After Ren arrived at the scene, he spoke up at once.
"Kakashi-senpai, why didn't you hand the spy over to the Konoha Military Police Force?"
Seeing Ren, Kakashi replied coldly, "Anbu received Lord Hokage's orders to eliminate the spy. Uchiha Clan Head, are you planning to defy Lord Hokage's orders?"
"Oh? Did Lord Hokage issue an order to eliminate the spy? Why wasn't I informed? Kakashi-senpai, you didn't mishear him, did you?"
Kakashi simply pulled out a scroll and tossed it to Ren. "This is Lord Hokage's order. Uchiha Department Head, please clear the way."
Ren took the scroll and opened it. He immediately smiled.
It was so very Shinobi World—a familiar display of the ninja's anything-goes way of doing things.
"Mm, that is indeed Lord Hokage's handwriting. Anbu is directly under the Hokage, and its missions need to remain confidential. I can understand why the Mission Department hasn't reviewed it."
Then Ren changed tack. "But why doesn't it bear the seals of the Administrative Department and Konoha?"
"Can I take that to mean this is Lord Hokage's personal operation, unrelated to Konoha?"
Kakashi fell silent, unsure how to respond.
Anbu had always obeyed the Hokage's orders. In the past, as long as someone produced an order from the Hokage, no department or ninja would question it. Why were you making such a fuss about it?
Ren had only one goal in doing this: to sideline Anbu and diminish the Hokage's authority.
Anbu had a special status and missions of its own. If it had to go through the proper channels for every mission, it wouldn't be able to do anything at all.
That was Ren's aim. If Anbu skipped the procedures, its missions were unauthorized. If it followed them, it couldn't carry out its missions.
On the surface, it