"It's Minato!"
Someone in the back row shouted out loud.
It was a little boy of seven or eight years old, riding on his father's neck, pointing at the golden figure on the balcony and waving his arms excitedly.
His father did not speak, but hugged his son's legs tightly.
More people began to whisper to each other.
"It's Yellow Flash..." "He is too young..." "But he has never lost on the battlefield..."
The sound of discussion was like the wind blowing through the wheat fields, one after another. Minato's reputation among the villagers has always been there, but it was overshadowed by the light of Sarutobi Hiruzen in the past.
Now that the light has faded, people notice that this golden flame has been burning for a long time and has never been extinguished.
Minato stood there, not in a hurry to speak.
His eyes swept across the square, from left to right, from front to back, as if he wanted to memorize every face. He saw Hyuga Hiashi standing in the front row with his arms folded, his expression unreadable.
Seeing Uchiha Fugaku standing alone in the corner, the surrounding family patriarchs deliberately kept two or three bodies away from him, but Fugaku's eyes were no longer as gloomy as they were a few months ago.
Minato also saw three young people standing under the ginkgo tree - Kakashi Hatake, Obito Uchiha, Rin Nohara, his three students, three children who crawled back from the edge of hell.
His eyes stayed on them for a second longer, and the corners of his mouth raised slightly.
Then he spoke.
"I am Minato Namikaze."
His voice is completely different from Sarutobi Hiruzen.
The old man's voice was like dead wood, heavy and tired from years of hard work.
Minato's voice is like a stream, clear and steady, but contains the power to penetrate rocks.
"I don't have much to say. Before standing here today, I spent a whole week thinking about a question - what is Hokage."
The crowd fell silent.
"Someone told me that Hokage is the strongest ninja in Konoha and the patron saint of the village. Someone told me that Hokage is the pinnacle of power and the goal that all ninjas look up to. Others told me that Hokage is a politician who balances the interests of all parties and is the link between the daimyo and the village."
He paused, then shook his head slightly.
"None of this is right."
"I went to Memorial Stone yesterday. I read the thousands of newly engraved names one by one. After reading them, I understood."
He raised his head, his eyes clear and firm.
"Hokage is not the person standing at the highest point, but the first person to put his shoulders up when the village is about to fall."
Obito Uchiha poked Kakashi Hatake with his elbow on the edge of the square and said in a low voice.
"Did the teacher secretly practice the manuscript last night? This is so good at talking."
Kakashi Hatake didn't answer, but his right eye was staring at the balcony unblinking. Lin said softly next to him.
"The teacher has never practiced, he has always been like this."
Sarutobi Hiruzen, who had been silent all this time, stood in the shadow behind Minato. When he heard these words, his shoulders shook almost imperceptibly.
Minato continued speaking, his tone changing from calm to steady and powerful.
"Konoha has just experienced a tragic war. We lost a lot, we were forced to make many concessions, and our strength was weakened."
"Someone asked me, why should I take over Hokage at this time? Why not wait until the village recovers its strength? My answer is - it is precisely because the village is in the most difficult situation now that it needs someone to stand up the most."
He stretched out his hand and pointed to the crowd in the square.
"It's not how many enemies you kill on the battlefield that counts as protection. Tomorrow you repair the neighbor's roof, you take care of your injured colleagues, you return safely from the mission - these are all protection."
"Hokage's duty is to protect everyone who is willing to sacrifice for the village. I, Minato Namikaze, hereby swear: No matter what difficulties we face in the future, no matter how strong the enemy is, no matter how high the cost, I will stand in front of you and protect this village with my life."
He paused for a second, and then ended his inaugural speech with the simplest words.
"I am Minato Namikaze. If I were Hokage, I would protect Konoha with my life."
Quiet.
Then came applause.
It was not the polite applause from the senior people in the front row, but the real applause from the back row, which was sustained and full of whistles and cheers.
The little boy riding on his father's neck clapped his hands so hard that his palms turned red.
The white-haired old woman who had lost her two sons did not applaud, but the look in her eyes when she looked at Minato was no longer as cold as when she looked at Sarutobi Hiruzen just now. She just looked at it silently, and then nodded gently.
Behind the window on the third floor of Konoha Hospital on the other side of the square, Orochimaru leaned against the window frame, shaking a test tube in his hand, looking through the glass at the golden figure on the balcony who was drowned by applause.
The corner of his mouth curled up, and he turned around and walked back to the experimental table, muttering to himself.
"Good luck to you, Yondaime."
No one heard this sentence, only the purple liquid surging in the test tube responded to him silently.
Further in the darkness, at the entrance of Root Base, Danzo stood in the shadows, staring with one eye at the live footage of the square transmitted from the crystal ball.
His fingers were clenching the crutch so tightly that his knuckles turned white.
He didn't speak, just turned off the crystal ball silently, turned around and disappeared deep into the dark corridor.
The applause lasted for a long time.
When it finally subsided, Minato put the Hokage bamboo hat on his head, took a step forward, put his hands on the balcony railing, and leaned over to look at the crowd below.
"One more thing." he said.
Everyone's eyes focused on him again.
"Konoha's pain will not heal overnight. The big words I just said will take time to be fulfilled. I hope everyone here, whether you are a jounin or Genin, a businessman or a farmer, Uchiha or Hyuga--will come to help me."
"I am not supporting Konoha alone, but we are working together to support Konoha again."
He straightened up, took a step back, and finally said to everyone in the square:
"From today on, please take care of me."
Then he bowed.
This bow and the bow before Sarutobi Hiruzen were separated by just a few minutes, but they were two completely different eras.
People in the square began to disperse one after another. Kakashi Hatake, Obito Uchiha and Lin did not leave immediately. They stood under the ginkgo tree, waiting for the crowd to gradually disperse, waiting for the teacher.
It should be called Lord Hokage now - come out of Hokage Building.
They had previously made an appointment with Minato to have a meal together after the ceremony. It was a long-lost dinner for the four masters and disciples.
"I've been waiting for a long time. Come on, let me treat you. What do you want to eat?"
"Ichiraku Ramen!" The three people said in unison.
Minato was stunned for a moment, then laughed.