The bald man crossed his arms and spoke first. "I am the ANBU Commander of the Hunter-nin Division. My codename is Sandworm."
The thin young man next to him gave a small bow. "I am the ANBU Commander of the Assassination Division. My codename is Spider."
Shota stared at them for a long second. Spider was fine. Spiders were quiet and cool. And there was even a hero named after it in his previous world.
But Sandworm? His brain immediately pictured a giant slimy worm wearing a tiny ANBU mask and crawling through the desert leaving a trail of sand. He tried to keep a straight face, but the corners of his mouth twitched.
'Dude, he is a commander also. His name must be quite a joke among his subordinates.' Shota thought
Sandworm noticed the weird look. Spider noticed too. They both decided a ten-year-old was allowed to be strange and moved on.
Sandworm kept talking. "We do not usually show our faces to new recruits. You are special. You will work in both Hunter-nin and Assassination divisions, so we will be your direct handlers for at least the next two years. We will give you missions. We will train you. We will make you useful. And Kazekage specifically requested us to mentor you and be directly incharged of you."
Shota's imagination went wild again. He pictured the bald man turning into an actual giant sandworm with tiny arms holding kunai. The worm opened its round mouth and spoke in Sandworm's deep voice: "Time for training, little Raven." Shota had to bite the inside of his cheek to stop himself from laughing out loud.
Sandworm narrowed his eyes. "Something funny, recruit?"
Shota straightened up so fast his spine cracked. "No, sir! Nothing at all, sir! Just excited to serve, sir!"
Sandworm glared for another five seconds until Shota lowered his head like a scolded puppy. Only then did the commander continue.
"Let me explain how ANBU works in Suna. There are six divisions. Each has its own commander. All commanders answer only to the Kazekage. Other villages have one or two commanders total. We have six. That is how serious we are. I will be explaining you the roles of each department in brief."
Shota did remember that Konoha only had one Anbu Commander which was Hiruzen's son.
He raised one finger. "Hunter-nin Division. We track and remove missing-nin who ran away with village secrets. We hunt our own rogues and other villages' rogues. The bounty money helps the village, and we sometimes learn useful secrets or take interesting bodies for study."
Shota's hand shot up like he was still in the academy. "How much of the bounty do we keep?"
Sandworm answered without blinking. "Twenty percent. The rest goes to the village."
Shota's jaw dropped. "Twenty percent? That is daylight robbery! I could just put on a hat and hunt them myself as a normal shinobi and keep everything!"
Sandworm looked completely unimpressed. "Yea, it might sound a lot. But hear me out. You are paid with training from two division commanders. Every ANBU gets that training. Well. They get training from the Anbu instructors and not from the commanders. That is worth more than money. There are also rewards only ANBU receive. Stop complaining."
Shota closed his mouth. 'Training from other shinobi is very useful especially in a village like Suna where you are not assigned a jonin instructor.'
Spider stayed perfectly quiet the whole time, as if Sandworm would scold him next if he made a sound. It looked like he was often scolded by Sandworm.
Sandworm continued. "Assassination Division. You already understand. Quiet killings that cannot be traced to Suna."
Shota nodded slowly.
"Next is Kazekage Protection Detail. They guard Lord Fourth. They hide in shadows during speeches. They watch from rooftops. They stand close when he walks in public."
Shota's eyes sparkled with jealousy. That was the dream job. Stand still. Look scary. Nap with eyes open. Perfect.
Sandworm kept going. "Internal Security Division watches inside the village. They catch spies. They stop traitors before they act. They know every secret meeting and every hidden tunnel."
"Interrogation and Intelligence Division works deeper than the normal T&I department. They break minds. They read coded messages. They send our own spies into enemy lands."
"Finally, Special Operations and Assault Division. The biggest group of the Anbu. They are the ones that attack an outpost of another shinobi village, assault enemy shinobis, hit key targets etc."
Shota nodded through the whole lecture. His brain filed everything away for later.
When Sandworm finished, Shota's eyes lit up with real excitement. "So what are the benefits of being trained by two commanders at once?"
He had not had a proper teacher in years. Someone who would actually sit down and teach him new jutsu, new skills, new tricks. His heart felt warm and a little sad at the same time.
A memory flashed in his mind. It was the memory of his last teacher. The last person to have taught him something. A quiet workshop filled with the smell of wood and oil. Small hands guiding his smaller hands on puppet strings. A gentle voice explaining why chakra strings are invisible to non sensors. Red hair tied back. A soft smile that was gone too soon.
'I wonder where you are, Sasori-nii-san.' Shota thought
-------Author Notes---------
For every 250 power stones. I would be posting an additional chapter. So gimme those power stones!!!
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