"Arata Amagiri assists the two elders..."
Hatake Kakashi and Shihouin Naraku chatted for a long time before the meal ended.
After Hatake Kakashi had no choice but to pay for the meal, Naraku let him go.
"Wait, he got a promotion; why should I treat him?"
On the way home, Kakashi finally realized "I helped him understand his new job. Forget it; I'll make Yamato treat me next time."
After returning home and washing up, Kakashi recalled his conversation with Naraku as he lay on the bed.
"Naraku is such a good shinobi. Those people can't wait to snatch the medical emergency team."
As a peer of Shihouin Naraku, Hatake Kakashi knew the other's excellence very well.
If everyone thought Kakashi had the upper hand over Naraku when they were both considered geniuses in their youth, Shihouin Naraku completely caught up with him and surpassed him when they grew up.
Especially because of the suicide of his father, Hatake Sakumo, the deaths of his teammates and companions, Obito and Nohara Rin, and the deaths of his sensei, Namikaze Minato and his wife, Uzumaki Kushina, on the night the Nine-Tails attacked.
This series of blows had completely devastated Hatake Kakashi, and his strength had not improved much over the years.
At the same time, Shihouin Naraku, who became Tsunade's personal disciple, was growing rapidly and soon became the backbone of Konoha.
When Tsunade left, Shihouin Naraku became the sole person in charge of Konoha's medical emergency team.
After taking office, Shihouin Naraku, with the help of his experience of running a hospital in his previous life, vigorously developed the emergency department of the medical division.
The discovery of new types of herbs, the reform of the hospital, and the development of medical techniques quickly made Konoha Hospital a well-known institution in the shinobi world.
Later on, not only the shinobi and civilians of Konohagakure but also the daimyo and nobles of the Land of Fire often came to Konoha Hospital for medical treatment and recuperation. Even the daimyo and nobles of other countries began to come in admiration!
Obviously, the Medical Emergency Team was a subordinate organization of the Medical Department, but in Shihouin Naraku's hands, everything seemed to be turned upside down, and the Medical Department was serving him instead.
Before Shihouin Naraku took over the medical emergency team, Konoha had to invest a large amount of money in the medical department every year.
After all, the cost of medical treatment and hospitalization for the shinobi and civilians in the village was very low, and all of this had to be borne by the village.
But after Shihouin Naraku took over the Konoha Hospital, with the emergence of foreign daimyo, nobles, and wealthy merchants, the medical department turned losses into profits and earned a large amount of money to be handed over to the village's treasury.
And that's why Danzo and the two elders wanted to take away the medical emergency team.
The administrative department headed by Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu was responsible for the connection with the Land of Fire and the flow of funds. Now, the Medical Department had broken its monopoly on power, which was, of course, intolerable.
Danzo's Root organization used to be able to obtain funds from the village openly to maintain its development, but after being forced to disband by Sarutobi Hiruzen, it could no longer do so.
Maintaining the Root Organization in secret required a large amount of money, not to mention that Shimura Danzo was secretly supporting Orochimaru's experiments, which also required significant funds.
Plus, Danzo had never given up on his dream of becoming Hokage, so if he could get in touch with the Daimyo through the medical department, that would be a good thing.
That's why the three of them joined forces to attack Shihouin Naraku and take his place.
Most importantly, Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen did not want Naraku to control the medical department for a long time because that would mean a large amount of money and numerous connections would fall into Naraku's hands.
At the very least, he didn't want to see Naraku's power grow too quickly before Sarutobi Hiruzen was willing to step down as Hokage.
...
The next day, at the Anbu base.
"This place is not even as big as the Root organization..."
Shihouin Naraku shook his head, wondering how much of Anbu's funds had been taken away by Danzo.
"Don't say that."
Hatake Kakashi came up from behind him. Today, he seemed to be in good spirits, and the sleepiness in his half-lidded eye was gone.
"Anbu doesn't have the deep pockets of the medical emergency team, so having a base like this is already great."
"You are not good enough as the Anbu captain. You don't have the courage to ask the Third Hokage for funds. Where does all the money our medical emergency team pays every year go?"
"Fine, I'll leave the application for funding to you from now on."
Hatake Kakashi responded with one sentence, then spoke seriously:
"Your appointment has been given, and Hokage-sama has just given some instructions."
"While we were walking and talking..."
The two entered the Anbu base, and Kakashi briefly introduced the approximate layout. He then conveyed Sarutobi Hiruzen's words to Naraku.
"Why is it so empty? Where is everyone?"
Naraku greeted the few shinobi still in the Anbu base, feeling a little puzzled.
"They're on missions!"
After saying hello, Hatake Kakashi took Naraku to the office prepared for him.
"The information has been prepared for you. The file is on the table."
Pointing at the table, Kakashi said, "Anbu's personnel will almost all be gathered tomorrow, and I will introduce you to everyone then."
"Although no one will fail to recognize you, a formal introduction is still necessary."
Shihouin Naraku didn't care about the appearance of the office. He sat down at the desk and picked up the documents to scan them.
But after just a few glances, he put down the documents, grabbed Hatake Kakashi, and pretended to strangle him.
"What?"
Hatake Kakashi dodged to the side, still calm as if nothing had happened.
"What's wrong with your list? Why are there so many former Root members among the people assigned to me?"
Seeing Naraku's vicious look, Kakashi could only explain:
"You are more capable. I thought you could keep an eye on these people."
Seeing that Naraku was still trying to take action, Kakashi spread his hands, looking unconcerned. "In fact, not all members of the Root organization are loyal to Danzo. Some of them can still be won over. I believe in you."
Shihouin Naraku glared at Kakashi, "Last time you were injured on a mission and were half dead, it was me who healed you personally, and now you're playing this trick on me."
"No way, this is what the Hokage decided."
Hatake Kakashi was also helpless. In fact, he didn't want to hand over such a big problem to Naraku, but the Third Hokage ordered him to do so.
After carefully looking at the names on the document again, Naraku didn't think much about it and decided to take on the challenge, but there was an exception for one candidate.
"It's better to keep Yugao in your squad. There's no need to give her to me."
"Hmm?"
"Uzuki Yugao was specially taken care of by me and assigned to you. Could it be that something happened between you two..."
Seeing Kakashi's curious expression, Naraku was speechless:
"There's no problem at all. We're getting along fine."
"That's why I want to put Yugao under your command. Can't you see what the Third Hokage means..."
Naraku held up the document in his hand with a thoughtful look on his face:
"Although there are a lot of challenges, none of these people are weak."
"There is only one reason why the Third Hokage did this. They must be planning to let me take charge of those dangerous missions outside, right?"
Anbu, the special assassination and tactical squad!
The missions that Anbu was responsible for were always extremely risky and dangerous, but there were still some that were relatively safe, such as protecting the Hokage under normal circumstances, monitoring some important people, etc.
As long as there were no unexpected events, these tasks were not that difficult.
However, more dangerous tasks, such as assassinating personnel from other countries, gathering intelligence, etc., were still the responsibility of Anbu.
And now, Sarutobi Hiruzen had handed over a large number of outstanding shinobi from Anbu to Naraku, and the meaning was clear.
"You can actually refuse. Hokage-sama won't necessarily insist on holding you responsible."
Hatake Kakashi also became serious. He thought for a moment and said:
"You just joined Anbu and are not familiar with this place, so it's normal that you don't want to accept this kind of mission."
"I can go talk to Hokage-sama!"
"No need!"
Shihouin Naraku shook his head decisively, "I'll take this job!"
Start with Anbu and work your way up the ranks!
This was Naraku's goal, so he was very satisfied with his current position.
The danger was nothing—this way, he could gain a foothold in Anbu as soon as possible and then get promoted.
That's right, Naraku had also set his eyes on the position that Hatake Kakashi was currently occupying.
Anbu Captain!