Red.
Ohnoki's nose was beet red.
Upon hearing the reports from the border ninja who had barely escaped with their lives, Ohnoki was so consumed by rage that his nose practically glowed.
Aside from cursing the late Kyu and the missing (but presumed dead) Fumikawa, Ohnoki secretly rued the fact that he hadn't been even more ruthless when dealing with Orochimaru and Jiraiya. (Orochimaru/Jiraiya: You think you weren't ruthless enough, you old midget?!)
However, the rice had already been cooked into porridge. Though Ohnoki wasn't one to live off others' charity, he had to pinch his nose and swallow this bitter brew.
Consequently, he gave his direct Anbu a "few" pointers. He had them spread reminders of their previous victories over Orochimaru and Jiraiya throughout the army, exaggerating the results to stabilize morale. He couldn't let the rhythm of the camp be dictated by the frantic reports of defeated soldiers.
Simultaneously, he rounded up every survivor who had fled the battlefield.
He didn't bury them alive, of course. Even a scrap of toilet paper has its uses, let alone a group of trained ninja. While their numbers were thin, they were more than sufficient to serve as the first wave of cannon fodder to test Konoha's firepower.
The Konoha army didn't feed loafers.
Even though Team Sakumo had just endured a fierce battle the day before, they were dispatched on patrol the moment word arrived that Ohnoki's main force had reached the Land of Grass.
Unlike the standard C-rank patrols near Konoha, a battlefield patrol was a different beast entirely. You weren't just looking for bandits; you were likely to stumble upon Iwa scouts or even the vanguard of a full-scale ambush.
This was why a Jonin like Sakumo led the team personally. If a team of lower rank were wiped out, not only would the loss of life be tragic, but the failure to relay critical intelligence could lead to a catastrophe for the entire army.
However, when Hatani saw the massive "C" stamped on the mission scroll, he couldn't help but curse inwardly.
Hiruzen and the rest of the elders are a bunch of stingy "iron roosters."
Still, a mission was a mission. No matter how much he grumbled, Hatani followed as Sakumo led the Namikaze brothers and Nonou Yakushi out onto the—well, "path" is a generous term.
As the saying goes: Originally, there were no paths on the earth; but when many people pass one way, a path is made.
As Hatani pushed through waist-high wild grass, this famous quote from his previous life's schooling popped into his head.
But rather than pondering the philosophy of road-making, his attention was firmly fixed on Nonou Yakushi. He was already certain she was a Root spy, but explaining how he knew that to Minato or Sakumo was impossible. He needed proof.
In his mind, the quickest way to expose her was to check her tongue.
The inspiration for this came from Sai, the boy who would eventually replace "Emo-Sasu" in the future Team 7. Beyond his pale skin and those... specific... ink techniques that "men of culture" enjoyed, the most memorable thing about Sai was the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal etched onto his tongue.
If he could just get Nonou to stick her tongue out and reveal the seal, Sakumo wouldn't need an explanation. He'd know exactly where she came from and kick her out of the squad immediately.
The problem was, how do you get a seemingly fragile, pretty young lady to just... stick out her tongue?
Just as Hatani was worrying that his plan was starting to sound a bit too "perverted," he suddenly froze. His eyes sharpened.
Before he could shout a warning, Sakumo, leading the formation, stopped and signaled for them to take cover. He had sensed them too.
In an instant, all four vanished from the small trail, melting into the dense foliage.
"Eight enemies. Northwest. Approximately five kilometers away," Minato whispered. He pressed his fingers to the ground, eyes closed in concentration.
Hatani had improved significantly in the past fortight, but Minato—the true genius of the family—had not been idling. Aside from the scroll Jiraiya had given him, he had learned several techniques from Hiruzen, who found himself more impressed by the older brother every day.
Aside from the Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu, the most practical skill Minato had picked up was this sensory technique.
Originally developed by the "Great Inventor" Tobirama Senju, the technique allowed the user to sense enemies from thousands of miles away if they had enough chakra. (This, along with Konan's 600 billion paper bombs, serves as strong evidence that the author of Naruto probably had a PE teacher for a math tutor.)
Of course, neither Hiruzen nor Minato were as monstrous as the Second Hokage. Minato, not even fifteen and still a Chunin, could only sense within a ten-kilometer radius, and even then, he could only get a rough count of the enemy.
Minato felt his current ability was negligible compared to the Second, but the other three were looking at him like he was a freak of nature—even Sakumo.
While Sakumo had signaled the stop, he had done so based on a swordsman's intuition of "killing intent." He hadn't known the exact number or location. In the shinobi world, unless one possessed a Kekkei Genkai or a clan secret, natural-born sensors were incredibly rare.
Seeing Minato's display, Sakumo couldn't help but feel that the "new generation" was already nipping at his heels.
Hatani, however, recovered quickly. After a brief internal curse about the "unfairness of the heavens," he focused his attention on the shifting winds around them.
It was like being in school with a roommate who had a 150 IQ. The first time they aced a test without studying, you'd be jealous. After three years of them doing it every single time, you only reacted if they didn't get a perfect score.
Meanwhile, Nonou Yakushi, who was trying her hardest to act like a background character, looked at Minato with a mix of shock and confusion.
The events of the last few hours had triggered a profound doubt in her mind:
Did I get the brief wrong? Is the target I'm supposed to be monitoring actually Minato Namikaze, not Hatani?
After all, even in this short time, it was obvious that Minato was the one who truly shone. As for Hatani... other than being a bit prickly about her medical background and complaining about the pay, he seemed utterly ordinary. There didn't seem to be anything worth spying on at all.