The next morning, Konoha's Jonin Meeting Room had never been so crowded.
Hundreds of people crammed into a room that normally held no more than a hundred.
Some stood, some squatted, some perched on the windowsills, and others simply sat on the floor.
The meeting room door wouldn't close. Even the corridor was packed with people craning their necks to look inside.
The noise was like a marketplace, complete with haggling.
"Naruto! Don't you know how much he's given for Konoha?"
"Itachi! Konoha's most flawless shinobi! Extensive Anbu experience! He's thought like a Hokage since childhood!"
"Naruto isn't even a Chunin! How can he be Hokage?"
"Being Hokage isn't about rank! Plenty of past Hokage were Genin!"
"Which of the six Hokage was a Genin? Go on, tell us!"
"Lord Itachi is an Uchiha! The Uchiha have already had a Hokage!"
"What's wrong with being an Uchiha? Aren't the Uchiha part of Konoha?"
The two factions argued until their faces turned red.
One was the pro-Naruto faction, led by the Third, Hiruzen Sarutobi, and the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze!
Jiraiya's phantom presence loomed behind them. He hadn't arrived yet, but he was already there in spirit.
The Third's voice was steady and strong.
Minato stood beside the Third Hokage, his expression gentle and his tone firm. Every word he spoke went straight to the point.
Kushina stood behind Minato. She had deliberately worn a very formal kimono today, with her hair neatly pinned up and an expression even more determined than his.
For her son's dream, she was going all out.
Over the years, she had watched Naruto grow from a naive boy into a hero of the shinobi world, gaining companions, friends, a wife, and a daughter.
She knew better than anyone what Naruto had given.
Today, she would