Nono used to be a shinobi of Root, she had only recently broken away from the organization.
She was also the only person who managed to leave Root alive while Danzo was still in power.
From the perspectives of both Danzo and Tatsuma, this wasn't exactly a disgrace, but letting someone as nearly flawless as Nono go was undoubtedly a loss.
There weren't many spies in all of Konoha as perfect as her.
Arata said, "Lord Tatsuma, I'm sure you understand, I'm a war orphan without any real talent. I have to cherish every moment and give everything I've got.
My body has always been frail. I've made it this far only because of everyone's care. I must do something for them through my own efforts. I never want to become a burden."
Tatsuma stared at the young man before him. In truth, Arata wasn't even in his field of vision.
His mind was entirely occupied with analyzing Nono's potential motivations. As Danzo's right-hand man, Tatsuma instinctively viewed everything through a dark and suspicious lens.
As for Arata himself? Tatsuma barely gave him a second thought.
Just a genin who had learned a forbidden soul technique, one he had personally deemed a failure years ago. No real talent to speak of.
What Tatsuma focused on instead was the emotional bond between Nono and Arata. As he flipped through Arata's intel report, he mentally slapped on label after label.
Lacks potential (short-lived).
Antisocial (actually just fears spreading or catching disease).
Overprotective of comrades (always prepared to sacrifice allies as expendable assets in battle)
And now, a new label: "Yakushi Nono," followed by a question mark.
"You've already forged a bond with the village. That's good," Tatsuma said coolly.
"But it's not enough. You'll need to do more to repay the village's kindness. As for the fact that you're studying that controversial ninjutsu under that nun, I'll let that slide."
Tatsuma's tone was cold. "I want you to report to me regularly with intel regarding Nono.
"Why should I do that?" Arata frowned. "Is this an official assignment from the deputy commander of the medical corps?"
"You can refuse," Tatsuma said flatly, "but I'll immediately cut off all financial aid to war orphans. Every one of them who's received training will be shipped straight to the front lines."
"Even though the intensity of the war has lessened, the battlefields are still short on manpower. Both funds and personnel must be used to their fullest."
Establishing a medical corps during wartime had already consumed a huge amount of village resources. Tatsuma had every justification to pull funding from war orphans.
He scrutinized the shifting expressions on Arata's face, nodding internally. This one was emotionally similar to Nono, perfect for manipulation through moral coercion.
"If you refuse," he continued coldly, "your few remaining acquaintances will be put in greater danger. You wouldn't want that, would you?"
Arata frowned. "And you're a deputy commander, saying things like this? Do the lives of our comrades mean nothing to you?"
"When it comes to missions, comrades are secondary. Seems the orphanage needs to revamp how it educates you war orphans.
At the very least, they need to abandon those childish ideals. Ninja are tools for missions. Nothing more."
Tatsuma made no attempt to hide the cold blood running through him. This was simply who he was.
In his eyes, every shinobi born in Konoha could be sacrificed when necessary. War orphans, even more so, they were nothing more than expendable tools with minds of their own.
The prevailing mindset now was the polar opposite of what it had been during the Naruto-Sasuke era.
And it was this stark difference that, six years later, would lead to Sakumo being universally condemned and ultimately taking his own life to atone for the "shame" of failing a mission to save a comrade.
Not long after, Arata exited the medical corps office with a blank expression, as if weighed down by heavy thoughts.
But inside, he felt nothing. In fact, he almost wanted to laugh.
'So Tatsuma's lumped me in with Nono... But the truth is, my jutsu isn't some forbidden soul technique. I never even received Nono's true teachings.
To her, I was just one of many ordinary kids. She only took over managing the war orphans six months ago, and I'd already left the orphanage to carry out missions by then.'
In the original timeline, Danzo had brought Tatsuma and Orochimaru to the orphanage to coerce Yakushi Nono into rejoining Root and serving as a spy in various shinobi villages, using Kabuto's life as leverage.
At the time, Tatsuma had offered to maintain the orphanage's funding as a bargaining chip.
That was typical Root strategy, manufacturing threats out of what should've been basic entitlements, squeezing costs down to the bare minimum through sheer psychological pressure.
In the end, Nono died on a mission. Only then did Root finally squeeze out every last bit of value from her.
No one left Root easily. Danzo made that clear to everyone without needing to say a word.
Reluctant to lose such a top-tier information asset, Tatsuma had now shifted focus to Arata, hoping to break through that way.
'But Root wouldn't put their hopes of controlling Nono on someone like me. Their intelligence operations are far too thorough.
When the time comes, they'll lay down every card they have to force her hand. But what does that have to do with me?'
The person who had shown Arata kindness was the previous head of the orphanage. That man had long since died in battle. Yakushi Nono had only taken over afterward.
'Still, I have to give Tatsuma some credit. At least he's willing to pay to get things done. Reassigning me to corpse disposal... From a transporter to a final-stage handler, huh?
Looks like I'll have a bit of downtime. He's deliberately giving me low-value corpses to process so I can use them for ninjutsu practice.'
For that alone, Arata held a surprisingly favorable opinion of Tatsuma. Say what you would about his threats, at least he offered something in return.
It wasn't until Sasuke killed Danzo and Root was dissolved that Tatsuma finally lost all his power and disappeared from public view.
Maybe he was purged afterward. Over the decades, who knew how many dirty deeds Tatsuma had done for Danzo? How many people hated him to the bone?
'If I fail to deliver value that satisfies him, I'll be cast aside without hesitation... This short reprieve is my rare window of opportunity.'
Arata returned to his worn down quarters to rest, doing his best to recover his strength.
As expected, the news of him killing a Kirigakure Chunin and rescuing three comrades hadn't made any waves.
Besides Tatsuma, no one even bothered to summon him for a debrief.