Konoha Internal Affairs Investigation, Analysis, and Armed Defense Department
Kazashiro was seated in a front-row seat, where Nara Shikaku, Yamanaka Inoichi, and Akimichi Choza were still sitting.
The three, who already knew the inside story of the meeting, politely invited Kazashiro to sit down.
With Hiruzen Sarutobi, Shimura Danzō, Utatane Koharu, Mitokado Homura, the Hyuga ninja, and Fugaku Uchiha taking their places, the meeting officially commenced under Hiruzen Sarutobi's chairmanship.
The other side immediately announced that Sakumo was seriously injured. Then, before anyone could react, they nominated Shimura Kazashiro to be the Acting Hokage, with their advisory group assisting them in leading Konoha.
Upon hearing this news, the Ninja Clan Head were both surprised and relieved.
When they first heard the news of Sakumo's serious injury, they thought Hiruzen Sarutobi would return to the battlefield.
It wasn't that they resented the other's rule, but rather that they were worried about the man behind the other.
Whether it was during the Third Hokage's era or the Fourth Generation's era, the Ninja Clan remained closely united around the Hokage.
The former was due to pressure from Danzo, while the latter was because Sakumo had indeed provided benefits to the Ninja Clan.
Since the time of the First Hokage, the Hokage have been determined to eliminate the influence of the Ninja Clan and attempt to integrate the village into a unified whole.
Not only the Hokage, but all other hidden villages besides Sunagakure are also making attempts.
Among them, Iwagakure) was the best integrated, followed by Kumogakure), and as for Kirigakure)...
The Ninja Clan in their village seems to have become a bit too urbanized.
Only in Konoha do the various Ninja Clan have their own territories, and each clan has its own internal promotion quotas, which means that Konoha has to negotiate with the clan Clan Head every time it needs to mobilize troops.
During the Third Hokage's era, Hiruzen Sarutobi was able to mobilize them entirely thanks to Danzo.
With such a fierce and menacing figure watching them Tenten, this group of the Ninja Clan naturally gravitated towards Hiruzen Sarutobi, even though they knew that Shimura Danzō's actions were the result of Hiruzen Sarutobi's indulgence.
Sakumo is different.
Since taking office, this Hokage has been using benefits to exchange for power held by the Ninja Clan.
His methods were gentle, and no clansmen would mysteriously disappear, which earned him the genuine loyalty of the Hokage Ninja Clan.
The whispers continued for a while before subsiding.
No one voiced any objection.
"Alright, in that case, you will be in charge of arranging for the announcement to be made and for the Daimyo's Mansion to be notified, as the Advisor Koharu."
Fugaku Uchiha finally breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the matter was settled.
The Jonin left to do their own work, while Kazashiro and several advisors went to the Hokage Building.
Sitting in the chair that symbolized the Hokage's status, Kazashiro looked at the cleaned-up table and subconsciously reached out to stroke it.
However, he didn't forget the main purpose. "Let's start exchanging intelligence now. In this operation, I encountered..."
After recounting his battle with Zetsu to the group before him, Nara Shikaku immediately offered his opinion:
"In this light, Sasori of the Red Sands does indeed have connections with the unknown Uchiha. Their ability to burrow underground also seems to explain why the enemy could so easily obtain our intelligence."
"That's right, it seems that one of those unidentified white creatures was involved during Kushina's childbirth as well," Hiruzen Sarutobi chimed in, also mentioning the handling of the White Zetsu remains and the Black and White Zetsu:
"I've already delivered what Kazashiro brought to the Research Bureau. I hope Orochimaru can figure it out."
"However, one thing needs to be noted: although the reason for the intelligence leak has been clarified, the Barrier Team did not react at all when the enemy invaded is indeed unacceptable."
Hiruzen changed the subject, suddenly bringing up the issue of barriers.
"That's right. Furthermore, the Military Police Force also bears undeniable responsibility for the intelligence leak, wouldn't you agree, Captain Fugaku?"
Kazashiro, not wanting the matter of the leaked information to be forgotten so quickly, suddenly interrupted Hiruzen's speech and pointed the finger at Fugaku.
"Hmm? Yes, that's right, it was indeed a dereliction of duty by the Military Police Force."
Fugaku was caught off guard by Kazashiro's sudden attack on him. After a moment of panic, he quickly calmed himself down and bowed his head with great sincerity.
However, he can't be entirely blamed. After all, the Military Police Force had never taken on intelligence work before, and Sakumo had given the Military Police Force this task in order to eliminate the influence of Root.
"I believe that a dedicated Intelligence Department for counter-espionage is necessary for the village. The current Anbu, although nominally Special Assassination and Tactical Squad, is clearly redundant with multiple departments such as Intelligence Department and Torture Department."
Kazashiro continued explaining his plan, "I propose that we establish a brand new department to take over these complex tasks, specifically responsible for the internal management of the village and intelligence gathering on other countries."
Danzo's brow twitched suddenly, and he immediately opened his eyes to look in Kazashiro's direction.
Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned, looking at Danzo had suddenly become agitated, and subconsciously assumed that this was part of Danzo's plan.
His biggest worry was that Kazashiro would be instigated by Danzo to rebuild Root, but from what the other party had just said, this new organization seemed to be somewhat different from Root.
"I plan to name this department the 'Konoha Internal Affairs Investigation and Analysis and Armed Security Department,' or 'Internal Affairs Department' for short."
Hearing this, Fugaku finally breathed a sigh of relief.
He thought Kazashiro was using him as a scapegoat because he was acting on Danzo's orders, but he never expected it was just to use him as a stepping stone to smoothly launch a new department.
I agree. Anyway, my son is already on their side, so I can only stick with the Shimura Clan to secure their Hokage Position.
Kazashiro's proposal was passed after Danzo fiercely debated with the Danzo scholars.
The first Minister of the Internal Affairs Department, Kazashiro, chose Aburame Ryoma to take the position, while Danzo and Hiruzen continued their love-hate relationship in their Anbu Training Department.
Kazashiro established this department to circumvent the limitation that the Acting Hokage could only command the Hokage Anbu of the Third Hokage and Fourth Generation Hokage, and to gain control of power that belonged only to him.
Kazashiro had even decided which unlucky person he would use as the first victim.
The Hyuga ninja, who had been sitting silently in his seat, suddenly felt a sense of unease, as if he were being watched.
Looking up in Kazashiro's direction, Hiashi saw that the other person was staring intently at him, and immediately understood where this feeling came from.
It seems I'm being watched.
Once all the problems that needed to be solved had been resolved, only Kazashiro, Hiruzen, and Danzo remained in the office.
"I plan to use some Root ninjas and Advisor Danzō as the initial members of the Internal Affairs Department. I hope their 'Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal' can be removed."
Kazashiro understood the principle of using job titles when working, so he naturally changed his title for Danzo to "advisor".
"Understood, Acting Hokage."
Danzo an absolutely ecstatic mood at that moment, and he didn't care about the issue of titles.
His son, just like him, knew that only by dealing a heavy blow to these Ninja Clan could Konoha be protected.
Counter-espionage, counter-espionage—isn't the identity of the spy determined by their stance?