Mid-October.
In this season, the air already carries a hint of refreshing coolness.
Three days ago, the Nine-tailed launched a sudden attack on Konoha, bringing countless disasters and pains to it.
Through a brutal battle, Konoha successfully suppressed the Nine-tailed Demon Fox, but at the cost of an immeasurable price.
During that late-night battle three days ago, Konoha suffered more than a thousand casualties among its capable ninjas, with the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato, and his wife sacrificing themselves to quell the chaos caused by the Nine-tailed.
This heavy truth left many in Konoha in disbelief.
But once the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, personally confirmed the incident, everyone had no choice but to accept such a harsh reality.
The morning in Konoha was shrouded in a solemn and mournful atmosphere.
Everyone in the village donned black mourning clothes, quietly following the crowd, heading to the Ninja Cemetery with a painful heart.
Everyone's faces remained silent and sad, visible in clear expressions of silence or complexity.
The casualties in the battle with the Nine-tailed included not just the Fourth Hokage and his wife, but also many family pillars who died in combat.
The compensation for these families naturally needs to be put in place to ensure the heroes didn't sacrifice their lives in vain. But the most important task now is to mourn the fallen ninjas in the Nine-tailed battle, hold funerals, and bid farewell to the heroes who sacrificed themselves fighting the Nine-tailed.
"The village finally returned to peace thanks to the efforts of the Fourth Hokage. Who could have foreseen such an outcome... alas..."
Someone spoke these words, prompting more sadness to spread quickly among the crowd.
The night of the battle with the Nine-tailed three days ago was incredibly perilous.
Although the Konoha Ninja worked together to suppress the Nine-tailed, they couldn't harm the Nine-tailed's body at all.
It was a true calamity. If not for the timely sacrifice and sealing of the Nine-tailed by the Fourth Hokage and his wife with their lives, Konoha would have faced more than just the deaths of over a thousand ninjas.
Such a disaster is beyond human resilience.
At the forefront of the procession were naturally the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, and other high-ranking officials, with the semi-retired Root Leader, Shimura Danzo, among them.
Unlike the laments of others, his face remained expressionless, staring coldly at the name on the Memorial Stele — Namikaze Minato, leaving people puzzled about what he truly thought.
Beside him, Utatane Koharu whispered, "Let's go back, Hiruzen. We have more important matters to address."
Taking time out of their busy schedules to mourn was already the largest extension of time.
It's not that they didn't want to reflect on the contributions of the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato, but the deceased are gone, and Konoha urgently needs to select a new leader.
Because of the sacrifice of the Fourth Hokage, it's impossible to hide it from other villages. No matter how hard they try to conceal it, the leaders of other Ninja Villages might already have heard about the Fourth Hokage's sacrifice to seal the Nine-tailed.
Hidden Sand and Hidden Rock suffered significant losses in previous battles and are temporarily not to be worried about.
However, the Hidden Cloud's strength wasn't greatly affected in the war, and they still eye Konoha covetously.
Moreover, Hidden Mist Village's strength remains intact, and Konoha must swiftly take action to deploy defenses at the borders, preventing the ninjas of Hidden Cloud and Hidden Mist from invading the Land of Fire.
Although Konoha has had little interaction with Hidden Mist in the past, and Hidden Mist has never openly shown hostility towards Konoha, the premise of the Fourth Hokage's sacrifice makes it inevitable that Hidden Mist Village might have some other ideas.
Hiruzen sighed softly, closed his eyes, and nodded.
Indeed, now is not the time to grieve the deceased.
No matter how much he regrets the sacrifice of the Minato couple, it's an ironclad fact, and his sorrow won't change anything.
As the Third Hokage, he has even more important matters.
How to help Konoha pass through the upcoming difficulties and prevent sudden attacks from other villages on the Land of Fire is paramount.
◎
The mourning ceremony continued, with the procession bidding farewell to the heroes sacrificed in the Nine-tailed battle, still large and undiminished.
Kakashi did not participate in such a procession; to him, going there would only add to his sadness.
He sat alone atop the water tower of the Konoha Hospital, quietly staring at the white clouds in the sky, lost in thought.
Not long after, the crisp sound of footsteps echoed behind him, someone approaching.
Interrupted from his thoughts, Kakashi turned to look, seeing a woman in a white coat walking towards him unhurriedly, a pair of black-framed glasses resting on her chest, her eyes revealing intellect and wisdom.
But her appearance was quite ordinary, not particularly outstanding.
Asami Shinsui, the head of the pharmacy department at Konoha Hospital, known in Konoha to some extent.
Part of the reason the Nine-tailed wreaked havoc on Konoha, leading to the sacrifice of the Fourth Hokage and his wife, was due to her.
Because she was the one who first transmitted the information about Kushina's childbirth, leading to the Nine-tailed's rampage and indirectly triggering a series of tragedies.
"It seems you're not feeling well. Still sad about the Fourth?"
Asami Shinsui approached Kakashi, her voice very light.
"Why are you here?"
Kakashi didn't answer, asked instead.
She was one of the elite spies left in Konoha by Hakushi, and until now, hadn't known how much information had been passed to the Land of Demons.