Naruto: Hyuga Warlord

The October of Konoha Year 38 passed without a ripple.

The reprimand Hyuga Soushu had anticipated from the Hokage Tower never arrived. Instead, on the first day of November, he received a freshly issued commission letter.

"You are hereby promoted from Tokubetsu Jonin to Jonin and officially enrolled into the Jonin Unit."

Accompanying this promotion was another document—a conscription notice.

"Based on current wartime conditions within Konoha and the broader Ninja World, we formally summon Jonin-level Hyuga Soushu to join the newly organized Ninja Force. You must report to the designated assembly point by November 15th, in the 38th Year of Konoha."

Although the summons employed slightly vague and diplomatic language like "based on" and "formally summon," the message it conveyed was perfectly clear—there would be absolutely no refusal permitted.

Still, being promoted to Jonin came with certain privileges, such as the right to form one's own personal combat squad.

After obtaining Mahiru-chan's consent, Soushu listed her as his direct subordinate. In effect, they would both end their rest period early and await Konoha's next operational assignment together.

In addition, Hyuga Soushu had two more direct subordinate positions to fill. However, since he didn't have many acquaintances in the village and also wished to avoid involving any Branch House members from the Hyuga Clan in his private team, he followed the suggestion of the Jonin Unit and selected candidates from among the available ninjas currently residing in Konoha.

"Can you believe it? Over eight thousand ninja in the village are actually ready to sign up!"

Inside the Jonin Unit office, Soushu flipped through the list of conscriptable ninja names while chatting with the incoming Jonin Unit Leader, Sakumo Hatake.

He was referred to as "incoming" because after the political turmoil at the previous Jonin Unit meeting, the former Jonin Unit Leader from the Nara Clan had been impeached by an overwhelming vote of the unit's Jonin members. The day after Soushu left with the envoy for the Fire Daimyo's court, the Hokage summoned Sakumo Hatake back to the village. He had been guarding the western border of the Land of Fire, where even Sand ninja feared to tread.

Though not yet officially named Jonin Unit Leader, Sakumo already performed all the duties of the position. Indeed, all the other Jonin Unit members had already accepted him unreservedly as the uncontested highest authority within the Jonin Unit.

"Hmm, technically speaking, every ninja who recently completed missions through the mission center falls under the scope of conscription. This is simply village policy."

Sakumo explained.

Konoha shinobi being able to take high-profit missions through the mission center is an invisible privilege granted by Konoha's top status among Hidden Villages—a benefit others can't match. If not for Konoha's aggressive suppression of rival villages' operations within the Land of Fire and its various vassal states, Konoha ninja wouldn't enjoy such favorable working conditions: lighter workloads and significantly higher pay compared to other Hidden Villages.

Just look at Sunagakure in the Land of Wind—it has already fallen into such poverty that they've had to cut ranks and adopt a leaner, more elite soldier policy.

However, those clan ninjas were exceptions. Konoha had no way of knowing exactly how many hidden forces the ninja clans possessed or how strong they truly were. That's why they always had to negotiate carefully with the clan leaders and make all sorts of compromises just to finally bring out those well-guarded secret ninjas and throw them onto the battlefield as cannon fodder.

Allowing Hyuga Soushu to directly browse through the ninja registry was also based on Sakumo Hatake's trust—not necessarily because Sakumo Hatake knew much about Soushu personally, but more due to his Branch House status.

There was a widely known belief among Konoha jonin: even if they held the rank of jonin, members of the Hyuga Branch House had absolutely no ability or intention to resist the Main House, let alone consider defecting or fleeing the village.

Moreover, the names of ordinary chunin and lower-ranked ninja weren't considered much of a secret to begin with for higher-ranking shinobi. So Sakumo Hatake was more than willing to generously allow Hyuga Soushu to handpick his subordinates.

Hyuga Soushu quickly flipped through the catalog until he found the list of chunin and lower-ranked ninja who hadn't been assigned to any jonin leaders yet. He scanned it quickly and soon spotted the name he was looking for.

"Count him in."

He pointed at one entry in the registry. "My squad could use an experienced subordinate."

"Huh?"

Upon seeing the name, Sakumo Hatake immediately felt somewhat surprised. "Do you actually know Senior Kosuke already, Hyuga Soushu-san?"

"Not at all,"

Hyuga Soushu naturally shook his head. "But anyone who can survive this long as a ninja must possess some unique abilities."

"You've got a point there."

Sakumo Hatake didn't intend to question further, yet added, "Still, although Kosuke Maruboshi is just a rookie-level ninja, he's rather special—I'll need to ask for his opinion first."

He didn't go into detail about Kosuke's ties with The Second and The Third, simply using the term 'special' as a vague explanation, subtly trying to test whether this newly promoted jonin had done his homework.

"No problem!"

Hyuga Soushu readily agreed.

Seeing this, Sakumo Hatake said nothing further and silently approved Hyuga Soushu's request.

Then Hyuga Soushu flipped forward a few pages and found another name: "Him too!"

"Might Duy?" Sakumo Hatake raised his eyebrow, clearly more astonished now.

The registry contained plenty of powerful chunin from renowned ninja clans, yet Hyuga Soushu showed no interest in them whatsoever. Instead, he flipped through the pages with clear purpose, selecting only these two genin. It was obvious he'd done some thinking ahead of time.

Still, Sakumo Hatake merely assumed it was thanks to the Hyuga Clan's information advantage. Besides, while Kosuke did have a particular background, he wasn't hard to handle—basically just needed a yes from him and a quick heads-up to the Hokage Tower. As for Might Duy, since graduating from the Ninja Academy a year ago, nobody had wanted to team up with him for long. With no missions coming his way, he barely scraped by financially—making him an easy sell too.

Thus, without overthinking, Sakumo Hatake gave his consent.

Two days later, while strolling together under the moonlight among blooming flowers with Mahiru, Hyuga Soushu suddenly received a message from a Ninja hawk. He had no choice but to reluctantly part with his beloved and quickly make his way to the Jonin Unit office.

"Jonin Soushu has arrived."

Sakumo Hatake, who was fighting through stacks of paperwork inside, immediately put down his pen and stretched as soon as he opened the door: "Your request for team assignments has been approved by both the Hokage Tower and the two genin themselves. Here is your team document—please keep it safe."

"That's great news!"

Hyuga Soushu replied with a delighted tone: "Just as expected from the legendary White Fang—what a masterstroke of efficiency! It's truly the good fortune of all Konoha jonin to have you leading the Jonin Unit."

"Jonin Soushu flatters me; I'm only doing my duty!"

Sakumo Hatake, still not quite used to such smooth compliments since becoming one of the top leaders, modestly replied: "Actually, this was just a simple favor that required little effort."

"There's one small detail you should know, though," he added in a quieter tone while Soushu looked through the documents. "Of the two genin, only Might Duy will be directly placed under your command. Elder Genji's case is somewhat special, so officially, he can only be considered on loan."

"Might Duy being placed directly under my command? You must've put in quite some work behind the scenes, Jonin Sakumo! You were too humble just now!"

Hyuga Soushu smoothly shifted his tone again, offering another compliment.

"Oh, it was nothing, really nothing at all."

Sakumo Hatake grew visibly uneasy.

Truthfully, he hadn't done much—he had merely delivered the paperwork personally to the Hokage Tower. The Third Hokage then quickly signed off on the genin deployment orders in less than three or five minutes. There was nothing remotely as grandiose as what Soushu described.

Still, there was no denying that even when speaking honestly, Soushu's words sounded pleasant, unlike other jonin whose clumsy flattery often made everyone cringe.

So, was this the refined upbringing of a prestigious ninja clan?

"Do not dismiss small evils, nor neglect small kindnesses."

Hyuga Soushu effortlessly served up yet another compliment. "Jonin Sakumo embodies great virtue through small acts of goodness, serving as a true example for Konoha. I firmly believe that under your leadership, the Konoha Jonin Unit will become increasingly united and powerful."

"You're flattering me far too much, Jonin Soushu."

Sakumo Hatake waved his hands repeatedly, his face subtly turning red, looking even more embarrassed.

Hyuga Soushu also found this rather surprising. The so-called leaders up top usually lacked any sense of shame whatsoever; embarrassment was simply not part of their behavior.

At this moment, Soushu finally understood why the future Sakumo Hatake would choose to take his own life to prove his honor after enduring such absurd accusations. Perhaps he was the only one left among Konoha's elite who still held onto a shred of the Will of Fire.

"Oh, and you should meet your subordinates as soon as possible. I've arranged for you to meet tomorrow morning at Training Ground No.3, Section Five within the village. Does that work for you?"

"Sakumo Hatake didn't mind doing Hyuga Soushu a favor. Here are the detailed dossiers for Genin Might Dai and Kosuke Maruboshi—you might want to go through them first."

"Thank you for your support, Captain Sakumo!"

Hyuga Soushu immediately reciprocated with a respectful bow, channeling the full spirit of craftsmanship into his gesture.

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