Chapter 71 (Patreon)

Yujiro led the ANBU detachment back to ANBU headquarters.

The entire hall fell into silence.

No one removed their masks. No one spoke carelessly.

The mission was not over yet.

Deep down, the ANBU still held on to a faint expectation.

They hoped the Third Hokage would really bring Orochimaru back.

Before the operation began, every one of them had already heard what Orochimaru had done.

Human experiments.

Comrades used as test subjects.

Even members of several prominent clans had vanished without explanation during this period.

When all those clues were placed together, it was not difficult to understand.

Most of those missing people were already dead.

So everyone waited.

Yujiro was not in a hurry either.

He wanted to see what kind of answer Hiruzen Sarutobi would bring back.

Two hours later.

Hiruzen’s figure slowly appeared at the entrance of the ANBU assembly hall.

The moment he stepped inside and saw so many ANBU waiting for him, his heart tightened slightly.

But that unease lasted only an instant.

He quickly forced himself to calm down.

Who was he?

He was Hiruzen Sarutobi.

The Third Hokage.

The man once known as the Professor.

Yujiro looked at him and smiled faintly.

“How did the battle go?”

The instant those words fell, every ANBU in the hall turned their gaze toward Hiruzen.

Even through their masks, the pressure was unmistakable.

Hiruzen coughed heavily.

His expression grew weak, as if he had barely returned alive.

“I was no match for Orochimaru.”

He let out a long, weary sigh.

“I almost had him. Just one step more, and I would have been able to bring him back.”

His voice lowered.

“But in the end… I still lost.”

As he spoke, Hiruzen’s face filled with exhaustion and pain, as if he had suddenly aged several decades.

However, none of the ANBU present showed any sympathy.

Yujiro only nodded calmly.

“I see.”

Then his voice turned cold.

“In that case, I announce that this Super S-rank mission has failed.”

The hall went completely silent.

Yujiro continued.

“From this moment on, Orochimaru will be listed by Konoha as an S-rank missing-nin.”

“I will have someone record every detail of this mission and post the report on the notice board in front of the Hokage Building.”

The faces of the ANBU immediately darkened.

This mission should have been certain.

Five hundred ANBU elites had moved.

The target had already been located.

The route had been sealed.

Yet the mission had failed.

And the one who had ruined everything was Hiruzen Sarutobi himself.

When Hiruzen heard that Yujiro intended to announce the mission details, his expression changed at once.

“Yujiro, that is unacceptable.”

His voice became heavy.

“The ANBU exists to carry out covert missions. Every operation performed by the ANBU must remain confidential.”

“If you expose the report like this, you will be going against the very purpose of the ANBU.”

He could not allow it.

Absolutely not.

If the mission report was made public, any ninja with even a little judgment would realize what had happened.

They would know he had deliberately protected Orochimaru during the mission.

At that point, how many people in the village would curse his name?

Where would the dignity of the Third Hokage go?

“Against the purpose of the ANBU?”

Yujiro suddenly laughed.

It was a quiet laugh, but it made the hall colder.

“Then answer me, Sandaime-sama.”

“Are the ANBU not shinobi of Konoha?”

Hiruzen frowned.

“Of course they are.”

“Then is there anything in this mission that Konoha should be ashamed of?”

“This…”

Hiruzen fell silent.

Most missions carried out by the ANBU were done for Konoha’s safety.

The truly filthy work was handled by Root.

And some of Root’s missions did not benefit Konoha at all.

Konoha’s ANBU served the village and the Hokage.

But Root served Danzo Shimura.

It served his ambition.

Yujiro’s eyes remained calm.

“If you cannot answer, then do not use the ANBU as a shield.”

His voice was flat, but each word struck heavily.

“This mission will become a lesson for every ANBU.”

“I am not only going to post the report in front of the Hokage Building.”

“I will write down every action taken during the mission in detail.”

“Nothing will be omitted.”

Hiruzen’s face darkened.

He began searching desperately for a way out.

Ten minutes passed.

In the end, he could find nothing.

“Cough… cough, cough…”

Hiruzen suddenly coughed violently.

“If that is your decision… then I will leave first.”

He covered his mouth and coughed again.

“To tell the truth, when I came to lead this mission, I was already carrying a serious injury…”

The hall remained silent.

No one answered him.

Hiruzen bent slightly and walked out, coughing every few steps.

Yujiro watched his back disappear without a hint of emotion.

A serious injury?

More like an internal injury from being angered this morning.

Only after Hiruzen left did Minato release his Transformation Jutsu.

Golden hair appeared beneath the dim light of the hall.

The ANBU below immediately reacted.

“Hokage-sama!”

Minato looked over them with a grave expression.

“I followed the entire mission from beginning to end.”

His voice was calm, but there was no warmth in it.

“The mission report will be posted exactly as it happened.”

Then he looked at every ANBU present.

“From now on, all ANBU orders will come through Yujiro.”

The ANBU knelt at once.

“Yes, Hokage-sama!”

After that, everyone dispersed.

Kakashi and Shisui accompanied Minato to the Hokage’s office and began preparing the mission report.

Yujiro returned home and went straight to sleep.

As for why Yujiro dealt with Hiruzen Sarutobi in this way, the reason was simple.

He wanted Danzo and Root to remain where he could watch them.

If Hiruzen found a chance, then for the so-called safety of Konoha, he would not hesitate to kill Yujiro as well.

Eliminating any power they could not control had always been the way of Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo Shimura.

Danzo was darkness itself.

Hiruzen was a smiling tiger, kind on the surface while hiding a blade behind his back.

Against a man who feared death and clung to reputation, killing him outright was not the best choice.

The better method was to let him live under the pressure of public opinion.

Let him endure a life worse than death.

The next day, Yujiro arrived at the Hokage’s office.

Kakashi handed him the completed mission report.

“Yujiro, this is the full report.”

Yujiro took it and quickly read through the contents.

Three minutes later, he nodded.

“Good. It is detailed enough.”

He placed the report on the desk.

“Now all it needs is a title.”

Yujiro picked up a pen and wrote a line at the very top of the report.

“Super S-rank Mission: Hiruzen Sarutobi led five hundred ANBU elites to capture Orochimaru. The result: the ANBU suffered a complete failure, and Orochimaru successfully defected from Konoha.”

After writing it, Yujiro looked at the sentence and nodded with satisfaction.

Kakashi and Shisui both fell silent.

Even through his mask, Kakashi’s expression seemed to stiffen.

The meaning of that title was far too sharp.

The Third Hokage had led five hundred ANBU elites.

And yet?

The mission failed.

Orochimaru still escaped Konoha.

Everything had gone far too smoothly for him.

“Post this mission report on the notice board outside,” Yujiro said.

“Yes.”

Kakashi and Shisui took the report and left the office.

Both of them could already imagine the storm this would cause in Konoha.

Ten minutes later.

The ANBU mission report had been posted.

In front of the Hokage Building, ordinary shinobi and civilians quickly began to gather.

Naturally, shinobi from the major clans also mixed into the crowd.

“Super S-rank Mission: Hiruzen Sarutobi led five hundred ANBU elites to capture Orochimaru. The result: the ANBU suffered a complete failure, and Orochimaru successfully defected from Konoha.”

The moment everyone saw the title, their expressions changed.

“Impossible…”

“The Third Hokage led five hundred ANBU elites? How could they fail to capture a single Orochimaru?”

“Keep reading.”

The report continued below.

“This mission was led solely by Hiruzen Sarutobi.”

“The Third Hokage first ordered the Hyūga clan’s ANBU elites to remain at an Orochimaru base that had already been investigated numerous times and conduct a full search.”

“Afterward, the Third Hokage ordered the ANBU elites from the Inuzuka clan to remain at another base.”

The rest of the mission report described, in detail, how Hiruzen had left different groups of ANBU behind at those bases.

By the time they finally headed toward Orochimaru’s real base, only around thirty civilian-born ANBU elites remained.

“The Third Hokage entered the central passage first, then used Earth Release to block the route.”

“The remaining ANBU infiltrated through the passages on both sides. Fifteen minutes later, Orochimaru appeared from the central passage.”

“The Third Hokage claimed he had been controlled by Orochimaru’s genjutsu and used Earth Release ninjutsu to obstruct the ANBU’s attack.”

“At that time, ANBU Commander Yujiro summoned back the ANBU members who had previously been scattered by the Third Hokage, preparing to surround and suppress Orochimaru.”

“The Third Hokage used Earth Release to break through the ANBU formation, then requested permission to pursue Orochimaru alone.”

“Finally, two hours later, Orochimaru successfully defected from Konoha and was classified as an S-rank missing-nin.”

“The Third Hokage returned to ANBU headquarters and reported that he had participated in the mission while seriously injured.”

“At this point, the mission report ends.”

The crowd fell into a strange silence.

Everyone stared at the report in front of them.

Then Kakashi posted another document beside it.

It contained a record of the things Orochimaru had done in recent years.

One bloodstained name after another appeared before the eyes of the villagers.

Missing civilians.

Missing shinobi.

Missing clan members.

Names that had once disappeared quietly were now laid bare in the sunlight.

“Wait…”

A shinobi in the crowd finally spoke.

His voice was low at first, then quickly filled with anger.

“Doesn’t the Third Hokage know what the Byakugan can do?”

“The Hyūga clan’s Byakugan is one of Konoha’s strongest reconnaissance abilities!”

Another person immediately followed.

“Exactly! Why were the Hyūga elites left behind at a base that had already been searched?”

“Look further down. The Inuzuka clan’s ANBU were also left at another irrelevant location.”

“The Inuzuka clan specializes in tracking. Their ninken could have followed Orochimaru’s scent!”

“That is not all. The Nara clan was separated too.”

“I heard the Nara clan’s Shadow Imitation Technique is extremely effective in restraining enemies.”

“Not just the Nara clan. The Yamanaka, Aburame, and Akimichi clans were also split up.”

“By the end, only thirty civilian-born ANBU were left near the real target…”

Someone clenched his fists.

“Those ANBU elites do not have clan secret techniques. They can only rely on ordinary ninjutsu and combat experience.”

The air around the notice board grew heavier.

More and more shinobi and civilians gathered.

Among them, the shinobi from several major clans also stared at the report with cold eyes.

At first, the crowd only whispered.

But soon, the discussion spread like fire.

And once the fire had been lit, no one could easily put it out.