The First Training Ground was packed, with gongs and drums sounding amid the bustling crowd.
"...Wherever leaves dance, fire will burn. That firelight will illuminate the village, and new leaves will sprout once more. Only when a ninja has someone precious to protect can their true strength emerge. Konoha and Cloud are now at war. This is precisely the time when everyone's strength is needed..."
Sarutobi Hiruzen passionately preached Konoha's Will of Fire from the raised platform to the north.
Yet he had forgotten how Konoha got its name.
The wood was Senju of the Forest, and the leaves were Uchiha.
Aozora had not expected the Konoha High Command to be so resolute. They had secretly notified the ninja of the other clans, forcing them to choose sides.
To be honest, he was a little saddened.
Though they had only spent three months together, the three of them had been through life-and-death situations and experienced much together.
Sai was a guileless girl who always wanted to be Big Sister, but her maturity was hardly greater than that of a husky. To Aozora, the ever-noisy Sai was so vividly alive. Whenever he finished cultivating immortality at home and saw her brimming with energy, his mood could not help but improve.
Like him, Hayate was a man of few words and sometimes liked to slack off. Yet when it truly mattered, he was the most dependable one. Aozora believed that without outside interference, the two of them might have become remarkably compatible friends.
Aozora understood Hayate's choice very well.
It was the most correct choice Hayate could make. It could not be said that Hayate was heartless.
They had only known each other for three months. How deep could their bond have been?
On one side were teammates he had known for