Anbu and the Uchiha

As the year draws to a close, the Konoha Ninja have become much more relaxed. After clearing up a large number of missions over the past few months, everyone inevitably feels tired, and the pace of life has begun to slow down.

The new year began amidst heavy snow, as if to ease the sorrow of the departed. Seeing the vast expanse of white outside the window, Shuichi felt much more relaxed, and his mind began to wander to the future.

"Naruto and Sasuke are going to be born this year? But it's not convenient for me to get close to them..."

Shuichi didn't know how Indra and Asura's chakra were reincarnated, but if one traced the bloodline of the Six Paths, it was possible that the fetus's soul possessed it at birth.

"So even if the Minato cannon barrel tilts and shoots out a Naruto or something, Asura Chakra can still dye you into a boy?"

Shuichi felt there was a good chance. The Sage of Six Paths and the Great Toad were both sexists, and he had never heard them mention a Woman of Destiny. Their chakra could create life, let alone change a gender.

He's been busy with missions for the past six months, so he hasn't had much time. Besides, the news of the Jinchuriki's pregnancy will definitely be taken very seriously by the village's higher-ups. If they find out he's been keeping an eye on the Hokage's house, he'll definitely be invited in for questioning.

"Are you planning to storm into the Hokage Building and tell Minato that this year isn't a good time to have a baby, and that I should recommend your wife get an abortion? Your undead disciple has already taken a liking to her?"

Various thoughts flashed through Shuichi's mind, and he finally decided to keep an eye on Kakashi's behavior for the next few months, while also visiting the Uchiha Compound from time to time...

As February drew to a close, in the Hokage's Office, Namikaze Minato and Sarutobi Hiruzen a busy half-day, finally managed to clear out the mountain of documents, allowing them a brief respite.

"I never imagined there would be so much work to do during such a peaceful time. Now I understand more and more how difficult it must have been for you, Third Lord." Namikaze Minato breathed a sigh of relief.

The newly appointed Hokage has it tough. After a busy period of missions, there are still various village issues to resolve, and many complex relationships of interest to consider.

"Haha, you'll get used to it after a while." The Third Hokage laughed heartily, then added, "By the way, how's Kushina doing?"

"Yes, everything is normal." Minato smiled gently. "It was recently confirmed that it's a boy, and his name is Naruto. We got it from Jiraiya- sensei."

"Is that so? That's good news for you!" The Third Hokage exhaled a puff of smoke, then continued discussing matters related to the Hokage. "Now that the village is stable, you can start preparing candidates for the Anbu. Do you have any suitable targets?"

The Anbu is a force directly under the Hokage's command. Although small in number, each member is an elite within the village, and commanding the Anbu is one of the Hokage's most important powers.

Because the Third Hokage was in power for a long time, most of the Anbu members were considered his direct subordinates. Although they would obey the orders of the new Hokage, Minato was definitely not as comfortable using them as those he personally selected.

Now that the Fourth Hokage has taken office, the Third Hokage will gradually transfer this power to Minato, although this process will be quite long.

Because the number of promising young ninjas in the village is limited, training an excellent ninja requires a lot of time, and this work can only be carried out slowly.

The key point is that in the future, the new Hokage will come forward to contact the fresh blood in the village, then test their loyalty and observe their character before turning them into his own direct forces, while the old Hokage will retire behind the scenes. To put it bluntly, Minato needs his own "soldiers". No matter how useful the old soldiers are, they are still someone else's troops.

"We already have a few candidates in mind..." Minato Hajime and the Third Hokage said.

Because he came from a commoner background, he could only be selected from the Ino-Shika-Cho clan, who were relatively close to him, and his only surviving disciple, Kakashi. The other large number of young ninjas who had never been to the Anbu would need to be observed and contacted before being considered.

"Knock knock knock..." Just as they were talking, a knock sounded on the door.

Both of them knew who the visitor was. After responding, Sanada Tomohisa went straight into the Hokage's Office.

"Third Lord, Fourth Lord, this is the list of qualified graduates this year." Sanada Tomohisa handed over a list.

After Namikaze Minato took the document, Sarutobi Hiruzen asked, "Are there any outstanding talents this year?"

"Several of them should be quite good: Gekko Hayate, Tada Iwaishi, Uzuki Yugao... These are students who graduated at the normal age."

This group of people were fortunate to be born at a good time, as they enrolled during the peace period following the end of Second Shinobi War. During Third Shinobi War, when the village was short of fighting power, they were not forced to graduate, so most of them were around 11 or 12 years old.

"But if we're talking about the most outstanding one, it has to be Uchiha Shisui." Sanada Tomohisa said with a proud look on his face.

In recent years, his Elite Class has produced a number of top geniuses. Shuichi and Kakashi became famous in the Shinobi World at such a young age, and now with this one, it seems that he will soon be promoted to dean of students.

"Oh? He's a descendant of Kagami!" The Third Hokage wasn't surprised. Shisui had long been on the radar of the higher-ups. "Even you acknowledge his early graduation, so it seems the Ninja Academy really didn't have much to teach him."

Sanada Tomohisa agreed, praising, "Yes, he's not only exceptionally talented, but also gentle and cheerful. I've never seen Uchiha student like him before..."

After he finished his report and left, Minato and the Third Hokage were both excited and conflicted. Although they were happy that another talented person had appeared, they were also unsure how to arrange things with the Uchiha surname.

Currently, the Uchiha Clan's situation in the village is unique. It can be broadly summarized as mostly members of the Security Force trained by the clan, plus a small number of ninjas within the system who graduated from the Ninja Academy. These Uchiha graduates from the Ninja Academy are also registered in the Security Force.

For example, Fugaku was both the head of the Security Department and Jonin in the village, essentially holding two positions. The same was true for those Uchiha ninjas with assigned numbers.

The reason it's special is that there have never been any Uchiha in the Anbu. The Security Department established by the Second Hokage was essentially a small Anbu or patrol organization specifically responsible for the village. This is the difference between Uchiha and graduates of the regular Ninja Academy.

Ninja Academy graduates transition between regular ninja and Anbu members, while a small number of Uchiha transition between regular ninja and Security Department members; this line has not yet been broken.

The reason the two were so conflicted was that they wanted to take advantage of the opportunity of the new Hokage taking office to change the status quo. This was because Minato's wife, Kushina, was acquainted with the wife of the Uchiha Clan Head, and this was a good opportunity to make changes after many years.

Minato took a document from the drawer and began to review it again, while asking the Third Hokage, "What are the opinions of the two advisors and Elder Danzo on this plan?"

"Danzo has expressed his opposition, and the two advisors haven't made up their minds yet," Sarutobi Hiruzen said in a deep voice.

Minato was also a bit troubled by this. The plan aimed to strengthen the connection between the village and the Uchiha Clan, and it mainly involved two changes.

The first measure is to change the structure of the Security Department, tentatively setting it into three squads. The original Uchiha Clan members will occupy one squad, and a small number of people from the village will be assigned to the other squads, with the Uchiha still being the main force.

The second measure is to lift restrictions on Uchiha ninjas who graduate from the Ninja Academy, allowing them to enter the Anbu system and breaking the limitations imposed by previous personnel changes.

After this plan is implemented, a small number of numbered Uchiha will join the Anbu, and some numbered Uchiha will shift their focus from the Security Department to the village, becoming full-fledged ninjas of the village. At the same time, some of the village's personnel will enter the Security Department.

This was equivalent to the beginning of blood circulation between the Anbu, the official ninja, and the Security Department, which deepened the connection between the village and the Uchiha Clan.

However, there are many troublesome aspects to this, such as how to calculate the power ratio among these three parties? And how many people should be mobilized from each side?

Becoming a full-fledged ninja and Anbu increases the mortality rate and the risk of losing the Sharingan.

Or what if someone, like Obito, gave their eyes to a friend? In that case, should we allow a second or third Kakashi to appear, or should the Uchiha clan forcibly retrieve them?

Now that Shisui, this outstanding genius, has just graduated, the Third Hokage and Minato remained awkwardly silent in the office for a long time, unable to come up with a perfect solution.