Pointless, impotent rage shuddered down Genma’s spine to curdle in his gut. He ducked his head in the shallowest of acknowledging bows. “Vice commander,” he said, and followed Kuroda into the cabin.

Raidou followed at his back. And Kurenai. Kuroda hadn’t asked for Raidou, but as Genma’s direct superior, protocol called for Raidou to be there regardless. Kurenai was another matter. But she was, as she’d pointed out, not under Kuroda’s command. He might ask her to leave, but she was within her rights to refuse.

Kuroda stood planted in the swaying cabin with his good arm crossed under the one in a sling. If his injured arm ached, he didn’t let it show. He didn’t waste any time, either. “Explain,” he demanded.

Genma drew a breath and tried to decide what, exactly, Kuroda wanted explained. “Our escape route out of Kirigakure was compromised,” he said. “Fukuda and her sister directed us to an alternate avenue, through the sewers. We made it out of the city but Kiri had trapped the tunnel spillway with a chakra-infused grate. A patrol of Kiri ninja approached while Hatake and I were still working to weaken the metal in the grate. Tousaki and Fukuda ran to stop them before the enemy discovered Kimiko and the baby were with us. Namiashi-taichou was carrying Kimiko-san, and Hatake had the baby. As soon as the grate was down, I ran back to the battle, while Taichou and Hatake went ahead. We eliminated all of the Kiri ninja, but in the course of battle, Fukuda took a blow to the abdomen that ruptured her spleen.”

“And as a competent medical professional, you realized that immediately?” Kuroda’s voice roiled with scorn.

“No,” Genma said. It felt a little like one of his medical class exams. And a little like sitting through one of Shibata’s Interrogation Resistance seminars. “Spleen injuries can be slow to manifest. She also took a blow to the head. That was the only obvious injury. It wasn’t severe, and we were pursued, so Tousaki helped her walk until her balance improved. We—”

“Oh excellent,” Kuroda snapped. “You knew a valuable asset had taken an injury, and instead of properly evaluating her, you handed her over to your less competent protege.”

“We were pursued,” Genma said as evenly as he could. “I evaluated her as stable to continue with Tousaki’s assistance until we were out of immediate danger. Her head injury was not severe.”