From the tone of the earlier conversation, it was clear that this elite jōnin was no longer young—likely close in age to Hiruzen Sarutobi.
He was evidently a veteran Konoha ninja.
After a while, the elite jōnin spoke again:
"Brother, if we run into danger, you should retreat first. I'll hold that kid off."
From the way he spoke, it sounded like he was Hiruzen's younger brother.
Hiruzen turned to look at him, then nodded.
"Hayato, everything you've done for the clan—I won't forget it. I'll take care of your family."
Sure enough, this elite jōnin really was his brother.
His name was Sarutobi Hayato, Hiruzen's biological younger brother by one year. His strength was at the elite jōnin level. If he fought all out, he could hold his own even against an early Kage-level opponent.
Within the Sarutobi clan, he was second only to Hiruzen. However, due to his lesser talent, he never became clan head.
All his life, he had essentially played the role of Hiruzen's tool. Now, even Hiruzen's safety relied on this younger brother's protection.
Judging by Hiruzen's tone, he had likely said similar words many times before. Who knew how many Sarutobi clan members had already sacrificed their lives for that single promise?
But Hayato had no complaints. Hiruzen had been personally chosen by their father as clan head and had always been more capable. Submitting to him felt natural.
What mattered most was the clan's prosperity. Everything they did was for the clan's sake. Raised under Sarutobi Sasuke's teachings, Hayato had absolute loyalty to his family.
This kind of upbringing wasn't unique to the Sarutobi. The Uchiha and Hyūga had similar traditions. The Hyūga were even more explicit, dividing into main and branch families, with the branch house required to obey the main house completely—almost like servants.
The Sarutobi situation wasn't much different.
Though Hayato spoke with righteous resolve, Hiruzen wasn't particularly moved. To him, this was simply how things should be. If their roles were reversed, he believed he would do the same. That was the effect of clan-centered education.
The other nine ANBU behind him were also Sarutobi clan shinobi raised the same way. They were all his absolute confidants.
If necessary, a single order from Hiruzen would be enough for them to die for him without hesitation.
With such subordinates, he dared to travel under dangerous circumstances. If he encountered trouble, he could always have them buy time—or act as shields.
For example, his Reverse Summoning Jutsu had saved him countless times before. Many powerful foes he once couldn't handle had been escaped this way.
Of course, reverse summoning required time to activate, so allies were needed to stall.
The last time he faced Arata, his own father Sarutobi Sasuke had stepped in. Now, with ten ANBU present, he refused to believe he could be instantly killed.
Even against a super-Kage-peak Arata, Hiruzen didn't believe he could be one-shot.
Filled with confidence, they soon reached the Land of Fire's border. Beyond it lay the Land of Rain.
The border was riddled with traps and hidden sentries.
Fortunately, the main battlefield was in the Land of Rain, so the Land of Fire itself hadn't suffered heavy invasion.
Still, the border shinobi all wore grave expressions. They clearly knew their side was at a severe disadvantage.
Even the veteran Kage-level fighter Danzō had lost an arm in battle against Ōnoki.
Although he had recovered somewhat after rest, he would likely never return to peak condition. Danzō was a traditional shinobi whose strength relied heavily on ninjutsu and taijutsu, with little focus on genjutsu.
Losing an arm meant losing the ability to form hand seals. That restricted him to a small number of seal-less techniques—and in this era, such techniques were extremely limited.
In short, his ninjutsu path was nearly crippled.
In the original story, Danzō's right arm was always wrapped in bandages. It seemed like he was hiding Sharingan, but there was no real need to replace his entire arm with a White Zetsu arm full of Hashirama cells unless his original arm had already been lost in earlier battles.
Most likely, his arm had indeed been severed long ago. Transplanting a White Zetsu arm allowed him to continue using ninjutsu and wield Sharingan.
Even now, Danzō had already begun covering his right eye with bandages. Others might not know, but that eye came from Uchiha Kagami—it was his first transplanted Sharingan.
Experiencing its power firsthand led to his later obsessive fixation on Sharingan, eventually culminating in an arm full of them.
By now, even if he rarely used Kagami's eye, he likely already understood how to use Izanagi—probably reserved as a life-saving trump card.
Among those present, only Hiruzen knew these details. As Danzō's longtime partner and closest collaborator, he understood him best.
So hearing that Danzō had lost an arm didn't overly alarm him. He knew Danzō's human experimentation research was progressing; another transplant arm was only a matter of time.
Once back in Konoha, Danzō could replace the arm and return to battle.
After all, when Orochimaru conducted human experiments in the original story, Hiruzen only branded him a criminal because Orochimaru defied his authority and competed for the Hokage seat.
If Orochimaru had been as obedient as Danzō, his research might never have been exposed.
Such research, if kept secret, could strengthen the village overall. Hiruzen wouldn't stop it so long as it stayed hidden.
Otherwise, how could Danzō transplant an entire arm of Sharingan later on without Hiruzen knowing?
Hiruzen wasn't blind—he simply chose to remain silent.