Hiruzen watched the argument between Shunsui and Koharu for several seconds before he raised his hand and spoke, "Koharu, Shunsui is right. He did the right thing when he chose to protect the lives of the shinobi standing beside him. Orders are important and discipline keeps an army from falling apart, yet an order that demands a person watch his comrades die while he still has the power to save them is an order that needs to be questioned. The Will of Fire that we teach every child in this village will mean nothing if we throw it away the moment it becomes inconvenient on the battlefield."
Shunsui thought,'Does he have to add this will of fire in everything he says? I don't think I have ever had a discussion with this man without it.'
Hiruzen continued without giving the elder a chance to interrupt. "Sometimes you have to ignore the orders for the greater good too, Koharu."
As Hiruzen spoke the words, a memory rose in his mind. He remembered the day he had wanted to disobey his own sensei's command and stay to fight beside the Second Hokage against the Gold and Silver Brothers.
Tobirama had ordered him and his other students to escape while the Second stayed behind. Hiruzen had obeyed and the decision still sat heavily in his heart.
Maybe if he had ignored that order his sensei would not have been killed in such an unfair fight. He shook his head slightly to clear the regret and focused once more on the discussion in front of him.
Hiruzen kept his tone even and practical as he finished the point. "And it turned out well in this case. Instead of gaining only numerous small victories we have managed to push Kumo almost completely out of the Land of Fire thanks to Shunsui and the decision he made to go all out when it mattered most."
Koharu still looked unconvinced and let out a short snort of disagreement. "But you are preparing to train a kid who openly disobeyed orders for the role of a future jonin commander and strategist. How is he supposed to lead others and expect them to follow his orders when he himself could not follow the ones given to him?"
"It would set a bad precedent for the entire force. And let us not forget about his age and his clear lack of experience in long term command."
Shikaku was the one who answered her this time. "And that is exactly why we are going to train him first and see how he fits the role over time. He is not going to make any decisions yet and he will not be placed in full command anytime in the near future either. He will sit in on meetings, learn how
everything works, and gradually take on small responsibilities under direct supervision."
Hiruzen added his own support to the plan. "And he cannot currently go outside the village for regular missions because of the size of the bounty on his head so this arrangement is the best use of his time."
"While he is here Shikaku and I can also learn more about the full range of his abilities and begin building better long term strategies around them. The war is not over yet and we will need every advantage we can prepare."
Koharu and Homura finally gave reluctant nods of acceptance. Koharu however could not resist adding one last warning. "Danzo will not be happy with this arrangement. The boy is listed as a War Power and keeping him locked inside the village instead of sending him back to the front will be seen as detrimental to Konoha and a waste of a valuable asset."
Shunsui heard the comment and felt an immediate spike of irritation. 'Alright I really want to punch her face right now. Of course Danzo would not be happy. When is that man ever happy about anything? Has anyone in this village ever seen him smile without it looking like he is planning to steal someone's organs?'
He continued the internal complaint without any external sign of irritation. 'Dude never got some proper love in his life and it shows in every decision he makes. He never got married, never built a real family, and I am fairly certain he has never had sexual intercourse. The man lives in a basement full of masks and calls it patriotism.'
Hiruzen addressed the concern about Danzo. "I will handle Danzo. Besides he is still busy on the front lines against Iwa. Let him focus on that for now."
The Hokage then turned to Choza and gave the next set of instructions. "You will reinforce the barrier team while you are here in the village. Your strength and experience will be useful there." Choza accepted the assignment with a short nod.
Hiruzen looked next at the two newly promoted chunin. "Genma and Guy you can now take missions as full chunin even without the original genin team structure. Alternatively Choza can still take you on joint missions once a month if you prefer to keep working with him."
Both boys nodded in understanding. Guy looked ready to sprint out of the office and begin his first official chunin mission immediately while Genma simply adjusted the senbon in his mouth and waited for the dismissal.
Hiruzen gave the final words of the meeting. "You can each choose your reward jutsu from the library now and then rest for the remainder of the day. Dismissed."
Everyone in the team bowed respectfully toward the Hokage and the elders. They turned and left the office together.
-------Author Notes--------
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