Although the ANBU was directly subordinate to the Hokage, meaning that changes to its personnel could technically be decided by the Hokage alone without consulting anyone else, the ANBU was simply too important.
The ANBU represented the Hokage's closest confidants. Because of this, whether in Konoha or the other major shinobi villages, the position of ANBU Director was generally held by someone with a direct relationship to the Hokage.
During the reign of First Hokage Hashirama Senju, the position of ANBU Director was held by his younger brother, Tobirama Senju.
During the reign of Second Hokage Tobirama Senju, the position was held by Tsunade's little-known father.
And during the reign of Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen, the position was held by his son, Sarutobi Shinnosuke.
Minato Namikaze was still relatively young. He had neither a son nor a brother, but he did have three disciples!
As for the two mysterious disciples who had disappeared and somehow returned from the dead, Uchiha Obito and Rin Nohara, they could be set aside for the moment.
With Hatake Kakashi's current strength, he was at least qualified to serve as ANBU Director.
After all, although Hatake Kakashi was young, Minato Namikaze was young as well. The two could work together and grow alongside one another, making Kakashi a perfectly reasonable choice.
Therefore, although not the slightest hint had been revealed beforehand, everyone had subconsciously assumed that once Minato Namikaze became Hokage, the position of ANBU Director would inevitably go to Hatake Kakashi.
Yet now, Minato Namikaze had given the position of ANBU Director to the Uchiha clan head, Uchiha Ren!
While this was difficult for everyone to believe, it also made them realize something extremely frightening.
The relationship between the smiling, gentle Fourth Hokage before them and Uchiha Ren was clearly far more complicated than it appeared on the surface!
After all, appointing Uchiha Ren as ANBU Director was itself a declaration of trust—a level of trust comparable to that between brothers, father and son, or master and disciple!
Such trust obviously could not have been established overnight.
Minato Namikaze must have long since been working hand in glove with Uchiha Ren!
And this was something none of them had noticed.
Not even Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen and the others had noticed it!
It had to be understood that Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen, along with the three Konoha elders—Shimura Danzō, Koharu Utatane, and Homura Mitokado—had always maintained a suppressive attitude toward the village's shinobi clans, particularly the Uchiha clan.
If Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen and the others had known that Minato Namikaze's relationship with the Uchiha clan, and even the Hyūga clan, was this close, would they still have supported Minato's succession to the position of Hokage?
The more they thought about it, the more frightening it became.
Instinctively, when many people in the meeting room looked at the gentle smile on Minato Namikaze's face, they felt an inexplicable chill.
However, Minato's appointments were not yet finished.
"Additionally, I am appointing Hyūga Hizashi, the captain of the Reconnaissance Division, as the commander of the Hokage's Guard. The members of the Hokage's Guard will also be recruited from among the elite shinobi of the Konoha Military Police and the Hyūga clan."
"At the same time, considering that the ANBU and the Konoha Military Police have some overlapping responsibilities, I am formally clarifying their respective jurisdictions. The ANBU will handle external affairs, while the Konoha Military Police will handle internal affairs. From now on, all internal security within the village will be the responsibility of the Konoha Military Police."
"This applies to both civilians and shinobi!"
Minato's words rang out with absolute authority, striking the hearts of everyone present like a great hammer pounding away again and again.
Everyone knew that the Konoha Military Police was practically the private domain of the Uchiha clan.
Therefore, handing complete responsibility for internal security in Konoha to the Konoha Military Police was essentially the same as handing it over to the Uchiha clan.
And given the Uchiha clan's temperament, everyone present could practically foresee the oppressive life that awaited them.
A huge word—DANGER—seemed to appear over their heads.
"Wait!"
Almost the instant Minato finished speaking, Tsunade slammed her hand onto the table.
"Minato, do you know what you're saying? You—"
"Cough, cough!"
Before Tsunade could finish, Hyūga Hiashi suddenly cleared his throat, interrupting her.
He spoke with an extremely serious expression.
"Senju Clan Head, please watch your words and show the Hokage-sama the most basic respect."
"Furthermore, this is the Jōnin Council of Konoha, not some informal gathering. So please don't address the Hokage-sama so casually in this setting. When we are conducting official business, please use official titles!"
Tsunade froze.
She stared blankly at Hiashi's stern face, her mind going completely blank.
She had even forgotten what she had originally intended to say.
Uchiha Ren silently gave Hiashi a thumbs-up in his heart.
Sure enough, when it came to this sort of thing, an inflexible and by-the-book man like Hyūga Hiashi was the perfect person to handle it.
"Cough, cough."
Seeing that the atmosphere had become somewhat awkward, Shikaku Nara quickly stepped in and gave Tsunade a way out.
"Senju Clan Head, Elder Hyūga is correct. We will not restrict anyone's right to speak, but the Jōnin Council is the village's highest-authority council. So please restrain your temper and express your views calmly."
Not long ago, Shikaku Nara had personally witnessed how Uchiha Ren and Shimura Danzō had used seemingly insignificant procedural rules to strip Sarutobi Hiruzen of several of his official positions.
Although there was not much in the way of official authority left on Tsunade that could be stripped away, Shikaku still had to use stern words first to prevent her from being put in an even more embarrassing position.
"Sorry."
Tsunade clenched her fists. In the end, however, she took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down.
She then said, "Hokage-sama, I ask that you reconsider this matter carefully. Is it really appropriate to have the Konoha Military Police take complete responsibility for internal security within the village? The Uchiha are—"
"Cough, cough!"
"Senju Clan Head, please watch your words. Let's not say anything that would undermine the unity of the village."
This time, it was not Hiashi who interrupted Tsunade, but Shikaku Nara.
Although Shikaku also had reservations about Minato's decision, he was already somewhat regretting allowing Tsunade to be the one to raise the objection.
If he had known she would be this reckless, he would have stepped forward himself!
After all, through his recent interactions with Uchiha Ren, Shikaku had discovered that Ren was extremely skilled at seizing on loopholes in other people's words and using them to redirect the discussion.
Someone with Tsunade's temperament was clearly unsuited to directly confronting Uchiha Ren.
But this time, Shikaku was worrying unnecessarily.
Previously, Uchiha Ren had only resorted to such tactics because he had been dealing with old foxes like Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzō.
Now that it was time to put his own plans into action, Ren naturally would not resort to such petty tricks.
Otherwise, it would be difficult to convince everyone.
After being reminded by Shikaku once again, Tsunade changed her wording.
"With the Uchiha clan's overly rigid temperament, they will definitely have difficulty adapting to this kind of work!"
"So I still ask that you reconsider this carefully, Hokage-sama!"
Minato merely smiled at her words. He did not directly refute Tsunade. Instead, he replied gently, "Everyone is thinking about the village's future. We simply happen to be looking at the matter from different perspectives, so it's perfectly normal to have different opinions. We can seek common ground while setting aside our differences."
After a pause, Minato turned toward Uchiha Ren and asked,
"Elder Uchiha, do you have anything you would like to say regarding the Senju Clan Head's concerns?"
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