The Iwa army had officially entered the Land of Grass.
After nearly twenty-four hours without rest, Hatani slept through the entire day. When he finally woke at dusk, the latest intelligence was already circulating throughout the camp.
Iwa was moving faster than anticipated. Perhaps the crushing defeat they suffered the previous night had spurred Ohnoki into a state of aggression.
With the enemy's arrival, the previously relaxed atmosphere of the Konoha camp vanished, replaced by a cold, martial tension. Everyone knew the most brutal part of the war was about to begin. It could be tomorrow. It could even be tonight.
Konoha had already swept away Iwa's local scouts. To regain their vision, Ohnoki was likely to dispatch high-level shinobi for nighttime reconnaissance.
However, with Choza sent back to the village this morning to recover—guaranteeing he would miss the rest of the war—and Tsunade restricted to the field hospital by Hiruzen's orders, the newly formed Team Tsunade was down to just two brothers: Minato and Hatani.
Reinforcements were a necessity. Even if they didn't get another S-rank powerhouse like Tsunade, the village at least needed to send a Chunin to round out a functional squad.
Just as Hatani and Minato were discussing whether to use their status as the Hokage's "grand-disciples" to lobby Hiruzen for a specific teammate, Sakumo Hatake arrived. He wasn't alone. Behind him was a young girl with beautiful flaxen hair tucked into a hood, wearing round-framed glasses and a black-and-white robe. She looked remarkably timid.
"Minato, Hatani, this is Nonou Yakushi."
Hatani had found the bespectacled girl familiar the moment he saw her. Upon hearing Sakumo's introduction, his identity for her clicked into place, and he felt an immediate spike of alarm. On the surface, however, he mirrored Minato's friendly expression and offered a polite greeting.
"Lord Sakumo, are you going to be our new captain?" Minato asked, his face lit with poorly suppressed excitement. Compared to Hatani's internal vigilance, Minato's focus was entirely on the legendary White Fang.
"Heh, that's right," Sakumo replied with a nod and a smile. "The Third has ordered me to succeed Tsunade as your captain. Along with Nonou, we will be the newly formed Team Sakumo."
Sakumo turned toward Nonou, who had remained silent and shy, and gestured toward Minato. "This is Minato Namikaze, a Chunin. He specializes in... well, I'll let you two introduce yourselves." He quickly realized it was better for the teammates to bond through their own words.
"Hello! I'm Minato Namikaze. Chunin. I specialize in shurikenjutsu, Wind Style, and a few Fire Style techniques," Minato said, stepping forward with his trademark "sunshine" smile and extending a hand.
"H-hello... I... I am Nonou Yakushi. My... my specialty is Medical Ninjutsu."
Nonou remained the picture of bashfulness. She plucked up the courage to briefly squeeze Minato's fingers before pulling her hand back as if it had been scorched, stuttering through her introduction.
"A medical ninja?"
Becoming increasingly certain that this Nonou was the "Walking Maiden" of the future, Hatani intentionally narrowed his eyes and knit his brows, looking as though he found her specialty to be a liability.
As he spoke, he watched her eyes and micro-expressions intently. Nonou had an inseparable connection to Root, but he wasn't sure if she had already been recruited by Danzo at this point. He was deliberately acting out to test her.
"Hatani!"
Minato hissed, shocked by his brother's rudeness. He immediately turned back to Nonou and Sakumo with an apologetic explanation.
"Please don't take it to heart. When Hatani first graduated, one of his teammates was a medical ninja-in-training. Unfortunately, she was killed during their very first mission outside the village. He... he just doesn't want to see that tragedy repeat itself."
Sakumo, who had been frowning at Hatani's attitude, softened instantly. A look of nostalgic melancholy crossed his face; he knew better than anyone how much the first set of teammates meant to a shinobi.
While Sakumo was lost in his memories, Nonou spoke up, her face full of anxious determination. "H-Hatani-kun, please rest assured. I... I promise I won't be a burden."
"Lord Sakumo, medical ninja are precious assets. I think it's better if she stays at the main camp," Hatani said, having found no obvious flaws in her act but deciding to stick to the "better safe than sorry" approach. If she was a Root spy, he wanted her nowhere near his team.
"Besides, no other standard squads are equipped with medical ninja. If we get special treatment, it's bound to draw jealousy and resentment from the other units."
"That..."
Sakumo, who had initially thought Hatani was just being sensitive, actually started to waver. The boy's logic was sound from a logistics and morale perspective.
Seeing Sakumo hesitate and feeling like she was about to be "returned to sender," beads of sweat broke out on Nonou's forehead. This was her first real mission, and she was at a loss for how to handle a rejection like this.
Her mind raced toward the consequences of failure—specifically the younger siblings she cared for at the orphanage. For a moment, her eyes actually welled with tears.
Unfortunately for her, this display only pushed Hatani further toward the conclusion that she was a trained operative playing a part. He felt zero "pity for the fair sex." On the contrary, the thought of shaking off a Root spy and making Danzo fail yet again made him feel quite cheerful.
"Lord Sakumo, I think as long as we're cautious enough, having Nonou with us is a good thing."
Just as Hatani thought he had won, his "dear brother" stepped in and stabbed him in the back.
"Having a medical ninja is a safety net," Minato continued earnestly. "Didn't Lady Tsunade once suggest that every squad should have a medic? Why don't we act as the test case to prove her right?"
"Minato."
Hatani caught his brother's eye and pointed two fingers at his own eyes, then back at Minato, an undisguised threat in his gaze. "Kushina is watching you."
Minato blinked, then looked at him with a mix of exasperation and amusement. I'm only doing this to help you get over your trauma from Kazuha's death, and instead of being grateful, you're trying to frame me for flirting?
"Actually, Minato has a point," Sakumo said, seemingly moved by Nonou's tears or perhaps confident enough in his own strength to protect a medic. "Having a medical ninja can significantly speed up recovery after a skirmish."
Sakumo nodded, finality in his tone. Nonou was staying.
Hatani, nearly fuming at his "pig teammate" of a brother, felt a sudden, powerful urge to channel Danzo's most famous line:
"Minato, you will regret this!"