Chapter 61: Entering Summer

The reason the "Uchiha disappearance incident" couldn't truly punish Shimura Danzo was the inability to convict him, because legally speaking, there wasn't enough evidence.

Who gave the order to "Takajo"? Unknown.

Where was the captured Uchiha ninja ultimately taken? Unknown.

Takajo was a ninja from Root, so this incident was instigated by Danzo. Was this deduction correct?

Guesses were just guesses, not concrete proof, even if they were reasonable guesses.

So, if this matter were to be decided by a "court," then Danzo would inevitably be found not guilty.

And if the Fourth Hokage used extrajudicial punishment? First, Danzo's status and seniority were very high; second, internal affairs differed from external affairs, and it was important to follow the rules; third, the current Fourth Hokage couldn't even fully control the Anbu.

To give a simple example, if the Third and Fourth Hokage simultaneously issued contradictory orders to the Anbu, who should the Anbu listen to? Theoretically, they should listen to the Fourth, but in reality?

Therefore, the Uchiha ninja was now categorized as "missing."

Habara had secretly followed Takajo and discovered that he had entered an underground space, but according to subsequent investigations, it belonged neither to Root nor to the Anbu. Naturally, the Uchiha ninja wasn't found there.

Habara's actions in this incident were actually somewhat inappropriate, or rather, he acted quite emotionally. Because he realized there was a problem with the mission after capturing the Uchiha ninja… If he had wanted to, he could have tried to rescue the Uchiha on the spot.

But why would he save an Uchiha? Would the other party be grateful to him if he saved him?

Rescuing the Uchiha ninja was also troublesome, because no matter what, the Anbu attacking the Uchiha was a fact. So, letting the hostage go back would also intensify the conflict between Konoha and the Uchiha clan. Therefore, it was better to just let him disappear.

In this situation, the Third Hokage could only warn Danzo not to stir up trouble, but he couldn't make Danzo hand over the Uchiha ninja.

Because Danzo hadn't done such a bad thing. He had a perfect alibi. Who said he did it? Please show the evidence. In fact, in this situation, the Hokage was forced to stand with Danzo and pretend that nothing had happened.

So, it was equivalent to Shimura Danzo achieving his goal at a small cost, and incidentally, hijacking the opinions of Konoha's upper echelons. Why would he hand over the Uchiha ninja? Wouldn't that be like getting scolded by the Third for nothing?

Under these circumstances, Danzo "generously" didn't take Habara too seriously.

As for Habara's report, it was submitted but didn't receive any proper feedback. The Fourth Hokage naturally knew that Danzo was secretly interfering in Anbu affairs. This wasn't a situation he wanted to see, but could he solve this problem in a short time? Unlikely, because this was a mess left behind by the Third Hokage.

The Third Hokage and Danzo were intertwined, which really screwed over the Fourth Hokage. The Fourth Hokage even sometimes wondered if he should disband and reorganize the Anbu.

The Fourth Hokage's situation was a bit like being the chairman and general manager, but his closest secretary was someone arranged by the previous chairman, with the tacit approval of other shareholders who were eyeing the chairman's position. It was incredibly awkward.

Could you directly replace this secretary? Wouldn't that be like saying the former chairman was incompetent? Even if he could be replaced, who could guarantee that the replacement would be problem-free?

Therefore, for the Fourth Hokage, dealing with the village's messy affairs was much more difficult than killing enemies on the battlefield.

Fortunately, the Fourth Hokage's troubles weren't Habara's troubles; he didn't need to pay attention to these things. For him, Konoha being a monolithic block wasn't a good thing. He'd rather have the village full of competing factions.

...

Two days later, at Anbu headquarters.

During this period, Habara had been secretly guarding against sneak attacks from certain people who lacked martial virtue, because he felt that certain people were the type to hold grudges. But two days passed and nothing happened, and then he realized that he might be taking himself too seriously.

So, he relaxed a bit and devoted his energy to improving his strength.

Anbu ninjas also had to undergo targeted training, and this training was mainly reflected in taijutsu, with the training content mostly consisting of practical sparring. After witnessing this training, Habara quickly joined in.

In a large underground space, the central part was a square area enclosed like a boxing ring. Obviously, this was a training ground with limited space. In such a space, ninjutsu and genjutsu were prohibited, and ninjas could only engage in taijutsu sparring.

"Next, Lu Yu."

After Habara arrived, it was soon his turn for sparring.

"Coming."

Habara casually placed his ninja tools behind him and quickly approached the arena.

"Training time is half an hour. If you can't hold on, you can beg for mercy."

A certain Anbu captain responsible for acting as "referee," holding a clipboard, made a checkmark after Habara's name. He signaled for Habara to hurry up and asked casually, "Why are you called Lu Yu? It sounds awkward."

"Uh, a sudden inspiration? For a moment, I seemed to remember my name from a past life."

Habara arrived in the arena, and at this time, another Anbu ninja also came on stage.

Hmph, beg for mercy? Who are you looking down on?

Since it was taijutsu practice, Habara naturally wouldn't use his secret techniques; otherwise, what would be the point of this training?

"Begin!"

The Anbu captain announced the start of the match, and then… 20 seconds later, Habara was forced to the ground.

"For some reason, I feel like I'm about to witness a new legend of losing."

There were two Anbu ninjas watching the excitement on the periphery. One of them couldn't help but joke after seeing Habara's performance at such a level.

The other Anbu ninja frowned, "How was a ninja of this level allowed to join the Anbu?"

He was clearly worried about the Anbu's selection standards.

After watching a few more moments, this somewhat strict Anbu ninja couldn't help but shake his head. He really couldn't watch anymore. What was the point of watching a one-sided beating?

So, he took a few steps back, intending to sit down on a bench to rest.

But there was something standing next to this bench.

"What's this?" he asked.

The ninja who spoke first turned his head to look, then turned back, his eyes fixed on the fight, and said, "It's that Lu Yu's ninja tool, I think."

Some people don't like watching others get beaten up, while others find it quite entertaining.

Hearing that it was Habara's, the ninja frowned, deciding to throw it aside, as if he wanted to throw out a rotten apple like Habara from the Anbu.

Then… huh? What's going on?

He tried to lift the long box, but it didn't budge.

As a ninja tool, this thing's weight was a bit unscientific.

He was a bit unconvinced, so he took a deep breath, put both hands on it, squatted slightly, and gathered strength in his lower limbs:

"Hmph… hmph… hmm~ hmm? Hmm!"

Damn it, if you can't lift it, you can't lift it.

Habara, who was still fighting, was clearly a weakling. At this moment, he was being beaten all over the place by someone whose taijutsu wasn't very strong, but…

Why couldn't he lift the weakling's stuff?

It was really strange.

How could such a weak person use a ninja tool that even an elite ninja like him couldn't lift?

Was there any justice? Was there any law?