Chapter 25: Whispers of the Root
Rain fell steadily across the Hidden Leaf Village, each drop pattering softly against the rooftops like whispered secrets. Uchiha Ren adjusted his black cloak and stepped from the Uchiha Police headquarters into the grey mist of the morning. Mikoto stood beside him, her expression unreadable, but her eyes sharp.
The mask Ren had found near Naka River haunted him. Its design wasn’t ANBU regulation. It was simpler—meant not to symbolize identity, but to erase it.
Ren had always known Konoha had shadows. But now, he stood on the edge of one.
He met with Shikaku Nara under the guise of casual conversation in a tea shop. Shikaku's eyes sharpened at the mention of the missing jōnin.
"Kano? He wasn’t supposed to be on any mission. And his absence was cleared too quietly," Shikaku murmured. "Be careful, Ren. You're stirring leaves best left untouched."
That night, Ren and Mikoto patrolled the outer edges of the Hokage's administrative quarters. A shadow flickered behind the stone walls. Mikoto moved silently, suppressing her chakra signature with ease as Ren followed. Just as they turned a corner, a flash of chakra pulsed—then vanished.
Ren's Sharingan activated instantly. He caught a faint trail—a flicker of movement, unnaturally fast. He gave chase through the alleys, his footsteps muted by Phantom Step. The intruder was good, but not good enough. As they clashed in a narrow alley, Ren's blade met resistance—chakra-steeped steel.
The figure hissed and vanished in a burst of smoke—a substitution. But the fight gave Ren one thing: a sliver of cloth embedded with an unusual seal.
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Back at home, Ren pored over the fabric. Mikoto studied the seal beside him.
"This isn't ordinary suppression sealing," she said. "It looks... customized. Almost surgical. Root-level craftsmanship."
Root. The unspoken branch of Konoha. Danzo Shimura's ghost organization. Officially disbanded, unofficially alive and thriving in silence.
The next day, Ren requested a meeting with Sarutobi Hiruzen. The Third Hokage greeted him warmly but warily, as if expecting the subject.
"You suspect Root is still active?" Hiruzen asked after Ren laid out the evidence.
"I suspect someone is using Root's methods—and maybe their resources."
The Hokage was silent for a long moment. Then, slowly, he said, "If shadows have returned, we must not fight them blindly. Proceed carefully. And do not confront Danzo directly. I will handle him."
But Ren could read between the lines. There was fear in Hiruzen’s tone—not of Danzo's retaliation, but of what might be exposed.
That night, as Ren left the Hokage’s tower, he was ambushed.
Masked figures emerged from the shadows. Their chakra was cold, efficient. There were six of them—silent, coordinated, trained in the Root style. Without a word, they attacked.
Ren's Sharingan spun wildly as he moved like a phantom, parrying strikes and countering with precision. Mikoto arrived moments later, blades flashing with fury. Together, they danced through the storm of kunai and jutsu.
Ren unleashed his Void Sword Technique, the vacuum slash carving a path through the attackers. Mikoto followed up with explosive fire techniques. But their foes were relentless, and Ren understood: this was an assassination attempt.
One Root agent broke formation, forming a sign to self-destruct, but Ren was faster—his Phantom Step bringing him behind the enemy in a blur. A silent slash ended it.
Blood dripped onto the stone, washed away by rain.
As the last attacker fell, Mikoto clutched her side—lightly grazed, but conscious.
Ren stood tall in the clearing, his eyes burning. “The Hokage won’t help us. He fears the truth more than he fears Root.”
Mikoto nodded, pain tightening her voice. “Then we handle it. Together.”
Ren looked up at the Hokage’s tower in the distance.
“They want a dead Uchiha?” he muttered. “They’ll get a nightmare instead.”
