Talking with the Fourth Hokage

"Namikaze Minato?"

"He actually came?"

"This should be interesting."

Uchiha Matsuzaki watched the Hokage walk toward him and thought to himself.

"Hello, everyone!"

After entering the room, Namikaze Minato greeted the five of them with a smile.

"Lord Hokage!"

"Lord Hokage... Hello!"

The four others couldn't believe their eyes.

They had thought that joining the Anbu was already a great honor, but they still felt flustered at the sight of Lord Hokage.

"Don't be nervous. I'm not here for anything in particular; I just want to explain the situation to you."

"I've actually been arranging Anbu recruitment up until now."

"There's a reason for that."

"I've established a new division called the Four-Man Squad."

"Like the Anbu, it reports directly to me. The difference is that your missions will be highly, highly specialized."

The corners of Uchiha Matsuzaki's mouth lifted slightly. Only now did he understand that all of this had been fated.

"The Four-Man Squad? Is it like the Anbu, a really powerful division?"

Yamamoto Takeshi asked, looking puzzled.

Namikaze Minato smiled and nodded.

"Exactly."

"I created this division because of something that's happened recently."

"Not long ago, our leadership discovered an unknown life-form. It's completely black and has an extremely powerful ability to regenerate. We call them Zero Species!"

"These creatures are beyond our understanding."

"During our investigation, we found a place called the Land of Night. There are clues about these creatures there."

After hearing the monster's description, Uchiha Matsuzaki and the others exchanged glances and nodded slightly.

The monster Namikaze Minato had just described was the same one they had encountered before.

"Not one of the Anbu ninja we sent out earlier made it back alive."

"The creatures have obtained information on all Anbu personnel. So sending more Anbu to investigate would be futile."

"We have no choice but to send you. And from what I've observed, you're strong enough to investigate—especially you, Uchiha Matsuzaki."

Namikaze Minato looked at Uchiha Matsuzaki as he spoke.

"Of course, I won't send you right away. You'll go in three months. You'll undergo some special training during that time, and you must keep this confidential. Don't tell anyone else."

After hearing Namikaze Minato, the five of them exchanged glances and nodded.

"All right, now that I've explained everything, focus on your training. I hope you'll be stronger by the end of these three months."

"Matsuzaki, come outside for a moment. I need to talk to you."

With that, Namikaze Minato left the room.

Uchiha Matsuzaki glanced at the other four, then slowly walked out and went over to Namikaze Minato.

"Lord Hokage, what did you want to talk to me about?"

"Matsuzaki, you're the strongest on your team."

"I hope you can help them improve over these three months. You'll need to get stronger yourself, too."

"I know you've been looking for the person who killed your father. From what I've learned, the culprit is in the Land of Night."

Uchiha Matsuzaki looked somewhat alarmed after hearing what Namikaze Minato had just said.

He hadn't expected Namikaze Minato to tell him this.