Rehearsal * Music

After finishing most of his morning tasks, Izuna put the schedule on the table, got up, and walked out.

"I'm going to the Rehearsal Ground; I'll come back this afternoon to go over the rest of the procedures."

Hashirama watched him walk away, blinked, and asked Madara, "What is he rehearsing?"

Madara said, "You heard it too, Izuna added a closing ceremony segment to the Memorial Service at the end."

Tobirama couldn't help but ask, "You seem to know something."

Ban sneered, "Then I have no obligation to tell this guy."

Tobirama pursed his lips, not dwelling on the matter any further, and continued with the mountain of work piled up on his mind.

Hashirama to the side, hesitant to speak. He wanted to ease the tension; one was his close friend, the other his younger brother, and he truly didn't want them to continue being enemies like this.

But neither Tobirama nor Madara cared about the other's rudeness, so it would be pretentious for him to say anything.

So he could only sullenly shut his mouth and miserably flip through the documents in his hands.

The Production Crew's activity venue has been moved from an open space outside the village to a theater set up in the Amusement Park.

When he pushed open the door, most of the band members had already arrived.

Izuna cut to the chase. "I need to use a piece at tomorrow's Memorial Service. Time is tight, so we must get the basic framework out today. If it's really not working, I'll perform it myself, but we should try to have it played together as much as possible."

He distributed the transcribed sheet music.

The score is notated using Numbered Musical Notation, which is concise and clear. It has been taught before, so everyone can understand it.

But after seeing the sheet music, their expressions became somewhat subtle.

The score has a lot of blank spaces, clearly indicating that they are meant to perform together.

Although they had experience before, this time it was more difficult. Some instruments were so difficult that they couldn't even form a tune when played solo, which made the memorization task exponentially harder.

How could they possibly memorize such a complex piece in just one day? Especially a collaborative piece that clearly requires perfect teamwork.

What they didn't know was that this was already a heavily simplified version of the piece.

Because they had very limited instruments at their disposal— Shamisen, Biwa, Shakuhachi, taiko—they only had these few instruments. Izuna tried to adjust the arrangement several times, but in the end, he could only barely manage to create a passable effect.

Even so, playing in an ensemble is still very difficult.

"This is the piece I want you to play. Can you do it?"

Hideki couldn't help but speak up, "Lord Izuna, time is too tight. I'm afraid we won't be able to achieve the effect you want."

Izuna nodded. "Normal rehearsals definitely won't be enough time. I have a way to cheat, but I need your consent."

By connecting his senses with the minds of everyone, he can directly play the music he has already completed in his mind for them.

Just like when Dueling Arena.

The group exchanged glances, realizing that Lord Izuna truly trusted them, especially since the Yamanaka Clan's most proficient secret technique was peering into memories.

It seems that Lord Izuna is willing to take such a risk to explain things clearly to them, which shows how important this performance is.

Shinya was the first to speak, "Let's do it then, it's not like it's the first time you've messed with me."

Hideki shrugged beside him and moved the taiko drum closer to him.

When Haeharu arrived at the Rehearsal Ground, he was still wiping his nosebleed with a tissue, clearly having been extremely busy at the intelligence department that morning.

But after hearing Izuna's request, she sat down cross-legged without saying a word and formed hand seals.

The moment the Mind Link was established, everyone closed their eyes simultaneously.

Then Izuna played that piece of music.

Meanwhile, Ōnoki was walking on the streets of Konoha.

He emerged from a weapons shop, carrying a small cloth bag containing a Short Sword he had just chosen.

The knife isn't particularly valuable, but the quenching patterns are beautiful, and it gleams with a fine, silvery sheen in the sunlight.

Kudan Moku loved collecting knives, and whenever he returned from a mission and had some extra money, he would stop by the nearby Blacksmith Shop.

Ōnoki used to not understand why he could stare at a knife for so long, but now he understands a little.

The feeling of holding something you like in your hands, weighing it in your hands, and examining it over and over is inherently reassuring.

He tucked the Short Sword into his sleeve, intending to place it in front of his uncle's memorial tablet as a keepsake when he returned to Iwagakure.

He's explored every place in Konoha that's worth visiting these past few days.

The Commercial Street opens early every day, and the owner of Ichiraku Ramen, which he frequents, knows to ask for an extra serving of char siu without him even having to say anything.

There are always a few children playing Ninja games in the square in front of the Hokage Building. When they chase each other, they kick up a little cloud of dust, which sparkles in the afternoon sun like broken gold.

Every day, discharged wounded patients and their families delivering meals meet at the hospital entrance.

Some people, even while using crutches, would still boast to their fellow patients in the next bed. When they gestured too forcefully, they would pull at their wounds and wince in pain, only to be subdued by their family members who arrived at the scene.

The school hadn't officially started yet, but some teachers were already decorating the classrooms. As he passed by, he saw a female teacher putting up hand-drawn Japanese syllabary charts on the wall.

He stuck it on crookedly, then tore it off and re-stitched it, repeating this several times while muttering something under his breath.

Ōnoki stood outside the window for a long time, thinking that he would probably be very happy if he could have gone to school in a place like this when he was a child.

It's a pity the Amusement Park was closed; that was the place he most wanted to see.

That day, he was so focused on watching the Arena Matches that he didn't care about having fun at all. He was incredibly curious about places like the Ferris Wheel and the Tenshukaku.

If he had the chance, he would definitely try to experience the entire Amusement Park.

They even went on the Carousel, which was clearly meant for children, and rode it twice.

Speaking of which, I wonder how the person who saved his life is doing now.

If it weren't for him, he probably would have been blinded by grief and anger and rushed to confront that monster.

Although he didn't think he would really lose, after all, that was Dust Release, and to this day, he had never seen anyone who could beat Grandpa Ishikawa.

He was confident that he could even rival Lord Madara.

But I'm still grateful to him, and I hope he gets better, Ōnoki thought.

He was carrying a small cloth bag containing Short Sword, and was about to go to the Commercial Street to buy two Anko dumplings to take back to the Inn for afternoon tea when he suddenly caught a glimpse of several children flashing by in the alley.

Ōnoki recognized the one running in the lead.

Uchiha Hinata, the kid who grabbed his wrist and dragged him for two blocks.

Hinata saw him too, paused, turned back from the alley, leaned close to him, and asked in a low voice, "Hey, do you want to go to the Amusement Park?"

Ōnoki Shin said, "No, buddy, tomorrow's the Memorial Service, and you guys are still thinking about going to Amusement Park?"

He intended to refuse righteously, but the words that came out were. "That place isn't even open for business yet."

"Why don't you sneak in?" Hinata matter-of-factly.

"But the Memorial Service is about to start, and we're going now..." Ōnoki was still making a last-ditch effort.

Just tell me if you're going or not!

"I'll go." The answer was firm and resolute.

Hinata grinned and waved behind him. Several heads peeked out from the alley.

Rei, Takuma, Yūki, Ichiyo, Harukawa —they were all familiar faces.

The group walked through several alleys and found their way to the side wall of the Amusement Park.

Hinata flipped up in a few quick movements.

Ōnoki's Chakra condensed slightly beneath his feet, and he lightly leaped onto the top of the wall.

The children climbed over the wall with practiced ease, clearly not for the first time.

The Amusement Park was extremely quiet.

There were no vendors hawking their wares, no Carousel music, and even the windmills that usually turn in the wind were stopped.

The Ferris Wheel stood silently in the afternoon sun, casting a huge shadow. Several tiles from the Tenshukaku had been knocked off by the fighting a few days ago and had not yet been repaired.

The children, however, showed no sign of dislike.

They ran off into the deserted Amusement Park, turning the entire park into a giant adventure maze.

Hinata pulls Rei up to the top of the Ferris Wheel, overlooking the entire Konoha. Takuma and Yūki play hide-and-seek among the Carousels, Ichiyo teaches Harukawa how to whistle with a leaf.

Ōnoki sat on a white horse on Carousel, his legs dangling in mid-air, holding a small cloth bag containing Short Sword in his hand.

Looking at the quiet, somewhat desolate Amusement Park before him, he suddenly understood Kudan Moku's sentiment: how wonderful it would be if Iwagakure had a place like this.

A carefree place where you can have fun to your heart's content.

As Ōnoki sat on the carousel in a daze, a golden light swept over from afar, passing over the roof of the Carousel and spreading further into the distance.

The light was not dazzling, but warm, like the first ray of sunlight filtering through the window paper on a winter morning.

Ōnoki immediately jumped off the wooden horse, his hand already touching his Ninja Tools pouch.

The other children noticed something was wrong and gathered around.

Hinata and Lian, who had just climbed to the top of the Ferris Wheel, had the clearest view.

"It's over at the theater."

Yūki nodded. "Let's go take a look."

They walked through the dried-up fountain pool, around the construction site piled with building materials, and then saw the theater.

The theater door was ajar, and golden light was seeping out from the crack, flowing slowly down the steps like liquid sunlight.

Indistinct music came from inside the door.

The music drifted intermittently from under the door; it wasn't exactly unpleasant, but rather... quite explosive.

The Shamisen stole the tune from the Biwa, the taiko was a full beat slower, and the Shakuhachi stopped abruptly halfway through, as if someone had grabbed its neck.

Several instruments, each refusing to yield to the others, played their own parts, tearing a piece of music into four or five unrelated fragments. Putting them together was like torture for the ears.

The children squatted in a row outside the side door of the theater, their expressions gradually changing from curiosity to pain.

Harukawa covered his ears, his face contorted in pain. The other children didn't do the same, but their expressions were not good.

Ōnoki wondered if they were gathered here to try and deafen him with their instruments. He silently took half a step back, trying to make the sound quieter.

Shinya's voice came from inside the door, barely containing his anger. "Your taiko is a beat too slow! This section is supposed to be built up with the Shakuhachi, and your slowness threw everything into disarray!"

"If I don't slow down, your Biwa will beat me to it!" Hideki slammed his taiko stick on the ground with a dull thud. "Your fingerwork is like you're rushing to your death, how can I not be anxious? Can't you be a little more steady!"

"You think I'm rushing you? Then let the Shamisen play this!" Shinya pointed to the Shimura Clan girl tuning her shamisen in the corner. "You come! Let you experience it too!"

The girl hugged her Shamisen tightly, shaking her head frantically, wishing she could shrink into a crack in the wall.

"Stop arguing, we don't have much time to begin with." Haeharu's expression was more pained than if he'd been punched. "Let's try one more time, the Shakuhachi solo..."

"I simply can't play that Shakuhachi solo," said the young man from the Yamanaka Clan who plays the Shakuhachi, his face contorted with distress. "The timbre in Lord Izuna's original piece is too distant; I can't capture that feeling. No matter how I try, it just won't work."

"Then stop bragging and skip this part to the climax, let Lord Izuna sing it himself."

"Giving up so soon is too early!"

"But I really can't blow it down!"

Izuna raised his hand and waved.

"I didn't expect you to achieve the same effect as the original song today. This song is originally from my hometown. With the instruments not yet all gathered, I didn't have high expectations to begin with."

"That's not what we meant..." Shinya frowned.

"I'm letting you listen to the original song not so you can copy every single beat. Those sounds you haven't heard before are just tools to convey emotions."

He turned around, looked at them, and a faint smile appeared on his lips, "All we have to do is convey our emotions. Time is running out, let's start over."

"Yes, Lord Izuna."

Shinya was the first to stand up and hug the Biwa again.

Hideki raised his hand and gently tapped the drumhead. "Three, two, one, go!"

Rehearsals resumed, and the children outside left quietly without making a sound.