Naruto - The Wind Calamity (2)

Chapter 234 : Igniting a Fire!

Fujin was surprised due to a few reasons. For one, the basement was much larger than what Fujin expected. It was definitely larger than the base of the Hokage Building. It was one large and continuous room with a bunch of rooms lined along the walls. Except that, there wasn't any wall or pillar in the entire basement.

Fujin analyzed, 'The basement is so large. This would mean that it extends beyond just the Hokage Building. I guess even the basement of the Konoha Hospital is connected. So it could allow an alternate route of travel between the Hokage building and the Hospital.'

Another reason for his surprise was the dense amount of seals he sensed in the basement. He realized, 'No wonder I never found this basement. The density of the seals here is almost comparable to my house! And they should be stronger as well.'

And the last reason for being surprised was that he wasn't the only one. He looked at the ones around him and thought, 'I knew that I wouldn't be the only one. But I expected only a few or at max 20. However, there are more than 200 ninjas here! Looks like Hiruzen wants to increase the strength of the Anbu unit to a whole new level...'

The Eagle masked Anbu ninja said, "Stay here. Lord Hokage will arrive soon."

He flickered away after speaking. Fujin looked around himself. Almost everyone in the room was much older than him. However, his eyes landed on an acquaintance.

Teru too noticed Fujin and walked towards Fujin. He waved his hands and said, "I knew you would be selected as well, Fujin."

Fujin wasn't overly surprised to see Teru. After all, he had heard a lot about the Anbu from Teru and his strength wasn't weak.

Fujin chuckled, "I expected to see you here as well. But I didn't expect to see so many people here."

Teru nodded and replied, "Me neither. It looks like Lord Hokage wants to replace the loss of the Uchiha clan by training a huge number of Anbu ninjas."

Fujin nodded but couldn't help but think, 'I doubt training a couple of hundred Anbu will be able to replace the Uchihas. But I guess that this is better than nothing.'

Fujin asked, "Did you see Hoka here as well?"

Fujin didn't want to spread his chakra field here as it might seem insulting to others in the basement.

Teru shook his head and said, "No, Hoka is from the branch family of the Hyuga clan. He won't be invited into the Anbu."

Fujin was surprised to hear that. But after thinking for a few seconds, he realized that it was very logical. He replied, "I see. That sucks for him."

Teru nodded. He was about to speak when both Fujin and Teru looked in a direction. A huge chakra was being released by the Eagle masked Anbu. He announced loudly, "Stand properly in lines and hear carefully. Lord Hokage will be speaking a few words."

Hiruzen had appeared in the room. He stood at one end of the basement. Soon, everyone gathered in front of him. Hiruzen looked at everyone and thought, 'Good. All 234 accepted the invite.'

Hiruzen kept looking at everyone without speaking for over a minute. He made eye contact with every ninja in the room. Finally, he began saying in a serious tone, "I am glad that all of you have chosen to come here today. And I am sure that you would be surprised to see a large number of ninjas I want to induct into the Anbu."

Everyone nodded. Though many had speculations, no one knew for sure. Even the Anbu ninjas weren't entirely sure.

Hiruzen continued in a grave voice, "In the last month, we experienced one of the darkest chapters in our village's history, the Uchiha Massacre. The loss we have suffered is immeasurable, not just in terms of lives, but also in the trust and unity that once bound us.