"Money?"
"What money?"
"I don't have any money!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi had been smiling as he looked at Kusunoki Naraku standing before him, but the moment he heard that the other party had come to ask for money, his expression changed instantly. He flatly insisted that he had no money at all.
Naraku stared at Hiruzen with a face full of suspicion, clearly not believing a single word.
"The Medical Department handed in quite a large amount of funds to the village last year. You're telling me it's all been spent already?"
Hiruzen looked helpless, his mouth never stopping as he puffed on his pipe.
"You child… you've really been led astray by Tsunade. All you know is how to ask for money. How can you doubt me like this…"
"Think about it. The village has so many departments and institutions that need funding. Development everywhere costs money. How could we not be short on it?"
"I know you well. You've done an excellent job in the Medical Emergency Unit and made major contributions to the village's development. Not just me—everyone is grateful to you."
Naraku watched Hiruzen ramble on endlessly, utterly speechless. After all this talking, he still hadn't gotten to the point.
"Money! Money! I—"
"Aren't I explaining it right now?" Hiruzen said with a genial smile. "Look, you're doing great in the Medical Emergency Unit. You can also find ways to earn money on your own in ANBU."
How could that be the same?
Naraku was about to refute him when he suddenly thought of something.
"Wait, that's not right. Even if we ignore the Medical Department's funds, what about the supplies I recovered last time? And all that gold dust from Sunagakure?"
Naraku hadn't thought of it earlier—otherwise he would've brought it up long ago. The gold dust he seized last time, used as ANBU development funds, was more than sufficient.
In truth, ANBU'sANBU wasn't that bad. Under normal circumstances, they weren't seriously short on money. But theirANBU hadn't improved in years, and the base itself was old and badly in need of upgrades. That was the real reason Naraku had come to demand funding from Hiruzen.
With Naraku presenting his arguments confidently, the Third Hokage could only grit his teeth and approve a portion of the funds, clearly pained.
…
Back when Danzō's Root was at its peak, it was far too powerful and essentially suppressed ANBU entirely.
Aside from the Hokage's personal ANBU guards, most ANBU members were influenced by Danzō. Naturally, at that time, even ANBU's funding was effectively under his control.
Besides receiving money directly from the Third Hokage, Danzō could also leverage his connections to extract funds from Koharu and Homura Mitokado.
Just think about it—Orochimaru was once a member of Root. So were Hatake Kakashi, Tenzo (Yamato), Kaguya Kabuto, and later Sai…
Cultivating talent had always required enormous financial investment.
Only by relying on both power and money could Danzō nurture so many prodigies.
Now, however, Root had been forcibly disbanded, and Danzō himself stripped of his position. There was no way he would continue footing the bill for ANBU.
So what Naraku was doing now mirrored Danzō's old methods: as a superior, holding authority in one hand and money in the other. Naturally, subordinates would gather around him.
At the height of Danzō's power, he had even gone so far as to order subordinates to assassinate the Third Hokage. Though the attempt failed because of Kakashi, it still spoke volumes about the problem.
…
Standing inside his office, watching Naraku's departing figure through the glass, Hiruzen naturally understood that from this moment on, Naraku's authority within ANBU would only continue to grow.
If Kakashi weren't so indifferent by nature, the two would have clashed long ago—possibly even coming to blows.
This made Hiruzen think of himself and Danzō. They had once been extremely close friends and comrades, but ever since he became Hokage and Danzō assumed the role of Hokage's assistant while controlling Root, their relationship had never recovered.
"Ah…"
Kusunoki Naraku sensed the gaze behind him. He knew it was the Third Hokage watching.
"Is that old man worried I'll challenge his authority because of this?"
After a moment's thought, he knew that wasn't the reason.
The Third Hokage had no need to worry about such things. Though he looked like just an old man, Hiruzen Sarutobi's authority blanketed the entirety of Konoha without a single blind spot.
Decades as Hokage had conditioned everyone in the village to seeing Hiruzen seated in that position. People had even forgotten that the Third Hokage would one day reach the end of his lifespan.
This kind of habit should never be underestimated—it represented absolute recognition of Hiruzen's rule.
Even the First and Second Hokage had never achieved authority at such an exaggerated level.
The First Hokage, Senju Hashirama, had ruled during the village's founding. At the time, the major ninja clans hadn't yet built mutual trust, and there was also the restraint posed by Uchiha Madara.
By the time of the Second Hokage, the village's development was on the right track, and the clans had integrated more fully. However, the Uchiha clan remained a major issue. The establishment of the Konoha Military Police Force itself was meant to keep the Uchiha in check.
As for Hiruzen—initially, due to the Second Hokage's dying appointment, he had to share power with his comrades to stabilize his position and prestige. But the current Third Hokage had long since established his authority completely.
Of course, there was still a way to utterly destroy his standing—kill him cleanly and decisively.
…
After returning to ANBU, Naraku began personally overseeing its restructuring now that he held the purse strings.
Base maintenance and renovation, upgrades to ANBU's dedicated training grounds, improvements to logistics, and increasedANBU for ANBU members.
Just as the Third Hokage had anticipated, if Kakashi weren't the ANBU Captain, anyone else would have already turned against Naraku. This was blatant seizure of power.
If all these plans were completed, ANBU would essentially have no other voices left.
In other words, a leader even more powerful than Danzō would emerge within ANBU.
"Yo, Naraku. Let's go together."
Hatake Kakashi was leaning against the wall outside the ANBU base, one hand in his pocket while the other held the latest volume of Icha Icha Paradise, reading with relish.
Naraku had just issued his orders and received notice of aJōnin meeting. As he stepped out of the ANBU base, Kakashi called out to him.
The two walked side by side. Naraku remained silent, still thinking about his plans, while Kakashi seemed completely absorbed in his book, also saying nothing.
"Your actions are a bit too big, Naraku…"
Naraku snapped back to attention and looked at Kakashi, whose gaze was still fixed on Icha Icha Paradise.
"Is there a problem?"
"A huge one."
Kakashi sighed helplessly, closed the book, and stuffed it back into his pocket.
In truth, he really didn't want to get involved in these matters. Ever since his father, Hatake Sakumo, committed suicide, Kakashi had developed a deep aversion to power struggles.
"That man may have disbanded Root, but his influence in ANBU is still far from small. If you keep this up, you're bound to clash with him."
Naraku waved his hand and gave Kakashi a serious look.
"These are things you were supposed to do in the first place—especially when it comes to Danzō."
When the Third Hokage put Kakashi in charge of ANBU, it was never just to use him as muscle. He had hoped Kakashi would restrain the rapid expansion of Danzō's power within ANBU and Root.
If Kakashi had truly managed that, Hiruzen wouldn't have needed to forcibly strip Danzō of his position and disband Root.
"Ma~ you know my personality…" Kakashi said, scratching his head helplessly.
"Yeah, I know," Naraku said bluntly, spreading his hands. "Otherwise, why would I even come to ANBU?"
"So troublesome…"
Kakashi unconsciously adopted the Nara clan's habit and let out a long sigh.
Maybe I should just leave ANBU, Kakashi thought. It might be easier to let Naraku become the ANBU Captain outright.
After all, Kakashi had never liked life in ANBU to begin with…