Back inside the Golden Egg Shop, Haruto sat behind the counter, casually spinning a kunai between his fingers. His eyes flickered with amusement as he thought back to the events of the day.
He had single-handedly crippled two Root ninjas and sent the last one crawling back to Danzo—and now, he was certain that Konoha's underground mastermind was plotting his next move.
"Heh." Haruto chuckled coldly.
Before, he might have been worried, but now?
If Danzo dared to make a move, he wouldn't mind sending him straight to the Pure Land.
Meanwhile, deep within the Root base, Danzo stood motionless, his one visible eye gazing at the dozens of elite Root operatives before him. His voice was calm, yet filled with authority.
"The owner of the Golden Egg Shop, Haruto, has been confirmed as an enemy spy. Tonight, we move."
The room filled with whispers of approval.
"Our mission is simple—eliminate this hidden threat and protect Konoha at all costs!"
"Yes, sir!" The Root operatives responded in unison, vanishing into the shadows to prepare for their covert attack.
As the room emptied, Danzo reached up and pressed his bandaged right arm, feeling the power of the Sharingan beneath the wraps.
"The Golden Egg Shop… it's no ordinary establishment."
He had heard whispers of the miraculous items sold within, including ones that could awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan.
A ruthless smile crossed his lips.
"Such power belongs in my hands."
Over at the training grounds, Kakashi had finally gotten the upper hand against his three students.
Despite the various powerful tools and abilities they had gained from Haruto's shop, Kakashi's battle experience and adaptability proved to be too much for them.
After a hard-fought battle, it had all ended the same way—Naruto was tied to a post while Sasuke and Sakura sat next to him, eating their lunch.
Naruto's stomach rumbled loudly, causing Kakashi to sigh.
"I can hear your hunger from here," he remarked dryly.
Naruto pouted.
But before he could complain, Kakashi delivered the final verdict.
"Regarding this exercise… you don't need to return to the Academy."
A beat of silence.
Then, realization struck.
"Wait… Does that mean—?!"
"Yes," Kakashi nodded. "You fail."
It was like a bolt of lightning struck all three of them.
"What?! Why?!" Naruto yelled, thrashing against his bindings.
Kakashi's lone eye narrowed coldly.
"Because you three… are the worst examples of teamwork I've ever seen."
Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura all froze under Kakashi's piercing gaze.
"From the beginning, none of you treated each other like teammates."
Kakashi turned to Sasuke, his tone sharp.
"You treated Naruto and Sakura as burdens, thinking you could do everything alone."
Then to Naruto:
"You recklessly charged in without a plan, convinced that sheer power alone could win the battle."
And finally, to Sakura:
"And you… completely ignored Naruto and focused only on Sasuke."
Sakura flinched under his words.
"Do you even understand why you were divided into teams?"
Sasuke gritted his teeth. "If teamwork was so important, then why did you only give us two bells?"
Kakashi sighed, as if hearing this excuse for the hundredth time.
"Because the real test wasn't about getting the bells. It was about whether you would put your teammates first."
He pointed to Naruto, still tied to the post.
"If you truly understood the lesson, you would've fed Naruto by now."
The three Genin fell silent.
Only now did they fully grasp the meaning behind the test.
"A ninja who abandons the mission is trash," Kakashi said, his voice carrying a weight of sorrow.
"But a ninja who abandons their comrades is worse than trash."
His gaze drifted toward the memorial stone behind him.
The stone engraved with the names of countless fallen shinobi.
"This is the price of failure."
The three of them turned, finally seeing the hundreds of names etched into the stone.
Their youthful arrogance melted away.
For the first time… they truly understood the weight of being a ninja.
Far from Konoha, at the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Earth, a dark figure stood within the shadows.
A man wearing a spiral-patterned mask sat on a rock, his arms crossed.
Before him, a strange half-black, half-white humanoid figure emerged from the ground.
"Tobi," the figure spoke hoarsely. "Today is the day that the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki becomes a ninja."
The masked man, Obito Uchiha, slowly lifted his head.
"Hmph… and?"
Zetsu grinned. "His Jōnin instructor is none other than the Copy Ninja, Kakashi."
A beat of silence.
Then, Obito chuckled darkly.
"I see… so that fool is still alive."
He stood up, stretching his arms.
"Then, it's time to begin."
Zetsu's grin widened. "Everything is already in place. I have been monitoring the Nine-Tails closely."
Obito's single Mangekyō Sharingan glowed from beneath his mask.
"Good."
He turned away, walking into the darkness.
"The Infinite Tsukuyomi Project… officially begins today."
Deep Beneath the Earth…
Far away, in a vast, dark cavern, a massive stone statue loomed in silence.
The Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.
The ancient, twisted relic of the Ten-Tails, waiting for the day it would be revived.
Its nine closed eyes remained shut.
End of the Chapter.
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