That the mysterious sign-in system would direct him to Kirigakure for his next check-in was something Senju Haruto hadn't expected.
But now that it had, he had even less reason to avoid the Village Hidden in the Mist.
After sending Team 7 back to Konoha, Haruto summoned the members of Root to assemble at Dazuna's home.
Within about a week, every Root operative had gathered.
Among them was Tenzo—sent personally by the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen.
This was the very first time Haruto had mobilized Root in its entirety.
The sheer number was staggering—enough to wage a full-scale war against the Land of Waves alone.
Hiruzen had always known that Haruto harbored ambitions, but even so, to be sure, he had dispatched Tenzo to observe.
"Lord Haruto."
Tenzo bowed with deep respect the moment he saw him.
But when his eyes fell upon Momochi Zabuza and Haku, his expression darkened slightly.
Why, he wondered, was Haruto traveling with renegades from Kirigakure?
"Lord Haruto."
Another voice spoke up. It was Aburame Torune, Root's second-in-command.
Yet behind him stood a figure Haruto hadn't anticipated.
A young woman emerged—dressed in Root's uniform, her long black hair tied into a high ponytail.
She had shed much of her youthful look, standing tall and graceful now.
But Haruto recognized her instantly.
Uchiha Izumi.
"What are you doing here?" Haruto asked, surprised.
Though he was Root's leader, the organization numbered in the thousands.
And since taking over from Danzō, he had abandoned the old, twisted methods of training.
Truth be told, he hadn't memorized every subordinate's name and face.
Most of Root's day-to-day affairs had been managed by Torune.
Still, there was no doubt—all of them were loyal to him.
"Because I joined Root," Izumi answered matter-of-factly.
The truth was, she had done so for one reason alone: to reach Haruto.
She refused to believe that Itachi was a traitor to Konoha, or a man who lusted for power.
But no matter how hard she tried, she could uncover nothing about him.
In pursuit of the truth, she had resolved to join the organization led by Haruto.
Thanks to her awakened Sharingan, Izumi had quickly risen to the rank of squad captain.
Her strength was not to be underestimated.
"I see." Haruto nodded slowly.
Thinking back, he recalled meeting Izumi years ago—she had been searching for answers about Itachi even then, and her Sharingan had already awakened.
Now, years later, her obsession with the truth had only deepened.
In a sense, it was proof of what Haruto already believed: the Uchiha clan were consumed by their obsessions.
"Lord Haruto, please take a look."
Izumi activated her Sharingan before him without hesitation.
Not yet a Mangekyō, but a fully matured three-tomoe.
"The Sharingan…"
Zabuza furrowed his brow, unsettled.
In his memory, the Uchiha clan had been devastated in the wars—few with the Sharingan survived.
To see one was a rare privilege.
But now?
Among the handful of Konoha shinobi he had encountered recently, four of them wielded the Sharingan.
The sheer odds of it were… terrifying.
"Three-tomoe Sharingan. Not bad."
Haruto studied Izumi's eyes and nodded in approval.
Whom she loved was irrelevant.
Now that she was Root, she was his.
His soldier, his strength.
In time, he would help her awaken the Mangekyō.
"And the others?" Haruto asked, turning to Torune.
With a tilt of his head, he gestured for Zabuza and Haku to accompany him as well.
Torune acknowledged crisply and led the way.
They arrived at the forest clearing where Root had mustered.
In moments, Haruto laid eyes on the full force of his troops.
Unlike the old days, masks were no longer compulsory.
Those standing in the front ranks wore Konoha forehead protectors and, like Hatake Kakashi, kept one eye concealed beneath a band of cloth.
This was by Haruto's design.
Because all of them had been implanted with Sharingan.
For those outside the Uchiha bloodline, a transplanted Sharingan could never close, constantly draining chakra.
That was why Kakashi so often collapsed from exhaustion—even though he was hardly lacking in chakra himself.
Compared to the monsters of stamina around him, his reserves merely seemed small.
For that reason, Root operatives had each been given only one Sharingan.
It maximized their efficiency while minimizing waste.
More importantly, if two Sharingan were placed in a single host, the overall number of operatives would be halved.
This way, the Sharingan corps could be as numerous as possible.
Only if one awakened the Mangekyō would Haruto consider pairing both eyes together—so they could unleash the power of Susanoo.
"Speaking of which," Haruto thought to himself, "Uchiha Ken'ichi awakened the Mangekyō just before his death. His eyes are still in my possession… waiting for a suitable host."
"Haruto… these men… don't tell me…"
Zabuza's breath hitched, a chill crawling up his spine.
The way they were dressed, so much like Kakashi, made the truth unavoidable.
He could almost picture the eyes hidden beneath those bands.
"You guessed right."
Haruto's lips curved into a faint smile.
With a nod, he signaled the Root shinobi.
One by one, they pushed up their forehead protectors.
Zabuza's eyes went wide, his jaw falling open in shock.
Every last one of them had a Sharingan.
A kekkei genkai said to be rare beyond reckoning—
and here, Haruto commanded an army of them.
Not only Zabuza, but Tenzo and Izumi too, were shaken to their core.
Izumi had long known some in Root bore Sharingan implants, but never—never—had she imagined such overwhelming numbers.
"This… this is the flow of destiny itself," Zabuza muttered hoarsely.
And in that moment, he understood why Senju Haruto carried such absolute confidence in unifying the shinobi world.