Commander?
Hearing Fox suggest he aim for the position of Anbu Commander, it would be false to say Yellow Dog wasn't tempted.
However, Danzo had accumulated significant authority and intimidation. Yellow Dog was unsure of the situation and didn't know if now was a good time to strive for the Commander position.
Seeing Yellow Dog hesitate, Yōkō immediately added fuel to the fire:
"Lord Yellow Dog, I'm not saying we should confront Danzo head-on. We can find some allies.
I'm confident that if you just go see the Jōnin Commander, Nara Rokaku, he will definitely help you become the Anbu Commander."
Yellow Dog was taken aback, unsure why Fox would say that.
Nara Rokaku was his father, the Third's, right-hand man and would firmly support his father in anything.
But, him becoming Anbu Commander was a significant matter; that elder might not necessarily agree.
"Tell me, why would Lord Rokaku support me becoming Commander?"
Yōkō said: "The Jōnin Commander, Nara Rokaku, once proposed using the Underground Bounty Exchange to place bounties on enemy village shinobi to reduce retaliatory attacks.
But fulfilling bounties at the Underground Bounty Exchange requires extremely efficient intelligence.
Konoha spent 10 million Ryo to bounty a certain Iwa-nin, but that shinobi was killed by Kumo-nin, causing Konoha to lose the bounty amount plus handling fees.
From what I know, this month the village has lost over 20 million Ryo in huge sums at the Underground Bounty Exchange.
Lord Nara Rokaku is currently troubled by this matter.
After Root suffered heavy losses, aside from the Land of Lightning and Land of Wind spy networks handed over to us in Anbu, the other spy networks controlled by Root have been semi-paralyzed.
This time, the Lynx Squad and my squad are going to the Land of Rain and Land of Grass on missions; we absolutely need intelligence on the Land of Earth.
That Ōnoki is a shrewd one; who knows if he might interfere?
My point is, go talk to Lord Rokaku.
Suggest to the Hokage together that we take this opportunity to seize the Land of Earth and Land of Water spy networks as well.
Otherwise, the Lynx Squad and my squad are highly likely to be completely wiped out.
After all, that's Uchiha Madara. Even I'm not confident I can survive against him."
Hearing Fox's worried tone, Yellow Dog said, "For the safety of the two squads, I have no choice but to take control of the Land of Earth spy network?"
"Yes!" Yōkō continued:
"Lord Yellow Dog, the Anbu shinobi are your most loyal subordinates!
With Root's current slow pace of training new members, losing even one is hard to replace.
The Lynx Squad is dealing with Sarutobi Kanenosuke, but my squad is dealing with Uchiha Madara!
Anbu has 4 squads, but only 3 can leave Konoha; the Black Ant Squad must always stay by the Hokage's side.
If my squad is crippled and I die in the Land of Rain, Anbu would lose one-third of its mobile strength.
If the Lynx Squad is also crippled, then Anbu would lose two-thirds of its mobile strength.
By then, Lord Yellow Dog, you wouldn't be the Deputy Commander anymore; you'd be a Squad Leader, only commanding the Golden Eagle Squad.
So, it's advance or retreat.
If you don't fight for this Anbu Commander position, in a month you'll be demoted to Squad Leader!
You're not fighting for yourself; you're fighting for Anbu, for us ordinary shinobi!"
Yellow Dog nodded repeatedly; Fox's considerations were too thorough.
Yes, he wasn't striving for the Anbu Commander position for his own power; he was striving for Konoha.
Yellow Dog asked: "This news about the Jōnin Commander losing 20 million Ryo, is it reliable?
I haven't heard any rumors, and the Jōnin Commander isn't something I can investigate."
Yōkō nodded emphatically: "Extremely reliable!
I was the one who followed along when the Jōnin Commander first established the process with the Underground Bounty Exchange. I've been paying attention to the follow-up.
The reason it hasn't spread yet is probably because Lord Rokaku is covering it up.
20 million Ryo is no small sum; it's enough to pay the rewards for 20 S-rank missions."
Yōkō thought to himself, I heard this for sure during my recent occasional 'skill exploration' sessions with Nara Umeka. It can't be wrong.
Yellow Dog stood up and said, "Come on, Fox, you come with me to see Lord Rokaku."
Yōkō thought, That's more like it.
If you get promoted to Commander, won't you have to give me a Deputy Commander position?
Then I'll be a 'Lord' too.
Lord Fox... sounds pretty good.
Hokage Building, Second Floor.
Nara Rokaku looked up and saw Yellow Dog and Fox entering his office.
He waved to Nara Umeka, who was to the side, signaling her to close the door and not let anyone disturb his conversation with Yellow Dog.
Nara Umeka went out to instruct the assistant to temporarily not receive any jōnin, then returned to the office and closed the door properly.
She glanced at Fox's back, her breathing becoming slightly heavier.
The intimacy from the night before last had lingered in her thoughts for a long time.
"Yellow Dog, what is it?"
Yellow Dog sat down in the chair opposite Nara Rokaku's desk, looking like he was prepared for a long talk, and said:
"Lord Rokaku, you must be aware of the two exceptionally dangerous rogue ninja investigation missions about to commence.
The mission destinations are the Land of Rain and the Land of Grass.
Both countries border the Land of Earth. A strong reaction from the Land of Earth and Iwagakure could very well lead to mission failure.
The rogue ninja we are investigating are Uchiha Madara and Sarutobi Kanenosuke..."
Yellow Dog paused. He didn't know when he had started to tacitly accept the fact that the Sarutobi clan had produced a powerful rogue ninja.
Actually, this matter hadn't been fully investigated yet; there were many puzzling aspects to it.
Yellow Dog continued: "To ensure mission success, we must guarantee the efficient operation of the Land of Earth spy network.
But, Lord Rokaku, you also know the situation with Root.
Root currently has no formal members; it's the Lynx Squad sending people to fill the roles.
The Land of Earth spy system must be activated as soon as possible.
This is not only useful for this mission but also for the Underground Bounty Exchange bounties you are overseeing.
What do you think?"
Yellow Dog didn't explicitly mention the 20 million Ryo huge losses caused by Nara Rokaku, but Nara Rokaku would understand as soon as he heard it.
Nara Rokaku said: "You mean this is an opportunity to transfer the spy systems from Root to Anbu.
Root is heavily damaged; the spy networks can't afford to wait for Root to rebuild.
Fragile spy networks are extremely difficult to establish, but destroying them only takes a few days.
Without the village's support, those spies could be discovered and die in a foreign land."
"Yes, that's exactly what I mean."
Yellow Dog didn't mention his desire to become Commander. First, secure all the spy systems, then test the higher-ups' stance later to see if advisors like Mitokado Homura would agree.
"Let's go find the Hokage. I think your considerations are very thorough."
Nara Rokaku thought to himself that the loss of the 20 million Ryo huge sum of money was due to the failure of the intelligence system, so his own responsibility wasn't that great.
Nara Umeka was happy inwardly. She hadn't expected Fox to prepare such a good excuse for them so quickly.
Fox was still good to her.
Her resentment towards Fox for not contacting her proactively lessened considerably.
***
Dive deeper into the story with 50+ advance chapters, available now on Patreon!patreon.com/CNBLUE
If you're enjoying the novel, please consider leaving a review. Your support is crucial and helps the story grow immensely. Thank you!
(End of Chapter)