Under the pale light of the moon, the mountain bandit stronghold was a ruin—blood and dismembered limbs scattered everywhere.
Amid the crimson carnage, Gekkō Hoshiyomi and Hatake Sakumo sat back-to-back atop a relatively clean boulder, both gasping for air.
The two of them looked like walking blood gourds, covered in sticky, half-dried gore from head to toe. But they were too exhausted to even care.
No wonder—between the two of them, they had cut down more than eighty percent of the mountain bandits, whose numbers had been close to ninety. Slaughtering that many pigs would take a toll, let alone actual people.
Although the battle had never truly endangered their lives, it had still drained them to their limits. After all, they were only seven or eight years old—swinging blades non-stop for over an hour without rest was a feat of extraordinary stamina.
At this point, even lifting a finger felt like a chore. Cleaning off their blood-soaked clothes? Not a chance.
As the two of them tried to recover their strength, their jōnin instructor, Akimichi Torifu, stretched lazily and stepped out from the forest. Unbothered by the blood, he walked up and ruffled both their heads—and didn't forget Shinku Yūhi either.
"Well done. I'm very satisfied with all three of you," he said warmly. "Hoshiyomi and Sakumo, your capabilities exceeded my expectations. And Shinku—being able to overcome your psychological trauma and act decisively at a critical moment—that's excellent. You've all passed my assessment."
Hoshiyomi blinked. "Assessment?"
He tilted his head and looked at Torifu suspiciously. "Didn't you say there wasn't going to be any of that?"
Torifu gave him a mischievous wink—an expression that looked absolutely terrifying on his fierce-looking face, making Hoshiyomi shudder.
"I said there wouldn't be a survival exercise. I never said there wasn't going to be a test."
Seeing the trio give him the classic "I call BS" look, Torifu awkwardly cleared his throat. "Well, it's not like I wouldn't have trained you if you didn't pass. But here's the thing—if you had begged me to step in during the mission, I wouldn't have taught you anything serious from then on. That would've been a disgrace to the Akimichi name."
He gave a rare smile. "But since you all completed the mission better than expected, I'll be sure to train you seriously from here on out. No holding back."
Still met with three skeptical stares, Torifu gave a sheepish wave. "Fine, fine! Maybe I went too far. Here, take this as an apology."
He tossed each of them a small pill bottle.
Sakumo caught his and asked curiously, "What's this?"
"Special-issue Akimichi combat rations," Torifu explained. "Not the usual market-grade stuff. These are less effective for chakra recovery, but they're fantastic at restoring stamina. Just take a nibble—no more than half the size of your thumbnail. That should be enough to get you back to Konoha."
"But remember," he added with a wag of his finger, "these are emergency-only. They taste awful, have zero nutritional value, and will mess with your digestion if you eat too many."
That was all the convincing the three of them needed. If someone who could eat roasted meat for two hours straight said they were "bad for your stomach," you'd better believe it.
With a shared glance, Hoshiyomi and Sakumo each broke off a small piece and tossed it into their mouths. A moment later, their expressions twisted in horror.
It tasted awful. Absolutely vile.
But flavor aside, the effects were real. After a few minutes of rest, the hunger pangs faded, and while their limbs were still sore, they at least felt like they could walk again.
Supporting each other, they found a nearby stream to wash off most of the blood. In their current state, if they walked into a village looking like that, the patrol squads might have arrested them on sight.
Once clean enough to pass for human again, the four of them returned to Hanabi Village to report back to their client, then promptly headed back toward Konoha.
…
What Hoshiyomi and the others didn't know was that, shortly after they left the village, another squad quietly returned to Konoha.
This team didn't make a fuss—they moved silently, heading straight to the Hokage's office.
Knock knock knock.
"Come in."
Hearing the voice inside, the man at the door hesitated for a moment. He took a deep breath, gripped the handle, and pushed the door open.
Inside, Hiruzen Sarutobi sat at his desk, reviewing documents. The man's eyes flashed with jealousy and resentment when he saw him—but the expression vanished in an instant. He lowered his gaze, then looked back up wearing a forced smile.
He walked in slowly, pointing at Hiruzen with exaggerated cheer.
"Didn't take you long to start looking the part, huh, Hiruzen? Already acting like a real Hokage."
Hiruzen looked up at the sound of that familiar voice—and was stunned.
"Danzō?" he said in disbelief. "Didn't you say you'd return in two weeks with the main force? Why are you back already… and what happened to your eye?"
At the mention of his eye, Danzō flinched. He instinctively lowered his head and raised a hand to cover the bandage over his right eye. Only after a deep breath did he reply in a hoarse voice:
"It's nothing. Just bad luck on the front lines. Lost an eye, that's all."
Hiruzen frowned with concern. "Is there any chance of recovery? Koharu is leading research into ocular transplants at the hospital. If you—"
"I said it's fine!" Danzō snapped. He suddenly raised his voice, like a cat that had its tail stepped on.
Realizing he'd lost his temper, Danzō lowered his head slightly. "Sorry. I… lost control for a moment."
Hiruzen was a little startled, but chalked it up to Danzō's frustration over the injury. He waved it off with a smile. "It's fine. Remember how we used to argue every day when we were under Sensei's command?"
"…That was different," Danzō muttered after a long silence. "You're the Hokage now."
Hiruzen's smile froze. For a moment, he didn't know how to respond.
But Danzō quickly changed the subject.
"Enough small talk. I came back early for two reasons. One, the front's gone quiet. I wasn't needed anymore. The other…"
His tone turned cold. "I wanted to ask you—without the interference of the others—what were you really thinking, agreeing to that ceasefire with Kumogakure so easily?"
Hiruzen hesitated. His eyes flicked toward the group of shinobi behind Danzō.
Noticing the glance, Danzō turned and said flatly to his subordinates, "You're dismissed. I have something to discuss with the Hokage alone."
What Hiruzen didn't notice was that Danzo never once referred to him as "Hokage" in front of his subordinates.