After a brief moment of astonishment, Sarutobi Hiruzen accepted the resignation letter from White Fang's hand, revealing a gentle smile.
"Resigning might be for the best. This gives you time to properly teach Kakashi and contribute to the Leaf's new generation. Speaking of which, I'm somewhat envious of you."
White Fang nodded slightly, offering no particular response to Sarutobi Hiruzen's goodwill gesture.
After years of working together, White Fang was well acquainted with Sarutobi Hiruzen's true nature.
Moreover, this incident might very well have been subtly encouraged by Sarutobi Hiruzen behind the scenes.
After nodding toward Hayato Ren, White Fang then left the Hokage's office with an air of ease.
Sarutobi Hiruzen picked up his pipe, took a deep drag, and exhaled a large cloud of smoke.
White Fang's sudden resignation had disrupted his plans. Currently, no one in the Leaf possessed both the status and position to take over the role of Anbu Captain from White Fang.
Sarutobi Hiruzen had originally intended for his eldest son, Sarutobi Shinnosuke (Konohamaru's father), to succeed White Fang in a few years.
At present, Shinnosuke's abilities still fell somewhat short.
At that moment, Sarutobi Hiruzen suddenly looked across at Hayato Ren, who was frowning, and a flash of inspiration struck him.
In terms of status, as Tsunade's disciple, Hayato Ren undoubtedly belonged to his faction.
As for strength, being capable of intervening in a battle against Hanzo proved that Hayato Ren's abilities were sufficient.
Noticing the sudden gleam in Sarutobi Hiruzen's eyes, Hayato Ren, who had been slightly frowning due to the smoke, subtly took a step back.
This old man probably has some shocking scheme brewing again.
"Ren, are you interested in the Anbu?"
Faced with Sarutobi Hiruzen's probing, Hayato Ren straightforwardly declined.
Although the power of the Anbu Captain was considerable within the Leaf, taking over from White Fang at this critical juncture would only mean becoming Sarutobi Hiruzen's puppet—much like how Minato, upon becoming the Fourth Hokage, ended up with the responsibilities of the Hokage but saw most of the authority divided between the former Hokage and the two advisors.
Come to think of it, Orochimaru's defection might have still been within Sarutobi Hiruzen's control.
After all, if Orochimaru had become Hokage instead of Namikaze Minato, Sarutobi Hiruzen's power would have significantly diminished.
Seeing Hayato Ren outright reject the proposal, Sarutobi Hiruzen didn't press further. Instead, he began inquiring about Hayato Ren's daily life with apparent concern.
To an uninformed observer, Sarutobi Hiruzen would have seemed like a kindly elder genuinely caring for his junior.
After perfunctorily responding a few times, Hayato Ren took his leave.
Upon returning home, Hayato Ren resumed his stagnant routine, shuttling between his own house and Tsunade's.
However, for some reason, it seemed he hadn't seen Mikoto in quite a while. He wondered what she was busy with these days.
...
On a peaceful afternoon, Hayato Ren was enjoying the tranquil moment in bed.
Suddenly, a loud crash came from the living room.
With a loud "bang," Hayato Ren was jolted from his dreams back to reality.
Rubbing his eyes, Hayato Ren got up to see what had happened.
Pushing open the door and entering the living room, he found a furious Kushina and a teary-eyed Mikoto, standing beside a table that had been split in two.
Judging from Kushina's enraged expression, it wasn't hard to guess that the table had fallen victim to her "wrath."
It had to be said—as a student, Kushina had perfectly mastered Tsunade's skill of demolishing tables at the slightest provocation.
After silently complaining to himself for a moment, Hayato Ren walked over to Kushina's side. Gently massaging her hand—the very one that had just smashed the table—he asked, "Who dared to anger our great Lady Kushina?"
Kushina glanced back at Hayato Ren and immediately launched into an explanation of the whole situation.
"Ren, let me tell you, I'm so furious..."
While kneading Kushina's small hand, Hayato Ren nodded along, quickly grasping the full story.
The issue had nothing to do with Kushina herself—the protagonist of this incident was Mikoto, who sat across from them.
In short, Mikoto had reached the age for marriage, and her family had been pressuring her to meet with promising young men from the Uchiha clan.
Having already encountered a "gem" like Hayato Ren, Mikoto naturally found those arrogant guys—who looked down their noses at everyone—utterly unappealing in comparison.
Recently, however, Mikoto's father had been forcing her to give Fugaku Uchiha a chance, threatening to disown her if she refused.
So, Mikoto had come to Kushina to pour out her troubles.
Hearing all this, how could Kushina—as Mikoto's best friend—stand by and do nothing?
Thus, the poor table in the living room had become the sacrificial victim.
Hayato Ren soothingly patted Kushina's head, then turned his gaze to Mikoto across from them.
"Mikoto, what are your thoughts on this? Are you planning to follow your father's wishes?"
Hearing this, Mikoto shook her head firmly.
"Even if it means breaking ties with my father, I will never yield to others. I cannot accept entering a marriage with someone I don't love."
At these words, Kushina shot to her feet, waving her fist excitedly as she declared, "Well said, Mikoto! Don't worry—Ren and I are your strongest supporters. Let's go give that old fool a good beating, make him kneel and apologize to you, and take care of that toad dreaming of eating swan meat while we're at it."
Judging by the murderous look on Kushina's face, she wasn't joking in the slightest.
But given her current status, even if she were to eliminate Fugaku Uchiha, nothing would likely come of it.
Leaving aside the Uchiha clan's increasingly awkward position within the Leaf, Kushina's identity as the Nine-Tailed Jinchuriki alone meant she could practically do as she pleased in the village—especially with Tsunade, the leader of the Senju clan, backing her.
Originally, that clan leadership position was meant for Nawaki, but he had refused, saying he wanted to live a simple, ordinary life in the future.
Moreover, according to rumors, many Senju clan collectibles had recently appeared on the auction market—though no one knew whether those claims were true or not.
Tsunade probably wouldn't do something like selling off ancestral property and then using the money for gambling...
"Kushina, please calm down first. After all, he is my father. Beating him up would be going too far. If we communicate properly, he should listen."
Mikoto couldn't help but try to dissuade her, as Kushina's suggestion was too extreme.