Naruto: The Outsider's Resolve: CH_415: At All Cost

Fujita, with his team, arrived at what he could only call a fiery carnage. A long section of the road was burnt black with embers still burning red. The trees around the road had turned into dirty charcoal, replacing the clean scent with the choking smell of smoke.

As a Tokubetsu Jōnin, he knew it was the work of a B-rank Fire Release ninjutsu, making his heart beat faster. He wouldn't have been worried about the ANBU-nin, but if there was a B-rank jutsu involved, then either the bandits were strong enough to force the use of it, or the bandits themselves were capable enough to use one. Neither of those scenarios was good.

"You're finally here."

They spotted the ANBU-nin with a scorched mask, burnt clothes, and damaged gear. Everything on his body was barely hanging on. Surprisingly, his body was in the opposite condition, untouched by fire, as though he had put on the clothes after they were burnt. The only visible injury was his right arm, which he held close to his chest and had turned red from internal bleeding.

Without saying anything, the iryō-nin in the group rushed towards the ANBU-nin to treat him, but was stopped.

"A sling would do for now," said the ANBU-nin before pointing to the two men lying on the ground. "I want these to be put in an induced coma. It's imperative that these two don't wake until I say so. Can you do it? It's okay if you can't, but I need a straight answer."

The iryō-nin nervously gazed at the unconscious duo, and his horrified gaze stayed locked on the burnt corpse that lay some distance from the two men. He eventually tore his eyes from the dead and focused on the duo for an extended moment before nodding and saying that he could do it.

"Excellent," the ANBU-nin nodded and told the iryō-nin to proceed with the makeshit sling to take pressure off his injured arm.

Fujita, who had been listening, finally stepped up to find out more about what had happened. "Are you well? We should take care of you first. Why are you talking about induced comas?" he asked.

"Yes, I'm alright." The ANBU-nin turned around to glance at the rest of the group before returning to the unconscious duo. "These are your bandits, Tokubetsu Jōnin Fujita. Unfortunately, they also happen to be ROOT agents."

"R-ROOT?! As in Shimura Danzo's?" he asked in a whisper. The unexpected revelation was shocking enough that he forgot to feel joy and relief after hearing that the bandits who had been terrorising the trade route and had been the source of his problems were finally captured.

The ANBU-nin nodded. "They have complicated fūinjutsu branded on their bodies. There's a high chance they would end up like that if they woke up." He pointed at the burnt corpse that looked like a single touch would turn the hollowed bones into ash. "Our two options are either induced coma or amputations. And I'm sure you agree that the former is cleaner of the two."

Fujita nodded almost absentmindedly. He was struggling to believe or accept that he was involved in a plot conspired by ROOT. Were they targeting him specifically? Had he offended someone to make such powerful enemies?

"It's both of our best interests that we keep these men alive. I hope you will cooperate with me because this is important. I can't stress it enough." The ANBU-nin hissed in pain when the iryō-nin tied his arm into the sling.

"I'll make sure everything goes well," Fujita said before asking. "Did you do all of this?"

"Hmm? No, this was the agent's work."

Fujita was even more surprised. The ANBU-nin was either lucky or extremely competent to get out of the fight with only his arm injured.

The ANBU-nin thanked the iryō-nin for putting his injured into the sling and applying basic treatment.

"May I ask you a question?" whispered the ANBU-nin.

"Go ahead," Fujita nodded and stepped closer.

"Were you informed that I had gone out?"

"A guard at the gate noticed you leaving the outpost," Fujita replied. He didn't want to say that he had ordered everyone to keep an eye out for the ANBU-nin and report his movements. "I didn't think much about it until I saw the rising smoke—and came here as quickly as possible."

"Thank you. It makes things clear. Now, let's wrap up this whole thing and head back to the base," he said.

"Yes, we should. Please rest, I will take care..."

The ANBU-nin walked away mid-sentence and approached the group that had come along with Fujita, who noticed that everyone got nervous when the ANBU-nin walked towards them. He could empathise. The concept of ANBU itself was daunting and frightening. But out of everyone, Hyouma had the biggest reaction. He visibly flinched, dropped his cigarette, and looked nervous.

"Hmm?"

As his second-in-command, Fujita had asked Hyouma to stay at the outpost and handle things while he was out, but the man had insisted on coming along. He didn't have the time to ask why because he wanted to be quick, so he allowed it. The outpost wasn't going to collapse if both of them were out for a couple of hours at most. But it seemed there was something more going on.

So when the ANBU-nin suddenly sped up and lifted Hyouma by the neck. Everyone was surprised and looked at Fujita, who discreetly gestured to them to hold. He wanted to see where this was going.

"Urgh!" Hyouma tried to claw at the grip around his neck, but it didn't budge.

"I almost lost my arm because of this shit, you bastard," the ANBU-nin said, his voice dropping a few octaves.

Hyouma moved to kick the ANBU-nin's injured arm, but the ANBU-nin moved faster. He blocked the foot with his good arm before punching Hyouma in the throat before the latter could land on his feet. As Hyouma coughed from getting his airways blocked, the ANBU kicked him in the knee, making him kneel on the ground before kicking him directly in the face. Hyouma crashed and bounced on the ground for dozens of meters before stopping.

When Fujita saw the ANBU-nin walk towards Hyouma, he rushed to stop him. He didn't think Hyouma would be able to beat or escape the ANBU-nin, but the injury would make things drawn out, and he wanted to finish this cleanly. Not to mention, he felt the ANBU-nin would kill Hyouma if he didn't interfere.

He needed Hyouma to be alive as someone on whom to dump all the fault and punishment. Fujita didn't know what Hyouma had done, but if he was even at the slightest of fault, he would make the perfect scapegoat.

"Let me take care of this. You're injured," Fujita said as he gently put his hand on the ANBU-nin's shoulder.

The ANBU-nin stared at him with hidden emotions behind their eyes before nodding.

Fujita now knew one thing that he needed to do, and that was to ensure the ANBU-nin got everything he wanted.

———
.

Takuma moved his arm with a slight sting of pain. The combination of Earth Release: Earth Spear and chakra augmentation had worked perfectly. Just the fact that his arm was usable after some healing was proof of success.

"Training and live combat are different," he said to himself with a sigh.

He had trained the combination carefully so as not to injure his arm, slowly ramping up the augmentation to ensure he had things in control. The number of injuries due to mistakes was admirably low, even when he had tested the combination at full power. But those tests were done in controlled environments at ANBU facilities. Everything was different during live combat. He made a mistake in calculating the chakra and ended up tearing the muscles in his arm, shoulder, and even some in his chest.

He walked into the infirmary, where the two ROOT agents were kept in their state of induced coma. He didn't know much about the ROOT's version of the death-seal. He didn't know if an extended induced coma qualified as a trigger condition, but seeing that it had been a day and they hadn't died, he figured they were safe.

"I still can't believe that they're ROOT agents," Fujita said before frowning.

"Something troubling you?"

"They look so... normal."

"They are and they are not," said Takuma. He understood where the man was coming from. If most people never saw an ANBU-nin in their lives, then practically no one ever saw a ROOT agent. Until recently, most people weren't even aware of their existence. When there was almost no information available, people began creating their own interpretations or images based on what little they had.

"What do you mean?"

"They are still human, they are still shinobi—just like you and me. And yet, their life experiences—the thing that makes us who we are—are completely different. Perhaps that's what makes them foreign; what makes them agents."

He didn't think he had a good life since he had found himself in this world. Compared to who he was before, no one would blame him if he claimed this life to be hell. But when he thought about ROOT agents, he wondered if he had it so bad. Since joining Itachi's initiative, he had been given access to the department's information about ROOT. He had learned about the incomplete information they had about how ROOT trained its agents.

It was brutal to say the least. It was difficult to raise competent, self-thinking shinobi who were single-mindedly dedicated to a sole cause, which was to serve Shimaru Danzo and whatever agenda he was pursuing for the Hidden Leaf's "benefit", without making them unthinking shinobi. Unthinking soldiers had their value, but to be successful agents, they needed agents who could make decisions by themselves in tough situations.

He had only been suffering for a couple of years, but for most agents, they had been subjected to a limited life with no freedom for much longer, as they were "nurtured" into ideal agents with only a sole goal to serve the cult, which was ROOT.

If difficult times created tough men, then the agents were probably tougher than him.

However, unlike the agents, who would lay their lives for the cause, Takuma held on to life with every fibre of his being. If something required to die, then he wasn't doing something right. He just needed to find a way to succeed while staying alive.

And that's why, even if they were tougher, he was going to be better.

He was going to survive, no matter what.

Anyone who came in his way, he was going to wipe them out.