Want an Imperial Decree? I'll Write Him One

Standing before the desk and watching Hiruzen Sarutobi's ugly expression, Yun Yan kept his face calm, but inwardly, he finally let out a breath of satisfaction.

He had played the fox borrowing the tiger's might well. Producing the daimyo's handwritten letter of recommendation had indeed left the old man, Hiruzen Sarutobi, struggling to respond.

So where had this recommendation letter come from?

Where else could it have come from? Naturally, it was a backup measure Yun Yan had prepared in advance.

The daimyo of the Fire Country had long since been under Yun Yan's control, so having him write a few recommendation letters ahead of time had been simplicity itself.

In fact, Yun Yan possessed not only a letter personally written by the daimyo recommending him for ANBU, but also one recommending him as ANBU Minister, one recommending him as a Konoha elder, and even one recommending him as Hokage!

Well, he had all those letters. They were merely contingencies Yun Yan had casually arranged on a whim when he had been bored.

He had just never expected to actually use one today.

Furthermore, every letter bore the daimyo's personal seal at the end, proving the daimyo's identity and standing.

If Yun Yan wanted, he could have stamped not only the daimyo's private seal, but even the official seal and national seal of the Fire Country onto the recommendation letter.

But that would have been going too far and might have looked like coercion, so Yun Yan had settled for the daimyo's private seal.

Watching Hiruzen Sarutobi's frustrated expression as he held the recommendation letter, Yun Yan suddenly recalled a scene from an old movie:

Want an imperial decree? I'll write him one.

How similar was that scene to the current situation? He had truly become a treacherous sycophant at the daimyo's side!

Hiruzen Sarutobi studied the recommendation letter for a long time before finally setting it down and looking up at Yun Yan with a complicated expression.

Yun Yan smiled and pressed his advantage.

"So, Lord Hokage, the daimyo's recommendation should be enough, right?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi could only nod with difficulty.

"Enough. Of course it's enough."

"Then can I join ANBU?"

"You can."

"Since I have someone recommending me, there's no need for all those tedious procedures, right?"

"There isn't."

"When can I join ANBU? Right now?"

Watching Yun Yan relentlessly question him, Hiruzen Sarutobi felt both stifled and furious after being pushed this far.

Yet no matter what, the old man could not show it. He could only endure.

But Hiruzen Sarutobi was Hiruzen Sarutobi—a shrewd old fox, after all. In that brief, hurried moment, he came up with a less-than-ideal response.

"Yun Yan, why the rush?

You've served outside as one of the Twelve Guardian Ninja for several years now. That's equivalent to carrying out missions away from the village continuously for years.

You've spent so long on such an important assignment. It must have been exhausting.

How about this? I'll count it as having completed a long-term S-rank mission.

And you've only just returned to Konoha—no, you haven't even fully returned yet—and you've already had this misunderstanding with Root. I'll need time to handle matters with Root and Danzō, so you may run into some trouble for a while.

To avoid that trouble, and to give you some rest, I've decided to grant you a long vacation.

Half a month... no, take a full month off!"

The instant he heard Hiruzen Sarutobi wanted to give him a vacation, Yun Yan understood what the old man was thinking.

After all this back-and-forth wrangling, Yun Yan was thoroughly fed up. His unruly streak flared up again, and he planted both hands on the desk before him, speaking bluntly to Hiruzen Sarutobi.

"Lord Hokage, you aren't trying to stall for time, are you? Once my month-long vacation is over, there'll be all sorts of reasons why I can't join ANBU again.

That wouldn't do, would it?"

Seeing the brat's reckless side emerge again, Hiruzen Sarutobi, who was truly unaccustomed to such directness, broke out in a slight cold sweat.

Holding his pipe, his smile was inevitably a little stiff.

"How could that be?"

Yun Yan leaned forward, pressing him further.

"It really won't be?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi did his best to look solemn and proper.

"It really won't."

Yun Yan was still unconvinced and became even more blunt.

"Then I ask that Lord Hokage give me a clear promise that once my vacation ends, I'll be allowed to join ANBU."

Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression darkened slightly.

"Yun Yan, is that really necessary? Would I, as Hokage, go back on my word?"

"My apologies, Lord Hokage. It's not that I don't trust you, but I'm usually rather lacking in a sense of security. Please give me a precise answer: once my vacation ends, will I officially join ANBU!?"

"Yun Yan..."

"Please answer me directly! Clearly! Promise me!"

At that moment, Yun Yan's momentum was utterly aggressive.

Forced into a corner by a junior like this, Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression was nearly impossible to maintain. He had nowhere left to retreat.

With a faint sigh, Hiruzen Sarutobi truly had no other choice. He could only nod slowly, his gaze deep and his expression grave.

"Fine. I promise you that once your vacation ends, I'll approve your official entry into ANBU!"

Only after finally obtaining a clear answer from the old man did Yun Yan feel satisfied.

Whether Hiruzen Sarutobi meant it sincerely or not, once he had said those words and made that explicit promise, it meant he had no choice but to compromise. The matter was settled. He would not be allowed to go back on it.

The position of Hokage meant Hiruzen Sarutobi could not renege. He could only keep his word, or else his prestige would suffer greatly, making it more trouble than it was worth.

At last, Yun Yan's goal had formally been achieved. He was satisfied.

He withdrew his hands from the desk and straightened his previously leaning body. The aggressive aura around him also receded.

Having achieved his goal, Yun Yan immediately changed his demeanor. He smiled at Hiruzen Sarutobi in a friendly, even respectful manner.

"Since that's the case, I have no further questions. Thank you for your trust, Lord Hokage. From now on, I'll certainly devote myself wholeheartedly to Konoha!"

By this point, Hiruzen Sarutobi seemed too lazy to maintain even a surface pretense. He merely nodded faintly and gave a cold snort.

"Mm. That would be best."

Sensing that Hiruzen Sarutobi was dismissing him, Yun Yan could not be bothered to make himself any more unwelcome. He nodded, offered one final farewell, then turned and left.

He pushed open the door and walked out, finally leaving the Hokage's office.

After Yun Yan departed, Hiruzen Sarutobi sat alone behind his desk and began puffing on his pipe again.

The secondhand smoke he exhaled gradually spread through the room once more, shrouding his aged face in a haze of shadow.

Alone, Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at the daimyo's handwritten recommendation letter Yun Yan had left behind, then at the two Root ninja corpses still lying on the office floor. His mood was terrible.

When had he ever suffered a loss like this?

And at the hands of a junior, no less?

At the hands of a rash brat from the Uchiha clan, no less!?

It was infuriating. Hiruzen Sarutobi's mood could not have been worse.

Recalling Yun Yan's expression just now, as well as how he had immediately torn off all pretenses the instant something displeased him, Hiruzen Sarutobi was both angry and troubled.

How was an old politician familiar with every kind of underhanded scheme supposed to control someone covered in thorns like that?

For a moment, Hiruzen Sarutobi truly could not think of any way to control Yun Yan.

Moreover, Yun Yan would be joining ANBU in a month. How could Hiruzen Sarutobi possibly rest easy about such an unstable element entering the most secretive and powerful force under his command?

But what could he do, no matter how uneasy and unwilling he was? As Hokage, he had already made a promise.

With a sigh, Hiruzen Sarutobi, having no good solution, could only decide to take things one step at a time.

Finally pausing his smoking, the irritated Hiruzen Sarutobi snorted at the empty office.

"What are you still standing around for? Hurry up and dispose of these two bodies, then return them to Root!"

The moment he finished speaking, shadows flickered. One of the ANBU ninja hidden nearby immediately emerged and took away the two Root ninja, along with their two heads.

Once the office had been cleaned up, Hiruzen Sarutobi suddenly spoke.

"Kakashi."

Summoned, Hatake Kakashi—one of the ANBU ninja lurking nearby, masked and sporting a head of white hair—immediately appeared. He respectfully knelt on one knee before Hiruzen Sarutobi and awaited his orders.

Seeing this capable subordinate who obeyed his every command, Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression improved somewhat. He immediately gave Kakashi an order.

"Go follow and monitor him. Do it in secret, and do not let him discover you."

Kakashi nodded. Of course, he knew whom he was supposed to follow and monitor. It was clearly Yun Yan, who had just left.

Thinking of the other man's unfathomable strength and recalling his unruly temperament, Kakashi also felt a bit of a headache.

But the Hokage's orders had to be carried out. Kakashi had always been obedient. After answering, "Yes," he immediately vanished in a flash to carry out the order.

After Kakashi left, Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression remained somewhat gloomy. Clearly, he had not vented enough of his anger.

But as for Yun Yan, at most he would keep him under surveillance. Hiruzen Sarutobi would not go so far as to do anything else.

So Hiruzen Sarutobi began taking out his frustration on someone else, deciding to vent his anger on another person.

That Danzō truly was good for nothing but ruining things!

Thinking this, Hiruzen Sarutobi pulled over a blank document and began writing an order dismissing Danzō from his post and commanding him to return home and reflect behind closed doors.

Yes, Hiruzen Sarutobi had not forgotten about this matter. If he said he would punish Danzō, then he would punish Danzō. Danzō had been acting rather aggressively lately anyway, and Hiruzen Sarutobi had been looking for a chance to suppress him.