Bonds Eye (Left), the First Mangekyō Sharingan!

The Mysterious Masked Man was a little bewildered.

Why was Akihara Kagura's way of thinking so strange?

When normal people were falsely accused, shouldn't they try their hardest to explain themselves, only to be forced into defecting when they could no longer defend themselves? Why was Akihara Kagura taking the blame on his own initiative?

"Zetsu, follow him and take a look."

The Mysterious Masked Man could only have the Pitcher Plant Monster burrow underground to investigate what had happened and why the plan to force Akihara Kagura into defecting had gone wrong.

"Alright."

The Pitcher Plant Monster immediately sank into the ground.

After the monster named Zetsu burrowed underground, it followed the group to the Root base and secretly hid beneath the ground to eavesdrop on the conversation between Akihara Kagura and Shimura Danzō.

The Root base.

When Shimura Danzō first saw Aburame Ryoma's corpse, he had been furious at Akihara Kagura's audacity and immediately wanted to drag the brat over and teach him a lesson.

Now, Akihara Kagura stood before him, even looking as though killing Aburame Ryoma had been perfectly justified, as if he had done nothing wrong at all.

"Why did you kill Ryoma?"

"I never liked him when I was in Root. He even mocked me for being kicked out of the base, and mocked me for being a traitor just like that Kou... I only wanted to teach him a lesson. Who knew he would call me a traitor too? I killed him in one move."

"..."

Shimura Danzō fell silent.

What was wrong with Aburame Ryoma's brain?

He had returned to the village without asking around about the situation, only to mock a killing tool?

Shimura Danzō had expelled Akihara Kagura from Root not because Akihara Kagura had betrayed him, but because Hiruzen Sarutobi had taken Akihara Kagura away from him. He could no longer trust Akihara Kagura as he had in the past, but the brat was still a tool he could use.

"You take things too far!"

Shimura Danzō took a deep breath, suppressing his irritation before continuing his rebuke. "This old man ordered you long ago not to kill people freely in the village!"

"It was only Aburame Ryoma..."

"He wasn't one of the village's other people. Lord Danzō could definitely handle it..."

Akihara Kagura frowned and pointed at the two guards at the Root base. "When those two threw me out, I wanted to kill them too. But I was afraid of making Lord Danzō unhappy again and being completely abandoned by Lord Danzō..."

"Hmph!"

"At least you know what matters..."

"At least you know to let this old man handle the trouble you caused..."

Shimura Danzō gripped his cane tightly and said in a low voice, "Fortunately, you threw Ryoma's corpse into the Root base. If those Anbu people had discovered Ryoma's body..."

That would have been a huge problem!

Fortunately.

Akihara Kagura had killed someone from Root.

If Akihara Kagura had killed another ninja from the village, Shimura Danzō would have had to negotiate with others. It would have been difficult even if he wanted to clean up after the brat!

Something seemed a little off...

Yet Shimura Danzō also felt that nothing seemed wrong.

Forget it.

The most important thing now was making this brat change his habit of killing people. At the very least, he could not casually kill people from the village!

That damn brat!

He was clearly a sharp weapon, yet before Shimura Danzō could use that weapon against an enemy, it was already about to cut his own palm.

"After joining the Anbu, you are not to casually kill your comrades!"

Shimura Danzō could only suppress his anger and coldly rebuke him. "Hiruzen Sarutobi is no good man. He will not cover for you the way this old man does!"

"Then can I kill that traitor Tenzo and Kakashi? What if they mock me too for being kicked out by Lord Danzō?"

"No! They would not do that either!"

Shimura Danzō's brow furrowed tightly. Feeling as though he was speaking on Tenzo and Kakashi's behalf, he hurriedly tried to straighten out his thoughts before finally bringing up the serious matter. "I remember that you were supposed to report to the Anbu today."

"Yes."

"Go."

Shimura Danzō intended to send Akihara Kagura away first, warning him, "If you cause trouble again in the future, this old man will send you back to..."

"I won't!"

Akihara Kagura immediately interrupted Shimura Danzō.

Akihara Kagura knew that Shimura Danzō had wanted to say he would send him back to Orochimaru. The old man was certainly just saying it casually, but he could not say it so carelessly...

Because...

There might be an eavesdropper nearby.

Although Akihara Kagura knew that the Mysterious Masked Man had always been nearby, it was not yet convenient to meet his new boss. He still had to create some trouble for this new boss.

A workplace rule.

If a company needed you to join, submitting your résumé yourself and being headhunted were two entirely different hiring paths, with completely different treatment.

After leaving the Root base, Akihara Kagura went straight to report to the Konoha Anbu. After registering his information, he first collected a complete set of Anbu equipment.

A kunai, a short ninja blade, matching shuriken, a set of gray Anbu armor, and a mask to conceal his face.

The Anbu changing room.

When Akihara Kagura entered carrying an armful of equipment, over a dozen Anbu ninja were waiting inside, each with a different expression.

"Brat, you're late."

One impatient Anbu ninja was the first to accuse him. "Everyone has been waiting for you here."

"Is there a mission?"

Akihara Kagura glanced at him, then swept his gaze over everyone present. "Or are you all too weak to complete a mission yourselves?"

"What did you say!"

Several Anbu present instantly flew into a rage!

"Don't act rashly."

Kakashi Hatake stopped them, faintly feeling a headache coming on.

This brat was truly a huge problem. On his very first day, he had already clashed with his colleagues. Who knew how much trouble he would cause in the future?

"That's right, don't act rashly..."

Tenzo hurriedly stopped his colleagues and said, "Akihara Kagura is a newcomer. We should be more tolerant of him..."

After saying that, Tenzo took the initiative to show goodwill toward Akihara Kagura. "Do you want to change into your equipment first? You can put your things in a locker. There is still an empty one inside..."

"Oh, right..."

"I nearly forgot to tell you..."

"Senior Kakashi assigned you to my squad."

The entire Anbu had four divisions. Each Anbu division commanded four squads, and each squad had four members. Kakashi Hatake was a division captain, while Tenzo was a squad leader in his division.

"Oh?"

Akihara Kagura looked at Tenzo, a smile appearing in his eyes as his attitude suddenly became friendlier. "So that means I'm your subordinate? That sounds pretty good."

System Prompt: You have a new superior (Tenzo). New Hire Welcome Package awarded. You have obtained the new trait [Wood Style Kekkei Genkai]!

System Prompt: It has been detected that the host already possesses [Wood Style Kekkei Genkai]. [Wood Style Kekkei Genkai] has been enhanced. You may now develop more Wood Style Ninjutsu suited to yourself.

System Prompt: You have a new superior (Kakashi Hatake). New Hire Welcome Package awarded. New trait unlocked: Bonds Eye (Left)!

Bonds Eye (Left), the legendary Mangekyō Sharingan. Despite being only a left eye, it still possessed ocular powers beyond ordinary comprehension! If it obtained Bonds Eye (Right) for fusion and enhancement, the Mangekyō Sharingan would become even more powerful!

First update, a little late! I kept debating whether Kakashi or the Masked Man should appear first...