The atmosphere suddenly grew heavy.
Danzo was still wrapped in bandages. His arm hadn't yet been replaced with a Wood Release arm—only layers of bandages wound around it.
One of his eyes was also covered.
Hyuga Arin could tell that Danzo was seriously injured.
He could smell a faint scent of medicinal herbs. The bandages were clearly meant to conceal old wounds—
if they were fresh, blood stains would have been unavoidable.
Danzo sat in his chair, his gaze dark and oppressive.
"Where did you learn about the existence of Root?"
Root was an organization even more deeply hidden than ANBU.
They handled the most unspeakable tasks—Konoha's underground sewer, so to speak.
Assassinating fellow village shinobi.
Conducting experiments on their own people.
All the dirtiest work that could never see the light of day.
Although Root had a strong presence in the Naruto story, in reality, very few people in Konoha even knew it existed.
Aside from being the village's sewer, another reason was that Root was currently quite weak—nowhere near ANBU's strength.
Only later, after its power expanded, did more people become aware of it.
Hyuga Arin had overlooked this detail at first. He had been focused solely on escaping the Hyuga main family's control.
Logically speaking, with his current status, he shouldn't have had access to knowledge about Root at all.
"I heard about it from Nawaki," Hyuga Arin replied quickly, having already prepared an answer.
Danzo's gloomy expression eased slightly. The answer barely passed muster.
Danzo already knew Hyuga Arin's background.
Before Hiruko left, he had essentially "sold out" Hyuga Arin.
Not maliciously—just part of handing over frontline affairs, which included Hyuga Arin's mission details.
Compared to Danzo, Hiruko was just a jōnin. He wouldn't dare oppose him.
So Danzo already knew that the spy was Hyuga Arin.
When Hanzo later reported the name Uchiha Hyuga Arin, Danzo simply accepted it without question and immediately turned his attention toward suppressing the Uchiha.
Hyuga Arin being able to meet Danzo at all was partly because of this.
Otherwise, how could a mere genin hope to meet him—important intelligence or not?
"I don't accept Hyuga members," Danzo said flatly.
He had only come to see what kind of person this "Hyuga Arin," whom Hanzo claimed possessed an extremely powerful transformation technique, really was.
Such a person was ideal for espionage.
Root did indeed lack this kind of talent.
Unfortunately, Hyuga Arin was a Hyuga branch member.
Root valued secrecy above all else, and Hyuga branch members could never guarantee secrecy in front of the Hyuga main family.
The Caged Bird Seal took priority over the Tongue Curse of Root.
That was why Danzo never recruited Hyuga branch members.
If Hyuga Arin were from the main family, Danzo would gladly take him.
But the Hyuga main family would never join Root.
Hyuga Arin didn't look discouraged.
Instead, he removed his forehead protector, revealing the black markings on his forehead.
"What if I've already solved the Caged Bird?"
Danzo's pupils shrank.
He abruptly raised his hand.
Several figures appeared instantly, forming a barrier around the two of them.
"Do you understand what you're saying?" Danzo demanded coldly.
He had always wanted to solve the Caged Bird Seal.
Who wouldn't want a Hyuga shinobi with unparalleled reconnaissance ability?
"Lord Danzo," Hyuga Arin said without hesitation,
"while in Amegakure, I obtained the ability to break all seals. The Caged Bird is only one of them."
If you wanted special treatment, you had to prove your worth first.
Danzo didn't understand how much control a sniper had over the battlefield, and Hyuga Arin's current combat strength didn't impress him.
But an Hyuga Arin who could break any seal—
That was completely different.
The Five Great Nations' intelligence networks and supply lines were all protected by sealing techniques.
Even though Konoha possessed Uzumaki sealing arts, breaking enemy seals was still extremely difficult.
"Prove it," Danzo said.
At his hand signal, a female shinobi entered the barrier.
She lifted her mask, exposed her mouth, and extended her tongue, revealing the characters engraved on it.
The Tongue Curse of Root.
Hyuga Arin placed his hand directly into her mouth and activated Nen Exorcism, forcibly breaking the curse.
He wasn't nearly as gentle as he'd been with himself.
The characters vanished rapidly.
He withdrew his hand and said calmly,
"The seal has been lifted"
The woman spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva.
"There was an impact on my tongue, but no serious damage. The Tongue Curse has indeed been removed."
A smile appeared on Danzo's face.
He stood up, walked over to the woman, rapidly formed seals, and slapped his hand against her mouth.
"Tongue Curse of Root."
After the curse was reapplied, the woman lowered her mask to cover her mouth again and exited the barrier.
"You're worried about the Hyuga main family," Danzo said, already understanding Hyuga Arin's motive.
"Yes."
"That's not a problem. As long as you join Root, it won't be an issue."
Danzo didn't care about the Hyuga clan in the slightest.
He could target the Uchiha—adding the Hyuga made no difference.
"Then what else do you want?"
Hyuga Arin couldn't be treated like ordinary Root members.
Since he could break seals, the Tongue Curse of Root was meaningless against him.
That meant Danzo would have to use other means to bind him.
Someone who could break seals was far too valuable to let go.
"Killing," Hyuga Arin said, the corners of his mouth lifting.
"Anyone. As long as they're a shinobi, I want to kill them."
To him, shinobi were monsters—experience points waiting to be harvested.
Non-shinobi were just NPCs. He had no interest in them.
"Even me?" Danzo narrowed his eyes, killing intent erupting from his body and pressing down on Hyuga Arin.
Hyuga Arin's body trembled. He tried to move his hands.
He could still move—but only barely.
At this moment, Danzo was at the peak of Konoha's power.
Even the current Tsunade trio couldn't compare.
Alongside Hiruzen Sarutobi, Danzo was one of Konoha's two pillars.
Hyuga Arin bared his teeth in a grin.
"Yes."
Danzo's killing intent surged again—this time so overwhelming that Hyuga Arin was completely immobilized.
Yet he had no intention of taking back his words.
The killing intent came swiftly—and vanished just as fast.
Danzo smiled.
"You are the most suitable person for Root."
A shinobi born with killing intent like this—
in both ability and temperament—was exactly what Root needed.
Hyuga Arin had long planned to join Root.
Because in all of Konoha, only Root was allowed to kill its own people.
Uchiha Sharingan.
Nara Shadow Possession.
Akimichi Expansion Jutsu.
All of these required killing Konoha shinobi to obtain.
Joining Root was inevitable.
"Then, Lord Danzo," Hyuga Arin asked calmly,
"may I participate in the war in the Land of Rain?"
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