Chapter 336: The Taste Of Power
All Anbu looked at the stage, waiting for the Third Hokage to announce the new leader of the Anbu.
The Third Hokage said:
“In the Land of Grass chase and kill traitor ninja mission, Lynx Vice Minister, Wildcat Squad Leader, and others sacrificed for Konoha.
Anbu ninjas with strong Will of Fire burned their lives for Konoha.
Anbu is one of Konoha’s most important organizations, protecting Konoha in the shadows.
Anbu’s missions cannot be stopped.
I announce that Fox is appointed as Anbu Vice Minister!”
Yoru, standing to one side, nodded to everyone and then sat on the chair.
At this point, Yoru finally took his seat at the table.
In the Second Ninja War, Anbu suffered heavy losses under Danzo’s command, or rather, repeated total wipes.
Yoru was urgently recruited into Anbu as a cannon fodder chunin.
At that time, Danzo controlled Anbu, and Anbu ninjas were intelligence scouting consumables better than shadow clones.
Yoru’s promotion history was a history of Danzo’s suppression.
Supporting Kiiroinu’s promotion to Anbu Vice Minister took away part of Danzo’s power.
Taking away the spy systems of two major countries took away part of Danzo’s power.
Supporting Kiiroinu’s promotion to Anbu Minister took away part of Danzo’s power.
Killing off Lynx, the Vice Minister pushed by Danzo, reduced Danzo’s influence in Anbu to almost zero.
Of course, this smooth journey was also because Hiruzen Sarutobi and the Kiiroinu father and son had similar thoughts.
For Konoha Village to rise, one had to either be a young clan head like Hiruzen Sarutobi, or have great luck like Mito Mon’en encountering the Second Hokage’s policy of cultivating civilian ninjas, or have top legacy like a holy land like Orochimaru, or have dazzling talent like Minato Namikaze.
Yoru being called Lord along the way was so difficult even with cheats.
Konoha’s civilian ninjas, saying they were clinging to life like ants was not exaggerated.
Looking at the dozens of Anbu ninjas below the stage, Yoru sympathized with them.
However, Yoru was not a good person and could not act like a saint.
Being a good person, let Sakumo Hatake do that.
The only thing Yoru could do was occasionally help Sakumo Hatake in the darkness.
The only one who could make Konoha fairer was Sakumo Hatake alone.
Where he was more mature than Minato Namikaze was that Sakumo Hatake had a firm and clear guiding principle.
In the original story, although Minato Namikaze was powerful, he did not break through the Will of Fire theory set by Hiruzen Sarutobi, which emphasized sacrifice.
Below the stage, Kuroari and Golden Eagle, the two squad leaders, exchanged a glance.
With Fox promoted and Wildcat dead in battle, Anbu only had these two squad leaders left.
Anbu Vice Minister changed within a month, which was surprising yet not.
Lynx’s strength was not much stronger than other squad leaders, let alone Fox.
Lynx could not handle certain complex situations or certain powerful enemies.
Now appointing Fox as Vice Minister made much more sense.
Fox’s strength had been verified, and he had always been Anbu’s Top Expert.
Kuroari and Golden Eagle decided to seriously visit Fox’s office after the meeting.
In the future, when facing strong enemies, if Lord Fox lent a hand, the chance of survival would greatly increase.
The prestige of strong individuals in the ninja world came from strength: I save you and you live; a flicker of malice in my heart, half a second late and you die.
The meeting continued.
The Third Hokage appointed two more squad leaders: Hippopotamus and Aries.
Aries was excited deep in his eyes; he had actually been promoted to squad leader.
Following Lord Fox, not only did he obtain Ten Seals as a trump card, but under the Lord’s medical secret jutsu, he survived severe injuries, learned the secret jutsu Insect Clone, and now was promoted to Anbu Squad Leader.
Among the Aburame Clan, aside from the clan head, no one had as much influence as him.
The higher-ups always treated the Aburame Clan as functional ninjas, rarely entrusting them with heavy responsibilities.
Following Lord Fox, he was now a pivotal squad leader in Anbu.
Lord Fox’s defense secret jutsu was invincible, meaning Lord Fox was hard to kill.
As long as he did not die, the future following Lord Fox was limitless.
Like the pitiful Wildcat following Lynx, that pair was happy for less than a month before dying in the Land of Grass.
The Anbu conference ended.
Yoru moved to the Vice Minister’s office, leaving the original office to Aries.
He signed on a document.
“Alright, Purple Cat, you go on maternity leave first. Let White Crane temporarily serve as my assistant.”
“Yes, Lord Fox!”
Purple Cat was very excited; the Fox Squad Leader she followed back then had risen to Anbu Vice Minister in three years— so fast.
White Crane beside her felt a bit guilty.
She had not yet told her older sister that she was already with Lord Fox…
Sigh, wait until older sister gives birth.
Their family of four living well was better than anything.
Ninjas’ sense of morality differed from ordinary people; some things were not that important.
After Purple Cat left, White Crane went out and returned with many scrolls for Yoru.
“Hm?” Yoru said: “Do I have so many scrolls to handle right after becoming Vice Minister?”
White Crane said: “These are scrolls I got from Minister’s assistant Butterfly. There are quite a few authority transfer scrolls here.”
Yoru understood; with Lynx dead, many of Lynx’s powers had come to him. He opened the scrolls one by one.
First part: control scrolls for the Anbu Base barrier.
Kiiroinu spent most of his time in the underground room of the Hokage Building, always ready for the Hokage’s orders.
The Anbu Base here was managed by the Vice Minister for daily affairs.
After Tsunade’s last forceful entry into Root, both Root and Anbu had barriers.
The Equipment Department had a Barrier Unit responsible for the Anbu barrier.
Second part: Anbu’s mission scroll library.
Yoru had authority to view and manage all previously completed Anbu missions.
In the future, he needed to find time to specifically organize Konoha’s past and grasp all past Anbu intelligence.
Third part: Anbu’s ninjutsu scroll library.
Aside from S-rank forbidden jutsu, the Anbu Vice Minister could reward subordinates with any Konoha ninjutsu as appropriate.
Just these three powers alone greatly increased Yoru’s weight.
The remaining affairs were more trivial.
Daily management of the Equipment Department, Finance Department, etc., also fell to Yoru.
In short, major missions followed the Minister’s command, while daily management fell to the Vice Minister.
Yoru looked around and frowned.
No spy system?
Previously, assistant Gorilla was responsible for the Land of Lightning and Land of Wind spy systems, while Lynx handled the Land of Earth and Land of Water spy systems.
It seemed after Lynx’s death, the four major countries’ spy systems all went to Kiiroinu’s assistant Gorilla.
Gorilla was very mysterious; Yoru had only seen him once at Kiiroinu’s place.
Gorilla, when will you leave the village?
Can you handle such a complex spy system?
After signing the scrolls, Yoru entered Anbu’s mission scroll room.
He found scrolls related to himself.
Qiao Yi and Tsuruzuki Izakaya were indeed under surveillance; several squads had monitored Qiao Yi.
Anbu monitored Qiao Yi and also monitored Yoru when he was idle.
Of course, this was not targeted at Yoru; Anbu squad leaders and mid-level squad leaders were spot-checked when idle outside Anbu.
High-risk ones were monitored at all times. Low-risk ones, like Yoru, were monitored for a period and then the surveillance withdrawn.
When Yoru returned to the office, he saw the four squad leaders waiting for him in the corridor.
Yoru first met the most senior Kuroari.
The two did not discuss anything special; Kuroari was the Third Hokage’s confidant.
Kuroari talked about Hokage Building defense work; at certain times, strong individuals like Fox were needed to handle tricky problems.
Especially since Fox was skilled in sealing jutsu, which was very important for Hokage Building defense.
For such matters, Yoru naturally agreed.
Being close to the Hokage Building, close to Konoha’s power core, brought more benefits.
If he could take over the Hokage Building’s sealing barrier, that would be even better; Yoru did not mind working overtime for the Hokage Building.
Yoru met Golden Eagle second.
Golden Eagle seemed prepared and said: “Lord Fox, I am responsible for internal Anbu surveillance. I previously handled some investigation missions, including Anbu ninjas’ whereabouts during idle time.
I guarantee to you that Golden Eagle Squad will not conduct any more investigations targeting you in the future.
The previous investigations were Anbu routine; I had no choice.”
Yoru said: “I understand. You continue monitoring Anbu members’ idle time in the future; no need to investigate me.
I could not possibly betray Konoha or betray the Hokage, right? That would be too ridiculous, do not you think?”
Golden Eagle nodded repeatedly.
Lord Fox, who mastered Wood Style, was one of Konoha’s trump cards; how could he betray Konoha?
Golden Eagle reported some Konoha Village defense work before leaving.
Hippopotamus entered the office third.
They were old acquaintances. Yoru urged Hippopotamus to quickly build his squad’s combat power.
Lynx had lost two squads in the Land of Grass, greatly damaging strength.
In the future, Hippo Squad would be Kiiroinu’s direct squad.
Anbu was the Hokage’s direct troops, with complex internal factions; as Vice Minister, Yoru could not fully control it yet.
Watching Hippopotamus’s departing back, Yoru’s eyes flickered slightly.
The more squads controlled, the deeper the control over Anbu.
Which one to choose: Kuroari, Golden Eagle, or Hippopotamus?
Hippopotamus, such a hard choice, right?
Aries entered the office last.
Aries was Yoru’s direct subordinate and was the most excited at this time.
Yoru had Aries recommend Antelope, Yagura, and Kurozaru for jonin promotion; he would handle the follow-up push.
“Lord, I have been promoted to squad leader. I want Tian Ya as my assistant.
Hippopotamus and Yak each took a confidant when leaving; we are short on frontline squad members. Should we quickly supplement personnel?”
Yoru said: “I will urge Root.”
He had hit Root too hard; lifting a rock to smash his own foot. Training new recruits from Root’s batch was too troublesome.
After spending a few more hours, Yoru finally sorted out Anbu Vice Minister affairs.
Power was the best blue pill for a man; Yoru felt he had endless energy.
The taste of power was really good.
After handling the trivial matters, Yoru left Anbu.
He used Mayfly Technique to arrive at the top floor of Konoha Hospital, deliberately releasing his presence.
Tsunade left the office and entered the side bathroom.
In the bathroom’s antechamber, the faucet was running with water.
Tsunade said: “I knew you would come find me. Fox, is there something you want to say to me?”
