"Hiruzen, what exactly is going on with Orochimaru?"
"The power of someone long dead? Are you referring to Chiba? You've already handed over quite a bit of authority lately, yet Chiba still hasn't appeared. What exactly are you plotting? Or rather, are you really certain that this is the real Chiba?"
After watching everyone leave and declaring the meeting adjourned, two questioning voices rang out almost simultaneously behind the Third Hokage, who was preparing to return to his office and handle his usual duties.
"Oh, Homura and Koharu."
Hearing those two voices, the Third Hokage was not surprised. He merely turned around and looked at the two advisor elders, whose faces had likewise grown old, yet who still diligently remained on the front lines alongside him, and spoke with a touch of sentiment.
"Hiruzen..."
Hearing the faintly wistful note in the Third Hokage's words, Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu, who had originally wanted to question him further, both slightly changed expression. After exchanging a glance, they spoke instinctively, their voices already carrying a trace of melancholy.
"Could it be that you...?"
Then, after the two followed Hiruzen Sarutobi into the straight corridor leading to the Hokage's Office and confirmed that no one was nearby, they could not help but ask.
They had been old comrades-in-arms for decades, fighting side by side for a very, very long time, whether on the battlefield or in politics. Since childhood, though they had naturally been closer or more distant at different times, each with their own companions, they had become familiar with one another after becoming disciples of the Second Hokage and repeatedly facing danger together. By now, because of their respective positions, they had not gathered together in a long time and sometimes even had to avoid suspicion.
But their relationship could no