ANBU are under direct control of their Kage. They protect the village from exceptional threats, conduct high-risk missions into enemy territory, and deal with extremely strong ninja. They are also responsible for carrying out assassinations, tracking, surveillance, and missions requiring specially trained ninja. Some ANBU serve as interrogators that probe the minds of enemy ninja to learn information valuable to the village.

The ANBU HQ is located beneath the Konoha Government center in a underground bunker type setting. There are tunnels that run beneath the government building to provide escape routes and the ANBU have adapted it to their own headquarters so they are near the Hokage at all times.