Tenzo felt that he was truly wronged.
Hatake Kakashi believed that Tenzo was also wronged. He always knew Tenzo was an honest and upright person, incapable of such random acts of murder.
Akihara Kagura knew even more about Tenzo's innocence. As the one who framed Tenzo, he must be the most aware of how wronged Tenzo was.
"Is there a possibility..."
Tenzo's face turned pale, and he cautiously put forward his hypothesis: "Kagura, besides the two of us, is there another Wood Release ninja hiding in the village?"
"It's not impossible."
Hatake Kakashi looked up at the sky, muttering to himself: "In the world of ninja, anything can happen, any kind of person can appear, nothing would surprise me."
Hatake Kakashi had a strange idea in his mind. Someone wanted to keep this kid away from Shimura Danzo, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing, though the method was a bit extreme.
Of course.
Such thoughts certainly couldn't be spoken aloud, otherwise this kid who always talks about Shimura Danzo might start fighting with him on the spot...
Who would do such a thing?
Who would benefit from driving a wedge between Shimura Danzo and Akihara Kagura?
Hatake Kakashi couldn't help but recall the style of the old man in the Hokage Tower. Could it be that under the Third Hokage, another Wood Release ninja was hidden? When did this Wood Release ninja appear?
However...
Killing someone like Aburame Tatsuma...
Didn't seem like the Third Hokage's style.
Yet as a ninja who had spent many years in the Anbu, Hatake Kakashi had experienced much darkness and wouldn't use his fixed mindset to judge the thoughts of a Hokage.
Of course.
This matter had to be thoroughly investigated.
A Wood Release ninja who killed fellow villagers was hiding in the village. At the very least, it needed to be known whether this person was an enemy infiltrator or a subordinate hidden by someone in a high position.
"Alright, I will look into this."
Hatake Kakashi planned to take over this trouble on behalf of his two subordinates, and thought to himself: "If this person wants to ruin your relationship with Danzo but hasn't achieved his goal, he will surely appear again to use Wooden Release to kill..."
Hatake Kakashi said this and then looked at Akihara Kagura: "Don't doubt your Team Leader Tenzo would definitely not frame or entrap others..."
"Kakashi-senpai..."
Tenzo's eyes clearly showed some emotion.
(TL: This is not BL)
"Oh."
Akihara Kagura nodded, clearly somewhat incredulous.
Could it be that he really likes to frame and trap others? If he had no other choice, how could he possibly pin the blame on Tenzo?
Forget it.
The goal has been achieved.
As long as Hatake Kakashi is willing to investigate, that's enough.
Even if that mysterious masked man hiding in the shadows doesn't show any flaws, Akihara Kagura must find a way to let Hatake Kakashi discover some clues.
Meanwhile,
The pitcher plant monster, secretly lurking underground and eavesdropping, quietly informs the mysterious masked man of the conversation between Hatake Kakashi, Tenzo, and Akihara Kagura.
"Tsk..."
When the mysterious masked man received this message, he couldn't help but mock first: "Kakashi, that fool is really overestimating himself. What does he think he can find out? Tonight I'll kill another person and see what that idiot can do!"
"Wait a minute..."
You're not smart either!
You clearly want to go against Hatake Kakashi!
Feeling that the mysterious masked man was getting a bit carried away, the pitcher plant monster quickly advised: "They already know that someone is secretly instigating things. Our plan to use Wood Release to frame Akihara Kagura is already very unlikely to succeed..."
As the pitcher plant monster spoke, it paused for a moment before continuing to advise: "Even if you kill another person, it won't mean much anymore, right? It might even prove that the kid is being framed by someone..."
"..."
The mysterious masked man suddenly fell silent.
Distracted by Hatake Kakashi for a moment, he forgot that what he originally wanted to do was to recruit Akihara Kagura...
"Zetzu."
The mysterious masked man took a deep breath, calming himself down: "Let's continue to watch that kid for now, and see if there are other opportunities..."
Of course.
No opportunity was found today.
Because Akihara Kagura, who just joined the Anbu, would certainly not act alone.
Hatake Kakashi, along with Tenzo and Akihara Kagura, carried out a day's Anbu routine tasks, mainly responsible for protecting the Hokage, conveying the Hokage's orders to other departments, and inspecting defense patrols to prevent enemy invasion.
"When can I go to rest?"
Akihara Kagura feels that the daily tasks of the Anbu are relatively easy: "Where do Anbu members rest at night? In a dormitory? Why haven't I seen a dormitory?"
"Rest at night?"
Hatake Kakashi and Tenzo looked at Akihara Kagura in surprise.
"Not resting at night?"
Akihara Kagura's expression was even more surprising than theirs.
"Of course not."
Hatake Kakashi quickly shook his head and continued, "Besides going out on missions, the Anbu usually need to perform over sixteen hours of patrol duty in the village. Someone will come to relieve us tomorrow morning."
"Work sixteen hours a day?"
Akihara Kagura's face couldn't help but change.
With so many streetlights in Konoha, why isn't the Hokage's corpse hanging from them!
(TL: This is a Capitalist Joke)
"Anbu work is inherently somewhat dull."
"Compared to going out on missions, staying in the village to protect the Hokage and prevent enemy invasions is already quite easy."
Tenzo seemed to have gotten used to these things and continued, "Only a true ninja who can endure can become part of the Anbu."
While speaking, Tenzo handed Akihara Kagura a Military Rations Pill: "Can you adapt to the work of the Anbu on your first day? Let's have dinner first."
"This is... dinner?"
Akihara Kagura experienced the working atmosphere of the ninja world for the first time.
If the daily life of Anbu members is always like this, can't the Hokage's corpse really be hung separately on the streetlights?
"It might be a bit hard."
Hatake Kakashi bit into a soldier pill and said softly, "The full name of the Anbu is (Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai) Assassination Tactics Special Forces/Special Assassination and Tactical Squad. We are Konoha's army during peacetime, it can't be as easy as when other ninjas are on missions."
"Oh."
Akihara Kagura immediately understood.
"Right, you don't have a code name yet?"
Hatake Kakashi glanced at Akihara Kagura: "When executing missions in the Anbu, one should not use their own name or call others by their name. To avoid being discovered by enemies, it's best to use a code name."
"Is that necessary?"
Akihara Kagura, looking at Hatake Kakashi's white hair, couldn't help but say: "In the entire ninja world, there aren't many who use Wood Release, and not many have white hair like Captain Kakashi. Do we really need a code name? I haven't even heard the Third Hokage call you by your code name today."
"..."
Hatake Kakashi was silenced.
"It seems that it's indeed unnecessary..."
Tenzo stood by their side, carefully joining in their conversation.
"Let's start by patrolling the village!"
Hatake Kakashi, not intending to argue with Akihara Kagura, brought up the main issue: "Both of you, pay extra attention and see if you can find any traces left by that Wood Release ninja..."
After all, the other hidden Wood Release ninja might be a subordinate of the Third Hokage, and Hatake Kakashi dared not let too many people know, only entrusting Tenzo and Akihara Kagura with this task.
"Okay!"
Akihara Kagura felt immediately spirited.
By helping the future new boss, the mysterious masked man, create new troubles, and forcing this boss to come and hire himself to solve these troubles, Akihara Kagura was indeed very spirited about this matter.