Anbu

Qile slowly emerged from the mist-filled bathroom. He gently stretched his limbs, feeling the soreness that still lingered in his body.

Though the discomfort remained, he could clearly feel that his body was much more relaxed than before his medicinal bath.

Then Qile followed Yeling toward the dining room. When they entered, they found Madara and Hashirama sitting around the table, talking.

Hashirama was all smiles, even gesturing with his hands as he spoke. Even Madara, who was usually so stern, had the faintest hint of a smile at the corners of his mouth.

However, the two reacted quite differently when they noticed Qile's arrival. Hashirama immediately stood up, waved enthusiastically at him, and called out, "Come sit over here, Qile!"

Madara, by contrast, merely turned his head to glance at him before looking back at the table without saying another word.

Watching the two of them behave so differently, Qile couldn't help thinking to himself, Why does this feel like a kind mother and a stern father...

Just as Qile obediently sat down on the stool and prepared to eat the food in the bowl before him, Hashirama turned to him and said, "Qile, we were just talking about that private force you mentioned earlier. Since you brought it up, I imagine you already have some unique ideas in mind. Let's hear them."

Qile didn't answer Hashirama right away. Instead, he turned his gaze toward Madara.

Madara sat there expressionlessly, as if he had no interest in what the two of them were discussing.

Qile watched Madara's expression and, after confirming that he really wasn't reacting, slowly began to explain his idea. "What I have in mind is to create a special force that answers entirely to the Hokage."

"Members of this force would wear masks and matching, distinctive combat uniforms."

"They wouldn't be allowed to use their real names, only codenames. Even the members wouldn't be allowed to reveal their real names to one another."

"As for their real names, only the Hokage would know them... uh..."

He paused, glanced at Madara, then added, "Only the Hokage and the person the Hokage trusts most would know them."

At this, Madara, who had been silent until now, suddenly furrowed his brow and asked in a mildly puzzled tone, "The way you put it, you're not trying to create a guard force at all. You're clearly planning to create an assassination force!"

Madara had hit the nail on the head, and Qile looked a little awkward. He scratched his head, then explained, "Well... that's more or less the idea. After all, this force's core mission would be to eliminate anything that might threaten the Hokage or Konoha."

Now that Qile had laid his intentions bare, even the usually mild-mannered Hashirama furrowed his brow, clearly unconvinced by the idea.

He looked at Qile with concern and said tactfully, "But wouldn't creating a special force like this be a little too aggressive and extreme?"

Madara, whose opinion was completely different from Hashirama's, tapped the table twice before slowly speaking. "No, no. Creating this special force is absolutely necessary. That way, it can carry out classified missions that shouldn't be made public, while also greatly enhancing the Hokage's standing in the village."

Hashirama replied dismissively, "Standing? I'd say that's not mere standing, but intimidation. If we do things your way, won't Konoha become even more divided, until the Hokage is the only one who gets to make decisions?"

Faced with Hashirama's objections, Qile didn't back down. He immediately retorted, "Lord Hokage, you're looking at this only from your own perspective."

"Just imagine: if you lost the strength you have now, how else could you keep the others in the village in line?"

"It's precisely because your strength stands at the pinnacle of the entire Ninja World that you don't need this force to bolster your standing. But have you considered your successor?"

Before he had even finished speaking, Hashirama waved his hand and said without hesitation, "Madara will be my successor. With his strength, he wouldn't need to rely on a force like this either."

Qile was momentarily at a loss for words at Hashirama's unexpected answer. For a moment, he couldn't think of anything suitable to say in response.

After all, when Hashirama took office as Hokage, he had publicly said that Madara would be the Second Hokage.

But as soon as Hashirama finished speaking, Madara replied without hesitation, "I will not become the Second Hokage. Not now, and not ever!"

His words struck Hashirama like a bolt from the blue, and the once-relaxed atmosphere instantly froze.

Hashirama knitted his brows and stared straight at Madara, his gaze intense. "Madara! This is what we agreed on back then! If we hadn't made that agreement, why would I have taken on the role of the First Hokage?" His words were filled with guilt over Madara's decision.

From the very beginning, and even now, Hashirama had believed that Madara was the one truly suited to become Hokage.

In response, Madara merely lifted his head slightly, gave Hashirama a faint glance, then gently shook his head and said nothing more.

Qile, sitting beside them, buried his head in his bowl like an ostrich and focused on eating. He didn't even dare lift his head.

After all, he had said what needed to be said. Whether Hashirama ultimately accepted his suggestion was beyond his control.

Of course, if Hashirama firmly refused to accept the idea, Qile wouldn't just give up. He would look for a suitable opportunity to talk to White-Hair.

After all, knowing the man as he did, Qile was sure he would be very interested in something like this. Or perhaps that guy had already been thinking along these lines.

Of course, it was also important to be clear that Qile's insistence on urging Hashirama to establish the Anbu wasn't entirely selfless.

The deeper reason was that if Hashirama established the Anbu now, the Uchiha Clan could naturally take part, thanks to Madara.

Otherwise, once White-Hair took office, even if the Anbu was eventually established, the Uchiha Clan would likely never get the chance to be involved.

At that moment, all Qile's thoughts and efforts came down to one thing: making sure that after Madara was gone, the Uchiha Clan wouldn't repeat the same mistakes and once again follow the path that had led to their downfall.

Another important factor was that the Uchiha were truly suited to the Anbu's environment: strong, cold, and mission-first!