Chapter 30 — Konoha's Ninjutsu Reserves
Beyond the appointments of the four Advisors, Hatake Shūichi was named Director of ANBU, with Senju Genma serving as his deputy.
Genma was the same age as Senju Morin, and in the years to come within ANBU, this swordsman—already highly skilled—would undoubtedly learn a great deal from Hatake Shūichi.
Below them, the captains of ANBU's individual squads were drawn from among jōnin of the Senju main family as well as allied minor clans—Gekkō, Kurama, and others who had long aligned themselves with the Senju.
ANBU's full name was Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai (Special Assassination and Tactical Force), an organization founded by the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama.
Its duties included protecting the Hokage, monitoring the village, carrying out assassinations, escorting classified assets, and handling matters of the highest secrecy.
Not long after its creation, the other four great ninja villages followed suit and established similar units.
ANBU was the Hokage's most powerful instrument of force—his eyes and ears within the village, and the ultimate guarantee that his authority could be exercised without obstruction.
No matter what, Morin had to keep this blade firmly in his own hand.
As for the final department—the Logistics Division—no appointments were announced at all. It was conspicuously left vacant, as though deliberately reserved for someone yet to come, a silence that invited speculation.
After settling all of this, Morin plunged straight into Konoha's Forbidden Techniques Vault.
Despite its name, the vault did not house forbidden techniques alone. Aside from clan-restricted arts, virtually every ninjutsu collected by Konohagakure was stored here.
The five elemental releases—Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, and Lightning—along with specialized sensory techniques, refined genjutsu, and a portion of sealing arts generously provided by the Uzumaki clan…
In a room neither spacious nor brightly lit, scroll after scroll filled three entire shelves, laying bare the astonishing depth of Konoha's ninjutsu heritage.
Yet the most important items stood apart in one corner of the room:
Three massive scrolls.
The First Hokage's Wood Release Techniques.
The Book of Seals, recording every forbidden technique within the village.
And the Second Hokage's lifetime of original Water Release techniques.
In the past, Senju Tobirama had never permitted Morin to study these—nor had he ever offered him personal instruction as he did for Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Aside from the occasional guidance in ninjutsu and swordsmanship when his father happened to have free time, Morin's current level of strength could only be described as the product of sheer self-study.
Which made what lay before him now—not merely a treasury of techniques, but the key to a completely different future.
To many people, in a world that possessed such transcendent power, authority seemed insignificant.
Senju Morin, however, scoffed at that notion.
Power, at its core, was built upon obedience at lower levels. And within a village called Konoha, no matter how strong a ninja was, they would still choose—or be compelled—to obey the orders of the village's leadership.
Besides, other than extraterrestrial anomalies like the Ōtsutsuki clan, no one was born invincible.
On the long road toward mastering strength, authority was the most efficient tool of all.
To pursue power while abandoning authority was sheer folly—because once authority fell into someone else's hands, it would become the greatest obstacle on a strong man's path.
Had yesterday's victor been Hiruzen Sarutobi, Morin would never have been allowed to step into this place.
At best, he would now be holding secret meetings within his clan's territory, exhausting himself over plans for a coup that was almost guaranteed to fail.
At worst, he would have resigned himself to fate, submitting to Sarutobi's commands for the rest of his life.
And aside from a Hokage who himself came from the Senju clan, no ruler could tolerate a figure like Morin—one who combined overwhelming prestige and terrifying strength—looming before them like a living calamity.
In just a few short years, the Senju clan's status as Konoha's foremost family would have become nothing more than history.
Fortunately—
It was Senju Morin who had become the Third Hokage.
Setting aside those tangled thoughts, Morin refocused his attention on the scrolls before him.
The First Hokage's Wood Release techniques were of little use to him for now. What truly held his interest were the Second Hokage's world-renowned advanced Water Release techniques—and the many forbidden jutsu sealed away from public access.
A "forbidden technique" was either a jutsu whose learning and use carried enormous risk,
or a technique born of taboo research—one that violated moral norms and fundamental human boundaries.
The moment Morin unfurled the Book of Seals, familiar names leapt into view—beneath them, dense and unfamiliar black formulas.
Forbidden Technique · Impure World Reincarnation
Forbidden Technique · Eight-Headed Serpent Technique
Forbidden Technique · Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags
Forbidden Technique · Reaper Death Seal
Forbidden Technique · Eight Gates Release
Forbidden Technique · Flying Thunder God Technique
Forbidden Technique · Multiple Shadow Clone Technique
Techniques worthy of the title forbidden were vanishingly rare.
Even present-day Konoha possessed only seven such jutsu.
Beyond these, the Book of Seals also recorded incomplete or experimental techniques—partial formulas for soul activation, half-finished reincarnation methods, and the like…
Though deeply tempted, Morin knew that aside from the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique, none of these were jutsu one could simply pick up at will.
Choosing pragmatism over greed, Morin rolled the Book of Seals back up and returned it to its place.
He then turned to the massive scroll that recorded Senju Tobirama's lifetime of Water Release techniques.
This—this was the true treasure that could rapidly elevate his strength.
---
Senju Tobirama, a peerless master of ninjutsu invention, had created and employed more techniques in his lifetime than stars in the night sky.
There was the advanced Water Release Morin had personally witnessed not long ago—the technique that had split a half-tailed-beast-transformed Kinkaku clean in two with a jet of high-pressure water expelled from the mouth:
Water Release · Severing Wave.
There was also the technique capable of summoning torrents of water like a waterfall from thin air, forcibly creating a water environment even in arid terrain:
Water Release · Water Formation Wave.
And the complementary technique used in conjunction with it, allowing the caster to dive into water and glide through it at high speed:
Water Release · Riding the Waves.
…
Yet compared to these individual techniques, what truly deserved Morin's attention was Tobirama's unique hand-seal system.
The Second Hokage hadn't merely simplified seals—reducing dozens of hand signs required for A-rank techniques like Water Dragon Bullet down to just three or four.
A closer examination of the hand signs recorded in the scroll revealed something far more profound.
They were not the standard twelve seals—Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, Boar.
Tobirama had devised an entirely new system of hand seals—and this was the real secret behind his unparalleled efficiency.
As Morin continued to read, absorbing Tobirama's annotations and analyses, he found himself drawn deeper and deeper in.
It felt as though Senju Tobirama—long dead—had come back to life, personally guiding him through every principle and insight.
Before he realized it, time had slipped away entirely, and Senju Morin was fully immersed in the boundless ocean of ninjutsu and knowledge.