundation." Rui nodded. Due to the verification process, he needed to hear a secret phrase to ensure he had the right person, because the verification could also be used to kill him. That's why it was imperative that he could trust the man he was about to expose a vulnerability to.

"Confirmed," he nodded. Both revealed their death-seals in the shape of a tree root motif on their upper arms. ANBU operatives weren't the only ones branded with death-seals. They touched each other's seals and began funnelling chakra into them while monitoring that the other did the same. Around five tense seconds later, both forcefully removed the other's hands from their seals and jumped away.

By funnelling chakra in a specific manner, they could verify the authenticity of the seal that was only put on ROOT agents, thus verifying their identities. However, with a couple of seconds more, someone could also trigger the seal and kill the other; therefore, every verification was a tense ordeal for an agent.

"Let's go," said the masked man. Half an hour later, Rui found himself in a small village embedded into a valley. He expected the base to be deep in a forest or in the middle of a wasteland—anywhere away from civilisation—so he was surprised to see real civilians tending to their fields, herding their animals, and refining their local produce. They didn't enter the village but passed beside it. One of the villagers saw them from a distance and smiled at them.

"This..."

"This place was struggling when we arrived. We offered them help in exchange for allowing us to use their village as our base," the masked man replied.

"Isn't this unnecessary risk? What do we gain from helping them?" Rui asked with a frown, unable to understand the logic. If the villagers talked about them with outsiders, it could reach the ears of the Hidden Leaf. He had just escaped from a team of ANBU and knew how risky and difficult every moment was; this simply invited a repeat of that.

"Without the Hidden Leaf's support, we must establish ourselves again. This village is among the candidates for our future base of operations. We will develop this village and help it grow, and then sow our roots here and operate in this new tree's shadow. We will help them expand their fields so they grow what we want for them. We will develop their trade to do business in their name.

We will train them, not to be shinobi, but in various trades—they will eventually forge our weapons, braid our ropes, stitch our clothes, grow our poisons. As long as they're subservient, they will see their lives improve." Rui looked over the village and understood the logic. Right now, the village was providing cover in their perilous time, but eventually, it would change to serve their needs solely. They were investing in their future by securing a workforce that supported them while they focused on their jobs.

The village itself was situated in a valley, far from other settlements. He guessed whatever the villagers needed was bought in by the people who went out to sell produce. From a strategic perspective, it was a perfect location for the ROOT where they could grow away from prying eyes.

"Smart," Rui commented.

"Of course. It's our Lord's vision after all."

"Is... Is he here?" asked Rui. He had only met their glorious leader a handful of times, the last being a week before he left for Inahara three years ago.

"Yes. He's waiting for you." -. -. -. A humble house stood on the edge of the village with a small produce garden in the backyard. It looked no different from the others, except it was only built last year. It was smaller than the village chief's house, yet the man within it held more power over the village than anyone else. Rui knelt on the sitting room floor with his eyes glued to the ground.

He was fairly calm even when he was running away from a team of ANBU operatives, but he couldn't help but feel nervous before the person who was the reason behind his existence. This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"Lord Danzo," he said after wetting his lips.

"Look up, my son." Some people he knew would cream themselves upon hearing their leader call them his son, but it didn't do much for Rui. He respected and admired Lord Danzo from the bottom of his heart and believed in their mission. there was a time in his life where he wanted to be like him, but Rui didn't feel the reverence that many of his fellow brothers and sisters felt for their leader, whom they almost saw as an object of worship. Rui looked up and was surprised.

Lord Danzo hadn't changed much since the last time he had seen him, except that he seemed slightly older. He still had shaggy black hair, the cross-shaped scar on his chin, and wore the same serene expression, except now he had a bandage around his right eye.

"I hear ANBU found your team. What happened?" asked Danzo in his deep and stable voice. Rui earnestly recalled the events without sparing any details. Even though it had only been five days since he was forced to abandon the life he spent three years building, the entire ordeal was distant to him. The people on his team were all dead, and he didn't really have a strong sense of materialistic belonging, so there wasn't anything Rui particularly missed.

"Aburame, Yamanaka, and a child, you say?" Danzo said while in thought.

"Assuming our youngest member didn't cooperate willingly," Rui replied. Their youngest teammate, who was captured on his trip to the laboratory, was the source of ANBU's information.

"Do you think he would?" asked Danzo.

"No, I don't think so... at least, not that fast."

"I see. What do you think about the child you fought?"

"He was persistent," Rui said after a moment of thought. The kid was after him the longest, thus had the highest chance of catching him, but he also made the most mistakes, leading to Rui's escape. The kid's combat power wasn't the problem. He just wasn't using the tools he possessed to the best of his ability.

"That's all?"

"I'll frame my thoughts better in my report, sir."

"Do so—and know that you did well to escape, Rui. Enjoy your rest. Is there something you would like from me?" Rui considered the question before answering, "I would like another assignment." His life at Inahara was mundane and monotone, but he had come to enjoy playing a character. As much as he liked the idea of staying near Lord Danzo and learning from him, Rui much preferred the sightseeing aspect of his missions..

If he stayed at a base, he would have to live among other agents, who he didn't find all that interesting. Rui had lived with four other ROOT agents in Inahara but barely kept their company outside of the mill's work hours. Ordinary people—be they civilians or not—were far more interesting than the average ROOT agent. Rui he liked observing them. They possessed something 'normal' that he would never have. Perhaps he liked living through them and catching glimpses of a life outside of his reaches.

"If that's your wish, it'll be granted."

"I'm yours to command, sir," Rui said, kneeling.. -. -. -.

"I must say, as impressive as this is, I'd like to live in a place with some natural sunlight," Rui said to the agent, showing him his living situation. ROOT had built an underground network of tunnels in one of the valley slopes. The rooms and chambers in the tunnels were well crafted, connected to the electric grid and even had running water, which he thought was all very impressive. Rui guessed that many agents must have spent months setting everything up as part of their duties.

Instead of answering, though, the agent stood there awkwardly before Rui said he was fine with his living quarters. The minute they were gone, Rui checked every nook and cranny of his room and found it clean of any fūinjutsu. Even though he had bravely escaped and brought information back to the organisation, he knew he would be observed for at least a few days to remove lingering doubt and suspicions. The truth was that the rest of his team was captured, and the hidden laboratory was also found.

But Rui was the only one who escaped, and mostly uninjured, too. It was only natural to find him suspicious. If he were in ROOT's position, he would be suspicious of himself as well. Rui didn't plan to do anything about alleviating their suspicions. Better to let time do its work. All he could do was write his mission report to the best of his ability. After bathing in a communal bathroom, he began exploring the tunnels.

If Rui had to escape for whatever reason, he needed to have his surroundings mapped out in his mind. Such preparation was the reason he was able to escape from Inahara without being severely injured in the process. The tunnel system was complex, with numerous corridors and corners without a single signboards to help with navigation. Even the rooms themselves lacked any signage. He guessed it was by design to limit the flow of information.

As he was roaming the tunnels to memorise the routes, he heard a displeased voice.

"Is that you, Rui?" He turned to see a middle-aged man with dark brown, almost black hair dressed in a full-body cloak. The deep frown between his brows suggested a lifetime of frowning and Rui noticed the deep bags under his harsh eyes, alongside the unhealthily pale skin.

"Oh, Kon!" Rui smiled brightly and spoke in the most jovial tone he could muster, like he was truly happy to see the man.

"You look absolutely terrible! I'd love to know how this happened, so tell me all about it!" Kon glared at him as though he wanted to rip his throat out. The two of them had worked together for a year or so when they were younger. There was a five-year age difference, with Kon being older. Back then, Kon was in a higher position and was his leader, but despite that, they didn't get along, and both tried to make one another's lives difficult. Of course, Rui only did so in retaliation.

Making someone's life difficult for no reason at all just wasn't his style. An incident between them had embarrassed Kon in front of the jōnin agents, and the two of them had been at odds since.

"I heard you blew your cover and got your whole team killed in the process," Kon sneered maliciously. Rui noticed that one of Kon's arms looked awkward, and happened to be his gloved hand. Rui immediately realised that Kon had lost his hand, and were it anyone else, he would've genuinely expressed his apologies because losing an arm almost always meant ruin for a shinobi. But it wasn't anyone else—it was Kon.

"Hey, I'm still new here and need some help moving furniture. Give me a hand, will you? Oops!" Rui raised his hands in front of him and moved all ten of his fingers.

"Must be rough. But, hey! 25% off shirts. That's not as good as half price pants, but it'll still save you something!"

"You—!" Kon all but snarled and stepped up to him threateningly.

"What are you going to do about it? Spar with me like you did all those years ago?" Rui was shorter than him, so he had to look up.

"I'm not a combat specialist, but I'm pretty sure I can entertain you all day, old man. Especially now that your hand's gone. Wanna see if it's true?" Kon wanted to say something, but seemed to understand that if they fought right now, he had no chance at winning. He sneered before turning away, his cloak billowing out behind him. Rui watched the man disappear before continuing his exploration, though it was no longer as enjoyable because Kon's presence here was another reason he didn't want to live here.

"I wonder what my assignment will be?" he hummed as he walked deeper into the cavernous system.