Temple's Jonin mentor was named Ishikawa, an old Jonin who had already retired. He lived in a small courtyard house near the foot of the mountains on the north side of the village. Two rows of short bamboo grew by the entrance, and medicinal herbs lay drying in the yard. When Jin Uchiha arrived, Ishikawa was squatting in the yard, sorting dried plantain.
The old man's hair was gray and his back slightly stooped, but his eyes were still bright. When he looked up and saw Jin Uchiha standing at the gate, his hands paused.
"A boy from the Uchiha Clan."
"Senior Ishikawa."
"Come in. Don't step on those two bamboo stalks by the gate. I only planted them last year." Ishikawa gathered the sorted herbs into a basket, stood up, and brushed the dirt off his hands. "I know why you've come."
Jin Uchiha entered the yard and sat on a stone stool opposite Ishikawa. An old persimmon tree stood in the yard, its branches reaching beyond the wall. A few unpicked persimmons still hung from them, deep red and swaying gently in the wind.
"Did someone tell you?"
"No one told me." Ishikawa pulled two rough earthenware cups from beneath the stone table, poured two cups of cool tea, and pushed one toward him. "Danzo put Temple forward to take over Root at today's meeting. By noon, the news had spread throughout the Jonin Commander. I mentored Temple for three years. If the higher-ups came looking for me at a time like this, what else could it be about?"
Jin Uchiha accepted the cup but did not rush to drink. Ishikawa was far calmer than he had expected, as though he had long been waiting for someone to ask.
"Then what do you think of Temple, senior?"
Ishikawa