The public trial of the Hyuga Main Family began in the morning. After a full half-day of proceedings, it finally came to an official close at noon.
Having had their fill of the spectacle, Konoha's villagers hurried home, wolfed down lunch, and eagerly returned to the square. By evening, a crowd had gathered there once again for a ceremony honoring and mourning those who had died.
Aside from Hashirama, who wore white robes, all the Branch Family members attending were dressed in black mourning clothes. Alongside the Hyuga Branch Family, Uchiha Ran and the Konoha Military Police Force officers who had taken part in the investigation stood on the platform.
Hashirama Senju wore a solemn expression. Even the villagers who had come for the spectacle were affected by the heavy atmosphere and put away their smiles. Looking at the Hyuga Branch Family members on the platform, clutching portraits of their deceased relatives, they could clearly tell that these people had cried until they had no tears left. Tear stains lingered beneath their eyes, impossible to wipe away.
At the sight, the villagers whispered among themselves, their eyes full of sympathy as an inexplicable ache rose in their hearts:
"They're so pitiful!"
"Ugh, what a drag!"
The Nara officer, forced to attend, was hardly equipped to handle such a scene of bitter grief. He helplessly glanced at his teammate beside him, only to see Uchiha Ran sobbing as he held Hyuga Peng's portrait. His cries were heart-wrenching, filled with utter devastation-all genuine emotion, without a trace of acting.
The moment he started crying, he set off everyone around him. The Inuzuka Clan officer beside him and his dog began bawling too. The Hyuga Branch Family members could bear it even less and broke into loud sobs. In an instant, anguished wails