Chapter 53: Chapter 53: An Offer
Seeing that the office was now empty besides the Hokage and that one ANBU, of course, the four ANBU Operatives that were always hidden in the office, that Tekku could feel with his Chakra sensing, he approached the desk. The only visible ANBU was wearing the standard Konoha ANBU uniform with an additional white cloak covering his features; his face was hidden behind a mask that somehow depicted a dragon.
"So? What will my assignment be, Hokage-sama?" he asked with a serious look on his face. Since not even Inoichi was allowed to know, it had to be one of the more secret divisions in Konoha. Maybe there was a secret research division like under the second Hokage when he studied the Sharingan and the Uchiha? Maybe he would be assigned to it?
"First of all, this is an optional offer; you don't need to accept it. This assignment will take quite a few years, and you are quite young for it. To be honest, this is only possible because we don't know your actual age and will have to tweak your paperwork for it a bit," explained the Third Hokage with a blow into his pipe.
"Okay, so what exactly are we here talking about?" asked Tekku, a bit confused.
"I want you to join my division!" said the masked ANBU, who was quiet until now.
"I see. And with your division, you mean the ANBU?" Seeing that they nodded, Tekku asked for more information, "Okay, why would you want me as part of the ANBU? What could your reason possibly be?"
"Besides your young age, you are basically the perfect candidate. You are cold, logical, and calculating. Your abilities aren't too flashy and focus mostly on stealth and assassinations. But if necessary, you also have great firepower. Your puppets give you a great arsenal in many situations, although you wouldn't use them often during your ANBU duties since this would be counterproductive for one of the reasons you have this offer," explained the ANBU Operative while staring at Tekku.
"What would that reason be? And who exactly are you?" asked Tekku as he looked back at the masked man.
"I am Dragon, the new ANBU Commander for a few months now, and with that also your Commander if you should join. I will be responsible for most of your assignments and training alongside your Captain. Of course, if you should decide to join. As for why? That is something Hokage-sama can better explain," explained ANBU Commander Dragon.
Tekku knew that it wasn't the ANBU Commander from Canon, as that one had a Cat Mask. Which made him pretty happy as the one was very useless; he did nothing and just watched the fight between the Third Hokage and Orochimaru from the outside of the Barrier that was created to keep them outside. He pretty much waited for better days than to help others or try to break the Barrier somehow.
"Since your border patrol mission, your talent got noticed by the other Villages. After these Chunin Exams, more than one Village will try to take you out. They may even send assassins into our country to kill you. This isn't an uncommon practice, as many ANBU follow these kinds of missions and often turn into suicide missions to not start a war with another Country. You can see how serious they already are about you. Iwagakura even sent a team into the Chunin Exams; most likely, their mission was to kill you during the second Exam, but you were too fast in completing the Exam," explained the Hokage seriously.
"I see where you are going with this. You want me to join the ANBU in order to disappear from sight and give me time to grow, since the members perform their missions undercover," Tekku followed their reasoning.
"Exactly, in the ANBU, you would have enough time to grow over the next few years as targeting you would be hard," added Dragon from the side.
"But would that really work? The moment I use my puppets, the other Villages would realize I am an ANBU Operative and act accordingly. My anonymity thanks to my unique fighting style for Konoha wouldn't last very long," Tekku added, pointing a crucial flaw out.
"Good thinking, but that's why I said you won't use it very often in the ANBU. You will be joining as a fresh recruit and, at the beginning, undergo the hard ANBU drill to get you into decent shape in the other Shinobi Arts. We will develop a new style for your work as an ANBU, probably something related to Fuinjutsu since you are quite talented in it. Of course, you won't stop working on your puppets, but they should only be a last resort during the missions," explained Dragon his plan for Tekku.
"Okay, I get that. What are the exact conditions for me joining ANBU? I am pretty sure this will be no simple assignment where I could just leave," asked Tekku.
"Of course, being in the shadows will be beneficial for your safety. In the ANBU, you will have a lot of growth opportunities. Free access to up to B-Rank techniques and some A-Rank ones; with enough qualification, like for example Fuinjutsu abilities, you will gain access into higher-ranking techniques, even forbidden ones. Once a year, you are allowed, no matter what, to choose an A-Rank or higher technique; for forbidden ones, you still need special permission. You will get trained on a higher level. The standard ANBU contract lasts 6 years. This should be enough time to be forgotten and gain a level of strength that will be enough to protect yourself. You will only be allowed to leave earlier under special circumstances. So think carefully," explained the Third Hokage.
"If you join, you will be under my command for the next 6 years. I will make sure that you will become a real powerhouse for the Village. So what do you say?" added Dragon, whom Tekku still couldn't even guess what his real identity was.
Tekku had to think for a moment. There were many disadvantages, but also advantages. It wasn't like he wouldn't have any free time for his personal research, but his training would definitely become much harder. "I will do it. I'm going to join the ANBU."
In the end, the easier access to more advanced techniques and more focused training were hard to pass off. There should also be many opportunities in the ANBU to procure more research samples, gain the necessary connections for some more advanced resources and research, and more. So joining was simply the right choice.
"Okay, from now on, you are in the hands of Dragon. I have high expectations of you. I will inform your former Team of your assignment since it will be a while until you see them again, as your training will take a few weeks," nodded the Hokage, while putting a puff of smoke into the air while closing his eyes in thought.
"Come with me, Tekku. I will be showing you where you're going to live from now on. But first of all, let's get your stuff from your apartment," said Dragon as he pulled the young boy with him.
"Wait right now. Won't I even have some time to get ready?" asked Tekku, shocked.
"Nope, the more time we waste, the less time you will have to train. The next three months, we will make you into an ANBU. They will be Hell!"
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