"What kind of help?" Yakushi Nono asked.
"Simple. I need your medical skills—provide treatment support when I, or someone I designate, is injured. And when necessary, help with research on certain medical topics."
Kiyohara pulled out a specially made container from his robe. When he opened it, a pair of eyeballs floated in nutrient fluid—blood-red irises, with a single horizontal "—" line across the pupils.
"Help me research this."
Nono sucked in a sharp breath.
"This is… the Ketsuryūgan? I thought this bloodline had already gone extinct."
As a medical nin, she'd studied plenty of old texts. Ketsuryūgan was among them.
"I need to understand its traits and abilities—whether it can be safely transplanted and used, and what kind of ocular power it contains," Kiyohara said calmly.
If Nono refused, Kiyohara would simply use his Sharingan to guide and hypnotize her into believing this was just an ordinary research sample, then leave.
She wouldn't remember today's conversation about the eyes at all.
Nono had been retired from combat for years. She'd dulled too much in that area. Kiyohara didn't believe her genjutsu could surpass his.
Only a rare handful of civilian shinobi could rival even a standard three-tomoe level in genjutsu—and Kiyohara wasn't just any three-tomoe user.
Nono studied the eyes in Kiyohara's hands, clearly startled.
It was said the Ketsuryūgan was similar to the Sharingan—both "hypnotic eyes," both extremely strong in genjutsu.
Then Nono's gaze shifted from the eyes to Kiyohara himself.
Kiyohara seemed to be Anbu.
Was he unafraid of Danzō because he had Hiruzen backing him?
So long detached from the shinobi world, Nono didn't know Kiyohara had already become Tsunade's student—pure Hokage-line through and through.
After a long pause, she took a deep breath.
"If I agree, how will you guarantee the orphanage's safety? Root's influence is massive. If Danzō-sama insists on coming after us…"
"Danzō won't dare make it public," Kiyohara said with confidence. "Everything he does stays in the shadows. If the orphanage is openly attacked and it comes to light, he'll be affected too."
He paused.
"I have the Hokage's support. If necessary, I can put the orphanage under the Hokage's formal protection. No matter how bold Danzō is, he won't openly oppose the Hokage."
A spark of hope flashed in Nono's eyes.
"…Alright."
She finally made her decision.
"I'll agree. But you must keep your promise—protect these children."
Kiyohara nodded.
"Pleasure doing business."
If Yakushi Nono was willing to help, then Yakushi Kabuto was effectively secured too.
A small investment, and he'd gained two top-tier medical talents—an absurd bargain.
"But tomorrow, Aburame Tatsuma will come again," Kiyohara added. "You should accept his terms."
"Why?" Nono asked.
"I'm going to follow the vine to the root," Kiyohara replied flatly.
…
The next day, Aburame Tatsuma returned to the orphanage.
He claimed Root had lost some comrades while probing Iwagakure intelligence.
"We're taking one child from here to replenish our numbers," Tatsuma said coolly.
"Don't push your luck," Nono snapped.
The children were Nono's bottom line—and they were demanding something this vile.
As someone who'd once been in Root, she knew exactly how inhuman that place was.
The moment you entered, you were trained to erase your emotions and self. Even after leaving, it had taken her years for her feelings to return.
"Yono… you know Root's methods," Tatsuma said, eyes behind his sunglasses flicking toward her. "I don't want to spell it out."
"And besides… it's not like there aren't children here who might want to become shinobi."
Tatsuma's tone remained flat.
Originally, both Danzō and Orochimaru had intended to come here personally and drag Nono back.
But for some reason, only Tatsuma had shown up with other Root operatives.
Just then, an unexpected voice spoke up.
"Wait."
Kabuto stepped out from behind Nono.
Usually meek and shy, the boy's eyes now held a composure beyond his years. Compared to children his age, he was far too mature.
"Dean… let me go."
"Kabuto, no." Nono shook her head.
If Kabuto went, it would ruin his entire life.
"You don't know what that place is. You—"
"Dean, I'm suited to be a shinobi. And I want to learn medical ninjutsu."
"Kabuto, don't go!"
Another child—Urushi—had been eavesdropping outside. He rushed in and clung to Kabuto tightly.
"We promised we'd grow up together. If you leave, what am I supposed to do?"
Tatsuma watched coldly, without the slightest ripple of emotion.
To him, it was nothing more than a tedious little drama.
Then Tatsuma walked up to Kabuto and extended his hand.
"Come."
Kabuto gave Urushi—still clinging to him—and Nono one last look. He took a deep breath, pried Urushi's arms loose, and said quietly:
"Urushi… take care of the Dean."
Then he placed his small hand into Tatsuma's.
Nono lunged forward, but other Root operatives blocked her.
All she could do was watch as Kabuto was taken away.
"A wise choice," Tatsuma said. "Funding will arrive on schedule. Don't worry."
He turned and left, his black cloak swaying in the morning wind.
Nono immediately went to find Kiyohara.
When Kiyohara heard what happened, he told her not to worry.
Then Kiyohara went to Kakashi and said he wanted to patrol the nearby area alone.
"No," Kakashi started.
Kiyohara shook his head. "I'm more efficient alone."
Kakashi swallowed the sting—Kiyohara's ability to fly really did make him far faster.
In the end, Kakashi only said two words.
"Be careful."
Kiyohara nodded. In a blur, he vanished.
…
From afar, Kiyohara tailed Tatsuma's group.
His infiltration skills were exceptional. Combined with the Sharingan's insight, he stayed outside their sensing range the entire time.
Tatsuma traveled through the mountains with Kabuto for a full day before they finally stopped at a cave.
Kiyohara memorized the location, the hand signs Tatsuma used, and the chakra flow patterns his Sharingan picked apart.
After everyone entered, the hidden door sealed shut and the barrier concealed itself again.
Kiyohara waited five minutes, confirmed there was no ambush, then approached.
His hands moved—perfectly matching Tatsuma's rhythm and seals.
The fuinjutsu array flickered into existence, and the hidden door opened.
Kiyohara slipped inside. The door closed soundlessly behind him.
A stairway descended into the earth. Stone walls. Oil lamps every ten meters. Dim light.
He opened his Sharingan and spread his chakra sensing.
The underground base was sizable—at least four levels, each with dozens of chakra signatures.
Most were genin-level "auxiliaries." A small number were chūnin. Only three felt like jōnin.
"Find Kabuto first."
He sensed a moving signature matching Kabuto's chakra pattern.
Kiyohara slipped toward it.
The interior was a maze—intersecting corridors like a labyrinth.
He avoided Root patrols, gliding through the passages like a shadow.
If a guard couldn't be avoided, Kiyohara ended them before they could raise an alarm—
A fist to crush the throat, or a kunai through the heart.
Clean. Silent. No wasted motion.
Five minutes later, he reached a wider training area.
Several young children were being drilled in basic taijutsu. Their instructor was a masked Root chūnin.
Kabuto stood off to the side.
Tatsuma was speaking with another masked operative who looked like an administrator.
Kiyohara hid in the shadows and listened.
"This child has good aptitude," the administrator said, flipping through Kabuto's simple file. "Psych eval shows he's rational and calm. Suitable to be trained as intelligence personnel."
Tatsuma nodded. "Assign him training. Integrate him into the organization as soon as possible."
"Integrate…" Kabuto's body stiffened visibly.
"What, scared?" Tatsuma looked at him. "This is the process every Root member must undergo. You become a pure tool—existing only for missions and Konoha."
The administrator motioned to two subordinates.
"Take him to Brainwashing Room Three."
Two Root operatives stepped toward Kabuto.
That was when Kiyohara moved.
He burst from the shadows—so fast only an afterimage remained.
The two operatives collapsed before they even realized he was there, struck cleanly at the back of the neck.
"Who's there?!" Tatsuma barked, already forming hand seals.
The Root members in the training area rallied instantly, surrounding Kiyohara.
The chūnin instructor pulled the children back.
Kiyohara ignored the encirclement and walked straight to Kabuto.
"You okay?"
Kabuto stared at him, stunned.
"Kiyohara… sama? Why—"
"I'm taking you back," Kiyohara said calmly.
"By the Hokage's order, we're investigating multiple cases of missing orphans. Our leads point to this illegal facility."
Tatsuma's face tightened beneath his mask.
Kiyohara had named his authority and given a clean justification—impeccable, and impossible to dismiss openly.
"This facility is approved by Danzō-sama," Tatsuma snapped. "It's a training site for Konoha. You're the one trespassing."
"Approved by Danzō-sama?" Kiyohara arched a brow.
"Then where's the Hokage's official documentation? As far as I know, any shinobi training facility inside Konoha must be filed with the Hokage. I don't recall this one being registered."
Tatsuma choked.
Root's bases were top-level secrecy. There couldn't be formal paperwork.
If this was dragged into daylight, Danzō would be the one in the wrong—these hidden bases existed specifically to dodge Hokage oversight.
"Kiyohara… you're playing with fire," Tatsuma hissed. "Danzō-sama won't let this go."
"I'm executing the Hokage's mission," Kiyohara said, innocent as snow.
"If this is truly a legal facility, then have Danzō-sama produce proof. If not… then I suspect illegal activity—kidnapping children, unauthorized human experimentation, and so on."
The surrounding Root members tensed.
Most of them were "washed" auxiliaries who didn't understand high-level politics, but they understood words like illegal and kidnapping.
Tatsuma knew he couldn't stall. Every sentence Kiyohara spoke weakened Root's hold on its own people.
"Take him down!"
Tatsuma slammed his hands together. A swarm of black kikaichū burst forth with a furious buzz, surging toward Kiyohara.
The Root members moved.
Five chūnin-level combat operatives rushed in first, blades flashing as they attacked from multiple angles.
Kiyohara didn't move.
Five swords came down—
Clangclangklinkclang!
The sound wasn't flesh being cut. It was metal striking metal.
Blades bit into Kiyohara's body…and left only faint pale marks. Not even the skin broke.
The five attackers froze in shock.
Then Kiyohara moved.
He struck with brutal simplicity—two fists, one breath.
BOOM!
Two operatives in front had their chests cave in at the same time, launched backward into their own comrades.
He pivoted—one whipping roundhouse kick.
CRACK!
Two more were flung into the wall like broken sacks, ribs shattered.
The last one tried to retreat.
Kiyohara grabbed his ankle, swung him like a hammer, and smashed him into the stone floor.
The impact left a shallow crater. The man's bones were mostly shattered; he coughed blood and went limp.
The Root members who'd been about to charge… stopped dead, eyes full of terror.
This wasn't a fight.
It was a slaughter.
"Fall back!" Tatsuma roared. "Use ranged support!"
The Root operatives retreated in panic and formed up at the edge of the training zone.
A few seal users began setting up a barrier to restrict Kiyohara's movement, while others started forming hand seals for bombardment.
Kiyohara didn't give them the time.
His silhouette vanished—he didn't go for Tatsuma.
He went for the ones sealing and weaving jutsu.
For ordinary eyes, there were suddenly a dozen Kiyoharas in the space, all moving at impossible speed, all carrying real chakra pressure.
"Afterimages—he's not cloning!" a veteran instructor shouted.
Then came a chain of heavy, wet explosions.
Bodies burst as if packed with explosive tags.
Blood and viscera sprayed across the training ground.
In seconds, ten-plus Root operatives had been turned into shapeless red ruin.
Some of the younger trainees doubled over and vomited.
Even the experienced ones went pale, weapons shaking in their hands.
Tatsuma's face twisted under his mask.
He had expected Kiyohara to be strong. Tsunade's student. A battlefield prodigy. A Sharingan user.
But not like this.
This wasn't "jōnin."
This was something else entirely.
"Everyone behind me!" Tatsuma shouted.
If he let the others keep charging, he'd lose the entire room to panic and collapse.
Kiyohara stood still, flicked blood from his fingers, and looked past the crowd at Kabuto.
"Kabuto. Come here."
Kabuto flinched, instinctively taking a step—but Tatsuma's hand clamped down on his shoulder.
"You think you can take him?" Tatsuma sneered. "Kiyohara, I admit you're strong. But this is my territory."
He began forming hand seals again.
The kikaichū—Root's signature—swarmed in black clouds, ready to drain chakra the moment they latched on.
Kiyohara didn't dodge. He didn't even raise a hand.
He let the swarm envelop him.
Tatsuma's mouth curved into a cold smile.
Young. Arrogant.
Kikaichū could chew through steel. No human body could withstand that.
Then his smile froze.
The insects crawled across Kiyohara's body, biting furiously—
Click, click, click—like teeth scraping metal.
They couldn't pierce him.
Kiyohara's Earth Spear hardening had turned his skin into something like diamond. Steel Release reinforced it further.
"Impossible…" Tatsuma whispered.
Kikaichū could even gnaw through a tailed-beast cloak, yet they couldn't break Kiyohara's skin?
Kiyohara shook once, and lightning erupted.
"Chidori Stream!"
A storm of electricity exploded outward in a five-meter radius.
Kikaichū crackled and dropped by the dozens, the air filling with the smell of burnt meat.
Tatsuma's eyes went red with rage.
He'd just lost years of breeding work—at least a third of his swarm in one move.
"Bastard!"
He slammed his hands down.
"Secret Art: Insect Sphere!"
The remaining kikaichū compressed into a spinning black orb and slammed into Kiyohara like a battering ram.
The sphere's impact could break stone. On contact it would disperse instantly, consuming the target in seconds.
Kiyohara stepped forward instead of back.
He drove a fist straight into it.
"Magnet Release: Electromagnetic Fist!"
BOOM!
The insect sphere cracked and burst open midair, white shockwaves blasting against the walls.
But the insects didn't disperse—they clamped onto his arm and surged upward.
Tatsuma's eyes flashed with triumph.
Got him.
But then his triumph turned to horror.
The insects crawled over Kiyohara's arm, biting desperately—and still couldn't pierce the hardened skin.
Worse, Kiyohara's fist ignited.
"Fire Release: Flame Fist."
Flames roared across the swarm, burning them in clusters. Tatsuma tried to recall survivors, but the loss was catastrophic—another third gone.
"My turn," Kiyohara said.
He formed hand seals.
"Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation!"
Three fire dragons erupted forward, tearing into Tatsuma's position.
Tatsuma retreated, summoning his remaining insects into a shield.
The bugs died in waves, but barely managed to blunt the first hit.
Then Kiyohara was already at his flank, a sword flashing.
Tatsuma twisted away at the last second. The blade carved his right shoulder, spraying blood.
He flung poisoned needles.
Kiyohara deflected them all without effort.
Tatsuma seized the moment to create distance and slammed his hands together.
"Secret Art: Insect Clone!"
His body burst into a cloud of kikaichū, scattering in every direction—an escape technique meant to buy time.
Kiyohara smiled faintly.
He opened his gourd.
"Magnet Release: Iron Sand Rain!"
Black needles shot out like a storm, sweeping through the dispersing insect cloud.
A scream rang out—Tatsuma's real body was caught.
The insects were part of him. Losing them was like being flayed alive.
Tatsuma reformed in the distance, staggering.
His mask had cracked, revealing a pale face beneath, his purple face paint smeared with blood.
He was riddled with wounds, breath unsteady.
"Kiyohara… you—"
He couldn't even finish.
He was afraid now.
Kiyohara was beyond expectation—overwhelming offense, absurd defense, ridiculous speed, and the experience to apply it without openings.
If they kept fighting, Tatsuma would die here. There was no other outcome.
Tatsuma's mind flashed with regret.
He should never have come alone. He should've brought more people.
But now it was too late.
"You're too weak," Kiyohara said, almost bored.
"In this world, fighting with bugs doesn't have any meta advantage."
He looked disgusted.
"Turning your body into a hive… just thinking about it makes my skin crawl."
"In a way, your clan's even more extreme than Sasori."
Kiyohara didn't care what that meant for Tatsuma.
He simply said, coldly:
"Go back and tell Danzō."
"If something like this happens again… I won't be this polite next time."
~~~
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