Chapter 200 (Patreon)

“I’ve already dealt with the biological weapon you captured,” Danzo said.

“Did you get anything useful out of the interrogation?”

Seated across from him on the sofa, Danzo offered no answer. He merely let out a knowing chuckle.

The look on his face told Kizaru everything he needed to know. His uncle had already secured the evidence they required.

“Preserve everything you obtained and send that White Zetsu to the Research Institute.”

White Zetsu was the name Kizaru had given the creature based on the anime he remembered from his previous life. The few senior officials who knew of its existence assumed he had simply named it after its pale appearance, and Kizaru had never bothered correcting them.

“Root has its own research division,” Danzo reminded him.

This was the first time Danzo had encountered a biological weapon like White Zetsu. Naturally, he wanted to study it within Root rather than hand it over to someone else.

“That arrangement can’t continue,” Kizaru replied. “Every department in the village needs a clearly defined area of authority. Subordinate divisions can’t be created whenever someone feels like it. Root’s researchers and ongoing projects will all be transferred to the Research Institute.”

Before becoming Hokage, Kizaru had lacked the authority to interfere with every secret project conducted by Root and the ANBU.

That was no longer the case.

He was the Hokage now, and he expected to remain in that position for many years. He could not allow the departments beneath him to establish entire divisions that operated beyond the village’s oversight.

“Kizaru, you know some research can never be made public!” Danzo said, his composure slipping slightly.

If Root’s research projects were transferred to the Research Institute, everything from its studies of the Sharingan to its experiments involving the Byakugan could be exposed. If that happened, both Danzo and Root would find themselves in serious trouble.

“Don’t worry. The Research Institute will have several levels of confidentiality,” Kizaru explained. “Projects transferred from Root and the ANBU will receive the highest classification. They’ll be handled exclusively by researchers transferred from those two organizations.”

As he finished speaking, Kizaru’s relaxed expression sharpened slightly.

“Still, Root belongs to Konoha. It doesn’t belong to the Shimura clan. Your clan has contributed a great deal to the village, but those connections need to be untangled before they cause trouble later.”

Kizaru held Danzo’s gaze.

“Don’t you agree, Uncle?”

A chill passed through Danzo’s heart. He immediately understood the warning concealed beneath Kizaru’s easygoing tone.

“I understand. I’ll deal with it as soon as possible.”

Satisfied with the answer, Kizaru smiled. He placed both hands on the armrests and straightened slightly.

“Well now~ Things are different, Uncle. You should start stepping out of the shadows. The same goes for the Shimura clan. Its place in the village needs to change.”

After a deliberate pause, Kizaru looked directly into Danzo’s eyes.

“I’m the Hokage now. With one of your own standing at the head of the village, you’ll all have to learn how to work in the sunlight.”

Danzo did not answer immediately.

For more than twenty years, he had served as the shadow behind the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen. Working from the darkness had become second nature to him, and the Shimura clan had gradually adopted the same way of doing things under his leadership.

But the situation had changed.

Kizaru was now the Fourth Hokage. The Shimura clan had produced the leader of the village, so it could no longer continue involving itself only in work that could never withstand the light of day.

It was time for the clan to present a different face to Konoha.

“I’ll lead the clan through the necessary changes,” Danzo promised.

“Oooh~ As expected of you, Uncle. Such good judgment.”

Kizaru praised him without the slightest hesitation.

A pleased smile appeared on Danzo’s face. He could not help feeling a little proud of himself.

With their discussion concluded, Danzo saw no reason to take up more of Kizaru’s time. He glanced at the clock on the wall before rising from the sofa.

“I’ll settle Root’s affairs as soon as possible.”

“Thank you for handling it, Uncle.”

Kizaru stood and accompanied Danzo to the office door.

Shimura Tanin, whose desk stood beside the entrance, immediately rose and opened the door for them.

“Take care, Elder Danzo.”

As Danzo was both a village elder and the head of the Shimura clan, Tanin treated him with the utmost respect.

Danzo stopped and looked down at him.

“Do your job properly. Don’t disappoint Kizaru.”

“Yes, sir!”

Tanin straightened and answered at once.

Danzo’s eyes narrowed in satisfaction. Still smiling, he left the office in an unusually pleasant mood.

Not long after his departure, an ANBU shinobi arrived with Oikawa Kimiyama.

“Lord Hokage, I have brought Oikawa Kimiyama.”

“Thank you. You may leave.”

“Yes, Lord Hokage.”

After receiving his orders, the ANBU shinobi turned and quietly departed.

Oikawa Kimiyama stood before the Hokage’s desk.

This was the first time he had ever been summoned for a private meeting with someone as important as Kizaru. He was excited, but his nervousness was far stronger.

Throughout the journey to the Hokage Tower, Kimiyama had repeatedly wondered why he had been summoned.

What had he done to attract the Fourth Hokage’s attention?

Even after going home to put away his belongings and walking all the way to the Hokage’s office, he had failed to find an answer.

“Lord Hokage, Chunin Oikawa Kimiyama, reporting as ordered.”

His entire body was stiff as he addressed Kizaru.

“Oooh~ There’s no need to be so nervous. Tanin, bring Kimiyama a chair.”

Kizaru leaned back in his seat and smiled kindly.

Kimiyama stared at him for a moment, unsure how to react.

Kizaru was Konoha’s greatest prodigy, one of the strongest shinobi in the village, and the newly appointed Fourth Hokage. Kimiyama had never expected someone like him to be so approachable.

“Here. Sit down.”

Tanin placed a chair beside Kimiyama.

He already knew that this civilian shinobi was someone Kizaru regarded highly and would soon become his colleague, so his attitude was especially friendly.

“Thank you.”

Kimiyama carefully sat down. His posture remained perfectly straight, and only the front half of his body rested on the chair.

“Try to relax,” Kizaru told him. “I called you here for something good. This isn’t an interrogation~”

Kizaru’s relaxed tone finally had some effect. The tension in Kimiyama’s chest eased, and his rigid shoulders loosened slightly, though he continued to sit upright.

“I’ll get straight to the point. The village recently established a Secretariat. Its main responsibility is to assist the Hokage with Konoha’s daily administrative affairs.”

Kizaru rested his arms on his chair.

“I’ve read through your records, and I believe you’re well suited for the work.”

Until that moment, Kimiyama had felt nervous, confused, and even slightly uneasy.

The moment he understood why Kizaru had summoned him, those feelings were swept away by a surge of joy.

Judging from Kizaru’s explanation, a position in the Secretariat meant working directly under the Hokage. It was a role reserved for people the Hokage trusted.

Kimiyama was a civilian shinobi with no clan supporting him and no famous teacher to guide his career. His talent for ninjutsu was respectable but unremarkable, yet the Fourth Hokage had noticed him and personally invited him to join the Secretariat.

It was an opportunity he could never have imagined receiving.

A delighted smile appeared on his face before he could suppress it. Had he possessed a less cautious and restrained personality, he might have lost his composure entirely.

His excitement was understandable.

For a civilian shinobi without clan backing or a renowned sensei, Kizaru’s offer could change the course of his entire life.

Even so, a trace of confusion remained beneath Kimiyama’s joy.

Konoha had thousands of shinobi.

Why had the Fourth Hokage chosen him?

His naturally cautious disposition refused to let the question go.

“Lord Hokage, may I ask why you chose me?”

“I read all your mission reports,” Kizaru answered honestly. “You remained calm, followed the situation carefully, and made sound decisions even when missions took an unexpected turn. Those are precisely the qualities the Secretariat requires.”

There was only one detail he left unspoken.

Kimiyama’s civilian background had also worked in his favor.

“I believe you can handle the Secretariat’s duties and become an excellent permanent secretary.”

“I will not betray your trust or fail to meet your expectations!”

Kimiyama’s cautious nature had not disappeared, but he did not hesitate to accept such a valuable opportunity.

Kizaru’s smile widened.

“I don’t think I’ve misjudged you, Kimiyama. Don’t let me down~”

He then looked toward Tanin, who had returned to his desk.

“Tanin, come over here.”

Tanin had only just sat down, but he immediately rose and walked over. He stopped beside Kimiyama, facing Kizaru.

“This is Shimura Tanin, one of the Secretariat’s permanent secretaries and your future colleague. He’ll explain your duties and guide you through your initial training.”

Kimiyama rose from his chair and turned toward Tanin.

“My name is Oikawa Kimiyama. I look forward to working with you.”

“There’s no need to be so formal. We’ll be colleagues from now on,” Tanin replied, quickly waving a hand. “I’m Shimura Tanin.”

Upon hearing Tanin’s surname, Kimiyama’s smile grew warmer. Knowing that he would be working alongside a member of the Hokage’s own clan gave him a clearer idea of how important the Secretariat would become.

Kizaru watched their exchange with an approving smile.

After offering Kimiyama a few more words of encouragement, he asked Tanin to show him the Secretariat’s offices and explain the nature of its work.

Kizaru was in no hurry to make the Secretariat fully operational.

To ensure that its five permanent secretaries could perform their duties properly, he intended to have them rotate through every major department in the village. They would observe each department’s daily operations and learn its procedures firsthand.

In the future, the permanent secretaries would help Kizaru review documents and apply the Hokage’s official seal. Unless they understood how each department functioned, they would not be able to judge the contents of those documents accurately.

Kizaru intended to give them one week in each department.

The entire process was expected to take three or four months, though the approaching war could extend that schedule considerably.

In Kizaru’s opinion, the time and effort were both necessary.

He wanted permanent secretaries who understood how the village actually worked, not inexperienced officials whose knowledge existed only in reports and manuals.

Aside from Oikawa Kimiyama, who had only just received his appointment, and Shimura Tanin, who was temporarily working directly under Kizaru, the other three permanent secretaries had already been assigned to different departments.

Kurenai Yuhi had been sent to the ANBU.

Shikaku Nara was working in the Logistics Department.

Hisao Sarutobi, a young chunin from the Sarutobi clan, had been assigned to Konoha Hospital. Hisao was Hiruzen Sarutobi’s nephew and Shinnosuke Sarutobi’s cousin.

On October 23, Kizaru held Konoha’s prewar mobilization meeting.

With that, the approaching war was officially announced to the entire village.

That same day, Jiraiya and Homura Mitokado departed Konoha with a force of two thousand elite shinobi. Their destination was the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Grass.

Unlike the forces Sunagakure and Kumogakure casually described as elite, Konoha’s newly deployed unit deserved that title even by the highest standards of the shinobi world.

Every member of the two-thousand-strong force was at least a chunin, and more than a hundred were jonin.

Among them were Jiraiya’s student, Minato Namikaze, and Minato’s girlfriend, Kushina Uzumaki.

As Konoha’s Nine-Tails jinchuriki, Kushina normally would never have been permitted to leave the village, much less take part in a war.

The only reason she could accompany Minato to the battlefield was because Kizaru had personally supported and approved her deployment.

All three elders had strongly opposed the decision.

Kizaru overruled them and used his authority as Hokage to grant Kushina permission to join the main force.

He could not understand their reasoning.

Kushina had already established a mental connection with the Nine-Tails and was well on her way to becoming a perfect jinchuriki. Her strength had also risen far beyond that of an ordinary Kage.

Why would Konoha keep someone like her locked inside the village?

Kushina herself wanted to participate in the war. She possessed enough power to become one of Konoha’s greatest assets on the battlefield, and she needed real combat experience to continue developing.

If someone like her was denied the chance to grow, then who exactly was Konoha supposed to train?

With Kizaru’s approval secured, Kushina happily remained beside Minato as Konoha’s first army marched toward the border.

That elite force of two thousand shinobi was only the first unit Konoha intended to deploy.

It would certainly not be the last.

According to the plan approved by Kizaru and the three elders, another unit would depart within the next three days. Led by Tsunade, it would consist of two hundred medical-nin and three hundred logistics personnel, all of whom would head toward the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Grass.

At the same time, Konoha needed to prepare for a possible attack from Kirigakure.

A second army of three thousand shinobi, commanded by Orochimaru and Danzo, would be deployed to the eastern region of the Land of Fire.

Unlike the first force, this army would not be composed entirely of chunin and jonin. Nearly a thousand of its members were genin.

It was not that Konoha lacked enough chunin and jonin to form another elite army.

If the village stripped its active forces and major clans to the bone, it could gather three thousand experienced shinobi. Doing so, however, would leave Konoha itself dangerously short-handed.

Besides, Kizaru and the Council of Elders wanted to give the village’s genin an opportunity to gain real combat experience.

To protect them and prevent unnecessary casualties, Kizaru authorized Orochimaru to use the Edo Tensei—the Reanimation Jutsu—if the situation on the battlefield became critical.

The years Orochimaru and Danzo had spent developing the technique and gathering the necessary materials had not been wasted.

Orochimaru had steadily improved the Edo Tensei, greatly increasing both its effectiveness and his control over those it summoned. Meanwhile, Root had collected biological samples from numerous powerful shinobi who had died over the years.

Based on Root’s operation records and the reports Orochimaru had personally submitted, Kizaru knew that Orochimaru possessed samples belonging to hundreds of deceased shinobi from the various hidden villages.

The most powerful samples in his possession naturally belonged to the First and Second Hokage.

Orochimaru had never attempted to reanimate either of them.

Part of the reason was that doing so would provoke Hiruzen and the other senior figures in Konoha. More importantly, Orochimaru was not confident that he could control either Hokage once they were revived.

One was the legendary God of Shinobi.

The other was the man who had invented the Edo Tensei in the first place.

However, if Konoha’s army ever found itself at a severe disadvantage, Orochimaru believed he could still bring them back. Even if he could not control them, he was confident that he could convince both former Hokage to defend the village.

Kizaru had appointed Jiraiya and Orochimaru as the commanders of the western and eastern fronts respectively.

He also wanted to see which of them could achieve better results while suffering fewer losses.

Although Jiraiya would have to face two hidden villages on the western front, the shinobi serving under him were considerably stronger.

He would be supported by Tsunade, the greatest medical-nin in the shinobi world.

He also had Kushina, the Nine-Tails jinchuriki, as well as Minato Namikaze, who had mastered both the Flying Thunder God Jutsu and the Rasengan.

Orochimaru only needed to deal with Kirigakure, but the number of exceptional shinobi under his command was much smaller.

Aside from Orochimaru himself, the eastern army’s greatest fighters were Danzo and Kizaru’s disciple, Might Duy.

Orochimaru had little interest in either the war or Kizaru’s unspoken competition between the two commanders.

His true obsession was scientific research.

If given a choice, he would have remained inside the Research Institute rather than joining the war, much less serving as the commander of an entire front.

In the end, Kizaru only needed three remarks to persuade him.

“First, haven’t you been complaining that you’re short on research materials? A battlefield should provide more than enough to replenish your supply~”

“Second, Kirigakure has quite a few clans possessing kekkei genkai. Aren’t you curious?”

“Third, you wouldn’t want Jiraiya boasting about his achievements in front of you every day after the war, would you~?”

That was all it took.

Kizaru knew exactly how to motivate Orochimaru.

The Sannin put down his research, left the Research Institute, and accepted command of the eastern front.