As if the heavens knew the whole village was holding a memorial for the Third Hokage today, they obliged with a light rain.
At six in the morning, at Konoha Cemetery.
The cemetery was already packed with people.
At the very front of the crowd stood the Fourth, Hatake Sakumo, with the two advisers, Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura, on either side of him.
Behind them stood the heads of the Uchiha, Hyūga, Nara, Yamanaka, Akimichi, Inuzuka Clan, and other major clans, lined up in a row. Only behind them were the senior and promising Jonin.
As for Biwako Sarutobi, Sarutobi Ken, Asuma Sarutobi, Tsunade, and Orochimaru, they stood beside the coffin as family.
The ceremony began at six in the morning.
The burial and the setting of the gravestone followed in one smooth sequence.
Only then did the memorial formally begin.
Hatake Sakumo stood among the crowd, watching each part proceed in order.
The family went first. Biwako stood at the front, tears streaming down her face, her hands shaking so badly she could barely hold the incense. Sarutobi Ken supported her from the side. Eight-year-old Asuma's face was covered in tears, but he bit his lip and kept himself from crying out loud.
Tsunade and Orochimaru merely wore sorrowful expressions; they did not cry.
Next came Hatake Sakumo and the two advisers, followed by the heads of the major clans and the senior Jonin, who stepped forward one by one to offer incense.
After them came the Chunin and Genin. Even the children who had yet to graduate from the Ninja Academy had come.
Hatake Sakumo swept his gaze over the crowd.
There really were quite a few familiar faces today.
Besides his own son, Kakashi, he also saw the youngsters Rin Nohara and Obito Uchiha. Naturally, he also saw Minato Namikaze, Kushina Uzumaki, Uchiha Fugaku, Hyuga Hiashi, Hizashi Hyuga, Shikaku Nara, and others.
Every one of those faces had a name he knew from Shippuden. Now they wore plain clothes and stood quietly in the rain.
The civilians, on the other hand, had not come.
It wasn't that they didn't want to; there were simply too many people. Their orders were that mourning at home would be enough. Konoha's markets were closed for the entire day, business throughout the village was suspended, and no shops or stalls were permitted to open.
For the villagers, the news had actually come as quite a shock.
Yesterday afternoon, they had suddenly received a notice: the Third Hokage had died, and a memorial would be held tomorrow. Civilians were to stay home and mourn all day tomorrow, and were not permitted to open shops or set up stalls.
After offering incense, Hatake Sakumo stepped aside and silently watched the others come forward one by one.
Fine raindrops fell on his shoulders, cool against him.
His face wore a solemn expression that was almost stiff.
He stood straight with his eyes lowered, looking at no one. Just by standing still, he put on a complete display of solemnity.
Inside, though, he didn't really feel much.
Well, he couldn't say he felt nothing at all.
What he felt most was that his legs were a little sore.
The proceedings continued from six in the morning until noon, and the ninja who had offered incense gradually dispersed. In the end, everything wasn't finished until after two in the afternoon.
The light rain never stopped.
Today was only Hiruzen Sarutobi's funeral. As for Shimura Danzō, no one was arranging anything for him, nor did they intend to. They simply let the matter go unaddressed.
The reason was simple: Hatake Sakumo planned to find a scapegoat.
What else could he do?
The Third had been murdered in the village, the Hokage himself killed in his own bedroom, and the Fourth and all the Jonin couldn't find a damn thing?
Wouldn't that make them all look useless?
Clearly, after discussion, the matter had been settled: Shimura Danzō would take all the blame.
At first, Hatake Sakumo had discussed it with Nara Shikata.
Yesterday afternoon, after discussing the arrangements for the Third's funeral the next day, Hatake Sakumo had also given them a hint: once the funeral was over, the cause of his murder would be announced.
Why choose Shimura Danzō to take the blame?
Simply because the ruins of Root had been cleared.
As the cleanup progressed, a large number of Root documents and classified materials had been recovered from the ruins, all of which had been delivered to the Hokage's office.
Hatake Sakumo had flipped through a few, and the more he read, the more he wanted to laugh.
Good grief, every item in there was shadier than the last.
Assassinations, surveillance, applications for human experimentation, "plans for dealing with" important figures from various villages, and several "special observation reports" on certain clans within the village.
With all that, pinning the blame on Danzo couldn't have been easier.
Hatake Sakumo even felt that this could no longer be called shifting the blame. It was more like returning it to its rightful owner.
Back in the Hokage's office, Hatake Sakumo took off his coat and casually hung it on the rack.
The rain was still falling, and a layer of moisture clouded the windowpane.
He sat down in his chair and stretched, his bones cracking.
"There's still work to do."
Although Danzo had done plenty of shady things, he really wasn't the one who had murdered the Third. They could say he had to the public, but the people in the know within the village had to be informed first. Only after everyone "discussed it together" would they decide to publicly pin the blame on Danzo.
Hatake Sakumo called toward the door:
"Someone."
The door opened a crack, and a masked ANBU slipped inside and dropped to one knee.
"Go and invite the two advisers, Tsunade, Orochimaru, Sarutobi Ken, Nara Shikata... all of them."
"Yes." The ANBU answered, and he had already vanished through the doorway.
Hatake Sakumo leaned back in his chair and looked at the gray curtain of rain outside the window.
Before long, Mitokado Homura, Utatane Koharu, Nara Shikata, Tsunade, Orochimaru, Sarutobi Ken, and the heads of the major clans had all arrived. Among them was the current head of the Uchiha Clan, Uchiha Fugaku's father.
The Hokage's office was packed with people.
Apart from Hatake Sakumo, who sat in his chair, everyone else was standing. The office had never been spacious, and now it felt even more crowded. They had to turn their shoulders sideways just to turn around.
The people present could be said to be the highest-ranking group in the village apart from the Hokage and the two advisers.
Hatake Sakumo handed them some Root documents and had them pass the papers around to read. They recorded the shady things Danzo had ordered Root to do.
Once they had all finished reading, Hatake Sakumo exchanged a glance with Nara Shikata, then spoke:
"Lord Third has now been laid to rest, and the villagers all know about it. But the cause of his murder has yet to be announced. We can't put it off any longer."
He paused for a moment, then lowered his voice as he spoke again:
"I intend to tell the public that Danzo used Root to assassinate the Third in an attempt to seize power."
"In other words, we'll pin the Third's murder on Danzo and announce that to the villagers to stabilize the situation."
He looked at each person present in turn. "If we told them that an unknown enemy was able to assassinate the Third Hokage inside Konoha... think about how much panic that would cause."
Seeing that no one responded, Nara Shikata knew it was time for him to state his position.
He did not immediately chime in with "The Fourth is right." That would have been too obsequious and would instead have made him look eager to pledge his loyalty.
Nara Shikata first remained silent, as though weighing the matter for a long time.
"What the Fourth says isn't without reason."