Naruto: I, Shikotsumyaku, Byakugan Princess

Chapter 139 Double Flower Red Stick
The long, narrow corridor was dimly lit.

"Breathe~ Breathe~"

Rapid breathing echoed in the corridor.

Lan held her saliva in her mouth, not daring to swallow, and remained motionless as the girl gripped her soft spot. Warm blood stained her clothes black and red, and the wind blast, powerful enough to tear steel, scraped against her periosteum, bringing a shiver from the inside out.

Filled with murderous intent, Iwakuma trembled all over, his lightning release energizing his nerves, his muscles completely out of his control.

The three remained motionless in a stalemate.

The lone dagger lay on the ground, yet strangely, it left no trace.

In front of the door.

The contrast between black and red and red and black becomes increasingly striking.

The dark shadow beast stepped on the ceiling, surrounding everyone from all sides. Four thick water pythons twisted and protected the girl behind them, arching their necks and letting out a silent roar with ferocious teeth.

After subduing the two who had suddenly attacked, Hui Li glared at Die, who was pretending to form hand seals to release an illusion, and then looked back at the two strange people in front of the door who had transplanted Sharingan eyes.

The way those two manipulated shadows must be that of Nara clan ninjas.

No hand seals are needed; simply gazing and releasing eye power allows one to manipulate shadows in the outside world. The Nara Shadow Control Technique combined with the Sharingan can produce such a synergistic effect!

With a large number of Sharingan and Hashirama cells as support, the Root's secret technique ninjas are probably more troublesome than she imagined.

"Hmm!"

Feeling the small hand on his ribs suddenly tighten, Lan let out a painful groan. His abdomen was still bleeding profusely, and his legs were feeling weak.

He never expected that the other party would be proficient in fire-style techniques.

There were no hand seals, no warning, and even the way he breathed out flames was different from that of a typical fire-style ninja. Who can breathe fire from their back? A close-combat ninja specializing in wind-style techniques like him had no chance against such an opponent.

"The Root leaders are all in the meeting hall. If you kill me... Ughhhhh..."

As her fingertips gently traced her ribs, Lan's body visibly tensed.

Seeing that the other party had become obedient, Hui Li looked at the wooden door at the end of the corridor. Directly above the door, small insects flashing with chakra fluorescence were rapidly crawling out.

When Lan and the others brought her here, she noticed the strange thing above the wooden door.

There are skilled members of the Aburame clan inside the Root, and Danzo should already know about the situation outside the corridor.

She didn't intend to kill anyone here.

Just as the other party said, killing Root ninjas in front of the Root meeting room would be tantamount to stepping on Danzo's face, and the plan to steal Hashirama's cells would fail on the spot.

No leader could tolerate such humiliation.

Of course, what she did was not without meaning.

A single punch can prevent a hundred more. Demonstrating one's strength and attitude is meant to gain higher status and resources, and to avoid unnecessary trouble and disputes, not to be aggressive or violent.

Just as Danzo wanted to use those two monsters to give her a hard time, she also had to show him her attitude.

You begged me to join the core; bribery is acceptable, but coercion is not.

Rustling.

As Hui Li and the others remained locked in a stalemate, more and more insects crawled out from the crack in the door, immediately drawing their attention to the unusual creatures.

Buzz!

Parasites swarmed everywhere, and soon coalesced into a human shape in front of the door.

"Let her in."

A deep male voice emanated from the center of the insect-infested heads, issuing an order that, regardless of the crowd's reaction, caused the insect clones to scatter immediately.

"Yes!"

The two guards at the door answered in a low voice.

The tomoe in the Sharingan stopped spinning and slowly closed. The shadow beasts that filled the corridor instantly turned into flat surfaces and stuck to the wall, and their forms returned to the appearance of Hui Li and the others.

A thin layer of black shadow appeared beneath the short sword that had fallen to the ground.

The shadowy figure in the corner twisted, and the two figures vanished into nothingness.

Pfft!

Blood dripped.

Hui Li slowly pulled her hands out of Lan and Pan Xiong's bodies, causing a large amount of blood to splatter out, and the two of them trembled at the same time.

The python tilted its head and stretched out its forked tongue to lick its scarlet fingertips.

The unharmed butterfly quickly stepped forward to help her two teammates up.

It wasn't that he didn't want to help; as a genjutsu ninja, he wasn't really that useful in this situation. Besides, fighting a taijutsu-type elite jonin in such a narrow, enclosed space—it was already a miracle he wasn't dead.

They could manage to operate outside, but in this unfavorable environment, even the three of them stacked together wouldn't be enough to defeat Hui Li.

stomping on...

With the obstacle cleared, Hui Li waved to scare away the water python and headed straight for the mysterious wooden door that Bai Yan could never penetrate. Die, supporting the two injured people, staggered behind him.

I walked to the door.

She scanned the shadows in the corner, her Byakugan scanning with all its might, but she still couldn't detect even the slightest glimmer of chakra. The two of them were hidden in the shadows, as if they didn't belong to this world at all.

It's really awesome.

Hui Li shook his head with a sigh, pushed open the wooden door, and walked into the conference room at the root.

wow...

In stark contrast to the cramped and dimly lit corridor, the conference room was a huge, empty room that seemed to have been hollowed out from a mountain. It was brightly lit, and countless chakra points of light reflected into Gray Glass's eyes.

There was only one chair in the room, placed on a huge high platform.

The one-eyed old man, leaning on his cane, looked down from his chair.

To his left stood a man wearing a black cloak and sunglasses, with a purple mark tattooed on his right cheek. The fluctuations of his chakra were exactly the same as those of the parasitic insects that had just been standing in front of the door.

The rest of the people, all dressed in matching black hooded outfits, stood below the platform. Upon hearing Hui Li enter, they all turned to look at her.

Each mask, adorned with unique patterns, reflected the light with a deathly stillness, exuding an unimaginable eeriness.

Ignoring the oppressive stares from everyone, Hui Li's Byakugan swept across the room, collecting the chakra information of everyone present.

Shadow 1.

One elite Jonin.

The number of Chunin and Jonin is roughly the same, totaling less than ten, while there are fifty-three Special Jonin.

Judging strength solely by chakra levels is somewhat arbitrary, but excluding those with exceptional talent like Naruto, the results are generally quite accurate.

Including the three who entered, there were exactly seventy ninjas gathered in the conference room. This force was enough to destroy any country except the Five Great Nations.

Is the root system really that strong?
Raising an eyebrow in surprise, Hui Li walked towards Danzo on the steps on the right side of the platform under the silent gaze of everyone.

"teacher."

The girl's clear voice echoed in the stone chamber. The ninjas from the Root below remained silent, gazing up at the three people on the stone platform, standing quietly like stone statues.

If it weren't for the faint emotional fluctuations visible above their heads, Hui Li would have seriously doubted whether these people were even alive. *Beep beep beep...*

The unusual golden-pink emotional light spots were exposed, and Hui Li licked her back teeth in disgust, unable to look directly at this legendary dark figure of the ninja world.

Danzo stared at the silver-haired girl in front of him.

The two shadow guards at the gate, along with the three men from the Iwakura, were his way of intimidating Hui Li. He already knew the final outcome from Aburame Ryoma's words.

The bad news is that Hui Li is really disobedient, refusing even a simple body search, so there's no question of giving her a hard time.

The good news is... she's really good at fighting!

Danzo looked the girl up and down. He hadn't expected that the news that Hiruzen Sarutobi had spread—that he had risked serious injury to kill an elite Jonin from Kumogakure—was completely true. In fact, he thought it was a bit too conservative.

Who turned the tables on whom?
Are the elite Jonin of Kumogakure really that strong?

Excluding him, Ryoma Aburame, and some experimental subjects who couldn't be exposed to the light, Root only had a total of eight Jonin.

Standing outside the door were two test subjects and three Jonin, a total of five Jonin-level combatants. As soon as they made a move, two of them were instantly killed by Hui Li. If the other three had actually fought in that cramped corridor, they would definitely not have been her match.

Ryoma Aburame could probably do that too, but he's better at infiltration and reconnaissance, and can't compare to Hairi in terms of absolute combat power.

This is a prodigy who excels in ninjutsu, taijutsu, and is also resistant to genjutsu. He is more versatile than Hiruzen Sarutobi and more talented than any ninja he has ever seen. As long as he maintains his current strength and waits for his body and chakra core to grow normally, reaching the Kage level is a certainty.

Looking at Hui Li's childish face, Danzo even felt somewhat relieved.

I am glad that I acted decisively and wisely, taking advantage of her immaturity in mind and body, and used Kotoamatsukami to snatch her back from Sarutobi's hands.

If he were to allow it to fully grow, he would find no way to counter it except by using sealing techniques.

"Teacher Danzo?"

Hui Li stared straight at Danzo, who remained silent, her disdain growing even stronger.

He wouldn't be deliberately keeping silent so I'd call him "teacher" while secretly enjoying it, would he?
Hiruzen Sarutobi really caused a lot of trouble!
"From today onwards, you are officially a member of the Roots."

Unaware of what was going on in Hairi's mind, Danzo's kaleidoscope, hidden within his bandages, slowly opened.

In the future, the mind of the Root Double Flower Red Stick emitted a fluorescent light. He could sense that the power of Kotoamatsukami had not been consumed, nor had it been erased.

Although she is disobedient now, human will cannot overcome the power of the kaleidoscope, and it is only a matter of time before she is completely turned into an emotionless tool.

He felt that he was still in good health and could afford to wait.

Having eliminated Hai Ri's last remaining flaws from his mind, Danzo grew increasingly pleased with him, and even his tone of voice seemed less cold.

“All the official members of the Root who are not on duty hold a routine meeting at this time every weekend, so this is a good opportunity to introduce them to everyone.”

Danzo raised his hand in disappointment towards the audience.

Want to get to know each other?
It's probably to solidify her status as a member of the root organization!
Seeing through Danzo's thoughts, Hairi looked indifferently at the lifeless Root members below the stage.

She felt no psychological burden about joining the Roots.

First of all, she had no interest in the position of Hokage. Being a member of Root, whom everyone hated, was a political stain that was dispensable to her.

Secondly, Danzo's Kotoamatsukami was a universal protective charm for her. Joining Root could be said to have been controlled by Kotoamatsukami, not her own intention.

Finally, once she obtains the immortal body, she will not only be able to resolve the troubles caused by the gray bones, but she can also settle any disputes with those who disagree with her. At that time, great scholars will naturally come to debate with her.

"I am Ash Blossom, Danzo-sensei's newly accepted disciple, and I officially join the Root today."

Too lazy to deal with Danzo, Hairi's self-introduction was quite concise and clear.

The roots below remained silent, and the scene was completely still.

"Didn't you hear me?"

Danzo's cold voice echoed in the air, and the ninjas below were jolted awake. But when faced with the silver-haired girl on the platform, they looked at each other, unsure of how to respond.

"Greetings, Lord Hui Li!"

At the crucial moment, the most sensible Die shouted loudly and led the two people who were clutching their lower abdomens to bow and greet them from the high platform.

The three men's actions were prompted by the reminders of the others.

"Greetings, Lord Grey Glass!"
A sea of ​​heads bowed low, and the crowd greeted each other in unison. The emotionless greetings were so perfectly synchronized, as if they had been rehearsed, that they echoed through the empty, quiet room.

Judging by his age, Hui Li was far from being an adult. Looking down at the row of bowing ninjas below, he couldn't help but sigh, no wonder so many people were so obsessed with power.

This feeling is truly wonderful.

"how?
Your former teacher, Hiruzen Sarutobi, never treated you like this! He didn't even dare to publicly announce your relationship!

Leaning slightly forward, Danzo glanced at Kairi's expression, and his right kaleidoscope eye shone brightly once more.

The transparent Yin Release chakra was instantly activated, extending into illusory spikes that pierced into Gray Glass's brain.

After Kotoamatsukami is released, it cannot be used for a long period of time, but that does not mean that the eyes become useless.

Those who have been influenced by Kotoamatsukami will always have the power of Kotoamatsukami stored in their minds. As long as they use their eye power to activate it, they can influence the other person's will. The Kotoamatsukami in the right eye is no less powerful than that in the left eye. Although it does not have the eternal will modification, it can be remotely controlled in real time, making it more flexible and changeable than the left eye.

The combined use of both eyes is what makes Kotoamatsukami, hailed as the strongest illusion technique!
He gently shook his head in response.

Unaffected by the illusion and constantly observing the emotions above the other's head, Hairi, who was essentially taking an open-book exam, knew perfectly well what answer Danzo wanted to hear.

"Danzo-sensei is indeed better."

"Humph."

Having received a satisfactory answer, Danzo let out two soft hums, displaying extreme pleasure.

There is almost nothing in this world that would bring him more pleasure than having Hiruzen Sarutobi's carefully trained disciple call him "teacher" and admit that he is stronger than Sarutobi.

If there is such a thing, it would probably be that she betrays Sarutobi and helps him ascend to the position of Hokage.

"You guys go down first!"

After revealing Hairi's identity to the public, Danzo waved his hand and dismissed the tools below.

"Yes!"

The crowd answered in unison, and then various flashes of light from teleportation techniques left only three figures with their arms around each other, staggering towards the door.

"Ryoma."

"grown ups."

Upon hearing Danzo's voice, Ryoma Aburame, who had remained as still as an ice cube, turned to the side and lowered his head, his cold face devoid of any expression.

“Take her to the equipment department to get a set of Root uniform and mask, register her, and then send her to Chihaya to report.”

"Yes!"

Ryoma Aburame still looked as lifeless as ever.

Why isn't Dr. Chihaya in a meeting?

Upon hearing Chihaya Tohru's name, Hairi suddenly realized that Chihaya Tohru wasn't among the crowd below. Judging from their positions that day, she should have been a core member of Root.

"He has more important things to do. You'll find out after you register with Ryoma."

Danzo grinned, his smile indescribably sinister.

(End of this chapter)