Konoha's Reconstruction

Hiruzen Sarutobi leaned on the Adamantine Staff and watched the figure disappear beyond Konoha's barrier. Turning to Minato, he asked, "Fourth Hokage, who exactly was that kid?"

Minato shifted Naruto higher in his arms and smiled.

"Well, I'm not sure either. But from the looks of it, he's probably a traveler from somewhere very far away."

Hiruzen stared at Minato for two seconds, then didn't press him any further.

He'd lived this long. What hadn't he seen?

He understood Minato's expression—the look of someone who knew but couldn't say. No matter how many questions he had, he could only swallow them for now.

Minato looked up at the Hokage Office, now reduced to ruins, and could only manage a bitter smile.

Half of Kage Rock had collapsed, and the office had barely any walls left. All he could do was accept a stack of documents, soaked through with dust, from the Anbu beside him.

He skimmed them. Casualty lists, damage reports, reconstruction budgets... Numbers crowded together, invading his brain straight through his eyes.

The damage caused by the Nine-Tails' rampage was too severe.

Civilians, shinobi, and shops had all suffered devastating losses.

For a long time to come, Konoha's merchants, clients, and even its allied nations would remain wary. Who would risk their lives and money in a village that had just been half-flattened by a Tailed Beast?

"What a headache." Minato rubbed his temples.

Hiruzen walked over to him and planted the Adamantine Staff on the ground with a dull thud.

"If you don't mind, this old man can help you handle some of the less urgent paperwork. Someone has to keep an eye on the reconstruction."

Minato paused, then gave him a tired smile. "Thank you, Third."

"Look on the bright side, Minato."

Hiruzen didn't look at him, but gazed at the ruins still smoking in the distance, his voice low but steady.

"At least you're alive, and Kushina's alive. That's enough. The Nine-Tails incident... It'll pass someday. But the dead can't come back to life."

Minato nodded silently.

Hiruzen suddenly lowered his voice, speaking close enough that only Minato could hear.

"You'll need to be careful from now on. It's not just the jackals outside the village. Some spies inside the village have sent information out, too. There are people who don't want you to get too comfortable in that seat."

Then his tone suddenly turned stern.

"Starting tomorrow, I'll personally oversee the reconstruction. With me here, those old fossils underground can't turn the tables. They won't be able to keep you down."

Minato opened his mouth, fell silent for a long while, then finally asked in a soft voice, "Third, that child..."

"That's your own judgment. The Hokage doesn't need to explain his decisions to anyone."

Hiruzen cut him off.

"I believe in you. You've already proven that you're a shinobi capable of shouldering the burden of Konoha."

Somewhere in the wilderness along the border of the Land of Fire.

Lin Zi sat cross-legged on a boulder, his back against the cold rock face.

[Ding! Detected intense emotional fluctuations from the world's key supporting characters Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shimura Danzō, as well as a large number of Konoha villagers.]

[Progress for playing Naruto Uzumaki (Darkened Limited Edition) increased by 25%. Current compatibility: 30%.]

[Congratulations, host. New permission unlocked: you may draw a second role to play.]

[Keep up the good work, host. The next milestone is at 50%.]

Lin Zi raised an eyebrow. "A second role to play? What does that mean?"

The system's voice circled through his mind, sounding quite pleased.

[It means you can pick a character you like, and the system will draw a version from a different worldline for you to play. For example, a darkened version, a grown-up version, or a parallel-world version...]

"Fine, got it."

Lin Zi couldn't be bothered to ask more. With a thought, he ended the roleplay.

In an instant, his blond hair receded like the tide, returning to its original black. The vivid blue faded from his eyes, leaving ordinary dark brown.

The six whisker marks on his cheeks disappeared without a trace, and even the savage chakra of the Nine-Tails withdrew completely.

He looked down at his hands. They were ordinary, with no special effects.

But when he clenched his fists, his knuckles cracked sharply, and that solid strength still flowed through his bones.

"Tch. Back to being some random nobody."

Lin Zi leaned back and lay down on the boulder. The mountain wind swept through the woods, and waves of insect chirps rose up, drowning out the last traces of voices from Konoha in the distance.

He tugged at his collar and curled up in the shadows.

"Whatever. The show's over. I'll make do here tonight and go fulfill Minato's request tomorrow."

The mountain forest fell silent again. Only moonlight filtering through the trees illuminated the lonely man.

Lin Zi drifted into a heavy sleep.

Meanwhile, deep beneath Konoha, Root's lair lay like a beast lurking in the darkness.

Shimura Danzō stood in the shadows, barely contained fury churning in his eyes.

His plan had been perfect. The Nine-Tails would rampage, the Fourth Hokage would die, and Konoha would be left without a leader. Then he could emerge from the darkness as the village's savior and naturally claim the vacant seat above Kage Rock.

But that whole plan had been ruined by that blond brat who'd appeared out of nowhere.

"Useless!"

Danzō slammed a fist into the stone wall. Dust sifted down from the ceiling of the chamber. He spun around, the bandages around his right arm gleaming coldly in the darkness.

"Aburame Tatsuma. Yamanaka Fu."

Two shadows silently appeared from a dark corner and knelt, like lifeless puppets.

"Investigate," Danzō ground out. "Find out exactly what happened tonight. And that brat—I want to know his precise origins."

"Yes, Lord Danzō."

Before the words had even finished, the two shadows dissolved into the darkness without so much as a rustle of clothing.

Danzō stood motionless, his chest heaving.

He looked up at the staircase leading to the surface. A sliver of ghastly white moonlight filtered down from above—the light he had despised yet longed for all his life.

Because wherever light shone, it would burn Root's shadows to ashes.

But now he had no choice but to step out.

Half of Konoha had been destroyed, the Hokage was still alive, and the situation he'd arranged had completely fallen apart. He had to apply pressure in person, demand answers, and drag Minato down from that seat.

"Aburame Torune."

Another shadow knelt at his feet.

"Contact Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura." Danzō narrowed his eyes, his voice seemingly laced with poison. "Tell them I have an important matter to discuss. About tonight—and the Fourth Hokage's dereliction of duty."

"Yes."

Danzō took one last look at the eternal darkness deep within Root, forced himself to raise a foot, and stepped, one step at a time, toward the light he both longed for and hated.