Dead Last (Please Vote with Your Monthly Pass!)

As former Anbu teammates and now representatives of the village's new generation, Hyuga Kagami, Shisui, and Kakashi walked out of the Hokage Building side by side, chatting idly under the watchful eyes of many Konoha ninja along the way.

Glancing at Kakashi's ordinary Jonin attire today, Hyuga Kagami casually asked, "I heard you officially left the Anbu?"

"Yeah, it was the Third Hokage's decision."

Kakashi answered somewhat absentmindedly.

Being exceptionally permitted to attend the village's high-level meeting today and being specially allowed to leave the Anbu ranks were undoubtedly signs that the Third Hokage intended to place greater trust in and promote Kakashi.

In fact, after Kakashi successfully mastered the "Flying Thunder God Technique," the Third Hokage had consciously begun grooming him as a successor to the Hokage Faction. To those in the know, this was no secret at all. After all, Kakashi was the Fourth Hokage's student and one of the most orthodox Hokage Faction ninja among Konoha's younger generation.

Kakashi clearly had something on his mind. After chatting casually for a few moments, he bade Hyuga Kagami and Shisui farewell.

Watching Kakashi's departing figure, Shisui said, "Kakashi-senpai has seemed troubled lately."

Hyuga Kagami remarked, "He carries too much on his shoulders."

Shisui could not help but smile wryly. "Senpai, we carry quite a lot ourselves. If you weren't standing in front and shouldering it all, I definitely would have been crushed by these secrets! Oh, right, what's going on with 'Jizo'? Did you recruit him into the organization?"

"Uh, more or less!"

Hyuga Kagami was not yet in a position to explain the matter of his clones to Shisui in detail, so he could only brush it off vaguely.

Shisui asked curiously, "Then is 'Jizo' really Deidara from Iwagakure?"

"No, 'Jizo' is someone else. You'll find out later."