The funeral proceeded from start to finish in a solemn and mournful atmosphere—it was the final significant memory left behind by the Third Hokage for the village of Konoha.
When the flames on the Third's body burned out and his ashes were laid to rest within the Memorial Park, it truly marked the end of an era.
Compared to dying at the hands of a disciple, falling honorably on the battlefield was ultimately a more admirable fate. Without the various scandals and conflicts that later arose, many people's memories of him remained locked in a much more positive time.
The mourning and tears—most of it genuine—came straight from the heart.
Since the outbreak of war, this chapter of events within Konoha had finally drawn to a close. Haseo, right in the eye of the storm, moved swiftly from one place to another, tackling matter after matter. Yet due to this constant motion, he himself hadn't felt too intensely the emotional ups and downs along the way.
However, for those Konoha ninja slightly removed from the chaos, the rapid succession of major events had sent their emotions into extreme fluctuations.
When Konoha's foundation crumbled, a new legend almost immediately rose to take its place. The vast upheaval on the battlefield stirred up all kinds of turmoil inside the village too. But when winter passed and spring winds began to blow, the village reemerged once again from the fog…
New Hokage or not, Konoha was still very much Konoha.
Only two days had passed since the Third Hokage's funeral, and Tsunade, still newlywed, was already set to leave Konoha and return to the Front Line. If you asked most people, this barely qualified as a honeymoon at all.
Not a second's peace from beginning to end — both Haseo and Tsunade were drowning in work.
"Haseo," said Tsunade while packing, "becoming Hokage has its pros and cons from the perspective of other villages. Leaving the negatives aside for now, at the very least, you can no longer easily leave the village as you once did, let alone launch solo attacks against enemy villages—you're restricted by your title now."
"In a certain sense, that means the battlefield will grow lively again," she added.
"I don't think it matters much," replied Haseo. "Deterrence is based purely on strength—it's always going to be something real and tangible."
As he spoke, his eyes never left the entrance of his home.
Tsunade smiled slightly but offered no further explanation… What was there to argue about? He wasn't the same person anymore—Haseo couldn't just run wild like before.
That's exactly how she saw things—no room for discussion.
"Tsunade," Haseo then asked, "I've got a little question I hope you can help me with.
I was gone for less than a full day—tops, ten hours. So why exactly was my front door torn down? A newly-minted Hokage having his house trashed—that's a total disgrace!
Was this moral corruption? A breakdown of ethics?
Or maybe some rogue folk hero flexing their justice muscles?"
Haseo didn't dwell on the previous topic, shifting his gaze now from the half-demolished wall of his house to Tsunade's face.
"Ah, that was just the construction crew I hired."
Normal people wouldn't have the guts to demolish the Hokage's house — it must've been an inside job.
"Construction crew? You sure it's not a *demolition squad*? Who tears down a house in weather like this? I can feel chills just sitting here," Haseo said with exaggerated shivering, rubbing his hands together.
Then Black Cat kindly jumped onto Haseo's lap and curled up, pretending to nap. Admittedly, cats could serve at least one practical purpose — warming hands, since most felines naturally had higher body temperatures than humans.
"So then, what exactly are you trying to do?"
Tsunade wouldn't demolish her own home without reason.
"I'm planning to change the structure a bit — move the entrance to the opposite side, and seal off this wall completely… no windows either."
"…"
That's some design madness. What's the point of all this trouble?
"The environment here isn't great. It doesn't matter much for just two of us, but considering future generations… the growth environment might have some negative influence." Tsunade immediately explained her reasoning.
As everyone knows, the Haseo family lives in Hot Spring Town. The street running parallel to the Hot Spring River extends east-west, with the Haseo residence located on the southern bank, its entrance facing northward toward the bustling commercial street.
However, if they changed the entrance direction to face south instead, everything would be different — the quiet and serene Uzumaki District would then lie directly behind them.
But that wasn't the main point. The key was what Tsunade implied through her words.
"You actually hold such traditional educational views? And… are you really decided about this?"
Immediately, Haseo understood — Tsunade must have been drawing from personal experience.
Tsunade's childhood had been… indescribable. Tragic, really. Raised by her grandfather, it hadn't been education at all — it had practically been child abuse.
Once she had everything packed, Tsunade came over and sat beside Haseo.
"All these years later, as ninja we've spent most of our time on battlefields. But I think… it's time I returned home. This is my sincere wish."
Tsunade's thinking was perfectly reasonable. After marriage, naturally she would begin considering children — the connection between these two matters fell squarely within conventional moral expectations.
"Guess I'll have to split my love between two people now."
"…Haseo," Tsunade gave him a helpless look, "sometimes your way of thinking… hmm… can be a bit childish."
Haseo paused briefly, then mentally reviewing what he'd just said… yeah, it did sound pretty childish.
"It's okay — childishness is fine. Starting today, you've officially upgraded to head of the household."
Saying that, Haseo pushed aside the previously cuddled-up Black Cat.
The cat looked nothing short of deeply aggrieved.
But it was just a cat, and even though it could transform, it was notoriously bad at it… so ultimately, outmatched and defeated.
"What are you looking at? You're not soft enough yet."
They say — strictly hearsay — that among humans, women generally have a bit higher body temperature than men, so they're good for warming up too.
Tsunade leaned close to Haseo's ear and whispered:
"Haseo, you should work hard…
I can be even gentler."
Was this person probably, maybe, somehow implying something?
Haseo just shrugged. "So… where am I sleeping tonight?"
Luckily, Haseo still had a large villa deep in the tropical jungle. Such foresight really paid off… so he rushed straight there without a break and barely made it to work on time.
Bringing new life into the world is every person's duty and responsibility toward their kind—it's simply how nature works.
Judging from her house-demolishing actions, Tsunade seemed to have already made a firm decision.
Truthfully, she didn't want her front door facing Uzumaki's direction either—it would bring terrible luck. Still, having it face that way was better than the current arrangement.
Facing north meant environmental issues; facing south solved those problems but left only one person-related issue instead. Between two evils, go with the lighter one.
Therefore, following orders from above, Haseo worked diligently that day. But things like fate and timing can't always be forced with hard work alone.
Anyway, the next morning Tsunade left feeling refreshed and headed straight back to the Front Line, leaving Haseo with the nagging feeling that he'd been taken for a ride.
News of Tsunade staying continuously in Konoha must've reached Sunagakure already, which is why Chiyo became especially active. Under such pressure, Tsunade could do nothing but return as soon as possible.
Humanity's great mission of continuation would just have to wait—for now, this race wasn't going extinct anytime soon anyway.
In short, Haseo was late for his daytime shift again today.
Luckily, he'd been frequently late recently, so everyone had already gotten used to it.
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