"It can't be said that I appeared suddenly, after all, I came to find your father on the Hokage's orders."
Kazashiro habitually pinched Itachi's cheek before withdrawing his arm from Itachi's neck.
"Besides, if you don't want me around, just throw away the Flying Thunder God Kunai kunai you're carrying."
After waving to Kazashiro and greeting Mikoto, Fuuhaku headed straight for Fugaku's usual spot.
Watching Kazashiro's departing figure, Itachi blinked, put down the basin he was carrying, and reached into the Flying Thunder God Kunai in his inner pocket.
"I'm coming in, Captain Fugaku."
Before Fugaku could respond, Kazashiro simply opened the door.
"Oh, it's Kazashiro. Please have a seat."
With a slight headache, Fugaku glanced at Kazashiro, who had casually barged into someone else's room, closed his eyes, sighed, and carefully put away the scroll in his hand.
This guy in front of me, not only has his appearance remained unchanged, but why has his personality gotten worse and worse?
Fugaku had interacted with Kazashiro several times due to work, and he always felt that this Jonin in front of him was probably not as steady as his eldest son Itachi.
My Itachi is the best; he's obedient, filial, and his ninjutsu skills are impeccable.
Fugaku mentally gave his son a lot more credit, shook his head, and decided to hurry up and finish talking business with Kazashiro so he could send the other party away.
"I've heard about it. The peace delegation from Kumogakure will be arriving in Konoha next month."
Before Kazashiro could speak, Fugaku revealed the purpose of the visit.
"That's right. The covert operations are handled by the secret service, while the overt defense is handled by the Military Police Force and the four-man mobile unit that I command."
Even when discussing serious matters, Kazashiro's expression didn't become particularly serious; he still wore that faint smile.
"There's nothing I can do. It's because I made a huge mess of Kumogakure on the battlefield back then. The Fourth Generation said that neither Minato nor I are suitable to have direct contact with the delegation."
Was it embarrassing?
Fugaku, however, did not think so.
The amount of blood from the Cloud Ninja in Kazashiro's hands was so much that he himself had probably lost count.
I heard that Ōnoki from Iwagakure has set up an Explosion Corps. If Kazashiro goes there, he might be able to get a captain's position.
"I will personally take command at that time, and will also assign a liaison officer to your team to ensure that we can contact you immediately in case of any situation."
The current Military Police Force is a large, multi-ethnic organization, and many members are from the Yamanaka Clan with remote communication capabilities.
"But I wonder who else is in your team besides you?"
Fugaku was curious about who made up this so-called mobile unit.
"They were all transferred from the Dark Division. Even I only know their code names: Elephant, Sparrow, and Tiger."
Thinking back to the three people who came to report to him last night, Kazashiro only remembered their code names.
As for who each code name represented, he had completely forgotten.
After all, the only way to distinguish the members of the Dark faction is by the patterns on their masks, but apart from the different colors, the patterns on those three guys were not noticeably different.
In short, you have another month to get used to it.
"I see. Elephant? I've heard of that codename before; it's been active around the Third Hokage."
Upon hearing these code names, Fugaku seemed to be deep in thought.
"In short, we should start making all the necessary arrangements now to ensure the peace talks proceed smoothly."
When peace talks were mentioned, Fugaku breathed a sigh of relief, "The Third Shinobi World War ended so many years ago, but Kumogakure has always maintained a war with us. Fortunately, perseverance pays off, and those warmongers have finally stopped."
"Have they really stopped?"
Kazashiro, however, disagreed.
Putting aside the reason why he knew this part of the story, based solely on his understanding of the Cloud Ninja over the years, he didn't believe that those guys were genuinely here to negotiate.
"The meaning of Fourth Generation's is..."
Upon hearing Kazashiro's words, Fugaku assumed that the other party had received some kind of hint from Sakumo.
"This has nothing to do with the Fourth Generation; it's merely my personal opinion."
"Personal opinion?" Fugaku asked curiously, as it was the first time he had seen Kazashiro with a serious expression.
Kazashiro stretched out his hand and gently tapped the table with his knuckles, a gesture that startled Fugaku so much that he almost stopped breathing.
Danzo would also make this gesture when he was thinking.
"I've heard that the Kumogakure has been collecting Kekkei Genkai and various secret techniques for the past few years. Their visit to Konoha this time might be because they're eyeing the village's Kekkei Genkai."
Slightly narrowing his eyes, Kazashiro focused his gaze on the Uchiha Clan crest behind Fugaku.
Upon hearing this, Fugaku's expression stiffened.
"You mean..."
"I'm just guessing, but I hope that Captain Fugaku, in addition to ensuring the safety of the delegation, will also keep an eye on the Kekkei Genkai of our village, especially Dojutsu like the Byakugan and Sharingan."
"That's all I wanted to say. The rest is up to Captain Fugaku to decide."
Kazashiro revealed his usual expression again, and he stood up looking quite relaxed.
The difficult problem has been handed over to Fugaku; all I need to do now is keep an eye on the Hyuga Clan.
It's not a big deal if people aren't optimistic; the current Konoha won't be easily intimidated by the Kumogakure's war.
"I'm leaving now, Itachi. You only have this short chance to say goodbye."
Before leaving, Kazashiro found Itachi squatting in the corner washing clothes.
He patted the other person's head and Kazashiro placed his hand on their shoulder.
"Senior Kazashiro, you--"
Itachi wore a helpless expression, as if he had already guessed what was going on.
"Just kidding, you're coming with me too! Mikoto, I'll borrow Itachi for now!"
After saying that, Kazashiro didn't give Itachi time to change his clothes. In front of Mikoto, he used the Flying Thunder God Technique to take Itachi away from home.
"Oh dear, I wanted to change Itachi's clothes too."
Mikoto, holding a coat in her hands, gave a helpless smile.
"Alas, it's all Danzo's fault."
Having witnessed all of this, Fugaku could only blame Danzo for everything.
If it weren't for the threat from the other side in the last war, how could my eldest son have been targeted by that brat from the Shimura Clan?
However, considering the faction behind the other party, Fugaku's mood improved slightly.
Since Kagami Uchiha's death, no one from the Uchiha Clan has been able to associate with the Hokage faction.
If nothing unexpected happens, Itachi should be the first Uchiha to re-establish contact with the higher-ups.
It's a pity I ended up with a rather unreliable guy.