Chapter 61

It was already dawn, but the thick fog covering the deep valley prevented the sunlight from penetrating, leaving only a faint glow to scatter through the mist.

"Still no luck?"

"Sorry, Jiraiya-sensei, I haven't found anything."

Naruto, who had been accompanying Jiraiya on a mission in the southern valley of the Land of Rivers, gently shook his head in response to Jiraiya's question.

"Damn it, I never thought a mission would turn out like this."

Jiraiya punched the nearby tree, clenching his teeth in frustration.

He wasn't worried about Shikamaru, as the information for Shikamaru's mission hadn't been tampered with. The problem was with the other three, who had completely fallen into the trap set by the Root.

Since he didn't know how the Root would act, Jiraiya also had no idea how they planned to deal with Shikamaru's three subordinates.

No matter what, this was all due to his own mistake, which led to the three of them falling into this situation.

But who could have thought that the Hokage's direct subordinate ANBU would have a spy from the Root?

Jiraiya really wanted to use this opportunity to thoroughly investigate the Root.

Tampering with the Hokage's direct subordinate ANBU was no small matter.

The ANBU handled confidential missions and the Hokage's safety; there could be no room for error.

But considering his teacher Sarutobi's nature, he was a man who valued old ties, and at most, he would probably just give a verbal warning.

"Please don't be like this, Jiraiya-sensei. Maybe those three will be fine. All we can do is find them as soon as possible, whether they are alive or dead."

Naruto consoled Jiraiya.

"I know, I'm just venting. Next, we only have the cliff at the front left to search. I've been there once with Tsunade and Orochimaru; the terrain is a bit complicated. Naruto, don't stray too far from me."

"Understood."

Naruto nodded solemnly.

While he believed in his own abilities, compared to Jiraiya, a high-level jonin, he still had many immature and inexperienced aspects.

"I hope those three are okay, otherwise, the Uchiha clan..."

Jiraiya wasn't unaware of the situation in Konoha. The Uchiha clan, as the first noble family in Konoha, had an unknown number of upper-level jonin with the Sharingan. One was already troublesome, and if they united, they would easily overpower all other ninja clans except the Senju.

Compared to the conservative and gentle Hyuga, the Uchiha were a group of unruly individuals.

If they were provoked, they would do anything.

Thinking of this, Jiraiya began to curse Danzo in his heart.

◎

It was already dawn, but the fog in the deep valley was so thick that the sunlight couldn't penetrate, leaving only a faint glow to scatter through the mist.

In the pitch-black cave, only a fire was burning, dispelling the darkness and cold around it.

On the flat ground of the cave, Ruri was lying with her eyes closed, her hands tightly gripping her chest, her face contorted in pain, and her breathing weak, as if she was in mortal danger.

A powerful and violent energy, known as Senjutsu, had not completely dissipated from her body.

"How is she?"

Ayame asked worriedly.

This was the first time she had seen Ruri in such a weak state.

Her face was as pale as a corpse, and her labored breathing made it clear that she could die at any moment.

But considering the destructive power of the fire jutsu she had used, it was understandable that she would have such aftereffects.

While the fire jutsu's power wasn't comparable to the tailed beast's, it was far beyond what a regular ninja could resist.

Senjutsu, Ayame sighed.

She couldn't help but admire Ruri's boldness and feel inferior.

In that situation, fusing natural energy with chakra was incredibly difficult.

Ruri had managed to do it, though勉强, but using Senjutsu was an undeniable fact.

"It's very serious. I need to perform surgery immediately. Help me hold her down."

Shiro took out a scroll from his ninja tool bag, released the seal, and a medical kit appeared on the ground, containing all the necessary medicines and surgical instruments.

Even with his advanced medical ninjutsu, there was still a certain risk, but the longer they delayed, the more likely they would miss the optimal time for surgery.

So, he had to take the risk and perform the surgery.

"I understand."

Ayame knelt beside Ruri and firmly held her down.

Shiro took a deep breath and, under Ayame's surprised gaze, rolled up Ruri's clothes to expose her white abdomen, stopping at her chest.

Ayame's face turned red.

"Don't get distracted, just hold her down."

Shiro's calm voice echoed.

"Okay."

Ayame lowered her head, her face even redder.

Shiro ignored Ayame's wandering thoughts and placed his palm on Ruri's exposed abdomen.

Shiro closed his eyes, sensed for a moment, then opened them, his expression becoming increasingly serious.

Ruri's chakra and natural energy were extremely chaotic, especially the natural energy, which was originally calm and stable, but had become violent due to the sudden fusion with chakra, causing the Senjutsu power to run rampant in Ruri's body.

To save Ruri, he needed to extract the natural energy from her body.

However, the problem was that the natural energy and chakra were already mixed together, making the separation process dangerous.

Shiro had only conceptualized the final form of Senjutsu but had never practiced it, only hypothesized.

If it were just a matter of natural energy, Shiro could easily handle it.

Thinking of this, a bead of cold sweat trickled down Shiro's face.

This was the first time in his career that he couldn't be certain of the success rate of a surgery.

He hoped his previous experimental data and the final form of Senjutsu wouldn't differ too much.

On the other hand, the safest surgery would be to extract both the natural energy and chakra from Ruri's body, which was the simplest and most effective way to save her.

The problem was that Shiro was still in the hypothesis stage regarding whether extracting chakra from the body would cause death.

If he extracted Ruri's chakra along with the natural energy and couldn't return it, Ruri might not wake up, which would be awkward.

If this hypothesis were true, Ruri's problem would be easy to solve.

The root cause of Ruri's condition was the fusion of natural energy and chakra, leading to the Senjutsu running rampant.

By extracting both the natural energy and chakra, Ruri could be saved.

But a hypothesis was just a hypothesis, and extracting chakra from the body was too risky with the lowest success rate.

So, Shiro decided to separate the Senjutsu into natural energy and chakra, then extract the natural energy from Ruri's body.

To separate the natural energy from Ruri's body, he only needed to use the Fine Extraction Technique.

This high-level medical ninjutsu could extract harmful elements from the body without the need for surgery.

Therefore, Shiro only needed to figure out how to decompose the Senjutsu into natural energy and chakra.

Shiro took out a syringe from the medical kit.

He injected the medicine into Ruri's body.

After the injection, Ruri's condition improved significantly, though her breathing was still weak.

Seeing this, Shiro began the surgery.

During the surgery, Ruri struggled violently several times, but Ayame held her down firmly.

Despite the anesthetic, the pain was still unbearable, and groans of pain continued to escape Ruri's mouth.

Time passed, and Ruri's condition improved significantly.

Her face regained some color, and her breathing became more stable.

Shiro sighed in relief. Although he hadn't completely separated the Senjutsu chakra, most of it had been decomposed, and now he only needed to extract the natural energy from Ruri's body.

Once they returned to the camp with the proper equipment, they could completely eliminate the danger.

Shiro's palm began to glow with a deep green light as he used the Fine Extraction Technique to extract the natural energy from Ruri's body.

At that moment, the sound of footsteps outside the cave made Shiro and Ayame's faces change.

Ayame quickly activated her Byakugan to scan the area.

"Who is it? Sand ninjas?"

"No, Root ninjas."

Ayame's face was filled with anger.

If not for the Root ninjas, they wouldn't be in such a dire situation.

"Planning to be the last sparrow?"

Shiro muttered, a cold look in his eyes.

They had almost dealt with the Sand ninja pursuit team, but they hadn't expected the Root ninjas to follow them.

"They knew how to avoid your Byakugan. They are aware that your Byakugan can observe up to five kilometers. They know a lot about us."

"Everything?"

"I don't have that information, or the Hokage's direct subordinate ANBU would have contacted me."

Shiro analyzed calmly.

According to the initial information provided by Ruri, the Root, although a branch of the ANBU, was led by Konoha's high-ranking elder, Danzo.

Shiro couldn't determine their purpose.

Was it to eliminate the captain of Shikamaru's team, or were they targeting the three of them?

"What should we do now?"

Ayame was unsure. Her chakra was almost depleted, and without natural energy training, she couldn't provide much combat power.

"Go out and face them. Ruri is out of danger, and interrupting the surgery isn't a big issue."

Shiro ended the medical ninjutsu and left Ruri there.

Ayame nodded and walked out of the cave with Shiro.

Sure enough, four figures stood outside, the same Root team that had initially encountered Shiro and his companions.

They wore unsettling, cold-colored masks, their eyes cold and mechanical.

They stood in a row, unmoving, staring at Shiro and Ayame.

Just as one of them raised his hand to attack, Shiro acted first.

He didn't attack the Root ninjas but Ayame.

He pinned Ayame to the ground, her hands twisted behind her back.

"Shiro-kun!?"

Ayame was shocked. Exhausted and unable to react, she was pinned down by Shiro.

Shiro said with a resigned tone, "Can't you see the situation? I didn't expect you to be so foolish. I don't want to die with you. I want to live."

He looked up at the four Root ninjas and said to their leader, "I am a medical ninja, the least threatening and most useful to you. I am willing to join you, whether you control me with jutsu or poison. I don't want to die. Will you give me a chance?"

The leader considered it.

Indeed, as Shiro said, he was the least threatening and most useful. The Root was in dire need of medical ninjas for their forbidden human experiments.

As for whether Shiro would betray them, it wasn't a concern. Once in the Root, freedom was out of the question.

"I appreciate your self-awareness. I'll give you a chance."

The leader threw a kunai at Shiro, landing it at his feet.

"Kill the woman under you."

"Alright."

Shiro didn't hesitate. Though a moment of struggle flashed across his face, it was quickly replaced by a sinister expression.

He picked up the kunai and aimed it at Ayame's neck.

However, a shuriken flew over, knocking the kunai out of Shiro's hand.

Shiro looked at the four Root ninjas, confused. One of them had interrupted his attack.

"Your resolve is commendable, but randomly killing your village's ninja isn't good."

The leader said with false sincerity.

After all, a living body with the Byakugan bloodline, even from a branch family, was more useful than a corpse.

And with Ayame's chakra almost depleted, she was no threat.

"I understand. I don't want to bear the stigma of killing my own teammate."

The leader was very satisfied with Shiro's pragmatism.

He believed Shiro would make a good Root medical ninja.

Such a mindset would help him survive longer.

Two Root ninjas approached Shiro.

Shiro stood to the side, raising his empty hands in a cooperative and submissive manner, appearing harmless.

"I never thought you would be such a person, after all the trust Ruri and I placed in you."

One of the Root ninjas tied Ayame's hands behind her back, her eyes filled with hatred as she glared at Shiro.

"Compared to living, such things are trivial. This era is too harsh. Unlike you, I don't come from a noble family. Everything I have is through my own efforts."

Shiro didn't want to argue.

Another Root ninja approached Shiro from behind, also taking out a rope to tie Shiro's hands.

Pfft!

The Root ninja, unaware of anything, only heard the sound of a blade slicing through flesh, and his vision grew dark.

In his last moments of consciousness, he saw a headless body and hands holding a rope.

Is that my body and hands?

An illusion?

He fell into this thought, and his consciousness ended.

"What—"

Before he could react, a blade, seemingly from nowhere, pierced the heart of the Root ninja standing beside Ayame, ruthlessly stabbing through his heart.

Pulling the blade out, it was stained with blood.

At this moment, the ropes binding Ayame's hands were cut, freeing her.

Shiro, holding the blood-stained ninja blade, smiled warmly at the remaining two Root ninjas.

"How about it? My sword skills aren't bad, right? Though I can't compare to Shikamaru-sensei's, I can still surprise you all."

"You brat!"

Impossible!

His chakra should be almost depleted!

And... how could a medical ninja have such speed?

He's a medical ninja, right?

Even among jonin, not everyone could reach this level.

Is this guy the most troublesome of the three? The leader's shock was evident.

But after the shock, came anger.

Shiro's smile remained, showing no other emotions.

"Surprising, to see anger in your eyes. I heard that the Root are just machines to complete missions... machines can have emotions? But don't show that look, because my anger far surpasses yours right now."