Sorry for the extremely late update, y'all. God said, "You get cancer!" so I'm just out here trying to fight that shit. Lol. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this long-ass chapter!

20

Sasuke's Reforms

I sighed as Jiraiya finished relaying the information. They didn't have much right now. All they knew was that it was a relatively new hidden village that popped up in the Land of Sound. The Land of Sound itself was a new country. They used to be known as the Land of the Rice Paddies, but after much political strife, a new daimyo rose and formed a new country.

"I see," I said, exhaling. Now, how do I tell them to be wary of the country without seeming suspicious?

"By the way..." Jiraiya spoke before I could say anything.

"Hm?" I asked.

"Why are you so interested in Otogakure?" he asked as Hiruzen also looked at me.

"Right before the second stage of the Chunin Exams started," I started lying skillfully. "I saw the three Oto genin interacting with the Kusa kunoichi who turned out to be Orochimaru. Now, it could've been just a random interaction between the two with no real meaning behind it... But we're shinobi. We don't believe in coincidences, right?" I finished.

Jiraiya nodded with a serious expression on his face as he pulled out a little notebook and wrote something in it. Hiruzen also hummed from beside me as he stroked his beard. Perfect. I got them thinking about this. Now, all I need to do is take precautionary measures to stop the invasion.

"What do the border patrols look like right now?" I asked, surprising both of the old men.

"That is highly classified information, Sasuke-kun," Hiruzen said, but before I could retort, he continued. "However, you look like you have a good idea, and I do trust you enough at the moment," he said as he looked at me with an approving gaze.

"Oh..." I didn't know what to say. Why the hell was he being nice to me, dammit!? This was so goddamn awkward now. "Uh... Thanks, I guess?" I said, looking away in embarrassment.

Jiraiya chuckled a little while Hiruzen stood up and gestured for me to follow him. "Come. I shall show you to the barrier division," he said as he started walking towards the door.

"Yeah, alright," I replied as I stood up and picked up the Hokage's hat and placed it on my head. The motions came so naturally that I even surprised myself with how elegantly I did it.

"Don't get used to it, kid," Jiraiya said with a smirk as he followed us. I guess I was still too easy to read. I really needed to work on hiding my emotions better.

"Yeah, yeah," I said exasperated at how many times I'd heard that already. But... "Y'know, now that I think about it, me being Hokage for real wouldn't even be, like, out of line or anything," I said as I thought about it.

"What do you mean?" Jiraiya asked as the three of us walked out of the tower and stepped onto one of the side streets.

"I mean the Shodaime was Hashirama Senju; the Nidaime was Tobirama, his brother; the Sandaime is Sarutobi-sama, their student; the Yondaime was Minato Namikaze, who you taught, and if I'm not mistaken, and you were taught by the Sandaime. You see the pattern?" I asked as I looked at the Sannin.

"I do," he replied simply.

I shrugged my shoulders in response. "I'm just sayin'. It only makes sense that the next Hokage would be either Kakashi, Naruto, Sakura, or in the worst case, me... Or Tsunade, if she were to come back through some miracle," I said the last part with a whisper, though I'm sure Hiruzen and Jiraiya heard me.

"Why do you say 'worst case', Sasuke-kun?" Hiruzen asked as he turned his head to look over his shoulder.

"Cuz then that'd mean that the village must be getting goddamn desperate if they can't find a more competent leader than me," I replied. And it was true. I sucked at diplomacy and I'd probably start a war during my very first meeting with another world leader.

"Hmm... I think you're underestimating yourself, kid," Jiraiya said with a smirk. "You did a damn fine job of ending Orochimaru – something neither sensei, nor I was able to do for the longest time," he added in a slightly bitter tone of voice.

"That was probably only because of my lack of empathy towards him," I replied. "You and Sarutobi-sama have known Orochimaru since he was a kid. You've seen his potential for good. That's why you both hoped that he'd one day come back," I said. "While that still doesn't excuse either of you, with me only knowing about his evil side, it probably contributed heavily to why I was able to order his death so easily."

Neither Jiraiya, nor Hiruzen replied as they both only stared off thoughtfully into the distance. The rest of the trip continued in silence as the sensei and student contemplated what I assumed were their choices. I could only hope that my speech brought forth a stronger sense of responsibility in them.

...

"You summoned us, Hokage-sama?" Shikaku said as entered the large conference room.

"Yes. I did," I answered, even though he was clearly talking to Hiruzen. He raised an eyebrow and I chuckled a little bit internally as I could see my answer threw him off a bit. "Everyone, please take your seats," I commanded as all the clan heads filed into the room.

I sighed tiredly, observing how the clan heads merely opted to stand around and look at each other with confusion.

It had honestly been a long day today. I had made huge changes to the border patrols, bringing about a whole rejig to the leadership positions of the platoons and sections, and I had ordered an expedited renovation of the barrier seals on Konoha's walls.

I remembered how in canon, Suna's shinobi had evaded Konoha's border patrols and had made it all the way to Konoha's front door for the invasion. And there was only one way this was possible.

If Orochimaru had Mizuki and Kabuto on his payroll, I could only guess how many more of our shinobi were corrupt. And a few border patrol leadership positions being compromised wasn't really that far-fetched of a possibility.

After explaining all that – save for the Suna invasion part – Hiruzen and even Jiraiya had agreed that this was a long time coming.

Now, with that completed, this was the last thing on my agenda for today.

"Are you guys deaf or are you disobeying a direct order from your Commander-in-chief?" I asked once more.

"Hokage-sama, what is the meaning of this?" One of them asked. He had long black hair and featureless white eyes. Hiashi Hyuuga. Of course, he'd be the number one asshole that had trouble adapting to the situation.

I clicked my tongue and opened my mouth to answer but was quickly interrupted by Hiruzen's hand on my shoulder.

"Sasuke-kun, perhaps it'd be in everyone's best interest if I explained the situation first," he said.

I rolled my eyes. He had a point. "Fine," I said, gesturing for him to go ahead.

Hiruzen cleared his throat as he stood up to address the clan heads. "I apologize for the confusion everyone. Due to certain circumstances, Uchiha-san is the current acting Hokage until further notice," he explained and sat down.

Murmurs of confusion went around the room once more, but I didn't have time for this dammit! I just wanted to go home and sleep!

"Take. Your. Seats," I commanded once more in a forceful tone, bringing everyone's attention to me.

For a second, nothing happened and I thought I was going to have to come up with another way to make them obey me. But finally, the Nara clan head, Shikaku, finally moved and quietly sat down on a chair.

Following him, Tsume Inuzuka sat down as well. So did Inoichi and Choza. Then came Shibi Aburame. And finally, Hiashi took a seat. Danzo and the other elders were already seated.

"Good. Now that we're all here, let's begin," I said.

Immediately, a hand went up and a sigh of annoyance escaped me. "Yes, Inuzuka-san?" I asked.

"How did this happen? Why are you the Hokage right now?" Tsume asked without beating around the bush, and honestly I appreciated her straightforwardness.

"The exact reasons for that remain classified until at least the end of the chunin exams. I'm sorry I cannot tell you more," I answered. I received a nod of acknowledgement from her and smiled. Thankfully, she wasn't questioning my authority. "Any other questions before we begin?" I asked.

No one spoke up and so I started.

"Now, with a show of hands," I said. "How many of you have walls around your clan compounds?"

Confusion was evident on everyone's faces as they murmured to each other once more. I merely opted to wait patiently until they could stop behaving like school kids and follow simple fucking directions.

Once again, it started with Shikaku who put his hand up, followed by Shibi, Tsume, and Hiashi. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Hiruzen raising his hand too. It seemed like no one else's clan compound had walls.

"Perfect," I said. I raised my hand and snapped my fingers. Immediately, an ANBU operative appeared behind me and started handing out a pencil and a paper to everyone that had their hand up. "You have exactly three and a half minutes to write a convincing paragraph about why the walls should stay. Your time begins now," I said.

"This is preposterous! Our clan's walls have been there since the founding of Konoha. Why does there need to be a reason for the walls to stay? Why do we have to convince you?" Hiashi said with an indignant tone.

"Three minutes and twenty seconds," I merely replied as I closed my eyes and tuned out the rambling.

...

"Alright. Time's up!" I announced, having given them four minutes rather than the originally intended three and a half minutes.

The ANBU quickly collected the papers and passed them on to me.

"Let's start with you, Nara-san, shall we?" I started. "What are your reasons for keeping the walls around your compound?" I asked, not even glancing at the paper.

"There are none, Hokage-sama," Shikaku answered, surprising me.

"Wait, what?" I said as I picked up his paper and read it. 'Please order us to demolish our walls,' was all it read. "Hah? Why?" I asked, holding up the paper.

"Hokage-sama, many of our clan members believe that the walls do not truly serve a purpose, rather it only isolated us from the village citizens. It is only the opinions of the traditionalist clan elders that believe that the walls should remain. However, if you were to give the order to demolish them, the majority of the Nara clan would be in your favour," he drawled lazily. "Additionally, the majority of the villagers are already aware of our deer's forests and the boundary of those grounds as well."

"Perfect!" I exclaimed. This was the perfect chance to introduce my new method of giving out orders. "KODs," I said, and another ANBU instantly materialized behind me and handed me a piece of thick paper. I inspected the paper, making sure it was the correct one, and looked up at the clan heads.

"Until now," I began. "Whenever the Hokage, or just the Konoha administrative headquarters wanted to convey a message to anyone, they would just send a scroll with the message and that's it. It was a very disorganized way of communicating information and the records were all over the place. That is no longer the case. I am introducing a new change. Any new general orders will be called the 'Konoha Orders and Directives', or KODs," I said.

I retrieved the Seal of the Hokage that the ANBU was holding out and stamped it onto the paper in front of me.

"This will be one of the first KODs to be issued," I stated. "KOD 5044-2: Nara Clan Compound Boundaries and Walls." I held the paper up and the ANBU took it from me and delivered it across the table to Shikaku. "The KODs shall state exactly what is expected from all Konoha shinobi pertaining to that specific subject. New KODs regarding every aspect of life in Konoha are currently being made and can be found by asking the Health and Safety Jonin for them – that's another position that you will have to assign someone to, Shikaku-san," I said and received an acknowledging nod.

"Hokage-sama?" Shibi spoke as he raised his hand.

"Yes, Aburame-san?" I said.

"Are there KODs pertaining to activities that are dictated by the clans as well?" he asked.

"Yes," I answered simply before elaborating. "There are general orders and directives for everything, however clans can submit requests to the Hokage to make and/or change orders to make them more suitable to you."

"I see. Thank you, Hokage-sama," Shibi said, satisfied with my answer.

"No problem!" I said and continued. "Now where were we... Right, Tsume-san, please explain your reasons for keeping the walls around your compound."

Tsume shrugged in a nonchalant manner as she spoke. "It's mostly just to keep the young pups from running out of the compound. Other than that, well most of our clan doesn't really care about it."

"Hm..." I hummed as I stroked my chin. "Then would it be okay if the walls were demolished and only rebuilt around the area where you take care of the young ones?"

"That... Could work," Tsume said as she looked up and rubbed one of the red markings on her face.

"Perfect," I said and repeated the KOD process as I had with Shikaku.

"Next, Sarutobi-san?" I prompted. I didn't use the 'sama' suffix since I wasn't talking to the Third Hokage right now. I was talking to the Sarutobi clan head.

"I believe it would be in the best interest of everyone to demolish the Sarutobi clan walls as well," he said, surprising me. I honestly thought he'd be very much against it, wanting to guard his clan training techniques and whatnot, but meh, this worked out perfectly.

"Done," I said before he could change his mind. Another KOD stamped. "Aburame-san?" I asked.

"Hokage-sama, I strongly believe our clan walls need to remain in place as we regularly conduct secret experiments on our kikaichu and there are clans in other villages that also use insect based techniques," he explained.

"I see," I said. It made sense, but I still didn't like the idea of them isolating themselves like that. "Would it be possible to have walls only around your research area?" I asked.

"Each family conducts research by themselves in their own homes. There isn't a dedicated research area," he explained.

I hummed. This was unfortunate, but I never expected things to go smoothly anyway. "Alright, we'll talk more about coming up with another solution on another date," I said as I stamped another KOD that had a directive to leave things as they were.

"Hyuuga-san?" I moved on to the last clan head.

"Sasuke-san, I strongly believe that the walls around the Hyuuga compound should stay," Hiashi replied.

Now, I wasn't a stickler for social rules and stuff, but that was only when I knew that the other party had the appropriate respect towards me. Hiashi's blatant disregard for my current position as Hokage didn't go unnoticed by any of the clan heads. Not only did he not call me 'Hokage-sama', but he didn't even use 'Uchiha-san', which meant that he clearly didn't see me at the same level as him.

I merely stared at Hiashi with a neutral expression on my face. A minute passed. Then two. Then three.

Five extremely uncomfortable – for everyone other than me – minutes later, I finally spoke.

"Hyuuga-san," I said. "We salute the rank, not the person." And from the subtle widening of his eyes, I could tell he understood my point. I was only calling him 'Hyuuga-san' out of respect for his position as clan head, not because I respected him.

"But let's put that aside for now," I continued. "What are your reasons to keep the walls?" I asked.

"The Hyuuga's techniques and training methods have been a closely guarded secret for generations," Hiashi answered.

"Guarded from who?" I asked, exaggerating the confused expression on my face. "No one can use your techniques unless they have the Byakugan! Who exactly are you trying to keep them a secret from? Even if you gave a non-Hyuuga your entire training manual, it would just be useless to them since they can't even use it," I said. "So please, give me a better explanation."

Hiashi scowled slightly before he gave another excuse. "The village charter states that the boundaries of the Hyuga compound encompasses the area from the center of the compound to the walls—"

"There will be another KOD to amend the charter. Next," I interrupted.

I internally smirked as I heard Hiashi grind his teeth.

"This KOD," I said, taking another one that the ANBU handed me and putting it on the table. "Will be stamped and made official at exactly 1700 hours tomorrow. You have until then to convince me otherwise," I stated. Without waiting for an answer, I addressed the rest of the council. "Does anyone have any other questions, comments, or concerns?"

It was surprising how quiet he was during the meetings, but finally, Danzo spoke up. "Hokage-sama," he began. "I heard that Orochimaru was captured and is in Konoha custody now. May we have an updated sitrep?" he requested.

"Wait, what!? We have Orochimaru!?" Tsume exclaimed. And she wasn't the only one that wasn't surprised. Everyone other than Hiruzen, Danzo, and Shikaku was staring at me, their eyes practically begging for answers.

I sighed and opened my mouth to speak but Hiruzen stopped me. "Sasuke-kun, this is a highly classified matter," he spoke quietly.

"What?" I said, confused why he was telling me this. "Yeah, I know, I know. Just trust me okay, I know what I'm doing," I replied, waiving his concerns away.

I turned to the council once more.

"Yes, Orochimaru is in our custody. We have been trying to interrogate him, however our attempts so far have been unsuccessful. That's all the information that I can give you right now," I announced.

"Hokage-sama, may I have a chance to interrogate him as well?" Danzo asked.

"No," I replied immediately. "I have another task for you," I said, putting an end to his request. "Anything else that needs to be addressed?" I asked. When no one said anything, I stood up. "Alright then. Everyone is dismissed," I concluded the meeting and walked out the door with Hiruzen.

...

"You handled that very well, Sasuke-kun," Hiruzen said as he walked beside me.

"Yeah, thanks," I answered nonchalantly. It wasn't that I didn't care about the complement. I was just way too tired today to put some real energy behind my words of gratitude.

"Would you like an ANBU detail to escort you home?" Hiruzen asked as we approached the office of the Hokage.

I shook my head. "The day isn't over yet," I replied.

Out of my peripheral vision I could see Hiruzen frowning at my words. "Dedication to your work is a good thing, but resting and taking breaks is also necessary," he said, providing some important words of wisdom.

"I'll have all my life to rest," I said. I was sure the fatigue was evident in my voice. "But I only have a few days to make the necessary changes in the village."

Hiruzen grunted as he understood my intentions. "And what more do you plan on doing tonight?" he asked as we entered the Hokage's office.

"Summon the ANBU commander," I said. "I want to know where Danzo's ROOT command post is."

...

Three squadrons of ANBU stood, formed up in front of me on the roof of the Hokage building. Beside me stood Hiruzen, presumably marveling at my level of composure. A little behind and to the right of me stood Shikaku, the jonin commander, and in line with him to my left stood Asuma, and Gai for extra backup.

"Company, attention!" The ANBU commander yelled as at once, all noise and movement ceased and all the operatives stood ramrod straight.

The commander did an about turn. "145 ANBU on parade, Hokage-sama," he said and executed a perfect salute.

I, as well, stood at attention and returned the salute. "Thank you, commander," I replied.

The commander nodded and walked away to stand beside Hiruzen, effectively transferring command over to me.

"At ease!" I commanded, and as one, the operatives stood at ease – legs shoulder width apart and hands behind their back. I smiled slightly at how natural it felt. This is what an army should look like.

"As shinobi of Konoha," I began my speech. "It is our first and foremost duty to protect this beautiful village of ours from all threats, foreign and domestic." I paused for effect. "And as much as it pains me to say it, this time the threat is domestic.

"It's a cruel world out there. Some of you know that better than me. Many of you have experienced that cruelty firsthand. And to protect our loved ones, our brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, and our children from those demons, sometimes we have to become demons ourselves.

"There's always a brave few that willingly take it upon themselves to become those demons so that the others may sleep peacefully. But that's just it. Willingly. As shinobi, we rarely fight 'honourably', however the concept of honour itself is not lost on us. But sometimes, some shinobi lose themselves in the dark and it is our job to either bring them back and show them the light, or put them down like the rabid dogs that they are.

"This operation that we will be carrying out tonight has one purpose. It is not to rid the darkness, but to control it instead. You will face heavy resistance as you step into the ROOT bases, however you will use every skill in your repertoire to handle the situation in a non-lethal way. Of course, it goes without saying that if your life is in jeopardy, you shall do everything you can to save yourself. But remember, the ROOT shinobi that you will face are not evil. They are sick. They are merely mindless drones following orders. They don't deserve death, they need therapy. And lastly, they are still citizens of Konoha," I said, finishing my speech.

"Commander," I said, nodding to the ANBU commander, handing over command of the company.

"Thank you, Hokage-sama," he said as he moved to stand in front of the operatives once more and we exchanged salutes.

Instantly, everyone jumped into a flurry of activity. The ANBU commander started barking out orders with Shikaku providing input here and there. The weapons detachment section of each platoon started handing out extra supplies to whoever needed them. Asuma talked to some of his old ANBU friends as he too got ready for the operation and Gai jumped off to go find a few more jonin who might want to join and whose skills might be of use.

I sighed as I looked at the controlled chaos around me. Today would either be the day that Konoha pulled its act together, or the day when everything would go to shit.

...

"Where did you learn to speak like that?" Hiruzen asked me, apparently impressed by my public speaking skills.

We were back in the Hokage office. Hiruzen and I were seated behind the desk while Shikaku and a couple of other ANBU were in the room, receiving and compiling the situation reports coming in from other ANBUs. The operation was proceeding smoothly so far.

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"Your speech on the rooftop. It was really something."

I shrugged my shoulders.

"I didn't learn it anywhere," I answered honestly. "I just said exactly what I was thinking."

"Hmm," Hiruzen hummed as he stroked his goatee. "You might have the natural qualities of a leader, Sasuke-kun."

"That's great," I said with no enthusiasm in my voice whatsoever. "How do I turn them off?"

The Third Hokage merely sighed in response as he picked up the latest report that had come in. "It looks like they've already made it to Danzo's office and have him detained. They're only clearing out the remaining forces now," he said, seemingly impressed by how quickly and smoothly the operation had gone.

But I wasn't nearly as optimistic about this. "Remember," I said, reciting one of Murphy's laws of war from memory. "When everything is going according to plan, you've walked into an ambush," I said. "Shikaku-san, tell each and every fireteam to be on extremely high alert," I commanded.

"Understood," Shikaku replied with a nod.

Just then, another ANBU walked into the office and saluted. "Hokage-sama," she said. "They're ready for you."

A ghost of a smile graced my face for a second. "Perfect. Let's go," I said, standing up and putting on the Hokage hat.

...

"You've grown senile, Hiruzen," the gruff voice said as the Third Hokage walked into Danzo's lair with me following him. "Handing over the mantle of the Hokage to a mere child? What are you thinking!?" he said with a scowl.

It was so weird how he had absolutely no problem calling me 'Hokage-sama' just a few hours prior during the council meeting, yet he was finally showing his true colours now.

"Danzo Shimura," I said as I walked into the underground office space. I made no attempt to hide my fascination as I observed his office. "Nice place! Feels homey," I commented.

Danzo didn't reply, merely opting to show his disapproval by glaring at me. Unfazed, I continued.

"Do you know why we're here, Danzo?" I asked as I took a seat behind the massive desk that stood imposingly in the center of the room. As I stared back at Danzo, I could see Hiruzen smirking from the corner of my eye.

Of course, Hiruzen might have handed over some of his authority as Hokage over to me temporarily, but that didn't mean I could just execute an operation of this scale without his approval. We had thoroughly gone over the need for such an operation, and the planning for it in detail before he had begrudgingly given me the go-ahead.

Danzo finally spoke, acknowledging my question. "Because the senile Third Hokage here handed you the mantle of the Hokage, told you about ROOT, and you with your naive world view decided that ROOT and I must be put down. Am I correct, Hokage-sama?" he asked, spitting out the title as if it was venom.

I could do nothing but raise my eyebrows, surprised that he thought that poorly of me. "What!?" I asked, slightly offended that he thought I was really that stupid. "No! Not at all! Quite the opposite, in fact!" I exclaimed.

The old war hawk's face didn't betray any emotion, but I could tell he was a little confused at least. In the end I only sighed.

"Why don't you take a seat and I'll tell you what I'm really here for?" I offered, gesturing to one of the chairs across the table.

"I'd much rather stand, thank you," Danzo replied simply.

I raised an eyebrow. "What. Are you scared one of the ANBU will slice your head off from behind you?" I asked. "Cuz they won't. I swear," I said without waiting for an answer.

Danzo merely stared at me as he stood silently.

"Ight," I said as I shrugged my shoulders. "Listen," I started explaining why I was here. "I understand the need for your entire secret black ops division. Hell, I'm even all for funding you guys more and expanding ROOT a bit more," I said and internally smirked as I noticed an almost imperceptible twitch on Danzo's face. "But there's only one thing that doesn't sit well with me. Can you guess what it is?" I asked him.

"I cannot," the curt answer came and I sweatdropped at the straightforwardness. Let me feel cool, dammit!

I sighed as I answered my question. "It's the fact that the Hokage has no knowledge of his own shinobi's dealings," I said.

Danzo narrowed his eyebrow at my answer. "It's so that the Hokage may have plausible deniability," he replied.

"And that is great thinking on your part," I said. "Except for one thing. What happens when ROOT operatives get caught in the act and the enemy has evidence that Konoha is involved. What can the Hokage say when, say, Kumo comes to our doorstep with evidence, demanding for an explanation as to why we were in their land?" I asked.

"At that moment, the Hokage will deny any involvement," Danzo replied.

"Okay, but the fact still remains that if the enemy has evidence of our involvement and the Hokage doesn't know anything about it, then it's Konoha who's going to look bad on the world stage. 'How the hell can a leader not know what his own forces are doing?' That's the question that will spread through every Kage's mind, and consequently every client's mind. In the end, it only hurts our own reputation!" I explained, hoping that Danzo had at least enough sense to see my point.

Danzo glanced at Hiruzen who smirked back and looked back towards me. I instantly recognized the gesture, mainly because Naruto, Sakura, and I usually did the same thing. With only a glance we'd be able to have an entire conversation and that was because we knew each other so well.

"Tell me I'm wrong, Danzo," I challenged the man.

A long drawn out silence followed wherein neither of us spoke.

Finally, it was Hiruzen who broke the silence.

"I believe even you see Sasuke-kun's point, old friend," Hiruzen said to his old teammate.

Danzo huffed with a scowl, not being able to argue against that. "And what changes do you propose, Hokage-sama?" he said the last word with a mocking tone, though it didn't bother me in the slightest.

I smiled. "ROOT will only accept members from Konoha's forces. ROOT shall cease making its operatives into emotionless soldiers at once; no more of that training. The entire organization will have an oversight committee made of four highly experienced and highly trusted jonin, and the Hokage. And finally, all operations carried out in peacetime will require the Hokage's approval beforehand," I laid out the terms plainly.

"The existence of ROOT is hidden from the majority of our shinobi. How could root possibly accept members from the Konoha Armed Forces while keeping that level of security?" Danzo asked.

"Simple," I smirked. "You don't ask to join ROOT. You get invited," I said and pulled out a piece of paper. "You will have a few operatives continuously monitoring Konoha's forces for anyone that looks promising or has potential. When you identify such a person, you shall give them something like this," I explained, sliding the piece of poorly made recruitment poster across the table.

Danzo, being satisfied with my answers so far, finally walked towards the seat I had offered him earlier and sat down as he observed the paper. I watched in satisfaction as Danzo's singular eye widened slowly upon reading the paper.

I had made sure to not underplay what an absolutely shitty job being a ROOT operative was. And in very clear terms, the poster had said:

KONOHA COVERT OPERATIONS COMMAND
RECRUITMENT NOTICE

In Darkness We Prevail

Always Lead, Never Abandon
Tread the Unknown, Never Yield
Always in Battle, All for Victory

Your service is desired.

Extremely Hazardous Battlefields
Poor Wages
Very Long Gloomy Deployments
Constant Danger to Life
Slim Chance of Safe Return
Rare Rewards for Success

If interested, contact the Hokage and hand them this flyer.

"What is this!?" he said with a frown. "ROOT will never be able to recruit anyone if they read something like this!"

"I think you underestimate the willingness of our shinobi to sacrifice themselves for a greater cause, Danzo," I said to him with a smile.

Seeing as how he was still skeptical, I motioned to one of the ANBU that was stationed at the doorway. "Can you come here please?" I asked.

"Yes, Hokage-sama," the ANBU said as she appeared beside the table.

"Don't get into the details, but other than wanting to serve your village, why did you join ANBU?" I asked curiously.

"Um..." she said with uncertainty, not expecting this question.

"Don't worry, no one's gonna judge you," I replied, easing her worries.

"I... I had just lost my entire team on a mission gone bad at the time and I wanted to... I wanted some space and to improve as a kunoichi, Hokage-sama," she said. I smiled sadly as I nodded.

"I'm sorry for your loss," I said to her, "but when deciding to join ANBU, if you had seen this poster, would you have accepted the job?" I asked, sliding the paper from Danzo to her.

The kunoichi looked at the paper for a minute before nodding resolutely. "Yes, Hokage-sama!" she said. "I would've loved to join and I would still like to!"

"See?" I said to the stone-faced Danzo. "Thank you, you may go back," I said to the ANBU and she disappeared from her place. "It's time for you to start believing in the Will of Fire once again Danzo," I said.

I absolutely hated that term, but I was against believing in it, not using it against others. I had to do whatever it took to make this plan successful.

Danzo stayed silent as he contemplated my words for a while.

It was after nearly ten minutes that he finally looked up and spoke. "I shall implement the changes in my own way."

I shrugged my shoulders as I stood up with a smile. "As long as it's done by the end of this week. Coordinate your efforts with the jonin that Shikaku-san will appoint," I ordered.

I could finally go home for the night.

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