I will use the ninja world to aid my cultivation of immortality.

The personnel at each level are not randomly distributed, but follow the hierarchical system of the root organization.

The bottom floor consists of training class members, the second floor is for reserve members, the third floor is for official members and captains, and the fourth floor is for Danzo and his right and left hands.

Naraku, one of the reserve members, is currently also located on the second-floor corridor.

He leaned against the wall with his arms crossed, his eyes slightly closed, as if he were resting.

As for the other reserve members on the same level.

Some, like Naraku, waited quietly for the assessment to begin, while others huddled together and whispered among themselves.

"Are these the top ten in the training program this year? They look quite impressive."

"They're just young and fearless. After the assessment and exam, they'll know the real gap between them."

"Don't say that. You know, every year during the assessment, some of us are eliminated."

"Tch, those who were knocked down were just a bunch of incompetent trash. If anyone challenges me later, I'll make sure they know the consequences of doing so."

"."

At this time, although there were only ten people in the training class at the bottom level, it does not mean that the training class only had ten people.

There were only ten people, simply because the training class had already held a competition before the assessment.

The ten people currently on the field are the best of the best who have emerged from the large number of trainees, and can be called the ten strongest trainees in the training program this year.

However, even the ten strongest in the training class.

From the perspective of the reserve members who are one level above the training class, many of them still have a disdainful attitude when looking down at the ten training class members below them.

"Lord Danzo, apart from those who are on missions in the field, everyone else has assembled!"

On the fourth-floor corridor, the person to Danzo's right turned around and respectfully asked for instructions.

Danzo's left and right hands are called Root Guardians within the Root organization.

At this point in time, the person in charge of the Root Guard is not the same person as Yamanaka Fu and Aburame Torune from the later part of the original storyline.

However, it is possible that these two clans reached some kind of cooperation with Danzo, so during this period, the Root Guards were still ninjas from the Aburame and Yamanaka clans.

The Aburame clan member is Ryoma Aburame, who appeared in the original story and worked with Orochimaru.

The person from the Yamanaka clan is the one who is now asking Danzo for instructions.

This person looked to be in his thirties, with a ponytail common among the mountain tribes, and his name was Yamanaka Hayabusa.

"Okay, let's begin!"

Danzo calmly looked down at the Root members on each floor below, nodding slightly in response.

Seeing this, Yamanaka Hayato did not hesitate and immediately took on the role of examiner for this assessment. He shouted to the crowd in the square, "The assessment is now beginning. The rules are the same as before, with the training class starting the challenges."

I heard the assessment begin.

Everyone on each floor immediately focused their attention.

Naraku, who was leaning against the wall on the second floor, slowly opened his eyes.

"It's finally starting. I was getting a little bored while waiting."

He glanced up at Danzo and the other two on the fourth floor, then naturally looked away and calmly looked back at the plaza.

Strength is paramount; this is a fundamental principle in any organization.

With Yamanaka Hayato's announcement, the first of the ten trainees to take the stage was number 1, who was the strongest.

Like the Dark Division, members of Root also have their own code names.

Like Naraku, whose codename is Oni (demon).

The code name comes from his name.

Whether in the Naruto world or Naraku's past life, the word Naraku represents hell.

What's most abundant in hell? Ghosts, of course.

Let's talk about the code name for the training class.

Since they weren't true members of the Root organization, the people in the training program were all given codenames with numbers.

The size of the number also determines one's strength and status in the training program.

When Number 1 stepped forward, the other nine members of the training team tacitly retreated to the edge of the square, giving the space to Number 1.

Number 1's sharp gaze swept across the second floor, finally settling on the face of one of the people.

"The person I want to challenge is a ghost!"

Because it was inside the base, and due to the requirements of the assessment, everyone was only wearing combat uniforms and did not wear masks.

The person Number 1 was looking at at that moment was none other than Naraku.

Having been chosen by Number 1, the rest of the Root organization instinctively looked towards Naraku.

This also includes Nonou, located on the third floor.

"Naraku's strength within the organization has always been at the mid-level of the reserve force, so the possibility of him being challenged is not very high."

However, he had been staying in the comfortable ninja academy for the past six months, which made him an easy target for others.

When Nono saw that the first person to be challenged was Naraku, she looked at Naraku calmly, just like the others.

At the same time, she quickly made a judgment in her mind.

Although No. 1 is the top student in the training class, she is not worried about this challenge because she knows Nairo's abilities.

brush!

Naraku is very direct.

Although he was surprised to be chosen first, he was not too surprised and immediately used the Body Flicker Technique to land in the field below.

"We've been taken for a fool."

He was once just like he is now, challenging the reserves as the number 1 in the training class.

Now that it was his turn to be the challenger for Training Class Number 1, Naraku felt a mix of emotions.

But despite the feelings, what needs to be done still needs to be done.

Staring at Number 1 opposite him, Naraku drew the katana from his back.

Being looked down upon did not anger him.

They will not expose their strength because of this.

After all, conquering the "Seal of the Root of Tongue Disaster" would take some time, and he didn't want to add any more variables.

"let's start!"

Seeing Naraku enter the arena after being challenged, Yamanaka Hayato wasted no time and immediately announced the start of the battle.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh~~~

No sooner had the words been spoken than Number 1 launched the operation.

He gathered chakra in his feet and charged towards Naraku at high speed, while simultaneously unleashing a barrage of shuriken from both hands, aiming directly at Naraku's vital points.

The glint of the blade was dazzling.

Faced with incoming shuriken, Naraku would either dodge them or cleave them with his katana.

When the last shuriken was cleaved in two, Number 1 successfully reached the vicinity.

He held a kunai in each hand and launched a swift and fierce attack on Naraku.

Ding ding ding! ! !

Sparks flew.

The blade and the kunai collided multiple times over several breaths.

Naraku blocked No. 1's attacks time and time again, then suddenly exerted his strength, wielding his katana and forcing his opponent back with a single strike.

Chapter 19 Better to die than be unfree

They did not pursue them.

Naraku, in an attempt to create an opportunity to attack, pulled back a short distance, tossing his katana into the air while simultaneously forming hand seals in front of him.

"Thunder Escape·Earth Walk!"

Naraku stopped and, having completed the hand seals, slammed his hands on the ground, unleashing bolts of lightning that swept across the ground towards Number 1.

It's lightning release, not lightning magic.

Naraku naturally did not use his true energy.

Even so, his use of lightning techniques is now vastly different from what it used to be.

That was precisely to conceal his intentions; otherwise, even if he had only used chakra, he could have easily suppressed Number 1 during their initial encounter.

The same applies to lightning release techniques nowadays.

Not only did they control the output of chakra, but they also deliberately slowed down the release speed of lightning release.