The next day
After receiving the order, the Anbu squad leaders gathered in the office of the Hokage Assistant.
Five Anbu squad leaders, with the entire Anbu close to a hundred members. Because of the absorption of Root members and replacing those lost previously in the Hidden Rain Village, many were added later.
Before coming here, they had received the Hokage's command, that the Anbu would listen to the Hokage Assistant's orders from now on. If he issues no orders, Uchiha Yoichi's command takes precedence.
Hatake Sakumo plans to step back directly. From today onward, the Anbu might not receive any more orders from the Fourth Hokage.
"The Fourth has probably told you already, first report on the missions of each squad. Although I handled some of your tasks before, now I need all of Anbu's movements."
Uchiha Yoichi spoke up. He now had the personnel files of Anbu in his hands, but wasn't clear on what missions each squad was executing.
"Assistant, I am Dragon, the First Squad has five Anbu teams. Currently, the first and second teams are in the Land of Rain...."
"Assistant, I am Kouko, the Second Squad has four Anbu teams. Currently, only the fourth team remains in the village..."
"Assistant..."
"Assistant..."
Each of the five Anbu squad leaders reported the mission status of their Anbu squads to Uchiha Yoichi. Only half of the Anbu, 48 people, remained in the village.
On missions outside the village, one-fourth were gathering intelligence in the Land of Wind, half were collecting information on the Akatsuki Organization in the Hidden Rain Village, and the remaining fourth were monitoring the movements of the Hidden Rock and Hidden Cloud Ninjas.
"Only four squads remain in the village; the other nine squads will undertake two tasks. Five squads will infiltrate the Land of Water to gather information on the Hidden Mist. Be discreet and report back on the Hidden Mist Village's status regularly; these five squads will primarily consist of members from the Third Squad..."
"The remaining four squads will head to the seas of the Land of Lightning to find the whereabouts of a giant Turtle Island. That should be the Hidden Cloud Ninja's holy land, and only they might know its whereabouts, so this mission is also quite difficult..."
Uchiha Yoichi paused and continued, "I will dispatch some Uchiha Ninja adept in illusion techniques. Try to pry open their mouths with illusions, but don't let the Hidden Cloud Ninja discover your purpose."
The mission to locate Turtle Island is entirely in preparation for Kushina, but it is the holy land for the Hidden Cloud Jinchuriki's trials, protected by a barrier on the outside. Information can only be obtained from the Hidden Cloud Ninjas.
Otherwise, finding Turtle Island in the vast ocean would not be easy.
Although Uchiha Yoichi was inclined to send ninja from the Yamanaka Clan, Yamanaka Haiichi might not agree, and now the Ino-Shika-Cho and Sarutobi Clans are also acting secretly; at that time, Yamanaka Haiichi might give him trouble.
He could only resort to dispatching Uchiha Clan ninja. Fortunately, illusion interrogations have good results, and Dojutsu Type Genjutsu is difficult for the average person to resist.
"Yes, Assistant."
The Anbu squad leaders responded immediately after hearing this; however, the First Squad leader of Anbu hesitated and said, "Sir, only four squads in the village; won't that be insufficient manpower?"
"Don't worry about that. The village has a Security Team, enough to handle routine matters."
After instructing on this matter, Uchiha Yoichi had nothing more to say, so he waved and said, "Go into action."
"Yes."
Compared to Nagato, Uchiha Yoichi was more eager to quickly assemble the Kamui Sharingan.
Moreover, Nagato was someone who had been fooled and crippled, now a cripple in a physical sense too, unable to fully exert the power of the Rinnegan, posing no threat to him.
And Uchiha Obito was steeped in sin, having killed very important ninjas within Konoha, and still the mastermind behind the Akatsuki Organization's instigation.
The most crucial point is that Obito is no longer of any use; his last bit of usefulness would be to boost Uchiha Yoichi's reputation somewhat.
The news of Hatake Sakumo handing Anbu over to Uchiha Yoichi soon reached the ears of the Ino, Shika, Cho, and Sarutobi Clans. In Anbu, there are already ninjas from the Yamanaka Clan, with the Secret Techniques from Yamanaka being possibly the most needed in Anbu among the Ino-Shika-Cho.
Nara Shikaku and others felt a twitch at the corners of their mouths upon hearing this news, but they were helpless about it.
Originally, they thought that Hatake Sakumo agreeing to capture Akatsuki members as a condition for stepping down intended to treat both sides fairly, but now it seems, the Fourth still values Uchiha Yoichi highly.
Anbu is the village's most elite ninja; although the minimum requirement is Chunin, a typical Chunin could not get in. Those who could were all with Jonin potential.
And though Sarutobi Hiruzen did not entirely hand Anbu over to Hatake Sakumo, he replenished it afterward, summoning back Danzo's Root as well, integrating them into Anbu, turning Anbu into a sharp sword of the village.
Both Anbu missions were challenging: one being to find intelligence on Turtle Island, the other to gather details on the Fourth Mizukage in the Hidden Mist Village. However, Uchiha Yoichi provided a search direction, and with so many elite ninjas, it should not be an issue.
If Uchiha Yoichi were to personally undertake these two missions, there would undoubtedly be no room for failure.
But he had other duties, managing village affairs, training, and such. Moreover, having become Hokage Assistant, with Hatake Sakumo disinclined to handle affairs, Uchiha Yoichi was now the most powerful person within the village.
It would be pointless to have power yet personally handle missions, especially when he has brought so many benefits to the village. Why would he go through such efforts to become Hokage Assistant, surely not purely for self-sacrifice for the village's sake?