The sky above the Hidden Leaf hung heavy with clouded silence.
It had been three days since Arashi Hatake walked away from the crater where he defeated Ashfall—Danzo's last monster. The boy now lay in a deep chakra-stasis field under constant Uzumaki seal surveillance, and even the ANBU were forbidden to approach without Arashi's approval.
For the village, it was a quiet time.
But Arashi knew better.
This kind of silence wasn't peace.
It was planning.
And someone out there—likely a Root survivor—was planning something very dangerous.
The meeting room in the Namikaze estate was lit dimly, warded from all external chakra detection. Around the table sat Minato, Kushina, Hiashi Hyūga, Uchiha Naori, and Arashi himself. None of them wore standard Leaf attire.
This wasn't an official Hokage strategy session.
This was damage control.
"I traced the last known Root seals," Arashi said, sliding a scroll across the table. "There are still three active bunkers, and one of them is leaking chakra. They've either lost control of a subject, or they're attempting another experiment."
"They never stop," Naori said flatly. "Even with Danzo dead."
"They don't know how," Arashi replied. "Danzo trained his survivors to view inaction as betrayal. Even now, they'll justify whatever they're doing by claiming it's for the Leaf's future."
Minato glanced at the seal patterns, frowning. "You're saying they might be building another Ashfall?"
"I'm saying we need to eliminate every remaining Root faction before they decide to start a civil war."
Hiashi leaned forward. "You want to lead the strike?"
"I already started it," Arashi said coldly. "Two bunkers are silent. No survivors."
Silence fell over the room.
"You went alone?" Kushina asked.
Arashi didn't answer.
Naori gave a soft chuckle. "Of course he did."
Later that night, Arashi stood at the top of the old Root annex building, the one now marked for demolition. Below, Konoha citizens passed by unaware of what horrors once lived under their feet. Torture chambers, cloning vaults, soul-binding tools—all of it hidden behind smiling walls and spotless streets.
He clenched the scroll in his hand.
The last bunker was the hardest.
It was inside the Fire Daimyō's personal territory.
Danzo had buried it deep within political protection. Raiding it would violate every rule of Leaf diplomacy.
But Arashi had never cared for rules when lives were at stake.
The next morning, Arashi stood in front of the Hokage's desk. Minato listened in silence as he explained the risks.
"You'll be acting without any Leaf clearance."
"I know."
"If this fails, the Fire Lord could declare you a rogue."
"I'm already a ghost, Minato. The only difference is whether the story gets told."
Minato sighed. "Do you even want backup?"
"No."
"But you'll need a team."
"I have one."
Minato blinked. "You do?"
Behind Arashi, three figures entered the office.
Naori Uchiha.
Yui.
Kakashi.
"I didn't approve this," Arashi muttered.
Naori shrugged. "You're not the only one who can move in silence."
Kakashi glanced at Minato. "Sorry, Sensei. But I'm not letting him do this alone again."
Yui remained quiet, her eyes hollow but focused. "They made me into a tool. I'd like to see the ones who created me… broken."
Minato looked at the four of them. One ANBU commander. One Uchiha elite. One broken survivor. One silent legend.
"Go," he said. "End this."
The journey to the hidden Root facility was fast, silent, and brutal.
Each step was calculated.
Each tree passed under the shadow of old sins.
As they approached the border of the Fire Lord's private mountain estate, Naori activated her Sharingan. "Multiple chakra nodes. These aren't guards—they're linked."
"Explosive failsafes," Arashi said. "If any one of them dies, the rest trigger."
Yui stepped forward. "Let me."
She placed a scroll on the ground, fingers glowing with seal resonance. Her chakra spread outward like mist, bypassing the trigger glyphs and gently nullifying their bindings.
One by one, the chakra nodes went dark.
"I used to build these," she whispered. "I remember the pain it took to learn how."
Kakashi said nothing. He just gave her a nod.
The entrance to the bunker was under a fake garden, a koi pond that drained into a spiral stairwell.
They descended in silence.
The air grew colder. The light dimmer.
Finally, they entered the heart of the facility.
It was worse than expected.
Dozens of pods lined the walls—children, suspended in modified stasis tanks. Chakra siphoning tubes ran from their spines into a central generator, humming with stolen life.
"They're growing them," Naori said. "Not just training."
Arashi stepped forward, reading the main scrolls pinned across the control panels.
"Project: White Willow."
He turned to the others.
"They were trying to recreate the Uchiha gene line artificially. Mixing Hyūga eyes with Uchiha chakra... they were building a controlled bloodline army."
Yui's voice broke. "They were going to replace us."
Arashi clenched his fists.
"This ends now."
He placed a series of seal tags across the main console, then turned to the group.
"Kakashi, get the children out. Yui, purge the memory archives. Naori…"
"I'll deal with the guards," she said, already unsheathing her blade.
Ten minutes later, the facility began to collapse.
Arashi was the last to leave.
He didn't look back as the fire consumed the structure.
By morning, a classified report was filed under a black-coded seal:
"Remaining Root Factions: Eliminated. Project White Willow: Destroyed. Survivors: 26 children, all stable. No witnesses. No records. The Leaf is clean."
—A.H.
That night, back at the Namikaze estate, Arashi sat alone beneath the plum tree, cleaning his blade.
Kakashi joined him in silence.
"They'll never know what you did," he said.
"I don't care."
"They should."
"They shouldn't have to."
Kakashi nodded slowly.
"Still… you saved them. Again."
Arashi didn't respond.
He just stared at the moon, and said quietly:
"One day, I'll stop cleaning up their messes."
But that day was not today.
To be continued…