"Well said. Then did you take this mission together? If the mission failed, why was all the blame put on my father? Abandoning the mission would have required at least two people's agreement, right? Since neither of you agreed, how did my father abandon it?"
Yuzuru kicked one of them down, planted his foot on the man's head, and demanded an answer.
"Minazuki Yuzuru, I advise you to stop immediately. Don't bring ruin on yourself."
Just then, an Anbu Chunin nearby, still occupied with an ice wolf, spoke up in warning.
"Too noisy."
Yuzuru could not be bothered to look at them and simply formed hand seals.
"Ice Release: Wolf Fang Ice Explosion!"
The three ice wolves' eyes instantly turned blood-red. Their speed surged, and they charged at the Anbu before exploding. Ice shards as hard as iron nails severely wounded all three.
"That was a warning."
With that, Yuzuru looked at the two men at his feet.
"I'll give you three final seconds. Kowtow, apologize, and admit your wrongdoing. Otherwise, you two can prepare to die in the line of duty. Two ninja dying on an S-rank mission is perfectly normal, right? That will also serve as an explanation. After all, the mission failed because people died."
"No, you can't-you can't do this! This is Konoha! We're Konoha ninja!"
"Unfortunately for you, I'm not a ninja. Your bullshit ninja rules don't apply to me. I'm still just a student."
With that, Yuzuru froze one of the other man's legs, then crushed it underfoot.
"Relax. It won't hurt. Once frozen, your pain receptors were already dead. So were your cells."
"Three! Two! One!"
"Looks like you've already made your peace with it."
Yuzuru was just about to act when...
"Yuzuru! Stop immediately!"
Tsunade arrived and looked at him with a complicated expression.
"Teacher, are you going to stop me too?"
Yuzuru looked at Tsunade.
"No matter what, Konoha ninja must not kill one another."
"I'm not a ninja yet, am I? You know that, Teacher. Isn't it a little inappropriate to bind me with ninja rules?"
"Besides, what do you think those two are good for alive? Isn't my father better by comparison? Trading two trash Chunin for the Konoha White Fang is a profit no matter how you look at it, right?"
"If that's still not enough, I'll agree on my father's behalf. As long as those two die here now, either my father or I will personally complete an S-rank mission without taking any payment. Two Chunin's lives in exchange for an S-rank mission-that's something they could never accomplish in their entire lives. The village makes a killing, doesn't it?"
Yuzuru glanced at the two men frozen stiff at his feet and said with a smile, "Wouldn't you agree? Trash like you could never complete an S-rank mission in your lives. Now, all you have to do is die, and the village gets an S-rank mission completed, with all the payment going to the village too. As ninja who put missions first, shouldn't you feel proud?"
"Stop immediately! Minazuki Yuzuru, for publicly harming ninja from your own village, you must immediately submit to the village's punishment."
Just then, more Anbu arrived.
Only, the aura of these Anbu was even more...
"Three seconds. Get out of my sight, or you can stay here for good."
Yuzuru's voice was cold.
"Minazuki Yuzuru has attacked people in the street. Arrest him immediately!"
"Three stray dogs that can't show their faces dare bark at me?"
Yuzuru might hold back against Anbu. After all, Tsunade was his teacher, and he had to show her some respect. But Root like these could simply be killed.
"Ice Release: Ice Prison!"
In an instant, masses of ice surrounded the three Root members, forming a spherical prison.
"Yuzuru!"
Tsunade's expression darkened.
"Teacher, sorry for the trouble, but please be quiet for a moment. No one else will come to harm today. I'm just helping my father resolve what's weighing on his mind, letting him know that rather than tormenting himself, he should deal with other people."
With that, the ice prison enclosing the three Root members became a solid sphere of ice. The three inside had already frozen to death, all life extinguished.
Looking at the two men at his feet, Yuzuru could no longer be bothered to waste words. Two ice senbon pierced the backs of their heads.
"Dad, there's one more very important thing. Just now, they refused to exchange their lives for an S-rank mission, so there's nothing we can do. Now you don't even have a chance to atone. There's only one last option."
Yuzuru spoke with a smile.
Then an ice senbon knocked off Sakumo's ninja forehead protector.
"From this day forward, my father is no longer a ninja, just an ordinary civilian of Konoha. Any ninja affairs have nothing to do with my father. Handle them yourselves."
With that, Yuzuru looked at the ninja forehead protector in his hand. Ice surged out to freeze it before shattering it completely, and he tossed the metal fragments into a trash can.
Watching from the side, Kakashi seemed to understand something too and removed his own ninja forehead protector.
Kakashi looked at it with a complicated expression.
This was what he had always pursued, but now, the thing seemed utterly disgusting to him.
"Yuzuru, take care of mine too."
Yuzuru smiled and nodded. "Not so stupid after all."
Hearing that, Kakashi rolled his eyes irritably.
Yuzuru took the ninja forehead protector Kakashi had always worn, froze and shattered it as well, and tossed it into the trash can.
"Teacher, that's more or less the situation. From now on, the Hatake Clan has no ninja, only businesspeople living in Konoha. Whether it's missions or war, please tell the Hokage that the Hatake Clan won't participate. After all, we're people, people with emotions and desires, with feelings and family bonds, not ninja who complete missions. That profession is far too noble. It's beyond our reach."
"Let's go, Dad."
Hatake Sakumo looked at Yuzuru with a complicated expression, but above all, he felt relief.
For some reason, once the ninja forehead protector he had always worn was shattered, he felt as though the shackles on him had vanished too. At that moment, he felt lighter than ever before.
"Then, Lady Tsunade, our family will take our leave. As for these people, let the honors I, Hatake Sakumo, have earned from missions over the years pay for them. I believe my contributions to Konoha far outweigh these few lives."
With that, the father and his two sons left together.
Watching this, Tsunade's mind was filled with Yuzuru's mockery of the ninja profession.
After glancing at the mangled flesh on the ground, Tsunade likewise left without looking back.
Among the crowd, Orochimaru watched Yuzuru's retreating figure.
"How interesting, Yuzuru-kun."
The Hokage's office.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was nursing a headache over what had happened that day when the office door was shoved open violently.
"Hiruzen, did you see that? That brat from the Yuki Clan is only acting so brazenly because you were too merciful back then. Now even Hatake Sakumo has become like this."
"Danzo, Yuzuru was merely speaking up against the injustice done to his father."
"You're still making excuses at this point? A ninja with a bloodline ability like that belongs in my Root. I would forge him into a sharp sword."
"Enough, Danzo. Don't think I don't know about your little maneuvers behind the public outcry."
"Everything I've done has been for Konoha!
"If those mission clients learn that Konoha ninja abandon missions when their lives are in danger, will anyone still come to Konoha with commissions?"
Hearing this, Hiruzen Sarutobi said nothing more and merely took a deep drag on his pipe.
Seeing that Hiruzen Sarutobi was wavering, Danzo immediately grew emboldened.
"What are you still hesitating for?"
"That child has already become part of Konoha. He truly sees Hatake Sakumo as his father."
"So what? I told you long ago, Hiruzen. Your character is too weak. You're simply not suited to being Hokage. For Konoha's sake, what does a mere Hatake Sakumo matter? Ice Release should be in our hands."
"Enough, Danzo! I am the Hokage!"
Hearing Danzo use the matter to push his agenda yet again, Hiruzen Sarutobi could not help slamming the desk and rising to his feet. He was old, not dead. Whether he was suited to being Hokage was not for Danzo to decide.
At those words, Danzo's somewhat smug expression immediately darkened, and his voice grew considerably hoarser.
"Hiruzen, you'll regret this!"
Bang!
Having heard those words, Danzo left the Hokage's office without another word. Only the violent slam of the office door revealed the fury in his heart.