The Anbu, as the name implies, is a hidden department that deals with shady matters.
It represents the darkness.
The two pushed open the door and entered. They didn't meet anyone on the way. Following a signboard, they found the location of the equipment department.
After waiting for a while, an Anbu ninja brought two sets of Anbu uniforms.
He simply said, "These are your clothes."
"Thanks."
They took the clothes, found a place to change into the gray Anbu suits, strapped on the Anbu - standard long swords, Kakashi put on his dog - head mask, and Kiyosuke glanced at the snake mask in his hand and then put it on his face.
The mask didn't affect his vision at all. There was an opening in his snake mask, which didn't cause much trouble to his breathing. They had thought it through well.
"Let's go, report to the Anbu."
"Okay."
They came to a room with Kakashi. When they pushed the door open, a group of masked Anbu ninjas looked at them simultaneously.
Kakashi said, "I'm Kakashi Hatake. I'll be joining the Anbu from today."
"Kiyosuke Asakawa."
"So it's you two. Welcome," said the Anbu ninja wearing a monkey - mask, walking over and speaking softly.
"This voice... is Captain Shinnosuke. Weren't you supposed to be in the Anbu directly under the Third Hokage?" Kiyosuke recognized Shinnosuke's voice and asked curiously.
Shinnosuke felt a bit awkward. He coughed and said, "There are various reasons for this."
Although Minato had succeeded as the Fourth Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't fully hand over the Anbu under the Hokage's command to him. So, Minato had to find people to fill some of the vacancies.
As a result, the original Anbu and the new Anbu members Minato recruited formed two factions. This was one of Hiruzen Sarutobi's ways to restrict Minato.
Among them, Shinnosuke was placed there. One could only say that the old man was up to no good.
Regarding this matter, Minato also started to fight back. He couldn't let the Third Hokage continue to interfere in Anbu affairs. But he couldn't openly oppose the senior. So, he could only send Kakashi and Kiyosuke to join.
Kakashi would help him stabilize the Anbu, and as for Kiyosuke... with his temper, anyone who dared to cause trouble in front of him would probably get a beating.
He was mainly there to warn those people not to make trouble.
"Captain Shinnosuke, we've got two remarkable members this time. Kakashi with the Sharingan, and another hero who, like the Fourth Hokage, ended the Ninja World War," an Anbu ninja said.
Kiyosuke laughed and said, "It's not that remarkable. And aren't we still at odds with the Land of Lightning? It can't be said that the war has completely ended, right?"
The Land of Lightning was still resisting and hadn't signed a peace treaty with Konoha. There were occasional minor skirmishes between them and Konoha, but they were just minor incidents. Their main forces were still fighting with the Land of Earth.
After all, the Third Raikage died at the hands of Iwagakure.
As the Fourth Raikage, Ay, with his hot temper, wouldn't let it go easily.
However, apart from the Land of Lightning, the Ninja World was moving towards peace. It could be considered that the Third Ninja World War had ended.
The Battle of Kannabi Bridge and the battle with the Three - Tails were important factors in ending this war.
Minato and Kiyosuke also showed the Ninja World that even with the departure of one of the Sannin and the death of the White Fang of Konoha, Konoha was still not to be trifled with.
Among them, Kiyosuke was even comparable to a tailed beast, a walking "Big Ivan" (a reference to a powerful weapon).
Many ninja villages distributed basic information about Kiyosuke, including his appearance, to their ninjas. They also stated that if they encountered this person during a mission, they could directly abandon the mission without being punished by the village.
It should be known that for ninjas, completing the mission is the top priority. Once they fail to complete the mission, they are likely to be punished. But there were exceptions for certain individuals.
One was Minato, and the other was Kiyosuke.
If you encountered either of them, coming back alive was already a miracle.
One had the fastest speed in the Ninja World, and the other had destructive power not inferior to that of a tailed beast.
Both Kiyosuke and Kakashi had quite a reputation. The Anbu ninjas who had originally intended to teach these two young fellows a lesson gave up the idea. After all, neither of them was easy to deal with.
Seeing some restless guys becoming obedient, Shinnosuke found it funny. But he also knew Kiyosuke's power. He said, "All right, you two will be temporarily assigned to my team."
"Sure."
"Yes."
Kiyosuke and Kakashi had no objections. Then, Shinnosuke led Kakashi to replace the Konoha Anbu members who were on patrol around Konoha. Kiyosuke didn't go. Minato had said he didn't need to do much usually, and he himself didn't want to go either. He was like a mascot, just staying in the Anbu was fine. He didn't need to participate in missions.
He was happy to be at leisure. He could slack off and still earn a salary. How great!
After saying goodbye to the poor Kakashi, Kiyosuke left the Anbu and went to Orochimaru's place. But he found that Orochimaru wasn't there. He probably went to one of his experimental bases again.
Over the years, all the money Orochimaru earned from missions had been invested in scientific research. As everyone knew, scientific research was extremely costly. Coupled with his construction of experimental bases everywhere, Orochimaru's life was actually quite rough.
"Hmm, I don't have much to do recently. I'll go to Ryūchi Cave to train."
Thinking this way, he went to report to Minato, left a snake with him for communication, took his daily necessities, and then happily headed to Ryūchi Cave.
Ryūchi Cave
The lively and active Ushitora - hime was very happy to see Kiyosuke's arrival. She smiled and said, "Are you here to learn Sage Mode? Lady White Snake Sage said that if you didn't come again, she wouldn't let you continue your training."
Of course, it was just a joke. The White Snake Sage didn't really care about this. Since Kiyosuke had already mastered Sage Mode, how he learned next was none of her business. Teaching Kiyosuke Sage Jutsu was left to the three great sages under her command, not herself.
"Here I am. All right, I've already learned Inorganic Reincarnation. Now I want to learn the White Rage Technique!"
Ushitora - hime said, "For that, you need to find Nagatsu - hime, not me. And for Transformation by Barter, you need to find Tama - shin - hime. By the way, how long are you planning to stay in Ryūchi Cave this time?"
"Probably until I learn these two Sage Jutsus. After all, the war is over now, so I don't have much to do."
He had asked for leave from Minato. He wouldn't participate in Anbu missions, and the village didn't need him for other tasks either. So, he could train here in peace.
To completely master the Sage Jutsu of Ryūchi Cave.
If possible, he wanted to learn more.
"All right, go find Nagatsu - hime. She usually doesn't have much to do. There aren't many things for us to handle in Ryūchi Cave. Go find her."
Ushitora - hime flew in the air to lead the way for Kiyosuke. Ryūchi Cave was complex and intricate. One could easily get lost and step into the territory of some big snake, which would be very troublesome.