Chapter 91: Office Confrontation
(Double Length Chapter)
Greed had completely ignited the bounty hunters, driving them into a frenzy.
At this moment, Yōhei, Saori, and the remaining two members of Minato's squad had all abandoned any thought of survival. They used their bodies, their kunai, their ninjutsu—everything they had—fighting only to delay the enemy for even a heartbeat longer.
Taichi followed closely behind Minato, advancing together against a jōnin.
Whether out of arrogance, or because Minato's pressure left him no room to spare attention elsewhere, the jōnin barely acknowledged Taichi even as he closed in.
That was exactly what Taichi wanted.
The instant he entered striking range, wind-nature chakra surged violently into his short blade. The steel let out a clear, piercing hum as Taichi delivered a flawless downward cleave.
Only then did the jōnin sense death.
His pupils shrank in sheer terror. Abandoning all concern for Minato behind him, he twisted his body with all his might, desperately trying to block the strike.
Rip—!
The sound of flesh tearing and bone shattering rang out with chilling clarity.
The man's arm had barely risen halfway when the chakra-infused blade split him diagonally from the shoulder down—nearly cleaving him in two.
Blood and viscera erupted outward.
A jōnin—instantly slain.
The speed and decisiveness of the kill was like a bucket of icy water poured over the battlefield, momentarily stunning the remaining bounty hunters.
But the Konoha side had been waiting for this opening.
Minato seized the moment without hesitation.
In a flash of Flying Thunder God, he reappeared beside Hatake Sakumo. The kunai in his hand plunged straight into the heart of the jōnin who had been entangling Sakumo—right before the man's disbelieving eyes.
The other jōnin attacking Sakumo recoiled in shock.
What had been a two-on-one advantage instantly turned into a deadly two-on-one against him.
Panic replaced confidence. His attacks faltered.
"Watch out! The blond one can appear beside you instantly—watch for ambushes!"
Someone shouted the warning, but it only made matters worse. Fear spread rapidly among the bounty hunters.
---
Taichi didn't pause after killing the jōnin. He immediately turned back to reinforce Yōhei's position, which was on the verge of collapse.
Although Yōhei had awakened the three-tomoe Sharingan, the time was still too short for him to fully master its power. He relied only on heightened perception to barely keep pace with the enemy jōnin.
Even so, old wounds reopened and new ones formed.
And it wasn't just one enemy—multiple chūnin had joined the assault. If not for Saori, Gekkō Sora, and Nakamura Rei repeatedly throwing themselves in harm's way, Yōhei would have died countless times over.
Taichi's arrival was like a lifeline.
Without slowing, he plunged straight into the tangled melee, relying on superior blade control to carve his way forward.
His short blade flicked, sliced, and pierced—each strike threading through impossible angles, finding the weakest points in enemies locked in combat.
He advanced step by step.
Four enemies fell behind him.
Freed from pressure, Saori's group shifted from desperate defense to active counterattack.
Seeing that side stabilize, Taichi turned toward Yōhei's battlefield.
The remaining jōnin's mind was in chaos.
What was he seeing?
A child cutting down jōnin and chūnin alike like vegetables—one after another—and now that monster was heading straight for him.
Cold fear shot from his feet to the top of his skull.
Run.
I have to run.
Taichi didn't care what the man was thinking.
Blade raised, he charged in.
Compared to Yōhei's defensive struggle, Taichi's attacks were mercilessly aggressive—each strike aimed directly at vital points.
The jōnin poured more and more focus into fending off Taichi—
—and forgot that another enemy still stood before him.
One who wanted him dead more than anything.
Yōhei saw the opening.
His body lunged forward.
"Die!"
Ignoring the kunai stabbing into his shoulder, Yōhei traded injury for injury—driving his own kunai deep into the jōnin's abdomen.
Squch.
The blade buried itself to the hilt.
"Bastard—!"
Screaming in agony, the jōnin kicked Yōhei away.
But his roar cut short.
He looked down in disbelief as a bloodstained blade tip slowly withdrew from his chest.
Cold weakness flooded his body.
Taichi pulled his blade free.
---
Scanning the battlefield, Taichi saw Minato and Sakumo working together to finish off another jōnin. The two immediately moved toward the pair still fighting Captain Yamaguchi.
That front was stable.
Taichi refocused on cleaning up the remaining enemies.
With his participation, the outcome was no longer in doubt. Saori and the others quickly eliminated their opponents.
Those bounty hunters who attempted to flee were cut down without mercy.
No one accepted their pleas.
When the final enemy fell, everyone was utterly exhausted—but there was no time to rest.
They hastily treated wounds, recovered Inuzuka Makoto and Blackmaru's bodies, sealed the jōnin corpses, and departed the area at once.
---
No one spoke on the road.
Not just to conserve strength—but because of Makoto's death.
A companion who had been laughing moments ago was suddenly gone, consumed by fire before their eyes.
For Taichi's team, this was their first true loss.
For Minato's squad, Makoto had been a brother-in-arms.
The silence lasted until they reached a concealed resting place.
---
As everyone recovered quietly, Taichi had no such luxury.
Every injured member still needed treatment.
Carrying a nearly depleted medical kit, he knelt beside Yōhei, whose condition was the worst.
"Treat the others first—I can hold on," Yōhei rasped, weakly trying to push Taichi away.
"Shut up. Lie down," Taichi snapped, forcing him flat.
"I know exactly who needs treatment first."
He tore open the shredded clothing.
The abdominal wound—previously stabilized—was bleeding again.
Another delay and Yōhei would go into hypovolemic shock.
Taichi cursed inwardly. Always causing trouble.
This was clearly a secondary injury caused by Yōhei pushing himself too far—and his hollow expression made it obvious he hadn't yet processed Makoto's death.
Carefully, Taichi cut away the blood-soaked bandages and activated Mystical Palm Technique once more, sealing the wound as efficiently as possible.
His chakra reserves were critically low.
There were still several people left to treat.
He had to conserve every drop.
After more than another hour, Taichi finally finished giving everyone a rough round of treatment. While their wounds were far from fully healed, at the very least they could move again without reopening injuries every few steps.
At this point, the value of having an outstanding medical-nin on the team became painfully obvious. Taichi had drastically increased the squad's survivability and endurance. Without his medical ninjutsu, this mission would likely have ended in total annihilation back in the Land of the Moon.
Everyone rested a while longer—mainly to give Taichi time to recover his chakra—before resuming their journey. This time, they were extremely careful to erase all traces along the way, wary of being tracked and ambushed again.
Fortunately, the rest of the route passed without further disaster. Moving cautiously and avoiding exposure, they spent two days slipping out of the Land of Hot Water and finally crossing into the Land of Fire.
Only then did everyone truly relax.
From there, the return to Konoha was smooth and uneventful.
---
Meanwhile, inside the Hokage's Office, a fierce argument had erupted over their prolonged absence.
"Danzō, still no news from Minato's squad or Masasuke's team?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi puffed on his pipe, thick smoke veiling the depth of his gaze.
"No."
Danzō replied calmly, lying through his teeth.
"Our spy in Kumogakure reported that their ANBU have already withdrawn—with heavy losses. Sakumo and the escort team escaped."
It was as though he had nothing to do with the situation at all.
"I've heard," Hiruzen said slowly, "that the Raikage received our warning a full day later than expected. Care to explain that?"
The sound of the pipe tapping grew sharper, faster.
Danzō studied Hiruzen through the smoke, unable to tell whether this was a probe—or solid intelligence.
"A Root courier encountered an accident, causing the delay," Danzō answered evenly.
"I've already dealt with him."
"Danzō!"
Hiruzen suddenly roared.
"Root operatives are still Konoha shinobi—not tools for you to discard at will!"
"Root has its own rules," Danzō shot back without hesitation.
"Those who fail their mission have no right to live."
Silence fell heavily over the office.
"Have you thought about the consequences," Hiruzen said slowly, voice heavy,
"if Sakumo, Minato, Masasuke, Taichi—if all of them had died?"
"Minato is Jiraiya's disciple. Taichi has been personally taken in by Tsunade.
Have you considered how Jiraiya and Tsunade would react?"
"The shinobi world is becoming unstable again. Another war may erupt within a year or two.
Without talents like them—how do you plan to fight the next war?"
One question after another left Danzō speechless.
To be honest, he regretted it.
His original intent had been simple: use Kumogakure's hand to eliminate Hatake Sakumo—an immensely popular figure and a staunch Hokage loyalist.
He never expected the escort team to be dragged into it.
Nor did he expect Sakumo to be strong enough to survive long enough to rendezvous with reinforcements.
Even worse—black market intelligence confirmed that the Raikage had leaked their location. At least six jōnin-led bounty teams had accepted the contract.
If Danzō knew this, the Hokage certainly did too.
"Danzō," Hiruzen said coldly,
"You'd better hope you truly had nothing to do with this—"
"HIRUZEN!"
Danzō cut him off sharply.
"Root is the foundation of Konoha. We would never dig our own grave."
Even he didn't fully believe those words—but the situation was too severe to admit anything else.
Just then—
Knock. Knock.
"Enter," Hiruzen said curtly.
The door opened.
Hiruzen and Danzō both rose to their feet in shock.
Standing there were Hatake Sakumo, Namikaze Minato, and Yamaguchi Masasuke—the very men they had just been arguing over.
The office fell dead silent.
The three jōnin looked confused. Moments ago, voices had been raised inside—now the room was eerily quiet, and the two elders were staring at them strangely.
For Hiruzen and Danzō, the embarrassment was palpable.
They had just been arguing fiercely over men they thought might already be dead—only for them to appear alive and standing before them.
Hiruzen quickly assessed them.
Minato and Masashi looked exhausted but largely uninjured.
Sakumo, however, looked dreadful—pale, frail, like someone recovering from a serious illness. The massive blood loss was obvious.
"Hokage-sama," Sakumo spoke first, breaking the silence.
"The mission has been completed… though the escort team was unfortunately dragged into it."
His voice grew heavier toward the end.
"Oh?"
Hiruzen turned to Minato and Masashi.
"Explain."
Even Danzō listened intently—he genuinely wanted to know how they had escaped both Kumogakure ANBU and the bounty hunters while Sakumo was gravely wounded.
After the full report, Hiruzen finally grasped the sheer danger of the mission. One stroke of worse luck, and none of them would have returned.
Looking back, it was clear:
not only had Root's warning been delayed—the Raikage had deliberately delayed his withdrawal order as well.
That Sakumo and the others survived at all was nothing short of fortune favoring Konoha.
"Hokage-sama," Sakumo said firmly, meeting Hiruzen's gaze,
"There was a clear delay in mission intelligence. This delay led directly to Inuzuka Makoto's death. May I ask—why?"
If it had been a matter of strength or battlefield failure, he would accept it.
But this was a failure of intelligence transmission.
And that was unforgivable.
As elite jōnin, they knew better than anyone how deadly flawed intelligence could be.
If this was brushed aside—who would die next time?
Hiruzen felt cornered.
Danzō had already scapegoated a courier. Hiruzen couldn't openly condemn him—not now, not for this.
After all… there were still many dirty tasks only Danzō could perform.
But this would not go unpunished.
Suppressing his anger, Hiruzen said evenly:
"The courier encountered an accident, delaying our warning by one day.
The Raikage, intent on killing Sakumo, also delayed recalling his forces.
Two coincidences overlapped—and resulted in what you experienced."
The three jōnin exchanged glances.
They said nothing.
But they understood.
That glance Hiruzen shot at Danzō—and the strained explanation—told them everything.
Still, they were loyal to the Hokage.
They trusted he would deliver justice.
They did not press further.
After finishing their report, they departed. Sakumo especially needed immediate treatment.
---
The door closed.
Before Hiruzen could speak again, Danzō's cold voice echoed through the office.
"Hiruzen. The Uchiha boy in Masasuke's squad—he's dangerous.
Three-tomoe Sharingan at eleven or twelve years old. Given time, he could become another Madara."
"DANZŌ!"
Hiruzen exploded.
"Enough of this!"
"Don't think I don't know your petty schemes.
The Uchiha are part of this village. They are not disposable."
"Don't forget—there was once Kagami Uchiha."
"Kagami was one man—and he's been dead for years," Danzō shouted back.
"The Uchiha are inherently dangerous!"
"I am the Hokage,"
Hiruzen said quietly—but with crushing weight.
He stepped forward.
"And from this moment on, every Root operation will be reported to me in advance.
Understood?"
Danzō froze.
Rage and humiliation burned in his single eye.
His grip on his cane tightened until his knuckles turned white.
After a long silence, he forced the words out:
"You'll regret this, Hiruzen."
He stormed out.
---
While the confrontation unfolded in the Hokage's office, Taichi and the others were already in Konoha Hospital, receiving treatment.
All except Taichi himself.
He was assisting the hospital's medical-nin, continuing to treat his comrades.
Yōhei was the most severely injured—followed by Saori.
Usually quiet and gentle, she fought like a madwoman in battle. Worse, she had repeatedly shielded Yōhei, which was why her injuries were so severe.
The mission was over.
But its scars—physical and otherwise—had only just begun to surface.
---