Jokichi did not go to the Hokage Building to register the property damage, but constantly rummaged through the pile of ruins for something. Time gradually slipped away, and the dazzling sun rose to the center, illuminating the earth. Jokichi turned over a piece of rubble and finally found the thing he wanted.
A photograph.
It was just that a large piece of the photo was missing, and only a person's legs could be seen. Jokichi continued to rummage through the ruins, turning over and throwing away pieces of rubble one by one. He had a cold and had just finished his IV drip, so his condition was not very good. His head was dizzy and heavy. But the photo he kept thinking about in his heart made him dig and search non-stop.
Finally, when the moon hung high, he finally found all the fragments of the photo in the ruins. Piecing all the fragments together, a photo of an ordinary but delicate-looking young couple holding a baby appeared before his eyes. Jokichi reached out and gently stroked the photo, a smile emerging on his face.
Suddenly, a gust of wind blew over. The photo that he had managed to piece together with great difficulty was blown apart and flew away. Jokichi hurriedly stood up and reached out to grab in the direction the photo flew away. It was just that there were too many fragments. Although he caught one or two fragments, more flew away with the wind.
He was stunned. Looking at the photo fluttering in the sky, constantly rising until it completely disappeared into the dark night, he lowered his head and hands as if losing all his strength.
"Ah! Some things, once lost, will never come back." Jokichi muttered softly to himself.
He stood quietly in the dark night, letting the cold wind blow without making a movement. An unknown amount of time passed. Jokichi raised his head. In the sky, stars twinkled around the full moon. He did not know if it was an illusion, or if it was originally like this. Jokichi discovered two particularly dazzling stars that gave him a very familiar and intimate feeling, twinkling right at him.
"Is that you?"
"No, no, no, I was not missing you, it is just... a bit lonely."
"Mhm, I will definitely take good care of myself."
"Do not worry, do not worry, I will definitely find a beautiful and virtuous girlfriend in the future, rest assured!"
"Mhm! I am doing very well, you do not need to worry."
Jokichi talked to himself facing the sky, stopping only when a dark cloud drifted over and blocked the starlight. A relieved smile appeared on his flushed cheeks. It was faint and very quiet, making people feel at ease at a single glance.
"The long-overdue farewell is over, so let's go find Old Man Third Hokage to register the property damage. Should I report a bit extra?"
Jokichi walked towards the Hokage Building with a faint smile, as if he had encountered something very happy. After he left, Uchiha Itachi walked out from behind a large tree not far away. He looked at Jokichi's gradually departing back, his eyes flashing with a complex look. He did not know what secrets Jokichi was hiding, but he could confirm that Jokichi was not a spy planted by other villages, and he could also confirm that he was a good person.
However, good people do not necessarily only do good things, and bad people do not necessarily only do bad things. Moreover, the world is not simply composed of black and white. He could not be sure what Jokichi's stance was, or what his attitude would be after knowing about the Uchiha coup. If he asked him for help, would he be able to get assistance, or rather...
Does he have the ability to help me?
...
Perhaps it was because of the incident where a beast broke into the village and destroyed a street, the Hokage Building still had its lights on even now. Jokichi arrived at the Hokage Building. After reporting his identity to the guards, he was allowed to go inside. Passing through a narrow corridor, stepping onto a spiral staircase at the end, and walking for another stretch, Jokichi finally arrived at the Hokage's office.
He adjusted his attire and emotions at the door, and then knocked on the door.
"Please come in." The old but powerful voice of the Third Hokage came from inside.
Jokichi pushed the door open and entered. There were two Anbu standing in front of the desk inside, appearing to be discussing some matters with the Third Hokage. Seeing Jokichi enter, the few people all put their gazes on Jokichi.
The wrinkles on Sarutobi Hiruzen's face squeezed together, revealing a kind smile. "It is Jokichi. I was just wondering when you would come. Among the residents of that street, you are the only one who has not come to register the property damage."
"I was delayed by a small matter." Jokichi scratched his head, then placed his hands between his legs and bowed to the Third Hokage to apologize. "I am very sorry for coming so late and causing you trouble."
"There is no need to be so polite, this is not a big deal."
Sarutobi Hiruzen held his pipe in his mouth, his hands rummaging through the documents on the desk for a while, and then he took out a form from inside.
"Konoha does not have any spare single rooms right now, so we will just give you this courtyard house as compensation. The furniture and daily necessities inside have already been prepared, you can just move straight in."
Saying that, Sarutobi Hiruzen handed the form to an Anbu in front of him. "Take Jokichi to that courtyard house!"
"Yes."
The Anbu took the form and then looked at Jokichi. After a brief moment of being stunned, Jokichi bowed to the Third Hokage again. "Thank you very much."
No spare houses... Heh! The hands-on ability of ninja is not fake. Even if there are no spare houses, they can build one for you in an hour. The so-called lack of spare single rooms to replace it with an independent courtyard house was merely a means to win people over. It seems I still underestimated the talent and will I have displayed.
"What are you thanking me for?" Sarutobi Hiruzen took two puffs from his pipe and smiled slightly. "As Hokage, allowing such a thing to happen right under my nose is my dereliction of duty. You can just move in with peace of mind!"
"Got it, Old Man Third Hokage."
Waving goodbye to the Third Hokage, Jokichi followed the Anbu in front of him and left the Hokage Building. The two went all the way west, walked for about three kilometers, and entered a fork in a street. After about one hundred meters, a modest-sized courtyard house came into view.
This courtyard house was quite old, and the colors of the surrounding walls were an old-fashioned black and white style. However, judging from the lack of cracks on the walls and the brand-new gate, this courtyard house had obviously been renovated.
"This is the courtyard house." The Anbu handed over the document form in his hand, on which a bunch of keys was placed. "This is the deed and the keys for it. The furniture and daily necessities inside have all been prepared. You can familiarize yourself with it slowly!"
Jokichi took the deed and keys, and said "Thank you" to the Anbu. The Anbu did not mind, just nodded, and flickered away.
Jokichi stood at the entrance and looked left and right. There were no other houses around, only sparse trees and vegetation. Behind the courtyard house was the Hokage Rock. Of course, not directly below it. Going out from the small path was the commercial street, and Yamanaka Ino's family flower shop was on this street.
"This location..."
Jokichi crossed one arm over his chest and pinched his chin with the other hand, falling into deep thought. Although housing prices in Konoha right now were not as high as in the Boruto era, as the number one village in the ninja world, and located on a commercial street near the Hokage Building... One did not even need to use their brain to know it was extremely valuable.
"They really invested heavily in this!"
Jokichi shook his head, not thinking about these messy things. He only needed to keep becoming stronger. Possessing power meant possessing everything; the rules of this world were just that simple and cruel.