After the disaster and gloom of the past few days, which almost dragged the village into the abyss, Konoha finally welcomed a rare, clear morning.
The lingering smells of scorching and blood in the air seemed to be washed clean by the fresh morning breeze and sunlight, silently drifting away.
A warm, gentle beam of morning light quietly seeped through the blinds' slits, silently creeping onto a corner of the hospital bed.
Hyuga Kawa lay in the bed, the sunlight falling on his profile, making his slightly pale skin appear almost translucent, allowing even the extremely fine down on his cheek to be seen.
He was breathing evenly, his chest gently rising and falling with each breath. The sunlight cast several alternating bright and dark strips on his arm, like piano keys.
"..."
Hyuga Kawa's consciousness slowly rose and cleared from a deep sleep.
The first thing he heard was the faint yet continuous sound of clamor: people shouting, the friction and collision of metal and bricks, and the dull thud of some giant object crashing down...
Even through the walls and windows of the hospital room, which filtered out most of the sharp noise, Hyuga Kawa could hear it clearly.
It was the sound of Konoha clearing ruins and debris, and rebuilding houses and structures.
However, Hyuga Kawa did not immediately open his eyes, because he heard a very close breathing sound.
Extremely close, so close he could feel the subtle tickle of warm, moist breath against his cheek. The distance was probably no more than ten centimeters.
And, the gradually accelerating heartbeat hidden beneath the breathing sound...
Hyuga Kawa controlled himself, letting his eyelids flutter slightly a few times.
Sure enough, the breathing and heartbeat, which were so close, suddenly paused as if jolted, then quickly moved away, followed by the rustling sound of clothes rubbing and the subtle movement of footsteps.
The timing was perfect.
Only then did Hyuga Kawa slowly open his eyes, displaying a natural look of sleepy confusion.
His gaze swept over the pristine white ceiling, finally resting in the direction of the foot of the bed.
Hyuga Aoi stood there, her hands awkwardly clasped behind her back, knuckles slightly clenched. Her eyes flickered, clearly showing the guilt of someone caught doing something wrong.
"Morning."
Hyuga Kawa's slightly hoarse voice voluntarily broke the subtle silence, pretending not to notice her small movements.
"The weather is nice today," he simply said.
"...Morning." Hyuga Aoi looked at his still calm gaze, as if he hadn't noticed what she was doing. She secretly sighed in relief and replied.
Then, she quickly picked up the thermos and a newspaper from the side and handed them over: "I brought you breakfast, and the newspapers from the last few days that you asked for."
Hyuga Kawa used his uninjured arm to prop himself up, sitting up in the hospital bed. Aside from his slightly pale complexion, he showed little sign of the weakness of someone recovering from severe injury.
He took the thick stack of newspapers Hyuga Aoi handed him. These were clearly the news published while he was unconscious.
Hyuga Aoi sat on a chair nearby, silently opening the thermos, and took out the steaming plain porridge and side dishes...
Hyuga Kawa opened the newspaper, his eyes scanning the striking headlines.
«Calamity Strikes! Unknown Forces Bomb Konoha, Heavy Casualties!»
«The Price of a "Hero": Hyuga Kawa Critically Injured and Unconscious—Konoha Loses Its Pillar?»
«A Long Road to Reconstruction. Where Will Konoha Go From Here?»
«Missing Persons Column»
«The Price of Blood and Tears: We Need More Than Post-Disaster Mourning»
These newspapers either described the entire process of the attack on Konoha, praised Hyuga Kawa's achievements while expressing concern, or published information about missing relatives...
Hyuga Kawa's expression remained unchanged, as if he were just reading ordinary news unrelated to himself.
Only when he read the veiled criticisms aimed at Konoha's higher-ups did a trace of an unnoticeable smile flicker in the depths of his eyes.
These pointed news articles were not few in number. They usually briefly summarized Konoha's dire state before turning their focus to the actions of Konoha's high command.
What were Konoha's ninja doing when the civilians were struggling in despair?
Though not explicitly named, the spearhead implicitly pointed toward Konoha's high command, especially Hiruzen Sarutobi and Tsunade.
Most importantly, not only the civilians, merchants, and nobles of the Land of Fire and Konoha, but even Konoha's ninja were not speaking up in defense of Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"..."
Hyuga Kawa subconsciously rubbed the newspaper with his fingertips, thoughtfully raising his head and looking out the window.
Looking out from the third-floor window, despite the morning sun piercing through the clouds and despite some miraculously surviving trees stubbornly reaching out with their remaining green...
All of this could not conceal the horrific scars left by the attack a few days ago, which had nearly destroyed the entire village.
Massive amounts of vegetation had been reduced to charred, desolate skeletons by the fire and shockwaves, tragically pointing toward the sky.
Architectural debris was covered in thick, off-white dust and explosive residue, as if an untimely "snow" had fallen prematurely on the land.
The magnificent Hokage Rock statues were severely damaged, the main building of the Ninja Academy was missing half its roof, and many more civilian houses and shops were reduced to mere broken walls and ruins...
In the most tragic areas, such as the formerly bustling commercial district, only scorched earth and twisted metal frames remained, with barely any complete outlines visible.
In slightly better-off areas, a hole was blown open in one side of the Konoha Hospital wall, and the Mission Center was largely burned down, with the remaining parts barely holding up.
Temporary tents sprung up like mushrooms in the open spaces between the ruins. Countless figures busied themselves shuttling through these makeshift communities.
Ninjas cleared debris, medical-nin cared for the injured, and surviving villagers spontaneously helped distribute supplies and maintain order.
The entire village was indeed painfully and resolutely trying to stand up again.
But...
"The voices of dissatisfaction towards Hiruzen Sarutobi, both inside and outside the village, can no longer be suppressed," Hyuga Kawa mused in his heart.
From his retirement after the Third Shinobi World War to the outbreak of the Nine-Tails Attack and the tragic deaths of the Fourth Hokage and his wife, Hiruzen Sarutobi was forced to step in during the crisis and retake control.
Then, his mishandling of the dispute with the Cloud Village ultimately reignited the flames of war—a war that lasted several years and was tremendously costly.
Konoha suffered successive setbacks and heavy casualties on the battlefields of the Land of Rain and the Land of Hot Water.
It should be remembered that every ninja who died in battle had a family and loved ones behind them.
For a long time, the grief of the fallen soldiers' families and the ordinary villagers' dissatisfaction with years of continuous warfare surged beneath the village like a hidden current.
It was only because the war had not yet ended, and there was truly no more suitable candidate for Hokage at the time, combined with the news of the Five Kage Summit, that most people forcibly suppressed their resentment.
This time, the nearly devastating attack launched by the Akatsuki became the final straw that broke the camel's back.
In their eyes, during the critical moment of the disaster, the reaction of the Konoha ninja was slow, chaotic, and almost "incompetent," resulting in heavy casualties among the populace.
The long-suppressed dissatisfaction completely erupted at this moment.
And the most direct evidence...
Hyuga Kawa lowered his head to the newspaper in his hand—the most recent one.
Within the Land of Fire, people had already begun to openly discuss candidates for the next Hokage.
The names of Jiraiya, Tsunade, Kakashi Hatake, and Hyuga Kawa appeared with the highest frequency.
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