"After all, no matter how powerful a ninja is, life will come to an end one day."
"When that time comes, she won't be able to stand up for her students anymore..."
Danzo spoke with a profound meaning, sounding as if he was reflecting on something.
It's important to remember that after the Second Hokage sacrificed himself to provide for them, the students who returned alive to Konoha faced considerable criticism.
Suppose it hadn't been for Hiruzen's decisive action in establishing the Hokage Advisory Council, sharing power with his fellow students and uniting against the backlash from the ninja clans. In that case, Konoha might not even exist today.
Unfortunately, Hiruzen seems to have forgotten the contributions of his old comrades and is constantly trying to reclaim power.
Hmph, only a guy with no ambition like Koharu would so easily comply.
One day, I will prove to Lord Tobirama that I am the more suitable candidate for Hokage...
At that moment, Nono was shocked by Danzo's treasonous statement and couldn't help but look at him with astonished eyes.
However, Danzo also realised that he had misspoken and did not delve further into the topic. Instead, he began issuing various specific instructions to Nono.
After assigning the tasks, Danzo added:
"…Once this mission is over, I will fulfil my promise and remove the curse mark on you, freeing you completely from the Foundation."
"And as for the orphanage, I can also help you apply for annual funding from the village."
"Now, you should have enough motivation to complete the mission, right?"
"I hope that you, who are called the 'Wandering Priestess,' won't disappoint me this time..."
After painting a promising picture for Nono, Danzo disappeared into the shadows, ending his conversation with her.
It took a long time before Nono, who had been kneeling on the ground, slowly stood up.
When she remembered Danzo's final words to her, a strong sense of helplessness welled up in her heart.
Although Danzo claimed that he would remove the curse mark on her, she knew that as long as the orphanage remained her weakness, she would never truly escape Danzo's control...
With a long sigh, Nono took heavy steps towards the nearby orphanage.
The good mood she had earlier from playing the Wood Release game against the zombies was now completely gone...
Walking along the dimly lit path, Nono soon arrived at the entrance of the old, rundown orphanage.
Although it was already lights-out time, the light seeping through the cracks in the windows surprised Nono.
Who could still be awake at this hour?
To avoid arousing suspicion, Nono first patted her cheeks with both hands, adjusted her expression, and then slowly pushed the door open.
The dim light fell on her, and although it wasn't very bright, it made Nono squint after her journey back in the dark, feeling slightly dazzled.
Once her eyes adjusted to the light, Nono was surprised to find that the children who should have been asleep in their dormitories were instead gathered in the orphanage's main hall.
Moreover, they were all slumped over, nodding off as if they were about to fall asleep at any moment.
The younger children had already fallen asleep directly on the table, drooling all over it as if they were dreaming of some delicious feast.
At that moment, a child, awakened by the sound of the door opening, rubbed his eyes, looked towards the entrance, and suddenly woke up with surprise, exclaiming:
"Nono-sister, you're back!"
The other children quickly woke up upon hearing his voice, and those who hadn't woken were shaken awake by the others.
Thud, thud, thud, thud...
A series of rapid footsteps echoed as the children got up and surrounded Nono, even clutching at her clothes tightly as if she would disappear if they let go.
"What's going on with everyone?"
Nono, startled by the children's enthusiasm, patted their heads to comfort them while asking with a puzzled expression.
At that moment, an elderly nun, dressed in traditional attire and leaning on a cane, came out from the back room, chuckling as she said:
"Nono, it's good that you're back."
"I've told them many times that you just went to work and would be back later, but they didn't believe me. They insisted on waiting for you to return before they'd go to bed."
An older boy argued:
"That's because every time you said Nono-sister went to work, she'd be gone for a long time…"
Nono smiled wryly at his words.
After all, she couldn't explain to the children that her so-called "work" was actually leaving the village to carry out various spy missions, so naturally, she wouldn't be around for a while.
And this time… well, actually, there's no difference. It's just that this time, the mission is within the village so that she can come back every day.
So, Nono could only pat his head and gently say:
"Don't worry, I won't go anywhere from now on. I'll stay in Konoha."
"Nono-sister, is that true?"
The boy asked with an excited expression.
Nono looked at the children's expectant eyes and nodded slightly.
"Yes, of course it's true."
"That's great!"
The children couldn't help but cheer.
Having experienced the warmth and coldness of human relationships from a young age, they knew that Nono-sister was someone who truly cared for them, and naturally, they hoped she could stay with them forever.
After much excitement, when the children were finally ready to go back to their dorms to sleep, a series of rumbling sounds echoed from their stomachs.
The sound was so synchronised that it seemed like an unusual symphony.
Clearly, they were hungry again.
Although the orphanage wasn't so poor that it couldn't feed the children, they got hungry quickly, and after waiting for Nono for so long, it was no surprise that their stomachs started protesting.
However, none of them asked for food because they knew that the orphanage had recently been short on money. Nono-sister had to go out and work to support them, so there was no extra money for snacks.
They figured that once they fell asleep, they wouldn't feel hungry anymore.
Seeing their heartbreakingly mature behaviour, Nono sighed lightly, then suddenly remembered something and took out a card from her pocket.
"I almost forgot, I brought you some gifts from work."
"What? Gifts?"
"What kind? Can we eat them?"
The children's spirits lifted again, and they looked at Nono with eager anticipation.
"You'll find out in a bit."
Nono smiled gently.
Actually, when she was leaving the tavern after work, Natsuhiko had given her a storage card, saying it contained leftover food, and if she didn't mind, she could take it back to the children.
She originally planned to give it to them the next day, but seeing them hungry, she changed her mind and decided to give it to them now.
Nono walked to a wooden table, placed the storage card on it, and, following the method Natsuhiko had taught her, formed a seal and said, "Release!"
With a puff of white smoke, the table was suddenly filled with a feast.
There were snacks like rice crackers, peanuts, and chips, all of which were staples at the tavern, as well as roasted wings, grilled meat, burgers, and other foods that children love.
"Wow!"
The children exclaimed in amazement, their mouths watering.
Growing up in the orphanage, they had never seen so much delicious food all at once.
But even so, they remained disciplined and didn't reach for the food until they were given permission.
Nono, too, was surprised to see the steaming hot food.
After all, keeping food in a storage card as fresh as if it were just made requires a high level of sealing technique.
No wonder Lady Mito made an exception and took Natsuhiko as her last disciple.
However, what truly surprised her was that with such a fantastic method of preserving food, the tavern wouldn't have to worry about leftovers at all.
But Nono quickly realised and felt a warm sensation in her heart.
This wasn't so much leftover food as it was a gift from Natsuhiko to the children at the orphanage.
Indeed, Natsuhiko is such a kind person.
Nono couldn't help but feel grateful in her heart, but then she quickly felt a pang of sadness.
It was such a shame that this kind person was her target this time...
Just then, a voice interrupted Nono's thoughts.
"Sister, do we have money now?"
A little girl, still sniffling with a runny nose, pointed at the food on the table with one hand and clung to Nono's clothes with the other, asking innocently.
Nono snapped out of her thoughts, skillfully took out a handkerchief, squatted down, and wiped the girl's nose, then gently explained:
"Not yet, but Sister will work hard to earn money."
"And these foods are a gift from my boss, Brother Natsuhiko, to everyone."
With that, Nono stood up and said to the children who were eyeing the food hungrily:
"So don't be shy. Eat whatever you like."
As soon as she said the words, the children burst into cheers and began to enjoy the food they had only heard of but never tasted.
"Don't rush; be careful not to choke."
Watching the children devour the food with happy faces, Nono couldn't help but smile a little.
Just then, the old headmistress pulled Nono aside and whispered worriedly:
"Nono, why is your boss treating you so well on your first day? Do you think he has ulterior motives?"
"You're misunderstanding, Headmistress. Boss Natsuhiko is just a good person," Nono replied with a bitter smile.
---
The director had watched her grow up since she was a child, so he naturally knew about her past as a member of Root.
However, the director thought she had left Root and was unaware that her current job at the tavern was actually a mission assigned by Danzo.
Therefore, the director didn't realise that the one with ulterior motives was really Nonō herself...
...
As the saying goes, "When two flowers bloom, each branch expresses itself."
While Nonō was tormented by her conscience for planning to manipulate a good person like Natsuhiko, she had no idea that the same good-hearted Natsuhiko was also plotting how to manipulate her...
At this moment, in the underground laboratory of the Amou family.
Compared to the chaotic environment a few months ago, the laboratory was now much tidier and brighter.
Even the floors, ceiling, and walls of the lab had changed from rock to thick steel plates.
After all, Natsuhiko now knew that the destruction of the Uzumaki clan might be related to Black Zetsu.
As a bearer of the Uzumaki clan's intangible cultural heritage, he naturally took precautions to enhance his protection.
This laboratory, which hid many of his secrets, was especially crucial.
Based on the information from the original work, the White Zetsu, who served as Madara and Black Zetsu's eyes and ears, used a technique called "Mayfly," which allowed them to move swiftly across the ninja world by interfacing with organic networks like underground plant roots and water veins.
So, Natsuhiko simply sealed the entire laboratory with steel plates to eliminate the possibility of White Zetsu infiltrating.
Just like before, various types of seals were drawn on the steel plates, providing comprehensive protection for the entire lab.
At this moment, Natsuhiko was standing in front of the prototype's monitor, analysing the strings of garbled rune formulas that constantly appeared in a program window.
After returning from the Tavern, Natsuhiko placed the chakra capacitor, which had stored Nonō's chakra, into a slot on the prototype's control panel for reading.
What he was looking at now was the data obtained from the prototype, translating Nonō's chakra into rune formulas.
In fact, this chakra decoding program was originally a tool Natsuhiko intended to use to uncover the hidden functions within chakra by comparing the different properties of various individuals' chakra.
It could be said to be one of his critical methods for exploring the truth of chakra.
However, it was clear that due to his insufficient research into chakra, the lack of many original runes, and too few samples, the window only displayed large sections of undecipherable blanks or strings of erroneous garbled text.
But this wasn't without its benefits.
At the very least, with things being this way, the curse seal formula that Danzo had planted in Nonō's body stood out like a firefly in the dark.
Sure enough, before long, a series of orderly rune formulas appeared on the monitor screen.
Compared to the other disorganised formulas, they were as conspicuous as a white girl standing among a group of black men, clearly the curse seal formula that Danzo had implanted.
Natsuhiko's sleepiness instantly vanished.
It was finally confirmed!
Even if Nonō was now working at the tavern without any ulterior motives, as long as the curse seal implanted by Danzo remained in her body, she could turn into a deadly blade aimed at him at any time.
Realising this, Natsuhiko felt a chill in his heart and reminded himself not to let his favourable impression of Nonō make him lower his guard.
But even though it was confirmed that Nonō was a wolf in sheep's clothing, Natsuhiko still had no intention of voting her out.
After all, if he chased her away, where would he find another experiment subject that could continuously provide him with curse seal formula data?
Just like how he used the prototype to analyse ninjutsu through ruggedisation when Natsuhiko used the prototype to investigate the chakra, it also required the continuous consumption of the corresponding chakra.
The chakra he had previously extracted from that Root ninja had long been exhausted, and it was clear that the Root ninja didn't share the hobby of playing Jinshin card games, so Natsuhiko's research on curse seals had long stalled due to a lack of samples.
Nonō's appearance happened to fill this gap.
As long as she kept providing chakra, Natsuhiko could continue his research on curse seals.
And the series of ideas based on curse seals that had been brewing in his mind could finally become a reality!
Of course, curse seals were also Danzo's treasure for controlling the Root ninjas, which was his most significant reliance, enabling him to stand firm despite his numerous mistakes.
So, researching curse seals and finding a way to break them would be like striking Danzo's Achilles heel!
After all, aside from those ninjas who had been brainwashed to the point of absolute obedience to Danzo, there were some, like Nonō, who were forced to serve him only because of the curse seal in their bodies.
So, as long as a way to break the curse seal was found, it would be easy to make them defect, which would be equivalent to cutting off one of Danzo's arms.
If the right opportunity arose, their defection could play an even more significant role, perhaps even delivering a fatal blow to Danzo.
To be honest, Natsuhiko was also very curious to see what expression Danzo would have when he realised that a trusted subordinate had betrayed him.
(End of Chapter)
P.S
Advance 70 Chapters are up on my Patreon.
pat reon.com/ReidAstrea