The Anbu, short for the Special Assassination and Tactical Squad.
An elite unit established by the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama, and directly subordinate to the Hokage. When selecting members, they have relatively high requirements for talent and strength, but what matters most is loyalty.
The Anbu usually carry out dangerous missions such as assassination, reconnaissance, and protecting the Hokage and other key personnel. Their casualty rate is far higher than that of ordinary ninja.
Konohagakure currently has two Anbu units.
One is under the control of the Third Hokage, the legitimate Anbu. With his retirement, aside from some new recruits who will gradually be handed over to the successor, the remaining veteran members will return to the regular ninja ranks.
The other, in principle, should be considered an illegitimate Anbu. It is under the control of the Hokage's advisor, Shimura Danzō—namely, the Root ninja.
At first, it operated under the pretext of training new members for the Anbu, but it soon changed in nature. It has now become a private armed force in Danzō's hands, placed under a seal and obeying only his orders.
The so-called Anbu training was merely an empty promise. Hiruzen did not dare use the ninja trained there. Minato trusted it even less; he even felt that this department was unnecessary. The existence of Root was practically a slap in the face to the Will of Fire.
He intended to abolish it, but Danzō was not afraid at all. His old classmate would protect him.
Hiruzen and Danzō were inseparable friends—able to tolerate even something so outrageous. No one knew how many times the door to the Hokage's office had been broken over the issue of Root's existence.
Now, with the Fourth Hokage taking office, Konohagakure will establish a new Anbu to replace the former Hokage's directly controlled forces.
This is a normal transfer of power.
The next day, led by Kumomi, Makoto and the other two arrived at a training room inside the Anbu base.
This was a different kind of ninja experience. Having just arrived, the three of them found everything new. Unfortunately, there seemed to be few people in the base. Even when they did encounter ninja, they wore masks; a nod to one another counted as a greeting, and there was little communication.
This was already considered good. When Kumomi had still been an Anbu ninja, he had gone to Danzō's deeply hidden underground Root. According to him, the atmosphere there was extremely oppressive and uncomfortable—just like the man himself, gloomy and dark.
As his disciples, and now subordinates within the Anbu, after the Fourth Hokage and his wife had left last night, Kumomi had briefly introduced the three of them to some basic information about the village's Anbu.
Inside the training room, three people were already waiting. They were somewhat older than Makoto and the others, about the same age as Kakashi.
With one glance, Makoto recognized all three: Shiranui Genma, Namiashi Raidō, and Tatami Iwashi.
However, he had only spoken with Genma and learned that he did not have a younger sister. As for the other two, they had all seen each other on the eastern and northern front battlefields, but were not familiar.
At the same time, these three were also members of the Fourth Hokage's guard unit in the original timeline—the Flying Thunder God Guard Platoon.
Only now, with the addition of the Makoto squad, they made six in total, matching the scale of the Second Hokage's guard unit.
The selection of personnel was quite interesting—every one of them came from commoners, or small clans that were basically no different from commoners. Not a single member of any major ninja clan.
Looks like Minato had a very clear understanding of where his base really was.
Makoto greeted him, "Yo, Genma. Long time no see."
Genma, a senbon clenched in his mouth and wearing a lazy look, replied, "What is it—so it's you guys. Yeah, it really has been a while."
"Why are you the only one here? Did your squad with Guy and Ebisu get disbanded?"
"More or less. The war's over now—Guy wants to pour his time into training his taijutsu, and that Ebisu guy figured his fundamentals weren't solid enough, so he went back home to make up for it."
At that moment, Kumomi cut their conversation short. "That's enough small talk. From now on, this room will serve as your activity room in the Anbu."
"Now—do you see the lockers on the left? Go to the compartment with your name on it, take out your gear, put it on, and then regroup."
The six of them did as instructed. They took the uniforms and equipment that had already been prepared and changed in the locker room.
The uniform was standard Anbu issue. Even the weapons were the same—well-made short ninja blades with nothing distinctive about them. Only the masks were different, each pattern unique.
In fact, after Makoto and the other two were promoted to chūnin, they could have worn the green flak vest. But there was no strict requirement for clothing in the village, and besides, the green vest rarely came in small sizes, so they had always kept wearing their own clothes.
But the Anbu were much stricter—everything had to be done according to regulations.
After changing into their gear, the six regrouped again, each wearing a strange mask.
Kumomi continued, "Good. Now, take off your masks and move on to the next item. You have five minutes to choose a codename for yourselves."
Hayate asked, "Sensei, is there anything particular about codenames?"
"My Anbu codename is Grey Falcon. From now on, in the Anbu, you're to call me Captain Grey Falcon." After correcting his son's mistake, Kumomi answered his question. "There's nothing special about it. As long as it doesn't expose your identity, you can use whatever you want. Usually, it's based on an animal."
So the two squads began discussing among themselves.
On Makoto's side, Yūgao wanted to pick a codename that sounded nice and imposing, but there were too many choices, and she fell into decision paralysis.
"Ugh… what should I pick?"
Hayate decided to follow his father's lead. "How about we pick a kind of bird too?"
"Good idea. I like owls—then I'll choose that."
"Owl is a broad category—too general, isn't it? And we're in the same squad, so wouldn't it be better to be more unified? If you're 'Owl,' then what am I supposed to be—'Owl Number Two'? And isn't that codename too long?"
"I'm not being 'Owl Number Three.'" Makoto immediately objected. After a brief thought, he had an idea. "Owls are a whole group. Why not just pick a specific species instead?"
The girl's eyes lit up. "Yeah, yeah! Then I'll be Snowy Owl, because it's really pretty."
Hayate also had an idea. "I'll be Eagle Owl. That's fierce enough."
In truth, Makoto also liked the Snowy Owl. Who wouldn't love a beautiful, round-faced, chubby little Scottish bird? But he had been a bit slow to speak and felt awkward about snatching it.
"I'll go with Wood Owl, then—agile in flight, a silent and lethal killer."
When the five minutes were up, the six of them each reported their chosen codename.
The three on Makoto's side chose species of owls, while Genma's group went with several large felines. A perfectly good Hokage Guard Unit had instantly turned into a wildlife show.
"Not bad. They all have character," Kumomi said. "From now on, when carrying out missions outside, you are to forget your real names and address each other by your codenames. At the same time, memorize the patterns on your teammates' masks. Understood?"
"Understood!" ×6
"An Anbu ninja, as the name suggests, is a ninja who operates from the shadows. Codenames and masks exist to conceal your identities to the greatest extent possible."
"Because as Anbu ninja, there will be times when we must carry out highly confidential missions. Others cannot be allowed to know who we are. If a mission fails, we may even need to use special means to dispose of our own bodies, leaving not a single trace behind."
"However, the six of you are somewhat special. As members of the Hokage Guard Unit, in certain necessary situations, you are permitted to remove your masks and show your true faces."
Genma raised his hand. "Captain Grey Falcon, what kind of situations are you referring to?"
Kumomi revealed a faintly malicious smile. "Want to know? The materials have already been prepared for you—they're in the room next door."
"There you'll find the detailed work arrangements of the Hokage Guard Unit, as well as the Anbu-exclusive hand signals, codes, and ciphers. You have one week to learn them."
Speed memorization was a required skill for ninja, so Makoto felt the time was ample. "One week? That's more than enough."
"You're thinking too simply. In this one week, you won't be learning just that. There's also various classified intelligence that Anbu ninja must master. On top of that, you'll need to set aside time to train your combat coordination with one another."
"…" ×6
After speaking, Kumomi led the six into the adjacent room. Seeing the pile of scrolls and books inside, everyone felt a dull ache in their scalps.
Genma no longer had the mood to keep a senbon in his mouth. The weapon slipped from the corner of his lips and fell to the floor.
So being an Anbu ninja was this troublesome?
But since things had come to this, what else could they do? Work hard.
Watching the six bury themselves in study, Kumomi smiled and left the room. He was extremely busy. Aside from guiding Makoto and the other five newcomers into the Anbu, he also had to form several mature squads.
The six were forces the Hokage would rely on in the future. But right now, the Fourth Hokage needed Anbu personnel who could be deployed immediately. Regarding that, Kumomi already had a plan and needed to complete it as soon as possible.
But before that, he had to go speak with Kakashi. This one, too, had been pulled into the new Anbu by his teacher.
But honestly, Kumomi did not think it was a good idea—especially for a young man who had suffered consecutive blows.
Wear a mask for too long, and it makes one even less suited to the sunlight.
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