As time passed, the sounds of intense battle echoed intermittently through the dense forest where Hibari and Kagami fought. Occasionally, Water Release and Fire Release ninjutsu could be seen flying wildly.
After a long while, the fierce battle gradually subsided, and the dense forest slowly returned to tranquility.
Shifting the gaze, Hibari now sported a purplish-black bruise around one eye, clearly from a punch to the face, and two streams of blood trickled from his nose...
Although Hibari looked rather miserable, such things are relative. At this moment, with Hibari sitting on his waist, Kagami was pinned beneath him, while two of Hibari's Shadow Clones restrained Kagami's arms, one on each side, preventing him from struggling violently.
Looking at Kagami's face, his formerly handsome features were swollen like a pig's head. Both his eye sockets were so swollen that his eyes were squeezed into narrow slits, and the dark bruising around them was even more terrifying than Hibari's.
"Still talking about your Three Tomoe? Still bragging to me? Didn't it only take two punches to sort you out? You got the guts to open your eyes wide and look at me now?" Hibari wiped a streak of blood from his nose, speaking with immense smugness.
At this point, even if Kagami wanted to open his eyes wide and look at Hibari, he couldn't; they were too swollen.
"You bastard, if it weren't for this cramped space, how could you have easily hit my eyes?" Kagami said, deeply frustrated and embarrassed, as he was pinned to the ground.
"Adapting to the terrain, that's also a tactic. And I'm only leaving you alive because it's me. In a real fight, do you think you'd still have a chance to say these things to me? The dead don't speak, you know." Hibari patted Kagami's back as he spoke.
Kagami was rendered speechless by Hibari's words. Although he wanted to say that he had held back earlier, upon reflection, wasn't Hibari also holding back? So, saying that would be pointless. Thus, he ultimately just snorted coldly.
"Hmph, do whatever you want with me, kill or carve me up, but I'll reiterate one last time, Hibari, I have absolutely never done anything to betray the village or the Hokage!" Kagami said with great defiance.
Hibari reached for the short blade hanging at his waist, placed it across Kagami's neck, and said, "More words are useless. Madara suddenly attacked the village not long ago. After our investigation, you, Kagami, are the prime suspect. We suspect you have some unspeakable secret with Madara. Therefore, we specifically invite you to join our Anbu and serve the Hokage!"
Listening to the first half of Hibari's words, Kagami felt incredibly aggrieved and wronged. He immediately retorted, "Nonsense! Hokage-sama's kindness to me is immense, how could I possibly do..."
However, before he could finish speaking, he seemed to sense something amiss and said, very surprised, "What did you just say?"
"Hahahaha, isn't it because Tobirama-jiisan really appreciates you? He was thinking of inviting you to become an Anbu member, directly serving the Hokage. How about it? Will you do it?" Hibari chuckled, putting away his short blade as he spoke.
"What trick are you playing? Who recruits people like this? Also, what is this 'Anbu' thing? Explain yourself!" Kagami demanded, thoroughly annoyed, from Hibari.
"Watch your tone when you speak. As things stand, your life is still in my hands. Even ignoring that, once you join our Anbu, you'll be my subordinate. You should be more polite to your superior, understand?" Hibari said with immense smugness.
Then, without waiting for Kagami to continue his outburst, Hibari directly spoke again, "You must have heard, Tobirama-jiisan is forming a special unit directly under the Hokage. And this unit is the Anbu, full name 'Special Assassination and Tactical Squad,' specifically for the Hokage to handle 'difficult problems,' becoming the 'shadow power' that protects our Konohagakure. And I am the Deputy Commander of the Anbu. Oh, and the Commander... our leader is Hiruzen. I came here this time to invite you, Kagami, to join this Anbu. As for the method..."
Kagami, who had now calmed down, listened to Hibari's words and interjected, "As for the method, on one hand, it's testing whether my abilities meet the standards, since such a unit naturally requires great strength. Otherwise, how can one solve problems for the Hokage, right? And on the other hand... you, Hibari, wanted to put me in my place, to let me know how formidable you are, and not to underestimate you, correct?"
Hearing Kagami's words, Hibari grinned and said, "It's so much easier talking to smart people like you. That's right. I know I'm young, and precisely for that reason, many of you wouldn't think too highly of me. If I had just casually approached you and told you to join the Anbu and follow me, do you think you'd agree? At best, you'd probably just laugh it off as a joke, right?"
Kagami was about to open his mouth to retort, but upon careful thought, if Hibari had truly just casually come to invite him to join some Anbu, even if he genuinely wanted to serve the Hokage, he would still have to seriously consider whether this Anbu was just the Hokage humoring his young grandson, Hibari, by letting him play house.
But now it was different. Hibari immediately put him in his place. Although the initial attack might be seen as a sneak attack, there was no doubt that in this one-on-one contest, it was Hibari, the young fellow, who ultimately ended up on top, wasn't it? And as Hibari said, if this were a true fight, he would already be dead!
This not only proved Hibari's ability and strength but also proved that this Anbu wasn't for playing house. If even someone of Hibari's strength was being used by the Hokage to 'play house,' then what did that make him, the loser? Dog crap?
As Kagami thought about these things, just as he was about to speak, Hibari spoke again, "Don't explain anything. This kind of thing is only human nature. If I were you, I'd also have my doubts, so I'm too lazy to explain it nicely to you. This method is the most effective, isn't it? Even if it's a bit crude..."
Kagami sighed helplessly, then said, "Aren't you afraid of getting humiliated here? What if you lost to me?"
Hibari heard this and chuckled, not answering. Hearing Hibari's laughter, Kagami sighed again, softly saying, "Truly worthy of being the sensei's grandson, so straightforward... Never even considered losing, huh?"
"Hahahaha, hasn't this result already proven that I'm right?" Hibari said with a loud laugh.
Then, without waiting for Kagami to speak, Hibari said, "Enough with the nonsense. Give me a straight answer. Are you willing to join our Anbu? I'll tell you now, if you dare refuse, then our Anbu, for the sake of secrecy, might just have to..."
"Kill me to silence me? You've said it like that, how dare I refuse?" Kagami said helplessly.
Although he knew very well that Hibari was just joking with him, and even if he refused the invitation, he wouldn't actually be silenced, he truly wanted to join this mysterious department, which was why he spoke that way.
"Hahahaha, a wise man submits to circumstances. Good. Report to the Hokage Residence tomorrow. I'll get you our standard Anbu gear." Hibari said with a laugh.
"By the way, how many people are actually in this Anbu? You didn't go around subduing each one, did you?" Kagami asked.
Hibari dispelled his Shadow Clones as he got up from Kagami, saying, "Including you, there are only three of us right now. But if nothing unexpected happens, the Hyūga clan member will also be invited in. After all, we are an elite unit; we prioritize quality over quantity."
"Only three people? That's really 'prioritizing quality over quantity'..." Kagami said helplessly as he climbed to his feet.
Hibari took a medicine box from his person and handed it to Kagami, saying, "This is a secret medicine from our Senju clan. It's very good for treating external injuries like this. Apply it, and the swelling will go down soon..."
Kagami reached out and took it, finally saying, "Thank you."
"No problem, taking care of my subordinates is my responsibility. Since you've agreed, I won't say much more to you. Remember to report to the Hokage Residence tomorrow morning. I'll arrange everything properly for you then. I'm going back to report to Tobirama-jiisan first." Hibari said casually.
Kagami didn't have much more to say to Hibari at this point. Although he understood Hibari's actions, feeling the pain and swelling around his eyes, he now felt annoyed looking at Hibari. Thus, he nodded and said, "I understand. I'll report on time tomorrow, Deputy Commander."
"What 'Vice'? Just call me Commander..." Hibari said with immense smugness.
Then, without further nonsense, he put on his mask, concealing his own equally not-so-lightly injured face. Nodding to Kagami, Hibari disappeared from the spot with a Body Flicker Jutsu.
Looking at the empty space, Kagami, while applying some ointment to his eyes, softly muttered to himself, "Although I'd heard before that Hibari was remarkably strong for his age... I truly didn't expect even I would fall to him. Should I say it's because he carries the bloodline of my sensei's clan after all? Senju..."
Meanwhile, in the Hokage's office, Tobirama, who was processing some documents, subtly raised an eyebrow. Before the knock on the door even sounded, he directly said, "Come in..."
"Tobirama-jiisan, how did you know I was here?" Hibari asked as he walked in, masked.
"I can smell you from two miles away..." Tobirama said with a smile.
"Then your sense of smell is truly excellent..." Hibari first grumbled, then chuckled and said, "Reporting, Hokage-sama, I have perfectly completed the mission. Tomorrow morning, Kagami Uchiha will report to the Hokage Residence, so your next steps can begin preparing."
Tobirama glanced at Hibari, then softly said, "You handled it well. Keep it up."
As his words fell, he also pulled open a nearby drawer behind him, retrieving a document. The document had the large characters 'Establishing Security System' written on it.
Then Tobirama softly murmured, "Indeed, there's no more time to waste. Time waits for no one."
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