Rebuking Hatake Sakumo

Uchiha Mai no longer wanted to draw from the half-star prize pool. Although the half-star rewards he had obtained so far had all been quite useful, they were far too taxing.

As for the one-star rewards, whether it was [Lightning Five-Chain Whip] or [Gongshoudao], both were extremely powerful.

The former had boosted Mai's strength somewhat the moment he obtained it, but after training it for so long, his rate of improvement had slowed.

For now, [Gongshoudao] could be used as a zero-windup, zero-cost Body Flicker Technique. Its effects were quite good, though it cost quite a bit of money.

Moreover, it was foreseeable that as his strength continued to rise, the boosts provided by [Gongshoudao] would become smaller and smaller. That was the downside of fixed increases.

Half-star and one-star skills had their limits.

So...

I won't draw from the low-level prize pools anymore, jojo!

The low-level prize pools could no longer bring about a qualitative leap in his strength. It would be better to save up and draw from the One-and-a-Half-Star Prize Pool.

Besides, everyone was curious. When a new prize pool appeared, anyone would want to give it a shot and see what rare treasures they could pull, right?

Having made up his mind, Uchiha Mai closed the system interface, drank a glass of milk, and fell into a deep sleep. Maintaining a healthy routine could significantly increase one's height.

If he did not hurry up and grow taller, how would he drive a big car?

Elsewhere, Master Minato had already finished revising the mission report and submitted it to Sarutobi Hiruzen.

In truth, as a model ninja, Master Minato had always handled the day's work on the same day. He had written the mission report before returning from Tanzaku Town.

It was only because a small incident had occurred along the way that he needed to add a section.

Inside the Hokage Office, Sarutobi Hiruzen sat behind his desk, narrowing his eyes as he read Minato's mission report by lamplight. His expression changed repeatedly—surprise, anger...

In the end, he took a deep breath, set down the report, closed his eyes, and unconsciously tapped his fingers against the desk as countless thoughts ran through his mind.

"Tap, tap, tap..."

After a long while, Sarutobi Hiruzen slowly opened his eyes and said kindly, "About three months ago, I found time to visit the Ninja Academy, and that was when I first took notice of Uchiha Mai.

"Back then, although he displayed some unusual talent, his strength was only at the level of an ordinary Genin.

"In less than three months, he has actually awakened the Sharingan. Not only can he kill a Chunin from Kumogakure alone, he even had enough strength left to clean up after you. He truly is exceptionally gifted, a rare talent of his generation.

"I had thought he was the sort of late-blooming genius who took time to mature. I never expected him to fulfill part of his potential so quickly. I misjudged him.

"His talent may be even greater than Kakashi's."

Sarutobi Hiruzen was filled with emotion. Just over a month after graduating, Uchiha Mai's strength was already no worse than Kakashi's. He could only be called a genius.

Moreover, Uchiha Mai possessed the Sharingan, a Kekkei Genkai. Combined with learning ability that was already no weaker than Kakashi's, did that not mean his talent surpassed Kakashi's?

"Mai's talent truly is astonishing. At eight years old, he has already created the prototype of his own Nintaijutsu style. In the future, he will surely become a ninja capable of standing on his own.

"Moreover, Kakashi is no slouch either. He has fully inherited Senior Sakumo's teachings. All he lacks is the tempering and accumulation that comes with time."

Namikaze Minato nodded and praised Kakashi a few more times.

Praising one while putting down another was not advisable.

Kakashi and Uchiha Mai were the Wolong and Fengchu among Konoha's most outstanding youths, and both had come under Master Minato's wing. If Might Guy could, like Jiraiya, build up steadily before blooming late, then this would be another New Sannin.

With such a luxurious lineup of disciples, even Orochimaru next door would be green with envy. What an enormous advantage that would be when running for Hokage.

"Sakumo, Sakumo..."

Sarutobi Hiruzen murmured the name twice more. His gaze turned cold as he ordered, "Speaking of Sakumo, I do have something to discuss with him.

"Minato, go to the Anbu and bring Sakumo here."

"Yes."

Namikaze Minato could roughly guess why Sarutobi Hiruzen wanted to see Hatake Sakumo. It was nothing more than holding him accountable.

An elite Kumogakure squad had actually penetrated deep into the Land of Fire and ambushed one of the Sannin right at Konoha's doorstep, yet the Anbu had noticed nothing.

Calling it absurd would be an understatement. It was also a serious dereliction of duty.

Preventing foreign enemies from infiltrating Konoha, gathering intelligence on enemies, and conducting counterintelligence were all among the Anbu's key responsibilities.

If they were meant to prevent enemy infiltration, then they certainly could not wait until enemies had entered Konoha before monitoring them. They were already in Konoha—how the hell could that still count as prevention?

For an elite squad like Narita Daisaku's, it was not necessary to spot them the moment they entered the Land of Fire, but at the very least, the Anbu should have noticed something before they reached the heartland.

A moment later, Namikaze Minato led Hatake Sakumo back into the office.

"Lord Hokage." Hatake Sakumo greeted him.

Sarutobi Hiruzen waved his hand, signaling Master Minato to leave first. Then he tossed the documents on the desk to Hatake Sakumo, barely concealed anger in his eyes.

Oh boy, this was bad.

Seeing that posture, Hatake Sakumo knew he was about to get chewed out. He carefully took the documents, opened them, and skimmed through them at a glance.

After finishing, he suddenly dropped to one knee, bowed his head, and tremblingly pleaded guilty. "Lady Tsunade was ambushed by enemies near Konoha. This was my failure—this was the Anbu's failure.

"I am willing to die in atonement. I only ask that Lord Hokage punish me."

Some people could make a mistake, bow in apology, and be done with it. But when Hatake Sakumo said he was willing to die in atonement, he truly meant it. He did not make empty gestures.

"When something happens, all you know is to offer your life in atonement! What the hell were you doing before that!?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen rose to his feet, clasped his hands behind his back, and paced back and forth through the office. His chest heaved violently; he was clearly furious.

Then he abruptly spun around, raised a trembling finger at Hatake Sakumo, and angrily rebuked him, "Sakumo, you and I have known each other for decades.

"Not long after I inherited Lord Tobirama's will and succeeded him as Hokage, I promoted you to Anbu captain, and shortly afterward, I elevated you to Anbu commander.

"I placed my safety precautions—Konoha's safety precautions—in your hands.

"About ten years ago, not long after Kushina first arrived in Konoha, Kumogakure infiltrated the village and kidnapped her. Your Anbu noticed nothing, and Minato was the one who ultimately brought her back.

"She was Konoha's prospective Jinchuriki. After such a major incident, you could not escape blame.

"Koharu and Danzo were both deeply dissatisfied with you. They said you only understood assassination and were fundamentally incapable of handling intelligence gathering and counterintelligence work. They advised me to remove you from your position as Anbu commander.

"I suppressed the matter at the time.

"Because the Anbu had only been established for a few years and its structure was incomplete. Although it was responsible for gathering enemy intelligence and preventing foreign infiltration, it had only a few dozen people under its command and no proper intelligence system.

"Many times, it could not obtain firsthand intelligence and had no authority to act as circumstances required.

"Afterward, I gradually assigned you more than three hundred people as intelligence ninja directly under the Anbu. You established over eighty intelligence stations of various sizes both inside and outside the country, weaving them into an intelligence network.

"I also granted the Anbu considerable autonomy. During special periods, you could act as circumstances required, expelling or even killing non-Konoha ninja within our territory.

"I gave you everything that should have been given, yet you still made such a serious mistake. Sakumo, can't you give me a little less to worry about? Danzo has been eyeing your position as Anbu commander all along. Do you still want the job?"

In the original plot, it was never stated that the Anbu had an intelligence system. It only said that Konoha had an Analysis Team, with Yamanaka Inoichi as its captain.

I looked into it and found that Yamanaka Inoichi was indeed responsible for intelligence-related work, but his team was called the "Analysis Team," and it did not seem to have an intelligence network.

Consider it a secondary setting. I think it makes perfect sense for the Anbu, a department similar to the Eastern Depot or Jinyiwei, to have an intelligence network.

I believe everyone has already guessed the next part of the story.