"Captain Hatake abandoned the mission to rescue a teammate."
Listening to the report, the Third Hokage sat in silence. Uzumaki Kuming, who had been about to leave, no longer seemed in a hurry to go. He wanted to hear how things would unfold, so he sat back down and studied the ninja who had just entered to deliver the report.
Perhaps it was the heavy atmosphere in the office, or perhaps Uzumaki Kuming's gaze was simply too intense. Under his scrutiny, the ninja who had just entered began to look nervous, cold sweat trickling down his temples.
Interesting. He's reporting such important information directly to the Old Man, completely ignoring my presence.
Does he know who I am? Is he not afraid I'll leak the information, or does he want me to?
The Third Hokage said nothing, so Kuming kept his eyes on the reporting ninja, mulling things over. The man's behavior was unusual. Normally, after a mission that could affect the entire course of the war had failed, the first thing to do was report to the village's highest authority, the Hokage. But that was exactly the problem: from Konoha's perspective, this news had to be kept secret.
Yet the office held not only the Third Hokage, but also Uzumaki Kuming. Whatever reason Kuming had for being there, the ninja should at least have taken precautions. But the man in front of him didn't seem to realize he needed to keep Kuming from learning about this.
"Who knows about this?"
After a long silence, the Third Hokage seemed to have worked something out. He spoke in a low voice. He made no effort to keep Kuming out of the conversation; he merely glanced at him before looking back at the reporting ninja.
"Lord Hokage, at present, only the few