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The next day, as the sky was just beginning to brighten, an unexpected visitor arrived at Sousuke's residence. Startled from his slumber, Sousuke woke up and sat up in bed, looking at the Root ninja who had appeared before him. Standing straight in front of his bed was a masked woman with purple hair, slender in figure, and dressed in a ninja attire that gave her a competent appearance. Her red mask bore the face of a Japanese demon - Hannya.
Her voice was cold and distant as she spoke, "Sousuke, I am here to take you to the Root organization on the orders of Lord Danzo."
Looking at her, Sousuke smiled gently and said, "Do I have to leave so early? Can I at least freshen up?"
The female ninja with the Hannya mask remained silent.
Soon, Sousuke finished washing up and got dressed. He had messy brown hair on his head, wearing a white ceremonial robe with the Crescent Moon hanging diagonally from his waist. Apart from the black-rimmed glasses that seemed out of place on his face, everything else about him was quite handsome.
As Sousuke looked at her, the female ninja seemed to hesitate for a moment. But in the end, she approached him, smiling and with an expression of confusion in her eyes, and formed hand seals.
"Boom!"
At her summons, a pile of various masks appeared in front of Sousuke.
"Choose one. From today onwards, you will become a member of the Root and have no name, only a codename," she said, looking at Sousuke coldly.
Sousuke was momentarily surprised, but he didn't hesitate. He glanced at the masks and casually picked one, coincidentally choosing a blue demonic face mask.
Seeing Sousuke selecting a mask, the female ninja collected the remaining masks and spoke in a cold voice, "From today onwards, you will follow my squad. My codename is Hannya. Come up with a codename for yourself as well. Besides me and Lord Danzo, the Root organization will not know your real name. Everyone will be known by their codenames."
Upon hearing her words, Sousuke lowered his head, looking at the mask he had chosen, and made a decision in his heart.
He gently raised his head, revealing a very amiable smile, and said, "Then, my codename will be Aizen."
Saying that, he put the mask on his face.
Seeing Sousuke wearing the mask, Hannya turned her head and led Sousuke to the base of the Root organization.
Naturally, Sousuke followed closely behind her.
Before long, the two arrived at the dark underground stronghold.
Sousuke remained calm and followed Hannya silently throughout the journey. Even when he saw the vast underground base, he didn't show any surprise. However, a glimmer of light in his eyes seemed to reveal his inner thoughts.
Root, an independent intelligence organization separate from the ANBU Black Ops! How did the Third Hokage tolerate such an organization? How many high-ranking officials in the village are aware of this? And do those few clans know too much about Root?
Everything seems to have become more interesting...
Without meeting Danzo, they simply went through a simple registration process under the guidance of Hannya.
Code name: Aizen, proficiency: Chunin.
And other relevant information was introduced.
Then, Hannya brought Sousuke to a room filled with ninja scrolls.
For some reason, she seemed to have a peculiar attitude towards Sousuke, speaking in a cold voice.
"This is what Danzo-sama instructed. Here, we keep some precious ninjutsu and forbidden books. You only have today to study them. Starting from tomorrow, you'll accompany me on missions."
After saying that, she turned around and seemed reluctant to see Sousuke.
However, Sousuke looked at her and said softly.
"It's not necessary. The ninjutsu and forbidden techniques here are not really suitable for me."
That's right.
Sousuke possessed the power of Kidō, which was in no way inferior to ninjutsu. It was much more cost-effective for him to use his chakra for Kidō than for ninjutsu. Through the explanation during the training with Kaguya, he learned that if he could master those high-level Kidō techniques, he would be able to easily surpass S-rank forbidden techniques. That's why he didn't want to spend too much time on ninjutsu.
Upon hearing his words, Hannya's attitude toward him seemed even colder. Even through her mask, one could sense the coldness in her eyes.
But Sousuke didn't mind and continued to face her with a gentle smile.
Hannya spoke in a stiff voice.
"Is that so, Aizen? Since that's what you think, then today, come with me on a mission!"
At this moment, she couldn't stand this little devil who always had a smile on his face anymore! She wanted to teach him a lesson!!
As for her uncle's orders, she had long lost interest in continuing to listen!
Originally, she was resentful when her uncle, after underestimating her, showed high regard for this commoner little devil and intended to take him as his disciple.
Moreover!
The information she received yesterday was that this little devil would be sent to invite members of his Root organization to attack and injure her, and in the end, her own uncle went to confront him personally!
All of this made Shimura Emi extremely discontented, to the point that she found Sousuke irritating every time she looked at him!
Well, this time, I originally intended to let you practice ninjutsu here according to my uncle's orders. Since you don't want to accept this kind gesture, then come with me on some killing missions! I want to see what a freshly graduated little devil from the Ninja Academy like you is capable of!
With such thoughts in her mind, Emi Shimura walked out of the scroll room with a cold face. Although Sousuke had a mask on his face, he still had a smile and followed her closely.
Soon, they received a B-rank mission.
After reading the mission briefing, Emi Shimura took on the mission and handed the scroll to Sousuke.
After taking the scroll, Sousuke carefully read the instructions.
Eliminate a group of bandits hiding near the border between the Fire Country and the Earth Country.
Although on the surface, this seemed like a very ordinary mission that could be handled by village shinobi, there were some reasons why it had to be taken over by the Root organization!
The reason was that the group of bandits was actually infiltrated by intelligence operatives from other nations. The mission details didn't specify which village they belonged to, but it could be inferred that their strength wasn't very formidable.
They had been lurking around the outskirts of Konoha, gathering information by purchasing it and capturing passersby to verify its credibility.
Such an existence fundamentally endangered the interests of the village, but it couldn't be openly eliminated by Konoha shinobi. This was where the Root organization came into play.
Apart from safeguarding the village's internal intelligence work, the Root organization had to be involved in situations like eliminating foreign spies.
Without hesitation, since the opponents weren't particularly strong, the two of them began their journey.
Through a secret passage, they left Konoha.
Outside, the sunlight scattered on the tree shadows, casting spots of light that illuminated people comfortably.
Walking on the road, Sousuke felt a great sense of contentment.
This was Sousuke's first time leaving Konoha and his first mission.
What would be the outcome?