Hatani never expected that while he was racking his brain, nearly pulling his hair out to find a legitimate reason to return to Konoha, the Hidden Stone would provide such a timely "assist."
After their plot to drive a wedge between the Leaf and the Rain failed, the Hidden Stone finally dropped the act and declared war on Konoha.
Of course, still concerned with optics, Ohnoki provided a convenient excuse: the fabricated claim that Konoha ninja had infiltrated the Land of Earth, resulting in the deaths of two Stone Jonin and the injury of two others.
While the main bulk of the Iwa forces had yet to mobilize, their border units—which had been kept in a state of constant battle-readiness—acted as the vanguard. They swarmed into the Land of Grass in a massive, sweeping wave.
Though Konoha had been on high alert, Hanzo of the Salamander's sudden, ambiguous shift in attitude had forced the Leaf to divert too much attention to the Land of Rain to pressure him into signing the treaty. Consequently, when nearly a thousand Stone ninja poured into the Land of Grass, Konoha's only immediate option was to deploy their own border units to meet them.
However, just as everyone in Konoha prepared for a massive, head-on collision with the Iwa vanguard, the thousand Stone ninja did something that left the entire shinobi world speechless.
They scattered.
Realizing he needed to buy time, Ohnoki had turned this first wave into a decentralized guerrilla force, forcing Konoha into a grueling game of cat-and-mouse.
It was a brilliant move.
With the Land of Grass and the Land of Rain serving as buffers between the Land of Fire and the Land of Earth, Konoha had committed almost all of its border forces to the Land of Grass to counter the declaration. Under normal circumstances, these forces would have engaged in a standard stalemate of defense and offense.
But now, with nearly a thousand Iwa ninja split into hundreds of small squads roaming the Land of Grass, Konoha's concentrated power was like "using a cannon to swat mosquitoes."
Even if one "shot" obliterated a dozen mosquitoes, hundreds of others would simply fly around the reload gap to strike at the soft, vulnerable targets behind the front lines.
As a result, the Konoha Council—the "Big Four"—could only curse that old bastard Ohnoki for his lack of martial honor while simultaneously ordering the Leaf forces in the Land of Grass to decentralize and engage in a chaotic, widespread melee.
However, unlike the Stone, who came prepared, the Leaf was caught off guard. While they weren't exactly being "bitten to death" by the Stone's mosquitoes, the resulting chaos left the Konoha borders as vulnerable as a... well, as vulnerable as a house with the front door left wide open.
Seeing this, Hiruzen Sarutobi—usually criticized by Danzo for being indecisive—acted with surprising resolve.
He immediately ordered all personnel along the border to pull back toward Kikyo Castle, implementing a "scorched earth" policy. They would fortify their positions and rely on sheer numbers to intercept any Iwa squads that slipped through the cracks.
Naturally, the field hospitals were the first priority for evacuation.
While retreating to Kikyo Castle would have been safe enough, Tsunade was a different story. Having seen Nawaki survive two "guaranteed safe" situations by the skin of his teeth, she had become a "frightened bird," jumping at every shadow. Unwilling to take any more risks, she decided to take advantage of the early chaos before Iwa reached the borders to escort Nawaki back to the village personally.
Now, only within the walls of Konoha could her worried heart finally find peace.
"Ah, Konoha! I, Namikaze Hatani, have finally returned!"
Walking through the gates guarded by whichever generation of "Eternal Gatekeepers" happened to be on duty, Hatani couldn't help but look up and wipe two imaginary tears from his eyes.
"Yeah... we're finally home."
Still recovering from his injuries and looking a bit frail, Nawaki was the one who most empathized with Hatani's sentiment. He climbed off his sister's back, walked over to Hatani, and slung an arm around his shoulder, sharing the dramatic moment with misty eyes of his own.
Fortunately, due to the declaration of war, the village was once again swept up in a frantic, busy atmosphere. There weren't many pedestrians around; otherwise, they surely would have attracted a great deal of pitying stares from the locals.
Swoosh! Swoosh!
As the two were still wallowing in their sentimentality, two blurs of motion flickered past. Two ninjas in black uniforms and abstract, colored masks—instantly recognizable as Root operatives—landed on either side of them.
"Namikaze Hatani. Your crimes have come to light. Come with us to the Root for interrogation!"
Clearly, no matter how much Danzo coveted Nawaki, he wouldn't dare try to snatch the Senju heir off the streets of the village. This time, he was gunning for Hatani—the "civilian" brat who had appeared out of nowhere to ruin his plans.
Thwack! Crack!
Just as the two Root ninja reached out to seize Hatani—and while Hatani was still debating whether he should actually fight back—the two operatives were suddenly struck as if they'd run head-first into a charging horse. No, more like a car doing ninety.
They were sent flying like broken kites, crashing through the storefront of a specialty shop across the street—the kind that specialized in overcharging tourists.
"Impressive!"
Looking at Tsunade as she slowly retracted her long leg, Hatani couldn't help but give her a genuine thumbs-up.
"The people who broke your things are Root ninja. If you want compensation, go ask Danzo for it," Tsunade said dismissively to the shopkeeper, who looked like he wanted to protest but didn't dare speak. She then hoisted her brother back onto her shoulders and turned to leave.
The shopkeeper's face instantly turned as bitter as a gourd.
He might have dared to ask the relatively reasonable Tsunade for compensation, but asking Danzo and the Root? He wouldn't have the courage to do that if he had a hundred years to prepare.
It was the classic dilemma: people feel bold enough to point a gun at a "good man" because they know he follows the rules, but they wouldn't even dare look a "tyrant" in the eye.
"Minato, take the others up. I'll be back in a moment."
The group arrived at the Hokage Residence in a heavy, awkward silence. Tsunade set her brother down and turned to address Minato, who had been trailing behind.
"Sister..."
Though he was grateful to see his friend rescued without hesitation, Nawaki looked worriedly at Tsunade's dark expression. She looked like she was about to go and personally dismantle the Root headquarters. He reached out and caught her hand.
"Don't worry, it's fine," Tsunade said, her expression softening into a smile as she patted Nawaki's head.
"The Senju Clan may not be like those arrogant bastards who use their family names to bully others, but the Senju Clan isn't about to let themselves be bullied by anyone else, either."