Chapter 73: A Lesson from Root
At Training Ground 6, the air by the lake hummed with the distinct energies of three young shinobi. Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru were deep in their respective training regimens.
Orochimaru stood apart, his hands weaving through a series of complex signs as gusts of wind sliced through the air around him—a focused practice of his Wind Release. Nearby, Tsunade channeled chakra into her fists, each light tap on the earth leaving a spiderweb of cracks, a proof of her budding mastery of the Senju clan's legendary Monstrous Strength.
Jiraiya, meanwhile, was just trying not to drown.
At this point in his life, his true potential remained deeply buried. Compared to the two prodigies on his team, he was a definitive underachiever. Both Tsunade and Orochimaru had mastered the art of water-walking ages ago, but he alone still couldn't get the hang of it.
It was more than just floating. The exercise demanded a constant, precise output of chakra from the soles of the feet, creating a delicate adhesive force that allowed one to stand on the water's surface as if it were solid ground. Having already conquered tree-climbing, Jiraiya had assumed this would be a simple next step. He couldn't have been more wrong.
Every time he took a step, the water would give way, and he'd plunge into the lake with a frustrated splash. If he managed to stand still, his body would be ramrod straight with tension, a posture completely useless for actual combat. An enemy on the water wouldn't politely wait for him to find his balance.
After yet another failure, he hauled himself out of the lake, dripping and dejected on the shore.
Tsunade, who had been watching from the corner of her eye, recalled the suspicious, white-haired figure she'd spotted near the women's hot springs the day before. Any shred of comfort she might have offered curdled into sharp-tongued mockery.
"Still haven't learned something as simple as water-walking, idiot Jiraiya?" she called out, a smirk playing on her lips. "If we ever fight on water, I guess you'll just have to hide behind me and Orochimaru."
Stung by the jab from the girl he admired, Jiraiya shot back defensively, "I've already mastered it, okay?! If Orochimaru wasn't over there kicking up wind and distracting me, there's no way I would've fallen!"
Orochimaru, who had been completely absorbed in his own practice, paused. His narrow, golden eyes flickered toward Jiraiya with disdain before he spat out a single, cutting word. "Idiot."
Jiraiya's face flushed. "Who are you calling an idiot?! If you're so tough, let's fight!"
"You can't beat me," Orochimaru stated, his tone flat and dismissive. "Fighting you would be a waste of my time."
He had no patience for such pointless squabbles. Turning his back on Jiraiya, he walked to the shade of a nearby tree and retrieved a notebook from his ninja pouch. It was filled not with jutsu theory, but with advanced mathematics problems.
"What do you mean, a waste of time?" Jiraiya fumed, circling Orochimaru like a cat with its fur on end. "You're just scared, Orochimaru! Scared you can't beat me!"
Tsunade watched them, utterly speechless. 'Instead of wasting his breath shouting, he could be practicing,'she thought with a sigh.'What an absolute moron.'
Just then, a familiar figure appeared on the grassy clearing. The three of them immediately ceased their bickering and gathered around their teacher.
"Sarutobi-sensei!" Jiraiya bounced around him, his earlier frustration forgotten. "You said we could graduate! Is it true? I don't want to spend another day in that boring academy!"
Tsunade was just as eager, her eyes shining. "Sensei, you said we'd start doing missions tomorrow. You weren't lying, were you?"
Only Orochimaru remained composed, his gaze quietly intense. He was like a sponge, insatiably absorbing all forms of knowledge from the world around him.
"That's right," Hiruzen Sarutobi said with a warm smile. "Given your excellent performance, Lord Hokage has granted special permission for the three of you to graduate ahead of schedule. Also, a new teammate will be joining your squad, starting today."
He gestured behind him. From the shadows of the woods, a figure emerged. It was Stelle, wearing the shell of her Uchiha Kou persona.
Indeed, Stelle had come in person. Since her clone had been delivered right to her doorstep, she wasn't about to be polite. What was the point of sitting in the Hokage Building grading documents all day? She had swapped places with her clone last night. The clone had cursed her out quite foully as it left; if she could have collected her own emotional value, she probably would have hit the jackpot.
The three young shinobi stared curiously at the newcomer. She looked to be their age, but she was a complete stranger, someone they had never seen in the Academy.
Hiruzen had his three students introduce themselves first, then turned expectantly to Stelle.
"Kou," she said. The single word hung in the air, followed by an unnerving silence.
A headache was already forming behind Hiruzen's eyes. "Don't use a code name," he reminded her gently. "Tell them your name, your hobbies, your dreams... This is the first step for comrades to understand one another."
Stelle stood ramrod straight, her expression a perfect blank, her voice utterly devoid of inflection. "From the moment I joined Root, everything from my past became irrelevant. My entire being has been dedicated to Root. My name is Kou."
'Root?'the three of them wondered in unison.'What kind of department is that?'
"I have no so-called hobbies," Kou continued, her deadpan delivery unwavering. "If I must provide an answer, it would be to complete every mission assigned to me by Lord Danzo. As for my dream for the future..." Her gaze flickered to Hiruzen. "I hope to return to that era governed by the Sandaime and Lord Danzo—Mmph!"
Hiruzen lunged forward and clamped a hand over her mouth, the corner of his own twitching violently.
Fine. This was his mistake. He never should have made her do a damned self-introduction. He had explicitly ordered her not to mention anything about the other world, but because he was the one who asked, it triggered the persona's core programming: Kou cannot refuse an order from the Sandaime or Danzo.
This was going to be a problem. He would have to watch every word he said around her.
Hiruzen only felt a sliver of ease after dragging her into the bushes for another thorough, whispered lecture. When he returned, he faced the confused and curious expressions of his three students and offered a strained explanation.
"Her name is Uchiha Kou. Due to... certain circumstances, she was captured by the enemy and placed under a very severe genjutsu. Her memory is damaged, her thoughts are muddled, and she has some... gaps in her common sense. She might say things you find beyond understanding. Just... get used to it."
The unspoken message was clear: This person is mentally unstable. Look out for her.
"Get to know each other," Hiruzen finished, already backing away. "You'll start performing missions together tomorrow."
After their sensei vanished, the three genin took the initiative to approach their new teammate.
Jiraiya, ever the enthusiast, was first. "Hey, hey! Why does a cute girl like you have a weird code name like Kou?"
Orochimaru went straight for the information he craved. "Where is Root? Why have I never heard of such a department in Konoha?"
"You mentioned the Sandaime," Tsunade added, her brow furrowed. "Are you an elite shinobi personally trained by Grandpa Tobirama?"
Freshly lectured by Hiruzen, Stelle knew she couldn't answer any of those questions. So, she kept her mouth sealed shut, offering no reaction at all. She stood there with a cold, distant expression, a perfect portrait of someone who refused to communicate.
Who could stand such arrogance? Even Tsunade, who had initially been pleased to have another girl on the team to hang out with, found her patience wearing thin. Frustrated, the three of them gave up and returned to their own training.
After another spectacular failure that sent him splashing into the lake, the naturally friendly Jiraiya couldn't help himself. He turned to the silent figure on the shore. "Kou, do you know how to water-walk?"
He was about to explain what constituted a successful attempt, but before he could, Stelle had already walked to the center of the pond, her feet resting on the surface as if it were solid earth.
"Yes," she replied. According to her persona's rules, this was something she was allowed to say.
Jiraiya's jaw dropped. "Then... how long did it take you to learn?"
"Ten minutes."
"How is that possible?!"
This time, it wasn't just Jiraiya. Both Tsunade and Orochimaru stopped what they were doing and stared at Kou, undisguised shock on their faces. Tsunade, in particular, was stunned. She was naturally gifted with careful chakra control and had mastered tree-climbing on her first try, but even she had needed a full half-hour to get the feel for water-walking.
Desperate, Jiraiya's face flushed a bright red. "Then how did you learn it? Is there some kind of trick?"
Compared to asking his rival, Orochimaru, or the girl he was trying to impress, he felt much more comfortable asking this strange new teammate.
"Is that an order?" Stelle asked, her question bizarrely out of place.
"Yeah, yeah, it's an order! Hurry up and answer!" Jiraiya waved his hand dismissively, not sensing anything amiss and taking it as a strange joke between new friends.
'Jiraiya, you're really making this too easy for me,'Stelle praised him silently.'In that case, allow me to spin a tale just for you.'
Welcome to the dark world of adults, brats.
"It was during an ordinary Root training session," she began, her voice a chilling monotone. "The captain required everyone to find an opponent and complete a duel in the water. Only the survivor was permitted to come ashore. The rest would die. It was only after entering the water that my opponent and I discovered the pool was teeming with razor-finned carp."
She paused, letting the image sink in.
"We had to not only evade the attacks of the flesh-eating fish but also kill the other person as quickly as possible. Otherwise, we would both be bitten to death. At that moment, I realized that if I could master the water-walking technique the instructor had taught us that morning, my chances of survival would be much higher. So, in the time that followed, I did nothing but focus my chakra on my feet, over and over."
"Finally, just as my opponent's hand reached for my heart, I leaped up from the bottom of the pool and stood on the surface, beyond the reach of the frenzied fish. I leaned down and drove a kunai into his head. I twisted it, forcefully. That was when I learned water-walking."
She remained expressionless, her voice devoid of any warmth, as if she were recounting someone else's story.
But it was precisely that detached tone that made it so much more terrifying. Under the bright, warm sun, the three recent graduates felt a deep shudder wrack their bodies.
Even Orochimaru, the future mad scientist, felt an icy chill crawl down his spine.
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