After dismissing the surrounding Ninja, Hiruzen Sarutobi first returned to his Shinobi Clan's compound to ensure Konohamaru and the others were safe. However, he did not go to sleep. Instead, he returned to the Hokage Building in the morning light to begin dealing with the aftermath of the previous night's series of events.
The Shinobi Clans' matter was temporarily concluded.
But this did not mean the end of the issue.
On the contrary, it was just the beginning.
"Nara, Akimichi, Yamanaka..."
Hiruzen Sarutobi sat on a large sofa, with files and documents spread across the table in front of him. He lit his pipe, his slightly aged face gradually enveloped in thick smoke, his eyes narrowed.
Even he hadn't expected the Shinobi Clans' response to be so decisive after realizing his 'boiling frog' strategy.
He wasn't a fool; of course, he could tell at a glance that the box of ultimate bliss incident was definitely orchestrated by the Shinobi Clans.
It was just that the power displayed by the Shinobi Clans last night was too formidable, forcing him to reconsider whether his previous strategy had been too optimistic.
More importantly, Hiruzen Sarutobi noticed a huge problem.
"The power the Shinobi Clans can mobilize is only two or three-tenths of ours, but as long as these main clans reach a consensus, they can quickly assemble a sufficiently capable team."
"On our side, however..."
Hiruzen Sarutobi's hand gently tapped the files on the table, his brow furrowing involuntarily.
The available personnel, or more accurately, the available personnel among the younger generation, were simply too few.
While the number of Ninja from civilian backgrounds was large, they were scattered. There was no longer a leader like Minato-kun who could rally a hundred responses with a single call. Everything had to be handled by him, the Hokage.
For a political creature who had to weigh pros and cons in everything he did, this was a significant disadvantage—because once a choice was made, there was no option to go back on it.
In short, he wanted to wield the powerful force of civilian Ninja but was unwilling to bear the responsibility of failure.
The lack of a competent younger generation was his biggest disadvantage.
He lacked a handle to influence the situation.
"Not to mention, there's also that guy Danzo."
Hiruzen Sarutobi muttered to himself.
Just thinking about the scene last night where he and Danzo had surrounded the Shinobi Clans' army made him frown involuntarily.
Indeed.
Their cooperation last night did give the Hokage faction an advantage against the Shinobi Clans faction.
But for a power-hungry individual, even the slightest possibility that Danzo could contend with him would make Hiruzen Sarutobi extremely uneasy.
Heretics are more detestable than infidels.
That's the principle.
He would never allow the banner of civilian Ninja to be raised by anyone other than himself.
So, who could he control and also help him wield this immense power?
Hiruzen Sarutobi pondered this.
Almost immediately, he thought of a figure with the most impeccable background.
"Kakashi..."
"He alone isn't enough."
Next, he thought of the two young men who had appeared by his side at the crucial moment last night.
"Sōusuke and Itachi-kun are not bad; at least they are loyal enough to the Village."
Hiruzen Sarutobi gradually followed this train of thought. Due to the recent purge, the number of civilian Ninja who had climbed up from the bottom was quite substantial, enough for him to establish a new department.
The more he thought about it, the more he felt it was feasible, and his ideas became even broader.
It wasn't until the sun was high in the sky and the previously blank paper was densely covered with writing that he finally let out a sigh of relief, a casual smile appearing on his face.
"Someone."
"Yes."
"Please ask Kakashi-kun to come over."
"Yes."
Not long after the order was given, Kakashi Hatake, who had just finished his treatment, appeared in the Hokage Office with a bandaged arm.
"Third Hokage."
The gray-haired young man knelt on one knee, his expression respectful.
Hiruzen Sarutobi had already returned to his seat behind the desk, looking at him kindly: "You've worked hard, Kakashi-kun."
"I'm sorry to call you over after working so late last night."
"As a Konoha Ninja, it is only right to contribute to the Village."
Kakashi Hatake said these polite words, then looked up with a slightly puzzled expression: "Third Hokage, is there a mission you wish to assign me by calling me here at this time?"
"Yes, and no."
Hiruzen Sarutobi said, pausing for a moment: "Kakashi-kun, it's been over ten years since you joined Anbu at the age of twelve, hasn't it?"
"Yes, it's been eleven years."
"Time really flies," Hiruzen Sarutobi said with a hint of emotion, then suddenly changed his tone, "After so many years of training, that young genius has now become a Ninja capable of standing on his own."
"Kakashi."
"If you were to leave Anbu, what would you want to do?"
Kakashi Hatake was startled by this, and couldn't help but frown.
What did Hokage-sama mean by this?
He didn't answer immediately, thinking for a moment before cautiously saying: "I will follow the Third Hokage's orders."
The Village was not peaceful right now, and the Shinobi Clans' problem hadn't been completely resolved. At such a time, for the Third Hokage to suddenly bring up such a topic, how could it be without reason?
As expected.
Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression first became a little more serious, then he said solemnly: "After all these years of training, I have seen all your achievements."
"Now, it's time to give you more responsibility."
"What does the Third Hokage mean?" Kakashi Hatake asked, his heart settling a little, as it was within his expectations.
"I have decided to add a Police Department, an Intelligence Department, and a Counter-Espionage Department to the existing temporary Internal Affairs Department, forming the Konoha Security Department."
"You will be the first director, reporting directly to the Hokage Office."
Kakashi Hatake was stunned, looking at him in astonishment.
Such a huge responsibility?!
Hiruzen Sarutobi's tone was serious, and he looked at him sternly: "Kakashi-kun, the situation in the Village is very dangerous right now. We must organize a powerful enough department to solve all of this."
"Do you have the confidence to bear this responsibility?"
With things said to this extent, Kakashi Hatake had no room to refuse.
He froze for a few seconds, kneeling on one knee, then spoke in a deep voice: "Yes, Hokage-sama."
""
"Aizen Sōsuke!!"
At the same time, a muffled roar came from the Root Base office.
Danzo Shimura glared fiercely at the young man in front of him, extremely displeased, pointing at him and shouting loudly: "Who allowed you to unilaterally mobilize Root personnel to participate in sealing the box of ultimate bliss?!"
"Your mission is to guard the Root Base. If someone had taken the opportunity to attack Root last night and something went wrong, could you bear that responsibility?"
"My deepest apologies, Danzo-sama!"
The young man in the white coat bowed slightly in the center of the office, his tone sincere.
Danzo Shimura, however, was still not satisfied, scolding loudly, continuously venting his anger at having missed a great achievement that could have propelled him to the Hokage position last night.
He was just that close!
Danzo Shimura gnashed his teeth in hatred whenever he thought of this.
He had clearly caught up with the Shinobi Clans' Ninja who were going to retrieve the box of ultimate bliss, and was about to capture them all.
Who would have thought that those bastards would just disappear with a summoning jutsu?
If he had caught those people last night, securing evidence that the Shinobi Clans' Ninja intended to destroy the Village, he would have immediately led his troops to storm the Shinobi Clans' compounds and wipe them out.
With his intelligence, how could he be like that indecisive fool Hiruzen, dragging the problem out to this extent!
The more he thought this way, the angrier Danzo became.
What angered him even more was Aizen.
Without his orders, he dared to unilaterally help Konoha quell the chaos and take such a great credit for himself?
What kind of problem was it to take credit on one's own initiative?!
Did you not understand the Root iron rule that credit belongs to the superior?
If Aizen had been just a little slower last night, today he could have made the headline of Konoha news: "Root Ninja Quell Chaos Under the Wise Leadership of Danzo Shimura," creating a huge wave of public opinion.
The more he thought this way, the more displeased Danzo was with Aizen.
It seemed he had been too lenient by trusting him so easily because of a seal—he had to find a way to firmly bind this boy to his chariot, making him dependent on his resources!
Hiruko watched all this with cold eyes from the side, a subtle sneer playing on his lips.
Indeed, standing with Danzo last night was the right choice.
Just as he was thinking this, he heard Danzo suddenly speak: "Hiruko!"
"At your service."
Hiruko stepped forward, bowing slightly.
Danzo Shimura looked at him solemnly: "Your team will be responsible for formulating the research plan for the box of ultimate bliss. You must find a way to make good use of this weapon."
"Submit a usage plan to me within this month."
"Yes!"
Hiruko's answer was without hesitation.
He naturally understood that Danzo wanted to use him to contend with Aizen, to prevent that guy from becoming too powerful.
But what did it matter?
When the two walked out of the room, Hiruko looked at Aizen, who was passing by, and let out a low, mocking snort: "It seems you still don't understand."
"Aizen."
"Everything you possess is merely based on specific resources and talent."
"You're not that impressive."
Hearing this, Aizen, however, seemed not to understand his meaning, looking at him with a puzzled expression, and then walked past him.
Hiruko was startled at first, then suddenly narrowed his eyes, clenched his fists, and quietly watched his retreating figure gradually disappear.
Ordinary people found it difficult to understand the animosity he felt towards Aizen.
But Hiruko knew very well.
It was a pain mixed with jealousy, inferiority, and hatred.
His entire first half of his life had been spent tirelessly striving to catch up with talents like the Sannin, culminating in the Chimera Technique, which could fuse multiple Bloodline Limits.
However, the "artificial Bloodline Limit" created by Aizen made all the hard work of his first half of life into a nonsensical joke.
This was almost a complete negation of his life up to this point.
This guy, who had no more talent in Ninjutsu than he did, had surpassed him simply through theoretical mastery.
If it had been before, he could barely pretend this guy didn't exist, but when Aizen also appeared in Root and immediately pushed him aside, he could no longer ignore this guy's existence.
This irony of not being as talented as others, and even less hardworking, made him almost go mad with hatred.
Because of this, his animosity towards Aizen was so strong.
However, the other party seemed to have never taken him seriously from beginning to end, and even seemed puzzled by this animosity.
This disregard was the greatest mockery to him.
"Bastard."
Hiruko cursed in a low voice, gritting his teeth, his eyes cold.
"Aizen-sama, I'm back."
Aizen pushed open the door, his form returning to that of a young man, and walked to the center of the laboratory.
Another Aizen was standing in front of the giant box of ultimate bliss, manipulating different tubes, recording something.
Seeing Uchiha Itachi approach, he smiled gently and greeted him: "You've worked hard, Itachi-kun."
"Dealing with such people must have been troublesome, wasn't it?"
"Not at all."
Uchiha Itachi quietly shook his head, his tone slightly emotional: "It's just that their current situation is already so dangerous, yet they are still thinking about internal strife..."
"It makes one unable to understand why they would do such foolish things."
Although Uchiha Itachi had already lost all hope for this Village after setting the goal of changing it and following Aizen-sama, knowing this truth in his heart and constantly witnessing the stupidity of the leaders in this Village firsthand felt different.
"Also, Aizen-sama?"
"Hmm?"
"Hiruko Jonin seems very hostile towards you. Do you need me to eliminate him?" Uchiha Itachi's tone was as simple as asking whether to eat pineapple fried rice tonight.
"He still has some other uses. Leave him there for now."
"Yes."
After Uchiha Itachi agreed, he quietly stood aside, watching Aizen Sōsuke manipulate the incomprehensible experimental equipment.
"Aizen-sama, the setup here is complete."
A moment later, Yakushi Kabuto looked up from beside a distant cultivation tank.
"Very good."
Aizen Sōsuke said this, inserting the last tube into the side of the box of ultimate bliss, connecting it precisely to the interface of the demon mask.
"Buzz""
Suddenly, the entire surface of the box of ultimate bliss glowed with a faint purple light. Lines of tubes glowed grayish-blue in the surging Chakra, leading directly to a cultivation tank in the distance containing a portion of White Zetsu cells.
Amidst the increasingly muffled humming, the negative energy stored inside the box of ultimate bliss, as if guided by some force, began to flow into the peripheral pipes, continuously converging and surging towards the center of the cultivation tank.
The special White Zetsu cells in the center of the cultivation tank, as if encountering some natural enemy, their originally block-like inorganic limbs suddenly squirmed and twisted, rapidly becoming stained with a deep color under the impact of this negative energy.
Along with this, there was also a faint shriek—the sound emitted by the soul fragments of Aburame Shigehira, which had been sealed inside the White Zetsu limbs in advance.
"Soul fragments, White Zetsu cells, negative energy..."
"And, enough Chakra."
Aizen Sōsuke quietly watched this scene, anticipating the rapid changes occurring in the center of this cultivation tank.
As he spoke, the white inorganic matter inside the cultivation tank continuously twisted, deformed, and stretched.
Finally, under their gaze, it elongated into a pale mask with grotesque keratinous features.
A Hollow mask.