"Bring me the registered ninja records," Sarutobi Hiruzen ordered his subordinates from his office.
The current number of visible ninjas was no longer sufficient.
It wasn't feasible to send his elite personal unit, the Anbu, for every task.
"Understood!"
The response came from the Intelligence Department official, who also handled human resources.
Moments later, the department sprang into action.
Dusty, long-forgotten files, along with some brand-new documents, were retrieved and sorted.
---
A few hours later...
There was a knock at the door.
"Come in," said Sarutobi Hiruzen.
Bored, he had been fiddling with his crystal ball. Upon hearing the noise outside, he stashed it into a drawer and wiped his mouth—despite there being nothing to clean. Then, he addressed the person outside.
"Lord Hokage, here is the complete database of all Konoha ninjas," the official said softly, bowing respectfully.
---
"All the records? How long have you been in management? With this much material, how long do you expect me to go through it all?"
Hiruzen's voice was low as he stared at the towering stack of documents in the official's arms.
Inwardly, he couldn't help but wonder how someone so incompetent had made it into management.
"Which clan's connections got him this role?" he thought, chuckling to himself.
In his mind, he was already planning to strip the man of his position, depending on whether he stepped out of the room with his left or right foot first.
"Lord Hokage, I've already sorted the information you requested. The stack on top contains ninjas who have been Chūnin for years but possess substantial combat experience," the official explained hurriedly, sensing Hiruzen's dissatisfaction.
"As for Jōnin-level personnel, we don't keep backup files here—those are stored with you. The middle stack consists of promising individuals, including members of other clans and those used by the Fourth Hokage. Finally, the bottom stack contains civilian ninjas and some rogue ninja records."
---
Hearing this, the official inwardly tensed but seized the moment to prove his competence. This was his chance to gain recognition from the Hokage himself.
Hiruzen raised an eyebrow at the explanation, then relaxed slightly.
"Not bad," he thought. "Maybe I promoted him myself—he certainly understands what I want."
"Bring it here. Good job; keep up the hard work," Hiruzen said, his previously cold expression replaced by a warm smile.
"Yes, thank you for your encouragement, Lord Hokage," the official replied, bowing deeply as he placed the files on the desk.
He couldn't help but feel a sense of accomplishment. "The Hokage clearly values capable ninjas like me. He even spoke to me personally!"
"If my supervisor hears about this, I'm sure to get a promotion and a raise," he thought smugly.
---
With the room quiet once more, Hiruzen stared at the stack of documents, feeling a bit overwhelmed.
Smoking his pipe and surrounded by clouds of smoke, he picked up the top stack, approximately 50 pages thick, and set the rest aside.
"I still need to have dinner with Sasuke. If I go through all this, I won't finish until tomorrow," he muttered.
Using a Shadow Clone was out of the question—his stamina wasn't what it used to be. Overworking himself would only drain his already limited energy.
---
Besides, the truly outstanding ninjas had long been recruited into the Anbu.
Finding anyone exceptional in this "scrap heap" was unlikely.
He simply needed to repurpose a few for less critical roles. After all, even a piece of paper or an old pair of underwear had its uses.
As he sifted through the records, some long-forgotten family names began to resurface in his memory.
After several hours, Hiruzen had discarded 48 of the 50 files, leaving only two relatively promising ones.
His initial enthusiasm had waned as he reviewed them.
"These are the kind of people you deploy as cannon fodder or for logistics during wartime," he muttered in disappointment.
---
**File 1:**
**Ashura:** Age 20, Chūnin.
- D-rank missions: 200 completed
- C-rank missions: 30 completed
- B-rank missions: 5 completed
- A-rank missions: 3 completed
- S-rank missions: 0
**File 2:**
**Aganos:** Age 26, Chūnin.
- D-rank missions: 300 completed
- C-rank missions: 50 completed
- B-rank missions: 12 completed
- A-rank missions: 5 completed
- S-rank missions: 0
---
Hiruzen felt a glimmer of satisfaction.
"Chūnin with experience in A-rank and B-rank missions—promising indeed," he thought.
What truly impressed him was Ashura's simple and honest-looking face. "This one has potential. An honest worker is invaluable."
---
Aganos was wearing a mask, likely a fan of Kakashi, with messy white hair. However, his left eye didn't bear the scar left by the Sharingan transplant like Kakashi's.
From both their appearances and their past missions, the two were brave ninjas who dared to face any challenge.
...
These two were none other than Itachi and Kakashi.
Kakashi's name was personally chosen by Itachi.
As for the duo's mission records, they were manipulated by Danzo.
Why didn't Danzo make their records look better or elevate their ranks? Well, there's a lot of context to that.
After all, the difficulty of S-rank missions is significant, and Hiruzen Sarutobi would definitely have a vivid impression of such missions.
Even for A-rank missions, Hiruzen could vaguely recall some details.
As for the rank of jōnin...
Jōnin, being the face of Konoha, requires a thorough examination. Every individual's record is handled with great care.
As the former Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi would never overlook such details.
As the saying goes, the devil is in the details...
...
Of course, this was because Danzo understood Hiruzen Sarutobi all too well—practically inside and out.
Danzo knew exactly how to arrange things to Hiruzen's satisfaction.
Regarding the scar from Kakashi's left eye transplant, Itachi convinced Kakashi to have it repaired, claiming it looked unsightly.
Kakashi reluctantly agreed after some hesitation. He was initially dissatisfied with the idea, as the scar symbolized his memories of Rin and Obito. However, after a fierce glare from Itachi, Kakashi had no choice but to give in...
"Go call someone from Human Resources—cough, I mean, the Intelligence Division."
After reviewing the duo's profiles and appearances, Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded with satisfaction and gave instructions to the hidden Anbu outside his office.
The person outside did not respond but instead melted into the shadows and left.
...
Hiruzen Sarutobi stacked the two files and pressed them down with his arm.
He then glanced at a taller stack of documents nearby.
Clearly, he was somewhat intrigued.
However, after realizing these files concerned people previously used by the Fourth Hokage, Minato, his interest faded.
"Let them live peaceful lives without being disturbed," he thought.
After all, he didn't want to bring up unpleasant memories for them.
He was a considerate man—a thoughtful Hokage.
...
"Itachi... cough, Ashura, why are we here?"
Kakashi followed behind Itachi, walking toward the edge of Konoha near the sewage drain.
The stench from the sewer made Kakashi wrinkle his nose as he asked in confusion.
"Compared to clear rivers, there are usually more fish and shrimp here, Aganos," Itachi replied calmly without looking back.
"Fish and shrimp? Are they even edible here? If you want fish and shrimp, you could just go to the nearby river. The villagers often fish there, and I hear it's quite abundant," Kakashi said, puzzled.
Itachi didn't respond. Instead, he climbed up a nearby tree step by step.
Although Kakashi didn't know what Itachi was planning, he followed him up the tree, step by step.
Keeping secrets and being mysterious—that's the most annoying thing, Kakashi thought.
...
---