In the binary choice between "Yes" or "No," Hyuga Yu instinctively chose "Or."
This was exactly the answer Foundation needed. To a shinobi who has dedicated themselves to the darkness, keeping a secret is far more important than the secret itself.
And so, the hooded shinobi in the trench coat and sunglasses spoke impassively.
"You have passed the evaluation."
"Hyuga Yu, you will operate as a member of the Foundation's Extraordinary Branch."
"Remember—"
"We are the 'Roots' that spread deep within the earth, supporting the great tree of Konoha from the shadows."
"As one of the 'Root,' you have no name, and no feelings. You have no past, and no future. There is only the mission in your heart."
"Foundation... Extraordinary Branch?"
Hyuga Yu looked up with a hint of surprise. Gazing at this Foundation commander with a touch of confusion, he immediately asked, "Then, what is my mission?"
Yu certainly hadn't joined the Foundation to play at being a ninja. At his age, he had already missed the prime window to be brainwashed into a traditional, "orthodox" Foundation operative.
Currently, he was more like a "mercenary," a relationship of mutual benefit with the Foundation. There were quite a few shinobi maintaining this kind of relationship with the Foundation at the moment—such as the commander before him, Aburame Ryoma; Orochimaru; and the "Walking Miko," Yakushi Nono.
He believed Aburame Ryoma knew this as well and understood exactly what Yu was seeking. Therefore, the grandstanding was kept to a minimum.
Quickly, Aburame Ryoma pulled a cyan scroll from his trench coat and tossed it casually toward Hyuga Yu.
"Next, you will assist a superior who will be your sole point of contact to execute an S-rank mission of vital importance."
"The time of departure is at your discretion, but no later than the day after tomorrow. Details of the mission are pending; the location is the Konoha Medical Corps camp on the west side of the Kusami Coast."
"Your contact is the captain of the Medical Corps' Eighth Squad, Tanuki Shigaraki."
"Failure to report within one week will be considered desertion and treason against the village."
"That is all."
As soon as he finished speaking, Aburame Ryoma's figure vanished instantly into the darkness.
The fluorescent lights on the ceiling sizzled and flickered a few times. Then—
Click!
The circuit was restored. The lights in the apartment surged back to life, and the small refrigerator in the corner began to hum. It was as if everything that had just happened was merely Yu's hallucination.
However, he looked down at the cyan scroll that had appeared in his hand, lost in thought.
Unrolling the scroll, a line of handwritten cursive caught his eye:
Wind Style: Vacuum Blade!
It was precisely the Wind Style jutsu Yu needed—the final piece to establish the foundation of his combat system.
Yet, Yu did not immediately begin studying the scroll. Instead, he sat where he was and began to reflect.
Yu's demands from the Foundation were twofold:
The Wind Style ninjutsu mastered by Danzo Shimura.
A transfer order that could bypass the arrangements of the Hyuga Head House, allowing him to choose his own timing to head to the battlefield.
The Foundation's response had perfectly resolved both points, albeit in a way Yu hadn't quite expected—the "Extraordinary Branch."
One could see the nature of it from Ryoma's briefing: no official documents, no mission scroll, no token of identification. Even the instructions were delivered verbally. This meant no paper trail and no archives—nothing that could be used as evidence against them.
On the surface, Yu had spent one million Ryo to pull strings and join the Foundation, yet he remained an outsider to it. This was exceptionally dangerous.
However, the Foundation's attitude was intriguing.
On one hand, they didn't view Yu as a person at all. Even though Yu had "sincerely" approached them, they treated him as little more than a disposable piece of cannon fodder.
But on the other hand, the commander who conducted the interview, Aburame Ryoma, had used this "evaluation" to subtly hint at something—
Since Hyuga Yu was already embroiled in events and trapped in a dangerous situation from which he could not easily withdraw, the only way to change that situation was to do the opposite: get closer to the Foundation. Move toward its core.
From this perspective, did "factions" exist even within the Foundation?
Thinking of this, Yu smiled slightly. It seemed his experiences as a corporate slave in his previous life weren't entirely useless.
But Yu quickly pushed these schemes to the back of his mind.
If factions truly existed within the Foundation, they certainly weren't Danzo Shimura's faction. After all, the Foundation today was less an organization and more Danzo's private army. Since Danzo's will was synonymous with the Foundation's will, any smaller "faction" wishing to change the status quo would inevitably continue to secretly contact and recruit shinobi like him who possessed a certain "value."
Yu didn't feel smug about having a bit of "value."
He knew very well that his value was granted by these eyes he was born with. If he were worthless without them, then the day the weight on the other side of the scale exceeded his eyes would be the day of his death.
In the shinobi world, the final word always belongs to the strongest fist!
Driven by this clear and intense thought, Yu unfurled the cyan scroll and began to read with a thirst for knowledge.
During wartime, Konoha under the cover of night resembled a silent, giant beast. The spies hidden within the village were like lice clinging to that beast, constantly sucking its blood.
One by one, spies used the convenience of the night to traverse streets and alleys. In trash cans, on billboards, and under bridge tunnels, they exchanged the latest intelligence in every possible form.
And in the darkness, pairs of eyes opened to watch their movements, like a mantis stalking a cicada.
Behind those watchers, more eyes filled with mockery opened—unaware that the corners of the former's mouths had also quirked into a smirk.
Silent, invisible intelligence wars broke out, evolved, and advanced in the stillness. Finally, countless pieces of information were synthesized and pushed onto the decision-makers' desks.
And so, in the hour before dawn, shinobi squads shot out like arrows piercing the night!
Deep within the sunless Foundation base, Danzo Shimura stepped out of a high tower holding his cane. His cold gaze swept like a hawk over the squads of Foundation shinobi kneeling before him.
Expressionless, he spoke coldly.
"The prey has fallen into the net!"
"Now, the operation begins!"
Danzo narrowed his single eye, a glimmer of greed flashing within it.
"This time, the Hidden Mist must be taught a lesson in blood!"
Meanwhile, on the other side of the village, the first light of dawn pierced through the window and fell into the apartment where the lights were still on.
Having studied all night and memorized every detail of the jutsu's cultivation, Yu stretched. He then pulled a kunai from the table, gripped it in his palm, and focused intently on it.
Whisps of Wind Style chakra, sharp as blades, gathered in his palm and quietly bored into the kunai.
Whirrrrr!
The kunai vibrated violently, nearly flying out of his hand.
Right then, a series of urgent knocks came from the door, followed by a hurried voice:
"Hyuga Yu! The clan's transfer order for you has arrived!"
————
Supporting me on Pa-treon to gain early access to advanced chapters and enjoy expedited updates. Your support is greatly appreciated.
pat-reon .c-om/Dragonhair
(Just remove the hyphen - and space, to access Pa-treon normally.)