The wind sighed softly as it blew over the sleeping Konoha Village. Except for the Ninjas on duty who guarded their homes diligently, most people had already rested.
The dark clouds gathered and drifted away, and the moon sank a little lower.
In a house in the corner of the village, Logan opened his eyes.
'I communicated with the big shots again.' Logan sighed. Just now, his consciousness having spent some time in another place. This time, Pain had summoned him. In addition to formal acceptance into the Akatsuki and a welcome, there were also new instructions issued.
In the quiet surroundings, Logan lay in bed, pondering about life, before eventually falling asleep.
The next day.
Not long after Logan woke up, and just after breakfast, a Ninja came to visit.
It was the ANBU who sent a message, telling him that Takeshi wanted to see him. Logan wasn't surprised by this.
Yesterday, during the mission debriefing, a bunch of people had gathered together. After finishing, in order to show consideration, they had been allowed to rest early, so it was very likely that there would be further individual conversations.
After following the ANBU's members to the ANBU's Headquarters, Logan went straight to the innermost office.
Along the way, he saw many colleagues, all of whom greeted him with a smile. Many people looked at him with a hint of admiration, perhaps because his deeds had been publicized by the ANBU who were traveling with him when they were bragging.
Unexpectedly, after walking for a while, Logan happened to see Kakashi, who seemed to be about to leave. Then, Logan raised his hand first.
"Hey, Kakashi." Logan said with a sunny smile, "Where are you going?"
"Call me 'Senpai'." Kakashi looked at him and said calmly.
"..." Yu Logan's bright smile suddenly froze, and the corners of his mouth twitched, "Okay, Senpai..."
'What the heck, you are only a few years older than me. I should have known better than to pretend to be so familiar with you!'
"I don't have any business today. I just came to report and was about to leave." When Kakashi heard Logan call him 'Senpai', his tone softened, and then he answered Logan's question.
"Oh, that's it. Commander Takeshi wants to see me, so I was called over..." Logan's voice became indifferent, completely devoid of the vitality he had earlier.
Before, whether it was Itachi, Sasuke, or other ordinary colleagues, Logan was older than them in terms of seniority, even though he didn't hold a high position.
He had always been called 'Senpai' by others. But now, he had encountered Kakashi. And it was his turn to call someone else 'Senpai', and it felt a bit uncomfortable.
Kakashi nodded, indicating that he understood. He passed by Logan as usual. Suddenly, he seemed to remember something and turned back, then said, "Oh, by the way... how was the gathering after the mission yesterday?"
"Huh?" Logan scratched his head, suddenly remembering that when the mission was over, Ishida Kappei had proposed that they all have a meal together. In the ninja profession, where danger lurked day and night, each team would gather after completing a difficult mission, not only to celebrate but also to relax. Everyone else had no objections, but Kakashi had coldly declined.
After Kakashi left, Logan felt quite awkward. He was in a one-person team. When everyone was eating and drinking, chatting and laughing, he would sit alone in the corner, as he wasn't very familiar with someone.
This kind of situation had happened before, so Logan thought about it, and politely declined, then headed straight to the Uchiha Compound.
"Kakashi... senpai." Logan continued to uncomfortably call him 'Senpai', "I didn't attend the gathering either, so I'm not sure."
Kakashi was taken aback for a moment and subconsciously nodded, "I see."
Logan pondered how he could avoid calling Kakashi 'Senpai'. Sasuke now called him 'Sensei'. And, in the future, when this group of new generation Ninjas from Konoha graduated and formed Team 7, Kakashi would become Sasuke's teacher.
At that time, if he had to call others senpai, it would be really embarrassing. He is obviously the one who arrived earlier, but he ended up on lower position. That would be absolutely unacceptable.
'It seems that it is urgent to quit the ANBU.' Logan nodded deeply to himself, thinking aloud in his heart, and quickly waved goodbye to Kakashi to avoid having to call him 'Senpai' again.
After a couple of turns, Logan arrived at Takeshi's office. He knocked on the door, and after hearing a calm voice telling him to come in, he pushed the door open.
"Commander Takeshi, what do you want from me... uh…" Because he was already familiar with Takeshi, Logan asked without any scruples as soon as he entered. However, halfway through his words, he stopped.
It's because there was another person sitting behind Takeshi's desk, while Takeshi was standing next to him.
"Hello, Hokage-sama..." Surprised flashed through Logan's mind, and he immediately composed himself, bowing respectfully and saying, "I didn't expect you to be here."
As he bowed, Logan's mind spun, and he discreetly became alert.
When he first approached Orochimaru, he didn't hide his identity because of time constraints. After receiving the ring and the scroll, Orochimaru was definitely annoyed by him. So the possibility of him reporting Logan's suspicious identity as an informant for the Akatsuki to Konoha couldn't be ruled out.
'No, it can't be Orochimaru.' Logan overturned the guess in his heart. Orochimaru is a person with a very far-sighted vision. If he were to impulsively reveal Logan's identity as a spy for the Akatsuki in Konoha, his own arrangements in Otogakure would also be indirectly exposed. There is no benefit to either side, and Orochimaru will definitely be reluctant to jeopardize the resources in Otogakure.
Moreover, before Orochimaru defected from the village, he was very close to Danzo. One provided the environment and human subjects, while the other shared the experimental results that Danzo wanted. If anything, Orochimaru would likely report such information to Danzo, maximizing their mutual interests.
After thinking about this, Logan gradually relaxed and looked calmly at Hiruzen, who had suddenly appeared. He knew that Hiruzen Sarutobi hadn't come as a guest while Tatsukawa called him, so he chose to wait and see what was going on.
Hiruzen is now in his sixties, which is quite old for a Ninja, especially since he had grown up since the establishment of Konoha Village.
The wrinkles under the 'Fire' cloak showed his age, and his skin lacked vitality. However, his figure remained straight, and his eyes were weary yet sharp. He was nine years old when Konoha was founded, and he could be said to have witnessed the prosperity and changes of Konoha throughout the Three Ninja World Wars.
The shadow of a great Ninja still lingered, but his gaze was no longer as sharp and powerful. Hiruzen looked at Logan, who still had the face of an eighteen-year-old, shook his smoking pipe, and sighed, "Raiden Hattori, I've heard of your achievement during the mission on Otogakure to investigate Orochimaru. You're truly a young talent. Unlike us old folks, your generation will be the backbone of Konoha Village in the future."
Hiruzen started off with a wave of praise. Logan didn't dare to be careless and humbly said, "It's nothing, there's still a lot for me to learn. Hokage-sama is still in his prime, so Konoha Village will naturally remain strong."
No matter how much one hears good words, they always love to listen to them, so the way Hiruzen looked at Logan became more kind. Then, he turned his head and gestured to Takeshi.
Taking a step forward, Takeshi said, "Hattori, I've heard about your performance in the recent mission. Your strength has surpassed that of ordinary Jonin and even most of the ANBU's members. That's why Hokage-sama has come here to see a talented Ninja like you."
... With waves of praise washing over him, Logan, who had been a mediocre student since childhood and never received the praise of being first or second in his class from his homeroom teacher, felt a bit overwhelmed.
'It's understandable to build relationships, especially since the ANBU originally belonged to Hokage's faction. But isn't this a bit exaggerated...' Logan complained in his heart.