Sunlight slowly spilled into the room.
The Sealing Unit shinobi arrived one after another.
When they entered the lab and saw Gen Takuya, none of them were surprised. They greeted him and went about their own work.
But what did surprise them—
Gen Takuya actually stopped researching.
Normally, he was experimenting before they arrived, and still experimenting after they left.
This time, he pulled away.
"You keep going," he said. "I'm heading to the Hokage's office."
"Yes!"
…
Inside the Hokage's office, Namikaze Minato stared at a mountain of paperwork and gave a helpless smile.
Before becoming Hokage, he hadn't thought it would be like this.
After becoming Hokage…
All the big and small matters of the village pressed down until even he felt drained.
A knock sounded at the door.
"Come in," Minato sighed, straightening himself behind the desk.
When he saw Gen Takuya, his shoulders visibly relaxed. He smiled and teased, "So it's Takuya-senpai. What could possibly drag you away from the Sealing Unit and your precious fuinjutsu research to come see me?"
"Hokage-sama, you're already Hokage. Just call me Gen Takuya," Gen Takuya reminded him again.
Minato only smiled, not answering.
Gen Takuya gave up.
It wasn't the first time he'd corrected him, and Minato didn't only do it to him—he spoke that way to anyone he respected.
Nara Shikaku—Shikaku-senpai.
Hyūga Hiashi—Hiashi-senpai.
The difference was, those were clan heads.
Gen Takuya was just a Sealing Unit captain—handed the position by Minato himself. What right did he have to be called "senpai" by the Hokage?
Since Minato clearly wasn't changing, Gen Takuya stopped wasting time on it.
"No choice. You made me captain of the Sealing Unit—so I have to show results, don't I?"
"That's fine," Minato said easily. "Kushina and I both know your sealing ability. You're more than qualified."
"You believing it doesn't mean others will," Gen Takuya replied. "I came with a modification plan for the barrier outside the village."
He handed over a scroll. The revised formulae and recommendations were written inside.
Minato accepted it and began reading.
His expression grew serious.
The modifications themselves weren't particularly complex. He quickly confirmed they were effective.
But it was the recommendation afterward that mattered most:
Change the entry-and-exit "key" periodically.
It wasn't that lacking the key would stop someone from entering.
It meant that without the key, the barrier sphere would flag them heavily—making it easier to assign ANBU to monitor them.
A barrier large enough to cover all of Konoha couldn't realistically have absurdly overpowered functions.
Gen Takuya waited until Minato seemed to finish reading, then spoke.
"Right now, the barrier key never changes. That creates an obvious problem—Konoha's missing-nin know the key too. If one of them guides outsiders through, the barrier becomes meaningless. It can't serve as an early warning system."
His mind flashed with another image—
Uchiha Itachi, a missing-nin for years, strolling through Konoha's barrier with a shark-faced partner and appearing right at the gate.
Minato nodded slowly. "You're right. I hadn't considered that."
Every village had missing-nin.
Konoha wasn't exempt.
And Gen Takuya's point was brutal:
Even if the barrier sphere recorded entries, a missing-nin leading two or three people through would look… normal.
And what if those two or three were all jōnin?
Each jōnin was an elite.
If they hid inside the village and caused chaos, the damage would be enormous.
Even Minato's Flying Thunder God couldn't instantly identify them and drag them out.
"What do you recommend for the update interval?" Minato asked.
Gen Takuya glanced at him.
Minato had already begun to carry himself like a man in power. He probably had ideas—but he wanted subordinates to speak first, either to catch flaws or to see if better suggestions existed.
Since Gen Takuya had raised the issue, he couldn't claim to have no opinion.
"Two cases," he said. "If missing-nin numbers spike, change it immediately. Otherwise, the best time is New Year—when most shinobi are in the village."
Minato nodded. "Alright. We'll do it that way. When we meet with the advisers later, you'll attend."
Gen Takuya fell silent for a beat.
Then: "Can I not?"
Minato stared at him, then said, calmly and mercilessly, "No. Since you made the proposal, you have to be present."
"…Fine." Gen Takuya sighed, looking like his soul had left his body.
Minato laughed. "Stop complaining. I envy you. You get to do the research you love. Me? I'm buried in paperwork every day."
Gen Takuya glanced at the pile on Minato's desk. "Then find an assistant."
"That's true… but who?" Minato frowned.
Gen Takuya naturally knew the perfect candidate—Nara Shikaku could handle this in his sleep.
But Gen Takuya refused to suggest it.
Shikaku was too smart.
Too perceptive.
If someone like that paid attention to Gen Takuya for too long, something might eventually be discovered.
So Gen Takuya only shrugged. "No idea."
Minato looked at him thoughtfully. "Then… you?"
"Hokage-sama, don't joke. I'm not suited for that," Gen Takuya refused immediately.
Not only would it look like nepotism, it would tether him to Minato every day—too much contact, too little freedom.
Minato didn't look surprised.
The Sealing Unit captaincy was already the limit. Anything higher would ignite conflict with the advisers.
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