"If you had bothered to personally consult the shinobi currently hunting those Iwa mole-rats, you would have realized that after the first few hours of our sweep, the enemy already saw the writing on the wall. They've been retreating at top speed, desperate to get as far away from the Konoha main force as possible."
Hatani caught the flash of displeasure on Hiruzen Sarutobi's face out of the corner of his eye, but he didn't flinch. He kept his back straight and spoke with increasing speed.
He knew Mitokado Homura and Danzo were only silent because he'd blindsided them with his gall. The moment they recovered, they would shut him down without hesitation. He had to finish his piece before they found their voices.
"With the slow, disciplined sweep we're conducting now, we're practically hand-delivering their escape. Lady Tsunade recognized this. That is why she took the initiative to push forward at maximum speed. She is acting as bait to stir the ambitions of those retreating mole-rats, slowing their escape and paving the way for us to wipe them out entirely!"
He paused for a breath. Seeing Hiruzen's expression soften slightly, Hatani felt a surge of confidence. He turned a gaze of pure, mocking disdain toward Danzo.
"Lord Danzo just said it himself—the Iwa main army is at least a day away. That means right now, Iwa has fewer than a thousand mole-rats in the Land of Grass. We have ten thousand. Does Lord Danzo truly believe that ten thousand Konoha shinobi are so incompetent that they'd lose to a few hundred stragglers? If that's really your professional opinion, then I suggest you leave the Land of Grass immediately, return to the village, and hide in the deepest hole in the Root headquarters."
SLAM!
Hatani's point-blank verbal execution finally caused Danzo's temper to detonate. He slammed his hand onto the arm of his chair and surged to his feet, his lone eye blazing with a murderous light. He looked ready to peel the skin off Hatani's bones and eat him alive.
Unfortunately for him, Hatani couldn't care less. He'd known since he was drafted into Team 13 with Nawaki that "harmonious coexistence" with Danzo was a pipe dream.
Besides, he was just getting to the best part.
"The most ridiculous thing is that after hearing this news, you didn't urge the Sandaime to mobilize the army immediately. Instead, you used 'caution' as an excuse to hold him back. Do you truly think the Sandaime, the man who raised and taught Lady Tsunade, is as foolish as you are? Do you think he couldn't see the brilliance of her plan?"
Hm.Hm?Hm!
Hiruzen, who had initially felt Hatani was being far too disrespectful to the village elders, suddenly followed the logic. He almost let out a chuckle. Fortunately, his years of political stoicism held firm; he suppressed the smile and replaced it with a look of weary, dutiful determination.
"Furthermore, I noticed something the moment I stepped back into camp," Hatani continued, deciding to twist the knife. He noticed the subtle glint of approval in the depths of Hiruzen's eyes and took it as a green light. "News of the defeat of Lord Orochimaru and Lord Jiraiya at the hands of the Tsuchikage is spreading like wildfire. Even the mess hall cooks are gossiping about the details.
"Setting aside whether the news is true or which traitorous bastard leaked such a high-level secret, isn't the fact that morale-killing intel is circulating through the camp your responsibility, Danzo?"
In his excitement at finally having the floor to thrash his enemy, Hatani dropped the honorific entirely.
"Hatani! Mind your tongue," Hiruzen finally barked, intervening.
Though a cold light flashed in Hiruzen's eyes at Hatani's final accusation, a mere Genin addressing a council advisor—and a peer of the Hokage—by his first name was a bridge too far for public decorum.
Hatani, satisfied with the damage done, shut his mouth with a look of feigned regret and bowed his head respectfully.
"While Hatani's words were harsh—and in some places, frankly out of line—the logic behind them is sound."
Hiruzen, whose headache had been replaced by a sense of refreshing clarity thanks to Hatani's verbal thrashing of his "old friends," looked at Homura and Danzo with a face full of disappointed resolve.
"I was going to patiently explain Tsunade's maneuvers to you both, but now that the situation is clear, I won't waste any more time. I am officially ordering fifteen hundred shinobi to mobilize and eliminate the remaining mole-rats. Any objections?"
Hiruzen had immediately adopted Hatani's "mole-rat" slur for the Iwa ninjas, finding it quite fitting.
"Hmph. Those mole-rats have been lurking nearby for far too long; they undoubtedly possess sensitive intelligence. We cannot allow them to return to their main force with what they know," Homura said.
Homura knew perfectly well that Hiruzen was shamelessly using his grand-student's arguments to dress up his own agenda, but he wasn't about to call him on it. On the contrary, as a professional "fence-sitter" who had outlived far more talented classmates, he pivoted back to Hiruzen's side without a hint of shame.
However, after agreeing with the order, Homura narrowed his eyes and stole a long look at the "lowly civilian Genin" he had previously ignored.
"Hmph."
Danzo, still possessing a shred of pride, merely snorted. He met Hiruzen's gaze with a cold glare, shot Hatani a look that promised a future reckoning, and turned to leave.
He couldn't stop the order, but he certainly wouldn't endorse it.
"Danzo," Hiruzen called out just as the man reached the tent flap. He set his pipe down, his voice quiet and eerie. "If Root can no longer fulfill its purpose, then it has no reason to exist."
His voice was light, his tone flat and devoid of any overt threat, but to Homura and Danzo, it sounded like a thunderclap in a clear sky.
Homura was so shocked his gaze snapped from Hatani back to Hiruzen's face. He was stunned, but only as a bystander—Root was Danzo's private garden, after all.
Danzo's reaction was far more visceral. He whirled around, his eye wide with shock, fury, and disbelief.
But after staring at Hiruzen for a moment, he did the opposite of Homura. He turned his gaze toward Hatani—who had gone from shocked to visible smugness.
Hatani didn't back down. He stared right back at Danzo, his eyes filled with unshielded schadenfreude.
"Send for Sakumo immediately," Hiruzen commanded, ignoring the tension he had just created.
Outside the tent, the silhouette of an ANBU operative wearing an animal mask flickered past the exiting Danzo, casting a long, dark shadow over the elder's path.
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