Handover and Konoha's Hidden Concerns

Early the next morning, Dada and Dodai sought out Morita Keiko again. After confirming the candidate, Dada explained part of his plan to Keiko.

"This job is well suited to you. It's a long-term position provided by the village. As long as you don't neglect your duties, it will remain available. The pay is no less than what you'd earn taking C-rank and D-rank missions, and it's stable."

That point alone moved Morita Keiko. It was practically a blessing from heaven.

"If you don't mind, you can bring your daughter along and care for her there. That way, you won't have to run back and forth between two places. You'd only need to pay an additional fee for her room and board." Dada made his suggestion.

Morita Keiko was greatly tempted. Her daughter was not yet old enough for the Ninja Academy, and Keiko had been busy trying to support their household. Whenever she went out on missions, her daughter could only play alone at home. That was not good for the child's growth, and it had left her daughter rather withdrawn, with few friends.

"That's roughly the situation. There will be a three-month probation period. The pay will remain the same during that time, but there will be evaluations. Whether you pass will depend on your performance over those three months." Dada said this with his arms folded across his chest like a little adult. Beside him, Dodai merely smiled and nodded, like some kind of lucky mascot.

Dodai now fully trusted Dada's wisdom. Instead, he seemed more like an assistant, which better suited his self-image as a retainer of the Yotsuki Clan.

"If there are no problems, sign here, and then we'll go take a look at the Orphanage."

Morita Keiko was filled with fighting spirit. She resolved to secure this job no matter what and decisively signed her name.

Then Dada led the bodyguard unit, Dodai, and Morita Keiko to the Orphanage.

A few days earlier, Dada had already had Dodai put a stop to the Orphanage's overly early taijutsu training. But the useless chunin from before clearly had no interest in the children's physical or mental well-being. He had the attitude of, if the village didn't require it, then neither did he. Other than his routine work, he had done nothing these past two days. So when Dada arrived, the children were blankly staring around the yard. A few particularly young ones were squatting on the ground, digging in the dirt for fun, but most of them simply sat there in a daze, not knowing what they were thinking.

"I'll leave the handover to you. I'm going to take a look in the backyard," Dada said.

Dada did not intend to interfere with the handover work any further. It was also a small test for Morita Keiko. After all, managing more than thirty children required more than just a caring heart.

When he arrived in the backyard, all the children noticed Dada. More accurately, they noticed the bodyguard team behind him. Many of the younger children retreated into the distance.

"Move farther away. Don't stand so close!" Dada told the bodyguards.

"Young Master Dada, you know our orders are to stay by your side at all times," one of the ninja bodyguards said.

"But this is inside the village, and these are only a group of children. You don't trust even this much...?"

The bodyguard's silence made it clear there was no room for negotiation.

"Then use the Transformation Jutsu to turn into trees. Please make yourselves look natural..."

The bodyguards said nothing.

When Dada appeared again, he could clearly feel that the children were less wary. After all, he looked about their age, and with their eyesight, there was no way they could spot anything suspicious about those trees of varying heights and shapes.

Then Dada unleashed his sugar-coated strategy. The previous victim of this move had been Uzumaki Hirohiko.

No child could refuse colorful, fancy candy! No one!

Money could not buy a child's happiness, but candy could.

By the time Morita Keiko finished handling the handover and came looking for Dada, she found him playing games with a group of children. It was hard to imagine that this clumsy figure was the same person who had previously laid out plans for the Orphanage with such confidence.

Dada played several rounds of native Shinobi World children's games with them, but he could not make sense of them at all. He was quickly eliminated and took the opportunity to run over to Morita Keiko.

"You have one week to take over the Orphanage and learn about every child's circumstances. A week from now, the Mission Assignment Office in the village will post the mission we discussed. Someone may come, or no one may come, but this place must be ready."

"I will definitely complete it, Young Master Dada."

"You're not from the Yotsuki Clan, so there's no need to call me Young Master. Just call me Dada," Dada said.

"No, Young Master Dada. That title suits you very well," Morita Keiko said with a smile.

"...Whatever you like."

"Hiruzen, the Uchiha have come to make trouble again. What are you planning to do?"

Shimura Danzō glanced sideways at the Third Hokage seated behind his desk, watching for changes in the other man's expression.

Hiruzen Sarutobi took a draw from his pipe and slowly exhaled. After a moment of silence, he said, "Tell them that Uchiha Sogen's body has been completely destroyed. If they want to search for it, the village can give them the mission record scroll from Sogen's final mission. They can go to the Land of Earth and look for it themselves, see whether they can find anything."

Danzo received the answer he wanted and was quite satisfied.

Hiruzen, this is good. Only by understanding them first can we guard against them. The Uchiha will always be a hidden danger. This is the will of our teacher, Danzo thought.

Just as Danzo was about to leave and deal with the matter, Hiruzen added, "You may study them, but never let those eyes see the light of day."

Danzo considered this for a moment, then said, "I understand."

Watching Danzo leave, Hiruzen Sarutobi turned his gaze back to the document in his hand.

Unlike usual, this was not an intelligence report. It was a letter sent to Konoha by the Daimyo of the Land of Fire in his capacity as the ruler of a nation.

Put simply, the Daimyo of the Land of Lightning had recently received Kumogakure's full protection. Nine Elite Jonin guarded him day and night, making for quite the impressive display. The Daimyo of the Land of Lightning had been showing it off everywhere, and after the Daimyo of the Land of Fire saw it, he wondered whether, as the daimyo of the strongest nation, he should receive the same treatment.

Though the wording was not harsh, the meaning between the lines was obvious. Hiruzen Sarutobi had no room to refuse.

Konoha's economic lifeline was similarly held in the daimyo's hands, so naturally it did not dare refuse. In truth, given Konoha's remaining strength, sending some jonin to protect the daimyo long-term was not much of a burden. As for Kumogakure having dispatched nine Elite Jonin, Hiruzen Sarutobi did not believe it. It was most likely just something Kumogakure had deliberately spread.

This was not necessarily a bad thing. He had already discussed it with the council of advisors. Konoha could only send more people, not fewer. After considering all factors, they settled on twelve people, all jonin. Those who were not jonin would be urgently promoted, and then, like Kumogakure, they would be called twelve Elite Jonin...

Since Kumogakure had chosen the name Thunder Cloud Nine Warriors, Konoha naturally needed an impressive title of its own. In the end, Hiruzen Sarutobi settled on the Guardian Shinobi Twelve.

Although some manpower had been drawn away, this would deepen their ties with the daimyo and would only benefit the village.

The wool came from the sheep, after all.

So Hiruzen Sarutobi agreed readily and was currently drafting a sincere yet intimate reply.

But what truly concerned Hiruzen Sarutobi was Kumogakure's situation in recent years.

Stationing ninja permanently to protect the daimyo had obvious benefits. He believed that before long, every ninja village with the means to do so would imitate it. After all, the daimyo of the major nations were connected by blood and interacted frequently, unlike the ninja villages, which were as incompatible as fire and water.

But what truly surprised Hiruzen was that Kumogakure had been the first to think of this idea.

Hiruzen had accompanied the Second Generation to Kumogakure before. In Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes, Kumogakure was clearly not skilled in administration and lacked management talents like himself, Koharu, and the others. Most of them belonged to the Martial Faction, while the Raikage usually governed the village through personal charisma.

An idea like the Thunder Cloud Nine Warriors did not seem like the style of the Martial Faction...