Heart of Steel Half-Morph Sword Saint, Madara is willing to call me the strongest

Time passed quietly, and two weeks went by in the blink of an eye.

On this day, Uchiha Yi was summoned by the Third Hokage.

After a simple lunch, Uchiha Yi came to the top floor office of the Hokage Building.

"Master Yi!"

The two Anbu ninjas stationed at the door looked at Yi with awe and bowed their heads slightly.

Although Uchiha Yi is only a nominal captain of the Anbu, his strength is enough to be respected.

"Ah."

Uchiha Yi nodded slightly and knocked on the door.

"Come in, Yi."

Sarutobi Hiruzen's deep voice could be heard from within the office.

After entering the office, Uchiha Yi bowed very seriously to Sarutobi Hiruzen who was sitting at the desk.

After straightening up, Uchiha Yi looked around and found that there were only two of them in the office.

The three top advisors, Koharu Utatane, En Mitokado, and Danzo Shimura, were not present.

Sarutobi Hiruzen held a pipe in his mouth and looked at Yi deeply with his cloudy but shrewd old eyes, and was not in a hurry to speak.

For a moment, the office was extremely quiet.

Uchiha Yi was a little confused, hesitated for a moment, and asked directly: "Hokage, do you have any mission to summon me?"

A warm smile appeared on Hiruzen's old face, and he said in a pleasant tone, "Yi, please sit down first."

Yi nodded and sat down at the desk.

"Cough cough."

After coughing twice, Hiruzen looked at Yi and said slowly:

"Yi, thank you for your hard work in the recent missions. In the past two years, you have carried out many difficult missions and completed them very well. You have made great contributions to the war on the front line. I am very happy that the village has such an outstanding junior like you."

Uchiha Yi replied humbly: "Hokage-sama, these are what I should do. Without the village, there would be no me. What I have done cannot be considered a great contribution."

Hiruzen seemed very satisfied to hear Yi's answer. He nodded slightly, with a hint of approval and appreciation in his eyes.

"What do you think of being the nominal captain of the dark department?"

"Well... it's still just a nominal title, so I haven't thought about it too much."

"Yi, I hope that you can resign from the police force and officially join the Anbu in the future."

"Joining the ANBU?"

"That's right. Your teacher, Hatake Sakumo, was also the head of the Anbu. I hope you can take over his position in the future."

Serve as the head of the Anbu?

Uchiha Yi couldn't help but feel a little surprised at Sarutobi Hiruzen's trust in him.

The head of the Anbu can be said to be the one with the highest position and power among the major departments of Konoha, and is also the most trusted by the Hokage.

Why did the Third Hokage trust me so much?

No, he was talking about the future.

He wanted to make himself the head of ANBU under Minato Namikaze.

So, is this what Minato meant?

After hearing these words, Uchiha Yi was thoughtful and silent for a long time.

After a moment, Yi hesitated and said, "But, Master Fugaku..."

Hiruzen gently stroked his beard and said calmly: "Yi, you are already a direct jonin. Even Fugaku can't force you. You have to make your own decisions about your future. Tell me, what do you think?"

Yi lowered his head slightly, his eyes flickering.

The Third Hokage is an old fox, so don't trust what he says.

Maybe he was just testing himself.

No matter how you answer, you will be controlled by this old fox.

The best option is not to answer.

So, Uchiha Yi frowned.

There was a thoughtful look in his eyes, his brows were sometimes relaxed and sometimes frowned, and he seemed very embarrassed.

There was silence for two minutes.

Sarutobi Hiruzen finally spoke to break the silence in the room, "It's okay. This matter is difficult for you to decide. You can think about it slowly and come to me when you have made a decision."

"Okay, let's talk business now."

Sarutobi Hiruzen took out a dark green scroll from the drawer and handed it to Uchiha Yi.

Yi unfolded the scroll and read it carefully.

This is intelligence about the Cloud Ninja invading the Land of Earth.

Yesterday, the Third Raikage personally led thousands of Cloud Ninjas to raid the Land of Earth.

On the Iwagakure side, the Tsuchikage Ōnoki also went to the battlefield in person. He recruited a large number of new ninjas, and the number of Iwagakure under his command was conservatively estimated to be as many as 7,000.

Including the support from Kirigakure and Sunagakure, at this moment, there are more than ten thousand ninjas gathered at the border of the Land of Earth.

This is a rare war in the history of the ninja world.

"Hokage-sama, the war between the four great nations is good news for us in Konoha."

"Yes, Kirigakure has transferred a large number of troops to support Iwagakure. The pressure on our eastern battlefield has been reduced a lot. Iwagakure's attention is also all on Kumogakure. However, there is some movement in Sand Village."

"Sand Ninja? With their strength, they shouldn't dare to provoke us, Konoha."

"At present, the three hidden villages have temporarily joined forces to deal with Kumogakure, but they are also afraid that our Konoha will take the opportunity to attack. The Sand Ninja has sent a combat force to be stationed in the River Country, probably to monitor our movements."

"So what does Hokage-sama mean?"

"The defense deployment of our Fire Country's southwestern border is currently very weak. If the Sand Country suddenly invades, it will be a great threat to us."

Sarutobi Hiruzen paused, glanced at Uchiha Yi, and said slowly: "Yi, I want you to carry out an S-level mission to investigate the detailed intelligence of the Sand Village Army. It would be best if you can obtain information about the deployment of the Iwagakure and Kirigakure Army through the Sand Village. This war is also an opportunity for us Konoha, and we must not stand idly by."

Konoha is currently in a period of troop rest and recuperation, and no large-scale war has broken out for the time being.

But the current war between the Land of Earth and the Land of Lightning may be a strategic opportunity for Konoha to turn defense into offense.

Konoha has begun pre-war mobilization, and the ninjas who have rested for a period of time are preparing to return to the battlefield.

Sarutobi Hiruzen urgently needs to obtain more detailed intelligence to make combat deployments.

"I understand, Hokage-sama."

Putting away the scroll in his hand, Uchiha Yi said seriously: "This mission requires us to go deep behind enemy lines, which is very dangerous. I can go alone."

With Yi's current strength, it is difficult for others to provide him with help, and they may even become a burden.

Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded and warned solemnly: "You have to be careful of the puppetry and magnetic sand control techniques of the Sand Village. They are also good at using poison. You have to prepare some antidote in advance."

"Yes, I understand, Hokage-sama."

After hearing Hiruzen's reminder, Uchiha Yi's expression became serious.

Although the current strength of the Sand Village is at the bottom level among the five hidden villages, they are good at many strange abilities and should not be underestimated.

After leaving the Hokage's office, Uchiha Yi immediately returned home to prepare.

In addition to the shadow blade and two spare short swords, some special kunai and shurikens should also be added.

As for ninja tools, Uchiha Yi went to the clan's weapons store and ordered special ninja tools directly from the ninja cat in the store.

This weapons shop belongs to Granny Cat, but she herself does not usually appear in Konoha.

The ninja tool shop is managed by several sturdy adult ninja cats.

The next afternoon, two motley ninja cats delivered the customized ninja tools to Yi's home.