Konoha: Offer your heart to the Hokage!

Even with his high prestige, Shen Er couldn't possibly place all the secret agents into his inner circle. The secret agents ultimately need people who get things done; turning them into a distillery would simply leave no one to do the work.

Shen Er's recruitment method was very pragmatic. He obtained the list of ninja academy graduates and the list of team-leading jonin from Uchiha Chiri, and combined their mutual evaluations to give a comprehensive assessment standard.

Under Shen's manipulation, all the outstanding Chunin who had "received his grace"—such as Uchiha Kenji, Uchiha Sosuke, Hyuga Jun, Hyuga Kotone, and Yamanaka Yuki—were recruited into the Anbu.

Kenji Uchiha was even appointed as the captain of the first squad. The other four were scattered and assigned to various squads, each serving as a squad leader.

Although they appear to be scattered, if these five people were put together, they would just happen to take on all the management positions of a squad.

They would never allow their intentions to be exposed.

A sentence inexplicably came to his mind.

[Once I become an elder of Konoha, I'll assign all your dogs to the Anbu as ninja dogs, and they'll all be paid by the Konoha government.]

At that moment, he did it.

The squad leaders and platoon leaders of the ANBU were the first positions to be established, since only elites were needed for this part.

Elite members are easy to find, but ordinary members who make up the foundation of the secret service are hard to come by.

Days passed, and more than half a month had gone by in the blink of an eye. The Anbu had only managed to gather enough manpower for two squads, far short of the four squads initially planned. One squad was recruited by Shinji, and the other by Hashirama.

Hashirama Senju was quite anxious about this, as his life was nearing its end. He wanted to see a powerful "Will of Fire" ninja group before he died.

But the instigator, Shen Er, was in no hurry.

After all, the "ancestral rules" for recruiting members of the Anbu have already been established, so it doesn't matter if the rest are filled after Tobirama takes office.

With great ceremony, she put on the mask and, as the leader of Root, began to conduct ideological training on the people of the two squads.

As he scanned the ranks, his gaze suddenly stopped.

I saw another familiar face, Danzo Shimura.

Danzo, now a special Jonin, was selected as the captain of the second division as an elite member, and stands in the team wearing a mask.

He was 17 years old that year, and he was a member of the secret service team.

They could only look up at Shen Er, who was sitting high on the platform.

"The First Lord's will is the Will of Fire, and the Will of Fire is the supreme will of the Dark Side. I want all of you to remember that every action must revolve around the Will of Fire..."

Chapter 77 Madara Uchiha's Last Glance

Shen'er's thought indoctrination program has begun.

The first thing is to forcibly link and equate the First Generation's Will, the Will of Fire, and the Will of the Dark Side.

He wanted to imprint this logic into the very consciousness of every member of the Dark Division, like a steel stamp of thought.

If Hashirama Senju is still alive, then this equation is irrefutable.

However, once Hashirama passes away, the successor Hokage will not be the First Hokage. At that time, as the chief architect of the Will of Fire, he will possess the highest authority to interpret it. And since the Will of the Anbu is bound to the Will of Fire, his will will be equivalent to the Will of the Anbu.

Later, the smarter Hokage might harbor some resentment, but considering Jin's importance, they probably wouldn't take action and damage the relationship, thinking that once Jin died of old age, the right to explain would return to their hands.

The key point is that even if he doesn't die, he won't die.

As long as he lives, the Hokage's will will always be a secondary authority within the Anbu system, akin to a crown prince. The true power to govern the Anbu and define its principles will always remain in Jin's hands.

And the slower-witted Hokage...

People like Minato and Naruto wouldn't care even more.

At the same time, in order to firmly establish his position as the leader of the Root and solidify his absolute authority, he even summoned each of the high-ranking members of the Dark Division to the Root office for individual mental indoctrination.

The method is simple, yet extremely corrosive.

The first step is to dim the indoor lights to the lowest possible level to create a depressing atmosphere.

The second step was to wait until the cadre noticed the abnormal lighting and asked questions, then he would respond calmly and expressionlessly: "The lighting has never changed; it is your heart that has become impure."

Repeating this over and over again, day after day.

The third step was to strictly cut off private communication between officers and ensure "point-to-point" reporting. All intelligence, actions, and observations were to be reported only to the Hokage and the Root leader.

In the first stage, the cadres only felt that they were wrong, but through repeated suggestions, they would involuntarily begin to doubt themselves: Could it be... that my heart is not pure enough?

In the second stage, reason compels them to speak out and try to prove themselves right, only to be refuted by Shen Er using the same set of authoritative rhetoric.

In the third stage, long-term suppression, isolation, and denial smooth out all the edges, giving up the argument and tacitly accepting "I was wrong" and that Minister Shen Er was never wrong.

The eyes are the windows of the soul.

Even so, one could sense that the will of Danzo, the captain of the second division, had not wavered.

The Anbu may have ninjas with quick thinking like him, but that's irrelevant. As long as a small portion of them recognize the equivalence of these three concepts and firmly believe that Shinji is not wrong, his goal will be achieved.

...

Day 1: Loyalty! Loyalty! And more loyalty!

...

Day 3: All actions are subject to the Hokage's command. If the Hokage is not present, the command is given by the Root Chief.

...

Day 7:

"I hope that when you are carrying out a mission, you will think more about what you are supposed to do. Don't just fight to the death as soon as the enemy comes. I don't want the scene to be like this when the Dark Division carries out missions in the future."

"We are Konoha's Anbu, and our lives shouldn't end so easily. We must dedicate our limited lives to the boundless development of Konoha."

"After each task is completed, you should do a post-mortem review and reflect on it to see where you can improve."

"You have to make a choice between survival, the mission, and saving your companions."

...

Day 15.

On the day of Takayuki Senju's wedding.

It was four in the morning, and the sun hadn't even risen yet.

As the groom's elders, Hashirama Senju and Tobirama Senju must remain at the Senju clan's territory throughout the wedding ceremony and participate in the proceedings.

Hashirama took his son's wedding very seriously and had been preparing for it for several days. At this moment, he didn't seem like the God of Shinobi at all, but just an ordinary old father.

On the wedding day, he unreservedly entrusted Jin with the duties of Hokage, putting all the affairs of the Anbu under Jin's control.

Even so, they still have to attend the wedding banquet.

But before that, all the defenses in the village must be properly arranged.

In the early hours of the morning, inside the Dark Army base.

Sarutobi Sasuke, the future father of the Third Hokage and the captain of the Anbu, wore a mask and knelt on one knee in front of Jin.

With his hands behind his back, Shen Er calmly gave the order: "The village is at its most relaxed point in terms of defenses, both inside and outside, for the Hokage's son's wedding. Ordinary ninjas in the village can relax and attend the wedding, but the Anbu cannot."

"The First Mission of the Dark Division"

"To ensure the smooth progress of the wedding between the Hokage's son and the Daimyo's princess, and to prevent any interference from those with ulterior motives."

After giving his instructions, he turned and left.

After Shin left, Sarutobi Sasuke arrived at the Anbu base and solemnly relayed Shin's orders down the ranks.

shhhhhh...

As soon as the order was given, a series of dark figures vanished in an instant, rushing to various outposts.

"Cheer up, everyone! Don't embarrass the First Division!!"

Kenji Uchiha gave a stern warning to the 16 members of the First Division, then instantly crouched down on a telephone pole, becoming a human radar.

The sky is bright.

The surroundings were dark and gloomy, with only a few scattered lights, and the outlines of telephone poles and cables were faintly visible in the night.

The owner of Yile yawned as he went out, ready to set up the storefront and start business.

Suddenly, he felt a strange chill and instinctively looked up into the distance.

His drowsy pupils suddenly contracted, and his body froze instantly.

The rising sun casts its light against the backdrop of a cold, bleak wind.

A figure crouched quietly atop the utility pole.

A white mask, a gray uniform, a ninja sword sheathed behind his back, and a pair of Sharingan eyes flashing with a scarlet and cold light as he indifferently looked down through the mask, a sight that was both intimidating and chilling.

The enemy has invaded Konoha?

Just as this question arose in Ichiro's mind.

Whoosh!

The figure on the telephone pole vanished instantly.

stomping on...

Several more dark figures moved crisscrossing the rooftop.

The vast expanse of Konoha was silently enveloped in a somber atmosphere.

By the time Shen'er emerged from the Zen temple grounds, it was already broad daylight.

He visited Ichiraku Ramen for the first time in a long time, listening to Ichiraku and other customers talk about the strange things that happened that morning.

The streets remained bustling and noisy as usual, but with an unusual sense of order amidst the liveliness. All the clutter in the streets and alleys had been swept clean, and the hooligans and ruffians who used to cause trouble on the streets were nowhere to be seen.

This is the deterrent power of the secret agents wiping out the entire village.

Law-abiding citizens continued their activities as usual, while troublemakers all mysteriously disappeared.

The joyous news of the First Hokage's son marrying the princess of the Land of Fire spread throughout Konoha, and the streets and alleys were filled with enthusiastic discussion.

Meanwhile, the villagers were also gossiping about it privately.

Who are these mysterious figures active in every corner of the village at dawn?

The Dark Division is a secret organization, known only to a few high-ranking members of the village, who are unaware of its specific personnel configuration.