Questions and Answers

To be honest, Chiba had not originally planned to recommend Watanabe Kenshin. Although he trusted the man's character, he still harbored some reservations toward Kenshin. Because of what had happened to Kanno, Chiba could never treat him the same way he treated everyone else.

Though it had not entirely been Watanabe Kenshin's fault, Konoha's intelligence department also bore some responsibility for Kanno's accident. During the Kanno incident, the intelligence department had failed to properly gather information on the village's perimeter, resulting in faulty intelligence that had nearly directly affected Watanabe Kenshin's decisions. But in the end, Watanabe Kenshin still had to bear most of the responsibility.

In short, Chiba did not have a favorable opinion of Watanabe Kenshin and did not even want to see him often, but neither did he hate him enough to insist on killing him. Regarding the deaths of Kanno and the other two, what Chiba felt most was self-blame. What he resented was himself for not stopping the Third Hokage from appointing Watanabe Kenshin back then. Though Chiba had buried that guilt deep in his heart, it would likely only fade over the course of his life, never disappear.

But now, he was the only person Chiba could recommend.

First, he had commanded a battle involving a hundred-man force during the Mount Kibitsu Battle. Everyone knew of his talent for command, and it was precisely because of that talent that the Third Hokage had intended to cultivate him into a unit commander. It was only because of the mistake he had made during the Kanno incident that he had remained on the front lines as Shikaku's deputy.

Second, he was someone the Third Hokage intended to cultivate, so there was no need to worry about his character or his stance. He definitely was not one