One sentence made all the Anbu stop their movements.
It was as if they had been frozen in place, not striking immediately.
On the scene, for a moment, an eerie silence fell.
The leading Anbu captain seemed to struggle for a long time before finally saying, "Were there any witnesses?"
The Root member hadn't expected this group of Anbu, who were just about to strike, to suddenly stop. Her brain went blank for a moment, and only after a while did she reply, "They're all dead. No one else is nearby."
The Anbu captain let out a breath of relief. With everything done to the extreme and no living witnesses, at least there would be no evidence.
Seeing the Root member's reaction, his tone loosened a bit, and for a moment he even felt some sympathy.
"This kind of mission… is it your first time doing it?"
"Hey, it's not easy for you either. As for why you killed those villagers, we have no right to ask. Just return to report. Leave the cleanup work to us."
"But this matter, I will report to the Hokage word for word!"
That last sentence, the Anbu captain emphasized heavily, as if to carve every word into the Root member's heart.
Anbu, trained professionally, rarely showed strong emotional fluctuations, unless they simply couldn't hold it back.
The Root member let out a breath of relief.
Then, with a nod, she used Body Flicker and was gone.
———
Sato Yuki sped all the way, and only after confirming that the Anbu squad wasn't following did she cancel her Transformation Technique, circle around a few times, and return to Obito's side, hidden in the dark.
She slowly took off the bloodstained mask, and after a moment of silence said, "Thank you. I've finished dealing with my matter."
Obito smiled, "Actually, you didn't need to be so cautious. My identity is real, so yours is too. Well? Do you now believe that Konoha really has such a department?"
Sato Yuki nodded, though her eyes carried some confusion.
"So, this department's way of working really can ignore right and wrong, casually shift blame, and just kill people?"
"And after killing, with only a single sentence, even the Hokage's direct troops can't intervene, and they even have to handle cleanup for me?"
Obito clasped his hands behind his back, "That's right. Root is the dark side hidden beneath Konoha's sunshine, specializing in things that cannot see the light."
He paused, then continue, "So? Have you tasted what it feels like to be in power?"
Sato Yuki gave a bitter smile.
"To be honest, when I was slaughtering those villagers, I was actually happy. I'd long disliked them, they were stubborn, selfish, greedy, bullying the weak, and even trying to seize the inheritance left behind by frontline ninja…"
"But now, I suddenly feel… doing this was wrong."
Obito said, "Of course it was wrong."
"From the perpetrator's perspective, you should already clearly realize the consequences of abusing power, right?"
Sato Yuki nodded, "So a person in power, with just one sentence, can destroy a whole group of people without pressure."
"They had no ability to resist. If I said they were guilty, then guilty they were. If I said they should die, then die they did. They were like lambs to the slaughter, unable to argue, unable to seek justice."
"Even if it was for the sake of the justice in my heart, once this way spreads, it will create countless wronged souls."
Obito laughed, "Sato Yuki, the fact that you can see this clearly means you really are smart."
"I've just taken over Root, and I need a capable confidant. You happen to meet that requirement. So, you will be my deputy."
"However, only when the mask is on. With the mask, you are 'U.' Without the mask, you are still Sato Yuki."
Sato Yuki hesitated for a moment, "In the future, will I still have to do this kind of thing? And every time, so thoroughly?"
Obito replied, "I won't make you do evil for no reason. Those kinds of things were the style of the previous Root leader. I'm stronger than him, I don't need his schemes."
"But, if there really is a mission to complete, remember, what you did today is what's correct."
"Leave no survivors."
"The previous Root leader paid a heavy price to teach us one truth: if you don't pull the weeds out by the roots, the spring wind will make them grow again."
Sato Yuki was startled, "I… at the time, I just felt they deserved death, I didn't think so much. Honestly, thinking back, some of them weren't guilty enough to die."
Obito half-smiled, "Why do you think those Anbu spared you? Besides your Root identity, the most important point was that you killed everyone. So no one knew what happened today. Which means there would be no one to suddenly step forward to cry injustice."
Sato Yuki suddenly felt a chill. If at that time she had been kindhearted and left some alive, the situation would actually have turned troublesome?
This truth was truly despairing.
Obito walked past her, patting her bandaged left shoulder.
"If you still hold light in your heart, then follow in my footsteps. Open your eyes and watch how I will, step by step, step by step, make this world better…"
———
At that moment in Konoha, in the Hokage's office.
The Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, was drinking tea when an Anbu hurried in and reported the events that had just happened into his ear.
Hiruzen listened, then slammed the table, "What! More than ten villagers dead?"
"Danzo, you've gone too far this time!"
But immediately, Hiruzen's body trembled, and in his eyes there was a flash of desolate sorrow.
Danzo could never again do such things.
For a moment, he almost wished Danzo were still alive, able to appear in the office as before and give him an explanation.
Then he could scold him on the surface, while secretly covering for him, play their little game of quarreling loudly and storming apart…
Hiruzen gave a bitter smile, shook his head, and forced himself to regain clarity.
He muttered, "So this incident wasn't Danzo's doing… then who was it? There are still Root members in Konoha? But I've already suspended all their operations…"
At this point, a ridiculous thought suddenly popped into Hiruzen's mind.
"Could it be… someone imitating Root's methods?"
But quickly, he thought it unlikely.
Because of Danzo's death recently, he had temporarily overseen Root and even thoroughly investigated inside and out.
He had uncovered plenty of things that had made him furious, such as piles of Wood Release experiment research data, and even a child who could use Wood Release, codenamed "A."
Of course, because of Danzo's death, even if furious, he had no outlet for his anger, he could only tighten control over Root.
So at this time, who would be foolish enough to impersonate Root?
Suddenly, he thought of Uchiha Obito.
Just earlier he had said Root would be handed over to Obito, and right after, such an incident occurred. The timing… a little too coincidental, wasn't it?
Could it be Obito who did this?
Thinking of this, Hiruzen gave orders to the Anbu.
"First, investigate what those villagers were doing before their deaths. Check their family backgrounds. Also, look into whether they had any connections with Uchiha Obito."
The Anbu replied, "Understood."
Then, with a flicker, he was gone.
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