"Remember this—within ANBU, everyone is addressed only by their code names. You are forbidden from revealing any real names."
The leading ANBU ninja spoke coldly, clearly worried that Ning Feng might make the kind of mistake all newcomers tend to make, and thus emphasized the rule once again.
Ning Feng nodded calmly, engraving the rule firmly into his mind.
Compared to these regulations, however, what truly piqued his curiosity was something else—
Who exactly was the current Commander-in-Chief of ANBU?
It was said that even during the reign of the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato, the ANBU Commander was still someone from Sarutobi Hiruzen's faction, tightly controlled by the Sarutobi clan.
Ning Feng wanted to see for himself whether this rumor was true.
As he was thinking, the leading ANBU ninja brought him to an extremely spacious corridor. Ahead lay four or five branching passages, each marked with a unique symbol.
"This way."
The ANBU ninja briefly identified one of the symbols and led Ning Feng forward again.
They passed through several branching paths in succession before finally arriving at a vast, open area.
Only now did Ning Feng truly realize just how cunning ANBU's structure was.
The busy ANBU figures he had seen earlier were merely a surface layer of the organization.
The true core of ANBU lay here.
No wonder the original story never mentioned anyone successfully locating the ANBU headquarters—any outsider who entered would almost certainly get lost, likely fooled from the very beginning.
Seeing the astonishment in Ning Feng's eyes, the leading ANBU ninja explained:
"Those ANBU members you saw earlier are only outer members."
"What you're seeing now is ANBU's real base. By the way—did you memorize the symbols at the intersections just now?"
"I did," Ning Feng replied immediately.
ANBU's secrecy only fueled his curiosity further.
"Oh?" The ANBU ninja paused in surprise. "Such sharp observation?"
He asked Ning Feng to repeat them.
Ning Feng calmly recited everything he had memorized earlier, which made the ANBU ninja even more astonished.
"I never thought a kid like you—only five years old—could reach this level…"
"Truly, the younger generation surpasses the old."
After a brief sigh of emotion, the ANBU ninja led Ning Feng deeper into the open area.
At this moment, countless ANBU operatives were bustling about, continuously funneling the intelligence they had gathered back into the central hub.
Although many wore masks, Ning Feng could still sense that those stationed at the core were mostly members of the Nara clan and the Yamanaka clan.
The reason was simple—their coordination was flawless, and they constantly exchanged information through chakra-based communication, clearly the handiwork of the Yamanaka clan.
Although the Naruto original work never explicitly highlighted this, Ning Feng could keenly sense just how terrifying the Nara and Yamanaka clans truly were.
No wonder successive Hokage had gradually drawn closer to these clans.
They were all top-tier talents in governance and intelligence.
As Ning Feng continued forward, he saw ANBU members gathering in groups, seemingly preparing for missions.
He even spotted specialized intelligence classes, training various types of spies.
"These classes are intelligence divisions," the leading ANBU ninja explained calmly.
"They're made up of top talents selected from countless ninja, specifically dispatched to other villages to gather intelligence."
"Besides that, there are also female espionage units, using beauty to extract information."
His tone was flat, as though this were all completely routine.
Ning Feng nodded, though the mention of female espionage units still startled him slightly.
But after a moment's thought, he understood.
There were countless lustful nobles in the world—female ninja spies were inevitable. The Naruto original simply never showed these darker aspects.
As Ning Feng pondered this, the ANBU ninja brought him to an office.
"Commander."
Inside the office sat a man without an ANBU mask, quietly reading intelligence reports, seemingly deep in thought.
He was likely the only person in ANBU who didn't need to wear a mask.
Hearing the voice, the man slowly raised his head.
His deep, penetrating gaze seemed capable of seeing through anyone.
Even Ning Feng—a man who had lived two lives—felt a chill under that sharp stare.
He could clearly sense that this man, ANBU's Commander-in-Chief, had endured more than a decade of life-and-death battles, and his strength had likely reached Kage level.
Above his head was a simple designation:
ANBU Commander-in-Chief: Sarutobi Shinnosuke
Ning Feng's eyes flashed sharply.
As expected—the Sarutobi clan still firmly controls ANBU.
The previous ANBU Commander had been Hatake Sakumo of the Hatake clan. But after Sarutobi Hiruzen became the Third Hokage, the position was handed over to the Sarutobi clan.
Even in a small village like Konoha, political struggles ran deep beneath the surface.
As Ning Feng reflected on this, Sarutobi Shinnosuke glanced at him indifferently.
"This is the new ANBU recruit recommended by Minato, correct?"
"Let Kakashi take him. Kakashi happens to have a mission on hand."
With that, Sarutobi Shinnosuke returned to his documents, dismissing them entirely.
Though puzzled by the Commander's attitude, the leading ANBU ninja still escorted Ning Feng away to meet Kakashi.
Casting one last glance at Sarutobi Shinnosuke, Ning Feng could clearly read his intentions.
With the Fourth Hokage in power, it was only natural that Minato would try to remove Sarutobi Shinnosuke from the ANBU Commander position.
By continuously recruiting and promoting people like Kakashi, Uchiha Itachi, and Uchiha Peak, Minato was clearly attempting to shake Sarutobi Shinnosuke's hold over ANBU and weaken the Sarutobi clan's foundation within it.
Only then could Minato avoid becoming a puppet Hokage.
And Ning Feng himself had already been treated as one of Minato's chess pieces to influence ANBU's internal balance—otherwise, Minato wouldn't have arranged for him to enter ANBU at all.
However—
Minato had gravely underestimated him.
"Commander-in-Chief," Ning Feng suddenly spoke.
"I came to ANBU to be tempered and trained. But that doesn't mean I belong to anyone—"
"Or rather…"
"I don't take orders from anyone in particular."
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