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Wearing clothes that didn't quite fit right, Hayato was actually feeling pretty good inside. He was in a really remote village now. There weren't any ninjas here—just ordinary people.
They didn't look at him strangely. When they found him wrapped up in leaves, they didn't just accept him; they actually gave him proper clothes and even some food—though it was just simple coarse grain stuff. Still, the villagers' kindness warmed Hayato's heart.
"Hayato, are you really going to leave? Honestly, you could settle down here. We could give you a patch of farmland. It won't make you rich, but with the help of the villagers, you'd have a steady life—at least no worries about going hungry," said a woman with a plain face but a kind aura in her eyes.
"Yeah, Hayato. You're still so young. It's dangerous being out there all alone!" others added, their concern clear.
The villagers looked at him with care, hoping he'd stay. Their village wasn't rich—actually, it was pretty poor. Adults often had to go hunting just to keep everyone fed. But even so, they were willing to accept a kid like Hayato.
"Thank you all. Village chief, Auntie Jizi... My situation is a bit complicated, so I have to leave. Besides, if I stay here, I might bring danger to you all..." Hayato shook his head.
"..."
Hearing that, the villagers fell silent. They only wanted to help because he was a child, but from his tone, they sensed he wasn't ordinary. If he really did bring danger to the village, there was nothing they could do.
"Since you're leaving, you don't have anything with you. I was going to sew you a couple of proper outfits, but you're in such a rush I didn't have time. So I gave you some of my husband's old clothes.
There's also some dried food for the road. As for money... I'm sorry, our village doesn't have any," the kind woman said apologetically.
"No, no, this is more than enough. I'm very grateful. Thank you, thank you all. If I can, I'll repay your kindness someday," Hayato said, touched more and more.
Even though the ninja world was incredibly dangerous and war was always the main theme, moments of warmth still existed. Good people were out there, just forced by circumstances.
With the villagers' gifts, Hayato set off again, continuing on the road out of the Land of Fire.
Not long after Hayato left the village, a group of people from Konoha appeared there. The leader had a cross-shaped scar on his chin.
"Lord Danzo, there's a village up ahead. Based on the target's traces, he must have passed through here," one Root member said, kneeling on one knee.
The man was Danzo—the leader of Root. And this time, Danzo himself had come to track Hayato.
At first, Danzo hadn't planned to come personally. But Hayato's actions surprised him. To catch Hayato, Danzo had sent many jonin-level ninjas and a mix of others. Yet they still failed. More importantly,
Hayato had wiped out Danzo's entire team in one go. To annihilate his subordinates like that, Hayato had to have power close to an Anbu Captain or even higher.
So Danzo was paying extra attention to Hayato now.
After all, a kid who just awakened a bloodline limit but might already have the strength of an Anbu Captain? That was unbelievable.
Danzo even thought Hayato was nearly on par with a Tailed Beast. If they could capture and control Hayato, it would be like controlling a Tailed Beast. Even if Hayato wasn't quite at that level yet, what if he was trained?
So Danzo came himself, driven by ambition, to hunt Hayato down.
"Scout the village. If Hayato isn't here, find out everything you can about him. Then erase this village. I don't want any information about Hayato falling into other people's hands," Danzo ordered coldly.
"Yes, Lord Danzo!"
The men immediately slipped into the village. Soon after, screams echoed—men's screams, women's screams, children's cries cut short—all mixing into a symphony straight out of hell.
After killing, the Root members searched every corpse. Even newborn babies weren't spared. Some weren't even fully dead yet, but if they couldn't survive, they were finished off with another stab.
Root... Root! Heh heh...
"....."