area51novel Chapter 19 Mito Uzumaki's Thoughts, Root C
Chapter 19 Mito Uzumaki's Thoughts, Root C
In the main hall of the Senju family home, Mito Uzumaki sat on a wooden chair, quietly waiting for her granddaughter to return.
Approaching seventy, she has experienced too much—the destruction of the Land of Whirlpools, the disbandment of the Senju clan, the death of her husband Hashirama Senju, the sacrifice of her son, and the early death of her grandson Nawaki…
She had long since become indifferent to many things.
She loved this village deeply because it was the place that her loved ones had built and protected.
Because of this love, she was willing to become the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki; and because of this love, she persevered through the harshness of life.
The Uzumaki clan is known for its longevity, but she was already mentally and physically exhausted, and looked very old.
Her once fiery red hair has faded, and wrinkles have crept all over her face.
She even looked forward to the end of her life—that way, she could see the lover she had longed for.
But there are still people and things in this world that I can't let go of:
First, there was her last clansman, the next Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, Kushina.
Secondly, she is the last descendant of the Senju main family, Tsunade.
When Tsunade returned home, she was no longer as flamboyant as when she was drinking. Instead, she acted like a child who was afraid of being scolded by her parents for coming home late, tiptoeing and sneaking around.
Unfortunately, these little tricks were completely useless.
Mito Uzumaki possesses the Kagura Mind's Eye of the Uzumaki clan. After closing her eyes and opening her Mind's Eye, she can sense chakra anomalies within a radius of tens of kilometers.
It's more than enough to cover the entire Hidden Leaf Village.
Having become familiar with Tsunade's chakra characteristics, her location and movements were completely under control.
If it weren't for the fact that many of Konoha's secret bases and clan residences had barriers to block perception, there would be almost no secrets in the village that could be hidden from her senses.
"You're back, Tsunade."
Seeing her granddaughter acting as furtively as she did when she was little, Mito Uzumaki almost laughed.
"Ah, Grandma, you're still awake?" Tsunade exclaimed in surprise.
"Who goes to bed so early?" Mito Uzumaki retorted irritably. "Come sit down. You reek of alcohol. Have some soup to warm your stomach."
"Haha, I only drank a little bit." Tsunade sat down next to her grandmother and slowly drank the warm kudzu root and mung bean soup.
"I haven't seen you this happy in a long time," Mito Uzumaki said. "What's that young man's name?"
"Star Source Qian Shuo," Tsunade replied casually.
"He seems nice; his chakra is gentle and calm, but his strength is a bit lacking," Mito Uzumaki continued. "When are you bringing him home to meet us?"
Chakra is the fusion of physical and spiritual energy; each person has different characteristics, which also reflect their spiritual qualities.
Kagura's Mind's Eye can sense whether someone is lying by sensing chakra, and it can also sense a person's basic personality and mentality.
"My strength is indeed not very good." Tsunade replied absentmindedly, completely unaware of the deeper meaning in her grandmother's words.
"Grandma is getting old and may join your grandpa and dad at any time. You're the only one left in the Senju family, and I'm always worried about your future... I'll feel more at ease if someone is with you," Mito Uzumaki said earnestly.
Even the most insightful elderly person can be prone to nagging when faced with matters they care about.
What she fears most is that her granddaughter will remain trapped in painful memories and unable to move on.
"Huh? Eh—?" Grandma's words instantly sobered Tsunade up. Something about what she said didn't sound right.
"Grandma, are you mistaken? Me and Xingyuan Qianshuo? How could that be! He's only nineteen." She hurriedly clarified.
"What about Jiraiya? He's alright in terms of strength, but his looks are a bit lacking." Mito Uzumaki brought up Jiraiya again.
"Jiraiya!?" Tsunade was startled and quickly put down the hangover soup. "Uh, Grandma, you should rest first. I'm a little dizzy. I'm going back to my room to sleep."
……
Leaving aside the mundane nagging from her grandmother after Tsunade returned home, Hoshino Chisaku was strolling home, slowly sobering up along the way.
After a busy day, I feel quite relaxed at this moment.
Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned, and the shadows in this world continue to spread.
Xingyuan Qianshuo's home is far from the core area of the village, and there are no neighbors within a few hundred meters. Therefore, he set up some warning traps in the open woods.
Every time he comes home, he makes it a habit to check.
These traps, though harmless, serve as a warning.
Sensing that a trap had been triggered, Xingyuan Qianshuo calmly gathered his chakra to his nose and activated "Sensitive Sense of Smell," instantly enhancing his sense of smell to tens of thousands of times that of an ordinary person.
"One person, thirty meters to the left of the house, behind a tree." He used his newly acquired ability to confirm the number and location of the other party. "A spy? Or a ninja who strayed in?"
Although he was alone, he did not choose to launch a sneak attack.
Since the other party has already hidden, they must have noticed his return and are now on high alert, so a sneak attack would not be very effective.
Besides, he's currently just a medical ninja who's "not good at fighting," so there's no point in him attacking blindly.
He has a trump card up his sleeve; if he really wants to make a move, he should strike only after the opponent has made their move.
He was confident he could handle anyone who wasn't an elite Jonin.
"Come out, you've been exposed." Hoshino Senju slowly pulled out a kunai and shouted towards the direction behind the tree.
"Very good vigilance." The enemy behind the tree paused for a moment, making sure he had been discovered, before stepping out.
It was a ninja wearing a painted mask and carrying a short sword, clearly not taking Hoshino Sensaku's fighting stance seriously.
"The Dark Division?" Xingyuan Qianshuo's mind raced, choosing the more appropriate question between "Dark Division" and "Root".
"Hikaru Hoshino became a genin at age 9 and a medical chunin at age 13, and has been a member of the medical department for 6 years. Recently, he has shown his medical talent, and has learned the A-rank palm technique and the B-rank micro-disease extraction technique."
The other party did not answer, but simply recited his information in a cold, emotionless tone, attempting to exert psychological pressure.
"The information is correct. However, I don't need you to provide my resume. What does the Dark Side want with me?"
"Provide me with information about the medical specialty classes every week from now on."
"The Anbu is a unit directly under the Hokage, and the Medical Specialty Class was approved by the Third Hokage. Why would you come to me for information? So... you're a spy?" Hoshino Chisaku continued to play dumb.
"Hmph, I am 'Root' led by Lord Danzo." The other party snorted coldly, his indifferent tone revealing a hint of arrogance.
"Never heard of it. How can you prove that you are a legitimate member of Konoha's organization and not a spy from another village impersonating Lord Danzo?" Hoshino Senju "reasonably" demanded that the other party prove his identity.
"Shingen Chisaku, stop making trouble. Root has the right to investigate any suspicious persons," the Root ninja threatened impatiently.
Seeing that the other party had begun to threaten, Xingyuan Qianshuo also said seriously:
"The medical specialty class was approved by the Third Hokage and overseen by Tsunade. As a Konoha ninja, obeying superiors and remaining loyal to the Hokage is my duty. How dare you threaten me into violating the basic code of conduct for a ninja?"
"You...!" The Root ninja was surprised that this ordinary medical chunin dared to refuse Root's orders so sternly, and he wanted to teach the other party a lesson.
However, since the other party mentioned the names of the Hokage and Tsunade, they were afraid that taking action would cause trouble for Lord Danzo.
His actions this time were indeed not carried out under the direct orders of Lord Danzo.
His codename in "Root" was "C", and he was responsible for overseeing the medical ninjas who cooperated with Orochimaru.
After reviewing the Root medical personnel, Danzo Shimura was dissatisfied with the manpower trained by Orochimaru and ordered Hei to train a group of Root's own medical ninjas.
After two days of investigation, he discovered that the source of everything was Xingyuan Qianshuo, who was now actually in charge of training for the Konoha Medical Specialty Class.
Intelligence indicates that Hoshino Senju is just an ordinary medical ninja, of commoner origin, orphaned, and with no background whatsoever.
Bing naturally assumed that he could easily obtain information about the trainees from him and then select suitable medical talents for "root" to recruit.
After a moment of internal struggle, Bing loosened his grip on the sword and said fiercely, "Xingyuan Qianshuo, I'll be keeping a close eye on you. Don't do anything to harm Konoha, or 'Root' will never let you off the hook."
After uttering those harsh words, Bing vanished in an instant.
"What the hell? I thought we were going to have a fight. What a joke. Are you a clown sent by Danzo?" Sensing the other party's departure, Hoshino Sensaku reluctantly put away his kunai, inwardly mocking.
"So Root has already targeted us? Was it really Danzo who sent them? I haven't done anything outrageous... Oh well, I'll report this to Tsunade tomorrow. I need to give her something to do so she won't keep overthinking things."