Hokage

"Lord Sheng!"

When Gu Sheng returned to Konoha, the war had finally entered its concluding phase. The Security Force members at the entrance respectfully saluted him, but he could clearly sense that something was off.

"Teacher!!!"

Not long after Gu Sheng entered Konoha, before he had even returned to the Senju residence, Minato Namikaze came looking for him.

"Minato, is something wrong?"

Gu Sheng knew that Minato Namikaze had come because of his students, but to keep up appearances, he still put on a puzzled expression.

"Teacher, Obito and Rin... sacrificed themselves..."

Minato Namikaze struggled to say the unbearably tragic truth, appearing unusually distraught. In front of Kakashi and the others, he had not shown much grief. He had even comforted Kakashi, telling him not to burden himself.

But as Obito and Rin's teacher, he had been struck hard as well. The fastest shinobi in the Shinobi World had failed to save his own students during two missions. The thought weighed heavily on him.

"War is simply this cruel."

Gu Sheng sighed. "Don't burden yourself too much. Some things are beyond anyone's power to change, even yours."

Then he suddenly changed the subject. "Minato, do you think I was right or wrong not to intervene and end the war?"

"I understand your considerations, Teacher. You can't protect Konoha forever. If you had intervened in the war this time, we wouldn't have gained enough experience, and the conflicts with the other villages would still remain unresolved."

Minato said solemnly, "If this continues, it won't be good for Konoha. You can't remain in Konoha forever, always standing in front of us. If you ended this war, Konoha, having failed to grow, might pay an even greater price in the future.

"When that time came, it might not be only Rin and Obito.