As time passed, the news spread farther and farther.
The more fiercely the villagers had shunned Chihane and Orochimaru before, the more deeply they now regretted their behavior.
They had no idea what had clouded their judgment back then, making them treat the village's heroes that way.
Before dawn the next day, the villagers voluntarily cleaned all the filth off the walls of Chihane's home.
That morning, Chihane finished his daily training and had barely stepped outside when villagers surrounded him, their arms full of vegetables, fruit, and all kinds of meat.
Afraid that Chihane still held their earlier behavior against them, everyone had brought the best things their households had to offer.
Of course, Chihane accepted none of it, but that was only the beginning.
After that, wherever Chihane went shopping, the shopkeepers refused to take his money. Even restaurants did the same.
And even when he ordered the same food as everyone else, his portions were larger, with all kinds of carefully prepared side dishes thrown in.
Orochimaru received much the same treatment. Everyone wanted to make up for how they had failed to treat their heroes as they deserved.
For a time, support within the village for Orochimaru to become the Fourth Hokage reached an all-time high.
That was how these simple villagers were. They had lived through war, and many of their friends and relatives had never returned from the battlefield.
So when they heard that handing over Chihane would prevent another war from breaking out, they seized on it.
Even though everyone knew Chihane had done nothing wrong and was a hero of the village, they still did whatever they could to ostracize him.
They only hoped that Chihane would willingly sacrifice himself so the village could continue enjoying its hard-won peace.
But now