Chapter 1302: The Will of Root

The operating room was filled with the cold scent of disinfectant.

On the cold surgical table lay a body that had long since cooled down — Aburame Ryuma.

Though he was not well-known to the outside world, he was one of Konoha’s elite Jonin, occupying a high position. His birth dates back to the same period as the Sannin, and he once worked alongside one of them, Orochimaru. But now, he could only become precious experimental material on a surgical table.

“Even in the freezer, there aren’t many corpses of ninja from the Aburame clan. A ninja corpse like Aburame Ryuma has even greater research value.”

Hakushi merely glanced briefly, instantly assessing the uniqueness of Aburame Ryuma’s body.

This is a common trait of the Aburame Clan of Konoha.

Able to cultivate their bodies into an ‘insect nest,’ allowing various ninja insects to reside within, their diverse methods make them hold a substantial position in Konoha.

Although Aburame Ryuma was not famous, even most of his clan didn’t know such a figure existed within their family, he could be considered the strongest ninja in the current Aburame Clan.

Unfortunately, once the intelligence was revealed, the calculations became very easy.

After all, who would be wary of someone who has already died?

This was the reason for Aburame Ryuma’s failed and fatal end.

“Thank you for your hard work, have you dissected this body? Just provide me with a copy of the data later.”

Hakushi said to the woman in the witch’s attire standing beside him.

“Yes.”

Yakushi Nonou nodded.

For families like the Aburame Clan, with inherited secret techniques, the corpses of their deceased members are invaluable treasures.

The Land of Demons wouldn’t let them go.

“Unfortunately, we can only explore the secrets of Aburame Ryuma’s body. It seems impossible to extract the Aburame Clan’s insect nurturing methods. His brain has been devoured by insects, and his memory system is completely destroyed.”

Nonou regretted it.

“It’s okay, the Aburame Clan has been standing strong in the Ninja Realm for so long, surely they have their defenses.”

It’s very difficult for a clan’s secret techniques to be leaked.

To prevent such leaks, ninja clans impose restrictions on their members, ensuring that even in death, their enemies gain no valuable intelligence.

The foundation of a ninja clan lies in the inheritance of their secret techniques and kekkeigenkai.

If too many people knew or trained in the same secret techniques, the status of the ninja clan would be challenged.

Compared to kekkeigenkai ninja clans, clans with secret techniques find it easier for their ninja techniques to be leaked.

Once the complete system of secret technique inheritance is exposed, the clan’s standing in the ninja village becomes precarious.

Such matters didn’t change even during the most open-minded era of Konoha’s Second Hokage.

Therefore, Konoha is the domain of the ninja clans.

These ninja clans are the real controllers of Konoha.

The Hokage is also jointly recommended as the ‘leader’ by the ninja clans.

“Is your arm alright now?”

Hakushi looked at Nonou’s intact arms.

He knew that to deal with Aburame Ryuma, Nonou had deliberately sacrificed an arm, luring Ryuma into the trap.

“It’s much better now, though there’s still some discomfort. After resting for a while, I’ll fully recover.”

Nonou did not feel it was a loss.

Exchanging one arm for the life of the Deputy Commander of Root was well worth it.

Hakushi nodded. Arm reattachment was not a difficult task for the well-developed medical systems of the Land of Demons.

Even other ninja villages could achieve this, though not as effortlessly as the Land of Demons.

“Take a break domestically in January next year, then go out for missions in early February. You’ll need to make a trip to the Land of Hot Water. Although the Evil God Cult is destroyed, it seems there’s still some ‘Divine Son’ at large. Check it out and see if you can find anything.”

“Divine Son?”

Nonou’s expression was peculiar.

She knew a bit about the Land of Hot Water’s matters, but she’d never heard of the Evil God Cult or a living Divine Son.

However, a Divine Son raised by such a murderous cult is estimated to be a murder maniac himself, delighting in killing.

“I’m not too sure either, it’s just pieced together from scattered rumors. After all, the intelligence network in the Land of Hot Water isn’t fully established, so it’s fine if you can’t find anything. If he really exists, he would leave traces when he kills.”

After killing, followers of the Evil God Cult would leave their cult’s unique symbols at the scene.

The Divine Son would likely leave similar marks, symbolizing worship of the Evil God.

“Understood, if I find him, I’ll eliminate him.”

“The high-ranking bodies in the Evil God Cult have very strong life force and strange chakra characteristics, resembling monsters like Moryo… be careful.”

Hakushi cautioned.

In battle reports, high-ranking members of the Evil God Cult, even when their hearts were pierced with blades or their chests blasted open, kept moving, driven into a bloodthirsty state due to excessive bleeding.

It’s believed the Divine Son is the same, possibly possessing a more troublesome resistance to injury than the sect leader of the Evil God Cult.

Hakushi suspected that members of the Evil God Cult’s leadership are already semi-human, semi-demonic entities.

The only known method for definitively killing high-level members of the Evil God Cult is beheading, as they wouldn’t fall no matter how severe the injuries inflicted.