In the Hokage's office, Hiruzen had a bad expression while one of the anbu ninja read a report, Dazon who is next to him also had a serious expression that got worse and worse as the anbu ninja spoke.
As soon as the ninja finished speaking Danzo exploded and spoke angrily: "This time Sakumo crossed the line, he must be punished for having made such a mistake, abandoning the length of a mission of such importance to Konoha that cannot be ignored. "
Hiruzen had a very serious expression as he reflected, the problem was very serious, Sakumo's mission involved very important information about the strategies of the villages, the failure of this mission will generate several complications and put Konoha in a complicated situation.
Seeing that Hiruzen didn't respond Danzo became even angrier and spoke: 'Don't tell me you're thinking of a way not to punish Sakumo, that's impossible, you know better than anyone the implications of the failure of this mission, I won't allow you let such an action go unpunished Hiruzen."
Hiruzen looked at Danzo and replied: "I am not thinking about such a thing and I will think about something in relation to Sakumo, but you also have to understand the delicate decision that Sakumo had to make at that moment after all it was about the lives of his companions. "
Hiruzen's words however made Danzo even angrier as he replied dismissively, 'Delicate decision? Don't make me laugh in this kind of situation the length of the mission always comes first, giving up a mission to save your companions what kind of nonsense is this, every ninja must be prepared to give their life for the well being of the village even the comrades he saved understood this point and did not agree with their commander's attitudes."
Hiruzen also understood this point as a ninja it was Sakumo's duty to prioritize the length of the mission, but he also understood the difficult decision Sakumo had to make at that moment.
Hiruzen looked at Danzo and said: "I understand what you're saying, but don't forget that Sakumo is a ninja with great achievements and who was essential in the previous war, as I said I will penalize him for failing the mission, but I will not condemn him for his actions."
Danzo was not satisfied with Hiruzen's decision, but he knew he could not change it, Sakumo was one of Hiruzen's most loyal ninja and Danzo knew that Hiruzen would protect him from any punishment Danzo tried to impose.
However Danzo was not willing to give up and thought, 'Even though I can't do anything against Sakumo directly, it doesn't mean I can't use other ways to target him, I will leak some information about this mission when the people in the village become aware of the events that led to the failure of a mission of such importance, Sakumo's reputation will be greatly damaged and then not only will I diminish Hiruzen's influence in the village as it will also be impossible for Hiruzen to make Sakumo the next Hokage, that is perfect to me.'
Hiruzen was not surprised by Danzo's words as he thought: 'He is definitely planning something, Sakumo's situation is very delicate and such a matter could greatly harm his image, they are probably planning to make use of this fact, this is problematic, I can't do much about this matter, I'll have to talk to the council and try to alleviate the problems, but I'm afraid I won't be successful.'
Hiruzen sighed and then changed the subject and said: "Now we have to discuss our next steps, because of the failed mission infiltrating the enemy forces will become much more difficult, as they will be much more cautious so from now on we will have to is on the battlefield with much less information than our enemies, which will end in many deaths."
Danzo nodded and said: "The battles will become increasingly difficult for our side, the number of ambushes and traps that our ninjas will have to deal with will be even greater, for now, it would be better to reduce the scope of our actions to the minimum possible and dividing our groups into small squads that acted independently of each other, making ambushes difficult."
Hiruzen agreed with the plan and said: "We will act according to your plan for now it will be enough, also have some squads follow the movements of the other villages despite being on guard at some point we will have the opportunity to infiltrate again and then we will no longer be at a disadvantage."
Danzo agreed and left the office while thinking: 'The failure of this mission is very bad, but it gave me a great opportunity if I can reduce Hiruzen's influence due to the casualties caused by Sakumo's failure I can force him to give up the mantle of Hokage and being at war there is no one better than me to take the position.'
Thinking about the possibility of taking on the mantle of Hokage Danzo smiled and began to plan how spreading the rumors about Sakumo's failure is how it would bring great losses to Konoha.