Early morning, Konoha Cemetery.
"You're questioning my decision?"
Rather than looking displeased, "Ryuichi" studied Kou with interest.
"For the past two weeks, no matter how unhappy you were with my arrangements, you never once questioned them.
"And now you're challenging the jonin your clan specifically assigned to guide you, all for two brats who weren't strong enough to survive a B-Rank Mission?
"Heh. That's a surprise."
"...I never questioned you before because, aggressive as your plans were, they made sense. We completed the missions just as efficiently as I expected."
Kou paused. He looked at the young man before him, his brow furrowing as he spoke in a low voice.
"But this time, I can't understand your decision.
"The Sand Village pursuit squad was strong. They even had two jonin. But you're a jonin with the Sharingan.
"We'd already gathered the intelligence. If you'd held them off for a little while, I could have dealt with the Genin tying up Kichitaro and Yoshiko and brought them out with us.
"But you ignored my signal completely."
Kou met "Uchiha Ryuichi's" gaze and rested a hand on Inazuma at his waist.
"You know what I can do. Helping them take out those few Genin would barely have cost us any time. It wouldn't have affected our escape.
"The pursuers couldn't have reached us in time, either.
"Their deaths could have been avoided—"
"Fool!"
"Ryuichi's" sharp rebuke cut Kou off.
Kou flinched at the shout, but he held "Ryuichi's" gaze without backing down.
A flicker of appreciation crossed "Ryuichi's" eyes as he looked at Kou.
But his face remained grim, and he quickly buried it.
"Once we confirmed that the Sand Village force infiltrating the Land of Fire border had three jonin, and those two exposed our position through their carelessness,
"their deaths