"By the way, why did you come back so late? Did something happen?" Itachi suddenly asked.
'How should I answer?'
Lexon pondered.
Kaku's earnest words, "Don't let the Uchiha clan know you've joined 'Root'," flashed through his mind.
"Ah... Danzo invited me to join 'Root', and I agreed."
Lexon said casually, his hands still working the controller.
'Hm?'
Itachi looked at him, stunned for a moment, then frowned slightly. "'Root'?"
"Mn."
An immediate silence fell from Itachi.
The only sounds remaining in the room were Sasuke's "Take this punch!" "Ah, stop hitting me, stop hitting me!" and Lexon's "You're the one who's gonna take my punch," "Take another," "Take my combo punch!"
"You need to be careful of Danzo," Itachi suddenly warned.
"Mn," Lexon nodded on the surface, but thought inwardly:
'I'm the one who should be careful of you. You might even include me in your clan massacre...'
"Ah... I lost..." Sasuke said dejectedly as his character fell.
He handed the controller to Itachi. "Brother, it's your turn."
Itachi took the controller and smiled at Sasuke. "Leave it to me. I'll beat him."
"Go, brother!" Little Sasuke became a cheerleader.
"Itachi, you're ten for ten in losses in this game..." Lexon said, striking at the enemy's morale.
"Let's just see," Itachi said confidently.
Select character, start the round, fight.
'Hey, hey, Mr. Uchiha Itachi, activating your Sharingan for a game is cheating...'
'Fine, if you use yours, I'll use mine.'
'Why are you even activating your Mangekyo? That's going a bit too far!'
...
Three days passed in a flash. Lexon put on a long robe that enveloped his body, donned the "Root" mask, and arrived at their previous meeting spot.
"You're late," Kaku said coldly, looking at the newcomer, Uchiha Lexon.
"Sorry," Lexon said without a trace of sincerity.
Kaku was in a hurry and didn't press the issue. He said to his four subordinates, "It's a half-day's journey. We need to be fast. Follow me."
He immediately took the lead, setting the pace.
The four, including Lexon, kept up with his steps.
While on the move, Kaku continued his explanation.
"The merchant caravan Idu is in has hired two Jonin from Kirigakure. We must kill them all. Leave no survivors."
"Yes," the others responded.
The subordinates Kaku led all had good physical conditioning. They didn't show much fatigue even after rushing for half a day.
Lexon secretly activated his Sharingan to observe them. Using the chakra reserves of an Uchiha Jonin as a comparison:
'Of his three men, one is comparable to a Jonin. The other two have chakra reserves at the Special Jonin level.'
'Kaku's own chakra reserves are at the Elite Jonin level.'
Their actual combat strength probably wasn't far off from their chakra reserves.
After all, they weren't cheaters like him.
"It's that caravan over there," Kaku said, looking at the carts and horses moving along the mountain road.
"Move out."
The next moment, Kaku gave the order.
The group immediately dashed forward.
The two ninja wearing headbands beside the carts immediately sensed them and revealed themselves in the path of the rushing group.
They frowned with suspicion upon seeing the attire of Kaku and the others.
"Which village's Anbu are you?"
"What is your purpose?"
But when the other side threw kunai at them, they understood the visitors had hostile intentions.
"Water Style: Water Formation Wall!"
One of the Kirigakure Jonin quickly formed hand seals, spewing a torrent of water from his mouth like a waterfall, creating a defensive water screen that intercepted all the incoming kunai.
The other Kirigakure Jonin used a Shadow Clone. He and the clone leaped out from the water screen in different directions.
Tiger - Hare - Dog - Ram - Dragon.
The seals were formed before he even landed.
"Wind Style: Wind-Cutting Jutsu!"
A violent gale formed sharp cutting blades, enveloping the attacking Root ninja from the left and right.
"Scatter," Kaku ordered immediately.
All the Root ninja instantly scattered, leaping out of the jutsu's range.
'They're fast.'
The two Kirigakure Jonin instantly understood that these five ninja were not to be trifled with.
'What's their objective? Kidnapping or assassination?'
"Get the client away first!" the Water Style Jonin said to the Wind Style Jonin.
"Be careful," the Wind Style Jonin cautioned, then circulated his chakra and sped toward the client he was hired to protect.
They were the only two ninja in the merchant group. Seeing that Kaku's side had more people and greater strength, they instantly decided to flee with the client.
"Chase him. Kill him," Kaku said coldly, engaging the Water Style Kirigakure Jonin by himself.
"Lightning Style: Hundred Thunderbolts." Kaku mobilized his chakra, hands flashing through seals. A hundred bolts of lightning appeared on his arms, crackling around him, emitting an astonishing aura.
The Water Style ninja instantly had a bad feeling. 'This opponent is probably stronger than I am...'
...
There weren't many ordinary people in the merchant group; most were samurai and attendants who were already prepared for death.
The stronger subordinate of Kaku's and one other were locked in a fierce battle with the Jonin trying to escape with the client.
For a moment, no clear winner emerged.
The remaining "Root" ninja, facing the samurai and attendants, was like a wolf among sheep, reaping their lives like cutting vegetables.
Lexon didn't stop his actions. After all, these samurai and attendants were prepared for this. They stood on their respective sides, doing what they had to do. It didn't conflict with him, nor did it have anything to do with him, so he wouldn't save them.
However, although he was also a member of "Root," he didn't go on a killing spree like the one above. When he encountered people, he just used his Sharingan genjutsu to make them faint and lose consciousness.
"Where is Idu?" Kaku seemed to have finished his fight. He appeared beside Lexon, covered in blood, and asked.
"Don't know," Lexon waved his hand, indicating he had no idea.
"You!" Kaku glared fiercely at Lexon, secretly deciding that when they returned, he would absolutely request that Lord Danzo expel this guy, or at least punish him severely.
'This guy isn't suited for "Root" at all!'
'Strolling leisurely through a mission, like he's on vacation? How is that acceptable?'
In the next instant, Kaku rushed toward the remaining Kirigakure Jonin, who was still struggling to hold on.
A minute later, the battle was over.
A charred corpse, emitting a foul odor, crashed to the ground.
"Find Idu!" Kaku ordered again.
But the moment he gave the order, Kaku saw his subordinate—the one who had been slaughtering the samurai—fly through the air and smash into the open ground ahead.
It looked like he was breathing his last.
'What happened?'
Kaku looked in the direction the body had flown from.
Lexon looked too.
He immediately raised an eyebrow.
'Oh... someone a bit unexpected has arrived.'
The newcomer in the distance wore a black cloak embroidered with red clouds and a straw hat hung with wind chimes. His fingernails were painted, and he wore a ring engraved with the character for "North" (北) on his finger.
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]