Revolution in the Ninja World

The next day, at Anbu headquarters.

"Captain… why isn't he here yet?"

Inside the room for Habara's team, Kisu voiced this question.

It was already time for the meeting, but their captain, Takajo, hadn't arrived, which was unusual.

Habara, yawning, said offhandedly, "Who knows, maybe something happened. Maybe we'll be getting a new captain."

Habara had already changed his mask, looking like nothing had happened. He hadn't slept all night and was starting to feel drowsy. Luckily, the team didn't have guard duty today, so he could slack off and rest for a bit.

Actually, even if the team had originally had a mission, it should have been canceled by now. After all, the captain was gone, and the team was incomplete.

In yesterday's incident, these two Anbu ninjas had no major responsibility; they were just tricked newcomers. However, whether or not they needed to be informed about this was a decision for the higher-ups, and Habara couldn't say anything.

Secrecy was the way of life for Anbu ninjas.

The Anbu probably didn't have time to assign a new captain to Habara and his teammates yet, because due to the mess someone had caused, the internal atmosphere of Konoha had become somewhat tense.

A certain Shimura, a certain Danzo, always looking for trouble.

From the perspective of "the art of ruling," many rulers liked to use ruthless officials to do dirty work, and then get rid of the ruthless officials to stabilize people's hearts after the work was done. The rulers themselves were always spotless white lotuses, at most being deceived by treacherous villains.

In Konoha, Shimura Danzo was a perfect target. After certain bad things were done, "killing him to appease the world" would suffice.

Unfortunately, the Third Hokage wouldn't use this template, or rather, he couldn't control Shimura Danzo at all.

In fact, "Root" was already somewhat out of control.

As for the follow-up handling of the "Uchiha kidnapping incident," a low-level Anbu like Habara wouldn't know. The only thing worth noting was that in the following days, the Anbu's daily missions included monitoring the Uchiha clan.

As for Habara's gains after this incident, needless to say, he gained the trust of the Fourth Hokage. In addition, he also received a reward equivalent to the payment for an A-rank mission.

Furthermore, considering Habara's strength and his performance, the Fourth Hokage even considered letting him fill the vacancy left by Takajo and directly become an Anbu captain, but because Habara had just become an Anbu ninja, such a promotion wasn't reasonable.

This matter could only be dropped.

Honestly, no matter how good the Fourth Hokage's temper was, after experiencing this incident, his impression of Shimura Danzo would become very poor. Taking advantage of the new leader's instability to instigate his subordinates to cause trouble… Honestly, even if the Fourth Hokage issued an order to assassinate Danzo now, it would be perfectly normal and reasonable.

Unfortunately, the Fourth Hokage wouldn't issue such an order.

In short, as a foreign ninja, Habara's development in Konoha during this period could be described as smooth sailing. Although he was still far from directly targeting the ninja clans, there was nothing he could do… Status could only be acquired bit by bit; there was no way to suddenly reach a high position.

For some reason, Habara occasionally felt like he was carrying out a "Sima replacing Cao" mission. (Historical reference to Sima Yi usurping power from the Cao Wei dynasty). Uh, this must be an illusion. He wasn't that kind of deep-thinking and insidious person, and what he planned to do was originally a positive and righteous undertaking.

It was an undertaking that needed to be achieved step by step.

It was rather difficult to achieve something in the Anbu as a Chunin, so Habara's next goal was to become a Jonin. However, compared to the Chunin exams, the Jonin exams weren't so easy, because some of Habara's indicators and qualities didn't meet Jonin standards. A typical example was his weakness in taijutsu; he also wasn't very good at ordinary ninjutsu.

Since he was very clear about his shortcomings, Habara had to find ways to make up for them.

To summarize briefly, Habara faced three challenges: the first was to improve his taijutsu ability, the second was to practice new chakra nature transformations, and the third was to find a way to learn new Earth, Wind, and Lightning Release ninjutsu.

In addition, Habara needed to find a way to contact Orochimaru and, without using himself as bait, obtain all the detailed research results of Orochimaru's Living Corpse Reincarnation… Although he knew the chances were slim, Habara still wanted to try his best to save his original teammate.

Living Corpse Reincarnation was, after all, Orochimaru's technique, so it was best if Habara could get his help in this matter.

The question was, what kind of information should he trade with Orochimaru? Habara had to think carefully.

......

After slacking off all day, Habara got off work on time.

Then, on his way back to the inn, he was stopped again.

"Can't you guys change the location and the way you appear?"

Habara complained, like a reader suffering from aesthetic fatigue.

The ninja with the mask on his face was naturally indifferent to this complaint. He said to Habara calmly, "Follow me. A certain important figure wants to see you."

Habara's left hand hung down naturally, his five fingers slightly curled and loosely clenched, and a ball of mercury appeared in his palm.

His tone was far colder than the other party's.

"Make clear your identity and origin. What important figure?… Mainly, your attitude. Someone of unknown origin like you, if I directly kill you here, there probably won't be any problems."

Seriously, did he have to follow just because someone told him to?

Who did this masked person think he was? Could he also go five-five with everyone? To the point where people could recognize at a glance that he's the Fourth Hokage's disciple? (Reference to Kakashi).

Seeing that Habara really intended to attack, the ninja had no choice but to continue, "The leader of Root, Shimura Danzo-sama, wants to see you. A talent like you should definitely join Root."

As expected.

When this person appeared, Habara had some idea of his identity, but he still had to sigh. Konoha's intelligence system was really like a sieve to Danzo; Habara's actions had been exposed.

But so what? Habara was an Anbu ninja.

He slowly shook his head, "Shimura Danzo-sama doesn't have professional HR on his staff, does he?"

Shimura Danzo-sama, are you the top leader of Konoha? Are you stronger than the Third or Fourth Hokage? Do you have more subordinates? Do you offer better benefits? Does your organization have better prospects for development? Are you more popular than the Third or Fourth Hokage?

The answers to all these questions were negative.

So, why would anyone join "Root"? Danzo-sama… are you brain-damaged?

Shimura Danzo felt good about himself in every way, but in reality, he was inferior to the Third Hokage in everything from strength to character. Most ninjas followed Danzo because they had no other choice, but Habara was someone with a choice; he had already joined the Anbu.

Fortunately, Habara was a kind-hearted person; he wouldn't say these words directly. From this perspective, Shimura Danzo was a very pathetic person, so unlike some people who liked to accuse him of being insidious and ruthless, Habara only felt bad for pot-bro.

"Danzo-sama is a good person, so regarding your invitation… I choose to refuse."

Habara chose to refuse. Join Danzo's subordinates? Think about how his most trusted subordinates died later. The Third Hokage and the Fourth Hokage were at least people who would sacrifice themselves to cover their subordinates and companions. What about Danzo?

Saying words of refusal, Habara's left hand began to tighten, and then…

The ball of mercury floating in his palm began to tremble violently.