Meeting the Third Hokage Again!

The next morning.

After breakfast, Hyuga Setsuna got up and hurried toward the Anbu base.

After receiving Gekko Baiyue's mission notice yesterday, Hyuga Setsuna had been thinking about it nonstop.

Now that he was an Anbu directly under the Hokage, this mission was very likely an order personally issued by Sarutobi Hiruzen.

But why would Sarutobi Hiruzen have him carry out a mission alone?

Had the previous mission aroused his suspicions, or was it something else...

Before long, Hyuga Setsuna, wearing a Rabbit Mask, arrived at the Anbu base.

He walked through the pitch-black Anbu passage and entered a room they had agreed on beforehand, waiting for Gekko Baiyue to arrive.

Click!

As Hyuga Setsuna waited, footsteps began sounding outside the room.

Then the wooden door was pushed open. Hyuga Setsuna looked over, surprise appearing beneath his mask.

"Kakashi?"

That was right. The one who pushed open the door and entered was Kakashi.

Though he wore a dog-faced mask, Kakashi's unmistakably conspicuous white hair still allowed Hyuga Setsuna to recognize him.

Kakashi entered the room and froze when he heard Hyuga Setsuna's familiar voice.

After a long moment, he spoke hesitantly.

"Setsuna?"

Hyuga Setsuna looked at Kakashi, who stood blankly by the doorway.

"Kakashi, why are you here?"

"Don't tell me someone notified you to come here and receive a mission too?"

Kakashi walked into the room, his expression beneath the dog mask turning strange.

"Setsuna, did you also come here after receiving a mission notice?"

Hearing Kakashi's question, Hyuga Setsuna was already certain that Kakashi was supposed to be accompanying him on this mission.

But didn't Gekko Baiyue say yesterday that this mission was for me alone? Why was Kakashi here too?

Could this also be Sarutobi Hiruzen's arrangement?

Sarutobi Hiruzen, was even this within your calculations?

Seeing Kakashi sitting silently to the side, Hyuga Setsuna spoke up.

"Kakashi, what was the mission notice you received yesterday like?"

Upon hearing Hyuga Setsuna's question, hesitation briefly flashed through Kakashi's dead-fish eyes beneath his mask.

But in the end, he slowly answered.

"The person who notified me yesterday said I was to complete this mission alone."

After hearing Kakashi's words, Hyuga Setsuna said nothing more and simply sat to the side, quietly thinking.

Watching Hyuga Setsuna ponder, Kakashi quickly realized that Hyuga Setsuna's mission might be the same one he was meant to carry out.

Kakashi was not stupid. Otherwise, he would not have become the Sixth Hokage after Tsunade.

He was merely young and lacked experience, while Hyuga Setsuna possessed memories from two lifetimes and naturally reacted before Kakashi did.

Just then, the door opened again. Hyuga Setsuna and Kakashi both looked up.

That was right. The person who entered this time was Gekko Baiyue.

She wore a fox-faced mask that concealed her beautiful face and temperament.

Her loose Anbu uniform also hid her unusually well-developed figure.

Looking at Gekko Baiyue as she entered, Hyuga Setsuna spoke softly.

"Captain Baiyue, it seems today's mission isn't one I'll be carrying out alone."

Hearing the pointed tone in the brat's words, Gekko Baiyue knew beneath her mask that this little punk was waiting for her to explain the situation.

Though she herself did not know why there was suddenly one more person here, it was all the Hokage's order. As Anbu directly under the Hokage, she only needed to obey.

Gekko Baiyue, wearing her fox mask, spoke indifferently.

"This is the Third's arrangement. I have only been ordered to bring you to meet the Third Hokage."

With that, she turned and strode outside on her long legs.

After exchanging a glance, the two people in the room followed after her in a daze.

To be precise, Kakashi was somewhat dazed. Hyuga Setsuna was not, since he had already anticipated it somewhat.

In front of the Hokage Building.

After leading Hyuga Setsuna and Kakashi through the building guards' inspection, Gekko Baiyue brought them to the Hokage's Office.

Gekko Baiyue raised her hand and lightly knocked on the door.

Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock!

As the knocking sounded, a deep, powerful voice came from inside.

"Come in."

The three of them pushed open the wooden door and entered the Hokage's Office.

Gekko Baiyue looked toward Sarutobi Hiruzen, seated behind the desk in the distance, and spoke respectfully.

"Third, Yagokoro and White Wolf have been brought here."

Sarutobi Hiruzen sat behind his desk with his hands clasped before his chest.

"You've worked hard, Baiyue. Go carry out your mission now."

"Yes, Third!"

As Gekko Baiyue left, her eyes beneath the mask involuntarily turned toward Hyuga Setsuna. Then her figure flickered, and she vanished from the Hokage's Office.

As Gekko Baiyue departed, Hyuga Setsuna looked at Sarutobi Hiruzen. This was their second meeting.

In Hyuga Setsuna's eyes, Sarutobi Hiruzen's expression seemed to reveal exhaustion and heaviness, but those emotions were ultimately concealed by the smile on his face.

Hyuga Setsuna looked at Sarutobi Hiruzen and fell into thought.

Was this what it meant to bear the name of Hokage, taking all pain and sorrow upon oneself?

Heh. I really don't know what to say...

Sarutobi Hiruzen, seated behind the desk, turned his gaze to Hyuga Setsuna and Kakashi. With a kindly smile, he said,

"Setsuna, Kakashi, I imagine you're both confused about what exactly is going on with this mission."

Hyuga Setsuna and Kakashi both nodded. They truly were confused about this mission.

Sarutobi Hiruzen picked up his pipe, slowly took a puff, and spoke softly with an apologetic expression.

"Originally, this mission was meant to be handled by someone else, but due to certain special circumstances, there was a bit of a problem."

"So this mission will have to be entrusted to you for protection."

Listening to Sarutobi Hiruzen, Hyuga Setsuna once again caught the key points: "special circumstances" and "protection."

What kind of mission required two ninja who had only just graduated from the academy to carry it out?

Hyuga Setsuna admitted that he was a genius.

But Sarutobi Hiruzen had personally summoned them to explain this mission, which showed how important it was.

But for such an important mission, was it really being handed so casually to two kids who had just graduated from the academy and joined the Anbu?

Was that even reasonable?

Just then, Kakashi, standing to the side, had already asked Sarutobi Hiruzen,

"Then, Third, when is the time for our mission?"

After hearing Kakashi's words, Hyuga Setsuna immediately looked at him as though he were an idiot.

Was young Kakashi really this hardheaded?

Didn't he stop to think about why such an important mission was being given to us?

Watching Kakashi seriously discuss the mission details with Sarutobi Hiruzen, Hyuga Setsuna suddenly felt exhausted.

Kakashi, how exactly did you become the Sixth Hokage in the future?!

First update!

I checked some information about Kakashi's Anbu codename, and it seemed that it never appeared in the original work, so I casually came up with one here.

Of course, if it really did appear in the original work, everyone can let me know in the comments, and I'll change it promptly.