"..."
"Akimichi Takumi."
"Those named above!"
"They were heroes who sacrificed their lives for our Konoha on the Northwestern Front, on the battlefields of the Land of Earth. Let us thank them for their sacrifice and observe a moment of silence for our heroes!"
The Third slowly lowered the casualty roster Orochimaru had submitted, removed his Hokage hat, and closed his eyes in sorrow along with the Konoha residents below the platform.
A long moment passed.
The Third opened his eyes, put the Shadow Hat back on, and spoke into the microphone before him:
"Next, Southern Front Commander Utatane Koharu! Please bring the Southern Front's casualty roster to the Memorial Stone!"
With a complicated expression, Utatane Koharu carried the casualty roster onto the platform. She had not heard many people with the Sarutobi surname in the rosters from the two western battlefields.
She knew the Southern Front casualty roster in her hands inside out, and it did not contain many members of the Sarutobi Clan either.
As for the Eastern Front, whose roster had yet to be read?
Was that possible?
Utatane Koharu handed the roster to the Third and gave her old friend a meaningful look.
She had heard the recent rumors even in the hospital. Each time, the wounded and disabled soldiers from the Eastern Front fiercely refuted them, defending Danzo. Quite a few had even come to blows over it.
But people defending Sarutobi? There were practically none.
Even those who did could find little to say in his favor.
All they could do was spout hollow lines like "Danzo disregards his troops' casualties" and "Lord Hokage did it for the lives of the Eastern Front's shinobi," using such claims to cover for the Hokage's acceptance of Kumogakure's surrender.
You seem to have changed... Hiruzen.
Utatane Koharu