Hiruzen Sarutobi Snatches a Recruit

After Hiruzen Sarutobi finished speaking, he paused, then looked at Orochimaru.

"Won't any other child do as an experimental assistant?

Don't tell me you're planning to discuss academics with that child?"

Orochimaru lowered his head, unable to answer that.

Hiruzen Sarutobi turned to Koharu Utatane again. "The ninja hawks delivered inaccurate intelligence. Don't you think we could replace the ninja hawks?

If the idea of replacing ninja hawks with ninjas gets out, Konoha Village will become the laughingstock of the ninja world!"

Koharu Utatane's aged face twitched, but she had no way to refute him.

Before Hiruzen Sarutobi could tear into him, Homura Mitokado smiled and said first:

"I think some of those children have decent talent for sealing. I'll take another look!"

Danzo refused to accept this. "That child is suited for Root. Hiruzen, don't lecture me with your grand principles!"

But Hiruzen Sarutobi asked, "How many people does Root have now?"

The moment those words came out, Danzo knew something was wrong.

Sure enough, Hiruzen Sarutobi continued, "Root currently has one hundred and eighty ninjas. One hundred and twenty are out on missions, while sixty are active in the village!

How many ANBU directly under the Hokage are there?

The original full complement was only sixty, and more than half were killed or wounded on missions last month!

Give me half your people, and you can take Qian Yun!"

Danzo's facial muscles trembled with rage. "Hiruzen, you're robbing me!"

"Sixty people. There's no problem with giving me sixty people, right?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi appeared to be compromising, but he was really just making Danzo miserable.

Left with no choice, Danzo got up and left the Hokage's office.

Seeing this, the others left one after another. If they stayed any longer, they would only get lectured.

The next day, early morning.

Qian Yun strolled lazily into the academy while his shadow clone remained busy at home.

"Hey, Brother Qian Yun, good morning!"

A small figure called out. Qian Yun looked down and found that it was Shisui.

"Oh, good morning!

You... wait, did you pass the assessment too?"

Shisui nodded excitedly, his face full of proud smiles.

Qian Yun stepped forward and showered him with praise, saying Shisui was a genius, the hope of the Uchiha Clan, and a strong contender for the next generation's Hokage.

Shisui humbly said that his training was still insufficient, and that Qian Yun was the true strong contender for the next Hokage.

By sheer bad luck, Hiruzen Sarutobi witnessed their perfectly normal exchange of commercial flattery again.

Hiruzen Sarutobi had originally decided to make Qian Yun, Asuma, and Kurenai Yuhi the disciples of Shinku Yuhi, thereby paving the way for Asuma.

Now, he directly altered the files and assigned Qian Yun to the ANBU.

The graduation briefing was dull and tedious, consisting once again of "Wherever the leaves of Konoha dance, fire endures forever."

Qian Yun was taken to the ANBU base. He had thought Hiruzen Sarutobi's eldest son would receive him, but instead, someone who played with kikaichu showed up.

"Now, after changing clothes and taking photographs, we come to the most important part!

Please introduce yourselves. For example, what you like and dislike, and what your dreams are."

Team leader Aburame Shiken spoke as if he were simply going through the motions.

The other two were Yamanaka Kei and Nara Hai.

They were spacing out, as though they had no interest in Qian Yun whatsoever.

"I like collecting viruses and tumor cells. In particular, watching them slowly grow beneath the skin gives me a sense of satisfaction!

I dislike being disturbed while conducting experiments. It makes my emotions unstable!

As for my dream, I hope to open a fairly large dermatology clinic someday. It would be perfect if I also had a biological research lab!"

After Qian Yun finished speaking, he found the three people beside him edging away from him. Even Aburame Shiken, who played with kikaichu, was no exception.

The atmosphere became a little awkward, and Aburame Shiken gave an awkward laugh.

"Uh, well... how about you tell us more about your Meat Release? I heard it once turned the tide of a battlefield!"

Hearing that, Qian Yun generously pulled out a smoke bomb.

The three of them did not seem surprised, but when Qian Yun tossed the smoke bomb toward them, their eyes suddenly widened.

Whoosh!

The three of them used the Body Flicker Technique to retreat in unison, not daring to catch the smoke bomb at all.

The smoke bomb fell to the ground without exploding. Qian Yun bent down and picked it up.

He blew the dust off it, then casually put it back into his ninja tool pouch.

The three were incredibly embarrassed. They then returned and briefly explained the ANBU rules, as well as various precautions for daily missions.

As was customary, Aburame Shiken taught him stealth techniques and methods for recording and transmitting intelligence.

There were quite a few miscellaneous matters, and it was not until the third day that they began carrying out regular missions.

Monitor the Uchiha Clan.

Qian Yun had guessed correctly. It was not just Danzo doing this; Hiruzen Sarutobi was also endlessly monitoring the Uchiha Clan.

Qian Yun was troubled, but he still went to the Uchiha compound, found a crooked tree, and climbed up it.

There were actually traces of someone having stayed in the tree before. Even the branches had been rubbed smooth and glossy.

Qian Yun gave a wry smile, took out a blanket, and lay down. He even opened a textbook to study.

That was only for appearances. In one corner of the sealing space, his shadow clone was conducting experiments on a sterilization virus.

Sarutobi Shinnosuke had a long list of misdeeds. At least ten young girls from Konoha had been violated by him.

Qian Yun had even discovered that his mother, Sarutobi Biwako, had always been cleaning up after him.

The earliest serious incident could be traced back six years, when that scumbag had been only fourteen.

Sterilization. He had to be sterilized.

Within a month, he would gradually lose interest in women in his sleep.

Meanwhile, a group of Uchiha Clan members was meeting.

Fugaku and several Uchiha elders had initially been furious, but when they saw Qian Yun's behavior, they could not help smiling.

It was unknown whether Aburame Shiken had done it deliberately, but he assigned Qian Yun to the night shift on his very first mission.

After dinner, Fugaku indeed made his move.

A genjutsu came at him, and Qian Yun could only pretend to fall asleep.

A group from the Uchiha Clan held a meeting at Naka Shrine, and someone approached through the darkness.

Qian Yun had thought it was a fellow Root operative, but after the person made a hand signal, he actually went inside.

After sensing carefully, he realized it was the Third Mizukage trying to recruit the Uchiha Clan.

He said he would allocate islands to the Uchiha Clan, allowing them to migrate as a whole and join the Hidden Mist.

Qian Yun sighed inwardly. Perhaps living at sea would have been a way out for the Uchiha Clan.

The next day, at dawn.

Qian Yun put on a show of sitting up in the tree and took out a little notebook to make records.

"Last night at six, Clan Head Fugaku bathed. At seven, he ate dinner. At eight... can't remember. Suspected of using self... hypnosis technique."

He did not know how to write the character for "hypnosis," so he crossed it out and wrote it again. He got it wrong again, then finally wrote "genjutsu."

That was probably good enough. He closed the notebook, packed up his blanket, and went back to report.

Hehehehe...

Several old Uchiha men burst into laughter, finding Qian Yun far too adorable.

It turned out they had also been monitoring Qian Yun. Seeing such an ANBU rookie, they were completely relaxed now.

Especially his surveillance records—they were truly perfunctory.

A week later, his post was reassigned.

Qian Yun was assigned to monitor Danzo. This time, he found a roof beam to sleep on and even brought a quilt with him.

To read, he lifted a roof tile to leave a small gap. Even an ordinary ninja passing by could probably spot it.

Danzo's mouth twitched. He suddenly realized how foolish he had been.

He could have trained a useless rookie like Qian Yun himself. Why had he shamelessly begged Hiruzen for him?

Three days later, Orochimaru met with Danzo. The two exchanged intelligence and updates on their Hashirama Cells research.

Qian Yun had been pretending to sleep, but when he heard them mention the seal on Hashirama's grave, his heart immediately began racing.

Two days later, Qian Yun obtained Hashirama's original cells. As expected, they contained faint remnants of Sage Chakra.

He tossed them into the sealing space.

[Ding: Defeated Hashirama Cells. Obtained trait: Wood Sage Path Growth.]

Qian Yun was stunned. Wood Release, something everyone in the ninja world desperately sought, had been obtained by him so easily.