บท 78: Chapter 78 - Resident
After having a quiet breakfast alone in a restaurant that Yugao pointed out to him, Jin headed toward the Hokage's office. The girl herself maintained her distance by sitting on a nearby rooftop while he ate before following him.
Meanwhile, Hiruzen arrived at the front of the Root base. Two guards wearing Anbu uniforms bowed at his approach.
""Lord Third!""
"Take me to Danzo."
"His body has been cremated as a countermeasure set in place by him."
"I don't think you heard me. I am the Hokage, and Danzo answers to me, therefore the Root also answers to the Hokage. Take me to his body."
"...Yes, Lord Third," One spoke up after a brief pause.
With that, the Root Shinobi led Hiruzen through the mostly hidden gate. Following closely, Hiruzen quietly observed the interior of the Root base since it was his first time actually visiting the location in person. Eventually, he shook his head and sighed at the dark and dreary atmosphere within.
Deep within the bowels of the base, they arrived at a large room that had massive boiler pipes jutting in and out of the walls. One wall was covered with unlabeled metal doors. The heat within the room made the air heavy and wavy like that of a desert.
"A crematorium," Hiruzen mumbled to himself.
Without responding, the Root Shinobi walked all the way to the back of the room and opened the metal casket at the end using a long metal pull bar. A mostly charred corpse remained, but some of the right shoulder and arm had yet to fully burn away.
Eyes glued to the arm that seemingly fought to survive against the furnace flames, Hiruzen's eyes twitched. His fingers clenched down on the pipe he had refrained from smoking here and cracked it in half.
"Get me access to all records of the Root."
"...Some of those may have been burned as well."
"That is an order."
"Understood. This way."
With a deep frown plastered on his face, Hiruzen looked down at his broken pipe while following the Root Shinobi and grumbled, "Danzo, what the hell have you been doing behind my back?"
* * * * *
Later that morning, Jin arrived at the Hokage's office. After waiting in a lobby behind a few other people, mainly Shinobi or people who looked like businessmen of sorts, a clerk called out Jin's turn in line. While ascending the circular stairway, he sensed that Hiruzen's life force in the office ahead of him felt somewhat diluted.
'A shadow clone? Guess he's taking care of the aftermath.'
Setting aside his thoughts, he entered the Hokage's office when the door guard opened it for him. Inside, Hiruzen's shadow clone raised his head from some paperwork on his desk and greeted Jin with a friendly smile from underneath his red and white Hokage hat.
"Welcome back, Jin. How did you find your stay in Konoha last night?"
"Quite good. I would probably consider purchasing a vacation home here at some point after saving up some money."
Hiruzen's clone nodded in an understanding manner. He then tapped a finger on his desk a few times before saying, "I have heard that you sparred with the Anbu member who was watching over you this morning. I apologize for the surveillance, but as a hidden village, we do need to maintain security when it comes to foreigners. Hopefully you were not offended by having them watch over your actions until now."
"It is understandable. I would do the same thing in your place."
"Mhm. I appreciate your understanding."
The middle-aged man closed his eyes, clasped his hands together on the desk, and nodded in a sagely manner.
"Anyway, from what I hear, you put her through the ringer during that friendly spar?"
"It was a decent spar, yes."
"Mhm. Then, since you mentioned wanting to save money, would you consider becoming a Konoha shinobi?"
Jin smiled, set his residency papers down on the desk, and answered, "I don't mind becoming a resident, but since I've got some friends from other Hidden Villages, I would prefer not to get involved in any inter-village turmoil. I prefer to remain a neutral party no matter where I go."
"I see. That is too bad," Hiruzen replied. He sighed lightly and actually seemed legitimately disappointed. "Although that young lady is still a young recruit, she is still a talent who reached Jonin at such a young age. I thought perhaps you two might get along well."
Jin shifted uncomfortably. He briefly recalled the times when older people tried to urge him to find marriage partners in his previous life without much success.
"That… seems a little inappropriate. If you're going to try to tie my hands to village interests, let it happen naturally."
*Cough* *Cough*
Hiruzen almost choked on his own spit after being called out so blatantly. Then, he cleared his throat and said, "That was not my intention."
"Either way, you don't need to worry too much. If I have a goal in this world, it is to gain a few friends from all over the world and lay the groundwork for a longlasting peace between the major villages. I don't believe I have the personality to see it through myself, but if some groundwork is laid, there will surely be somebody who can accomplish it in the future."
The middle aged man furrowed his brows. His eyes scanned Jin's face for a few moments before saying, "I see."
"I say all that to let you know that I hope for Konoha's prosperity in my own way, especially since I want a vacation home here," Jin explained while tapping his residency papers.
Chuckling, Hiruzen grinned and commented, "You are quite an idealistic young man. It reminds me of when I was younger."
"Who says an old man can't be an idealist, too?" Jin retorted, which drew a pondering expression from the middle-aged Hokage. Then, he added, "Well, rather than an idealist, I would just prefer not to see people I care about suffer if it can be avoided. Hope that clears up any questions about why I came here aside from bringing that girl home. I'll leave these here and head out to sightsee if you don't need anything else from me."
"No. You are free to go, Jin," Hiruzen responded.
"See you later, then."
With that, Jin stuck his hands in his pockets and left the office.
As soon as the doors closed, Hiruzen's clone tapped the table with his index finger a few times. He then gestured with his hand and summoned the young girl who had been waiting up in the ceiling until now. Lucky for her, the Anbu mask hid the embarrassed blush on her face that had yet to go away since the Hokage himself tried to set her up with a stranger.
"So he slept through the entire night?" Hiruzen asked.
"Yes, Lord Third."
"I suppose he is not a suspect, then. In fact, there is probably no need to continue searching for a suspect, but it could be a good opportunity to root out any spies, so all Anbu should continue their investigations."
"Yes, Lord Third," A few voices responded from hiding points in the walls and ceiling.
"Also, Cat 5."
Standing at attention, Yugao responded, "Yes, Lord Third!"
"Continue to follow and interact with that young man. Even better, if you can attach him to the village, that would be ideal."
"..."
"You don't have to force it, but it would be great to add another Jonin-level combatant to our ranks."
"Lord Third… I don't want to disobey orders, but… I already have somebody I like, so can you ask somebody else."
"Haha. You're still young and free. At least consider it since you already have some rapport with him. Either way, just consider it a side objective. At the very least, follow him around for a bit and become friends with him if you can."
"...Understood, Lord Third," Yugao dully responded with an unenthusiastic tone. If somebody told her when she first joined the Anbu that she would receive a mission to seduce a boy, she would have slapped them to erase their delusions, yet here she was living that as a reality.
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