Early the morning after the summons, every chair in the main hall was occupied.
The clan elders had arrived before anyone else, and not a single surviving jonin was missing. For the first time since that night, the hall was this full.
The tea on the table had gone cold. No one reached for it.
"Every day the seat stays empty is another day the clan falls apart," an elder began. "The white mourning banners are still up. We can't hold a grand ceremony. But we can't leave the seat empty forever, either."
He pressed a hand against the table. "We elders have discussed it with the surviving jonin. We nominate Mikoto to take over."
A jonin in the corner nodded. "She was the one who made it through that visit to the Hokage Building. She's also been carrying the burden of that three-day deadline alone."
Another, younger jonin opened his mouth to say something, then merely bowed a little deeper.
A jonin beside him nodded as well. "The people on the slope recognize her, too."
"The old rules," the elder said. "A nomination requires everyone to state their position here and now. For or against, say your piece."
Mikoto did not rise.
She glanced at the register enshrined by the wall. A thin layer of dust had settled on its cover.
"I'll take it," she said. "But I'm not taking this chair."
The elder froze.
"What I'm taking on is all the names still missing from that register," Mikoto said. "Someone has to remember them, one by one."
The elder slid the register forward, his voice trembling. "Then we entrust this to you."
For a moment, the hall was silent.
The elder rose and offered the register with both hands, as though carrying a bowl of soup fresh from