met free Chapter 496 The Landscape of Shadow
Chapter 496 The Landscape of Shadow
Even the sunglasses on Killer Bee's face couldn't completely hide the tremor in his pupils at that moment.
His unique sense of rhythm, which always tried to dispel all the heaviness and sorrow in the world with rap rhymes, was completely shattered at this moment.
He could clearly feel that something called a pillar was crumbling inch by inch inside his brother Ai's body, which was as hard as steel.
That kind of exhaustion, seeping from the depths of one's bones, a complete and utter crushing feeling, almost solidified into a tangible substance.
He looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi.
The man who personally ended the legend of the Third Raikage, at this moment, gave the deceased enemy the highest affirmation with the calmest demeanor.
This extreme contradiction plunged Kirabi's mind into a burning blank.
Finally, Hiruzen Sarutobi moved.
Instead of walking towards Ai, he strolled leisurely to a makeshift, extremely simple wooden table set up to the side.
On the table sat a crude tin kettle and several earthenware cups speckled with mud.
He picked up the kettle and poured himself a glass of water.
"Splash—"
Water flowed into the cup, making a soft sound.
The entire movement was fluid and graceful, conveying a sense of ease, as if one were enjoying tea in their own backyard.
This calm, almost mundane action contrasted eerily with the solidified, chilling atmosphere around them.
Hiruzen Sarutobi picked up the water glass, but didn't drink it. Instead, he ran his fingertips along the rough texture of the glass, enjoying the slightly cool touch.
His gaze went past Ai's shoulder and into the distance.
There was a makeshift morgue, with rows of white sheets swaying gently in the wind like a silent wave.
"There are no real winners in war."
When Hiruzen Sarutobi spoke, his voice was not loud, but it was like a pebble thrown into a still lake, clearly creating ripples in everyone's ears.
"In the battle of the Land of Whirlpools, Konoha lost its ally, the Uzumaki, and Kumogakure lost its pillar of support."
"And this time, it's here that..."
He paused, looking around at the blood-stained land.
"...It is the future of Konoha, the future of Kumogakure, the future of Iwagakure and Sunagakure, and even the future of Amegakure."
"I am not here to show off my strength, nor to savor the fruits of victory."
Hiruzen Sarutobi turned around, his deep gaze falling back on Ai, his tone as calm as if stating a fact that had already been written.
"I'm here to end all of this."
"To ensure that similar tragedies are never repeated on this land."
Standing at a distance, Minato Namikaze was deeply shaken.
He looked at his teacher, the man in the office who often rubbed his forehead in exasperation from mountains of documents and the endless arguments between Danzo and Sakumo.
But at this moment, the teacher's back seemed taller than ever before to him.
Minato believed that he had done his best on the battlefield.
Achieve the greatest victory with the fastest speed and the least cost.
But only today, standing in this canyon strewn with corpses, did he truly realize that the end of the war was not the end.
How to deal with hatred, how to comfort the living, and how to console the dead.
How can we rebuild an order called trust from the ruins...?
His teacher is teaching him the most profound and weighty lesson through his actions.
True power is not about destruction.
It is construction.
Kakashi, standing beside Minato, silently shifted his gaze from that imposing figure to his own short sword, which he no longer polished.
His own slightly bewildered dark eyes were reflected on the cold blade.
Obito Uchiha, on the other hand, completely forgot that he was carrying a stretcher. His mouth was slightly open as he stared blankly at the white-clad figure with red trim who remained spotless amidst the mud and blood.
He suddenly realized how shallow and naive he had been to always talk about becoming Hokage.
So, the Hokage... is this kind of being.
The Fourth Raikage's fists, clenched so tightly that his knuckles turned white, finally loosened slowly, one finger at a time.
He looked at the man in front of him, who seemed to bear the weight of the entire world on his own, and felt his aura, which was neither oppressive nor so heavy that it was hard to breathe.
The last remnant of "pride" in his heart is being weathered and disintegrated bit by bit.
for a long time.
Ai's Adam's apple bobbed laboriously, and in a hoarse, almost torn voice, he asked his first question as Raikage.
"What...do you want?"
His voice was dry, filled with exhaustion and resentment.
But in the end... he bowed his head.
Hiruzen Sarutobi gently put down the water glass in his hand.
The bottom of the cup made a clear "tap" sound when it came into contact with the rough tabletop.
This sound seemed to mark the end of this long and silent standoff.
He looked at Ai, a gentle smile appearing on his face.
However, his words once again plunged everyone into an icy abyss.
"Before we talk about the future, we should first put a period to the past."
"So, the first thing to do is to comfort those..."
Hiruzen Sarutobi paused, his gaze sweeping over the silent white ocean.
"...to bring us future heroes."
Upon hearing this, both the Fourth Raikage and Tsuchishiro were taken aback.
hero?
Ai's pupils contracted again.
Tsuchishiro's heart sank. He could almost foresee the next sentence—nothing more than how Konoha would give its heroes a grand funeral and proclaim their achievements.
This is a common tactic used by the victors: to completely destroy the mental defenses of the defeated by elevating themselves and belittling their opponents.
Even Hanzo of the Salamander, who had been observing from the sidelines, narrowed his eyes slightly behind his breathing mask, trying to guess the true intentions behind Hiruzen Sarutobi's words.
In his view, this was nothing more than the victor's grandstanding rhetoric.
However, what Hiruzen Sarutobi said next completely overturned everyone's understanding.
Hiruzen Sarutobi's gaze slowly swept over everyone present.
He swept his gaze over the Cloud Village ninjas, whose faces were filled with wariness and hatred.
He glanced at the leader of Amegakure, whose expression was complex and who was rapidly calculating gains and losses.
His gaze also swept over the Konoha's new generation behind him, who, though exhausted, still held their backs straight.
Finally, he announced:
"I propose we do it in this canyon, two days from now."
"For all the ninjas who sacrificed their lives in this war—"
He paused for a moment, and each word struck everyone's heart clearly and powerfully, like a heavy hammer blow.
"—A joint memorial service will be held, regardless of the village."
This statement came out.
The whole world seemed to have been muted.
The wind stopped.
The ninjas collecting the corpses in the distance stopped their numb movements.
Even the faint groans of pain emanating from the medical tent seemed to vanish without a trace at that moment.
The Fourth Raikage, Ai, his eyes, which had just dimmed, contracted violently once more incomprehensibly. He stared intently at Hiruzen Sarutobi, his eyes filled with absurdity and shock.
The man behind him, Toshiro, froze, and for the first time, a look of bewilderment appeared in his only remaining right eye.
Even Hanzo the Salamander, who had always considered himself a chess player and observed everything with a detached eye, showed a hint of disbelief on his face for the first time behind his mask.
A joint... memorial service?
To mourn together for the enemy who killed one's comrade?
Hiruzen Sarutobi offered no explanation.
He simply stood there calmly, letting the boulder he had thrown create towering waves in everyone's hearts.
The rising sun shone through gaps in the clouds, casting his shadow long and long, almost covering half the camp.
The wind in the canyon rose again, fluttering the hem of his Hokage robe and the white cloths covering the dead, making them rustle.
Like a silent farewell.