HSU: Ch. 347

According to the standards in Kaguya's memories, every Ōtsutsuki was a user of Yin-Yang Release, and that was before eating any chakra fruit. The key point was: even before eating fruit, the Ōtsutsuki were already very strong.

If they did eat the fruit, and added their random assortment of bizarre abilities on top of that, he would probably not be able to beat them, though he didn't think he'd be killed either.

Honestly, Masashi felt that he was now the type that was really hard to kill. He could compete with Orochimaru in that category.

But killing an Ōtsutsuki, that still required even greater power. Like getting himself a chakra fruit too. But where was he supposed to find a second fruit?

That meant there was only one path left, just like Naruto, become the collective jinchūriki of all nine tailed beasts.

That might actually work.

Masashi withdrew his consciousness and jumped down from Matatabi's head. Before leaving, he glanced back. Matatabi still had its eyes half-closed, with an expression of bliss.

This cat always loved these "immersive experiences."

Masashi chuckled and didn't disturb its immersion. He went home first.

The mindscape formed by the cursed seal was rather special. Although the link was initiated by him, its maintenance depended on the power of the tailed beasts, so it didn't matter whether he stayed or not.

---

Meanwhile, inside that mindscape, Hagoromo was still with the tailed beasts. He hadn't left.

After sighing for a bit, he turned his gaze back to the tailed beasts.

"Matatabi, I know why you like him so much, but you need to be careful. I'm afraid he's playing with fire."

The nine tailed beasts were like his children.

Through long history, he watched these children be treated as tools by humans, turning from having goodwill toward humans, to being annoyed by them at first sight. In the end, they even hid themselves away where no humans lived.

People said jinchūriki were lonely, weren't the tailed beasts just as lonely?

They felt loneliness even more deeply than their hosts.

Take Matatabi, for example. Rather than saying it liked Masashi as a person, it was more accurate to say it liked this current feeling of "home." This feeling surpassed ordinary friendship, and it was exactly what the tailed beasts had always lacked.

Besides, getting along with a jinchūriki was entirely random luck. In the worst cases, a jinchūriki who was hated by others would also hate the tailed beast inside them. And the tailed beasts' response was: if there was ever a chance, make the jinchūriki die on the spot.

A better relationship was merely calling each other "companions," but someone who treated Matatabi the way Masashi did? That simply didn't exist. This feeling of losing something and regaining it made Matatabi cherish Masashi greatly.

It also made Hagoromo unable to figure out what exactly Masashi's deal was.

Say he's caring? Hagoromo couldn't say that without guilt.

Say he's not? Even Asura hadn't treated the tailed beasts like this.

If it weren't for this point, Hagoromo wouldn't be planning to help Masashi with what came next.

His attention had always been focused on the reincarnations of his two sons' chakras.

"Matatabi." He raised his voice a little.

Matatabi was so immersed that it didn't even respond earlier.

Hearing Hagoromo's voice, it looked up, confused, as if saying, "Why are you yelling so loud?"

"Don't get too comfortable. Isshiki may target all of you."

Not only Matatabi, the other beasts pricked up their ears.

"And unlike Kurama and the others, you are the one in the most danger."

Hearing that, Matatabi grew anxious immediately.

Its paws started fidgeting.

"Then... then I want Masashi to guard me!"

"I'm afraid he won't be able to guard you..." Hagoromo shook his head. "It's better to strike first than wait to be attacked. I do have a clue about his whereabouts, but I'm not confident I can eliminate him. Now that Masashi is willing to take over, that is for the best."

He smiled faintly.

"I don't like killing, but when it comes to dealing with Isshiki, someone like Masashi is the ideal choice."

Matatabi blinked.

Hagoromo was being cryptic again.

It didn't care about any of that. It only wanted to know how to strike first. It guaranteed it had enough tailed beast bombs ready.

"Where is he? I'll tell Masashi right away!"

"Don't rush. Even though there is danger, you're still relatively safe for the moment." Hagoromo reassured. "I'll tell you once I'm certain."

Did he scare Matatabi too much?

He reflected silently. After all, it wasn't even certain whether Isshiki would target the tailed beasts.

After finishing, he left. If he stayed any longer, he feared Matatabi would pounce on him and start rolling around, insisting he find Isshiki right now. Poor him, well, poor his remaining soul. His bones were long gone. Yet the kids still relied on him so much.

As for the reason, maybe he expected too much from people? No, of course not. He believed people's hearts were fundamentally good, they just needed guidance!

In the mindscape, watching Hagoromo slip away so cleanly, Matatabi was dumbfounded. The other tailed beasts also expressed: "What the hell!"

In any case, the tailed beasts felt extremely insecure. Kurama began considering how to notify Kushina.

Gyūki simply gave up thinking. Whatever. It had decided: it would find the right time and kill itself. Ever since Killer B, no one in Kumo was reliable. No point counting on them.

Of the four tailed beasts present, the one truly worried was Chōmei, but unlike Gyūki, it had no rich experience in dying, so it was very anxious.

"I feel like among all of us, I might be the first one to get caught," it said. "Matatabi, can you tell Masashi that I want my jinchūriki to hide at your place for a while?"

"Sure, sure!" Matatabi's eyes lit up. "I'll show you my new home!"

"You two knock it off. Chōmei, the moment your jinchūriki gets near that place called Konoha, they'll be arrested," Gyūki said helplessly. "You should just learn from me. I'll teach you how to die."

It hadn't even been that long, and Gyūki had become this wild?

What kind of hellhole was Kumo? This sounded worse than Konoha... Thinking back on the time when people from that place tried to capture it but failed, Kurama felt very fortunate.

All the real monsters were in Konoha.

"Don't get crazy. Stop talking about suicide." Kurama couldn't hold back anymore. "And it's not certain anyone would even catch you. Honestly, I think Chōmei's idea isn't bad. We need to gather together, then if something really happens, we can look out for each other."

"Before that happens, those ninjas coveting our power will be fighting each oth... hm?" Gyūki suddenly froze.

It had been about to refute Kurama, but halfway through, it remembered something. In the past, ninjas did fight over the tailed beasts' movements. But now...

Who would fight over that crap anymore?

"This is a good idea," it nodded. "Even though I don't like Masashi, I have to admit, as long as that guy's alive, those humans will behave."

"Then it's settled. You talk to your jinchūriki and move over." Kurama felt very proud of its suggestion.

"That's right, Chōmei. If they won't cooperate, just kill yourself. After you resurrect, come over again," Gyūki said confidently.

Chōmei wasn't scared of pain, it just felt Gyūki's interest in suicide was abnormally high. It felt like Gyūki was looking for opportunities to off itself.

Getting resurrected again was such a hassle, okay?

The four tailed beasts once again discussed how they could reunite in the real world, and none of them would rest until a plan was made.

---

Meanwhile, in the real world, the night quickly passed.

The next morning, after a good rest and breakfast at home, Masashi walked out the door just as dawn broke. He wanted to go enjoy himself at the training grounds, but someone was already standing at his door.

It was Fugaku. He looked to be in great spirits. Joy was written all over his face. A rare sight indeed.

"Heading out to train?"

"Yeah. You're up early today."

Masashi hurried over.

"Of course. We can't let you run off unsupervised again," Fugaku said with a hearty laugh. "Come on, you're coming with me to the Hokage Building."

"I was going to train."

"Training is still training no matter where you do it," Fugaku said forcefully. "There's training space near the Hokage Building too, you didn't know, did you?"

I know, I just haven't seen anyone use it.

Masashi complained silently. But Fugaku already grabbed him.

"Come on. Today I want to experience the Flying Thunder God for myself. Don't refuse, I know you have a mark nearby."

With no choice, Masashi activated Flying Thunder God. The two appeared on the rooftop of the Hokage Building. This rooftop had welcomed and sent off generations of Hokage. The last one to give his inauguration speech here was Minato.

Of course, nowadays it was mainly used by the Academy to teach students the Will of Fire, after all, the view of the Hokage Rock from here was inspiring.

Standing firmly on the rooftop, Fugaku closed his eyes and took a deep breath. His expression was flamboyant. Eye-blindingly so.

"We're here."

"I know. Don't talk. I want to savor this," Fugaku said.

After a moment, he opened his eyes and looked at Masashi.

Masashi's expression said: What are you up to now?

Fugaku slapped a hand on his shoulder, speaking loudly. "You already know that Minato is planning to retire."

"That's just his own wishful thinking," Masashi said. "Even the villagers wouldn't accept it."

"That's fine. Everything needs a process, there's a first time for everything," Fugaku said. "If we wait until he's old before retiring, it won't be good for the village."

"Can we get to the point? Doesn't this feel familiar to you? Like every time you act up and Mikoto catches you..."

"What's familiar about it?" Fugaku's aura was unshakable. "But you're right, we can speak plainly. All the Hokage believe it's time for the village to have a Hokage with the surname Uchiha. Of course, this is only their personal opinion, so they'll nominate a ninja from the Uchiha clan."

"That's incorrect. Who are 'they'? Isn't Minato the only one with nomination rights right now?"

"Don't mind the details," Fugaku said with an unchanged face. "To avoid suspicion, I will submit my resignation to him as well. At the next clan assembly, I'll step down as clan head. It's time for the younger generation to step up."

His tone had reached full-on heroic passion.

Masashi really wanted to know whether Hashirama and Tobirama had slipped Fugaku some drugs last night.

Look at him. He was floating.

"There's something I don't know if I should say."

"Then don't. You talk too much as it is, skipping a few lines won't kill you," Fugaku said, once again forceful. "Listen to me, you don't need to join the clan head election. You'll run for Hokage. Let Shisui run for clan head."

"Do you know that there's a new crisis?"

"When has the shinobi world not been in crisis?" Fugaku shook his head. "Do you know what Konoha's biggest crisis is right now? It's you."

"...That's an exaggeration."

Fugaku sighed. "This is your flaw, when something concerns yourself, you're slow to react and your assessment is lacking. I won't say more. You know very well: the position of ANBU Commander is not enough to meet everyone's expectations. You should at least become the Hokage Assistant, but that's impossible now, since that role can't be held consecutively by someone from the same clan."

"Yesterday I..."

"Let the past stay in the past. Tomorrow will be better."

"No, what I mean is..."

"No need to explain. A man is allowed to do foolish things sometimes. You've never been normal since you were a kid, being proper for this many years is already beyond my expectations. I haven't even gotten to use half the measures I prepared. Finally, I can put them to use."

"...Please stop talking. I'll run for Hokage," Masashi said, looking up to the sky in despair.

With a clan head like this, he really had no way out.

Better get past this hurdle first...

---

Time flew by, and Konoha had now passed its sixty-fourth year since its founding. People like Hiruzen, those who had lived in the village since its founding, were now few in number, and the ones still alive were fully and properly retired.

As for the ninjas born during the years of peace after the First Great Ninja War, such as Masashi, those who had witnessed Hiruzen's golden years, they were now past thirty, entering their own golden era, contributing to both village and family.

Of course, according to Masashi's own original plans, Konoha was already at its peak, and the Uchiha clan was doing quite well. He figured he didn't need to strain himself anymore.

But the adult world always loves surprises.

After more than a year of endurance, Minato finally unleashed the big move he had been charging up. He intended to become Konoha's first ninja to enjoy an "internal retirement" arrangement. Though news of this had actually been circulating throughout the village for half a year.

This was something the devious Fourth Hokage had deliberately done to make his retirement succeed. Even more devious, he had ANBU handle the whole thing, claiming it was to help everyone adjust to the new system.

Anyway, the fact remained: Konoha's number-one workaholic was going to retire.

Masashi, knowing he would get dragged into the election, didn't think much of it. Most of his attention was elsewhere.

Nagato, Madara, and the Ōtsutsuki.

If Kaguya was the misanthropic type, then the other Ōtsutsuki were probably arrogant "chosen one" types. From that angle, if he ever found the Ōtsutsuki, then Nagato and Madara would be allies.

But he hadn't found any Ōtsutsuki. He hadn't even found Madara. Speaking of Madara, one had to mention Black Zetsu. More than half a year had gone by now. If Madara didn't suspect that Black Zetsu had been captured by Konoha, then he should at least be deeply suspicious of Black Zetsu himself.

Either way, Madara could no longer be viewed with the same assumptions.

Masashi felt like making another trip to Ame to see if he could dig up information from Nagato, but he had no time. Because the Hokage election had already started.

As expected, Minato nominated him.

There were other nominees, but they were even less enthusiastic than he was. People in Konoha these days, no ambition at all. Maybe, as Fugaku had said, Masashi himself had instead become the biggest risk factor in the village.

After adjusting his mindset, he headed to work each day like normal.

Running for Hokage was running for Hokage. Going to work was going to work. No conflict. If anything was different, it was that ANBU had become super enthusiastic.

On his way to the office that day, Masashi once again encountered members of the Administration Department.

"Masashi-nii."

Just as he was about to enter the office, a voice called out from behind him.

A voice that, at this time and place, shouldn't be here.

It was ANBU's Enthusiastic Worker No. 1.

"Itachi, didn't I tell you today was your day off?" He turned around, headache already rising as he looked at ANBU's dependable star operative.

"I'm totally fine." Itachi stood before him full of spirit and overflowing enthusiasm. "I thought it through, now that you're a Hokage nominee, I should work even harder to lighten your burden."

Lighten my burden? You've been making more work for me every day... Masashi thought silently.

Thanks to Itachi, he couldn't even find scapegoats anymore. Itachi joyfully swept them all clean.

The kid was so pure-hearted that he felt embarrassed telling him to leave some "outsourcing resources" intact. Even with ANBU, a ninja village always needed its shadowy "temps."

Fake temps were those temporarily pulled from inside the village.

Real temps were those brought in from outside, missing-nin groups were especially useful. If not them, then those half-integrated, not-fully-trusted ninjas who had joined the village later.

Wild organizations were best, they eliminated the risk of gaining a reputation for treating Konoha's own ninjas brutally.

Danzō was too blatant on this point. He loved to raise temps through orphanages and similar institutions. What could he do? There weren't enough outsiders to use.

Masashi controlled all of ANBU, so manpower wasn't tight for him, meaning he didn't need to squeeze the village's own people. But Itachi had no understanding of the importance of maintaining external resources sustainably.

"Your enthusiasm really moves me," he said, showing an expression of heartfelt encouragement. "Keep it up. Let's work together and make the village even better."

"Yes. Do we have a mission today?"

"For now, no. Don't worry, if something comes up, I'll let you know immediately."

Watching Itachi leave full of energy, he waited until the boy's figure completely disappeared before finally letting out a long sigh of relief. Then he opened the door to his office.

He quickly checked the situation. There were no surviving temps around the Land of Fire left to use. If there weren't any, he'd have to send people to search in the Lands of Earth or Wind.

Seriously, those ninja organizations were way too slow. Things here were practically a vacuum already, and they still didn't rush over to fill the gap. Didn't they know the pay here was way better?

Sitting at his desk, he opened the drawer, pulled out the relevant files, and began flipping through them. A map formed in his mind, and he could see that the ring around the Land of Fire had become alarmingly white. Part of this was thanks to Itachi's "achievements," and it also showed his shortcomings. But overall, this was pretty much Itachi's only flaw in ANBU work, and not even a serious one.

Without using shadowy operators, things were a bit less convenient, but Konoha's ANBU had gained overwhelming deterrence toward the outside world. This had quietly made many jobs easier.

After sorting the intel, Masashi's eyes moved to the left side of his desk, where the office had already stacked the compiled paperwork. If he really became Hokage, he'd have even more paperwork than this.

What a terrible thought...

He calmed down and focused on reading the documents.

Tobirama had once demonstrated through real-life experience that you should never use shadow clones for paperwork. That doubled fatigue would crush even the toughest man alive.

By the time Masashi finished all the documents, it was already lunchtime. He called in the office staff to take the documents away, and decided he wouldn't stay in the office for the rest of the day.

Ever since becoming head of ANBU, the biggest change in his schedule was that he now had fewer tasks in the daytime and more at night. Honestly, as the person in charge, he didn't spend that much time on actual work.

He had recently decided to shift his start time to 9 AM. Because he discovered that starting work at 6 and starting at 9 made no difference whatsoever.

Today's ANBU was no longer the ANBU of when he first arrived. It had returned to its original founding form, the version that made the other villages tremble.

After he clarified the powers and responsibilities for the ANBU members, he didn't have many "projects" that required his personal handling. As for mistakes caused by frontline intel discrepancies, the Special Ops Unit was there to cover them.

And Itachi's method of covering for his colleagues was extremely ANBU. He eliminated potential problems from the root. Seeing the timing was right, he released the rumor that he considered Itachi his successor.

What, only the Hokage was allowed to use rumors for groundwork?

As for the results, one look at the ANBU office staff's working hours said everything.

He wasn't strict about this. He had only one rule: no one may arrive later than him.

But ever since the rumor spread, ANBU medical staff had basically been showing up before dawn. Because Itachi usually clocked in at six. Giving Itachi a day off was his way of trying to spare these poor office workers.

---

Leaving his office, Masashi began "patrolling" the office area where ANBU was located. He wasn't a hands-off leader. This was his way of checking the frontline work situation.

If the office got lazy, people might die down the chain.

After a full circuit, he felt both ashamed and impressed. These people were way too full of the Will of Fire. Feeling redundant, he left for one of ANBU's stations inside the village.

Originally, ANBU didn't have such things.

They only had hidden posts and similar setups. Stationed outposts were something the Police Force used.

But after ANBU entered the Masashi era, cooperation between the two departments had grown increasingly close, and most Police Force stations were now open to ANBU.

On top of that, ANBU had one more extremely important function:

Maintaining the Wood Release research program.

As always, conducting Wood Release experiments wasn't a crime. What mattered was how they were done. Orochimaru's defection had left many impacts on Konoha, but the biggest wasn't Danzō collapsing. It was that the village completely halted the Wood Release project. The "return" of Hashirama and Tobirama allowed the project to restart.

Mainly thanks to Tobirama. He once again showed through real actions that one could never have too many backup materials.

Only then did Hiruzen and the rest of the Team Tobirama understand just how many Hashirama cells their teacher had stashed away back then. He had simply died too abruptly to tell them.

Yet these materials, hidden away for decades, were all extremely well preserved.

During the Chunin Exams, the most memorable part of the Edo Tensei wave wasn't how strong the previous-generation ninjas were. It was their mastery in creating small secret storage caches. They could really hide things. In any case, once the Wood Release project restarted, ANBU was placed in charge of protecting the research.

As ANBU Commander, patrolling the labs became one of Masashi's daily routines. To him, this scene was almost nostalgic. Very Tobirama-like.

The rebuilt laboratory was located where Danzō used to conduct his work. All the facilities were still in place. When Tobirama learned of his student's final fate, he simply sighed.

He had no intention of blaming Minato. He knew Danzō's strengths and weaknesses better than anyone. If the next Hokage could tolerate Danzō, it wasn't an obligation. It was sentiment.

When Masashi entered the lab, he saw Tobirama completely absorbed in his work. The lab contained only him. Because he didn't like others getting in his way.

The ANBU guards stationed there remained hidden and did not disturb Tobirama while he was immersed in the ocean of research.

Tobirama was looking at a row of cultivation tanks. The creatures immersed in the nutrient solution occasionally produced bubbles, showing they were still alive. These tanks did not contain humans, but various animals. He might appear cold-blooded and utterly obsessed with research, but he actually very rarely used people directly in experiments.

"You're here," he said without turning his head.

"Nidaime," Masashi replied, stepping up beside him and looking into the tank. "It seems still unsuccessful."

"Mm." Tobirama nodded. "Orochimaru had some excellent ideas. A pity he became a missing-nin."

Although Danzō was gone, the materials and records Root had left behind regarding Wood Release experimentation were preserved during the great purge. Everyone understood the value involved.

"Not a pity. His mind wasn't normal," Masashi said.

"That's why it's a pity," Tobirama responded.

From what had been left behind, he saw Orochimaru as a true prodigy, an agile thinker and a once-in-a-century talent in biological sciences. Unfortunately, Hiruzen and the others never learned how to protect such talent. To him, the path Orochimaru chose was completely natural. He was a researcher himself. He understood that kind of mindset intimately.

And speaking of that...

He turned to look at Masashi.

"You never tried learning my brother's Wood Release secrets?"

"I didn't have the conditions back then," Masashi answered honestly.

He really didn't have the ability in the past, and once he finally did have it, it wasn't worth the effort anymore.

"That's true," Tobirama said with regret.

"Masashi, do you still have other ANBU matters to handle today?"

"As long as there's no emergency report, nothing else," Masashi answered.

He had already finished everything before coming out.

"Good," Tobirama said with a nod. "Later, you'll come out with me. My brother and I both have things to tell you."