"Division Commander, long time no see."
"Come on, Kakashi, are you really going to pull that act with me?"
Inside the Third Division Commander's office, Natsuhiko sat behind his desk, looking at the slightly stiff Kakashi standing in front of him. He couldn't help but chuckle.
Kakashi's behavior right now was actually quite amusing.
It was probably because Natsuhiko had suddenly become a Division Commander, while Kakashi himself was still just a rookie who had only recently joined the ANBU.
The difference in status had widened dramatically, and the hierarchy inside the ANBU was fairly strict to begin with. It was no wonder Kakashi seemed a little restrained.
Two weeks had passed quickly. After receiving Natsuhiko's orders, Trout had immediately gone to ANBU headquarters to submit the requests.
But the ANBU had its own rules, structure, and operating system. Even though Natsuhiko's request was perfectly reasonable, the number of personnel he had asked for was quite large.
On top of that, Kakashi belonged to another division, so transferring him wasn't exactly simple.
That was why it had taken until now for Kakashi to finally report to Natsuhiko.
Still, Natsuhiko hadn't been idle while waiting.
After Trout's selection process, sixteen young reserve candidates had been assigned to the Third Division.
At the same time, the Senju clan had acted quickly as well, sending over four young members that Natsuhiko vaguely remembered.
All together, the Third Division was now nearly at full strength.
With that in place, Natsuhiko immediately reorganized the division.
He broke apart the two fully staffed squads—Squad 1 and Squad 6—and redistributed their members into new teams.
His idea was simple.
Let the experienced ANBU veterans lead the new recruits, allowing them to adapt to ANBU life as quickly as possible.
At the same time, he could wait patiently for the wounded members recovering in the hospital to return—and for Kakashi to finally transfer in.
As for training, Natsuhiko had handed that responsibility directly to Trout.
Trout was an interesting person.
Natsuhiko had clearly noticed that after returning from ANBU headquarters, the man had started treating him with noticeably more respect.
It was obvious he had managed to dig up some information while he was there—most likely about the incident where Natsuhiko had confronted someone at ANBU headquarters.
That kind of reaction pleased Natsuhiko.
He needed people who would listen and carry out his orders properly, whether they were truly loyal to him or not.
"Alright," Kakashi said, scratching his messy white hair. "I guess I'm still not used to it."
"So… what should I call you now?"
"Just stick with 'Captain,'" Natsuhiko replied casually with a smile.
"Asking you to call me by name might be pushing it. So let's keep things the same as before… Captain White Fang."
"Captain White Fang?"
Kakashi froze for a moment.
Then he immediately understood what Natsuhiko meant.
Squad leader.
That was the role Natsuhiko intended for him.
When Kakashi had first joined the ANBU, Natsuhiko had been nothing more than a squad leader himself.
Yet in just a few short months, he had risen all the way to Division Commander.
And now it seemed Kakashi's own position was about to rise along with him.
Still, Kakashi hesitated.
"Captain… is that really okay?" he asked quietly.
"I've been in the ANBU for less than three months. Promoting me like this so suddenly… isn't that a bit—"
"No problem. I said it's fine."
Natsuhiko cut him off before he could finish.
"I trust your abilities, Kakashi. I always have."
His eyes were calm but firm. "You should trust yourself too. Understand?"
"I…"
Kakashi paused for a moment.
Then his expression hardened with determination.
"I understand, Captain. I won't let you down."
"I know you won't." Natsuhiko nodded in satisfaction, returning Kakashi's words with a small smile.
Kakashi probably wouldn't disappoint Natsuhiko.
After all, Natsuhiko clearly remembered that in the future this kid would actually become an ANBU captain, possibly even a division commander.
If he remembered correctly, Uchiha Itachi had once become a squad leader under Kakashi's command. If that was the case, then Kakashi serving as a squad leader now was hardly unreasonable.
Even if the timeline had been pushed forward a bit, Kakashi's strength should already be sufficient.
Besides, this guy would eventually become the Sixth Hokage.
...
After settling Kakashi's appointment as a squad leader and sending him off to find Trout to choose a squad, Natsuhiko lowered his head again and turned his attention back to the reports in his hands.
Over the past two weeks, he had already dealt with quite a number of matters.
Although his division hadn't yet developed real combat power, they were more than capable of handling basic patrol missions.
And because of that, Natsuhiko was planning to stretch his legs a bit.
Ever since becoming a Division Commander, he had gained far too much free time. After all, he no longer needed to personally handle those routine missions.
But promotion to a higher rank still required achievements, so he needed to do something to pave his way up.
More importantly, Natsuhiko still couldn't stop thinking about that abandoned land of Rōran in the Land of Wind.
His chakra seed had already reached ninety-nine percent maturity, meaning it could ripen at any moment.
Even so, after suffering so many times due to his lack of chakra—and now possessing the far more powerful yet also far more chakra-consuming Intermediate Sage Mode—Natsuhiko certainly didn't think having more chakra was a bad thing.
"Besides, I'm a member of the Senju clan," he muttered to himself while studying the reports.
"If I don't have ridiculous chakra reserves, wouldn't that be an insult to the Senju name?"
With a serious expression, Natsuhiko carefully searched through the mission reports in his hands, trying to find one that was both important enough and could conveniently take him to the Land of Wind.
If possible, he'd prefer the mission to be solo.
That way he'd have far more freedom to move around and accomplish his real objective.
But after thinking about it for a moment, he quickly dismissed the idea.
As a Division Commander, even if Natsuhiko himself was willing to take the risk of a solo mission, Konoha would never allow it.
Losing a Division Commander was no trivial matter.
In fact, Natsuhiko himself had once been subjected to investigation because of such concerns.
And selecting a Division Commander was no easy process either. Unless absolutely necessary, Konoha wouldn't take that risk.
After searching through the reports for quite a while, Natsuhiko rubbed his head in frustration.
It seemed there really weren't any high-level missions heading toward the Land of Wind.
Most likely it was because Sunagakure and Konoha had signed their so-called alliance treaty.
Even though the two villages still fought in secret from time to time, on the surface they maintained a façade of harmony.
On top of that, ANBU missions rarely required leaving the Land of Fire, so it was perfectly normal that Natsuhiko couldn't find anything suitable.
"Looks like this is going to be troublesome…"
He rubbed his temples while flipping through the reports.
"I've been looking for two days already. Don't tell me there really isn't a single mission like that?"
But in the very next moment—
Natsuhiko froze.
Then, slowly, a faint smile spread across his face.
Because he had just spotted a mission.
And among the names related to that mission, there was one that caught his attention immediately.
A very interesting name.
Yashamaru.
...
"So you're saying… you want to take this mission?"
Inside ANBU Headquarters, Murashima Takumi frowned as he looked at Natsuhiko.
He truly hadn't expected the kid to come here and request this particular mission.
Thinking about it, the mission actually had a bit of a connection to Natsuhiko.
After all, the Sunagakure ANBU named Yashamaru had been captured and brought back by Natsuhiko himself.
Ever since being captured, that man had remained completely silent.
He had shown absolutely no intention of cooperating.
However, Yashamaru's silence wasn't really a major problem for Konoha.
Even though, due to diplomatic considerations, they couldn't forcibly search his memories or torture him for information, there were still other methods available—mind-reading techniques, for example.
As long as they were careful and didn't leave obvious traces, it wasn't a big issue.
After all, Sunagakure was technically an allied village. Making small compromises to maintain Konoha's current stability wasn't anything unusual.
And that was exactly the situation now.
Yashamaru didn't have much value left to Konoha anymore. Yet because of his special identity, executing him outright would also be problematic.
So returning him to Sunagakure seemed like the best solution.
Of course, that didn't mean the mission itself would be easy.
After all, no one knew what kind of attitude the Sand Village would have toward this matter.
"Yes. I want to take this mission."
Natsuhiko nodded and calmly explained his reasoning.
"I was the one who captured him in the first place. It only makes sense for me to handle the aftermath as well."
"And Captain Kusunoki died because of people from Sunagakure. Now that I'm the commander of the Third Division, it's only natural that I do something about it."
The reasoning was flawless.
Yashamaru had been captured by Natsuhiko. Letting him escort the prisoner back could be seen as bringing the matter full circle.
And Kusunoki's death was indeed connected to Sunagakure.
Not to mention that Kusunoki's mission had originally been to rendezvous with Root operatives returning from the Sand Village.
And that puppet-wielding monster they encountered… no matter how one looked at it, it screamed Sunagakure ninja.
Put the two together, and it was perfectly reasonable for Natsuhiko to take responsibility for this mission.
In fact, the assignment suited him quite well.
"I understand. I'll report this matter."
Murashima Takumi spoke in his usual cold tone.
"Go back and prepare. If the mission is assigned to you, you can depart at any time. If it isn't… you can't blame anyone."
"Yes, Commander."
Natsuhiko nodded lightly, then turned around and left the office without hesitation.
After the incident last time—and judging by Takumi's behavior today—Natsuhiko had already come to a clear conclusion about the man.
Murashima Takumi wasn't some rigid, inflexible bureaucrat.
No.
He was more like a perfectly domesticated machine.
Talking too much to someone like him was meaningless.
No matter how beautifully you argued your case, he would never make the decision himself.
Even though he had the authority to do so, he would still report everything to the Third Hokage before acting.
"If only I had a subordinate like that," Natsuhiko thought with amusement.
With that thought in mind, he returned to his office.
At this point, he had already made his stance clear.
As for the outcome, even he couldn't say.
If this mission didn't work out, he would simply settle for the next best option and look for another assignment that was relatively important.
Even if it was within the Land of Fire, that would still be fine.
Because he truly needed to go out and deal with that piece of flesh.
He had a strange feeling about it.
That chunk of flesh was extremely important to him.
Even if it didn't help him obtain a Wood Release seed, it would almost certainly bring him tremendous benefits.
The feeling was hard to explain.
Natsuhiko couldn't say why he felt so strongly about it.
But he trusted that intuition completely.
Even though he hadn't figured out exactly how he would use it yet, that didn't stop him from planning to study it carefully—and experiment with it properly.
"Chakra… and that piece of Hashirama Senju's flesh…"
Natsuhiko sighed quietly.
"Looks like I've got quite a lot to deal with."
After returning to his office, Natsuhiko simply waited quietly.
At this stage, there really wasn't much else for him to do.
As for his strength, during these past two weeks he had spent a good amount of time familiarizing himself with Intermediate Sage Mode. And he had to admit—the results were excellent.
But just as he had predicted, his demand for chakra had grown even more terrifying.
The chakra reserves of a mere chunin-level body simply couldn't sustain the consumption of that technique.
In other words, just as he had expected…
He had become a one-second man.
The most frustrating part was that two full weeks had passed, yet his Advanced Chakra Seed, stuck at ninety-nine percent maturity, hadn't budged at all.
Not even a little.
That alone made him incredibly depressed.
Still, he could clearly feel that the seed had already developed to its absolute limit. Once it finally matured, it would undoubtedly unlock another portion of his chakra reserves.
By then, he might not reach the legendary "chakra monster" level of the Senju…
But his reserves would certainly exceed those of ordinary jonin—perhaps even elite jonin, at least according to the system's evaluation.
"Well… I'll talk about it once it actually grows."
Natsuhiko leaned back in his chair and muttered to himself.
"Besides, once it matures, I can plant the Beginner Wind Release Seed as well."
Since he had no idea what kind of seeds might appear after the advanced ones, Natsuhiko had no intention of slowing down his progress.
At the moment, he didn't possess any higher-level seeds.
His Sage Mode seeds hadn't advanced further either.
Under those circumstances, planting the Beginner Wind Release Seed was naturally the best choice available to him.
"And when I head out this time, I definitely need to test that idea of mine."
A faint smile appeared on his lips.
"If it works… I might even be able to get a Lightning Release Seed."
If that happened, Natsuhiko would possess four out of the five elemental chakra natures.
Even if they were all just beginner-level seeds, it would still be a major expansion of his abilities.
And from there, obtaining a Fire Release Seed wouldn't be impossible either.
"…But even if that works, how the hell am I supposed to deal with Yin–Yang Release?"
Unfortunately, before he could enjoy the idea for long, a troublesome question crept into his mind.
Yin–Yang Release.
Technically speaking, every ninja possessed Yin and Yang chakra within their body.
But being able to control and utilize it was an entirely different matter.
Just look at the Ino–Shika–Cho clans.
Their techniques were essentially simplified applications of Yin–Yang Release—though each clan only used Yin Release or Yang Release separately.
Even so, they relied entirely on their family secret techniques to activate them.
And those techniques were the absolute core of their clans. There was no way they would ever share them with outsiders.
Natsuhiko had searched through some of the Senju clan's records before.
Unfortunately, there were no relevant records about it—not from Hashirama Senju, nor from Tobirama Senju.
Perhaps those two could simply use such power naturally.
Or perhaps Natsuhiko's status within the clan simply wasn't high enough to access those records.
Either way, manipulating that power was extremely difficult.
At the very least, Natsuhiko had never heard of Senju Shoma using anything remotely similar.
"Though if we're being technical…"
Natsuhiko shrugged slightly.
"Medical ninjutsu could be considered a form of Yang Release… and genjutsu could count as a type of Yin Release."
Shaking his head, he decided there was no point worrying about it now.
Cross that bridge when you get to it.
And soon enough, he didn't need to think about it anymore.
That afternoon, just as the workday was ending, an official document from ANBU Headquarters was finally delivered.
Natsuhiko unfolded the order and read it.
"Division Commander Nightingale of the Third Division is hereby ordered to escort the Sunagakure ANBU ninja Yashamaru back to the Land of Wind.
Personnel assignments are at the commander's discretion.
That is all."
Natsuhiko stared at the order for a moment.
Then a slow smile spread across his face.
...
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