Revitalizing the Uchiha clan starts with becoming a Kage.

Most children would be happy to play, but children from ninja clans are generally quite self-disciplined when they are young, especially those from the Uchiha clan, who are born with the desire to become powerful ninjas. Their pursuit of power is ingrained in their very souls.

More than playing.

They prefer to spend time making themselves stronger.

Children as young as three or four, like Yang, are no exception.

"Okay, I promise you, I'll train with you again tonight. Now be good and go play. I also have something to take care of, okay?"

Jiang Si seemed somewhat helpless. He bent down, rubbed Yang's little head again, and said with a light laugh.

"Okay~~"

Seeing his older brother's seemingly gentle but actually unyielding expression, Yang, who was occasionally willful, could only nod in defeat. Although he knew that his older brother would not get angry easily, just thinking about the scene made Uchiha Yang shudder.

"Yes! I knew Xiaoyang was the best behaved!"

Shoji said with a smile.

After his younger brother left the courtyard and returned to the inner room.

Jiang Si suppressed his smile and stepped towards the other side of the courtyard, looking at the grove of trees as he approached the shadows on the side of the house.

In just a second.

"Whoosh!"

It seemed to happen in the blink of an eye.

A tall, slender figure appeared before Jiang Si.

With his white hair, ANBU uniform, and a faint, familiar chakra aura, he was the white-haired ANBU member who had come a few days ago to deliver the Third Hokage's orders and lead Shoji to meet the Third Hokage.

"Is it time yet?"

The commander looked at the white-haired ANBU member and spoke in a calm tone.

"Yes, conveying the Third Hokage's orders. Starting tomorrow, Uchiha Shoji, you will be joining the Third Division of the Anbu as the captain of the Sixth Squad. I am your squad leader—Zero. Assemble here promptly at six o'clock tomorrow morning. Also, your code name is 'Hawk.' There are some rules that the Anbu must follow; remember them well! That's all!"

As the white-haired operative spoke, he tossed a scroll toward Jiang Si.

"Snapped!"

Upon receiving the officer.

The white-haired dagger also leaped away and left on its own.

'An eagle? That's truly a meaningful code name.'

Jiang Si looked at the spot where the white-haired ANBU had left, then looked down at the scroll in his palm, chuckled softly, and said something that seemed to have a deeper meaning.

'White-haired Anbu? It's not 100%, but if my squad leader really is you, that would be quite interesting.'

As he clenched his right hand slightly, the image of the famous Kakashi Hatake from the original work involuntarily appeared in Shoji's mind. If this Kakashi Hatake was really the squad leader of his team, then it could truly be called an incredible coincidence.

In the original work, this character's role is definitely that of the third male lead, or even the second male lead. If Shoji says he's not interested, that would be a lie.

Of course, these things are secondary. The reason why Shoji is so concerned about whether this white-haired ANBU is Hatake Kakashi is mainly because it is related to his plans. It can even determine what attitude and pace he should take in his future ANBU career.

Others might not be able to tell the difference, but if this person is indeed Kakashi Hatake, then when he carries out group missions in the Anbu, Shoji will have a way to identify him. The technique is one aspect, and the Sharingan is another.

Thinking about this.

Shoji was indeed eager to begin his career in the Anbu, which would inevitably have a serious impact on his future plans, as well as on the relationship between the Uchiha clan and the village.

'It's tomorrow!'

Jiang Si looked up at the azure sky, silently recited a phrase to himself, and then turned and strode back to his room.

61. Sub-base

Special forces employing assassination tactics.

As the most secretive department in the village, it can be said to gather the village's elite ninjas. To be allowed to enter this department and serve as an ANBU, the minimum personal strength standard is to be an elite Chunin, because the missions that the ANBU has to carry out are at least A-rank, including but not limited to protecting important figures of their own side, assassinating important figures of the enemy, stealing or destroying valuable items or documents.

This department has been in operation since the day it was established.

They are constantly carrying out various high-level missions directly issued by the 'Shadow'. It is because of this that the size of the Dark Division has been continuously expanding over the past two or three decades. Only the 'Shadow' is qualified to know the exact number of its squads and members.

Despite Hiruzen Sarutobi's great trust in Homura Mitokado, Koharu Utatane, and Danzo Shimura, their understanding of Anbu matters was equally limited. Danzo Shimura, in particular, basically only knew about the Root forces under his control.

In the original story, it wasn't until ten years later, when Hiruzen Sarutobi died in battle and no successor could be found, that Tsunade returned to the village to become the Fifth Hokage. This led to the Anbu's information being obtained by Homura Mitokado, Koharu Utatane, and Danzo Shimura.

Later, Shimura Danzo even tried to trade some of the most crucial Anbu information with Orochimaru. It has to be said that Shimura Danzo constantly lowered his standards in many ways, taking selfishness to the extreme.

During the period when the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, was in charge, all information and data about the Anbu were known only to him. Not to mention the main base, there were also some branch bases set up in some remote corners of Konoha Village, which were also to facilitate the task assignment, handover, and limited communication among the Anbu members in the village.

The next day, Shoji arrived at an ANBU base located on the west side of Konoha. Shoji was now dressed in a completely new outfit, just like the white-haired ANBU from the previous day. He wore a black, form-fitting outfit underneath a silver-white suspender shirt, with his katana slung over his back. He wore the standard white animal mask of the ANBU, revealing only his eyes. This outfit was given to Shoji by the white-haired ANBU from the previous day.

'Is this the place? It seems like there's a sensory barrier around it? I can't detect anything deep inside, but there are already several strong chakra fluctuations on the outer perimeter. Is this the special assassination unit that has gathered the elite of the village? I definitely need to be more vigilant.'

Jiang Si stood before what appeared to be an ordinary tree, a hint of coldness flickering in his pupils as he secretly pondered.

"Whoosh!"

It was almost exactly the moment that Shoji arrived.

It's to the left of the 'big tree'.

Suddenly, a figure appeared.

Almost the same setup as yesterday, but today he was wearing a beige trench coat. For a moment, Jiang Si was stunned.

"Eagle, follow me!"

Until the person opposite spoke.

Jiang Sicai recognized the person from the voice and breath as his squad leader, Zero.

"Yes, squad leader!"

The general immediately responded.

Immediately afterwards.

He followed closely behind his squad leader, bypassing the 'ordinary' tree from the left side at that moment, just a second after crossing it.

In Jiang Si's eyes, it was a scene that suddenly changed.

The passageway that appeared was long and dark, with only the faint candlelight hanging on the walls on both sides illuminating it.

"Remember my gestures and steps. There are corresponding barriers and mechanisms set up here. If you step into the wrong place and are identified as an intruder, the corresponding mechanisms and alarms will be activated immediately!"

"Yes!"

This is the most mysterious department in the village.

The identity of the Dark Division goes without saying. The department also keeps many important documents and materials, especially some materials that cannot be studied in ordinary departments. All of these are kept in the experiments of the Dark Division's subordinates.

Don't be fooled by Konoha's seemingly righteous and glorious appearance.

However, there were still many forbidden research projects. Otherwise, how could the Second Hokage have developed a forbidden technique like the Impure World Reincarnation? By thinking about it? It would have required countless experiments to succeed. To gain greater power, similar research and experiments were indispensable. During the Third Hokage's reign, there were also many forbidden research projects.

Orochimaru was just one example. The reason why the Third Hokage had to deal with Orochimaru was not because he was involved in forbidden research, but because Orochimaru actually used villagers of Konoha, and even the village's ninjas, as research subjects.

This is what is truly prohibited!

The crime of harming a fellow human being.

This would be an unforgivable crime in any ninja village!

Therefore, Hiruzen Sarutobi had to punish Orochimaru (although he ultimately let him escape).

There's nothing wrong with forbidden research itself, as long as it's not exposed to the light of day. Using ninjas from other villages as experimental subjects is a common practice in the ninja world. For example, the body of Troy, the Magnet Release ninja killed by Tsukasa in the previous confrontation, was placed in the research department of the Anbu under the Third Hokage.

These are all entities that the Dark Division must protect.

It's not just people.

The barriers and mechanisms set up around the base were designed to further improve its defenses. Basically, apart from the members of the Anbu, only a few high-ranking Konoha officials, led by Hiruzen Sarutobi, knew about them.

The general was also mentally prepared.

While following Zero's movements, I memorized the corresponding marks and the sequence of steps.

After passing through the foremost passage.

Next, a large hall comes into view.

"This is where members of each squad conduct necessary conversations on a daily basis. This is not only where our Third Squad is stationed; other squads also belong to this base. Remember, you must never reveal your identity!"

"Yes, squad leader!"

Jiang Si nodded and replied.

The identities of the secret agents are a secret.

This is not just from an external perspective.

The same applies internally.

In principle, only one's direct superior can know one's identity. Among the others, even teammates in the same squad or team, it is generally necessary to keep it a secret. However, in practice, squads do maintain confidentiality.

However, the team members were quite familiar with each other.

After all, normally speaking...

Missions are always carried out in a small team format.

After performing missions together multiple times.

It is very difficult to truly hide one's identity.

62. Konoha's Biggest Missing Person Case

Especially ninjas like Shoji who possess a bloodline limit.

As long as one uses their bloodline limit during a mission, their identity can almost be locked. This is true for ninja clans like Nara, Inuzuka, Aburame, and Akimichi. However, a significant number of these individuals have joined the Anbu. Without further intelligence, others can at most identify the ninja clan, but it is difficult to determine the true identity of the individual.

Shoji is the only exception. Whenever he uses his Sharingan, it's incredibly obvious. So, whenever they're on a mission together, his identity will definitely be known to his teammates. This also applies to the squad leader that Shoji is currently following. If this 'Zero' is really Kakashi Hatake, there's a high probability that he'll use his Sharingan and Lightning Blade during the mission.

Once these two ninjutsu and eye techniques are used...

Their identity is all too easy to guess.

This is a targeted search.

Therefore, Zero was just saying it casually, and Shoji was just listening casually. In any case, they knew their own business, and it was simply impossible to guarantee that their identities would be 100% secret.