Just as Kakashi felt he'd heard enough and was ready to leave the tavern, a passing comment from a Grass shinobi caught his attention.
"Now that's what I call a proper ninja hospital. The last one? Huge building, sure, but all it had were medics who barely knew the basics. Couldn't handle anything serious. Might as well have been a civilian clinic."
"Right? With that red-haired woman around now, you just bite her and boom, wounds heal instantly. I bet not even Konoha's medical team could compete with that!"
Red-haired woman... rapid healing?
Kakashi stopped mid-step, silently committing the information to memory before walking out the door.
In the ninja world, red hair could only mean one thing: the Uzumaki Clan and their sealing techniques.
Konoha's sealing arts were so powerful largely because of their alliance with the Uzumaki. The clan's leader, Uzumaki Ashina, was even hailed as the founding father of Konoha's sealcraft. That should tell you just how deep their ties go.
And Kakashi happened to be fairly familiar with the Uzumaki, he held a bit of a soft spot for them. After all, his sensei's wife had come from that very clan.
"Lord Morishita."
Two Grass ANBU standing guard at the courtyard entrance bowed respectfully as Hakusei Tōya approached.
Tōya gave a curt nod, walking straight into the building without a word.
The two ANBU didn't seem the least bit surprised by his indifference. After he disappeared from view, one of them sighed and murmured,
"Lord Morishita really is tireless. Just finished a mission and already back in the ANBU."
"Seriously," the other nodded in agreement. "He's always giving it his all, and there are still people talking trash behind his back. Unreal."
"Hmph. Cowards begging for peace have no place to speak. They can only grumble in the shadows," one of them scoffed coldly.
After all, being handpicked by the Grass Village leader for the elite ANBU corps meant they were hardcore war hawks through and through.
Inside, Tōya quickly located the underground ANBU entrance, first room past the main hall.
There was no floor in that room, just an open pit with stairs spiraling downward into darkness.
He descended calmly, step by step.
Eventually, the stairs gave way to a small outpost. Tōya, using Observation Haki, sensed four ANBU inside: one special jōnin and three standard jōnin-level guards.
He passed the post without hesitation and pointed at one of the guards, whose chakra signature was jōnin level.
"Take these documents to my office."
The ANBU blinked, hesitated. "But I'm on watch duty…"
"I said, take the documents to my office."
Tōya cut him off with no room for argument.
The ANBU glanced at the squad leader next to him, unsure of what to do.
"If Captain Morishita tells you to go, then go. What are you waiting for?"
With that order, the ANBU stepped out, took the file from Tōya, and rushed off toward the supposed "office."
Tōya, meanwhile, strolled deeper into the ANBU base, his expression unreadable, as if there were some urgent task at hand.
In truth, he was simply wandering aimlessly, quietly tracking the chakra trail of the ANBU who had left.
He had no idea where Morishita's office was. He'd just stuffed some junk into a folder, handed it off, and used it to have someone unknowingly guide him.
Once he sensed that the ANBU had stopped for a while before heading back, Tōya followed the trail and soon arrived at the location.
He pushed open the office door and glanced around.
The room was plain. No decorations. Barely any furniture, just a chair, a desk, and a couple of filing cabinets.
Front and center on the desk was the file he'd handed off earlier.
Tōya sat down, tossed the folder aside, and casually skimmed the files already on the desk.
Some were mission assignments from the Grass Village leader. Others were intelligence gathered by the ANBU. A few were team reports from ANBU squads under his command.
"Guess I'm getting an early taste of the captain lifestyle."
He chuckled to himself while flipping through classified Grass ANBU intel.
Who would've thought someone would be bold enough to impersonate a squad leader and stroll into the ANBU like they owned the place?
Just as he was about to check the cabinets for member dossiers, a knock came at the door.
Using Observation Haki, Tōya sensed it was a jōnin. He calmly replied:
"Come in."
A Grass ANBU entered and spoke quickly.
"Lord Morishita, the leader has summoned you for a meeting."
Tōya nodded lightly. "Understood. Lead the way."
Soon, he was escorted to a room deep in the ANBU compound.
It wasn't large, just a square table surrounded by several chairs. No unnecessary furnishings. Clearly not a formal conference room.
Seven people were seated around the table.
Only the middle-aged man at the head, wearing a troubled expression, was not in ANBU uniform. The rest, six of them, were.
Tōya guessed that the man at the head must be the Grass Village leader. His chakra was the strongest Tōya had sensed in the village so far, stronger than Tōya had been before receiving the Whitebeard template.
The others were likely ANBU captains and executives. Even the weakest among them had elite jōnin-level chakra.
As Tōya stepped in, the middle-aged man looked up and spoke.
"Morishita, now that you're here, let's begin."
A stern-looking ANBU captain seated second to his right opened the meeting.
"The unit we sent to intercept the peace documents has been missing for over a week. Most likely captured or killed by Konoha. We need to prepare accordingly."
Though Tōya felt a ripple of emotion within, his face remained perfectly calm. He listened silently as the others spoke.
"Everyone knows we need to prepare," said the deputy commander seated to the leader's left. "The real question is, how?"
One of the squad leaders suggested,
"We could just deny they're ours. Maybe Konoha has no idea who sent them. No headbands, no Grass-branded tools, there's plausible deniability."
"What are you thinking? Did you forget the Yamanaka clan's mind techniques? Their identities have definitely been exposed."
Tōya's voice was steady but stern.
The squad leader realized he'd been naive and closed his mouth, glancing toward the others in silence.
The room went quiet.
After a moment, the village leader cleared his throat and looked toward Tōya.
"Morishita, let's hear your thoughts."
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200 P.S = 1 Extra Chapter