The stench of blood and decay inside the cave mixed together, making one feel dizzy.
Teacher Minato quickly bandaged Tokuma's wound and then checked on Yakumo's condition.
After confirming that both were merely exhausted and not seriously injured, his gaze fell on the iron cages.
The people inside the cages, or rather the monsters, all stared back at them with numb, hollow eyes.
"What should we do, sensei?" Tokuma asked, his voice a bit hoarse as he held his shoulder.
These people were already beyond saving.
Their brains and bodies had undergone irreversible modifications.
"I will report this to the Lord Hokage," Minato said, his voice very low. "The ANBU will handle this place. Our current mission is to return to the village immediately."
He had made the most rational, yet most brutal, decision.
No one objected.
Everyone knew they couldn't take these people with them.
Leaving that oppressive forest and seeing the sunlight again, Yakumo was the first one who couldn't hold it back, running to the roadside to vomit.
Tokuma also had a pale face, unable to utter a single word.
Roy stood at the very back of the group, silently watching everything.
The Raiga at his waist felt a little heavier again.
Returning to Konoha was already evening, two days later.
Teacher Minato didn't let them disband but instead took them directly to the Hokage's office.
In the office, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, was waiting for them.
The process of reporting was simpler than Roy had imagined.
Teacher Minato placed the scroll confiscated from the Root ninja on the Hokage's desk.
He didn't mention "Root," nor did he mention those white masks.
His account was seamless.
"At the mission location, we discovered a secret laboratory established by rogue ninja."
"They were conducting inhumane forbidden experiments on living people."
"We encountered three enemies with strength at least at the chunin level. After engagement, two of the enemies were killed, one was wounded and escaped."
"This is the relevant intelligence obtained from the enemy."
"Considering the severity of the situation, I decided to immediately suspend the mission and return to the village to report."
Hiruzen Sarutobi picked up the scroll and examined it carefully.
His face showed no expression whatsoever.
The office was eerily quiet.
"I understand."
After a long while, Hiruzen finally spoke slowly.
"You all handled this matter well."
"Minato, you stay. The other three may go back."
"Remember." Hiruzen's gaze swept over Roy and the other two. "Everything you saw and heard here today is classified as A-level. You are not to reveal it to anyone, not a single word."
"Yes, sir!"
The three replied in unison.
Walking out of the Hokage building, night had already fallen.
Tokuma and Yakumo, both seeming lost, walked silently towards their homes.
Roy followed behind.
He knew Teacher Minato was protecting them.
By completely erasing the existence of "Root" from this mission's report.
This both protected them from being silenced by Danzo and was a silent compromise.
Even the Yellow Flash had to compromise with the darkness within the village.
This realization made Roy feel a bit cold inside.
He returned to his apartment and locked the door.
The room was pitch black; he didn't turn on the light.
He took off Raiga and placed it on the table.
Then, he sat down on the floor and began to review.
Although he had won the fight against Root, it was a fortunate victory.
If that masked man hadn't been dazed by Yakumo's genjutsu at that moment if the enemy's blade had been just zero point one seconds faster, the one who died would probably have been him.
Raiga was very strong.
A one-hit kill.
But its flaws were equally fatal.
The 1.5 second charge time was still too long.
Moreover, it had to rely on a weapon like a sword as a medium.
What if he didn't have a sword in his hand?
He'd be like a tiger without its fangs.
No.
This wouldn't do.
He couldn't stake all his bets on just this one card.
What he possessed was not just a single blade.
Deep within his soul slept two other, perhaps even greater, powers.
The Three Colors of Haki.
The Mythical Zoan, Thunder Dragon Fruit.
Previously, he hadn't dared to touch these two things easily.
Because his body was still too weak to withstand them.
Also, because he hadn't felt such a strong sense of crisis.
But now, it was different.
The appearance of Root was like a needle, sharply piercing the illusion of safety he had been maintaining.
He needed greater strength.
Strength that would allow him to stand firm on his own, without relying on any external aid.
Roy closed his eyes.
He sank his mind into the deepest parts of his body.
He began to try to sense that energy, so distinct from chakra.
Observation Haki.
His previous "Mantra" was merely a high-concentration application of spiritual power.
It was "seeing."
True Observation Haki was "listening."
It was listening to the voice of all things.
He tried to no longer direct his spiritual power outward to "see," but instead to "gather" it inward.
He blocked out his sight, hearing, smell.
He made himself like a stone.
Then, he went to "listen" to his surroundings.
He listened to the sound of wind passing through the gaps in the window. He listened to the sound of the man in the next room snoring. He listened to the sound of patrol ninjas' footsteps on the street farther away. He could hear these sounds before, too.
But now, what he heard was different.
He heard the "mood" of the wind.
The "fatigue" of the man next door.
The "vigilance" of the patrol ninja.
It was a very strange feeling.
It was as if the world had suddenly revealed a new dimension before him.
He knew this was the initial sign of Observation Haki awakening.
He was on the right track.
He then shifted his focus to Armament Haki.
Previously, when using Armament Haki, he had used chakra as a "conduit" to channel it out.
It was an indirect application.
Now, he wanted to try using it directly.
He extended the index finger of his right hand.
He recalled the feeling of controlling the furnace fire in Tessai's forge.
Absolute focus.
Absolute control.
He mobilized the domineering force within his body, not letting it surge, but using his powerful will to forcefully "squeeze" it towards his fingertip.
This process was more painful than developing Thunder Annihilation.
Without chakra as a buffer, that force was like carving out a new path through his meridians in the most brutal way.
His fingertip began to tingle slightly.
Beneath the skin, it seemed like something black was faintly flowing.
*Pfft.*
A drop of blood seeped out from his fingertip.
The meridian couldn't withstand it and ruptured.
Roy immediately stopped.
He looked at his fingertip, slightly blackened and still bleeding, but instead of frustration, a faint smile appeared on his face.
He had succeeded.
Even though he had only managed to coat the very surface of his fingertip with the thinnest layer of Armament Haki, and had injured himself in the process, this proved that this path was also feasible.
Finally, there was the most dangerous, yet most powerful force.
The Mythical Zoan, Thunder Dragon Fruit.
He had always been afraid to touch it.
Because if a Zoan fruit's power went out of control, the consequences would be dire.
He could directly transform into a mindless beast.
But now, he had to begin trying.
He didn't attempt full-body or partial transformation.
That would be too foolish.
He focused his attention on the back of his left hand.
He thought of a dragon.
Thought of those hard scales shimmering with lightning.
Cautiously, using his will, he called out to the power of the mythical beast slumbering within his bloodline.
One second.
Two seconds.
Ten seconds.
Nothing happened.
Just as he thought he had failed, the back of his left hand felt slightly itchy.
A tiny scale, the size of a fingernail, bearing faint purple electric arcs, slowly grew out from beneath his skin.
Roy stared at that dragon scale.
He could feel a tangible connection between himself and that scale.
He could even control the faint electric arcs on it, making them dance.
He had succeeded.
He had found a safe way to develop the fruit's power.
Observation Haki, Armament Haki, Devil Fruit.
Three brand-new paths to strength slowly unfurled before him.
Raiga was merely his starting point.
Not the end.