Where the leaves danced, the fire burned on. Its light would continue to illuminate the village and make new leaves sprout.
At last, the wind died and the rain stopped, and the world slowly fell silent. A suffocating feeling filled the air, as though it mourned the old man's passing. Even the mournful cries of a few birds seemed to speak of farewell.
Joy and sorrow, partings and reunions-everyone experienced them differently.
As Orochimaru left, he absently wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes. After all, having killed his own teacher, he felt some guilt. As he recalled everything they had been through, it felt like only yesterday that he had feared for his life, and his teacher Hiruzen had brought him light and hope... But later, his teacher had changed, becoming someone so unfamiliar that he could not accept it.
That was why he had chosen to end Hiruzen Sarutobi's life this way.
And so, the Konoha Crush Plan ended with Hiruzen Sarutobi's death. Both sides had suffered heavy casualties. With his arms sealed, Orochimaru withdrew from Konoha.
Meanwhile, Meihui, who had been watching from the sidelines, was rather carefree and did not care at all what anyone thought of him.
"Now that Orochimaru has wrecked Konoha, everything needs rebuilding. The village has no Hokage now. Unless something unexpected happens, they'll ask Jiraiya to take the position, and he'll refuse and go looking for Tsunade."
I wonder how things are going on Naruto's end. Has he managed to win Gaara over?
[Ding! Congratulations, host, on successfully checking in. The rewards for this check-in will be distributed in batches. Rewards have been issued. Please check them.]
"Huh? The check-in's complete? Looks like Naruto managed to beat Gaara, too."
Meihui looked at his system.
``` [Host: Meihui