No Becoming Spirits After the Village Is Founded?

But after all that fuss, all they did was clean the tombstone of an ordinary Senju Clan Tomb?

Who would believe that?

"Could it be someone from the Senju Clan?" someone suddenly asked.

"Why did the Senju Clan members knock out the ANBU? If they went to tell the Lord Hokage, would the Lord Hokage not allow them to come?"

"Stop arguing!" The ANBU squad leader waved his hand; he was the most irritable person here. "I'll go report to the Lord Hokage. You guys guard the scene."

After giving instructions to his subordinates, the squad leader left the cemetery and headed straight for the Hokage Building.

Watching the direction the squad leader had left, one of the remaining members of the ANBU looked at his superior's departing figure, a hint of contempt flashing in his eyes.

[What a waste...]

The Jonin sighed inwardly.

He still missed the days when Danzo was around. Back then, the ANBU, while not exactly powerful, were at least not this useless.

He was extremely unhappy with his current position in the ANBU, partly due to its style of work, and partly because he had been sent there to do this kind of thing.

He's Jonin, shouldn't he be out fighting? What's he doing guarding a bunch of dead bodies Tenten?

The Fourth Hokage? Nonsense. Without these dirty workers, there would be no Lord Hokage. It's laughable.

Despite his resentment, the Jonin still directed his subordinates to secure the scene.

These Chunin's efforts will be in vain; it's all just a smokescreen.

They fell for the trap so easily; the current ANBU is truly useless.

This Jonin was genuinely unhappy about this, showing no joy whatsoever at the success of the mission. If the ANBU had given him even the slightest hope, he wouldn't have cooperated with Orochimaru.

Cooperating with Orochimaru would at least allow him to rediscover a little bit of his former glory.

At this moment, in the Hokage Building, Namikaze Minato had just finished eating the takeout breakfast his wife had made for him and was preparing to work.

The stack of documents on the table, though he had grown accustomed to them over the years, still struck Namikaze Minato as very unusual.

Why did the Third never see so many documents on his Hokage?

If we're talking about decentralization, he did decentralize some of his power.

I said only important documents would be sent to him, but they all came anyway.

"Sigh." Namikaze Minato sighed, tidied up his lunchbox, then sat down at the table and picked up the first document he needed to review that day.

Let him see what it is.

Oh, so it's an application for extra-budgetary funding.

If this document doesn't have Shingen's signature, then it's definitely a misreported budget.

How dare you ask Shingen for money without his signature?

Finding the sentence written by the Minister of Administration for approval by various high-ranking officials, Namikaze Minato first circled his name, then drew a line through it, dragged it to the place where he was to sign, wrote "To be discussed later," and then put it in a box labeled "Discussion" to the side.

He likes to criticize this kind of thing.

He doesn't even need to read the whole text.

Namikaze Minato slightly disappointed.

He read on and found it was a document about a group of merchants applying for temporary accommodation. Namikaze Minato read it carefully.

So they're involved in gambling; they must be here for the Chunin Ninja Exams.

The quoted rate is good, that's acceptable.

So he approved the order with the words "The administrative department will take the lead, the ANBU will cooperate, and the matter will be handled in accordance with regulations," and then put it in a box with the word "approved" written on it.

Just as he was about to pick up the third document, there was a knock on the door.

"Come in."

Namikaze Minato said.

Honestly, reviewing documents is a tough job because you're always getting interrupted.

"Lord Hokage." One of Namikaze Minato's Kage Guard entered.

"Genma, what's wrong?" Namikaze Minato in surprise.

Genma Shiranui, Namiashi Raidō, and Iwashi Tatami served as his bodyguards, possessing excellent spatial perception talents. Namikaze Minato specially developed the Flying Thunder Formation Technique for them as an aid.

"Yes, the ANBU the Hokage's Tomb just reported that someone infiltrated last night."

Genma Shiranui, recalling the report from the ANBU leader earlier, also felt puzzled.

"But nothing was touched, except for wiping a tombstone."

"Ah?"

Chapter Twenty-Four: Are Spirits Forbidden After Village Establishment?

Genma Shiranui relayed the ANBU leader's exact words without missing a single one.

Namikaze Minato's first reaction was...

Have the descendants of the Senju Clan come to sweep the graves?

"Genma, what do you think?" Namikaze Minato asked.

Genma Shiranui immediately wanted to roll his eyes.

Namikaze Minato, the Hokage, you might think he was lazy, but he Tenten working overtime.

You might say he's diligent, but he always asks everyone he meets, "What do you think?"

How could he possibly see something that even the ANBU couldn't detect?

"No, I can't see anything," Genma Shiranui said.

"Genma ..." Namikaze Minato sighed, "You can't just think of yourself as a bodyguard."

Genma Shiranui: "..."

Is this because you're being rejected?

If he's not Uchiha Shingen, then I'm really sorry.

"Alright, let them in first, let's hear what they have to say."

"Yes, Lord Hokage."

After a while, Genma Shiranui returned to the office with the ANBU leader.

Although Uchiha Shingen frequently entered and exited the Hokage's office, it wasn't a place anyone could just walk into; after all, even a random piece of paper he picked up was confidential.

According to the unspoken rules of the five great ninja villages, those who can freely enter the Five Kage's offices without being stopped are the true high-ranking members.

In recent years, Uchiha Shingen has "fallen" to the point where he wants to make a public announcement, but they won't let him.

The reason is simple: Namikaze Minato's "What do you think?" is quite powerful, and very few people can consistently connect with it.

The ninjas who work on this floor are all somewhat politically savvy. If they can't answer the Hokage's question, they'll look like idiots; if they do answer, the Hokage might not be satisfied, which is also troublesome.

If Uchiha Shingen were alive, others wouldn't have to suffer this torment.

The ANBU leader who entered the Hokage's office was very reserved.

I dared not let my eyes wander at all.

"What exactly happened?" Namikaze Minato was honestly disappointed when he saw the ANBU captain in front of him, who was clearly not very relaxed. This was not the spirit of the ANBU that he had hoped to see.

The ANBU now has far more financial, human, and material resources than before, and its ideological education has also been strengthened, yet ANBU performance is really mediocre. Namikaze Minato probably knows the reason for this, and in recent years he has tried to delegate more power, but with little effect.

No matter how big or small the matter, it will always come back to his desk in the end.

As the Hokage, he was worried, but felt helpless.

Now that the Senju Tomb Complex has been attacked, he feels even more strongly that the ANBU is now practically dead.

The ANBU squad leader saw disappointment in the Hokage's eyes. He had unspeakable bitterness in his heart, but he could only report it first.

After listening to his report, Namikaze Minato, in all fairness, thought that the squad leader's handling of the situation was appropriate.

This made him less disappointed.

"Understood. Everyone has worked hard. You go back and continue to keep an eye on the Hokage's grave. The village is about to organize the Joint Chunin Exams, and there are many places in the village that need manpower. We can't spare more people for the time being, so don't make this public for now."

"I understand, Lord Hokage."

"Okay, let's go back first."

Watching the ANBU squad leader leave, Namikaze Minato looked at Genma Shiranui.

"Genma, thank you for making this trip. Investigate all the ANBU on duty last night, but be careful with your methods and don't hurt your comrades' feelings."

"Lord Hokage, do you think there's a traitor among us?"

"That's not important. What's important is why the enemy infiltrated the cemetery but didn't touch the Hokage's Tomb." Namikaze Minato thought of Shimura Danzō and Root back then.

The village has now completely abandoned the Wood Release experiment. With the Uchiha Clan and the Hokage Building having eased their tensions and the Uzumaki Clan having been rebuilt, the Wood Release experiment is no longer feasible given the poor input and output.

All research data has been sealed.

"But as you said, we don't have enough manpower to dig deeper right now."

"Yes, compared to that, I'm more worried about the ANBU now." Namikaze Minato became more and more troubled as he thought about it.

During the Third's era, although the ANBU were severely polarized, they were still among the top in the field. Land of Fire, the Leaf Village ANBU could stop children from crying; their deterrent power was off the charts.

However, ten years later, Leaf Village's ANBU has become the worst-ranked of the Five Great Nations.

Do we really have to replace him?

But there really isn't anyone in the Hokage lineage who can fill that position.

Needless to say, the Sarutobi Clan is still led by the Third. There used to Sarutobi Saizo, but he's too old now.

The key issue is that the art style doesn't match the ANBU at all.

My old friend Nara Shikaku is definitely smart enough, but Nara Shikaku's personality isn't suited to be the leader of the ANBU.

Namikaze Minato's mind went through people one after another, even including the Uzumaki Clan.

Ultimately, none of them were suitable.

He now truly understands why the Third Sarutobi Hiruzen, was able to tolerate Shimura Danzō so much.

We really need someone like that.

The type of person leads the type of soldiers. During the Third's era, the leader of the ANBU was actually just a figurehead. The one who truly commanded most of the ANBU's operations was Shimura Danzō.

This is really a headache...

The thought of the upcoming Joint Chunin Exams Namikaze Minato an even bigger headache.

The Leaf Village has officially announced the dates for the Joint Chunin Exams. Considering that the Joint Chunin Exams attract participants from various countries across the continent, a long preparation period has been allocated.

The number of transient residents in Konoha is now exceptionally high.

Even the prices of small hotels have tripled.

The saying "rooms are hard to find" perfectly describes the current situation in Leaf Village.

As a result, some villagers have started renting out their houses, even in remote areas. With more and more outsiders coming to participate in the event, they have no trouble finding tenants.

With a larger floating population, the pressure on public security increases.

The Police Force is extremely busy right now. Due to a shortage of manpower, Namikaze Minato had to temporarily involve the village's ninjas in the missions.

The main task of the ANBU is to send people out to collect various intelligence. On the one hand, this is to prevent anyone from causing trouble for Leaf Village during the Chunin Ninja Exams, and on the other hand, it is to prevent outsiders from taking advantage of Leaf Village's lack of attention to do anything detrimental to Leaf Village.

But considering that this incident happened at home, and that so much time had passed and the ANBU hadn't been able to find anything, Namikaze Minato felt that it was urgent to reorganize the ANBU.

Nobody's causing trouble? Are you kidding me? If nobody's causing trouble, then this Ninja World is abnormal.

The saying "choose the lesser of two evils" might not be appropriate here, but he really needs someone to help him reorganize the ANBU, even if it's not from the Hokage's faction.

"Genma," Namikaze Minato made his decision. "Go to the Uchiha Clan and ask Shingen to come here. Oh, and first, invite the head of the ANBU to come here."

"Lord Hokage?" Genma Shiranui was taken aback.

Although Uchiha Shingen is currently trusted by Namikaze Minato, as someone who serves as the Kage Guard, Genma Shiranui still knows that the Hokage's trust comes in many forms.