In the Anbu headquarters, Hibari was seated in the Commander's chair. This wasn't the first time he had sat here. Back when Hiruzen was in charge, he had spent a lot of time in this seat. However, unlike before, he was now sitting here legitimately.
Why? Because two days ago, Hiruzen Sarutobi had officially succeeded Senju Tobirama, the Second Hokage, as the Third Hokage of Konohagakure. He was now in the Hokage's office and no longer had to share a space with Hibari. As for Hibari, he had become the new Anbu Commander.
"Hitenn, come and handle this document too... As the Deputy Commander, you have to take on this responsibility properly. One day, I will leave this position, and you will be crowned king... ahem, no, you'll become the new Commander. I'm just training your work ethic. You know, I have other things to be busy with. In case I don't have time to handle these Anbu matters in the future, you'll be in charge. Understand?" Hibari said with a righteous air, handing a document to Hitenn Hyūga.
Hitenn, being a serious person, didn't decline anything. He took the document from Hibari and said, "Thank you for the guidance, Commander. I will work hard towards that goal!"
"After all these years, I've finally heard you say 'Commander.' I'm so touched I could cry," Hibari said, scratching his head.
At the same time, he felt a pang of guilt for 'tricking an honest man'... But this thought lingered in the heartless Hibari's mind for less than a second before he dismissed it.
On the other side, Kagami, who was still a squad captain, smiled at the scene. It was a good thing he had understood Hibari's intentions and hadn't actually become the Deputy Commander. Otherwise, he would have been thoroughly scammed...
The current Anbu leaders were all members of the original team that formed the Anbu, so they all had a good relationship. There was no power struggle or internal conflict, nor was there any severe bureaucracy. Therefore, although the position of Deputy Commander sounded good, there were no horrible situations where a higher rank would be used to oppress a subordinate. Unless there was a mission from above, everything was discussed and decided together.
Sakumo had accumulated enough merit from these past few missions and was no longer an ordinary Anbu member. He had also become one of the Anbu captains and was sitting in the office, chatting happily with everyone.
"Oh, right, Sakumo. Go and arrange the things that the Third Hokage-sama assigned us. That mountain wall in the village is just empty and looks a bit strange. Find two skilled Earth Release users and some craftsmen to carve the statues of the First and Second Hokage on it, to create a symbolic monument. Let's call it the 'Hokage Rock'!" Hibari said, handing a document to Sakumo.
Sakumo looked at the document in his hand with a puzzled expression and said, "Commander, does the Anbu handle things like this? Can't the people from the political affairs department do this?"
The Anbu usually handled critical matters or did the dirty work for the Hokage. Now, a 'construction project' had suddenly popped up, which caught Sakumo off guard. What was going on? Something felt strange. Should they wear their Anbu gear for this mission? If they did, it would look weird for a bunch of mysterious, black-clad people to be carving on a rock wall.
But if they didn't wear their gear, it was still a mission. According to the rules, unless a mission required a secret identity, they had to wear their gear...
"Who knows what kind of crazy idea our Hokage-sama had? Maybe he just thinks we have nothing to do and are too idle, so he wants to find some work for me. How petty. Is he getting revenge on me? Anyway, just do it. We Anbu are theoretically a department that has the authority to manage anything, including construction projects..." Hibari rolled his eyes and said with some helplessness.
Sakumo chuckled and then said, "Alright, I'll go and arrange it..."
"If you're interested, you can even do it yourself. I think your sharp swordsmanship would be great for carving rock and it's also a good way to train." Hibari said with a laugh.
After arranging things with Sakumo and dumping a lot of Anbu affairs on the serious Hitenn, Hibari was finally free. He didn't want to be like Hiruzen in the past and sit in the Anbu office all day.
With nothing to do, Hibari clapped his hands and stood up. He said to Hitenn and Kagami, "I have some personal matters, so I'll be leaving. You two can handle things here..."
After saying that, Hibari didn't even give them a chance to speak and quickly disappeared.
The war between Kumogakure and Konoha began in winter and ended in late winter. Spring had now arrived, and new buds were sprouting on the trees. Although it was still a bit cold, it wasn't unbearable like before. So Hibari's expensive furs had all been put away, waiting to be worn again when it snowed next year.
Earlier that day, under the guidance of Hiruzen, the village held a grand and somber memorial service to commemorate the ninjas who died in the war. Hibari had also participated in the morning. Although he felt sad, he didn't dwell on it.
As he passed the cemetery near the Memorial Stone, he happened to see a familiar figure standing beside a grave.
The figure was dressed in black, giving off a simple yet sad and mourning feeling. He stood there quietly, not moving. In Hibari's eyes, it was like a painting, with the living mourning the dead...
Although he couldn't see his face, Hibari already knew who the person was. It was a young Orochimaru, mourning his parents who had died in the war.
That's right, Orochimaru's parents, who were ninjas, had both died in this war. From that point on, he became a lonely snake.
For some reason, seeing this scene, Hibari felt a pang of heartache. It was just as Sasuke Uchiha would say in the future: compared to those who were born without, those who once had everything and then had it all brutally taken away were even more tormented.
Hibari sighed softly. He was about to walk over to talk to the boy Orochimaru when he saw another figure slowly walk over from the other side and stand beside Orochimaru.
That figure was also dressed in simple black clothes. It was the Third Hokage of Konohagakure, Hiruzen.
Seeing this, Hibari didn't go forward to join them. He whispered softly, "Being a sensei really isn't easy... Hiruzen."
After saying that, Hibari turned and silently left, heading towards the Senju clan's main residence.
As soon as he entered the house, he saw little Tsunade holding her younger brother, Nawaki, in her arms. Her side, Nawaki's mother, Senju Renge, was walking beside her. Tobirama was also there, and they seemed to be talking about something.
It was clear that although Renge's face was still sad and haggard, she didn't look like she had lost all hope in life. It was probably because she still had a son to take care of.
Before Hibari could say anything, little Tsunade saw him and shouted, "Hibari-nii!" happily. She then ran towards him, holding the little Nawaki.
This startled Hibari. Tsunade was very mischievous and often got hurt from falling, so he wouldn't mind if she just fell down. But the problem was that she was holding a baby. If she suddenly fell and something happened to Nawaki, Hibari was afraid that her Aunt Renge would hang herself...
Thinking this, Hibari also bent down and quickly took two steps forward. He grabbed the happy little Tsunade and Nawaki, then scolded, "Tsunade, you're holding your little brother. How can you run around like this?"
But to Hibari's surprise, the little Nawaki wasn't scared at all. Instead, he suddenly started laughing, which was quite cute.
"I was just happy to see you, Hibari-nii..." little Tsunade said with some dissatisfaction.
Hibari slowly took Nawaki from her arms, then pretended to be a little angry and said, "You need to be more careful next time. Don't be so reckless. Nawaki is the treasure of our Senju clan now. No one is more important than him. You almost scared Renge-basan just now..."
As he spoke, Hibari also walked little Tsunade over to Tobirama and Renge. He then handed Nawaki back to Renge and said with a laugh, "Obasan, from what I can see, Nawaki will surely be an amazing shinobi in the future."
Renge smiled and said softly, "I don't ask for anything else. I'll be content if he's half as good as you..."
"Hahahaha, don't worry, the blood of the Senju clan flows in his veins too. He won't be any worse than me!" Hibari said proudly.
Tobirama, on the other hand, knocked Hibari's head and said, "You, boy, never know when to be humble. I think Nawaki will definitely be stronger than you when he grows up!"
"Isn't that a good thing? With my generous heart, I can totally accept that fact, hahaha." Hibari boasted again.
Renge was also very good at reading the atmosphere and said with a smile, "Nawaki needs to eat something now. You two can talk. We're going back inside."
After saying that, she also took little Tsunade with her, leaving only Tobirama and Hibari.
Then, Tobirama said, "Did the Anbu Commander finish work so early?"
Hibari didn't feel mocked at all. Instead, he said with a proud expression, "You don't understand the art of managing subordinates. If you do everything yourself, you'll eventually exhaust yourself. What's the point of having subordinates then? What are Deputy Commanders for?"
"Why didn't you have this realization when you were the Deputy Commander?" Tobirama said with a laugh.
They chatted for a bit, then Tobirama finally said, "Is there any news from Kumogakure?"
"You've retired, and you're still worrying about these things?" Hibari said with a laugh.
Tobirama was a little embarrassed. After all, he had only retired from the Hokage position two days ago, and he was still not used to many things. Seeing Hibari, he naturally wanted to ask about these 'official matters.'
"I have nothing else to do anyway... Can I hear about it?" Tobirama said with a forced smile.
Hibari didn't tease him anymore. He became serious and said, "Before I left, Kumogakure had already given us a definitive message. They have held the funeral for the Second Raikage and have also finalized the arrangements for the Third Raikage. Next, the Third Raikage will personally lead a delegation to our Konoha to apologize and reopen talks for a peace treaty and an alliance..."
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