Namikaze Minato had no relatives in the Hidden Leaf Village, and Akashō, as Kushina's last clansman, naturally had to keep vigil for the two of them. Even Minato's disciple, Hatake Kakashi, didn't have that qualification.
Akashō turned his head and, with a tired, sorrowful expression, nodded at Kakashi.
"You too."
Damn… three hours on my knees already. This is killing me. If I'd known, I should've just destroyed the bodies and erased all traces—would've saved me the trouble of this vigil.
"Hm?"
Akashō turned his head and glanced toward the outside of the mourning hall, spotting Itachi sneaking a look from behind a pillar.
"What are you doing over there? Why not come in?"
"He can't come in."
Kakashi explained, "Last night, the Nine-Tails breaking its seal and going berserk is being suspected to be connected to the Uchiha clan. Right now, anything related to Minato-sensei—they can't casually get involved."
"The Uchiha???"
Akashō raised an eyebrow in surprise, not quite understanding why the Uchiha clan would be suspected over the Nine-Tails' rampage.
But whatever. Having someone else take the blame isn't a bad thing.
"Yeah. But Itachi's probably worried about you, so he couldn't help but come take a look."
"Oh, right."
Kakashi suddenly added, "The Third Hokage has resumed his position. Before, because of Minato-sensei, no one really questioned you or the Dark Council. But now… there might be some small trouble."
Hiruzen Sarutobi is Hokage again?
A cold glint flashed through Akashō's lowered eyes. If that's the case, then the possibility that the old man is connected to that masked guy just got a lot higher.
"How many people know about my connection with the Dark Council?"
"Not many. But at least a few high-ranking leaders do."
"But don't worry too much."
Kakashi moved closer and sat beside Akashō.
"If not for the God of Destruction—Bertholdt—stepping in last night, more people would've died. From that perspective, the Dark Council actually helped the Hidden Leaf Village."
"But such an action without any clear reason… the only link is you. Logically speaking, not only should the village not make things difficult for you—they should be thanking you."
"And if they don't follow logic?"
Kakashi choked on his words and fell silent.
One kneeling, one sitting, the two remained still in the mourning hall. After a while, a noisy set of footsteps came from outside, and they both turned their heads.
"Third Hokage-sama."
Kakashi quickly stood to greet him. Akashō didn't rise, only nodding slightly.
Hiruzen nodded back at Kakashi, then looked at Akashō and sighed.
"My condolences."
"Mm. Thank you, Third Hokage-sama."
Following behind Hiruzen were numerous heads of smaller ninja clans and civilian jonin. After Hiruzen stepped forward to offer incense and prayers, they each came up one by one to pay their respects.
During this time, the Hyūga clan head and his twin brother also arrived together.
It wasn't until noon that the mourning finally came to an end, and Akashō was at last able to stand instead of kneeling.
"Let's go. There's a memorial ceremony outside. The entire village will attend—you need to be there too."
Hiruzen walked up to Akashō. Though they hadn't exchanged a single word earlier, he acted as if they were quite close, taking Akashō's arm.
"Alright."
Akashō nodded, his voice hoarse.
Arriving at the rooftop of the Hokage building, a single glance revealed the crowd below—Hidden Leaf ninjas and villagers alike, all with downcast heads and grief-stricken faces.
"People of the Hidden Leaf Village, I am the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi. The reason we've gathered today is because this is an extraordinarily special day—a day worthy of being recorded in history, a day that all of you will remember for the rest of your lives."
Hiruzen stepped forward, playing the role of a host, launching into a speech full of flying spit.
To Akashō's surprise, Hiruzen didn't take this opportunity to promote himself or boost his influence. Instead, he simply praised Namikaze Minato and Kushina's sacrifice—their righteousness and noble spirit—and, to be fair, he spoke quite vividly.
Plenty of people were moved to tears, bowing their heads and sobbing.
Akashō sighed inwardly. Although the major threat of Namikaze Minato had finally been resolved, it brought a string of smaller troubles. For example, if he wanted to continue staying quietly in the Hidden Leaf Village, he now had to put on a show of overwhelming grief to maintain his image and persona.
"Waaah…"
Akashō brought out the full extent of his acting skills. To match his identity, he had to be more devastated than anyone else.
Eyes?
Red!
Tears?
Flowing!
Snot?
Running!
Cry—damn it, everyone cry! Cry until the heavens shake, cry until your hearts tear apart.
Who cares about dignity or composure? Losing a little face is nothing.
Akashō's features twisted together, snot and tears mixing into a mess. He was practically drowning in his own crying, completely choked with sobs.
By the end, he was nearly unable to breathe, his whole body trembling as he collapsed to his knees—leaving several small clan heads nearby, who had been planning to squeeze out a few fake tears themselves, utterly dumbfounded.
...
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