"Lord Danzo, I think we should—"
"I don't care what you think. I care about what I think."
The army was on the move, and in the temporary command post, Danzo directly cut off Sakumo Hatake mid-sentence. Did this man still think he was the front-line commander? That role now belonged to Danzo.
Puffing himself up with pride, Danzo slapped the map in front of him, pointing at the projected route of Sunagakure's advancing forces.
"This time, the Shimura and Sarutobi clans will be at the front lines. Your job is to follow behind and clean up the battlefield."
He said it so casually, as though it were a leisurely stroll and not the brink of war.
"What I mean is, before engaging in battle, it's necessary to have the Hyuga clan scout the surrounding—"
Sakumo spoke again, frowning at the map. The Sunagakure path looked straightforward, but the dense forests and complex mountainous terrain nearby were ideal for ambushes. Without prior reconnaissance...
His sharp instincts told him something was off. He had faced off with Sunagakure before and knew Chiyo wasn't foolish enough to expose her main forces so blatantly.
This approach didn't fit Chiyo's tactical style at all.
Danzo hadn't even taken time to familiarize himself with the terrain of the Land of Rain. Issuing orders so recklessly was incredibly dangerous.
Make no mistake—this version of Danzo wasn't the cunning schemer of later years. He hadn't yet endured the bitter failure of the Second Great Ninja War, which would later transform him into the shadowy, cautious puppet master. At this point, his experience was limited to playing bodyguard to the Second Hokage during the First Great Ninja War.
It was the catastrophic loss in the Second War that would become his turning point, forcing him to embrace patience and subterfuge. It wouldn't be until the Third Great Ninja War that he'd lead ROOT in the Land of Rain, even pretending to be corpses just to gather intelligence.
But that was in the future.
Right now, Hiruzen had only recently ascended to the Hokage position, and in the peace that followed the First Great Ninja War, Danzo had been content to follow behind him, dealing only with internal affairs within Konoha.
ROOT's purpose was fundamentally different from ANBU. While ANBU might engage external threats head-on, ROOT was infamous for dealing with internal ones—making them all the more feared.
Sakumo Hatake, on the other hand, had already fought in the Land of Rain and clashed frequently with enemy ninja. He was well acquainted with the strategic patterns of other village commanders.
So it only took him a glance to see the problem.
But with Danzo shutting him down at every turn, there was no room for discussion. Danzo believed that his decisions were infallible.
With a bitter smile, Sakumo finally fell silent.
Since being dismissed from command, he had come to understand many things. Glory on the battlefield might look like an honor, but in reality, it was more of a burden.
The Hokage's praise was superficial. He wasn't blind. Sakumo's removal had been a clear signal—commanding too much and shining too brightly made others suspicious.
So be it.
Whether it would be fortune or disaster, the battlefield would reveal the truth.
The orders were given.
The Hyuga clan's shinobi quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
Truth be told, as the eyes of Konoha's ninja alliance, their Byakugan had delivered countless key intelligence, winning much merit for the village. That much was undeniable.
But as scouts, their risk of dying was also exponentially higher.
A chance to conserve their strength? That was more than welcome.
Even though trailing behind the Shimura and Sarutobi clans would likely mean fewer military merits earned, that trade-off was starting to look pretty good.