Konoha.
Anbu.
Sakumo Hatake brought Hizashi Hyuga to the base.
"Go on," Sakumo said, tipping his chin at the rack. "Pick a mask you like. Then come up with a codename."
"Since the Third Hokage told me to bring you into Anbu, you'll be in my squad for now."
"I'll go over the basic rules and how the work runs in a bit. Tomorrow, you'll start the full training course…"
Sakumo sat on a stool, humming a tune that sounded like something an old Warring States samurai might've whistled. He held a chakra saber in one hand and a cloth in the other, carefully working oil into the blade.
Its name was White Fang.
That blade was where his title, White Fang of the Leaf, came from.
"Y-Yes, sir…" Hizashi stood in front of a row of masks, dazed.
The day had felt unreal from start to finish.
First there'd been fighting in the village at a level that felt like war.
Then the Hyuga Main House had pushed him forward to "handle it."
Then he'd endured everyone's looks, the weight of them pressing on his skin, while his stomach twisted into knots…
And in the end, he'd joined Anbu.
Even now, he still hadn't fully caught up.
Joining Anbu…
There hadn't been a single precedent for that in the Hyuga Clan.
Would the elders of the Hyuga Main House even allow it?
"Lord Sakumo, there's something I need to report…" Hizashi said, stumbling through the words. "Our clan's situation is… special. You know that, right?"
"I can't refuse the Hokage's invitation, and I do want to join Anbu…"
He swallowed. "But I don't know how the Main House will react. If I agree without thinking, will it affect the relationship between Konoha and the Hyuga Clan?"
The moment he finished, his face flushed.
He hated how weak it sounded. He'd already agreed. Why was he hesitating now?
But the weight of being Hyuga Branch House, the habit of fear drilled into his bones, made it impossible not to think this way.
"I don't understand," Sakumo said, looking up with genuine confusion. "Why are you overthinking it? The Third Hokage invited you directly."
Hizashi froze.
Yes, the invitation came from Hiruzen Sarutobi, but what if the Hokage didn't know what the Hyuga Main House would do?
"I've heard about the Hyuga Main House and Branch House mess," Sakumo continued, still polishing White Fang. "The Hyuga, a thousand-year noble clan and all that."
"And I've heard the rumors about your clan's stance too. 'A village inside the village.' 'Absolute neutrality.' Konoha's not exactly short on gossip."
Sakumo's tone stayed casual. "I'm not wrong, am I?"
Hizashi's eyes widened.
He'd thought the Main House's mindset was a guarded secret, kept behind the walls of the compound.
It was already common knowledge?
"What's with that look?" Sakumo's gaze landed fully on him now, sharp enough to peel back skin. "Your Branch House is too isolated. Too sealed off."
"Konoha's been around for years. Even a Chunin should've heard a few ugly stories by now."
"Collecting that kind of chatter is one of Anbu's jobs."
Sakumo's voice flattened. "You're not fully in yet. If you decide to back out, you still can."
"As squad leader, I can mark your assessment as 'unqualified,' and that's that, even if the Third Hokage invited you."
He set the cloth down for a moment. "I want you to say everything you're worried about. If we can solve it, good. If we can't, you leave."
"Because if you leak something one day, it won't end nicely."
Under the lights, White Fang threw back a cold flash.
Hizashi swallowed hard.
"I'm worried that if the Hyuga Main House doesn't approve me joining Anbu, what do I do?"
"And if they ask me about Anbu matters, what do I do then?"
He pulled off his Headband and exposed the blue-green cross pattern branded on his forehead.
"This is the Caged Bird Seal."
"All the Main House needs is a single thought, and my brain and my eyes will turn into mush. No one in a thousand years has been able to resist it."
His voice cracked. "Dying is one thing. But the way they punish us through this seal… that's worse than death."
Fear rose into his Byakugan, the terror so sharp it felt like it lived in the whites of his eyes.
That pain wasn't something willpower could fight.
When he was a child, he'd once talked back to a member of the Hyuga Main House.
He'd tasted it.
"I want to join Anbu," Hizashi said, forcing each word through his throat. "I want to protect the village with you and your people. I want to use these Byakugan eyes to find threats and drive enemies back before they can hurt anyone."
His fingers rubbed hard at the mark on his forehead. "I'm scared I'll be put in a corner."
"I think of myself as a man, but with the Caged Bird Seal above me, I don't know if I'm qualified to say that."
He exhaled shakily. "Saying it out loud… I feel better."
"Please assess me by your standards. As strict as you can."
Sakumo nodded, giving him a long look from head to toe.
Then he smiled.
"Good."
"You pass. Welcome to Anbu, Hizashi Hyuga."
Hizashi's chest loosened like someone had untied a knot.
"As for the problems you listed," Sakumo said, "they're not problems for Anbu."
He spoke slowly, like he was teaching. "You haven't seen enough outside the Hyuga compound. You don't have a full sense of what the village is yet."
Hizashi blinked, grateful but confused. "C-Can you explain?"
"As Anbu, you're a force directly under the Hokage," Sakumo said. "You are the Hokage's will, extended."
"In Konoha, who's going to interrogate Anbu? Your Hyuga Main House can be as powerful as they want, they still won't dare."
Sakumo laughed quietly. "Even the Uchiha Clan has never tried to confront Anbu head-on. At most, they curse under their breath."
He tilted his head. "Is the Main House planning to rebel?"
Hizashi felt like he'd been struck.
His Byakugan snapped open on instinct, veins bulging around his eyes as he stared, shocked.
Sakumo's voice turned curious. "Does the Hyuga Clan have the same problem as the Uchiha Clan? You get emotional and your eyes react?"
"Sorry, Lord Sakumo," Hizashi said quickly, lowering his gaze. "I just… got carried away."
But in that moment, he finally understood.
Right. What did the Main House's approval matter now?
He was Anbu.
He was the Hokage's man.
Interrogation wasn't even on the table. Even blame probably wouldn't be.
He'd heard Anbu could report to the Hokage directly…
Hizashi's thoughts ran wild, climbing back onto solid ground. "Then… even the chores I do for the Main House, I won't have to do those anymore, right?"
"Anbu serves the Hokage."
The excitement hit him so hard his knees almost went soft.
How could a Branch House member not crave freedom?
It was just that the Caged Bird Seal wall was too high. No one could fly over it.
So people stopped trying.
Like a butterfly trapped in a glass bottle.
After hitting the walls too many times, even if the bottle's mouth opened, it no longer believed it could leave.
But now…
A kind of freedom no Hyuga Branch House member had enjoyed in a thousand years had just dropped onto his head.
The Caged Bird Seal was still there. His Byakugan still had its blind spot.
So what?
The most important thing, the thing that mattered most, was here.
Hizashi wanted to throw a full Gentle Fist form on the spot, just to bleed off the feeling in his chest.
Sakumo watched him and spoke in a quiet, knowing tone. "Now you see why the Third Hokage told me to bring you in first instead of putting you through the normal process."
"If this went through Assistant Danzo first, whether you got in or not, the Hyuga Clan would end up on his radar."
Root.
Officially, it was the "Anbu training department."
Danzo Shimura, its leader, handled training for new Anbu recruits.
Sakumo wasn't blind. Danzo's training was harsh, but professional. Necessary, even.
The problem was that Root had gradually become Danzo's private force, less and less loyal to the Hokage, less and less clean.
Sakumo had brought it up to Hiruzen more than once, and each time, it had been set aside.
Until now.
Anbu and Root had finally been merged.
And after hearing Hiruzen speak today, Sakumo finally understood.
Or maybe things had simply clicked by accident.
Hiruzen hadn't been ignoring Danzo out of indulgence.
He'd been studying. Planning. Preparing an institutional reform for the whole village.
Before, Hiruzen's silence had made Sakumo uneasy.
Sakumo had stayed loyal to the Hokage, even when it meant offending Danzo, a man with terrifying power and seniority.
And in return, he'd felt frozen out. No response. No explanation. Just silence.
So the Hokage was thinking long-term…
The thought crossed Sakumo's mind.
The village is still good.
I was the one being impatient.
The moment Hizashi heard Danzo's name, his excitement cooled.
Danzo Shimura's reputation as the darkness of the shinobi world wasn't an exaggeration.
His intimidation ran both inward and outward.
Sakumo started explaining the department rules and background for his new squad member.
"Anbu. The full name is the Special Assassination and Tactical Squad."
"The missions and information we handle are classified."
"The rest of the rules will be taught tomorrow."
"But there are only two that matter most."
"One, absolute loyalty to the Hokage."
"Two, leak information and you die."
Hizashi listened carefully.
Right now, he felt an overwhelming sense of belonging.
No matter what, he would do this job well. He would keep it.
He would protect the freedom he'd been handed.
"Understood, Lord Sakumo!" Hizashi stood straight.
"As for your permanent team, we'll assign that after your assessment," Sakumo said. "Be ready."
His tone turned dry. "Assistant Danzo is strict."
Hizashi's face tightened.
Then his eyes hardened. "I'll pass the training with excellent results."
His hand reached toward the "ox" mask.
Branch House members were always told to be like oxen. To bear the Main House's weight without complaint.
It was something the elders loved to say.
But he wasn't the same now.
His gaze drifted to the "hawk" mask, a symbol of freedom…
"No," Hizashi said quietly to himself. "The ox."
He gripped the edge of the mask. If I can have freedom, then being an ox for the village is something I'll do willingly.
"Good," Sakumo said. "Put it on. Get dressed."
"Now I'm taking you on your first mission."
"This is the Hokage's first mission for you. Don't screw it up."
Sakumo pulled on his own mask. Over his clothes, he wore a white harness-style shirt, then draped on a light tan coat that marked him as squad leader.
Hizashi nodded fast. He changed into the Anbu uniform carefully, like he was afraid he might damage it just by touching it.
"Target," Sakumo said. "The Hyuga compound."
"Mission: inform the Hyuga Main House that you've joined Anbu."
"And deliver the Hokage's message of concern."
"If they have thoughts they can't report directly, they can send them through you."
Sakumo clapped Hizashi's shoulder. "You're the lead on this one."
Hizashi froze, then his chest exploded with joy.
He'd been wondering how to tell the Hyuga Clan, politely and cleanly, that he was Anbu now.
And the Hokage had already considered that too?
Wealth and status meant nothing if you couldn't show them.
This wasn't just a mission.
It was a stage Hiruzen Sarutobi had built for him.
Otherwise, with Anbu's secrecy, Hizashi couldn't have walked into the compound wearing this uniform and displayed his new identity openly.
"Remember," Sakumo said, voice low. "You are Anbu."
"Your posture, your tone. Don't embarrass yourself, Hizashi."
He tied White Fang at his waist.
Anbu was supposed to be secret, but at Sakumo's level, the truth came out the moment he moved.
The best kind of secrecy was simple.
Kill whoever saw too much.
Not long after…
Sakumo and Hizashi arrived at the Hyuga compound.
At the gate, a member of the Hyuga Main House was speaking to two Hyuga Branch House guards on patrol, his voice full of irritation.
"Why isn't that brat Hizashi back yet? The old man's been waiting."
His name was Ko Hyuga.
He didn't have much talent. He was the kind of person who got a seat in the Hyuga Main House purely by being born early enough.
Arrogant, overbearing, convinced that even if he wasn't capable, being Main House meant the ancestors favored him, and the Branch House existed to be commanded.
"Tell him to check the situation and come back," Ko snapped. "He's been gone forever."
He sneered. "What, he thinks just because he's Hiashi's brother he can do whatever he wants?"
"No discipline at all for a Branch House dog!"
The two Hyuga Branch House members beside him stared straight ahead, silent, faces empty.
Sakumo watched, and a strange feeling tugged at him.
So this is what the Hyuga Clan looks like from the inside.
This wasn't a shinobi clan.
It looked like nobles and slaves.
If the Caged Bird Seal wasn't so absolute… the Branch House and Main House would've slaughtered each other a long time ago.
Then Ko Hyuga turned his head.
His whole body jolted.
Two Anbu, masked and silent, had appeared in front of him without a sound.
"My lords," Ko said instantly, forcing a smile. He didn't want to offend Anbu, especially not when he spotted Sakumo's tan coat.
That coat meant power.
"Lead the way," Hizashi said.
Under the mask, his mouth curled high, but his voice came out cold and hard. "We're seeing the Hyuga clan head."
Then he added, sharp as a blade.
"By order of the Hokage."