The heavy wooden door of the Hokage's office closed soundlessly behind Nawaki and Kaori, shutting out the warm sunlight and the faint bustle outside.
When the last faint scrape of the hinge faded, the air inside condensed at once. After watching Nawaki lead Kaori away, Hiruzen sat straight behind the massive desk. The crimson Hokage robe that symbolized the peak of power gleamed darkly under the somber light.
The gentle concern he had deliberately shown Kaori melted like snow in the sun, replaced by the calm scrutiny of a long-time leader handling core matters.
He no longer looked at Ryo. His wrinkled yet steady fingers landed precisely on the edge of an open dossier, tapping twice on the bold inked title on the cover, "Ame Frontline Briefing Outline."
"All right." Hiruzen's voice sounded steady, crisp, and directive, fully entering work mode.
He raised his eyes, no longer looking at a junior, but like a general assessing a strategic weapon. His gaze locked directly and sharply on Ryo, who stood like a spear. "We can focus on the front now. Ryo, Chūnin, report everything you have, in full. The cold ink on scrolls cannot match the truth seen by living eyes."
Ryo's voice was even. He recalled, and scenes of Amegakure filled his mind, smoke and downpour. He did not ramble. He cut straight to the core, concise but precise. "The three-way meat grinder has stabilized into a fixed state."
He laid out the brutal slaughter at the front, Hanzō's predicament, Konoha's tug-of-war with Suna, Iwa's raids, and the failure in Root's intelligence network. He focused on the carnage at B-7 and on how he tore open Iwa's encirclement to rescue the Sannin.
Hiruzen listened in silence. He needed fresher, concrete information from eyes just returned from the furnace of flesh and blood. Soon, he had what he needed. It matched the reports on the scrolls closely, which steadied his heart.
Every time he heard this staggering record, no matter how many times he had read it, the veteran Hokage still felt a jolt.
He quietly picked up another sealed scroll at the corner of the desk, marked with the Medical Corps' seal. It recorded the sudden incident during Ryo's mission in Kusagakure, the bloody battle against Kakuzu, strict and thorough.
Two severe injuries stacked. The ferocity and resilience of the red-haired boy before him were monstrous. Thirteen years old. The thorn labeled dangerous buried itself a little deeper in his mind.
After thinking in silence for a while, Hiruzen leaned forward slightly. The topic turned, and the atmosphere tightened with the weight of a senior's earnest admonition, although the political calculation beneath it was obvious.
"As for the matter in the Land of Grass …" Hiruzen's voice sank, his brows knitting. His fingers tapped lightly on the desk without thinking.
"Ryo, what you did was too extreme. However unworthy Kusagakure may be, they are nominally an ally of Konoha. Annihilating the entire village, the methods were excessively severe. The impact on Konoha's international reputation could be significant. We are a righteous army, a model among the Five Great Nations. We must consider consequences and image, and mind our restraint." He emphasized his tone. "There may have been filth within Kusagakure, but eradicating them root and branch, was that not too radical and heavy-handed? Konoha's shinobi must uphold Konoha's responsibility and bearing."
The familiar talk of guarding one's image and political correctness. Routine.
He knew it was time to throw out the scapegoat.
A cold gleam of mockery flashed deep in Ryo's black eyes, though his face stayed impassive.
"Hokage-sama, please judge clearly." He spoke, and there was even a trace of barely perceptible, formal compliance. "The annihilation of Kusagakure was not due to bloodlust. It was a wartime emergency order issued directly from the Ame front by Danzō-sama. His exact words were, 'Traitors like those dogs from Kusa, a cancer, should be eradicated completely. Destroying them is the right purge.' He pressed it as overall commander with a first-class wartime order. As a Konoha Chūnin, orders are as a mountain. I did not dare disobey." He paused slightly. "The mission scroll should have been submitted in duplicate by Danzō-sama. The directive content matches his consistent iron-blooded style. All I did was execute the order strictly."
The blame was shifted cleanly and righteously.
As expected.
The instant the name Danzō was clearly spoken, Hiruzen's fingers froze on his beard. The earlier expression of heavy care for the village found a floodgate. In an instant, a mix of I see, scapegoat in position, and habitual exasperation at that one's methods washed away the weight. Even the wrinkles on his face seemed to find a new way to relax, shifting from worried to the slightly reproving look of I knew it.
"As expected of him." Hiruzen's voice rose a touch, carrying a helpless sternness that said this is no surprise.
The righteous-lecture he had aimed at Ryo switched targets seamlessly to Root's absent leader. "Danzō. Too extreme. Too rigid. Always mired in Root's methods. Strength and iron-blood are not wrong, but there is a time and a place. He must consider the village's overall image and long-term interests. Does he see the rules I, the Hokage, set or not?"
Hiruzen launched into a long but very safe denunciation of Danzō. Every line seemed to help "exonerate" Ryo, implying that the atrocity was caused by a bad order. The subtext was plain. The main responsibility lies with the professional scapegoat, Danzō. My reprimand of him shows I understand your difficulties.
Watching how practiced Hiruzen was at turning the spear toward Danzō, he felt the familiar dance take shape.
He knew Hiruzen needed this blade to keep drinking blood on the Ame front, so he would not delve deeper now. He was also happy to let Danzō carry the name of excessive extremity. Hiruzen's glorious, righteous image was propped up by Danzō taking the blame in the shadows. Today's throw-and-catch went smoothly with tacit coordination.
After a standard round of scolding Danzō, Hiruzen's tone lightened again. He looked back at Ryo with more gentleness and understanding, and a touch of satisfaction with his own scapegoat work. "Enough. Since there was cause, I will speak with Danzō. Ryo, rest in the rear for now and recover. The front needs your strength, but remember to act with more caution." That final caution served as both reminder and as the final no-guilt verdict of today's talk. The stick was lifted high and put down lightly, without touching Ryo at all.
When it came to taking the blame, Danzō was a professional. You could say Hiruzen's current glorious and righteous Hokage image relied on Danzō. Danzō. Still Danzō.
"Yes, Hokage-sama." Ryo inclined his head. Sitting through Hiruzen's moral lecture in the Hokage's office was more tedious than standing in the Wailing Gorge braving poison fog. Only one thought remained in his head. End this and leave.
The mission was done, the blame shifted, and the rest order secured. Ryo spoke to take his leave at once, his voice steady and firm. "If there are no further orders, I will withdraw. Kaori has just settled in and needs to be placed properly at the Senju residence."
"Mm, go on." Hiruzen waved as a matter of course, the customary benevolent smile returning to his face.
Ryo did not dawdle. He turned and left. As he pushed open the great wooden door, the unique bustle of Konoha's streets flooded in with the evening air. He did not pause, his destination clear, the Senju estate.
Ryo's figure suddenly accelerated. He flashed between the shadows of buildings near the Hokage Tower and the streetlamps just lighting, like a red bolt merging with the night wind, speeding straight toward the clan district.
(To be continued.)