Expansion of Recruitment

"Itachi is eleven?"

"Not quite. I think it'll still be a while before his birthday."

Inaho stopped halfway through speaking and suddenly turned to look at Eiji.

Isn't he focusing on the wrong thing?

"Itachi really joined the Anbu?"

Inaho nodded lightly. "On the third day after you left the village for your mission, Itachi also received an assignment outside the village. He came back only half a day before you."

"I heard about it by chance yesterday while visiting the clan head's house."

Inaho sighed with emotion. "But I really didn't expect it. There would come a day when an Uchiha entered the Anbu."

In the eyes of the Uchiha, joining the Anbu was as difficult as winning the grand prize in a lottery.

After all, the Anbu was a department personally managed by the Hokage, responsible for all kinds of affairs in the village.

Those who could join were usually no ordinary shinobi.

They not only had to be loyal to the Hokage, but also fit the Anbu's mysterious style.

Might Guy, for example, failed the second requirement.

When he fought, his opponents didn't even need to know his identity. One shout of "the Noble Blue Beast of Konoha" and he gave himself away.

"Oh," Eiji replied perfunctorily. "That's good. Let's go."

The few of them wandered slowly along the street, but Eiji's thoughts had long since left this place.

Itachi's entry into the Anbu had been Fugaku's arrangement. He wanted Itachi to act as a spy.

Once the Uchiha decided to rebel, the two sides could coordinate from within and without, stab Hiruzen to death, and seize the Hokage Building.

They would loudly proclaim, "Hiruzen is dead! The Uchiha shall rise!"

In theory, there was nothing wrong with this plan.

After all, he was his own son and completely trustworthy.

But.

Itachi wasn't an ordinary son.

He was a born—

Who could have imagined that he would become a traitor?

Together with another piece of human garbage, he killed his parents, relatives, friends, and lover.

Even more insanely, that bastard made Sasuke watch it over and over again.

Saying things like, "Hate me, Sasuke."

What kind of nonsense is that?

It was already generous that Sasuke hadn't been chopped into pieces and fed to pigs.

And he still had the nerve to act like that.

The next day, Itachi arrived at the Anbu to report for duty.

Kakashi was there to receive him.

"Another Uchiha brat? Am I destined to keep butting heads with the Uchiha?"

Itachi bowed slightly. "Senior Kakashi, please guide me."

"There's not much to guide you on. Go collect your equipment and uniform, then fill out your employment forms. Anbu work is very demanding, so I hope you're mentally prepared."

"I'll definitely do my best and won't disappoint Lord Hokage."

Kakashi waved his hand. "Come with me."

As he walked, he muttered, "What's wrong with these Uchiha brats? One is all about loyalty, and the other is all about hope. Are they crazy?"

Hiruzen's decision to bring Itachi into the Anbu naturally became a topic of discussion between his two old friends as well.

"Hiruzen, I know you want to resolve the Uchiha problem, but haven't you been a little too friendly toward them lately?"

Homura pushed up his glasses, then nudged Koharu.

Koharu understood immediately and hurriedly chimed in.

"That's right. First you had Jiraiya teach Eiji, and now you've put Itachi in the Anbu. This is too dangerous."

Hiruzen put down the scroll and gestured for the two of them to sit and talk.

"So what? I can't recruit Itachi into the Anbu today and then fire him tomorrow for stepping through the office door with his left foot first."

Koharu could clearly tell that Hiruzen was deliberately arguing with her.

"Lord Hokage's orders naturally cannot be treated as a joke. However, since we've recruited Itachi, we should make sure he provides some value."

"What value?"

Unable to find the book by its title? Try searching by the author instead. Perhaps the title was changed!

Koharu lowered her voice. "Is there any way to make Itachi the spy we plant within the Uchiha clan?"

The idea was extremely bold. Even Homura was startled.

But Hiruzen looked completely calm.

"Wait, Hiruzen, you don't mean..."

Hiruzen took a drag from his cigarette. "Spy or no spy, he's merely a child who puts the greater good first."

Itachi's entry into the Anbu naturally split the Uchiha into two factions.

One side believed that the dignified Uchiha could never become Konoha's lapdogs.

The other side believed that if Itachi could join the Anbu today, he could become a guard tomorrow, an aide the day after that, and the Hokage the day after that.

"An aide, my ass! Danzo's already been dismissed."

"Isn't that perfect? It leaves the position open for Itachi. I think the Hokage is paving the way for him."

"Are you crazy? How many dishes did you drink with that much alcohol? Sober up before coming to the meeting, will you?"

"Clan Head Fugaku, does Itachi joining the Anbu have some deeper meaning?"

At those words, the noisy room fell silent.

They all turned toward Fugaku, waiting for his answer.

"As for which path Itachi's future will take, that isn't decided by me or by him. It will be decided by the Hokage."

Fugaku paused, then continued spouting nonsense.

"If the village can send more signals of goodwill toward the Uchiha in the future, I believe the two sides can coexist peacefully."

"But if the Uchiha continue to be treated unfairly, we cannot rule out the possibility of a military coup."

The clansmen looked at one another.

Got it. After all that talking, he said nothing at all.

The clan head is still sitting on the fence.

Several elderly clan elders snorted derisively, too lazy even to speak.

If you want to rebel, then rebel. If you want to grovel, then grovel.

What's with all this wavering? Sooner or later, you'll drag the whole clan into a ditch before you learn your lesson.

Fugaku also heard the clan members whispering among themselves, so he coughed several times and continued using a change of subject to evade the issue.

"How is the Security Division doing lately? Hm? Why are there so few Security Division members here today?"

One clan member stood up. "Clan Head Fugaku, they're working with Elder Yashiro on expanding recruitment."

"Expanding recruitment?"

Fugaku became interested. He had heard Eiji mention it that morning and had agreed to it in a daze.

He had thought it meant hiring three or four clan members, but apparently that wasn't the case.

"After the meeting, I'll go take a look."

At the Security Division, several Uchiha were drafting a recruitment notice.

"Recruiting one hundred Security Division staff members. Applicants must be healthy, upright, and free of bad habits."

"Benefits..."

Wait, one hundred?

Fugaku sucked in a cold breath.

Is this an expansion of recruitment or a rebellion?

If Lord Hokage finds out, won't he have you killed?

"Eiji, this is too extreme. The Security Division has only two hundred members in total, and you're expanding it by half in one stroke. Surely Lord Hokage won't help but read too much into it."

Unexpectedly, Eiji declared righteously, "The Security Division exists to protect every villager. I understand that, the clan head understands that, and Lord Hokage understands that too."

"If we'd had enough manpower, we might well have caught the intruder last time."

"But now the culprit hasn't been found, and everyone in Konoha is in a state of panic. If we don't take some action, how are we supposed to reassure the villagers behind us?"

Fugaku scratched his head. Eiji was truly strange.

Whenever he talked about this sort of thing, he became so righteous that it frightened people, yet normally he was all smiles and laughter.

Fugaku knew Eiji's parents as well, and they weren't like this.

Who did he take after?

He couldn't really have taken after Tobirama...

Bah, bah, bah. Shut up, mouth.