Walking down the dark and damp wooden stairway, the intersection at both ends is engulfed in heavy darkness.

This corridor hovers above the bottomless abyss, and below it is a bottomless darkness.

And this corridor is just one of the countless criss-crossing corridors.

Orochimaru walked calmly into the darkness of the hallway, and it was only at the end that he pushed open a door and walked inside.

In the room, there are already people waiting here for his arrival.

"Tuanzang, what's the matter with coming to me at this time?"

Orochimaru asked the person sitting in the room.

Nominally, he is a new member of the 'root' and exists as Danzo's deputy, but in reality, he is the nail that the teacher Sarutobi slashes into the 'root'.

It is used to monitor and limit some of the excesses of the group.

Therefore, he joins the Root, without being restricted in freedom, nor being planted with a curse, and his name is retained, and he does not live as a machine like the members of the Root.

"You take a look at this first."

Danzou didn't care about Orochimaru's way of referring to himself as an equal, and in fact, he didn't have the ability to force Orochimaru to do something that the other party didn't like.

Danzo, who was sitting there, threw a document on the table in front of Orochimaru.

Orochimaru sat down, glanced at Danzang suspiciously, and couldn't see what the other party wanted to do, so he withdrew his gaze, picked up the document on the desktop, and opened it

Just seeing the name of the plan on the paper, Orochimaru's face changed slightly.

-- Mu Dun cultivation plan.

"This is a new research project recently established in the village, with the aim of cultivating ninjas who can inherit the same path as the first Lord. I would like your assistance. ”

Danzo's voice was low, as he carefully observed Orochimaru's changing expression.

"Is it to deal with tailed beasts?"

Orochimaru regained his composure and quickly understood the intention.

Mu Dun, like the Writing Wheel Eye, has the ability to restrain the tailed beast.

But since the death of the first Hokage, Mu Dun has been extinct in the ninja world, and there has not been a second Mu Dun ninja so far.

The Sharingan has been handed down very well, but that is the exclusive ability of the Uchiha clan.

And Danzo, the leader of the 'root', is the most serious rejection of the entire Uchiha clan.

In the case of not being able to control the Sharingan, cultivating the Wood Escape Ninja is also a way out, and it is easier to control in the hands.

"It's not all for the tailed beasts, it's also to deter some ninjas with bad intentions in the village. To do this, we must use the power of Mu Dun. ”

Danzou also secretly stated that he had not yet let his guard down against the Uchiha clan, and when necessary, he would take some extreme measures to limit the growth of this ninja clan.

"Really? What an interesting plan. ”

Orochimaru had a smile on his face, his voice was magnetic and hoarse.

"The last ninja war in the village sacrificed a lot of excellent ninjas, and the next ninja war doesn't know when it will come, and this is also for the sake of the village's future. The power of Mu Dun, which calms the troubled times, will become a blade sharper than the white fangs. ”

"I see."

The death of Shuo Mao really broke Konoha and the White Fang, who was responsible for the destruction behind enemy lines in the war, was a huge threat to all countries that should not be underestimated.

Now there is a need for a sharp weapon that can replace Konoha White Fang, which can be used to deter the nations and stabilize Konoha's defenses.

"Does she know about this?"

If you want to cultivate a wooden ninja, you must use the remains of the original Hokage and extract the necessary cellular energy from the remains.

This kind of desecration of the remains of the sages, with the character of Tsunade, is absolutely impossible to agree to, and will even make a big fuss at the high-level meeting.

Especially since this is the body of his grandfather.

"Of course it's impossible to let her know. If she had known, it would have been very troublesome. ”

Tuanzang's face remained unchanged, not knowing what he was thinking.

"In other words, Mr. Ape Fei has acquiesced to this plan, right?"

Orochimaru groaned.

If it weren't for Ri Shu's acquiescence, he didn't believe that Tuan Zang had the courage to touch Mu Dun with his hand.

What's more, the power of the roots alone is not enough to study the power of Mu Dun.

"You can understand so quickly, you really deserve to be the most talented ninja of the three ninjas. Your mind and knowledge, as well as your understanding of ninjutsu, are a very powerful impetus for this project. ”

Danzou did not hesitate to express his appreciation for Orochimaru's talent.

"It seems that Mr. Ape Fei arranged me into the roots, not just so that I could spy on you. I understood that since it was good for the village, I would do it. ”

The second-generation Hokage Senjutsu, whom he admires the most, is based on human experiments, which has developed so many forbidden arts, opened up many schools of ninjutsu, and has benefited many Konoha ninjas to this day.

In this village, there are indeed many things that cannot be seen in the light.

And most of these secrets that can't see the light have roots behind the scenes.

The executor of Konoha darkness.

"Where do I find the 'material'?"

"Don't worry about this, volunteers have been screened from the village in advance, and the experiment will be carried out in cooperation when the time comes."

"Then I don't have to worry about it."

Orochimaru nodded, indicating understanding.

"Let's start the experiment next week, I need to check the information first and get ready."

After Orochimaru said this, he took the plan and left the root conference room.

Walking out of the conference room, Orochimaru looked at the dark-eroded road ahead, then glanced down at the Mu Dun plan brought out of the conference room, and muttered to himself:

"Mu Dun...... I wonder how many people will die this time......"

Life is too fragile and too cheap.

After sighing, looking up at the front, Orochimaru did not hesitate to step forward into the darkness.

◎

October.

The weather is getting colder.

In the middle of the forest, a group of four people ran among them.

"Hey, Kakashi, slow down!"

A Konoha ninja wearing a shinobi uniform shouted at Kakashi, who was running at the front.

I hope he will listen to him.

Kakashi just glanced back, and the middle shinobi teammate who was shouting at him was carrying a wounded ninja on his back, panting, obviously dragged down by the wounded man behind.

Kakashi stopped and said indifferently, "Just throw him away, and the three of us will continue to complete the mission." ”

"W-What? What did you say? ”

Nakashino looked at Kakashi with a childish face in disbelief.

I didn't expect to hear such words from Kakashi's mouth.

Although he spoke excessively before, this time it really touched the bottom limit of this middle ninja.

"It's the rule of ninjas to complete tasks, and ninjas are just tools to complete tasks. Since it's a burden, it can't form combat effectiveness, and it will only drag down the three of us, so leave it alone and just throw him here. Or...... Kill him. ”

Kakashi took out a kunai and threw it at Nakashinobi's feet, telling him to make a decision.

His father, Shuo Mao, chose a companion during the mission, so he was slandered by rumors, and the suicide proved that his father was weak and vulnerable.

So, what he has to do now is the path of choosing a mission.

A companion who has been seriously injured in a mission, unable to provide combat, and even a drag on his teammates, abandons it early and chooses the mission, which is what Kakashi now thinks is the right path.

"You guy, do you know what you're talking about? You're also a Konoha ninja, how can you say such a thing? ”

Nakashinobu reacted and yelled angrily.

"Are you really a ninja? With such a naïve thought, you might as well go back to the ninja school and repeat it. Don't forget, completing missions is the path that ninjas should really choose. ”

Kakashi's eyes stared coldly at the shinobi.

"You little ghost!"

Nakashinobu was already gritting his teeth.

Kakashi just looked at him indifferently, didn't answer, turned around, and walked forward alone with the white fanged dagger on his back.

"Captain, look at that guy to say such a thing! It's so infuriating! What a genius! ”

Nakato said dissatisfied.

"Okay, Kakashi doesn't have any ill intentions either, it's important to complete the mission."

Captain Shinobi shook his head helplessly, theoretically, Kakashi's suggestion was indeed the best choice.

But he gave up his companion's life so easily, and he couldn't go with it in his heart.

"Captain, when you go back, replace Kakashi. This kind of guy is just a black sheep in our squad. ”

Nakashinobu was still indignant.

"I'll mention it to Hokage-sama."

"Captain, you've mentioned it to Hokage-sama many times, but Kakashi just won't change, he's really not suitable for our squad to develop. Give him up, this kind of person is not suitable to be a companion. ”

Zhongnin said helplessly.

The captain of the upper ninja was silent, and under the pleading eyes of this middle ninja, he finally hesitated for a moment and nodded.

"Alright, when I get back, I'll apply to Hokage-sama for an order to transfer Kakashi to another team."

"Hurry up, I don't feel safe at all with this kind of guy."

Carrying the wounded on his back, Kakashi's indifferent and ruthless attitude towards his teammates really made him endure it to the extreme.

Even if it is an ordinary strength of the lower ninja, it is better than this kind of ruthless genius middle ninja.

◎

Appointment.

Sitting in the office, Hiza looked at the appointment application made by a certain shinobi in his hand, and had a headache for a while.

Hoping to transfer Kakashi to another team, Kakashi couldn't coordinate his teammates and didn't know how to work as a team, which caused discord between his colleagues many times.

After reading the appointment application, Hinata took out the appointment application form in a similar format from the drawer, and without exception, the applications were all from the team that Kakashi used to work in.

But every time he didn't stay long, there was a squad in it, Kakashi only stayed for a few days, and he was eliminated from the team by leading the Kamishinobi, thinking that his own team would drag down such a genius Shinobi, and hoped that Kakashi would develop in other Kamishinobi squads.

This is already the fourth time...... Or the fifth?

Just then, there was a knock on the office door.

Hizai shouted outside, "Come in." ”

Konoha Shinobi, who was knocking on the door outside, walked in and saluted respectfully to Hichichi, "Hokage-sama." ”

Hinata put Kakashi's information in front of him, and the shinobu consciously stepped forward to pick it up and read it.

"Well, what do you think of Kakashi?"

"Genius."

This name Shinobi only has two words of evaluation.

"I remember that one of your teammates died in your squad, and I wanted Kakashi to be on your squad. What do you think? ”

After the Japanese slash finished speaking, the face of the shinobi immediately changed, and then he calmed down and said: "Hokage-sama, my strength is not enough to teach such a genius, and arranging him into my team will only bury this kind of genius, so you better let him enter another team to develop." ”

Kakashi's daimyo he knew.

Especially recently, among the ninja who led the team, there was some news that was unfavorable to Kakashi.

Naturally, he had heard of such things.

While it was true that his squad needed to be replenished, if Kakashi had been to add it, it would have torn the entire squad apart, let alone teamwork.

The day slash didn't force it, so let this name endure it.

Then,Another upper shinobi came in.,Hi-slash also asked this question.,This upper ninja's face also changed slightly and politely refused.,Said that he was incompetent and couldn't teach such a talented genius shinobi.,I hope that Hizashi, the Hokage, will ask for another master.。

Next, the Shangnin who came to the order of the Japanese slash was almost a euphemism.

They were very unanimous, saying that they had no chance of being a genius like Kakashi, and that they were not capable of teaching this kind of ninja who graduated at the youngest age in Konoha history and became a ninja.

Obviously, they may have exchanged some opinions with each other, and they are unwilling to accept this kind of person who destroys teamwork, even if it is a genius, they are unequivocally pushed out of the door.

"Hokage-sama, I'm willing to accept Kakashi, but if he doesn't obey the order and disrupts teamwork, I'll remove him from the team."

It wasn't until the twenty-first shinobi came that he finally found Konoha Kamishinobu who was willing to accept Kakashi.

But the other side put forward such a precondition.

If Kakashi obeys orders and doesn't spoil the relationship between the team, he is willing to accept such a genius shinobi and join his team on a mission together.

Hizashi smiled and said, "Don't worry, Kakashi will follow the orders of your Shinobi." ”

The Konoha smiled bitterly.

Of course, he knew that Kakashi would follow his own Shinobi's orders.

In fact, the rest of the Shinobi were not excluded because Kakashi didn't follow orders, but Kakashi always ruined the team relationship and caused the relationship between colleagues to deteriorate, which is the reason why many Kamishinobi are reluctant to accept such a genius.

And for a shinobi, maintaining a good team relationship is a very crucial part.

Kakashi broke this agreement, and naturally he was not welcomed.

"I also hope that he can keep to his feet in my squad."

Kakashi wasn't expected to contribute much in the squad, as long as he didn't ruin the team, thank goodness.

After hearing this, he had no choice but to nod helplessly and agree to the request of this Shangnin.

"To be honest, Hokage-sama, I don't think Kakashi is suitable for missions in a regular squad, he is better suited for the shadows and roots."

Before leaving, this Shinobi said a heartfelt word.

Hizai was considering the advice of this Shangnin, and the dark side aside, the power of the root has been growing over the years.

If Kakashi is arranged in the roots, it will be equivalent to giving Danzo a sharp weapon.

In this kind of thing, the sun is clear.

You can rely on the roots of the group, but the premise is that the strength of the roots will not exceed your expectations.

And Kakashi's talent is just too good.

He entered school at the age of four, graduated at the age of five, and was a shinobi at the age of six, even if he became a shinobi at the age of ten, Hinashi would not be too surprised.

Such a sharp weapon must not fall into the hands of Tuan Zang and strengthen the power of the roots.

As for joining the Shadows...... While Kakashi's talent is indeed terrifying, it's not yet at the lowest level of the shadows.

Moreover, the dark part is not an educational institution, and there will be no one to teach Kakashi how to fight and practice ninjutsu, which is not conducive to Kakashi's growth at this stage.

But...... The regular shinobi squad repels Kakashi and is unwilling to accept him.

That's exactly what Hizaki is worried about.

Regular squads do not accept.

The shadows are not eligible.

The roots can not give.

Do you want him to be the captain? It is estimated that teammates will soon die in the middle of the mission.

Kakashi, who is mission-oriented, is definitely capable of doing this kind of thing now.

There has never been a middle ninja who has given the day a headache like this, and I don't know where to arrange, so I can only do it like this first, and observe it for a while.

◎

Konoha Village, in the Maruko shop.

Shiraishi invites Kakashi to eat meatballs here.

"Kakashi, it's really rare to see you right now, how are you doing? I've heard that you seem to have been at odds with your colleagues lately. ”

Shiraishi held a string of balls in his hand, took a light bite, and smiled at Kakashi, who was sitting opposite.

On Kakashi's body, Shiraishi felt a very cold and numb aura, and his eyes lost their due brightness.

How to say it, this kind of look, Shiraishi has only seen it in the eyes of the root ninja before.

There is no name, no future, no life, and in its eyes, it seems that there is only a mission.

Like a machine, it starts to run according to a set program.

"It's okay, it's just a few more burdens in the mission."

Kakashi didn't move the ball in front of him, but said in a cold tone.

"They're your teammates, don't say that, teamwork is important in a mission."

Shiraishi sighed.

Sure enough, Shuo Mao's death was too heavy for his heart.

He was still struggling with the question of which was more important, the mission or the companion.

There is no standard answer to this question.

Kakashi in this state did make Shiraishi very worried.

"I can't cooperate with them at all, they care too much about things that don't matter, they are often disturbed by external information, and it is enough for ninjas to complete their tasks."

Kakashi said.

"Have you ever heard of the barrel principle?"

"I don't want to listen to you talk at length here, and now that you've just become a middle ninja, you're not qualified to lecture me. If you want to preach to me, wait until you become a ninja. ”

“……”

This invisibly poked Shiraishi's sore spot.

"Besides, if they can continue to fight, I will naturally help, but if they can't form a fighting force, it is natural to give up. As a ninja, completing missions is all about getting things done. When necessary, abandon my companions, and no one can say anything to me. ”

Kakashi continued to say in a cold tone.

"Do you really think so?"

"The one who chose the companion is dead. I don't want to repeat that person's mistakes. ”

“……”

There is reason and evidence, so that Shiraishi is powerless to defend.

"But your colleagues hate you, don't they?"

"It's none of your business, I'm just following the rules of a ninja."

Kakashi said.

"Really?"

Shiraishi knew that there was no way to dissuade Kakashi's thoughts, which were on the verge of collapse.

He took out a bag from his ninja bag, put it in front of Kakashi and said, "This is my special food pill, and some antidotes, you can use them." Since you've chosen the task first, protect yourself. Because if you are injured in a mission and lose the ability to fight and move, your companions will also abandon you. ”

Kakashi was slightly stunned and looked up at Shiraishi, not taking the bag on the table that stored the Bing Rations Pills and Antidote.

"What? Isn't that the path you chose for yourself? It's a completely different path from Mr. Shuomao. Now is not the time to hesitate. ”

Shiraishi calmly looked at Kakashi, smiling slightly.

Kakashi silently put the bag away and said softly, "Thank you." ”

"You're welcome, this is what I'm supposed to do, after all, I'm watching you grow up. Now that Mr. Shuomao is gone, I will take care of you with all my heart. If it really doesn't work, I'll tell Ruri that you enter her squad to carry out the mission. ”

"No need, it's too much trouble for you, I'll take care of myself."

Kakashi shook his head and rejected Shiraishi's offer.

Shiraishi didn't speak, eating the balls quietly.

"If nothing else, I'll go cultivate."

Kakashi got up from his seat and was about to be reincarnated to leave when Shiraishi's voice sounded from behind:

"Kakashi, do you think Sakumo-sensei made the wrong choice at the time?"

"Ah, so I took a different path than he did."

After saying that, without waiting for Shiraishi to speak again, Kakashi walked towards the outside of the Maruko shop with a cold expression.

When he said this, he had already denied the path taken by his father Shuomao.

A wrong path.

And what he has to take now is the path that a ninja should take.

"It seems that the psychological problem is more serious than I thought, this unpleasant little ghost. and Teacher Shuomao are completely two extremes, are the two of them really father and son? When Mr. Shuomao was in Konoha Hospital, he couldn't have been wrong, right? ”

Shiraishi watched Kakashi's figure disappear from his eyes, muttering and complaining as he ate the balls.

Although Kakashi wasn't very likable before, he would never say such slanderous words with a cold face.

But it's almost there, before he questions the will of fire.

In other words, after experiencing these things, his heart may have begun to waver.

The indifference on the face is just a strength disguised and disguised.

And what causes Kakashi's contradictory thinking is inseparable from the current Konoha environment.

A boring, twisted village.