Naruto: The Hidden Shadow Style

Sansho led Haseo into an inner room within the underground space. When the door opened, under the dim lighting, Haseo saw masks hanging across all four walls... These were obviously not Uzumaki masks, merely Anbu masks.

When something required a person to wear a mask while doing it, that task was certainly secret and unsuitable for public exposure.

"Pick one," Sansho said.

Haseo casually glanced at the wall before reaching out and removing the nearest, most easily accessible mask—the one closest to him. He had no particular standards regarding aesthetics or ugliness; after all, the mask was just an appearance. What mattered more than this superficial symbol was his status as an Anbu member.

Sansho took the mask and examined it. A purely white mask with a large round eye painted in its center, it didn't even have visible eye holes. Then she tried placing the mask over her face, discovering that embedded at what should be the eye position were two single-sided crystals matching the mask's color. The mask's wearer could see through the crystals, but enemies couldn't look into them and see his eyes.

"A good choice," Sansho remarked, placing down the mask before writing an Anbu codename onto Haseo's prepared identification documents...

"Shōtenme."

That's how she wrote it. Codenames weren't particularly important, but looking at the name Sansho chose for himself, Haseo felt like it sounded similar to "passing away peacefully".

Hmm, when people mentioned ascending to heaven, they definitely weren't referring to freely soaring—it meant biting the dust... Of course, his codename was Shōtenme, not "passing away peacefully." There wasn't anything ominous about it.

Yeah, he really needed to keep reassuring himself like that.

"You insist on carrying two swords now?" Sansho asked Haseo again.

"Not necessarily—one is basically just a spare," Haseo replied honestly. After all, he couldn't even handle one sword properly, let alone two.

"Then remove the short sword from your back temporarily."

Haseo complied, removing the inverted short sword strapped to his back. He also took out several flattened special kunai—tools marked with identifying features that he would never bring on Anbu missions. Furthermore, during upcoming battles involving Ninjutsu techniques, he would need to be especially careful.

The mask, the codename, and every other item were meant to conceal the Anbu's true identity—especially when doing dirty work inside the village, no one wanted their real identity revealed.

This precaution served to prevent retaliation, reduce public opinion pressure, and ease psychological burdens.

After finishing the registration, Haseo was handed the mask again and tried to put it on. At first, wearing this unfamiliar object felt awkward—he realized anyone suddenly covering their face with a mask would feel the same way. Eventually, Sansho reached out to help him adjust and properly secure the mask.

At this moment, Haseo finally noticed his hair had grown somewhat long—so much so that the mask didn't fasten easily onto his head… Considering his past few years of disheveled living conditions, messy hair had become his trademark look. After all, who could expect too much neatness from a homeless drifter?

When you're struggling just to get by, stuff like manners and looks aren't exactly top of mind. That's why he kept his sloppy habits.

In reality, beneath that messy hair was actually a clean-cut young face: calling himself handsome might sound a bit narcissistic, but if anyone called him ugly, they'd definitely be lying through their teeth.

Ninjas, in some ways, worked under similar pressure as factory workers on an assembly line. Unless one was tired of living, no one would keep long hair... Did they really think enemies wouldn't grab their hair mid-fight?

Based on this theory, there existed an unspoken rule among ninjas: "The stronger the power, the longer the hair." Because indeed, some ninjas had the qualifications to afford such recklessness—people like The First, Madara, or Black Zetsu's mom could grow their hair as long as they wanted.

However, this definitely didn't apply to the Hyuga clan. Most Hyuga ninjas had long, straight black hair, yet most of them weren't strong enough to back up such a hairstyle. Other than occasionally making enemies mistake their gender and say something like "Pretty girl," the Hyuga's signature long hair was practically useless.

Even on the battlefield, a [Byakugan] user not only needed to protect their eyes but also their hairline.

Haseo didn't want to get punched with someone grabbing his hair. Imagine him, a "Mikage," rapidly darting toward an enemy, only to be forcefully yanked backward by his hair—what a ridiculous way to die.

Thinking about it, he figured maybe going bald wasn't such a bad idea when push came to shove. Going bald just might be the secret to becoming stronger—at least if you were a ninja who lived and died by speed and agility. In fact, a bald First Hokage boasted 0.1% greater combat effectiveness than one with long, straight hair.

While daydreaming about this nonsense, Haseo noticed Sansho-sensei casually stuffing the Anbu documents into a drawer. A quick peek inside showed stacks and stacks of identical files piled up neatly.

"Sansho-sensei... you're keeping Anbu ninja records just lying around like this?"

Logically speaking, these documents should have been exclusive knowledge of the Hokage, so keeping them like this seemed extremely careless. If Haseo *was* actually a spy from another village, he could just kill Sansho here and now and escape with those documents.

The Anbu were the Hokage's closest bodyguards, and if their true identities fell into enemy hands, and then the enemies used the information to connect the dots and control one of them... you don't even need me to spell out what happens next.

"So, do you want to take a look?" Sansho asked with a smile. Naturally, the protection methods for Anbu records were extremely secure; however, there was no need to explain all that to Haseo.

Her joke wasn't amusing at all, and Haseo quickly shook his head. As previously mentioned, he never considered his life overly long.

Recently, the scale of Anbu had rapidly expanded. Following the Uchiha Incident, Haseo had simply been added to their ranks accordingly.

After double-checking that Haseo's appearance had no distinctive features, Sansho said to him, "Then there shouldn't be any problem. Go inside; the detailed mission will be assigned to you next." 

"Yes, Sansho-sensei," he replied. 

But just before Haseo left, Sansho called him back and asked, "Did you fight at the Frontline Hospital last night? Is Kinoto alright?" 

"Kinoto is Kōga. Haseo remembered that his full name or code was 'Kōga Kinoto.'" 

After hearing what Haseo said, Sansho relaxed her expression. "You see, Sansho-sensei's sense of aesthetics is still quite normal." 

"I saw him this morning. He had a minor injury, but nothing serious."

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