Fifth Squad's Captain Needed Kyoka Suigetsu

Long after the meeting ended, Uchiha Mai's head was still spinning.

It was too absurd. Who could have imagined that the Third Hokage would put a nine-year-old in charge of forming Anbu's Fifth Squad?

There had to be a deeper secret behind such an unreasonable decision, but Uchiha Mai couldn't figure it out.

It wasn't until he returned to the Uchiha Compound and saw the children playing there that he began to understand.

The Third Hokage intended to bring the Uchiha Clan into the fold.

Plenty of Uchiha still resented the village, but Fugaku had kept that resentment in check.

And among the Uchiha born in recent years, most were fairly fond of the village, or at least didn't dislike it.

As a great man once said, press the advantage and pursue the enemy; don't throw away victory for the sake of appearances. Now was the time for the village to win the Uchiha over completely.

So they made him an Anbu squad captain and told him to keep the squad young. What did that mean?

Recruit as many young talents as possible.

Danzo loved doing that. He often went around the major clans fishing for recruits, and their shinobi were generally high quality.

But Mai had only just become a Chunin. He didn't have the standing to demand recruits from the major clans.

Besides, Orochimaru had also been tasked with forming a team. He was bound to visit those clans.

Compared with a wet-behind-the-ears kid like Mai, they would trust Orochimaru, one of the Sannin famed throughout the Ninja World.

If Mai wanted to build a team, he would have to recruit promising youngsters from the Uchiha Clan and bring them into Anbu.

Compared with adults, minors were easier to corrupt... no, to cultivate.

That would put all the