"Good morning, Lord Hokage."
"Ah, Natsuhiko-kun. Good morning."
Early the next morning, Natsuhiko quietly appeared in a secluded forest.
After briefly checking his surroundings, he directly activated the Flying Thunder God mark that Minato Namikaze had left behind and summoned him.
There was no way he would go to the Hokage's office to look for Minato—and clearly, Minato had no such intention either.
So choosing the time himself and summoning Minato personally was the best option.
Sure enough, it didn't take long before Minato appeared silently in front of him, just as he had that night.
Facing Minato, Natsuhiko maintained his usual gentle, harmless-looking smile as he greeted him.
Minato returned the warm smile—but at the same time, he carefully examined Natsuhiko from head to toe.
It had to be said, although the Senju clan's genes couldn't compare to the Uchiha's in some respects, they were still impressive.
Especially those descended from the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju's line—Natsuhiko had inherited white hair and a handsome face.
That said, Natsuhiko knew he was technically an anomaly within the Senju clan.
A typical Senju had brown hair. But when a mutation in hair color occurred, appearance was almost always exceptional.
Just look at Tobirama Senju, Tsunade—and now Natsuhiko.
Still, Natsuhiko personally preferred black hair.
He had black hair in his previous life, and besides, white hair was far too conspicuous.
Especially during stealth missions at night—a head of white hair is like a bright moon in the darkness.
Unfortunately, genetics couldn't be changed. After all these years, he was used to it, so he never bothered trying to dye it back.
"It seems Natsuhiko-kun is ready," Minato said after observing him for a moment. "Then let's begin."
"Lord Hokage, before we begin, I think you should take a look at this first."
Natsuhiko gently shook his head and handed a scroll to Minato.
Minato raised an eyebrow but accepted it and opened it directly.
He had assumed Natsuhiko would ask for instruction first and hand over the intelligence afterward.
It seemed this young man was rather interesting.
Still, Minato didn't dwell on it. He was genuinely curious about what Natsuhiko had recorded.
However, as he began reading carefully, his expression subtly changed—and soon grew rather grim.
The contents of the scroll were based entirely on what Natsuhiko had observed and inferred regarding the ANBU and Root divisions.
In truth, Minato had already been mentally prepared for much of this.
But seeing it written out so clearly still shocked him.
Minato knew very well how many departments existed within the official ANBU structure. These sub-divisions ensured the organization's smooth operation.
Yet among these departments, Minato was stunned to find that Natsuhiko had clearly marked every key position as loyal to the Third Hokage.
The head of the ANBU Interrogation Unit.
The head of the ANBU Intelligence Unit.
Two captains of the Action Division.
And even the ANBU Commander himself.
With such individuals in place, it was easy to imagine who the newly recruited ANBU would ultimately become loyal to after their training and ideological conditioning.
And as for the only captain not marked as loyal to the Third Hokage—
Natsuhiko had labeled him as loyal to a mysterious individual.
That particular note made Minato frown internally.
Was there someone else trying to insert their influence into the ANBU as well?
"Captain Natsuhiko."
After a long silence, once Minato had finished reading the scroll, his expression turned extremely serious.
"Can you take responsibility for the authenticity of this report?"
"I'm sorry, Lord Hokage. Aside from what I personally witnessed, parts of this report are also my own speculation."
Natsuhiko shook his head decisively. He would absolutely not fully admit to these matters.
"In fact, Lord Hokage, you also understand that regardless of whether this intelligence is true or not, I would deny its existence. Isn't that right?"
Minato Namikaze fell silent for a moment.
Indeed, in his current position as Hokage, even he would not dare casually acknowledge such matters—let alone Natsuhiko, a member of the Senju clan and merely an ANBU squad captain.
Still, Minato was curious.
How had a squad captain like Natsuhiko come into contact with so much information?
"Are you wondering how I was able to access this kind of intelligence?"
Without waiting for Minato to ask, Natsuhiko had already guessed his thoughts. He smiled faintly before speaking calmly.
"Lord Hokage, as a member of the Senju clan who has served in the ANBU for so long, do you really think I was simply working for Konoha?
Even if I personally wished to do so, my clan would not be satisfied with that. Therefore…"
"Therefore you were also tasked with investigating the internal situation of the ANBU and reporting back to your clan, correct?"
Minato didn't need Natsuhiko to finish. He immediately understood.
However, his gaze turned somewhat strange.
Having encountered such intelligence was one thing—but hearing someone admit it outright was entirely different.
Yet Natsuhiko bore no burden over it. He nodded directly, as if exposing this small secret meant nothing to him.
"Actually, I believe Lord Hokage has probably seen similar intelligence before, haven't you?"
Natsuhiko smiled slightly as he asked, though his tone sounded more like a statement than a question.
"Yes," Minato hesitated briefly before nodding seriously. "I've seen similar reports—but before they could be confirmed, they were halted."
"That's not surprising. After all, the ANBU was founded by Lord Tobirama, our predecessor. The Senju clan still retains considerable influence within it."
Natsuhiko let out a faint sigh.
"Of course, that influence largely dissipated as the Senju declined and Lady Tsunade left the village.
But there are still individuals—and certain clans—who chose to align themselves with us.
As a result, we can still obtain quite a bit of intelligence.
And since I've been serving in the ANBU myself, I can naturally verify much of it firsthand.
So the information now in your possession can be considered personally confirmed by me."
"Clan intelligence… personally confirmed by you?"
Minato parted his lips slightly, but in the end, he fell silent.
Just as Natsuhiko had said—the true decline of the Senju clan coincided with Tsunade's departure.
Yet even so, some individuals and families still placed their hopes in the Senju.
And no matter how weakened the clan had become, it likely still possessed its own hidden strength.
With the support of such familial networks, obtaining core intelligence from Konoha wasn't strange at all.
After all—
The ANBU had been founded by Tobirama Senju.
And what Natsuhiko had handed him was clearly clan-sourced intelligence.