"You lot, hold him back!" Danzou, knowing Satoru's strength, naturally wouldn't clash directly.
Root ninja already feared Satoru; none dared attack first.
"You! Hurry, forward!" Danzou urged again, and only then did Root ninja attack Satoru.
"Shadow Binding Technique!" Among Danzou's subordinates were many with secret techniques. Satoru was caught by a Nara clan ninja's Shadow Binding Technique. Then the other Root operatives charged en masse.
"Mind Transfer Technique!" A Yamanaka clan ninja also attacked Satoru.
But at that moment, Satoru used Flash Release. His body was enveloped in that element's chakra, Armament Haki strengthened it, and Super-Kage-level chakra burst out. Even the Nara clan's Shadow Binding Technique couldn't hold him.
"How is that possible?! He broke free from Shadow Binding Technique?!
"This guy's chakra is so terrifying! He escaped with sheer force?!"
Root ninja were trained like machines. But facing a monster like Satoru, despair crept into their hearts.
In the next second, Satoru instantly moved to one Root ninja.
"Body Flicker Technique?! So fast!
"That's his Kekkei Genkai! Immobilize his legs first!" Danzou shouted a warning.
"Fire Release... Aaa!" This Root ninja tried Fire Release, but before finishing, Satoru punched his chest.
Using his Monstrous Strength combined with Gura Gura no Mi power, Satoru felled the Root ninja with one blow.
The ninja choked on blood; clearly, he wouldn't survive.
"One strike... Seems he's mastered Monstrous Strength like Tsunade's," Danzou muttered, watching Satoru.
"Danzou! I don't want to kill anymore! I came here for you to tell me the truth!" Satoru replied honestly.
"Wait," Danzou waved, halting his subordinates' attack on Satoru. Looking at the youth, Danzou asked, "What truth do you want to know?"
"The truth about Lord White Fang's death," Satoru replied.
"Oh? White Fang, yes. Such a pity. Konoha's legendary ninja... abandoned the mission, causing its failure. Faced mockery and abuse, and ended up taking his own life. Perhaps that was the best outcome for him," Danzou said.
"Nonsense! Danzou!" Satoru exclaimed. "Don't think I don't know! White Fang saved a Root ninja!"
"Yes, correct. That man was indeed a Root ninja. So what? The fact is the mission failed. Since he's a ninja, a Konoha ninja at that, he should have been prepared for anything. Since he couldn't complete the mission, isn't it normal he was condemned? The emotionally weak and sensitive White Fang took his own life. Hard to believe he went that way.
"But... that's his fate!" Danzou said to Satoru with a perfectly calm face.
"Hand over that ninja! Or I'll destroy Root!" Satoru said to Danzou with an equally calm face.
"And what then, after I hand him over? White Fang is dead; that's reality. And reality is irreversible. Besides, you can't destroy Root.
"Even if you kill me, other Root operatives remain. Konoha Root is the complete opposite of its bright, visible side. It's not us creating the village's dark side; the village has a dark side from the start, and someone must bear it," Danzou said.
"The Third Hokage dumped all the dirty work and dark side on me while playing the good guy. Do you think the Third is so perfect? Root will always be on the village's dark side, protecting its future!" The more loftily Danzou spoke, the more disgust Satoru felt.
"I know you have a way to kill me. I know your power! But killing me won't make you Hokage," Danzou looked calmly at Satoru. He was very confident. He believed Satoru wouldn't impulsively kill him here.
Due to the sewer destruction, Root ninja and Danzou had returned to the village. Their battle noise was loud and quickly drew a large group of village ninja.
If Satoru publicly killed the Hokage advisor and ANBU training department head Danzou, his future would truly be ruined.
Satoru's goal was truth, not Danzou's death, especially in front of so many people.
"Then tell me the truth? Was White Fang's death your doing?" Satoru stepped forward and stared seriously at Danzou.
"His death was pure accident; I had no hand in it. Regardless, White Fang was a strong Konoha warrior. If I wanted him dead intentionally, I wouldn't do it before an impending war. What benefit to me? What do you think?" Danzou remained inscrutable. Though filled with killing intent toward Satoru, neither side could kill the other now.
Soon Konoha Police Force arrived, led by the Uchiha clan.
"Don't cause a disturbance here, Danzou and Satoru," the speaker was Uchiha clan head and Police captain, Fugaku Uchiha.
He feared neither Danzou nor Satoru; he just wanted to do his duty.
"Gentlemen, please disperse. More people are gathering," Fugaku Uchiha said calmly.
"Disperse!" Danzou nodded, then vanished with his Root ninja.
"Hm..." Satoru pondered a moment, then used Body Flicker Technique and vanished.
After careful thought, Satoru concluded the one who "killed" White Fang wasn't really Danzou, but the "ninja system."
Sacrificing comrades for mission success was too cold-blooded, too rigid rule-following.
Or, to save comrades, abandon the mission.
White Fang's choice was humane, but ninja didn't recognize it. Ninja, doing missions, gradually lost feelings and became machines. Wasn't that the same as Root ninja?
Soulless machines that only follow rules and complete missions—they weren't human anymore.
At Konoha Cemetery, Satoru saw Kakashi's figure.
Kakashi was placing flowers on his father's grave. Satoru approached slowly.
"No one honors my father's memory. Why? Just because my father didn't follow ninja rules? Teacher Satoru, what should I do?" Kakashi saw Satoru and asked.
"What to do is up to you alone. Think: if your father were alive, what would he want from you?" Satoru asked.
"He'd want me not to give up," Kakashi replied.
"Yes," Satoru nodded.
"But... because he didn't abandon his comrades, his comrades abandoned him.
"My father was a failure, right?" Kakashi asked.
***
Read the story months ahead of the public release — early chapters are available on my Patreon: Granulan