Chapter 209
Mist Pond was once a Root ninja. That meant he had once been under Danzo's command. In fact, his real name was Shimura Kazehiro, a member of the Shimura clan. Danzo was also from the Shimura clan, but unlike Kazehiro, he didn't use the clan name as his surname—just like how Tsunade didn't use Senju as hers. This didn't mean Danzo had completely severed ties with the Shimura clan.
In other words, Mist Pond was not only once Danzo's subordinate—he was also his clansman!
So, his hostility toward Haruto Saito was likely rooted in Danzo's influence.
But that brought up an earlier question: Where did Danzo's hostility come from?
Haruto had figured things out, but it only left him feeling frustrated. It was like he had been thrown into this mess out of nowhere. He had inexplicably become the target of hostility from one of the Hokage's advisors, and to this day, he still had no idea why.
"Eh?" Haruto suddenly voiced his confusion. "Can Root ninjas join the Anbu?"
"Root has always been part of the Anbu. What do you mean 'join'?" Oni Shin gave him a strange look.
"Ah..." Haruto didn't quite know how to put it.
He had been thinking about how Root was an organization led independently by Danzo, where every member was absolutely loyal to him—so much so that even the Hokage had no authority over them. Essentially, all Root ninjas were Danzo's trusted followers. Given that, why would the Hokage allow Danzo's subordinates into his own direct force?
Danzo had always been ambitious about the Hokage's seat. This was evident multiple times in the original storyline. There was no way Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't know that.
"Even though Root is relatively independent now, it has always been part of the Anbu," Oni Shin continued. "Back when Lord Danzo established Root, his original intent was to train reserve forces for the Anbu. The meaning of 'Root' is the origin, the source—it was meant to be the foundation of Anbu's strength. That's why Root was also known as the Anbu Training Division.