Aoba had been carefully watching where everyone was going, so when someone looked toward the rock wall in that direction and let out a surprised cry, his whole body immediately tensed up, afraid that he would be discovered. His mind began racing as he wondered how he could fix things if he really was found out.
"What's wrong? What did you see?"
Sure enough, that quiet exclamation had attracted the attention of the people nearby.
After hesitating for a moment, the man said, "I think I just saw that section of rock wall over there ripple a few times like water..."
"Huh? That can happen? You didn't mistake it because of poor eyesight, did you? How could a rock wall move? Let me take a look..."
"Ah!"
At that critical moment, a scream rang out!
The craftsmen, their attention drawn by the scream, all turned around and saw that Aoba had somehow nearly fallen off the suspended platform. He was now clinging tightly to it with both hands, looking extremely perilous.
"Bad! Hurry and save him!"
"Tell the people below to lower the platform immediately!"
Everyone grew tense, including the two men who had noticed something unusual.
The two of them no longer had time to inspect the rock wall. Only after Aoba had been safely brought down did they both let out sighs of relief.
"Let's go. We should head down too. That brat Aoba really knows how to cause trouble. He nearly caused a huge disaster!"
"But..."
"I took a look just now too. The rock wall didn't move at all! You must have drunk too much last night and gotten bleary-eyed."
"...Maybe I really was seeing things."
The man glanced at the rock wall again and, seeing that there truly was nothing unusual, stopped dwelling on it. He went down with the person beside him after they finished their work.
After seeing this, Aoba, who had landed safely, let out a huge sigh of relief. He had been just a hair's breadth away from ruining everything. That had been close!
But he was clearly celebrating too soon!
He had only just finished receiving everyone's concern and scolding when Old Man Yamashita arrived after hearing the news and gave him a thorough dressing-down.
If anything had happened to him, Yamashita would have spent the rest of his life feeling guilty.
Aoba knew he was in the wrong. Besides, Old Man Yamashita was only acting so agitated because he was worried about him, so Aoba didn't dare say a word. He merely lowered his head and listened quietly.
After scolding him for a while, Old Man Yamashita finally calmed down. "Since you're all right, go home. You don't need to come tomorrow either. You can practice your techniques at home."
"Huh?"
Aoba was dumbfounded. If he wasn't allowed to come tomorrow, how was he supposed to keep an eye on these people? He had only managed to get away with it today because he was there. If someone became curious tomorrow, everything would be exposed.
He immediately grew anxious!
"Don't! I won't climb up again, all right? The unveiling is tomorrow, and I want to come watch."
"Hmph. You can only watch from below. Understood?" Old Man Yamashita's heart softened, and he reluctantly agreed.
Aoba, however, felt somewhat depressed. The same trick probably wouldn't work again, but without watching with his own eyes, he couldn't possibly feel at ease doing anything else.
So this was the only way.
The next day, Aoba arrived beneath Hokage Rock a little earlier than usual and watched the craftsmen conduct their final inspection.
The fellow who had nearly caused his mission to fail the day before was naturally the person he watched most closely!
Every time someone approached the relatively smooth section of rock wall, his heart immediately leaped into his throat.
Fortunately, what had happened yesterday really was just an exception. Almost no one paid attention to the place he had chosen, while everyone's focus was on the completed statue of the Fourth Hokage.
That fellow from yesterday also seemed to have truly assumed that he had merely seen things and did not investigate further.
And so, luck replaced misfortune. The final inspection was passed!
Aoba watched as a huge red curtain was draped from top to bottom over the Fourth Hokage's statue. Only then did he finally relax.
As for what came next, that would depend on tomorrow's unveiling ceremony!
It was just that... after causing such a huge mess, Jonin Yamashita probably wouldn't be able to protect him. Everything would depend on Lord Hokage's mood.
Speaking of which, Minato's mood should have been pretty good lately, right? After all, he was about to become a father. He couldn't possibly hold a grudge against a child.
The more the end approached, the more uneasy Aoba became, and this was all he could do to comfort himself.
This day.
The statue of the Fourth Hokage had been completely carved and covered with a red curtain.
Before the scheduled time of ten in the morning, many villagers had already made their way to the area around Hokage Rock with bright smiles, voluntarily coming to witness this glorious moment.
Although they could see it every day by simply looking up during the carving process, this was the first time any of them had seen the statue in its fully completed form.
More importantly, it was about the atmosphere. It was a symbol of the village's spirit!
There were fewer people this time than during Minato's succession ceremony, but a glance around still revealed at least several hundred villagers. Some ninja who happened to have time and weren't on missions had also come to attend the ceremony.
Among them were Might Guy, brimming with the fire of youth, and Jonin Mikawa, who had just returned from completing a mission the day before.
Amid the crowd of civilians, Jonin Mikawa also spotted Aoba poking his head around, apparently sighing about something.
Sensing someone staring intently at him, Aoba instinctively looked around and then saw Jonin Mikawa's stern face.
Thinking about the crazy thing he was about to do, Aoba could already imagine Jonin Mikawa's pitch-black expression afterward.
So after forcing out two stiff chuckles, he decisively shrank down and slipped straight into the crowd, vanishing without a trace.
For some reason, Jonin Mikawa suddenly felt a powerful sense of foreboding.
"That bastard isn't about to cause trouble again, is he?"
The thought suddenly surfaced in his mind and grew more and more intense, impossible to dispel!
"Don't scare yourself! He won't. It's only an unveiling ceremony. What could that brat possibly do..."
The sudden tension in Jonin Mikawa eased somewhat, but he was still surrounded by an uneasy feeling.
"No! I have to keep an eye on him!"
However, just as Jonin Mikawa made up his mind to find Aoba and watch him the entire time, the moment for the unveiling arrived.
"Begin!"
At Old Man Yamashita's command, he led the team of craftsmen in giving the curtain a powerful pull downward!
The enormous red cloth instantly fluttered to the ground, revealing the statue of the Fourth Hokage hidden beneath it!
It had to be said that every Hokage statue was a work of art, and each one was absolutely lifelike!
Even Jonin Mikawa, who had just been about to take action, was drawn to the scene...
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