Waking up early in the morning, Hibari just happened to catch a glimpse of Hiyoko leaving. Soon after, he heard little Tsunade's shouts from outside, eager to go to school. A smile touched his lips as he thought, "He's really becoming more self-aware."
Getting up, Hibari looked at the black layered armored vest and the special Anbu uniform hanging on the rack. He thought for a moment, then reached out, took down the Anbu attire, and swiftly put it on. At the same time, he hung the mask, which represented his codename, askew on his head.
Tucking his short blade into his waist, Hibari left his room feeling refreshed, ready to attend to his duties.
He had just reached the main gate of the Senju compound when he saw the retired Hashirama, carrying a birdcage in one hand and fanning himself with a small fan in the other. Standing before him was Tobirama, dressed in the Second Hokage's ceremonial robe.
That's right, three days ago, after Hashirama publicly announced his resignation as the First Hokage, Tobirama naturally inherited the Hokage position. Amidst everyone's expectations and blessings, he became the Second Hokage of Konohagakure.
Although Hashirama, the First Hokage, had a very high reputation before this, and everyone reluctantly tried to persuade him to continue his duties as Hokage, Hashirama's decision was firm, and they ultimately couldn't change his mind.
Tobirama's reputation and prestige in the village were also quite high, especially after he recently demonstrated his ability by teleporting a Tailed Beast Ball away in front of the entire village, effectively saving everyone's lives.
Coupled with the fact that he was the First Hokage's younger brother, everyone greatly supported him becoming the Second Hokage.
"Yo, isn't that our First Hokage-sama and Second Hokage-sama? What? Discussing professional bird-rearing issues here?" Hibari walked over, chuckling as he teased them.
Tobirama heard Hibari's words, turned to look, then smiled and said, "Yes, that's right. We're discussing how to raise a little Hibari like you to become a true talent."
"Hahaha, you're right," Hashirama shook his birdcage. Upon closer inspection, it contained a small hibari (skylark).
Seeing this, Hibari's face instantly went dark. He walked over and directly opened the birdcage. The hibari bird then swiftly flew out, flapping its wings until it was out of sight.
"Hey, hey, hey, I finally found that one!" Hashirama said, somewhat heartbroken, watching the scene unfold.
"That's a hibari, not a canary. It should be flying freely in the sky. Besides, why a hibari of all things? It has such bad connotations, doesn't it?" Hibari said, rather displeased.
"I wanted to raise a canary, but those things are expensive! I just repaid you 800,000 ryo yesterday. Where would I get the money to raise such a precious bird?" Hashirama said, his heart aching.
"That was money Mito-baasan gave me, it doesn't count against your debt!" Hibari quickly retorted.
Just as the grandfather and grandson were about to start bickering again, Tobirama chuckled and said, "Alright, can't you two be serious for once? Hibari, where are you off to?"
Upon hearing Tobirama's question, Hibari's expression straightened. He said, "Reporting, Hokage-sama! I'm about to go search for our new members!"
"New members? Who are you looking for?" Tobirama asked.
Hibari grinned, a smile spreading across his face. He said, "Considering the village's current situation and your next plan, Tobirama-jiisan, I intend to select Kagami of the Uchiha clan as a member of our Anbu. What do you think, Tobirama-jiisan?"
Tobirama raised an eyebrow upon hearing this, looking at Hibari and saying, "You brat, you're getting smoother and smoother. This isn't necessarily good..."
"What's good or not good about it? It all depends on the person. I'm only smooth with you, Tobirama-jiisan, so I can help you get more things done. If it were someone else? Would I need to be like this? Who am I? I'm the young master of the Senju clan! It's usually others who are smooth with me!" Hibari said cockily.
Tobirama called Hibari "smooth" because Hibari had accurately grasped what Tobirama, the Second Hokage, intended to do next.
Eizumi was worried that their Uchiha clan would be neglected and lose their relevance in the village's power structure. Therefore, he wanted to curry favor with the Hokage Residence and effectively 'restart' the previously discussed security department matter.
And Tobirama, on his end, was also concerned that the Uchiha clan wouldn't lead a peaceful life and would stir up trouble.
Therefore, Tobirama was also looking for an opportunity, some kind of stepping stone, to descend from his high position and subtly reel in the Uchiha clan.
And what was the current difficulty? There was no stepping stone...
Therefore, Hibari's proposal to recruit Kagami as an Anbu member was the first step in creating a bridge for both sides.
Firstly, Kagami was also a disciple taught by Tobirama, and he was Tobirama's only fully trusted Uchiha clan member. This dual identity made him an excellent candidate to be that stepping stone, and he also met the standards and conditions of the Anbu, didn't he?
As long as Kagami joined the Anbu, a special unit directly under the Hokage, it would signal to the Uchiha clan that the Hokage Residence held no prejudice against them.
Eizumi Uchiha, that old fox, surely wouldn't fail to understand this. Once he understood that the Hokage Residence had no bias against the Uchiha clan, he would eagerly come to 'curry favor' for the sake of power.
Looking at Hibari's cocky demeanor, Tobirama smiled, then reached out and patted Hibari's shoulder, saying, "As an Anbu member, being able to share my burdens as the Hokage is very good. You've proven yourself, brat. Go ahead, proceed as you planned. I'll make sure this matter is properly implemented."
"Don't worry, Tobirama-jiisan... no, Hokage-sama, leave it to me," Hibari said confidently.
Then, without further delay, after greeting both the former and current Hokage, Hibari adjusted his mask and swiftly left the Senju compound.
Meanwhile, Hiruzen also knocked on the Hyūga clan's door.
If the Ino-Shika-Cho clans had previously gotten a large slice of the pie, then with Tobirama now in power, he naturally had to share some smaller slices with the other clans, as a kind of 'celebration.' In essence, it was Tobirama trying to win people over.
In the familiar training grounds behind the village, it wasn't just Hiruzen who experimented with S-rank collaboration ninjutsu there. Many shinobi from the village, when they had nothing to do, would also come here to practice their taijutsu or ninjutsu.
At this moment, Kagami, a genius of the Uchiha clan, was practicing his shurikenjutsu in this area, which would later be known as the 'Forest of Death.'
It seemed to be an Uchiha clan tradition; if one's shurikenjutsu wasn't cool and flashy enough, it seemed to disgrace the Uchiha clan's name.
As usual, Kagami was in the training ground he had practiced countless times, blindfolded, launching shuriken into the air, then performing various flashy and cool maneuvers, using various two-stage combos to change the shuriken's direction in mid-air, hitting places that would normally be impossible to hit.
However, just as the shuriken in his hand was about to be released, he suddenly felt a crisis. He then hooked his finger, catching the ring at the tail of the shuriken he had just released, and forcibly snatched the shuriken back into his hand. The next second, without even removing the black cloth covering his eyes, he accurately raised his hand to block a shuriken flying from the dense forest.
"...Who's there...?" Kagami demanded, simultaneously trying to remove the black cloth from his eyes.
However, before he could even raise his hand, he heard a whooshing sound. Kagami, having been by Tobirama's side and participated in many brutal battles, was very familiar with this sound: the sound of a sharp weapon cutting through the air. And it was already very close, heading straight for his neck!
Without time to think, Kagami stomped his foot, swiftly retreating a distance to dodge the beheading strike. He then tore off the black cloth from his eyes, finally seeing the assailant's figure clearly.
"It's you? The one by Hokage-sama's side..." Kagami said with some surprise, looking at the mysterious person in front of him wearing the strange bird mask.
Indeed, this person was Hibari. However, Hibari said nothing to him and attacked again without warning. The short blade in his hand twirled, creating a flourish, and with a stomp of his foot, he lunged forward, charging at Kagami once more.
"Why are you, as a member of Hokage-sama's direct unit, targeting me? Is it because I've done something wrong?" Kagami reached for a shuriken, swiftly blocking Hibari's attacks, and demanded.
"I don't need to explain anything to you," Hibari said in a slightly hoarse tone.
However, this didn't work. Kagami simply said, "You don't need to specifically disguise your voice. As a member of Hokage-sama's direct unit, you must be a highly trusted individual. From your stature, unless you have dwarfism, you must be young. And I've been by Hokage-sama's side for some years now; I know there are no dwarfish experts by his side. Therefore... so young, yet possessing such skill, and trusted so highly by Hokage-sama... It can only be you, Senju Hibari!"
Hibari heard Kagami's words, and a smile appeared under his mask. Although it was easy to guess, Kagami's tone was so confident, indicating he was very sure of himself. At least, his mind was working quickly.
However, Hibari did not stop his actions just because his identity was guessed. With a flash of cold steel, he forced Kagami back, then swiftly formed a hand sign at his chest and whispered, "Water Release: Water Severing Wave!"
As his hand sign fell, a high-pressure water blade suddenly shot from his mask, instantly cutting the thick tree standing between the two into two halves.
Seeing this, Kagami's previously black pupils rotated, transforming into the Three Tomoe Sharingan. At the same time, he swiftly formed a hand sign in his own hand and roared, "Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
——————————
Want to read ahead of schedule? Head over to my Patreon ——— patreon(.)com/PrimalDemon [remove the parentheses ( )]