Half a month later, more and more shinobi returned to Konoha, a sign the war was nearing its end.
One morning, just as Kageyama Kokugetsu arrived at the ANBU base, he was summoned by Sarutobi Hiruzen.
In the Hokage's office, Hiruzen sat behind his desk with a pipe between his teeth, smiling as if in fine spirits.
"Hokage-sama." Kokugetsu pushed open the door and bowed.
"You're here, Kokugetsu. This is your promotion order and your new post." Hiruzen, eyes crinkling, picked up a file and handed it over.
Kokugetsu took it with both hands and opened it to find he'd been promoted to jōnin and reassigned as captain of Squad One, Third Division of ANBU.
Not just jōnin—he had a command.
"Thank you for your trust, Hokage-sama. I'll fulfill my duties and execute every assigned mission cleanly," Kokugetsu said, straightening up.
"I believe you won't let me down."
"Elephant."
A figure appeared in the office, dropped to one knee, and answered, "Hokage-sama."
"This man will be under you from now on. Take him to assume his post and help him where you can."
"Elephant" was Kokugetsu's codename in ANBU. It echoed both his name and ANBU's work in the dark.
"Captain Elephant, I look forward to working with you." Kokugetsu, in black combat suit with the white harness and a black-and-white mask, bowed.
"We're all on the same side. Of course we help one another. Come with me," Elephant said warmly.
He was the same ANBU who had stood outside the Four Purple Flame Formation in a white cloak, calling the plays and trapping the three-headed hound before burning it.
"All right, Hokage-sama, we'll be off."
"Go."
…
They returned to the ANBU base behind Konoha's rear mountain and headed straight for the Third Division.
ANBU's full name was the Special Assassination and Tactical Squad. Excluding Root, it had four divisions, each division split into four squads.
Counting the division captain, each division had seventeen members. With the commander and deputy commander, that made seventy in total.
The ANBU commander was Sarutobi Shinnosuke, the deputy was Sarutobi Kyōko, Hiruzen's eldest son and daughter-in-law, Konohamaru's parents.
From what Kokugetsu knew, while they surely benefited from Hiruzen's influence, their strength and records stood on their own. ANBU respected the couple.
Even as commander and deputy, they often led from the front. In the original tale, both fell in the period when Hiruzen returned as Hokage.
If Hiruzen had truly wanted his eldest to inherit the hat, he could have arranged safe, photogenic missions to stack credentials.
And if the Nine-Tails incident hadn't happened, who knew how long Namikaze Minato would have ruled? Given Minato's age, strength, wisdom, and fame, how could Hiruzen puppet him? Even if he could for a time, not forever. The longer Minato reigned, the firmer his seat and the broader his reach.
Power cools old tea fast. With power in hand, people line up to draw near.
At the Third Division, Elephant led Kokugetsu to Squad One's ready room and pushed the door open.
Inside were three shinobi dressed identically aside from their masks.
"Captain," the three set down their tasks and bowed.
Elephant nodded slightly and gestured aside. "This is your new squad leader, Night."
"These are Wolf, Snake, and Hawk."
"Squad leader." The three bowed again.
"No need to stand on ceremony. We're brothers now," Kokugetsu said with a wave.
"Work well with Captain Night. I don't want to see anything go wrong."
"Talk among yourselves. I have to return to post."
They saw the division captain out and came back in.
"Don't be stiff. Sit," Kokugetsu said as he took a seat.
The three exchanged a look, then sat.
"Tell me your specialties. Start from the right. No need to stand."
The man in the wolf mask sat straight and said, "Aburame clan. Tokubetsu jōnin."
"From the Inuzuka clan. Tokubetsu jōnin," said the snake mask.
"Nara clan. Tokubetsu jōnin," said the hawk mask.
"Good—picked troops. The Hokage's placed a real load on me."
"I'm Kageyama Kokugetsu. Reconnaissance, taijutsu, ninjutsu. Just scraped into jōnin."
The three understood at once who he was and why he looked young—he wasn't even of age yet.
A prodigy in the mold of Kakashi, perhaps. But could he lead? A poor leader in the field meant danger for all three.
Doubt stirred.
Kokugetsu was thirteen and stood one-fifty-five. Tall among his peers. In the shinobi world, even adults weren't large by default. Not like in that other world of giants.
He could guess what they were thinking. Such things took time to prove. Chūnin and jōnin didn't just fight. They managed and decided.
Mismanage, and friction wrecked missions. Bad decisions killed squads.
Before time proved anything, he needed to plant a little authority and save himself trouble.
"I'm glad to work with you. When we're off tonight, let's hit Yakiniku Q."
"I'm not buying, and neither are you."
The three: "???"
Dine and dash?
Eat for free?
"Talk is abstract. Better to see."
"Come on. We'll spar in the forest."
"If the three of you win, I buy. If I win, the three of you pay."
Without waiting for agreement, Kokugetsu rose and walked out.
The three looked at one another. Years of tacit sync sparked the same flash in their eyes. They stood together and followed.
They reached an empty stretch of forest. The three ringed him, and the spar began.
Steel rang through the trees. In under ten seconds, silence returned.
Wolf, Snake, and Hawk lay flat on their backs, clothes dusty but otherwise intact.
Not entirely intact—they were questioning life.
What kind of speed was that? They hadn't even had time to weave a jutsu before being floored.
Mistake. They'd closed too tight. They should have opened range.
With range, they could've won—who were they kidding. Maybe they'd last longer. Better than this embarrassment.
Seeing them, Kokugetsu's lips curled. To set his tone, he'd used about seventy percent of his speed.
At that tier, even many jōnin would be on their back foot, never mind tokubetsu jōnin.
If you had to compare, he was only a shade slower than Kakashi when channeling Chidori.
With Chidori, lightning chakra activates the body. To normal eyes it's a flash of light.
"All right, up you get. I pulled my punches. You should be fine by now."
The three pushed up, squared their shoulders, and stood like pines.
"You're buying tonight. Let's head back," Kokugetsu said with a jaunty wave.
"Yes, Captain!" they answered in chorus.
Kokugetsu couldn't help a little thrill.
It was only a small captaincy, but don't underestimate a bun, and don't underestimate a squad leader.