Chương 322: CH_9.7 (322)

Sarutobi Hiruzen sighed in contentment as he gazed at the empty side-table-trolley beside his desk. It was usually full of paper, requiring his attention as the Hokage. Even though he had been the Hokage for decades, he still hated paperwork with a passion. It was the bane of his existence. In truth, the amount of paperwork wasn't much—but he had many other responsibilities as the head of the village than just toiling away at paperwork in his office.

In fact, on a typical day, he was only in his office for a couple of hours at most. He had to keep up to date with domestic and foreign matters, regularly meet with division and department heads, go on social visits, and do a hundred things his office required from him. These things took time and energy. And just when he would think it was all over and he could rest, someone would dump paperwork over him. Sometimes, he thought being on the battlefield was better than reviewing paperwork.

However, today, not only had he completed all of his commitments and appointments, but he also confirmed from his secretary that there was no more paperwork. Which meant as long as nothing disastrous happened, he was free for the day. And it was only midday, meaning he had the afternoon and the evening to relax. He called his secretary into the office.

"Is there anything else that I need to do today? If not, I am ready to head home for the day," said Hiruzen as he arranged the things on his desk.

"There's nothing else scheduled on your schedule, Lord Hokage," the secretary smiled, seeing the Hokage already setting up his desk, eager to leave.

"Very good." Hiruzen stood up.

"I will not be available today. Unless it's vital, I do not want to be disturbed with anything else until tomorrow." The secretary nodded before remembering something.

"There is one thing, Lord Hokage. There is a chunin promotion ceremony scheduled for today. You said you want to attend at least one every year. Would you like to attend this one?"

"A promotion ceremony? One so soon after the Chunin Exams?" asked Hiruzen.

"Is it a private ceremony held by a clan?" As the Hokage, he attended the Hidden Leaf Village's academy graduation ceremony every year. He also publicly promoted every jonin and thus was at every jonin promotion ceremony. However, he didn't have the time to attend every chunin promotion ceremony—and he didn't need to show up, but he made sure he attended at least one. Most of the time, it was a private ceremony held by a clan for political reasons.

"No, sir. It's for one Chunin Takuma, a civilian-born shinobi. For some reason, he's having his ceremony alone."

"Takuma? Family name?"

"No family name."

"Takuma... Takuma... Takuma? Ah!" Hiruzen exclaimed, recalling the name and person.

"Do you have a file?"

"Yes, sir... Though, some parts of it are redacted." As the secretary to the Hokage, one was given a high-security clearance to prepare for any questions the Hokage might want answers as they didn't have time to read through convoluted files and documents. Usually, the secretary had the clearance to unlock the seals used to redact and obscure sensitive information on personnel files. However, this file required a higher level of clearance to disclose the redactions. Hiruzen grabbed the file and opened it.

He was right. It was Maruboshi Kosuke's student, whom he had seen in the hospital a few years ago. The last time he had heard of Takuma was nearly a year ago when the ROOT targeted him. Back then, he was surprised to see words like the Ring and Police Force mentioned in the history of the same individual.

"Hmm? The Steam-Frost war?"

"Chunin Takuma just returned from the Land of Frost... If you remember, a few months back, you were briefed about a jonin death at the war. He killed that jonin."

"... Is that so?" Hiruzen muttered as he weaved hand seals to lift the redactions in the war section of the file. His gaze sharpened when he saw the confidential notes about the ROOT involvement, which directly linked to the assassination attempt, which was also redacted.

"I think you should visit, Lord Hokage. To attain the chunin rank at such a young age by a civilian-born shinobi is a rarity. Moreover, he achieved it through a field promotion, which is all the more impressive. I believe Chunin Takuma, who has just returned from the war, would be honoured to see you at his promotion ceremony." As the secretary spoke, Hiruzen read another redacted paragraph that told him that Takuma hadn't received a field promotion but was promoted by the ANBU, who had very recently hired him.

"Not to mention, Chunin Takuma is an orphan who has made something great out of himself. His accomplishments here are beyond impressive," said the secretary. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work!

"You are right. I should at least show my face," said Hiruzen as he turned toward his desk.

"Make the preparations for the visit, please." The secretary left the room, leaving Hiruzen with the file. He stared at the page with Takuma's background, which said his parents were merchants who had died during the Nine-Tails Incident. A complete lie. He knew it because he ordered the fabrication himself. No one would bat an eye because the day of the incident had made numerous orphans; slipping a false one into the mix made for a perfect cover. Hiruzen flipped to the last page of the file.

There was a single line on the page which was redacted. He weaved the special hand seals before pressing his thumb on the line—but the redaction didn't lift. There was nothing in the village he didn't have access to. He could open the redaction seal, but on his orders, it was given a confidentiality level that required him to be in a special room to lift the seal. One such special room was his office. He looked at a tall bookshelf in the corner, hiding a secret door leading to the secret room.

However, he didn't need to go to the room. He already knew the redacted line was a file number, which Hiruzen hoped was gathering cobwebs in a dusty file room somewhere in a secure facility. But seeing that Takuma had joined ANBU, one other person with clearance would have seen the file and the truth within. ———.

"Congratulations, Chunin Takuma!" Mikoto gazed at the tall, well-muscled man. He was immediately identifiable by his shiny bowl-style haircut, thick eyebrows, signature green jumpsuit and orange-stripped leg warmers. If it were anyone else, she would've laughed at the style choices, but none of those thoughts passed her mind when facing the man before her.

Disregarding herself, who had been out of active duty for nearly fifteen years, her generation of shinobi were on the tail end of primes and had transitioned into positions away from the field. Their time had passed, and it was time for a younger generation to shine on the battlefields. And in that generation, the man before her perhaps shone the brightest.

"Oh, my! Pardon my rudeness for not recognising you instantly, Lady Uchiha!" Leaf's Noble Green Beast, Might Gai. As he walked toward her, she could sense a steadiness in his gait and stance, a stability she couldn't put into words. The man seemed to exude a sense of boundlessness. She hadn't seen him fight, but she knew of his renowned taijutsu, unbeatable across the lands, perhaps only matched by the current Raikage. Her instincts told her that the tales about him were true.

They said that his body was forged in a smithery, crafted to be indestructible. She glanced at his bare toes, peeking out from his sandals; they looked beat up and entirely calloused—more than she had ever seen. Even his knuckles and fingers were crooked from being broken and healed thousands of times. All Mikoto wanted to do was activate her eyes, politeness being the only thing holding her back. She wondered what she would see if they fought.

What would it feel like to break down his moves and style to the fundamentals and adapt to make it her own? His reputation was such that she had the ridiculous thought that perhaps even her sharingan would fail to copy his taijutsu. She remembered a conversation with her husband, who told her that there were rumours that Gai had developed a taijutsu counter to the sharingan. As a fight progressed, an Uchiha with a sharingan would gradually gain an advantage by copying and analysing their opponent's move.

For that reason, fighting a Uchiha was known to be fighting a losing battle. However, Gai was known to be friends with Hatake Kakashi, who the clan had allowed to keep one of their clan's eyes. They didn't know how much truth was behind the rumour, but it could very well be possible for someone like him. Just the thought of it and its imagined thrill made her consider attacking him so that they would fight.

"Mom?" Mikoto took a breath and looked at Sasuke, who was gazing up at her with a tilted head.

"I'm sorry, baby. Did I grip too hard?" she smiled while kicking herself in the mind.

"What brings you here, Lady Uchiha?" asked Gai with a bright smile before looking at Takuma, who was only one step behind.

"Is there something on my face?" asked Takuma as he touched his face. Mikoto hid a smile when she saw Takuma looking nervous. It was amusing because he was always so calm and collected. It seemed that he looked up to Gai.

"Not at all. No, you aren't a Uchiha. The colour of the eyes and... yeah, even the shape of the face is wrong," said Gai confidently. At first glance, Takuma resembled a Uchiha, but upon closer inspection, he didn't have any of the Uchiha's physical traits.

"How are you two acquainted?"

"Takuma worked at the Police Force and is my student," said Mikoto.

"It's a pleasure to meet you here, Jonin Gai. You are performing the ceremony today?"

"I am. I do not enjoy things like these, but it's part of my duties, so I'm glad it's a solo ceremony." Gai flashed a winning smile as he heavily patted Takuma's shoulder.

"So, you work at the Police Force? Admirable! Hmm?" He lightly patted Takuma's shoulder a couple more times.

"Ah, I worked there. I recently quit," Takuma replied"Eh, why?"

"... I just wanted a little break and slow down."

"That won't do, Chunin Takuma! You are still young; right now is not the time to slow down! You must channel the power of youth and push forward at full speed! Be passionate and enthusiastic, and give it your all no matter what you do!"

"I-I see."

"This is the time to accomplish and achieve everything you wish for! Embrace your youth!" Mikoto couldn't help but chuckle and was about to tease Takuma but caught something at the edge of her vision. Both she and Gai turned to see a masked ANBU-nin walking toward them. It was said that a visit from an ANBU-nin was almost never a good thing. Mikoto wondered who the ANBU-nin was visiting. Her thought immediately went to Itachi and if something had happened to her son.

As a shinobi, she knew to expect danger; many people she knew had died on missions and battlefields—but as a wife and mother, she would never stop worrying about her husband and son and face the realistic fear that they might not return.

"Greetings, Jonin Gai, Lady Uchiha," said the ANBU-nin, his voice betraying no emotion.

"Is something wrong?" asked Gai, his previous merry attitude fading away into seriousness.

"Rest assured, there's nothing to be worried about. This is not that kind of visit," said the masked shinobi before looking at Takuma.

"Congratulations on your promotion, Chunin Takuma."

"Thank you," said Takuma, surprised and unsure.

"It is a great achievement, and I'm happy to inform you that the Lord Hokage will soon be stopping by to offer you his blessings personally."