While Hiruzen remained lost in memories of the past, life in Konoha continued trying to move forward after the Nine Tails' attack.
During the week that had passed, Kiseki and his family had managed to repair most of their house. Only a few small details remained before everything would finally return to normal. Kizashi and Mebuki had spent most of that time supervising the workers and constantly telling them how they wanted each part of the house rebuilt, while Kiseki had been left taking care of his big-foreheaded little sister. He rocked her whenever she cried, changed her diapers, and whenever she became hungry, he simply carried her back to their mother.
Now that the house was almost completely repaired, Kiseki could finally start thinking about something he had been waiting for ever since his father revealed the secret hidden beneath their home. The Haruno had originally been a shinobi clan, and not only that, they possessed a bloodline limit. Just remembering it was enough to make him excited about finally starting his training.
By nightfall, the construction was basically finished, and Kiseki finally understood why Kizashi and Mebuki had spent the entire week watching the workers so closely. It was not only because they wanted the house rebuilt properly. Their real concern was making sure none of the workers accidentally discovered the underground area or any of the secrets hidden beneath their home.
As soon as the last worker left, Kiseki immediately approached his father. "Dad, when are we going to start training?"
Kizashi stared at him for a few seconds before laughing. "Did you seriously think that just because the Nine-Tails attacked the village, you wouldn't have to keep going to the Academy?"
Kiseki's smile slowly disappeared.
"..."
He had completely forgotten about that little detail.
With all the excitement surrounding the Haruno bloodline and the reconstruction of the house, he had enjoyed several wonderful days where he almost forgot that he was still a student. The next morning, however, Kiseki reluctantly got ready and headed toward the Academy.
As he walked through Konoha, he could not help paying attention to everything he had been hearing during the past week. Just like in the original story, Kumogakure had taken advantage of Konoha's weakened state and begun making hostile moves against the village. However, there were also things happening that Kiseki did not remember seeing, or perhaps they had simply never been directly shown in the original story.
Rumors about Hiruzen Sarutobi were spreading everywhere.
Some claimed that the Third Hokage had used Minato's death as an opportunity to take control of the village again and regain absolute authority. Others said that when Kumo attacked, Hiruzen had sent everyone else to fight while he remained safely inside Konoha, just like, according to those rumors, he had done during much of the Third Shinobi World War.
Kiseki listened to those rumors without feeling much sympathy for the old man. In his eyes, Hiruzen Sarutobi had always been a hypocritical old bastard. He constantly talked about how the older leaves should sacrifice themselves to protect the younger ones, yet during the Third Shinobi World War, children younger than ten had been sent onto battlefields. Some had barely been seven or eight years old, with even younger cases existing.
And now, once again, while Konoha had barely recovered from the Nine-Tails' attack, young shinobi were being sent to fight.
Because of that, Kiseki could not exactly say he disagreed with the rumors.
And knowing the plot, he had a pretty good idea who was spreading many of them.
Danzō Shimura.
The Darkness of the Shinobi World.
Kiseki did not trust Danzō in the slightest. In fact, he feared and hated him almost as much as Hiruzen, and he knew perfectly well that if Danzō ever discovered too much about him, his life could become an absolute nightmare.
Still, there was one thing Kiseki reluctantly respected about him.
Danzō was, in his own twisted way, far more honest about the kind of person he was.
He had never tried to present himself as some kind-hearted old man who loved everyone. He was ruthless, manipulative, and perfectly willing to commit atrocities if he believed they would benefit Konoha. Kiseki could hate his methods, and if he ever had both a reason and enough power to kill him, he probably would not hesitate much.
But Danzō never pretended to be something else.
That, at the very least, earned him a small amount of respect.
"A dangerous psychopath is still a dangerous psychopath... but at least you know what you're dealing with."
Kiseki shook his head slightly.
Well, except for that one moment when Danzō had been forced to choose whether to sacrifice himself and had hesitated while Hiruzen had stepped forward first.
Hiruzen won that one.
But those were details.
When Kiseki finally reached the Academy, he noticed that several parts of the building were still under reconstruction. Fortunately, most of it was already usable. He carefully avoided the areas where workers were still repairing damage and made his way toward his classroom.
He entered, took his usual seat, and waited for class to begin.
The moment it did, however, Kiseki immediately noticed two things.
First, the teacher was different.
Second, and far worse, almost half of his classmates were missing.
Kiseki slowly looked across the empty seats.
That could not mean anything good.
For a few seconds, he tried convincing himself that maybe some of the children were still injured, maybe their families had temporarily moved away, or maybe they simply had not returned to class yet.
Anything except the answer already forming inside his head.
Then the new teacher entered.
He was a relatively young man, but several parts of his body were still covered in bandages. One of his legs seemed to bother him slightly when he walked, making it obvious that he had also been involved somehow during the disaster.
He stood in front of the classroom and remained silent for a few seconds.
"My name is Haruto Nara. Starting today, I'll be your new teacher."
Several students immediately began exchanging confused looks.
Eventually, one of them gathered enough courage to ask, "What happened to our old sensei?"
Haruto's expression changed slightly.
He did not answer directly.
Instead, he looked across the many empty seats before speaking.
"Everyone you see here today will make up the complete class from now on."
The room went completely silent.
Then several gasps broke out.
Kiseki felt a chill run down his spine.
More than half.
More than half of his class had died.
Classmates.
Acquaintances.
Children he had talked to, played with, argued with.
And apparently, their previous teacher as well.
Kiseki slowly lowered his gaze.
He had always known that the Naruto world was dangerous. He had known it from the moment he understood where he had reincarnated.
But knowing something as a viewer and seeing it directly in front of you were completely different things.
Those empty seats made it impossible to ignore.
Haruto Nara allowed the class to remain silent for a while before eventually beginning the lesson. No one felt like talking much anymore. What had once been a noisy classroom filled with children now felt strangely empty.
As Haruto continued teaching, Kiseki eventually turned his gaze toward the window. From there, he could see part of Konoha still being rebuilt. Destroyed buildings, newly repaired roofs, workers carrying construction materials, injured shinobi walking through the streets, and families desperately trying to recover something resembling a normal life.
The longer Kiseki watched, the more he began to understand the hatred spreading throughout the village.
The Nine-Tails had destroyed homes.
It had killed fathers, mothers, siblings, friends, and children.
And from the perspective of most villagers, that monster had simply disappeared after the attack.
Until they learned that it was now sealed inside a child named Naruto Uzumaki.
Kiseki narrowed his eyes slightly as he looked at the rebuilding village.
With so much pain desperately searching for something to blame, he was beginning to understand much better how so many people would eventually direct their hatred toward Naruto.