Naruto: The Senju Patriarch

The army at the Suna front had been divided into 2, with a fairly significant portion being tasked to head back to Konoha with the injured while protecting them, but they were still at war. Sakumo and all the other main leaders stayed with the main force. Fortunately for them, this war being fought on Amegakure territory meant they didn't have to leave a force to guard the border. 

Despite just having finished fighting in one battle and having to fight in another, the army's morale was high, but as they made their war to the current main base of Konoha's Iwa front, they were not met with the enthusiasm they were expecting. Instead of being happy to see so many reinforcements to help end the war completely, the Shinobi looked like they were about to head into another battle. 

Katsuro and the other captains and leaders noticed the atmosphere, but quickly realised that speculating would not help.

"Let's go and report to the Hokage." Sakumo said with a certain solemness. 

They arrived and were greeted by the Hokage, who called for a meeting straight away. Within minutes, everyone had arrived, showing the immediacy and urgency of the situation. The meeting contained almost the entirety of Konoha's power in one tent. 

The Hokage began, "Thank you for your swift arrival everyone, especially those of you who fought against Sunagakure."

"But unfortunately, it seems the war is still far from over." This statement made those who had been fighting against Iwa grimace, and those who had been led by Sakumo surprised and anxious.

Katsuro, however, was just more pleased that the Hokage did not take this time to play politics, but the main thought on his mind was the situation of his clan - he hoped they were still okay, even though Kaito sent him frequent reports assuring him so.

"Hanzo the Salamander is making a move. We have information that he is preparing and amassing a considerable force - it seems he may have made some kind of deal with the Tsuchikage, but regardless, this leaves us in a terrible spot. We will be caught between Iwa and Hanzo if we do nothing. Therefore, I have decided that we will send a battalion to deal with them, while the majority of our force remains here to fight against Iwagakure. I will have Tsunade, Jiraiya and Orochimaru lead the force, and they will join Danzo, who is already there."

The tone of the Hokage's words made those of the Suna front realise this was not a discussion on what to do. The Hokage was giving his orders. But Katsuro wasn't one to take orders - especially if they didn't make sense. 

He began speaking, his voice commanding attention with the authority he had as the Patriarch of the Senju, and with the experience he had of leading others during this war.

"While Amegakure does not have many Shinobi, and the standard of these Shinobi compared to us are quite low, they are still a force to be reckoned with - we will suffer if we underestimate them and do not send enough Shinobi." Katsuro looked briefly at Tsunade, the last time he had opposed the Hokage, it had not ended so well after with her. But this time she kept her face neutral, and sensing his gaze gave him a small smile. He didn't mean to have this effect, but glad it had happened anyway. She was no longer viewing the world through rose tinted glasses. The war had changed her, just as it had changed him, the guilt of Nawaki's death opened her eyes and she could now see her teacher for how he really was.

"From what I have gathered, Amegakure has a force of at least 3500 Shinobi who are combat ready and preparing, and while sending a force of the planned 2000 is alright, I would recommend more because we are fighting in their territory."

Katsuro directly questioning the Hokage, even if for everyone's benefit, had serious repercussions. The Hokage had not been discussing - he had been ordering, and Katsuro still speaking against this demonstrated to everyone that a rift had formed between them, and that Katsuro was not fully under the Hokage's whim. Everyone else became spectators, watching the conversation unfold while also assessing their own political moves as a consequence. Many who saw Hatake Sakumo as their next Hokage and supported him, saw this as the official divide between the camps of the Third and the White Fang. 

Taking the opportunity Katsuro had given with his pause, the Hokage replied, "While I understand, Katsuro, you may not be aware but Iwagakure has an estimate of about 7500 Shinobi on this front, and with just 2000 sent to deal with Amegakure we would have 6,400. While that isn't as significant of a gap as we've had before, in such a large battle even the smallest of differences can have devastating consequences." 

6,600? So 8,600 total Shinobi here currently. Without our about 3,400 that means there were 5,000 Shinobi here. What? How? That means we lost 500 Shinobi in the short time I've been gone, and there have only been smaller skirmishes here. Even with Iwa's reinforcements it can't be as bad as the gap was before! 

Katsuro looked to the Hokage, figuring out the reason and grew disappointed. Even if he strives for peace, neutering our advantage by being passive was not the way…

Despite his disappointment at the revelation, Katsuro replied back, "Lord Hokage, I understand, and truthfully, this is not my main issue - it is Hanzo the Salamander, the man they call Demigod. While Jiraiya, Orochimaru and Tsunade are strong, they still have not fully matured, and, like many others in this room, are young and still not in their peak forms, so I do not believe they will be able to deal with Hanzo."

Hiruzen listened to Katsuro's words, which were straightforward, but he also picked up on the hidden implication that Katsuro himself, who was younger than his students, was also not yet in his prime and would only grow stronger. He momentarily ignored the depressing thought, and smiled with glee internally after thinking of how to deal with this, and cement his authority as Hokage in this situation. "Katsuro, do you truly not believe in them? Not even Tsunade?" The Hokage tried to repeat what he had orchestrated not too long ago, frustrated and angry at what he perceived as disrespect. 

But to his surprise, it did not go as he intended. Neither Katsuro or Tsunade said anything - in fact, Tsunade even glared briefly at her teacher, almost telling him to not get her involved. Seeing this, he coughed into his hands to hide his embarrassment and continued awkwardly, "You don't believe in Jiraiya and Orochimaru either?"

"That is not what I'm saying, Lord Third-"

Before Katsuro could finish Jiraiya interrupted, as young and strong as he was, he was still relatively dense in these matters. "Don't worry, Katsuro! Me and Gamabunta will destroy Hanzo and his Salamander, rest assured." 

Orochimaru wasn't the type to comment on these types of things, but Katsuro could see he was also fairly confident (although nowhere as much as Jiraiya), though his confidence probably came from his ability to survive just about anywhere and everywhere.

"See Katsuro, as Jiraiya said, they will be fine, and they will also have Danzo to help them." 

Hearing this Katsuro realised he could not push back further without essentially forcing his will through, and in these turbulent times of war, that was not the method to take. The Hokage's statement about Danzo instilled even less confidence in him. As if Danzo would willingly face Hanzo. I'll have to give Tsunade that just in case.

AN: If you would like to view up to 20 chapters ahead, and would also like to support me, please visit my P@TR30N, at pa tr eon.com / GhidorahWriter (remove the spaces). Thanks for reading and make sure ADD to your COLLECTION and VOTE with POWER STONES! The target is 150 POWER STONES for the next BONUS chapter!