On the day when Minato Namikaze officially succeeded Fourth Hokage, the sky over Konoha was gloomy, as if it was going to rain at any time, but it did not fall in the end.
In the square in front of Hokage Building, people have been gathering since four o'clock in the morning.
No one organized or notified it, but almost everyone in the village who could move around came.
They were wearing plain clothes, as if they were attending a funeral or witnessing a new life.
The lady selling dumplings pushed her stall to the edge of the square, but she didn't sell any dumplings. She just stood next to the cart, looking up at the empty balcony on the top floor of Hokage Building like everyone else.
Kakashi Hatake stood at the outermost edge of the crowd, leaning against a ginkgo tree and crossing his arms on his chest.
His left eye socket is empty and covered with Forehead Protector, but those who are familiar with him know that that eye socket once housed a gift given to him by his most important companion.
His right eye was staring in the direction of the balcony, his gaze as calm as a pool of stagnant water.
Next to him stood Rin Nohara.
Lin is alive.
This incident still makes Kakashi Hatake feel unreal.
Three months ago, he penetrated her chest with Lightning Cutter, watched her fall in a pool of blood with his own eyes, and heard her cry "Kakashi Hatake" at the last moment.
Then the Kumogakure ninja named Uchiha Shisui appeared and pulled her back from death in a way he couldn't understand.
He later found out that that person was Uchiha Shaoyu's younger brother.
Lin survived, but Obito Uchiha disappeared.
Kakashi Hatake searched every corner of the battlefield and only found a piece of broken orange goggles.
He thought that Obito Uchiha was dead and buried in the nameless pile of rocks like the corpses that were pressed under the rock wall.
It took him a month to reluctantly accept this fact, and then late one night, Obito Uchiha appeared at his window.
To be precise, Obito Uchiha and Uchiha Shisui appeared together.
Shisui pushed Obito Uchiha in front of him, said, "He is still alive, I just treated him a little bit," and then turned around and disappeared into the night.
Obito Uchiha's eyes were covered with gauze, the eye sockets were sunken, and the whole person lost weight.
He stood in front of Kakashi Hatake, his lips trembled for a long time, and the first thing he said was, "Where's Lin?"
Kakashi Hatake took him to see Lin.
When Obito Uchiha's eyes with ordinary eyeballs saw Lin lying quietly on the hospital bed breathing through the ward window, he knelt on the ground and cried like a baby.
Kakashi Hatake stood nearby, unable to say a word of comfort. He was just thinking: We are all alive. All three of us are alive. This in itself is an impossible miracle.
And now, the three of them stand side by side in the crowd, waiting for Minato Namikaze - their teacher - to become Fourth Hokage.
"Teacher looks quite decent in that robe."
Obito Uchiha said: The gauze has been removed from his eyes and replaced with a pair of ordinary eyes.
No Sharingan, no Kamui, nothing.
He is no longer Obito Uchiha, but just an ordinary Chunin, a young man who saved his life from the battlefield.
"He's always been very presentable."
Lin said with a smile. Her voice was still a little weak, and the scar on her chest occasionally hurt a little on cloudy days, but she was alive, able to speak, laugh, and stand in the sun. That was enough.
"Coming." Kakashi Hatake said briefly
On the balcony, Sarutobi Hiruzen came out.
He was wearing a somewhat faded Hokage robe, and his pace was much slower than a few months ago. It was as if a bone had been taken out of his whole body. Although he was still standing, it always felt like he would collapse at any time.
The whispers in the square stopped abruptly the moment he appeared. Thousands of pairs of eyes looked at him in unison, with complex assessments, unresolved resentment, and habitual awe in their eyes.
For decades, people in the village have become accustomed to seeing this figure standing high, so accustomed that they forget to think about whether it is necessary to continue this habit.
The old man glanced at the dense crowd of heads below and moved his lips, as if clearing his throat or cheering himself up. Then he spoke.
"I, Sarutobi Hiruzen, during the period of Third Shinobi World War, as Third Hokage, committed serious misconduct in command."
His voice was not loud, but it spread clearly throughout the square through the increase in chakra.
There was a faint commotion in the crowd, like ripples caused by a stone thrown into a lake.
No one expected that a Hokage would plead guilty in public - in the history of Konoha, Hokage has never made a mistake. Even if he made a mistake, Anbu would have to deal with the follow-up and would not expose it to the sun.
But now the sun is shining on his face, and every wrinkle has nowhere to hide.
"Wrong decisions led to the death of thousands of ninjas. Wrong negotiations caused Nine-Tails Jinchuriki to change hands and 80% of the population of the Uchiha Clan to leave the village. Wrong compromises caused Konoha to pay huge compensation to Kumogakure every year. The responsibility for all these major mistakes lies solely with me."
He paused, raised his head, and something flickered in his eyes.
"Therefore, I formally resign and hand over all powers and responsibilities of Hokage. The next successor has been selected by the jounin vote. He is better than me and more worthy of your trust than me. Please support him, just like you once supported me."
After saying that, he bowed deeply. Instead of nodding perfunctorily, he bent down so that his forehead almost touched the railing of the balcony, and maintained this posture for five seconds.
Reaction in the square was divided.
Standing in the front row were the clan heads and jounin representatives of major families. Their reactions were restrained and polite, and they gave sparse applause after bowing.
But those in the back row - ordinary villagers and middle- and lower-class ninja families who lost sons, fathers, and husbands in the war - had a much more complicated reaction.
An old woman with gray hair, both of her sons died on the battlefield of Land of Rivers. She stood there motionless, tears streaming down her face silently.
A young man next to her cursed in a low voice, "What's the use of apologizing now?" and was stabbed hard by his father with his elbow.
More people were silent, neither applauding nor cursing, just silent, as if waiting for this embarrassing curtain call to end quickly so that they could see whether the person who came on stage next was worth their while.
Sarutobi Hiruzen straightened up, took two steps back, and gave way to the center of the balcony.
Then Minato Namikaze walked out.
He was wearing a brand new white Hokage robe with flame patterns embroidered on the corners, and on his head was the bamboo hat symbolizing the authority of Hokage.
But the first thing he did when he stepped onto the balcony was to take off his hat and put it under his arm, revealing his short blond hair and clean face.
He didn't intend to cover his face with the brim of his hat, he wanted everyone to see his expression clearly.