Chương 516: INTERLUDE_13.3 (516)

The sheer amount of documents and information ANBU had confiscated from ROOT overwhelmed the small Ratel Squad. It would take the six operatives and their support staff a couple of years of nothing but sifting through the material to accomplish the task. Fortunately, ANBU had the Leaf Intelligence Division to rely on, and so, a joint venture was quickly set up to dig through the confidential material. A silver lining was ROOT's organisation system that sorted and categorised data for ease of access.

ANBU was able to find what it was looking for, but it was still blind to what it didn't know to look for. For that reason, they had to go through everything to find secrets and plots that even ANBU was unaware of. A month after returning from the ROOT operation, ANBU Lieutenant Ratel sat in his new office. It was bigger and better than anything he had previously resided in. There was a waiting area outside his office alongside the desk stations of his two newly appointed secretaries.

He had his own washroom and access to a small kitchen from which he could serve tea and refreshments to guests during meetings, alongside a personal microwave to heat food. His office was on the same floor as ANBU Captain Weasel and only one floor below that of ANBU Commander Stag. It was a prime piece of office real estate in the main ANBU Headquarters. Takuma reached for a button on his desk and buzzed it. Twenty seconds later, one of his secretaries entered the office.

The door and his desk were on opposite corners of the room.

"I don't want to be disturbed. Unless it's an important matter or an important someone, turn them away." Once alone, Takuma looked down at a pile of scrolls, folders, and documents on his desk. It had taken a month to get his professional affairs in order. Even with the help of his clones, the transition from Squad Leader to Lieutenant was a strenuous one, especially since he was still leading the Ratel Squad. It would be unfair to pass the squad on to a new leader at such a chaotic time.

He was to remain for a couple of more months while his successor shadowed him to learn the ropes. He opened the files, and his breath quickened as he read the words at the top of the page. He calmed himself down and traced the handwritten text on the page with his index finger. ｢ Project Sprig ｣ It was the second-greatest mystery of his life. It encompassed the past of his body, his memory-construct companion, and the torture that his predecessor had suffered at the hands of ROOT.

Takuma looked around, but Grey was nowhere to be found. He guessed that the remnant didn't want to disturb him and wanted him to remain focused on uncovering the truth even a second quicker. Takuma didn't know how minutes turned into hours as he was completely entranced by the horrific truth inscribed in the documents. By the time he was finished, he felt utterly exhausted from what he had found.

From Grey's visions and the incomplete information given to him by the Lord Hokage, he knew that his predecessor was most likely a human test subject used by ROOT in some horrifying experiment. That turned out to be true, but it was only one part of the jigsaw puzzle.

"How are you feeling?" Takuma looked up at the shadowy corner of his office where Grey had manifested using genjutsu. He was sitting on the floor with his back to the wall, gazing into the distance. Grey didn't respond, and Takuma didn't push. Eventually, the atypical entity said, "Shouldn't I be relieved that I wasn't abandoned by my parents?" Takuma pursed his lips. The story of his predecessor was especially tragic.

Project Sprig was a human experimentation trial set up by ROOT to reproduce the bloodline limit of the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama: the Wood Release, a special fusion of Earth and Water Release. That in itself wasn't surprising. There had been many efforts to recreate Wood Release, the vast majority of which had been utter failures or had concluded that it wasn't possible to recreate the needed genetic configuration to trigger the production of the advanced chakra nature.

Project Sprig was special not because it involved human trials, but because of who they were using as their test subjects. Project Sprig used the genetic progeny of Senju Hashirama as test subjects. The scientists in charge of the project believed that having the test subjects genetically close to Hashirama Senju would lead to a significantly higher chance of success in triggering the bloodline limit. And how did they get the required genetic subjects?

They artificially impregnated women with Hashirama's genetic material and had them give birth to children for the sole purpose of using those children as test subjects. Only ROOT didn't do that. Orochimaru did. Project Sprig didn't lead to children being born into the world. It was the other way around. ROOT got their hands on some infants with direct genetic ties to Hashirama as their father, and that led them to launch Project Sprig with the children as high-quality human test subjects.

Around the time Takuma was born, the Hidden Leaf found and raided many hidden laboratories around the Land of Fire, conducting heinously illegal experiments with human test subjects. At that time, the Hidden Leaf didn't know the identity of the one who had set up those laboratories, but eventually, it would be revealed to be Orochimaru. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

However, even though the Hidden Leaf didn't know, ROOT was always aware of it from the very start and decided to raid a few abandoned laboratories before the Hidden Leaf could get to them. In one such laboratory were children who were injected with Hashirama's DNA in hopes that they would replicate Wood Release.

Orochimaru had abandoned the experiment, and because every child who had been subjected to the experiment had died after a certain amount of time, he believed all remaining test subjects would perish as well. In actuality, one boy became the lone survivor and found himself endowed with Wood Release. That boy was then inducted into ROOT, trained to be an agent, and given the codename Kinoe.

Takuma knew who that was because Kinoe had later defected from ROOT to join the Hidden Leaf, becoming an official Leaf shinobi and an ANBU operative. He was now serving as ANBU Captain Beaver. The existence of Kinoe gave ROOT confidence that they could replicate the result of Orochimaru's experimentation that had successfully recreated Wood Release.

And they were confident that they could do it better because in another lab, they had found a nursery full of the First Hokage's children, who were expected to respond better because of their genetic proximity. After all, Orochimaru wouldn't have created those children if he didn't agree with the logic. So they decided to replicate the experiments on their newly procured test subjects. The result? Utter and complete failure with the gradual deaths of the test subjects under the stress of the experiments.

Like Orochimaru's experiments, Project Sprig never got to reach a conclusion because the Hidden Leaf discovered the project, and they had to flee, but not before they killed the three remaining children. The scroll creased under his fingers as the ROOT documents stated that all test subjects were confirmed killed. That was wrong because his predecessor had survived. That survival was kept a state secret, only known to a few people.

"This is horrible," Takuma muttered. He sank into his chair and felt a grimy sludge settling inside his mind and body. A part of him wished that he had never found the truth. Now, the knowledge would always be a part of him. He now knew the origins of his body, and yet there was no satisfaction or joy in it. He struggled to believe it, but the signs were there. He had Water and Earth affinities, the same as the First Hokage. His large chakra reserves were also a trait of the Senju clan.

As ridiculous as it sounded, he was related to the Senju bloodline and the genetic progeny of the God of Shinobi. Takuma didn't know how to feel about it.

"There's nothing about the women?" Grey eventually asked. Takuma shook his head. There was no mention of the mothers who had given birth to the children. Perhaps Orochimaru knew their fate, but by the time ROOT got there, they were missing, and their fate was unknown.

"I could look into it," Takuma offered. He could only imagine what Grey was feeling right now. He had suffered a terrible childhood that had ruined his life to the point that he was unable to recover from it until his own premature death. After that, he became a construct born of memories, will, and chakra, and was forced to see a stranger and an imposter live his life in a way that he wouldn't have.

And now, he found that the reason behind his birth, the purpose behind why he was brought to this world, was to be a test subject. Any sense of normalcy that Grey had hoped to find by finding his origin was squashed.

"It's fine. I'm sure you have other concerns now that you know the origins of that body," Grey scoffed, a malicious smirk stretching across his face.

"A power-hungry guy like you is probably drooling inside now that you know that you have a chance at the First Hokage's Wood Release. You don't have the time to look for my poor mother. It's fine, it's fine!" Takuma didn't say anything and let the words wash over him, not allowing them to affect him. Grey was feeling a mess of emotions right now and didn't mean those words. Once Grey's emotions calmed down, Takuma would talk to his companion again.

Right now, if he could be the outlet for Grey's inflamed emotions, that was the least he could do. And as for Grey's accusation, there was truth to it. The prospect of acquiring the First Hokage's Wood Release was tantalising. For a fleeting moment, Takuma actually considered hunting it down, but the cold data in front of him killed the ambition instantly.

The stolen ROOT documents told a grim truth: between Orochimaru's experimentation and ROOT's horrifying trials, the experiments had claimed the lives of all but two subjects. And of those two, only one had successfully manifested the bloodline. In truth, Takuma suspected the survival rate was even worse. He was convinced his very presence in this world was a byproduct of ROOT's torture; his predecessor had dropped dead without warning right in the middle of an academy lesson.

Though he had never investigated the boy's death—and after all these years, it was too late—the body's medical history left no room for any other assumption. There had only been one survivor. Takuma didn't think of himself as a gambler, and yet his life had been one risk after another—but those were always calculated risks backed by a belief in his own ability. This wasn't a test of ability or skill; it was a genetic lottery where he had no leverage to tilt the scales in his favour.

His body had already rejected ROOT's experimentation, leaving behind nothing but scars that burned with a phantom heat when he thought of what his predecessor had suffered through. There was no reason to believe a second attempt would end differently. He was privy to Danzō's autopsy and the report regarding the graft of the First Hokage's cells into his body, which, according to Kakashi and Gai, had given him renewed vitality.

However, when the iryō-nin had cut open Danzō's body, they found that the grafted cells had gone out of control, with wood spreading into his lungs, kidneys, stomach, and blood. Moments before his death, the cells had transformed into something akin to cancer that was spreading throughout his body. If the power were without risk, he would have seized it. He desperately needed power. But the gamble was too blind. If he wanted strength, he would have to find it another way.

Shaking off the phantom warmth on his skin, Takuma forced his mind away from thoughts of power and refocused on Grey. During the chaotic terror of his last battle, when he was in the clutches of pain and was endangering his life and that of others, Grey had been the one to pull him back. His friend had anchored him and restored his confidence. Now, the roles were reversed. Takuma got up and walked to the dark corner of the room.

"What?" Grey looked up at him, on edge.

"What do you want?" Takuma silently sat beside Grey and didn't respond. He put his arm around him. Because it was a genjutsu and his senses were being manipulated, Takuma felt the physical contact when he patted Grey comfortingly.

"I'm not in the mood. Go away!" Despite those words, Grey didn't dispel the genjutsu to vanish. The two identical boys sat there in silence, coming to terms with what they had learned. It was difficult for both of them, but they were going to deal with it together. And that made it just a bit easier.