"I don't believe it," Danzo squinted, observing the two Root ninjas in front of him with a cold gaze. These were his two commanders, the highest-ranking ones just below him.
"Orochimaru might have failed," the old man murmured quietly. He didn't exactly know why, and even thinking about that possibility made his mind waver, but deep down in his heart, he believed that Orochimaru could have failed to kill Devan.
"Do you understand what that means?" the old man spoke again, his eyes fully focused on the heads of the two Root ninjas. They seemed to pale for a moment before opening their mouths at the same time.
"Devan is powerful, Lord Danzo," both said simultaneously. "Exactly!!" Danzo suddenly shouted, making both Root ninjas feel strange; they had never seen their leader act this way.
"If Orochimaru hasn't sent a report until now, it's likely that he failed, which means Devan is more powerful than Orochimaru," Danzo quickly came to a conclusion, but a moment later, he opened his eyes wide.
"Does this mean that Devan is more powerful than Orochimaru?" the old man repeated to himself; he couldn't believe the words that had just come out of his wrinkled mouth.
Danzo stepped back a few steps and sat quietly on his throne again as a small tremor ran through his body. "It means that Devan is more powerful than Orochimaru, more powerful, more powerful," he began repeating the last words with genuine surprise.
Both Root ninjas glanced at each other lightly; they didn't need to speak to communicate what they were thinking at that moment: "Danzo was going crazy."
Inside the cave where Devan was, one day later.
"A man, Devan, started talking about strange things, I don't understand," Anko murmured quietly as she watched Devan finally get up a day after waking.
"A man, Devan, for some reason is too attractive, I, I understand, Devan, Devan is handsome," Anko nodded a couple of times to herself.
However, the necromancer who was listening to all of this from a few meters away did nothing more than rub his forehead in confusion.
"What the hell is happening with this girl?" he wondered to himself, letting out a slight sigh. He finished packing his things before turning to look at Anko not too far away.
"What are you doing?" Devan asked.
The woman smiled slightly, moved her body slightly, blushed, and looked down. "Devan, Devan, you, you… Would you like to… be mi boyfriend?" Her words stopped halfway; she blushed so deeply that her entire face turned a deep red.
The necromancer didn't know what to say. "At some point in these days, something has happened to you, you're acting strange," he said without any shame, letting out a slight sigh, and the image of Kurenai Yui passed through his mind.
"She also acted strangely," Devan blinked. After all, it still seemed strange to him that that girl had ended her life in that way. Anko, on the other hand, raised her head abruptly and looked Devan in the eyes.
"Do you like it when I'm strange?" asked the woman suddenly. The necromancer clicked his tongue, did not avoid Anko's gaze, and simply let out a soft sigh. "I, well, I've never really noticed that, you know, I've never actively sought a girlfriend; I mean, it's not something that's in my plans," he spoke the truth. After all, in his previous life, many girls had approached him without success.
"Oh, I see," Anko lowered her head slightly, made a small grimace, then forced a slight smile on her face. "A man, Devan, is ruthless with girls," she whispered, and the necromancer managed to hear it.
Both left the cave; however, when Devan actually stepped out and was met by sunlight, he really didn't know what to do.
Anko had confessed why she was accompanying him on this mission.
At first, Danzo suspected him; the old man believed he had strange powers that could influence people's minds.
"Although, thinking about it carefully," Devan tilted his head to look at Anko not far away, "Why do the people around me seem to go crazy?" genuine curiosity filled his mind.
Danzo had sent Anko with him; Anko was supposed to take him to the weapons-smith ninja where another ninja was waiting. Anko was supposed to join that other ninja and end Devan's life.
"However, Orochimaru appeared suddenly, which is strange," Devan bit his lower lip slightly, observing the green forest surrounding him with slight anxiety.
"Probably if I go back, Danzo will try to kill me again," Devan murmured to himself, thinking about what he should do when he felt a slight warmth on his chest.
Even though he has the Rider of the Apocalypse to defend himself, summoning it exhausts him and leaves him bedridden for days, "Rider can only stay in this world for a limited time," Devan thought with some anxiety, after all, if Danzo tried to kill him and he fought back, the Hokage and the entire village would probably side with Danzo.
Anko had come close enough and took him in a sudden warm hug. She hugged Devan while slightly lifting her head to look at him, her eyes communicating something peculiar.
"Devan," she murmured, this time not shy. The necromancer didn't push her away; instead, he felt the softness of Anko's body pressing gently against his and couldn't help but smile.
"Tell me," the necromancer closed his eyes calmly.
"We can't go back to the village, at least not for now, and if…" Anko smiled brightly, "And if we go and buy a house somewhere else, then we'll have a nice garden. I love to cook, and also, we could raise two little ones…" Anko's face shone with anticipation.
But.
"…"
Devan was truly confused. "What should I do with this girl?" he wondered internally. "She's going crazy, well…" his hands moved gently along Anko's back.
"Going crazy just like Altair seems to have gone crazy, just like Kurenai seems to have gone crazy, and… Does this have something to do with the counter?" Devan thought, his mind focusing on the counter with a red background.
Without explanations of what it is, without knowing what it's for, only with the idea that every thousand points on the counter would give him a skill, Devan found himself completely defenseless.
"Fractured Mind Counter," Devan smiled with some bitterness. "Fractured Mind means broken mind, deranged, insane," Devan shook his head slightly.
Then, Devan's eyes focused on Anko's. His mind wandered for a moment over the words she had said.
"To live in a place far from Konoha with a garden and a place to grow food?"
"Yes!!!" Anko hugged Devan tighter and shouted with joy.
"We've only known each other for a few days; a week ago, you didn't even know my name, or that I existed," Devan tried to make Anko think a little.
"It doesn't matter, a man, Devan, is kind, gentle, he cares about Anko, and now, and now…" she lowered her head slightly.
"However, Why do you speak in third person?" Devan clicked his tongue.
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