As expected, not going against him from the start was the right choice.
Ōnoki once again felt that his decision had been correct.
[Fifth Mizukage - Mei Terumi]: Ugh…
Once again, Mei Terumi felt a deep sense of regret.
The regret came from the fact that Kitahara Kaede actually accepted the Second Hokage's request. In other words, starting today, he would officially be the Fifth Hokage.
Which meant… he would definitely not be coming to Kirigakure anymore.
Sigh…
It wasn't that she hadn't worked hard enough—it was that the previous Mizukage weren't strong enough…
And because of that, Kirigakure missed a rare opportunity to be revitalized.
Mei felt a deep sense of loss.
And what was even more frustrating… was that the reason for this loss was the incompetence of her predecessors. So now, as the Fifth Mizukage… how was she supposed to fix this?
Thus, within the Mizukage's sighs, a new change rooted in the 1.3 era of the ninja world began to quietly take shape.
However—
"???" Sasuke.
"???" Naruto.
"Lord Second…"
It was already evening. Sasuke and Naruto were still in the Hokage's office.
The city lights outside were already flickering on.
They looked at the two thick stacks of documents in front of them.
Line after line of writing blurred their vision. They started to feel like they were under a genjutsu.
Because they had been organizing documents in this office all afternoon.
Handling miscellaneous matters, sorting through files, dealing with the ones they could, and passing the rest to the Second Hokage.
He would process them and then return them for the boys to study and gain experience.
It sounded like a good learning process.
But…
???
Wasn't Kitahara Kaede the one who got appointed as Hokage candidate?
Then why were they the ones stuck here doing all the work?
As for Kitahara Kaede, he had shown up in the afternoon to report his mission, accepted the Hokage candidate position… and then left.
Meanwhile, Senju Tobirama was still so busy he hadn't returned to the Senju residence.
And Sasuke and Naruto hadn't even gone back to their bachelor apartments.
They were still in the Hokage office… still sorting paperwork.
"Oh, you must be hungry."
"For my reanimated body, eating doesn't really matter."
"But it seems you two still need to eat."
"I'll go ahead and order us something."
Tobirama clapped his hands lightly, and an Anbu instantly appeared.
"Order a three-person meal," Tobirama instructed.
"Uh… how could we impose like that," Naruto quickly said.
"Yeah, I prefer rice balls…" Sasuke added.
"Then add some rice balls," Tobirama updated the order.
The Anbu nodded and left.
"Um… Lord Second…" Naruto still felt something was off.
"I am Senju Tobirama, the Second Hokage of Konoha. I hope Konoha can grow stronger, and I won't allow anything bad to happen."
"So…"
"You two are good kids. I hope we can get closer."
"Uhh…" Naruto and Sasuke froze.
"Then why not… join us for dinner," Sasuke offered.
"Very well," Tobirama nodded.
Thus, the three of them shared a meal.
But after the meal—
"You two are still young, right?"
"How can you already be tired?"
"When I was your age, I was already on the battlefield."
"At this age, how can you sleep early?"
Tobirama had changed.
Sasuke and Naruto now deeply regretted having dinner with him. It was clear now—Tobirama was trying to turn them into workaholics.
At this moment, the Will of Fire kindled by the Third Hokage… was silently being passed on through daily life.
Sasuke and Naruto began to reconsider—was becoming Hokage really what they wanted?
Because—
Sure, Hokage is someone reliable and trustworthy, but… why is the job so exhausting?
Why did they have to process reports even about old ladies forgetting to haggle while shopping?
···
The next morning, Kitahara Kaede awoke under the warm sunlight.
Leaving Sasuke and Naruto in the Hokage building was definitely the right move.
Becoming Hokage was great and all, but… it came with way too many responsibilities. So having some assistants (aka work tools) to help was crucial.
Hopefully, Naruto and Sasuke would grow in this area too.
Kitahara Kaede looked out the window, light cascading in—cool and mysterious.
Wait, no.
He sat up in bed and looked out the window.
It wasn't that the sun wasn't rising… the moon from last night hadn't left.
Could it be…
He immediately looked at the foot of his bed. His little white rabbit was curled up at the foot of the blanket, face down.
"…This sleeping posture."
Wait, still asleep?
Kaede shook it gently.
The bunny groggily opened its eyes, then suddenly froze.
Poof! It instantly jumped to the window.
Because… the moon was now unbelievably close to the ninja world!
It was supposed to be morning.
But when people woke up—they realized night had not ended.
Because the moon was still hanging in the sky.
And not just that. Compared to before, the moon was even bigger.
No—closer.
This wasn't normal.
"..."
Kitahara Kaede stared at the enormous moon.
Then glanced at his stunned little bunny.
It clearly had no clue either.
Could this be… Kuro Zetsu again? Or maybe Ōtsutsuki Toneri on the moon?
[Beep!]
At that moment, a system notification rang out.
[Today's Descendant Chat Group (^_-) has opened]
[Starting livestream]
[Big Dumb - Hashirama]: Hmm… finally, we're back again.
[Big Dumb - Hashirama]: I was so tired of being locked in that room in the Pure Land.
[Big Dumb - Hashirama]: Tobirama, after you end the group stream, are you going back to the Pure Land again?
[Tobirama - Senju]: Ah…
[Big Dumb - Hashirama]: Tobirama?
[Tobirama - Senju]: Ugh… I pulled an all-nighter going through files yesterday, so I'm a bit worn out.
[Tobirama - Senju]: But since I'm in an Edo Tensei body, it's much better. If I were in my original body, my neck and shoulders would be super sore.
[Tobirama - Senju]: So honestly, I'm doing fine right now.
[Tobirama - Senju]: Plus, the Uchiha brat and Naruto helped me last night, so it was a little easier.
[Tobirama - Senju]: Those two kids… they're pretty hardworking.
[Minato - Namikaze]: Ehh!?
[Fifth Mizukage - Mei Terumi]: But isn't it strange? The sky hasn't even brightened yet. Why is the group stream active already?
[Fifth Mizukage - Mei Terumi]: We're not in Kitahara's genjutsu world, are we?
[Tobirama - Senju]: Yeah, it's still dark. The moon hasn't left yet—wait a second!
Everyone quickly looked toward the sky.
The color of the sky was strangely off.
On the desk nearby, a clock showed it was 7 a.m.
But the sky was pitch-black, with a glowing moon radiating silvery light.
A phenomenon that had never happened before.
[Big Dumb - Hashirama]: Was the moon always this big?
[Minato - Namikaze]: Huh… It's my first time seeing this too.
[Tobirama - Senju]: No, something's definitely wrong.
[Nine Tails - Kurama]: ...
[One Tail - Shukaku]: ...
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