It was early morning, just as the sky was beginning to brighten.
"Still haven't found them?"
"Sorry, Jiraiya-sensei, I haven't found anything on my end."
Minato, who was with Jiraiya in the southern valley of the Land of Rivers, simply shook his head in response to Jiraiya's question.
"Damn it, I can't believe a simple mission turned into this."
Jiraiya punched a nearby tree, gritting his teeth in frustration.
He wasn't worried about Sakumo, because Sakumo's mission information hadn't been tampered with. The problem was the other three; they had fallen completely into Root's trap.
Because he didn't know how Root would act, Jiraiya also didn't know how Root's people planned to deal with Sakumo's three subordinates.
Regardless, this was all due to his momentary lapse in judgment, which led to the three of them falling into this predicament.
But who would have thought that the Hokage's direct Anbu would have spies planted by Root?
Jiraiya really wanted to use this opportunity to thoroughly investigate Root.
Daring to tamper with the Hokage's direct Anbu was no small matter.
The Anbu were responsible for confidential missions and the Hokage's safety; no accidents could be tolerated.
However, thinking of his teacher Hiruzen Sarutobi's personality, a man who cherished old friendships immensely, he probably wouldn't do more than give a mild, ineffectual verbal warning.
"Please don't be like this, Jiraiya-sensei. Perhaps the three of them will be blessed with good fortune. All we can do is find them as quickly as possible, whether they are alive or dead."
Minato said, comforting Jiraiya.
"I know, I'm just venting. Next, only the bottom of the cliff ahead remains to be searched. I went there once with Tsunade and Orochimaru; the terrain there is a bit complicated. Minato, be careful not to stray too far from me."
"Yes."
Minato nodded gravely.
Although he trusted his own strength, compared to a jōnin of his teacher Jiraiya's caliber, he still had many naive and immature aspects.
"I hope nothing has happened to those three, otherwise, the Uchiha clan…"
Jiraiya was not ignorant of the situation in Konoha. As Konoha's foremost noble clan, the Uchiha had an unknown number of jōnin with Three-Tomoe Sharingan. One was already troublesome; if they united, that would definitely be a powerful force capable of easily suppressing all ninja clans except for the Senju line.
Compared to the conservative and gentle Hyūga, the Uchiha were mostly a group of wild and unruly individuals.
If they were angered, they were capable of doing anything.
Thinking of this, Jiraiya began to curse Danzō inside and out in his mind.
◎
It was already early morning, but the mist shrouding the deep valley was too thick, preventing sunlight from penetrating to the bottom. It diffused within the mist, with only faint halos of light scattered about.
Inside the pitch-black cave, only a fire burned, dispelling the surrounding gloom and cold.
On the flat ground of the cave, Ruri was currently closing her eyes, her hand tightly clutched to her chest, her face expressing intense pain. She was gasping for breath with difficulty, her exhalations extremely weak, as if her life was in danger at any moment.
A tremendously violent aura of power, known as 'Sage Mode,' had not completely dissipated from her body.
"How is she?"
Ayane asked worriedly.
This was the first time she had seen Ruri in such a weak state.
Her face was as pale as a corpse, and her painful, labored breathing made one believe she could perish at any moment.
However, recalling the destructive power of that Fire Style jutsu earlier, such side effects were only natural.
Although the power of that Fire Style jutsu couldn't compare to the Tailed Beast power they had seen before, it was by no means an invincible force that regular ninja could resist.
Sage Mode, huh? Ayane sighed inwardly.
She couldn't help but admire Ruri's daring and felt a sense of inferiority.
In that situation, being able to fuse natural energy and chakra was incredibly difficult, as one could imagine.
Yet, Ruri had managed to do it, albeit barely, but the fact that she had used Sage Mode was undeniable.
"It's very tricky. I need to perform surgery immediately. Help me hold her down."
Shiraishi took out a scroll from his ninja tool pouch, unsealed the jutsu on it, and a medical kit appeared on the ground, containing a complete set of medicines and surgical tools.
Even with his exquisite medical ninjutsu, there was still a certain risk, but in the current situation, the longer they delayed, the more likely they would miss the optimal time for surgery.
So, he could only risk performing the surgery.
"I understand."
Ayane knelt beside Ruri and firmly held her body down with both hands.
Shiraishi took a deep breath, then, to Ayane's surprise, rolled Ruri's clothes up, revealing her fair abdomen. The clothes stopped when they reached her chest.
Ayane's face immediately flushed red.
"Don't get distracted. Just hold her down."
Shiraishi's calm voice came through.
"Oh."
Ayane lowered her head, her face even redder.
Shiraishi ignored Ayane's wild thoughts and placed his palm on Ruri's exposed abdomen.
Shiraishi closed his eyes, sensed for a moment, then opened them, his expression growing increasingly serious.
Ruri's chakra and natural energy were extremely chaotic, especially the natural energy. It was originally in a gentle and stable state, but due to the sudden fusion with chakra, the power of Sage Mode ran wild within Ruri's body.
To get Ruri out of danger, the natural energy could only be extracted from her body.
However, the problem was that the natural energy and chakra were already intertwined, making the separation work dangerous.
Because of the power of Sage Mode, Shiraishi, although he had conceived of its ultimate form, had never put it into practice; it was merely a hypothetical concept.
If it were just a problem with natural energy, Shiraishi could easily solve it.
Thinking of this, a bead of cold sweat involuntarily appeared on Shiraishi's face.
This was the only surgery since his debut where he couldn't determine the success rate.
He hoped that his previous experimental data and the ultimate form of Sage Mode weren't too far off.
On another note, the safest surgery would be to extract both Ruri's chakra and natural energy from her body. It would also be the simplest and most effective surgery to get her out of danger.
The problem was that Shiraishi's hypothesis about whether chakra leaving the body would truly cause human death was still in the hypothetical stage.
If Ruri's chakra were extracted along with the natural energy, and then even if the chakra was returned, Ruri couldn't wake up, that would be rather awkward.
If this hypothesis could be established, Ruri's current problem would be very easy to solve.
The fundamental reason Ruri fell into this state was because natural energy and chakra fused within her body, causing Sage Mode to run wild.
As long as both the natural energy and chakra were completely extracted, Ruri could naturally be freed from this danger.
But a hypothesis is just a hypothesis. The surgery of letting chakra leave the body was too risky, and the success rate was the lowest.
Therefore, Shiraishi could only first separate Sage Mode into natural energy and chakra, and then extract the natural energy from Ruri's body.
To separate natural energy from Ruri's body, he only needed to use the Delicate Illness Extraction Technique.
This high-level medical ninjutsu could extract harmful elements from the human body, even avoiding the need for invasive surgery.
Therefore, Shiraishi only needed to figure out how to decompose Sage Mode into natural energy and chakra.
Shiraishi took out a syringe from the medical kit.
He injected the medicine inside into Ruri's body.
After the injection, Ruri's complexion improved significantly. Her breathing was still somewhat weak, but compared to her previous state, she was much better.
Seeing this, Shiraishi began the surgery.
During the surgery, Ruri struggled violently several times, but Ayane held her down firmly.
This allowed Shiraishi to focus solely on the surgery to separate Sage Mode.
Painful groans continuously escaped Ruri's lips. Even with an anesthetic, the agony was still unbearable.
Time passed minute by minute, and Ruri's condition improved significantly.
A faint blush finally returned to her face, and her breathing gradually stabilized.
Shiraishi let out a sigh of relief. Although he hadn't completely separated the Sage Mode chakra, most of it had been decomposed. Now, he only needed to extract the natural energy from Ruri's body.
Once they returned to the camp, with complete equipment, the danger could be entirely removed.
A deep green glow began to surround Shiraishi's palm as he used the Delicate Illness Extraction Technique to begin extracting the natural energy from Ruri's body.
Just then, the sound of people moving seemed to come from outside the cave, causing Shiraishi and Ayane's expressions to change slightly.
Ayane quickly activated her Byakugan with her remaining chakra, scanning the situation outside.
"Who is it? Sand ninja?"
"No. It's Root ninja."
Ayane's face was somewhat clenched in anger.
If it weren't for the Root ninja, the three of them wouldn't be in such a miserable state, facing a life-or-death situation.
"Are they planning to be the final mantis stalking the cicada?"
Shiraishi murmured, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.
The Sand ninja pursuit team had mostly been dealt with by the three of them, but he hadn't expected the Root ninja to have been trailing them all along.
"They were able to avoid your Byakugan before, so they clearly know your Byakugan's observation range is five kilometers. They know a lot about our intel."
"Everything?"
"Not from my side, otherwise the Hokage's direct Anbu would have contacted me already."
Shiraishi analyzed calmly.
According to Ruri's initial intel, although Root was also a branch of the Anbu, its leader was not the Hokage himself, but another high-ranking Konoha elder, Danzō Shimura.
Shiraishi still couldn't determine the other party's objective.
Whether it was to eliminate Sakumo Hatake, the captain of Sakumo's squad, or directed at the three of them, Shiraishi didn't know.
"What do we do now?"
Ayane didn't know what to do. Her chakra was almost depleted, and having not yet undergone natural energy training, she couldn't provide much combat power.
"Let's go out and meet them. Ruri is out of danger, so interrupting the surgery won't matter."
Shiraishi ended his medical ninjutsu and left Ruri there.
Ayane nodded and walked out of the cave with Shiraishi.
Outside, as expected, stood four figures, who were precisely the Root squad that Shiraishi and the others had first encountered.
They wore uncomfortable, sinisterly colored masks, and their cold eyes were as emotionless as machines.
They stood in a line, motionless, merely staring blankly at Shiraishi and Ayane.
Just as one of them raised a hand, preparing to attack, Shiraishi acted a step ahead.
He attacked not the Root ninja, but Ayane.
He pressed Ayane face down beneath him, twisting her arms behind her back.
"Shiraishi-kun!?"
Ayane was startled. Exhausted, she couldn't react at all and was pinned down by Shiraishi.
Shiraishi said in a helpless tone, "Can't you see the situation even now? I didn't realize you were such a foolish woman. I don't want to die with you two; I want to live properly."
After speaking, he looked up at the four Root members and said to their captain, "I am a medical ninja. I pose the least threat to you, and I am also the most useful. I am willing to join you. Whether you control me with curses or poison, I don't want to die. How about giving me a chance?"
The captain actually considered it.
Indeed, as Shiraishi said, he posed the least threat, and Root was currently in desperate need of medical ninja for their forbidden human experiments.
As for whether Shiraishi would betray them, there was no need to even consider it. Once he joined Root, his freedom would no longer be his own.
"I appreciate your self-awareness. I'll give you a chance."
The captain ninja threw a kunai, which landed at Shiraishi's feet.
"Kill the woman beneath you."
"Alright."
Shiraishi didn't hesitate. Although a fleeting struggle appeared on his face, it was quickly replaced by a ferocious expression.
He picked up the kunai and aimed it at Ayane's neck, preparing to stab down.
However, a shuriken flew over and knocked the kunai from Shiraishi's hand.
Shiraishi looked at the four Root members in confusion; one of them had interrupted his attack.
"Your resolve is good, but casually executing a ninja from your own village isn't ideal."
The captain ninja said with extreme hypocrisy.
After all, she possessed the Byakugan bloodline limit; even if she was from the branch family, a living body was more useful than a corpse.
Moreover, her chakra was almost depleted, so she was no threat at all.
"Understood. I also don't want to bear the ill reputation of killing my own comrade."
The captain ninja was very satisfied with Shiraishi's adaptability.
He firmly believed that Shiraishi would become an excellent Root medical ninja.
Having such a belief made it easier to live a long life.
Two Root ninja walked towards Shiraishi.
Shiraishi consciously stepped aside, raising his empty hands, displaying a very cooperative and submissive posture, completely unthreatening.
"I never thought you were this kind of person. I trusted you so much, Ruri and I."
One Root ninja took out a rope and tied Ayane's hands behind her back. Ayane glared at Shiraishi with hateful eyes.
"Compared to living, such things don't matter. This era is too terrible. I'm not like you, born into a prestigious family; everything I have, I can only obtain through my own efforts."
Shiraishi didn't want to argue.
Another Root ninja also arrived behind Shiraishi, likewise taking out a rope and raising it towards Shiraishi's raised hands.
Pfft!
The Root ninja preparing to tie Shiraishi's hands didn't notice anything, only hearing the sound of a blade cutting through flesh. His vision grew darker and darker.
In the last moments of his consciousness, he seemed to see a headless body and a pair of hands holding a rope.
Is that my body and hands?
Is it an illusion?
He fell into such thoughts, and his consciousness ended there.
"Wh— "
Also unable to react, a blade, produced from an unknown place, pierced the Root ninja standing beside Ayane, mercilessly stabbing through his heart.
The blade was pulled out of the Root ninja's body, stained crimson with blood.
At this moment, the rope binding Ayane's hands was also cut, restoring her freedom.
Shiraishi, gripping the blood-stained ninja blade, smiled gently at the two remaining Root ninja:
"How about it? My sword skills aren't bad, are they? Although they can't compare to Sakumo-sensei's sword skills, I can certainly surprise all of you."
"You brat!"
Impossible!
His chakra should have been almost depleted!
And… where did a medical ninja get such speed?
Isn't he a medical ninja?
Even among jōnin, not everyone could reach such a level.
Was this guy the most troublesome of the three? The captain ninja's shock was unimaginable.
But after the shock, he fell into anger.
Shiraishi's smile remained unchanged, showing no other emotional shifts.
"This is truly unexpected. I actually see anger in your eyes. I heard that you Root members are just machines meant to complete missions… Do machines also have emotions? But please don't show me such eyes, because my current anger far surpasses yours."