About fifteen minutes after Tsunade left, Hatake Sakumo put down the documents in his hands, stretched, and stood up.
"Shikata," he called out. "Let's go see the Third too."
Nara Shikata was bent over other documents. Hearing him, he looked up.
"It's been six days already," Hatake Sakumo said, straightening his collar. "I don't know how much longer the body will keep. Out of respect for the dead, we should lay the Third to rest first."
He paused briefly, then added, "Besides, if this drags on, ice alone won't help for more than a few more days."
"Yes," Nara Shikata replied, putting down the documents and standing up as well.
Hatake Sakumo started toward the door, casually tossing out a remark. "Then you can be the one to bring it up."
Nara Shikata followed behind him, grumbling inwardly.
This sort of task was all effort and no reward.
He was the one in charge of investigating the Third's murder in the first place. Yet after all these days, he hadn't turned up a single thing.
And now, with the case still unsolved, he had to be the one to tell the family... that it was time to bury the Third.
Wasn't that rubbing salt in their wounds?
But there was nothing he could do. It was the Fourth Hokage's era now, after all.
Nara Shikata steeled himself and accepted the task. "I understand."
In truth, he had long harbored a deeply treasonous suspicion.
He hadn't mentioned it to anyone, not even his own son, Shikaku.
Even with the ironclad fact that the Root Base had suffered a disaster-like strike staring him in the face, he still had a vague feeling that the Konoha White Fang walking in front of him and Orochimaru were somehow involved in the Third's murder.
As for the odds... he had weighed them in his mind: a sixty percent chance it was the Konoha White Fang, and forty percent it was Orochimaru.
But he had no evidence, only a little intuition and speculation.
He couldn't say why he thought so. Hatake Sakumo was powerful, but not so powerful that he could inflict a disaster-like strike on Root.
Still, though he couldn't explain it, he had that feeling.
Walking ahead, Hatake Sakumo naturally had no idea what complicated thoughts were running through his adviser's mind. He was in a good mood, wholly occupied with plans to pick an auspicious day for his formal ascension once the Third had been buried.
The two crossed the village and soon arrived at the Sarutobi residence.
When they entered the sitting room, they saw Tsunade sitting beside a woman. She was speaking quietly, apparently comforting her.
The woman was Hiruzen Sarutobi's wife, Biwako Sarutobi.
Nearby, Hiruzen Sarutobi's eldest son, Sarutobi Ken, sat silently at the other end of the room without a word.
As for Asuma Sarutobi... it was almost lunchtime, so he was probably still at the Ninja Academy.
When Tsunade saw Hatake Sakumo and Nara Shikata arrive, she stopped comforting Biwako and looked up at them.
Sarutobi Ken stood up as well.
"Lord Fourth," he greeted him, then nodded to Nara Shikata.
Hatake Sakumo nodded. "Shikata and I have come to see Lord Third again."
He looked at Biwako, lowered his eyes, and softened his voice.
"I'm very sorry, Madam Biwako. After all these days, I still haven't found the killer. I don't even have a lead."
Hatake Sakumo's admission of fault "alarmed" Nara Shikata, who stood beside him.
Wait, how could he let the new boss take responsibility himself?
He had to take the blame!
Nara Shikata hurriedly spoke up. "No, this is all my fault."
He had intended to address him as "Lord Hokage," but on second thought, they were in the Sarutobi Clan's home, and the Third had only recently died. The title was hardly appropriate, so he swallowed it.
"The Fourth gave me so much authority," Nara Shikata continued. "I investigated for so long, yet I failed to find anything. I'm ashamed."
Sarutobi Ken had inherited some of his father's skills and understood social niceties well. He knew that the Third's era had passed and a brand-new one had begun.
Seeing this, he couldn't very well say anything else, so he hurriedly reassured them both.
"You've both done everything you could. There's no need to blame yourselves."
He fell silent for a moment, then added, "I'm afraid my father's murder won't be solved anytime soon."
Soon, the group of five arrived at the place in the Sarutobi residence set aside for the coffin.
Every day, someone was assigned to bring in large quantities of ice at set times to keep the body from decaying.
The coffin was made from an extremely precious "sacred wood" called "Iceheart Wood."
This Iceheart Wood had an unusual quality...
The material itself was nearly transparent. Once polished into boards, it allowed the figure inside to show through, yet it wasn't cold and glaring like crystal. Instead, it had a warm, lustrous wooden sheen.
From outside, they could faintly make out the Third's outline in the coffin.
They offered incense, bowed, and exchanged a few words.
For a while, the atmosphere grew quiet.
Hatake Sakumo stood to one side, looking as though he had yet to recover from his grief.
Nara Shikata knew it was time for him to make his move.
But clever as he was, he naturally had to choose his words carefully and make it seem as though he was acting out of concern for the Third's remains.
He weighed his words, then spoke very slowly.
"Madam Biwako, Clan Head Sarutobi."
"Lord Third enjoyed an honorable reputation all his life and devoted himself to Konoha. For him to have met such an undignified end pains us younger generations deeply."
"If I may be so bold, what the Third cared about most in life was the stability of the village. As things stand, he is kept on ice day after day, yet still has not been laid to rest. I imagine his spirit in heaven would not wish for this either."
"Besides," he paused briefly, his voice growing even softer, "keeping his body like this cannot go on forever. We must let the honored elder complete his final journey cleanly and with dignity."
Listening from the side, Hatake Sakumo couldn't help giving Nara Shikata a mental thumbs-up.
As expected of the current head of the Nara Clan, he had a silver tongue and a perfect sense of propriety.
The more he listened, the more he felt that Nara Shikata was a rare talent.
Perhaps Nara Shikata's persuasion had truly hit the mark.
Or perhaps Biwako and Sarutobi Ken were also growing anxious at the sight of the remains in the coffin, which had gradually begun to decay despite the ice being changed every day.
Or perhaps it was both.
In any case, the two finally relented and agreed.
And with Tsunade back... two of the Third's three disciples were in the village and had seen their teacher... the matter was settled.
After a brief discussion, they decided to announce it to the whole village the next day and let all the villagers come in to pay their respects to Lord Third.
"Then thank you for taking charge of it, Shikata," Hatake Sakumo said, patting Nara Shikata on the shoulder.
Meanwhile, Jiraiya was still on his way back to the village!
Hatake Sakumo stretched in the Hokage's office.
That afternoon, he had summoned the heads of the major clans and some experienced or promising jonin and informed them:
The Third's memorial would be held tomorrow.
As for setting up the venue, arranging the proceedings, and everything else, he left it all to Nara Shikata to lead, with the others assisting him.
Hatake Sakumo himself was happy to leave the work to them.
Back in the present, with the sun about to set, he stood up, ready to go home.
He was in quite a good mood.
Once Hiruzen Sarutobi was buried, he could pick an auspicious day for his formal "ascension"!