“Danger?
Difficult?”
“That’s exactly what I want!
Give me danger!
Give me difficult missions!”
“Kakashi, just wait and see!”
ShihōinNaraku tossed the documents onto the desk, a confident smile spreading across his handsome face.
Even Hatake Kakashi had to admit that the guy looked pretty cool when he was like this.
Of course, compared to Kakashi himself, he was still a little lacking.
…
Over the next few days, ShihōinNaraku quickly familiarized himself with the ANBU’s procedures.
Under Hatake Kakashi’s guidance, he also met every member of the organization.
“This is Tenzō.”
Kakashi brought a shinobi over and introduced him to Naraku.
“You should know him.”
“Senior, I’m Tenzō.”
Tenzō stepped forward and gave Naraku a slight bow.
Yamato, of course.
Though at this point, he hadn’t yet taken the name Yamato.
“Of course I know him.
Quite a few people in the ANBU have been treated by me.”
ANBU shinobi were routinely assigned extremely dangerous missions, so casualties were common.
As the most accomplished medical ninja in Konoha at the time, ShihōinNaraku had treated quite a few ANBU operatives.
He simply hadn’t realized back then just how many of his patients belonged to the ANBU.
Looking back, that was actually a good thing.
At the very least, it meant he could integrate into the ANBU much faster now.
“Tenzō has other important duties, so I didn’t transfer him to your team.”
Kakashi only mentioned it in passing.
But even without the explanation, Naraku knew exactly what Tenzō’s mission was.
Monitoring the Nine-Tails’ jinchūriki—Naruto Uzumaki.
People often joked that the First Hokage’s Wood Release had once dominated the shinobi world, while Yamato’s Wood Release was mainly used for landscaping.
But there was no denying that Wood Release possessed an exceptionally powerful suppressive effect against tailed beasts.
It didn’t matter that Tenzō couldn’t compare with the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju.
As long as he could suppress the Nine-Tails’ power for a short period and prevent Naruto Uzumaki from losing control, Tenzō was the ideal person to monitor him.
So unless an emergency or particularly important mission arose, Tenzō essentially spent his time in Konoha watching Naruto.
After chatting with Kakashi and Tenzō for a while, Tenzō left the ANBU headquarters to carry out his monitoring duties.
“He’s that busy?”
Kakashi noticed Naraku’s confusion and explained,
“Tenzō’s mission is extremely important.
He only gets a few hours of rest each day, and a lot of the time he doesn’t even have time to eat.”
“Even so, he has it pretty good.
The ANBU shinobi who operate outside the village face much greater risks.”
“But that’s the meaning of the ANBU’s existence.
Our sacrifices are what allow the village to prosper.”
Damn!
That was way too brutal.
Naraku’s face darkened.
Fortunately, he was only the Deputy Director of the Medical Department now.
Otherwise, if he had to keep treating all these injured people on top of everything else, they would probably work him to death.
After chatting a little longer, Naraku left the ANBU headquarters and headed to the Hokage Tower to find Sarutobi Hiruzen.
“The Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal?”
Hiruzen tapped his pipe against his palm as he lowered it.
He understood what Naraku was trying to do.
Truthfully, Hiruzen didn’t approve of Danzō using the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal to control Root operatives.
But since Danzō had done it, Hiruzen hadn’t interfered.
“I only need the method for removing the seal.
I don’t need the actual sealing technique.”
“Very well.”
Hiruzen agreed.
He then had someone bring over a scroll.
After handing it to ShihōinNaraku, Hiruzen took another puff of his pipe and reminded him,
“Familiarize yourself with the ANBU as quickly as possible.
There’s a mission coming up in a few days that will require you to lead a team.”
“Understood.”
Naraku took the scroll and turned to leave the Hokage Tower.
He didn’t return to the ANBU headquarters.
Instead, he decided to go straight home.
As Deputy Commander, he had that much authority.
Besides, his main task at the moment was simply becoming familiar with the ANBU.
Compared with Konoha’s other shinobi clans, the Shihōinclan was a very small one.
In fact, before Naraku rose to prominence, the clan hadn’t produced a Jōnin in many years.
There was no helping it.
The entire Shihōinclan had fewer than a hundred members.
There simply weren’t enough of them.
According to the clan records, however, the Shihōinclan had once enjoyed considerable glory.
During the chaotic Warring States period, they had even become an affiliated clan of the Senju.
According to the records, the Shihōinclan had apparently fought alongside the Senju against the Uchiha.
Naraku believed the Shihōinclan had indeed formed an alliance with the Senju.
After all, during that chaotic era, virtually every shinobi clan had allies and related clans they maintained close ties with simply for the sake of survival.
For example, the Akimichi, Nara, and Yamanaka clans were affiliated with the Sarutobi clan.
Aside from their distant relatives, the Uzumaki clan, the Senju also had numerous affiliated clans such as the Shihoin.
The Hyūga clan even had blood ties with the Kaguya clan of Kirigakure.
So sometimes Naraku wondered if the Shihōinclan’s dwindling population was the result of their involvement in the Senju-Uchiha conflict.
Perhaps too many of their shinobi had died.
Everyone knew how brutal the war between the Senju and Uchiha had been.
It had been so devastating that even the Uchiha clan could barely endure it.
It was easy to imagine how many Shihōinshinobi had died after being dragged into the conflict.
From that perspective, it made perfect sense that someone of Tsunade’s status and position would accept ShihōinNaraku as her direct disciple.
…
“Rustle…”
A faint sound came from inside the house.
Someone was moving around in one of the rooms.
Naraku knew exactly who it was.
His girlfriend, Yugao Uzuki.
“You’re back.”
A beautiful face emerged from the room, framed by long purple hair cascading down her shoulders.
Yugao Uzuki greeted Naraku with a bright smile.
“Dinner will be ready in a little while.”
Naraku wasn’t surprised to find Yugao there.
She was a Special Jōnin in the ANBU, and as Deputy Commander, he already knew that she had returned to the village after completing her mission the previous day.
“You only got back yesterday.
You should’ve rested a little longer.”
Naraku walked over to Yugao, who was busy in the kitchen, and sighed helplessly.
“We could’ve eaten whenever.”
“It’s fine.
I was planning to come see you anyway.
You’re usually much busier than I am.”
The two chatted and joked as they prepared dinner.
Before long, the food was on the table.
“Try this.
It’s really good…”
“You eat too.”
Naraku and Yugao served each other food as they chatted and laughed.
They quickly finished dinner, cleaned up, and then sat together in the courtyard.
Yugao briefly told him about what had happened during her mission.
Now that Naraku was an ANBU commander, there was naturally no need for her to worry about revealing classified information to him.
In return, Naraku told her about some of the interesting things that had happened in Konoha, as well as his own promotion.
The atmosphere between them was warm and intimate.
Before long, the distance between them gradually disappeared, and they leaned against each other.
“Ahem…”
Naraku stopped holding himself back.
He swept Yugao up into his arms.
“W-Wait… It’s still daytime.”
“What are you afraid of?
We just finished eating.
A little exercise is good for the body.”
Yugao’s fair, delicate face immediately flushed crimson, making her even more beautiful.
With a bang, the bedroom door closed.
The light was blocked out, leaving the room dim as the atmosphere gradually grew heated.
“Mmm…”
…
“It’s obvious the Medical Department suits you so well.
I still don’t understand why the Hokage insisted on transferring you to the ANBU.”
Yugao leaned against Naraku, her flushed face filled with confusion.
“What?
Are you worried I won’t be able to adapt to the ANBU?”
“I just think it’s a shame.
You did so well in the Medical Department and built up so many connections.
Now that you’ve left, won’t…”
A confident smile appeared on ShihōinNaraku’s face as he gently stroked Yugao’s long purple hair.
“It won’t be that easy.
They may have thought this through, but completely removing my influence from Medical Division is impossible.”
“Hachiya Ao is a medical ninja too.
His medical ninjutsu isn’t exactly weak, is it?”
“That depends on who you’re comparing him to…”