Konoha's Hextech Ninja

Why is Kakashi Hatake still not able to react?

The others, however, were filled with longing and envy.

Even among the Uchiha clan, which had a strained relationship with the village in the past, there were still quite a few members who dreamed of becoming Hokage.

Not to mention the ordinary villagers and ninjas.

While Sakumo Hatake's appointment as the Fourth Hokage cannot be entirely described as 'unconventional,' at least most villagers and ninjas supported it.

Whether it's strength, merit, or the position one holds, it's a matter of personal connections and influence.

The top of the Naruto Building.

Behind Sakumo Hatake, Yoruichi Yagami and several other high-ranking Konoha officials stood together.

"Third Hokage, it's about time to prepare to set off," Yagami Yoruichi said to Sarutobi Hiruzen. "Your clansmen have all been assembled."

Allowing Hiruzen Sarutobi to make an appearance at the Hokage handover ceremony is to give him his final dignity.

This was also so that he could better lead his people in fighting to the death against the enemy and fight for the village's interests.

Now that things are over, it's natural to urge him to get on his way as soon as possible... oops, I mean, to set off as soon as possible.

“I understand.” Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded.

Although only a few days had passed, he had visibly aged considerably.

Being forcibly kicked off the position of Hokage was obviously a huge blow to him.

However, even in his old age and declining health, Hiruzen Sarutobi's strength remains firmly at the Kage level.

Moreover, it hasn't reached the point of complete decline that it will experience in the next few decades; it's still considered to be in the upper echelon of the film-level genre.

With him on the front lines, Konoha will face much less pressure.

Yagami Yoruichi placed his hand on Sarutobi Hiruzen's shoulder and activated the Flying Thunder God Technique, teleporting Sarutobi Hiruzen outside the village.

Mitokado Homura, Utatane Koharu, and Jiraiya have all been waiting here for a long time.

Upon seeing Yagami Yoruichi, all three wore complex expressions.

Jiraiya, in particular, looked like he wanted to say something but didn't know where to begin.

Yagami Yoruichi noticed Jiraiya's expression, but didn't intend to have much interaction with him.

After their last conversation, Yagami Yoruichi had already concluded that Jiraiya had been too brainwashed by Mount Myōboku and would never agree with her 'ideals'.

Since we're not on the same path, I'll just treat him as a tool and use him if I can.

If the tool doesn't work properly, just smash it and get a better one.

"Gentlemen, we may set off now."

Yagami Yoruichi began by emphasizing, "The command authority at the front is held by Jonin Minato Namikaze. Please remember your responsibilities and do not overstep your authority."

After saying that, Yagami Yoruichi said, "Monkey, take some men and send a few seniors to the front line. Once they arrive, they will stay under the command of Jonin Namikaze Minato and await orders."

"Yes, Lord Yoruichi."

Four ANBU appeared beside Yagami Yoruichi, looking at Sarutobi Hiruzen and the others.

They all knew that these secret agents were not only the middlemen who contacted the village, but also the ones responsible for monitoring their every move.

However, as the 'loser', Hiruzen Sarutobi did not protest. He silently turned around and walked north.

After watching the group leave, Yagami Yoruichi used the Flying Thunder God Technique again to return to the Hokage Building.

The inauguration ceremony has concluded.

But the busy work has only just begun.

Holding the dual positions of Hokage Advisor and Anbu Leader, Yagami Yoruichi has to handle many things personally.

However, the most urgent task is the reconstruction of the dark areas.

After investigation and purge, eliminating the die-hard loyalists of the third generation and some potentially wavering 'neutral' members, the Anbu now has only twenty-six members left, including Yagami Yoruichi herself.

They couldn't even muster two squads.

There is still a long way to go to reach the full capacity of 87 people.

After greeting Sakumo Hatake and Fugaku Uchiha, Yoruichi Yagami led Kakashi Hatake and Inahi Uchiha directly to the Anbu.

Both of these individuals were Yagami Yoruichi's designated members of the Anbu.

However, due to their age, they can only be placed in the fifth squad, which is the 'reserve squad' in Yagami Yoruichi's plan for the time being.

The four normal squads serve as the daily force of the Dark Guard.

The fifth team is only responsible for training promising newcomers. Once they have met the required standards in terms of ability and age, they will fill the vacancies in the first four teams.

—The first two policies announced by Sakumo Hatake after taking office were the 'merit-for-ninjutsu system' and the 'prohibition of underage ninjas from going to the battlefield'.

After discussions among the higher-ups, the threshold for the latter was not adopted at sixteen years old as suggested by Yoruichi Yagami, but was lowered to thirteen years old. This means that after officially graduating from the Ninja Academy and undergoing a year of training in 'non-combat missions', one can go to the battlefield.

It's not that we don't want to set it higher, but we simply don't have enough ninjas of that age to use.

The average lifespan of Konoha ninjas is already relatively high among the five great nations, but since the founding of Konoha, the average lifespan of all ninjas has been less than twenty years.

Ninjas from ninja clans are even better.

More than half of the civilian ninjas die in missions or on the battlefield within three years of graduating from ninja academy.

During the reign of Hiruzen Sarutobi, a policy of "graduating early" was introduced in order to increase the number of cannon fodder on the front lines, resulting in the deaths of many children under the age of ten on the battlefield.

This situation must be changed, but it is not something that can be achieved overnight.

The age of thirteen was set after taking into account the current age of all the ninjas in Konoha and the minimum number of ninjas needed.

Even those in the shadows must abide by this rule.

In other words, even geniuses like Uchiha Inahisa and Hatake Kakashi did not have the opportunity to go to the battlefield before they turned thirteen.

They are not even allowed to take on missions that explicitly involve battles between ninjas; at most, they can accept missions such as annihilating mountain bandits.

The only exception in the entire village was Yagami Yoruichi herself.

After all, no ninja village could possibly keep a Kage-level fighter locked up in the village and prevent him from fighting.

If the Great Ninja War were to break out, the power of Yagami Yoruichi alone would be more important than all the ninjas of Konoha combined.

“From now on, you will train with the Anbu.” Yagami Yoru said, looking at Uchiha Inahisa, “Inahisa, you are a little older, and you will be able to meet the requirements in a little over two years. I hope that in two years, you will have the strength of an elite Jonin and become a squad leader of the Anbu.”

Kakashi Hatake is younger than Yoruichi Yagami, so even if the age limit for going to the battlefield is not changed in the future, it will still be several years before he can go to the battlefield.

However, Uchiha Inahime was born in Konoha in 33 and is almost eleven years old. In just over two years, she will be able to fight for Konoha.

Moreover, his strength is by no means weak; after awakening the Sharingan, he is even stronger than Kakashi Hatake.

If one can evolve to the three-tomoe level, that would be the strength of an elite Jonin, more than enough to serve as a squad leader.

However, his limit was only platoon leader.

Yoruichi Yagami would not easily hand over the position of vice-commander or vice-captain of the Anbu to the Uchiha clan.

It includes the Konoha Police Force, the Hokage's advisor, and the squad leader of the Anbu.

Such power is already quite high.

If we further enhance the treatment given to the Uchiha clan, it might actually encourage them to have inappropriate thoughts, which would only cause more trouble.

"I feel my eye power is constantly improving, and I estimate that it may advance to the three-tomoe level in a few months."

Uchiha Inahi complained, "Why did you bring up the age restriction policy? It's making it impossible for me to fight for the village."

“Sending children to the battlefield is wrong from the start. If there weren’t so few adult ninjas in the village, I would like to raise this age limit even higher.”

Yagami Yoruichi shook her head, offering no further explanation, and said to Hatake Kakashi, "Kakashi, just focus on your training. Even if you're strong enough, it will still take several years."

"Yeah, I know." Kakashi Hatake also looked speechless.

But as the Hokage's son, he was unwilling to lead the way in breaking the rules and tarnishing his father's reputation.

Although he was dissatisfied with the policy, he had no choice but to comply since the village had already made it public.

"Hibari, I'm entrusting them to you. In a while, I'll bring more reserve members over for you to train," Yagami Yoruichi said to one of the Anbu members.

This ANBU ninja, codenamed 'Hibari', was vetted and found to be aligned with Sakumo Hatake. He was kept by Yoruichi Yagami and temporarily appointed as the squad leader of the fifth division, responsible for training ANBU personnel.

As for whether the word 'temporary' can be removed, that depends on his performance.

'Skylark' immediately replied, 'Yes, sir.'

"You guys keep training, I'm going out for a bit." Yagami Yoruichi waved his hand and instantly disappeared.

Replenishing the Dark Division to full strength is extremely troublesome.

The shortage of dozens of places is not so easy to fill.

However, in any case, at least two more squads must be replenished before the Dark Division can function properly and fulfill its responsibilities.

One squad is responsible for counter-espionage within the village, protecting important personnel, and so on.

One squad is responsible for areas outside the village, such as hunting down rogue ninjas and stealing key information.

Two fully staffed squads—that's already the most extreme configuration.

If even this many people can't be gathered, the Dark Division won't even be able to complete the most basic tasks.

"The strength of the ANBU ninjas is secondary; their abilities in sensing, tracking, and assassination must be exceptional. The first batch of candidates should primarily be selected from the ninja clans..."

Yagami Yoruichi sighed inwardly, glanced at the list he had prepared beforehand, returned to the Hokage Building, and found Hyuga Hiashi busy at work.

"Senior Rizu."

Yagami Yoruichi stopped Hyuga Hiashi and got straight to the point: "My Anbu is short-handed. I wonder if Hiashi-senpai could lend me some manpower? Not many, just two branch families, one Jonin and one elite Chunin."

"Should we recruit them into the Dark Side?"

Hiashi Hyuga nodded and said, "If it's just about splitting up the family, then of course there's no problem."

The Hyuga clan places an almost obsessive importance on their Byakugan bloodline.

Especially after a member of the main branch of the Hyuga clan lost his Byakugan on the battlefield during the last Shinobi World War, the Hyuga clan has been determined not to allow any member of the main branch to go to the battlefield.

Let alone war, they are not allowed to go on even slightly dangerous missions.

However, with the continued control and protection of B, the separation is not a big deal.

Hiashi asked, "Does Yoruichi know anything about the members of our Hyuga clan? Do you have anyone in mind?"

"As for Chunin, I've worked with Hyuga Ryota before, and his reconnaissance abilities are quite good."

After thinking for a moment, Yagami Yoruichi said, "As for Jonin, I heard that Hiashi-senpai has a younger brother who was assigned to the branch family? Since he is Hiashi-senpai's brother, his strength should not be much different. Let him serve as a squad leader in the Anbu."

The Uchiha clan needs one position as an ANBU squad leader, and the Hyuga clan, also a powerful clan in Konoha, naturally needs one as well.

When it comes to balancing things, Yagami Yoruichi believes she has a pretty good level of skill.

As for the fact that the Hyuga branch family prioritizes loyalty to the main family over the village, Yagami Yoruichi didn't really care.

Breaking the curse seal B was already on Yagami Yoruichi's mind, but it wasn't a high priority yet.

After a few years, once other more pressing projects are completed and sufficient research personnel are available, this project will begin to move forward.

Once the restoration of B is broken, the Hyuga clan will be completely controlled by the Hokage, or rather, by Yoruichi Yagami, and there will be no need to care about the difference between the main family and the branch family anymore.

"Hiashi?" Hiashi Hyuga was somewhat surprised by Yoruichi Yagami's choice.

After hesitating for a moment, he nodded and agreed, "No problem, I'll have someone inform them to report to the Dark Division right away."

A squad leader in the shadows may not seem to have a high position, but it is still a position with real power.

Obtaining this position will also bring considerable benefits to the Hyuga clan.

Therefore, Hiashi Hyuga agreed without the slightest hesitation.

“There’s no rush.” Yagami Yoruichi waved his hand and said, “Just have them report to the Anbu tomorrow. I have a lot of people to meet today, so I don’t have time to receive them.”

“Rebuilding the Anbu is indeed very troublesome, Yoruichi-kun, thank you for your hard work.” Hyuga Hiashi said repeatedly, “Then I will have Hizashi and Ryouta report to Yoruichi-kun at the Anbu tomorrow. If they do not do well, please do not show mercy, Yoruichi-kun, and punish them according to the rules of the Anbu.”

"Thank you, Uncle Hiashi." Yagami Yoruichi nodded, exchanged a few polite words, and then took his leave to find the next place.

Chapter 192 The Difference Between Wood Release and Wood Release

After running around Konoha and screening some civilian ninjas through their files and resumes, Yagami Yoruichi finally managed to gather enough people to barely build the framework of the Anbu.