The night wind howled.
Inside the pavilion, silence reigned.
Minato had already left.
Hiruzen sat in the pavilion, not saying a word.
Across from him was the Daimyo, staring intently at him.
Clatter.
The pipe in his hand slipped, shattering into pieces on the solid stone of the wall.
He didn't look down.
The wind swept across the high wall, ruffling his robes and bringing the chill of early winter.
Yet he felt no cold at all.
Instead, a wave of heat surged through his chest, rising to the crown of his head, making his limbs tremble faintly.
"Third Hokage," Arashi's voice rang out again, "you know this matter, and I know it."
Hiruzen stiffly turned his head, meeting Arashi's gaze.
He wanted to speak.
He wanted to question why.
He wanted to roar his refusal.
But all those words stuck in his throat. Not a sound came out.
Because he understood.
There was no killing intent on Arashi's face, nor any emotion.
Those eyes told him clearly, that the lives of three thousand Kumogakure shinobi, even his own life, even the dignity of Sarutobi Hiruzen, were all within the other's grasp.
In the end...
Hiruzen, who had stood tall all his life, bent his back.
He bowed his head deeply and squeezed out a single word with difficulty.
"...Yes."
That single word drained all his strength.
"Very good." Arashi finally smiled with satisfaction.
Then he turned, sat back in front of the shogi board, and began quietly straightening the scattered pieces.
As if the conversation that had just determined the lives of three thousand people and the reputation of a Hokage was nothing more than post-meal chatter.
"Go back and rest, Third Hokage," Arashi said, still tidying up, "escorting prisoners is tiring work. You'll need enough rest."
Hiruzen stood there for a long time.
Finally, he didn't even glance at the broken pipe.
He turned and walked down the wall, one step at a time.
The moonlight cast his shadow long behind him.
Bent.
Lonely...
After descending the wall, Hiruzen didn't head straight home.
Instead, he wandered slowly through the empty streets of Konoha like a lost soul.
The war was over.
The village was still under curfew. The streets were deserted, with only the occasional silhouette flashing across the rooftops.
Patrolling Anbu.
When they saw Hiruzen, they paused to salute before vanishing silently into the night.
No one disturbed the former Hokage.
Hiruzen walked slowly.
Each step was heavy.
As if walking with shackles bound to his feet.
So heavy, he didn't dare stride forward.
He passed Ichiraku Ramen, Yamanaka Flower Shop, and other familiar storefronts—doors shut tight.
But in his mind, the conversation in the pavilion played over and over.
"Third Hokage, do you think these three thousand Kumogakure prisoners are an accomplishment... or a threat?"
That was the first thing Arashi asked him.
He had answered: "They're an accomplishment, and even more so, a deterrent to the rest of the shinobi world."
Looking back now... how ridiculous. How naïve.
The Daimyo had rejected his answer on the spot.
"No."
"They're not a deterrent. They're a ticking bomb."
"They're three thousand explosive tags buried on the border of the Land of Fire. Ready to detonate at any time."
"Do you think sparing them is an act of kindness?"
At the time, Arashi's tone was calm.
But it chilled him to the bone.
Arashi said...
"That is not kindness."
"That is cruelty to the countless innocent people who may be sacrificed in the future for the sake of the Land of Fire."
"Third Hokage, tell me this."
"If we let them go now and Kumogakure starts another war tomorrow, how many of our shinobi will be killed by these three thousand veterans?"
"How many civilians of the Land of Fire will die at their hands?"
"At that time, who will answer for those lives that should never have been lost?"
"You? Or Minato?"
Those words pierced his heart.
He had been left speechless.
So he asked...
Then what should be done?
"Dispose of them."
That was Arashi's answer.
Such a simple, light response.
But in that moment, his mind had gone blank, as if an explosive tag had gone off inside his skull.
Dispose of them?
Three thousand surrendered prisoners? Disarmed and fully restrained?
That's not war!
That's a massacre!
He had nearly roared at him:
"Daimyo-sama! Absolutely not!"
"This is an act of injustice!"
"If Konoha commits such an atrocity, we'll lose all credibility, and become the enemy of the entire shinobi world!"
The Daimyo had smiled at that.
A smile tinged with pity.
As if he were looking at a naïve child.
"So, Konoha cannot be the one to kill them."
"Minato cannot give the order."
"But this world, precisely because it is cruel, requires necessary cruelty to preserve order."
"Kindness... is a luxury you afford only when there is no fear."
Arashi had walked up and gently patted his shoulder.
It wasn't heavy.
But it weighed more than a mountain.
"Third Hokage... do you understand?"
In that moment...
Even before Arashi finished speaking, he understood.
The Hokage could not be stained with blood.
The Daimyo, even less so.
Then who would bear the sin?
Who would carry the stain, the burden, the eternal infamy?
Only him.
Only the retired Hokage.
The one who had already stepped back from the stage.
The one Konoha still honored and revered.
The public parade was just a show.
From the Land of Fire to the Land of Hot Water.
The journey was long, the road perilous, with countless chances for "accidents" to occur.
For example…
What if the prisoners, unwilling to be humiliated, staged a revolt?
And what if, for the safety of the escort squad and Konoha's dignity, he had no choice but to kill them all on the spot?
A perfect script.
He could already imagine the aftermath.
The Daimyo would be enraged.
Would denounce him publicly.
Would strip him of all his honors.
It would certainly happen.
He wanted to resist. To refuse.
But he couldn't find a single reason to.
Because Arashi was right.
A moment of mercy now could lead to rivers of blood in the future.
So they had to die.
And they had to die in a way that kept both Konoha and the Daimyo clean.
"This matter… only you and I will ever know."
"I won't know what you did."
"Minato won't know."
"No one in Konoha will know."
"The world will only know one thing—"
"That the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, underwent a drastic change in character… and personally slaughtered three thousand Kumogakure prisoners on the road."
"You will become the sinner reviled by the shinobi world."
"But the Land of Fire... will gain lasting peace from your sin."
"Your sacrifice... your reputation…"
"I will remember it."
…
"Heh."
On the empty street, Hiruzen let out a low, bitter laugh.
Sacrifice.
In his life, for Konoha, he had sacrificed his teacher.
Sacrificed his students.
Sacrificed his family.
Now, even the last shred of his reputation had to be sacrificed.
Sacrificed to that young monarch.
Sacrificed to the new era he could no longer understand.
The era that monarch spoke of.
Before he knew it, he had walked to the gates of the Sarutobi clan compound.
He looked up at the familiar crest.
But it felt unfamiliar to him now.
Sarutobi.
This surname would be sullied because of him.
He pushed open the gate.
The courtyard was quiet.
Only a single lantern burned under the eaves of the main hall.
His wife sat under that light, quietly waiting for him to return.
(To be continued.)
◇◇◇
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)