Konoha.
Ever since Garp had been out of retirement, the very first thing Hiruzen did each morning was to pore over every report the Anbu delivered that had even the slightest connection to Garp.
As long as it involved Garp in any way, no matter how tenuous, he demanded that Anbu submit it to him.
Now, just as he sat down at the Hokage desk like he did every day, he immediately reached for the latest intelligence.
Anbu's internal reports as well as information Konoha's agents had collected from every corner of the shinobi world.
But the moment Hiruzen picked up the first report on top of the pile and let his eyes sweep across the contents, his pupils dilated sharply.
His face, etched with the marks of age, was slowly overtaken by pure shock.
Not only that. As he stared, stunned and unfocused, even the paper in his hands slipped through his fingers and fell onto the desk with a crisp slap.
"Hiruzen?"
"Sarutobi?"
Homura and Koharu, the two Konoha elders who had entered the office alongside him, turned toward the sound of the paper hitting the desk.
What they found left them momentarily speechless.
Hiruzen still held his hands frozen mid-air as if gripping an invisible document, his expression and gaze utterly stiff, like he had been turned to stone.
Even after they called out to him several times, Hiruzen remained in that same dazed, hollow state.
"He actually did this…"
As the two elders exchanged uneasy glances, they stepped closer.
When they reached the desk, they finally heard the Hokage muttering under his breath, voice so faint it was almost inaudible.
"Hiruzen, what in the world is going on?"
"What do you mean, he actually did this?"
Homura and Koharu, increasingly unsettled by the Hokage's bizarre behavior, waved their hands in front of his eyes.
"You tell me… did I make a mistake?"
Hiruzen's eyes slowly refocused, but his expression turned… strange.
There was fear. And dread. And disbelief. And even a faint hint of regret.
"What happened to you?"
Homura's scalp tingled at the Hokage's sudden and uncharacteristic reaction.
"Sigh… see for yourselves."
Hiruzen shook his head with a bitter smile. Instead of explaining, he reached down, picked up the fallen report, and handed it to Homura.
"A… a written surrender from the Third Raikage?"
"With that hot-blooded brute's stubbornness, he actually sent a surrender letter?"
Both Homura and Koharu nearly had their eyes pop out of their sockets the moment they read it.
Kumogakure… had surrendered.
It was something beyond unexpected.
They had originally believed that with the Third Raikage's iron will, unbending even in death, after having his "strongest shield" shattered and his "strongest spear" broken by Garp.
That furious vow of 'For as long as any Cloud shinobi draws breath, none shall ever set foot in the Land of Fire.' was already the absolute limit.
But never, not in a thousand possibilities, did they imagine that after retreating back to the Land of Lightning, Kumogakure would actually send a formal letter of surrender.
They had submitted such letters before… but never since the Third Raikage took office.
Everyone in every major village knew, the Third Raikage was the type of man who would willingly die on the battlefield before he ever surrendered.
"Of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, two have bowed their heads.
Of the Five Kage, two have personally signed surrender letters… Tell me, Homura, Koharu, was it a mistake to bring Garp out of retirement?"
Hiruzen spoke in a low, trembling voice.
"…"
Homura and Koharu exchanged a long, silent look.
Two villages subdued, two Kage defeated.
With this, the precarious storm that had loomed over Konoha since the Third Great Ninja War… had vanished.
From this point onward, even if Garp didn't lift a finger, Konoha's current power was more than enough to crush both Kirigakure and Sunagakure.
For Konoha, this was extraordinary news, unprecedented good fortune.
And yet… both elders knew exactly why Hiruzen felt more worry than joy.
Because they felt the same.
"Lord Hokage. Urgent report."
"One day ago, Sunagakure, led by the Fourth Kazekage Rasa, Elder Chiyo, and Elder Ebizo, mobilized two thousand troops and launched an attack into the Land of Lightning.
But at the border of the Land of Rain, they encountered the hero of the shinobi world.
A fierce battle erupted.
Sunagakure's forces were utterly routed.
Rasa, Chiyo, and Ebizo were all killed on the spot, and the remaining Sand shinobi fled back to the Land of Wind."
"Following Rasa's death, Sunagakure's hero Pakura has assumed the position of Fifth Kazekage, and has declared she will soon send a surrender letter."
Just as the three members of Konoha's so-called "council" were drowning in complicated emotions, an Anbu wearing a fox mask suddenly dropped to one knee before Hiruzen, delivering a series of earth-shaking reports word by word.
"Even Sunagakure has surrendered?"
"That makes three Kage."
"Another village subdued by the strength of one man…"
Hiruzen, Homura, and Koharu all stiffened at once. They looked at one another, each seeing the same realization reflected in the others' eyes.
Sunagakure had not only surrendered, its Kazekage was the first Kage to die by Garp's fist.
"Tell me… was it a mistake to bring Garp out of retirement?"
After dismissing the Anbu, Hiruzen opened his mouth, struggling to get the words out, his voice tangled with complicated, conflicting emotion.
"The times have changed… but they've never truly changed at all."
Homura and Koharu murmured quietly.
They seemed to be answering his question, yet Hiruzen understood perfectly what the two were truly trying to say.
---------------
Guys do leave some reviews and comments.
Also, if you guys enjoy this story, you can support me on Pat re on and get access to some Advance Chapters, it really helps me to work on new chapters.
pat re on. com / Yhssab
Just remove all the spaces in between and search it.