ANBU—short for the "dark side"—naturally refers to a hidden department, one that specializes in doing the kinds of things that can't be exposed to the public.
It represents the shadows.
The two of them pushed open the door and walked inside. On the way, they didn't run into anyone. Following a sign, they found the Equipment Division.
After waiting for a bit, an ANBU ninja showed up and handed them two sets of standard-issue ANBU uniforms.
He simply said, "These are your outfits."
"Thanks."
Taking the clothes, they found a place to change into the gray ANBU gear, slung the regulation long swords on their backs. Kakashi put on his signature dog mask, while Kiyosuke glanced at the snake mask in his hand before placing it on his face.
The mask didn't hinder his vision at all. It even had an opening for breathing, which was a thoughtful design by the artisans.
"Let's go. Time to report to ANBU."
"Yeah."
Together with Kakashi, he walked into a room and pushed open the door. Instantly, a group of masked ANBU ninjas turned their heads in unison to look at them.
Kakashi spoke, "I'm Hatake Kakashi. As of today, I'm joining the ANBU."
"Asakawa Kiyosuke."
"So it's you two. Welcome, welcome."
A masked ninja wearing a monkey mask stepped forward and greeted them in a low voice.
"This voice… Captain Shinnosuke? Aren't you supposed to be with the ANBU directly under the Third?" Kiyosuke recognized the voice and asked curiously.
Shinnosuke looked slightly embarrassed and gave a small cough.
"There are… various reasons for that."
Although Minato had taken up the mantle of Fourth Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi hadn't completely handed over command of the ANBU under his control. As a result, Minato had to recruit people to fill some of the gaps.
This led to two factions forming within the ANBU—the original members loyal to the Third, and the new recruits brought in by Minato. It was one of Hiruzen's subtle ways of checking Minato's power.
Among the people he embedded was Shinnosuke. That old man really was a schemer.
Naturally, Minato wasn't going to just sit back. He had already begun making countermeasures. Though he couldn't openly oppose a respected elder like Hiruzen, he could still take indirect action by bringing Kakashi and Kiyosuke into the fold.
Kakashi would help him stabilize the ANBU.
As for Kiyosuke… with his temper, anyone who tried to stir up trouble in front of him was probably asking to get beaten down.
He was more or less there as a warning—Don't try anything.
"Captain Shinnosuke, you've really brought in two big names this time: Sharingan Kakashi, and the hero who, like the Fourth, ended the Great Ninja War," one ANBU ninja commented.
Kiyosuke laughed.
"It's not that big a deal. Besides, isn't the war with the Land of Lightning still ongoing? It's not really over, is it?"
The Land of Lightning was still resisting and hadn't yet signed a peace treaty with Konoha. There were still occasional skirmishes, though nothing major. Most of their forces were still clashing with the Land of Earth.
After all, the Third Raikage had died at the hands of Iwagakure.
As the Fourth Raikage, A wasn't about to let that go. The guy had a temper like a raging bull.
Still, aside from the Land of Lightning, the rest of the ninja world had returned to peace—enough that the Third Great Ninja War could be considered over.
The Battle of Kannabi Bridge and the Three-Tails Incident were both pivotal moments in ending the war.
Minato and Kiyosuke made it clear to the ninja world: even without the Sannin and even after the death of the White Fang, Konoha was not to be trifled with.
Kiyosuke, in particular, had a reputation rivaling a tailed beast—a walking weapon of mass destruction.
Many ninja villages had even distributed basic info about his appearance to their own ninjas, along with standing orders: If you encounter this person on a mission, abandon the mission immediately. You won't be punished.
You have to understand—ninjas prioritize completing missions above all else. Failing a mission usually leads to punishment.
But for some people, exceptions are made.
One of them is Minato.
The other is Kiyosuke.
If you run into either one and make it back alive, that's already a miracle.
One is the fastest shinobi in the world. The other packs enough firepower to rival a tailed beast.
With both Kakashi and Kiyosuke carrying such intimidating reputations, the ANBU members who had originally thought of teaching the "two kids" a lesson quickly gave up on the idea. Who were they kidding? Neither of them were pushovers.
As the more restless members calmed down, Shinnosuke found the whole thing amusing. But he also knew just how dangerous Kiyosuke could be.
"Alright then, for now, you'll both be assigned to my team," he said.
"Got it."
"Yes, sir."
Neither Kiyosuke nor Kakashi had any issues with that. Afterward, Shinnosuke took Kakashi out to the outskirts of Konoha to relieve the current ANBU patrol unit.
Kiyosuke didn't go.
Minato had already said he didn't need to participate in day-to-day missions. Honestly, he was more like a good luck charm stationed at ANBU HQ.
Which suited him just fine—he could laze around and still collect a paycheck. What a sweet deal.
After parting with the ever-so-unlucky Kakashi, Kiyosuke left ANBU HQ and headed over to Orochimaru's place, only to find that he wasn't there.
Probably off at another of his secret labs again.
Over the past few years, Orochimaru had funneled all his mission pay into his research. Everyone knew that research was expensive, and with all the labs he had scattered around, his lifestyle had gotten pretty minimalistic.
"Well, there's nothing pressing going on right now. Might as well go train at Ryūchi Cave."
With that in mind, he checked in with Minato, left behind a snake for contact purposes, packed up some daily essentials, and happily set off for Ryūchi Cave.
...
Ryūchi Cave
The energetic and playful Ichikishimahime was delighted to see Kiyosuke arrive.
Grinning, she said, "Here to practice senjutsu again? You know, the White Snake Sage said if you didn't show up soon, you'd lose your qualification to keep training."
She was clearly joking. The White Snake Sage wouldn't actually care about that. Since Kiyosuke had already grasped Sage Mode, the rest of the training wasn't the Sage's responsibility. It was now in the hands of the three Great Sages under her.
"I'm here now, aren't I? Alright, alright, I've already mastered Inorganic Reincarnation. I want to learn the White Rage Technique next!"
Ichikishimahime replied, "For that, you'll need to go find Tagitsuhime, not me. And if you want to learn Object Transmutation, you'll have to find Tagorihime. By the way, how long are you planning to stay at Ryūchi Cave this time?"
"I'll probably stay until I've mastered both techniques. With the war over, there's not much going on, so I've got free time."
He had already taken a leave of absence from Minato. He wouldn't be doing any ANBU missions, and the village didn't need him for anything else either.
Which meant he could focus completely on training.
He intended to master all of Ryūchi Cave's senjutsu techniques.
And if possible, he wanted to learn even more.
"Alright then, go find Tagitsuhime. She's usually free anyway. There's not much going on in Ryūchi Cave these days, so go on."
Ichikishimahime floated up and led the way through the air. Ryūchi Cave was a tangled labyrinth. One wrong turn, and you could end up wandering into a giant snake's territory. That would be a real pain.