Succession

October 16 should have been an ordinary day for Konoha.

But after this year, it would no longer be so ordinary. Perhaps someone would remember that on an October 16 in some year, the Fourth Hokage had taken office.

"Don't squeeze me! You're practically pushing me into the Hokage Building!"

"Move back, move back a little, or we won't be able to see Mu Yue take office—no, I mean, Lord Fourth!"

Before the Hokage Building, a massive crowd of ninja and Konoha civilians pressed together, waiting for the Hokage succession ceremony to conclude.

The Hokage succession ceremony was held on the rooftop of the Hokage Building. Due to space limitations and security concerns, only a small number of jonin were qualified to watch from the rooftop.

The remaining ninja and civilians could only wait outside. Once the outgoing Hokage handed the Hokage hat, the symbol of the Hokage, to the new Hokage, the new Hokage would walk to the rooftop railing and give a brief inaugural address to those below.

Because the Hokage Building was so tall, those who wanted a clear view of Mu Yue speaking could neither stand too close to the building nor too far away.

But there was only so much good space, and so many people had come. Naturally, crowding was unavoidable.

Fortunately, there were quite a few ninja in the crowd, so there was no danger of a stampede. If anything happened, the ninja nearby stepped in at once.

Compared to the area below, the rooftop was exceptionally quiet. No one spoke. Other than the voices rising from the ground, only the gentle autumn wind rustling their clothes could be heard.

Hiruzen Sarutobi stood in the center of the rooftop, while Mu Yue faced him from roughly three meters away.

The two advisors, Utatane