Kaoi, now known as Shinsuke Akasaka, is 33 years old. He lives in the area around the Konoha Ninja Hospital and works as a medical supplies dispatcher in the logistics department. He goes to work and gets off work on time every day, leading a very regular life.
On the surface, he is an ordinary and common staff member, but secretly, he is an undercover agent from the Cloud Hidden Village.
Three years after another, until now, he has never been discovered.
The reason why Kaoi became an undercover agent was not because of his status as a medical ninja, but because of his naturally fair skin, which withstood the scorching sun of the Cloud Hidden Village without turning swarthy.
He doesn't dislike dark - skinned big sisters, but unfortunately, he was unlucky enough to be selected and sent to Konoha as an undercover agent.
Fortunately, the time is almost right.
As long as he accomplishes a few more great feats, he will have a chance to return to the Cloud Hidden Village.
After entering the general administrative area of the Hokage Building, Kaoi greeted people with a smile all the way and arrived at the logistics department.
After entering the door, he noticed a strange colleague.
Kaoi sniffed. His sharp intuition told him that this person was not ordinary.
He seemed to be from the Anbu or Root.
He had lived here for six years and was already very familiar with these two departments.
After all, if he made a mistake, he would be caught by them.
Normally, Anbu or Root ninjas would not come to the logistics department.
Unless... they were back to work after getting the sack.
Kaoi immediately remembered the big event that had shaken Konoha some time ago and shocked all the undercover agents: the disbandment of Root.
All the undercover agents agreed that there was someone behind the scenes.
They had never seen a large - scale event involving thousands of people like that.
But unfortunately, no one could find any clues.
Putting that aside, Kaoi was actually quite grateful to that person.
You know, for undercover agents in Konoha, the most feared were Root and Tanzo Shimura.
Now that Root had stopped its activities, it was really convenient for them.
It was just a pity that the Anbu was still unaffected; otherwise, they could have caused a big stir.
Kaoi didn't approach him immediately.
He returned to his seat and, after referring to a lot of information, confirmed that this new colleague named Osamu Matsuoka was originally from Root.
However, he was on the periphery and had no significant records of misbehavior, so he was assigned to the logistics department.
Kaoi got acquainted with him quickly through work.
As an undercover agent, he couldn't miss any clues.
Normally, it was very difficult and dangerous for him to contact Root members.
He decided to take a chance.
So on Saturday, under the pretext of welcoming the new colleague, he invited him to have a meal and drink at a barbecue restaurant.
"Come on, Matsuoka, drink!"
The atmosphere in the private room was lively.
Kaoi raised his glass and enthusiastically pulled Matsuoka.
His face was flushed from the fine wine, but the other guy clearly couldn't hold his liquor and was even more red - faced, his whole face glowing red.
"Let me tell you, I really admire the colleagues from Root! They're so imposing and heroic!"
Kaoi kept plying him with drinks and buttering him up.
Soon, Matsuoka was in seventh heaven.
"Brother Matsuoka, can you try to get some inside info about Root?"
Seeing that the time was right, Kaoi started his attempt. "It's a pity that due to various reasons, I didn't manage to join Root. I hope Brother Matsuoka can fulfill my dream."
"Sure!"
Matsuoka took a bite of the barbecue and started talking.
He had been in a funk ever since Root was disbanded.
After all, being a part of Root, even on the periphery, was quite intimidating, and he relished the awed looks from others.
But now that he'd been transferred to the logistics department, he no longer had such opportunities.
Since he'd met a colleague who admired Root, he had to tell some stories about his heroic past.
Kaoi soon found it all rather tiresome.
Is that all?
As expected, he was just a peripheral figure, knowing even less than Kaoi did.
No wonder he'd ended up in the logistics department.
There's an expression that the logistics department is a place for retirement.
It's easy to see how little Osamu Matsuoka was liked.
"Anything else?" Kaoi asked, not quite satisfied.
"Yes!" Osamu Matsuoka chugged down a glass of sake and started another story.
Kaoi's expression changed slightly when he heard the name Kushina Uzumaki.
Because of The Second Great Ninja War, Haruki's three apprentices had all achieved different degrees of fame.
Minato Namikaze was the most well - known, followed by Mikoto Uchiha, and finally, this survivor of the Uzumaki clan.
It was rumored that her Sealing Technique was quite impressive.
But that was about it.
"Kushina Uzumaki is Lord Haruki's apprentice, right? It seems your Root is quite interested in her. Why?"
"Ah... burp..." Hearing the question, Osamu Matsuoka lowered his voice. "I'm telling you, but you can't tell anyone. A colleague of mine said that she seems to be a Candidate for the Nine - Tailed Fox Jinchuriki in Konoha."
Kaoi's body jolted.
Big news!
His chance to get promoted and make a fortune had come.
...
Before Minato Namikaze and the other two headed to the Metropolis in the Land of Fire, Haruki had one more crucial thing to do.
A Study session.
Teaching the members of the Xia Organization.
After a few days of preparation, he'd prepared the teaching materials for the first lesson.
It was another sunny day.
Under the blue sky, a ship sailed silently.
Before the class, Haruki told Minato and the other two that they'd be able to go to the Metropolis in the Land of Fire in a couple of days.
Minato, who'd been informed in advance, was the calmest.
Mikoto, due to her personality, had no objections to going out on duties.
Kushina, however, reacted the most strongly. It wasn't that she didn't want to go; it was that she was overjoyed.
She'd long wanted to go out and have some fun.
"Alright, let's start the class."
Haruki patted Kushina on the head and told her to sit down and stop bouncing around.
"Okay."
Kushina quickly composed herself and obediently went back to Mikoto's side.
Oh!
She knew how to behave in such a serious setting.
Haruki knocked on the table to get everyone's attention.
Before today, he'd never directly answered the real reason for establishing the Xia Organization.
One reason was that he was afraid the revolutionary concept was too advanced for this world, and the other was that he was afraid of making mistakes in the process of conveying it and bringing shame to the great people.
But he also understood that if he didn't explain, the problem would always remain.
The truth becomes clearer through debate.
Haruki now believed he had sufficient ability to get things back on track even if there were deviations.
"At the first meeting of the Xia Organization, I stated that the goal of our organization is to provide everyone with an equal opportunity.
I know you all have some doubts in your hearts. Why do we need to do this?"
We are all ninjas. Normally, all we need to do is abide by the ninja code and complete our duties.
But are other things really none of our business?
I wasn't born in Konoha but into an ordinary family in the Land of Fire.
I was supposed to become a merchant or a farmer, but due to the last ninja war, my family was destroyed.
During the days of wandering, I've seen too many innocent people lose their lives and loved ones because of ninjas.
They were unable to resist and died miserably.
These cruel scenes will stay with me forever.
What's even more cruel is that wars will keep happening in the future.
Ninjas clearly possess more powerful power, but why do they always contribute to the killing?
This was the first time Haruki talked about his past.
In his previous life in the Flowering Clan, he was lucky enough not to experience war and thus couldn't truly understand its cruelty.
But in this life, he has witnessed the so - called hell on earth.
The education Haruki received in the Flowering Clan and his modern - day thinking gave him the idea of a revolution.
Besides that, there is also the influence of traditional culture.
Like most people in the Flowering Clan, he also had the aspiration of 'When in poverty, take good care of oneself; when in prosperity, bring benefits to the world'.