Mentality

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

The sound of dripping water broke me out of my unconsciousness.

It's been four months since Danzo had taken me into his Root.

These past four months have been a living hell.

After knocking me out, Danzo proceeded to take me into his interrogation room and, well, interrogate me.

At first, he used physical torture. Punching, slapping, and breaking fingers and bones.

He didn't get too hardcore like I thought he would have, maybe because I was still a child.

Even though I was subjected to enormous pain, I held out. If I cracked, then everything would go to waste. I would either be killed or worse. The only that I could go out of this situation was by resolving myself to face whatever pain Danzo will throw at me.

Still, since that had no results, he started trying to brainwash me. His Yamanaka Root was apparently out on a mission, a long one, which was quite fortunate for me.

So, for now, Danzo only employed the methods he would use against ordinary members of the Root to try and brainwash them: everything from hypnotizing me to flashing pictures of himself and then of my friends.

The goal was to make me view him the way I viewed my friends by confusing my mind with the images.

That method was largely unsuccessful, though. I didn't have anyone I saw as important enough to die for. Naruto, Shikamaru, Lee, and Choji were my friends, but still, I wouldn't follow what they said for no reason. As for Shikaku and the Third Hokage, I barely even knew the two.

Danzo even tried showing me pictures of the Matriach, but that was even more unsuccessful. I was grateful to her, but I wasn't fearful.

Seeing that his attempts weren't working, Danzo temporarily gave up. Instead, thinking about my talents, I assumed, he started training me. He said he would wait until his "loyal member" came back before continuing my "initiation".

He gave me the usual Root outfit and gave me a new codename, "Kira".

It's supposed to translate into "killer".

Before throwing me into the field though, he first threw me into training.

For the past two months, I would train from the break of dawn till the night. Kenjutsu was the main focus of my training, along with Taijutsu and Ninjutsu. As for Genjutsu, well, that was thrown out of the window.

I trained under a Root member, who just watched me train emotionlessly. When he deemed it necessary, he would instruct me and point out my mistakes, though most of the time all he did was gaze at me.

The only benefit from all this was that my strength improved by leaps and bounds. Under the tutelage of a Root member, my Kenjutsu improved the most. Even though I was doing fine on my own, that was only against untrained and unarmed animals.

When I first sparred against the Root member, I was surprised at how useless my techniques were.

They were too flashy, or at least too wasteful of my movement.

When fighting an animal, I didn't have to pay attention to swinging too wide since the animal had no intelligence. They couldn't read my stance or counterattack.

But against another skilled sword user, I was too wasteful in my movements.

My Kenjutsu now was much more polished than before and focused on fighting other humans, which is what I wanted.

My Ninjutsu and Taijutsu had similar improvements. With the seemingly unlimited amount of Ninjutsu the Root provided me with, my repertoire grew swiftly. Before, I only had two Water Release techniques, while now, I have 3 Earth Releases, 4 Water Releases, and 2 Lightning Releases.

They were mostly D and C-rank, but still, I had much more versatility than before.

I also learned the B-rank Jutsu, Earth Release: Earth Wall, and the Root member trained me in coating my sword with lightning chakra.

I was only able to learn the two techniques since I had Chunin-levels of chakra, while other B-rank jutsu were more chakra-demanding.

Still, these two techniques increased my strength by quite a bit. I could coat my tanto with lightning chakra, albeit briefly since I wasn't proficient in it yet. I also had a defensive Jutsu, something I'd been lacking for a while.

My other Ninjutsu was similarly useful, ranging from escape techniques such as the Earth Release: Hiding Like a Mole Technique to trapping techniques such as the Water Release: Water Prison Technique.

I was still the best in the Water Release: Gunshot and Water Release: Hiding in Mist Technique, but the influx of Ninjutsu vastly increased my survivability.

As for my Taijutsu, the Root ninja subjected me to sparring every day. I call it sparring, but it was more a one-sided beatdown from the Root member rather than an equal match.

I focused on developing my own Taijutsu technique now. Getting inspiration from One Punch Man, I focused on developing the Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist martial art that Bang and Garou used.

It was the ultimate defensive technique which had a perfect balance between offense and defense. I realized how foolish it would be to focus purely on offense when defense made up the other half of the battle.

If I could have defended myself against the Root ninja who caught me, then I wouldn't be in this situation in the first place.

My efforts in recreating the technique were somewhat successful but weren't enough for me to proclaim a new martial art. Eventually, however, I will bring the Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist to the forefront of the Shinobi world.

My strength was cemented in the low Chunin ranks, while my chakra reserves grew by the day.

Back to the present, I woke up dully, ready for another day of training.

No matter how strong my mind was, I felt my emotions numbing after all this training. I haven't even spoken to anyone in the past two months.

I simply trained.

At least before, when I did train for the day, it was my own choice. I could rest, collect my thoughts, and choose what direction I wanted to take in my training.

Afterward, I might reward myself with some Ichiraku ramen or hang out with friends.

Now, I had no freedom to do any of that. The only person I saw was an emotionless person, and all I ate was three helpings of bread and meat every day. I followed instructions all day, speaking and seeing no one.

I had no time to rest. All I did was train, spar, and train some more. I could see how Danzo trained his Root members to become so emotionless. I knew from the show that he also made them kill their best friends, further eliminating any trace of humanity from them.

At this point, I was even looking forward to the day that Danzo would start sending me out on missions.

The only thing that kept most of my emotions in check was meditation. That was the short window during the day where I was to myself.

It was freeing to say the least.

I even gained access to my mindscape.

The mindscape was a subconscious part of my brain which represented my mind. In the show, Naruto had similarly gained access to his mindscape, except his was different. His mindscape was a sewer that held the Nine-Tails within it.

On the other hand, my mindscape was in a grassy field filled with massive trees. The trees towered over everything, but some of them were starting to wilt. I assumed these trees were being eroded either due to this training or due to time.

After I gained access to my mindscape, I altered it by meditating. My mindscape was a representation of my mind after all, and by meditating I could change it.

Now when I went into my mindscape, lush green trees surrounded by shrubbery and bushes came into view.

The trees were very compact, and they extended to the sky.

The mindscape also contained all my memories. Every tree represented a memory of mine. In the show, Naruto's sewer mindscape was a maze.

There were a lot of doors that he skipped over to get to the Kyuubi, and in those doors were probably all his memories.

For me, these trees represented my memories, both from this life and my past life. If a Yamanaka were to have access to my mind, they can have a leisurely walk in the forest while reading my memories.

I couldn't let that happen.

That's why over the past two months, I had to change the trees that represented my past life. Instead of them being lush tall trees or withering ones, I altered them into branches on the shrubbery.

The shrubbery was the best place to place my memories since it was the most chaotic. The shrubbery was littered with tiny inconsequential memories, so many that I doubted anyone could read all of them.

I put the most essential memories, ones that I shouldn't have, in the shrubbery, while keeping the general stuff in the trees. I also altered memories that had thoughts of me mentioning or thinking "the Naruto world" or anything that referenced the show. It was a weird experience, separating these thoughts from their memories, but since they were all in my mind it didn't matter where I put them.

I made sure to put a lot of Aizen's memories in the shrubbery as well, lest someone takes a look at them and sees a completely different person.

After renovating my mindscape, I felt my mind grow sturdier. I felt like, no matter what, I wouldn't lose myself to this lifestyle even if it kept going for years. I had more control over my mind.

Along with a stronger mind, my Yin energy received a substantial boost in quantity. My Yin energy increased from the sturdier mindscape and the experiences that I've had over the past few months. My chakra reserves received a boost in levels, and now my chakra reached the level of high Chunin.

"Wake up. Time for breakfast."

I got up from my bed and exited the achromic room, only to be greeted by more colorless surroundings.

The Root ninja in front of me had a bowl filled with bread and meat, which he handed me before submerging himself in the darkness.

I took the food and went back into my room.

While consuming the rough and tasteless bread, I started thinking about what I could do to get out of my situation. Even if I could take this treatment for years, I didn't want to. I wanted to return to normal civilization, be able to eat what I wanted, and have freedom again.

There wasn't much I could think of, though. The headquarters were filled with Jonin-level shinobi, along with Danzo who was Kage-level. I only just reached the level of strength belonging to a low Chunin ninja, which was far from enough to compete with anyone here.

The only thing I could think to do is increase my strength slowly and gradually. One day, when I have the opportunity for freedom, I would jump at it.

For now, though, I had to be patient. Maybe I would even escape some other way.

The only plausible way I could escape on my own, however, is if I had access to the outside. That meant that I had to have access to missions so that I could leave the headquarters.

There was only one problem with that plan. Danzo would never let me leave unless he believed I had bought into his indoctrination. I'd have to make him believe that he truly brainwashed me and I was a loyal Root member.

Even that plan had flaws, though. Danzo and everyone in this place was experienced shinobi who had seen their fair share of disguises and deceit. I didn't think a half-ass lie from me would be able to convince any of them.

The only way I'd be able to trick any of them was if I did become brainwashed, though that was not an option.

"Stop eating. Time for training."

Getting up, the Root ninja and I proceeded to walk to the training grounds. Every day, they moved me to a different one, and if I did see a repeated training ground there would be signs that someone else had trained there.

"Start your Kenjutsu training."

Throwing me a tanto, the Root ninja instructed me to start.

The tanto was the only weapon they allowed me to use here. Every Root ninja themselves were proficient with the tanto since it was mainly used for assassinations and close-quarter combat.

"Your stance is too wide. Adjust it."

Listening to him, I closed my stance a bit more and continue training. The only reason why I would take advice from him is that when I did follow his instructions, I felt my swings carry more power and speed than before, which meant he was truly helping me out.

Continuing the training for the day, I was only allowed to stop when he allowed me to do.

"Stop. Next, we will begin your Ninjutsu training."

Rubbing my quivering arms, I began making the hand seal for the Water Release: Gunshot Jutsu.

Out of my mouth came a van-sized water bullet. It grew more than before, even though it's been a short few months since I started training. Eventually, I would get the Jutsu to be bigger than a house.

The bullet continued to hit the tree, which proceeded to explode. After that Jutsu, I cast the Hiding in Mist Technique, which took more chakra than normal since I was only using the moisture in the air with no water source around.

The area around me became filled with fog until it reached a 20-meter range, at which time I heard something cutting the air from behind me.

Stepping to the side, I barely dodged a kunai hurled at me from the Root ninja.

The Root guy kept throwing kunai at me, and I got knicked in several places before he finally stopped.

"You need to work on your reaction speed. How are you going to fight in the mist if you can't even dodge the kunai properly?"

After saying that, he started throwing kunai again until he ran out. By that time, I was panting as I surveyed my body, which was bloody in several places.

No kunai impaled me, but a good amount had grazed me.

"Now, continue your Ninjutsu training."

"Ram, Dog, Ox, Snake, Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"

I molded material from my chakra and spewed it from my mouth. The material quickly hardened when it landed on the ground until it formed a five-by-five meter wall in front of me.

Before I could rejoice at my creation, the Root ninja took his tanto filled with lightning chakra and cut it in half.

"Again. This didn't have an even distribution of chakra."

That was how the Ninjutsu training went until he told me to recharge my chakra for a bit.

"Time to keep going. Now it's taijutsu training. Get ready."

Before I could catch my breath, the Root ninja dashed toward me and started kicking me. Dodging by a hair, I was greeted with a continuous assault of kicks and punches. Some of them hit me, but I tried to minimize the damage by redirecting them, just as Bang and Garou do with their martial art.

My attempts were somewhat successful since I took less damage than I would have if I just stood there, but they didn't redirect all the power behind the hits.

I was already not in my best state, and after he started hitting me my body kept getting slower and slower, and the Root kept getting harder to defend.

Tired of staying on the defense, I redirected one of his punches, before hitting him with a liver shot. He used his free hand to catch my fist, but I grabbed his re-directed arm and used it to flip myself up and kick his head.

He didn't have anything to defend himself with, and I was able to hit him in the face as he launched in the air slightly. I dragged him back down with the arm I was holding and threw him straight into the ground.

Before he hit the ground, however, he freed himself from my grip and used his now free hand to catch himself from falling to the ground. He used his leg to strike me in the head, and I was launched away.

Before I could get up, he came to me and stomped on my back.

It was so painful that I couldn't move, and the Root ninja stopped his assault and gave me a minute, before dragging me up and saying

"Wake up. Training isn't over."

And with that, we continued my Taijutsu training until I couldn't move any longer. By the end, my body was battered like it was never before. I could barely move my arms, and my spine hurt greatly from his stomp. But even after all that, the Root ninja made me get up and move on to the next stage of training, stealth training.

Root ninjas had to be stealthy to perform assassinations perfectly. This included being able to walk without making a sound, hide the sound of breathing, and assimilate oneself with the shadows.

The training consisted of me holding my breath until I couldn't any longer, to increase lung capacity in case I was in a situation where I couldn't breathe. If I couldn't beat my last record, he'd punch me in the stomach when I was already gasping for air.

I also had to learn to walk without making a noise, which if I failed would get hit in the back with a baton.

There were more cruel punishments for failing, but since I've been doing these exercises for two months now I was starting to get the hang of it. Though, now and then when I did mess up, I would be greeted with a painful physical punishment.

"All right. Training is over for the day. We'll go back to your room."

Walking back to my room, the Root ninja made sure that I didn't even deviate from the intended course. After entering my room, I found Danzo in there, staring at me.

"How do you find your training, Kira?"

I glared at him, not amused by his remarks.

"Still got some spirit, I see. That's good. There's an individual I'm going to have you see today, and we'll see how much spirit you'll have then."

As he said that, an Auburn-haired man with a mask entered the room. He was wearing a red kimono and black sash underneath that. He bowed toward Danzo and said

"Lord Danzo."

"Fu, you may begin the process."

Fu, the masked man, nodded and headed toward me.

"Please sit down and don't resist, Kira."

I gave him a glare filled with hate and weariness but ultimately followed his instructions since there was nothing else I could do.

He proceeded to put a hand on my head and close his eyes.

As he did that, I felt a consciousness invade my mind as I lost control of my body.

....

(Fu POV)

Lord Danzo asked me to probe a recruit today, Kira. Kira was even allowed contact with Root members though he didn't go through the training usual Root members went through. As far as I know, he wasn't even loyal to Lord Danzo.

My instructions were to read his mind and influence him to become loyal to Lord Danzo.

I entered the room and saw a youthful boy with sharp eyes staring at me.

He was well built, though he looked built for speed rather than strength. He was around five foot five, and had black hair flowing down to his shoulders as well as golden brown eyes that reflected the light coming off of them. They narrowed to a slit when I looked at him.

After greeting Danzo, I instructed him to sit down and relax. Starting the mind control jutsu, I changed my consciousness into Yin energy and invaded his mind.

I opened my eyes and surveyed my surroundings. Every person has a unique mindscape, especially those that were mentally strong. Even if a person couldn't access their mindscape, like the Yamanaka were able to do, their mindscape still unconsciously reflected their mental strength.

Kira's surroundings were unique as well. I found myself surrounded by majestic trees everywhere. The trees were full of life and extended to the sky. It seems that Kira had greater mental strength than I presumed.

It wasn't the most complicated mindscape I've seen, but it gave a feeling of dignified and grandiose strength. I placed my hand on one of the trees, only to be barraged by a rush of memories.

The memories were all ordinary. Memories of Aizen, now that I knew his name, eating food, running around, waking up. Nothing substantial.

That was how mind reading usually went. Unless I fished for anything specific, I'd have to sift through years of memories to understand the person.

Lord Danzo instructed me to do a simple search to ensure his allegiance to Konoha and proceed to alter him so that his loyalty to Lord Danzo increases. The former was easier than the latter, so I did that first.

I went around, reading the trees filled with memories. All of them showed him in Konoha, not participating in any suspicious or alarming activity. There were never thoughts of defection, disloyalty, or hatred against the Leaf Village. After going through a couple more trees, I found myself at the end of the forest.

Outside this forest was a field of bright green grass and bushes. In a mindscape, everything had a meaning since it represented the user's mind, so I went to the bushes and attempted to read the memories in those as well.

The memories turned out to be largely inconsequential, featuring memories of him walking, playing, and even sitting in class. Nothing important, but it further supported that his loyalty lay within Konoha.

It was also difficult to read the memories, though, since they were all bunched up together, so I dismissed the bushes after a couple more probes.

Returning to the trees, I found that his crucial memories were present in the larger trees.

Memories of him resolving himself to become a ninja, learning his first Jutsu, and forming bonds with classmates. All of these were more precious memories that he attached importance to.

I went next to these trees and started transmitting some of my memories and emotions, memories of Lord Danzo and my loyalty. These emotions and memories will slowly erode and assimilate into his own, and eventually, he will unconsciously become loyal to Lord Danzo.

All of this had a cost. My memories and identity would be put at risk since I was using them to affect Kira's. Since Lord Danzo requested this special treatment, however, there must be a reason.

After a couple of hours of affecting his memories, I stopped projecting my emotions and memories and started reading Kira's once again.

Memories of his training were now memories of him training for Lord Danzo's sake. His resolve to become a ninja now consisted of protecting Lord Danzo. His reason for becoming stronger was now to be of better use to Lord Danzo. His loyalty to Danzo was unquestionable, even if he didn't experience the usual training.

Although I only affected his core memories, soon, his mind will change the memories on its own. After observing for another hour, I found that the majority of memories within the forest had changed. I dismissed the technique and went back to the real world.

As soon as I opened my eyes, I was assaulted with a terrible headache and faltered for a second.

The pain was great, and the few flashes of Kira's memories didn't help. When I saw Lord Danzo, though, I straightened my back before reporting the results.

.....

(Aizen's POV)

When consciousness returned to me, I felt my personality take a sudden shift.

When I looked at Danzo now, part of me wanted to pledge allegiance to him, admire him, protect him. I allowed myself to give in to those emotions, and I quickly went to my knees and declared,

"Lord Danzo, to stand in your presence is an honor."

I'd never heard another Root greet him like this, but that was because I still retained the bulk of my emotions.

Danzo looked at me before shifting his eye back to Fu and saying,

"Good job, Fu. Arrange for him to reach Chunin-level strength before meeting with the others. As for you, Kira, from now on you are to dedicate yourself to me first and foremost. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Lord Danzo."

"Good. I've gained another powerful shinobi in my Root. After disbanding the Root, I haven't been able to recruit any new blood. Hmph, that old fool Hiruzen doesn't know how to properly manage talent. If I left you in his hands any longer, you would have been the same, aimlessly training all the time, not living up to your true potential."

"Of course, Lord Danzo."

"In my hands, I'll mold you into the greatest shinobi you can be, Kira. Though, I first had to ensure that you weren't a foreign ninja or had ill intentions toward Konoha. After all, you were too volatile. Approaching the Jinchuruki and the Clan Heirs, even in the face of scorn and isolation from the villagers, screamed a ploy at play. I hope you can understand this, Kira."

"Of course, Lord Danzo, I do understand your perspective. I feel honored that you would put effort into cultivating me, Lord Danzo, and I will stop at nothing to live up to your expectations."

"Good."

After that, Danzo and Fu left, and I was free to drop the act.

Though, I couldn't quite call it can act.

Fu took all of Aizen Sosuke's memories and changed them. I could feel a part of me feeling all those emotions for Danzo.

However, the dominant personality of this body isn't Aizen Sosuke but John Bell. All of those memories remain unaffected.

While Aizen Sosuke was loyal to Danzo, I wasn't.

This was the best-case scenario that could have happened. The problem which plagued me, not being able to fool Danzo, was solved since these emotions were genuine. Soon I'll join the others in field missions, finally providing me with opportunities to escape.

Now that I had no other option, I decided to embrace the life forced onto me. Power was still the only reliance in this world. Putting my hopes on others like the Hokage, who repeatedly let Danzo do what he wants, was foolish. Even the Clan heads can't do much against Danzo. Not only was his standing in Konoha greater than theirs, but he also had the council as well as Hiruzen on his side. There was very little they could do to investigate my disappearance and assist me.

I'm the only one who can change my situation. I trust in my own abilities, rather than the abilities of others. Trusting others rather than oneself was an attribute of the weak. I may not be the strongest in terms of power, but I wouldn't let anyone call me weak.

Thinking like that, Danzo did have a point. I was aimlessly training, and if I trained in the wrong direction, like with my Kenjutsu, those habits would be harder to change later.

Even though against my will, I now have a teacher who would instruct me personally and allow my growth to progress smoothly. Being taken into the Root was a way for me to gain skill and power.

It didn't mean I was grateful to Danzo, though. Not in the least. He forcefully kidnapped me, tortured me, and "brainwashed" me, even if he said it was all for me.

Danzo was nothing but a conniving person afraid of death. Though his love for Konoha was true, his means were twisted and driven by his ambition to become Hokage. If he did embrace his role as the shadow to the light, then he wouldn't have wanted to become Hokage this entire time.

One day, I will make him face retribution for what he has done to me, or attempted to do.

If only I knew how much that sentiment would grow over the next year.

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