"Are you going to give a speech at the funeral tomorrow?"
Torifu swallowed the ramen in his mouth and said, "Of course. I'm the Hokage."
"If the Hokage doesn't attend, how can I face the families of the fallen ninja in the future?"
Naori sighed. She felt that Torifu was taking this matter too seriously. Her Sensei had never done so much during past wars, and yet Torifu felt it still wasn't enough. Naori believed that Torifu had already done everything perfectly. He had offered his condolences, provided compensation, and Konoha would now bury them as heroes. Although no one wanted to see their comrades die, war was heartless, and it was already very difficult for Torifu to have done all this.
After they finished eating, the two of them continued their walk. When they were young, they would always walk together after they finished their taijutsu training with Hashirama. Back then, Konoha was still very underdeveloped. The lights were fueled by oil, and perhaps the only modern thing was glass. But now, there were huge, colorful screens on both sides of the street broadcasting all sorts of sales and promotions. You could walk into any house and feel the cool breeze from an air conditioner. These were all changes that Torifu had brought to Konoha.
In the past, people couldn't even imagine such things, and they certainly couldn't imagine having phones that could play games and make long-distance calls. Torifu had done so much for Konoha, and everyone had seen it. Naori had also gone to some of the families of the fallen ninja yesterday. Although they were very sad, they had no complaints about Torifu; on the contrary, they praised him. Naori had visited over a dozen families, and not a single one had said anything bad about Torifu. The people in the village respected and loved Torifu very much.
As they walked, they arrived at the Hero's Memorial, where it was being decorated. The secretary was professionally and methodically directing everything. She was able to find any small detail that was off and immediately demanded that it be corrected.
"That kid is very impressive. She's young, but she's very capable."
Torifu smiled. "She is. I'm deliberately cultivating her so she can continue to assist Minato in the future when I step down."
"Minato's mind is a bit slow. Some things might not click right away, so he'll need someone smart and capable."
Naori looked at Torifu with a surprised expression. "Are you really planning on making Minato the Hokage? I thought you were just joking."
Torifu nodded. "Of course. Just wait and see. Minato's talent is far more than that. He's only ten years old. This is not yet his prime."
Naori didn't understand why Torifu was so confident, but she also hoped Minato would have a bright future. Another thing was that she trusted Torifu's judgment. Torifu had only brought back two children, one of whom became a great inventor, and this one was already showing great talent at such a young age. He would surely not be bad in the future. And what Naori didn't know was that Torifu had sent Kakuzu to bring back two more kids. They should be arriving in Konoha in a few days.
His secretary saw Torifu and Naori and immediately ran over. That young girl was also very respectful. Although she had Torifu's trust, she never overstepped her boundaries. She kept everything strictly professional. And after all, she was only a fifteen- or sixteen-year-old kid. What kind of ideas could she have?
"Hokage-sama, Naori-sama, are you here to inspect the preparations?"
Torifu waved his hand. "Naori and I are just taking a walk. You keep busy. Don't mind us."
The secretary nodded. "Okay. If there's anything you're not satisfied with, please let me know."
After that, she ran off and returned to organizing the preparations. All sorts of white chrysanthemums and silk cloths were laid out everywhere in the memorial. The moment you entered, you could feel a sense of overwhelming sadness.
"I have to say, the Nara clan really has great minds. If I had to do all this, my head would explode."
Torifu smiled slightly. "You're not suited for this. Maybe Kagami could do it."
When Naori heard that, she scoffed. "My brother? Forget it. When he was the Second Hokage's secretary, the Second Hokage had to hold his hand through everything, and he forgot it all in a month after he stopped being a secretary."
Torifu scratched his head in disbelief. "Are you exaggerating? He's the Uchiha Clan Head, after all, isn't he? Is it really appropriate for you to say that?"
"Of course, it's appropriate. What's there not to say? It's the truth."
Alright. Torifu hadn't known that the seemingly reliable Kagami had such an unknown side to him. But it was very likely that this was just a younger sister teasing her older brother. He couldn't trust it too much.
The memorial was being set up in an orderly fashion. All that was left was for the villagers to arrive tomorrow. But the speech couldn't be given there; it would still be in the central square. Otherwise, the memorial would be trampled before the funeral even began. Konoha's population was now over thirty thousand people. The village had been expanded several times, but it was still a little crowded. Maybe in a few years, they would have to expand it again. At that time, they wouldn't tear down the walls, but just build another wall outside the existing one to create an inner and outer district. This was a small plan that Torifu had for Konoha's future.
"Let's go visit our Sensei. Maybe he has some instructions for us."
Naori looked at Torifu from the corner of her eye. "Going to see our Sensei? Aren't you worried about being caught slacking off?"
Torifu shrugged. "What's there to worry about? I can just say I'm a clone. Besides, our Sensei doesn't meddle in my affairs anymore."
He had been the Hokage for so many years. There was no reason for his Sensei to lecture him. The two of them walked and chatted. After leaving the memorial, they reactivated their Concealment Jutsu to avoid being seen by others.
"Hokage-sama, Naori-sama, are you looking for the Clan Head? Please come in!"
The Senju Clan compound was like a second home to them. They came to have dinner there whenever they had time. When they entered, they saw Hashirama sitting in the yard, sunbathing. Perhaps he had taken Torifu's advice, as he hadn't been on his phone much lately. Or perhaps it was because of the war that he wasn't in the mood.
"Oh, what are you two doing here?"
He then looked at Torifu. "I heard about what you did yesterday. It makes me ashamed. I never did something like that."
Torifu waved his hand. "This is all I can do. You fought with all your might to lead your clansmen. You didn't have time for this. The battles back then were much more brutal than now."
Hashirama shook his head. "War is never not brutal. The other two villages suffered heavy casualties. More than three thousand ninja died. Three thousand people."
"At least we won, and our casualties weren't that high."