Today, Konohagakure was livelier than ever. The villagers had spontaneously formed long lines at the village gates. Many had arrived at the streets early in the morning, all just to secure a good spot.
After all, today was the day the heroes who had secured victory on the battlefield against Sunagakure would return.
Even though the year's end was near and the weather grew colder by the day, the enthusiasm of Konoha's villagers did not diminish in the slightest. Konoha desperately needed a major victory.
If one had to find a single word to describe the Third Shinobi World War, "torment" would be the most fitting.
Since the war began, Konoha had basically gained the upper hand for a time, only to fall into disadvantage again, repeating this cycle endlessly. And it wasn't only Konoha — the other villages were in the same state.
This kind of tug-of-war with no clear end in sight was the most draining thing of all, wearing down people's spirits. Some even believed the shinobi world would destroy itself in this endless war.
But as the saying goes: the greater the pressure, the greater the eruption.
So when the news broke that Hiruzen had led Konoha to an overwhelming victory on the Land of Rivers battlefield, the entire village erupted—literally.
Hiruzen had already discussed it with Koharu and Homura: once Tsunade and the others returned, they must hold a grand welcome ceremony.
As for why he didn't consult with Danzō… well, not long ago they had a falling out over differing opinions regarding the Land of Rivers campaign. Danzō had since shut himself away in Root and hadn't emerged for days.
But Hiruzen wasn't worried. Knowing Danzō, he wouldn't hold a grudge for long. A few more days and things would settle.
For now, the most important matter was the welcome ceremony—it had to be grand. Hiruzen wanted the entire shinobi world to understand who the true number one hidden village was.
But when he sent out the orders, he realized there was no need for mobilization at all. The villagers themselves were already treating it like an early New Year festival. Families even hung up fresh omamori.
The enthusiasm was so overwhelming that Hiruzen almost thought the entire village had fallen under a genjutsu.
Amid the eyes of the crowd, the great army from the Land of Rivers finally entered through Konoha's gates.
At the front walked Tsunade, who casually grabbed Mitsuki's hand and pulled him up beside her.
Shukaku lay quietly on Mitsuki's shoulder. Normally, when others were around, it rarely spoke. Especially in such a sea of people, the One-Tail actually closed its eyes and dozed off.
That kind of instant, quality sleep—how many people in Mitsuki's past life would envy it?
By the way, after Mitsuki had discussed the matter of Shukaku with Tsunade that day, she had said she would "reason with that old man, the Third. For now, they would publicly claim the One-Tail had escaped. After all, with Shukaku's current size and appearance, no one would think of it as a Tailed Beast anyway.
On the other side, one of the great heroes of the battlefield, Jiraiya, was getting restless.
He had already heard the villagers cheering from the gates, so he hurriedly painted a dashing face pattern on himself, ready to make a cool appearance and recover some of the reputation he had lost from peeking at the women's bathhouses.
Minato stood together with his three students.
On the main street of Konoha, the villagers' cheers were so loud they seemed to shake even the clouds in the sky.
"Long live Lady Tsunade!"
"Lady Tsunade, I love you!"
"Minato is so handsome! Jiraiya is… not bad too!"
Too much. Jiraiya's patience snapped, veins bulging on his forehead.
(╬◣д◢)
He glared around, searching for which brat dared badmouth the Gallant Toad Sage.
"Please, Jiraiya-sensei, don't do this."
Seeing his teacher about to leap out of the formation, Minato quickly pulled him back.
As the procession advanced, the villagers' chants began to unify:
"Mitsuki the Gale!"
"Konoha's Gale!"
Standing at the very front with Tsunade, Mitsuki couldn't help his face flushing red—and of course, Tsunade noticed immediately.
"Well, well, why are you blushing?" she teased.
The title "Mitsuki the Gale" had only recently spread in Konoha. It had actually started with Suna.
At first, even though Mitsuki had raided several key bases of Sunagakure, the Suna shinobi had accepted defeat gracefully and given him the title "Konoha's Gale".
But over time, they realized this "Gale of Konoha" did nothing but partner with Minato to bomb one Sunagakure stronghold after another with Wind Release jutsu, then immediately flee, showing no sign of a dignified warrior at all.
So eventually, they stopped calling him that and instead called him "that damned explosion maniac brat".
During the war, as the body count rose, the title shifted again—this time to damnable Mitsuki.
If Suna held a poll of which Konoha shinobi they most wanted to personally kill, even Sakumo would probably lose second place.
But as the saying goes, one man's poison is another's nectar.
In recent days, the title Konoha's Gale had suddenly spread again among the Konoha shinobi.
Now in private conversations, everyone simply called him "Mitsuki the Gale" or "Konoha's Gale."
"But how did the villagers find out? Don't let me find out who leaked this!"
Mitsuki wondered, though he still waved and greeted the enthusiastic crowd.
From the rooftop of the Hokage's office, Hiruzen watched both villagers and triumphant shinobi, nodding in satisfaction.
It had been worth sending people to record detailed accounts of the Land of Rivers campaign, especially Mitsuki's performance.He had ordered them to be posted on every bulletin board in Konoha.
This way, everyone now knew that the boy standing beside Tsunade was the true hero of the victory.
"Look, Mitsuki! The villagers are welcoming us!" Obito was so excited he was nearly in tears. He had only ever seen such a scene in his dreams.
Kakashi, however, immediately cut him down: "Idiot. Can't you hear? They're all cheering for Mitsuki."
But Obito wasn't discouraged in the slightest. "Too naive, Kakashi."
"?" Kakashi tilted his head.
Obito gazed at the sky at a 45-degree angle with eyes full of insight, deliberately lowering his voice as he declared:
"I've seen it. In the not-so-distant future, sensei Minato will become the Fourth Hokage. Then Mitsuki will become the Fifth. And after that, it'll be me, Obito-sama, as the Sixth Hokage, hahaha!"
Kakashi was speechless. "Even if I became the Sixth, there's no way you'd ever be Hokage."
Obito froze. He hadn't expected Kakashi to have such ambitions. Hokage? With those dead-fish eyes? Ridiculous. Did he even understand the Will of Fire?
Obito imagined Kakashi wearing the Hokage hat with his lifeless expression—and burst out laughing.
"Pfft! Smug Kakashi, what are you saying? If you can become the Sixth Hokage, then I can be the Second Sage of Six Paths!"
...
And so, the triumphant ceremony went smoothly, finally concluding with a speech from Hiruzen atop the Hokage's office.