At first everyone thought Namikaze Minato was fine, so when they saw Sarutobi Hiruzen carrying Minato's corpse, they were stunned.
Shinobi doing all manner of tasks froze where they stood, staring blankly at the figure in Hiruzen's arms.
The already bleak mood grew heavier. Many shinobi felt a hollow ache in their chests.
Kakashi, who had been recovering a little, learned of Minato's death and seemed to lose his soul, unsure of where he even was.
No matter how deep the grief, life had to go on. Konoha's many shinobi, dejected and exhausted, forced themselves to keep working.
The Nine Tails had caused widespread destruction. Cleaning up alone would take a great deal of time, to say nothing of everything else.
The high ranks had their own burdens, the middle and lower ranks had theirs. No one slept that night.
The next morning a funeral was held to mourn the Fourth Hokage and those who fell the previous night, and in the afternoon a high-level council convened.
This meeting included the Konoha F4, the heads of major departments, and the clan heads.
Hiruzen first briefed everyone on how the Nine Tails broke free.
After hearing it, much of the resentment toward the Minato couple eased.
The masked man suspected to be Uchiha Madara or the inheritor of Madara's will used a bizarre and powerful space–time ninjutsu, appearing and vanishing without a trace. There was little to blame them for.
Knowing nothing at the outset, the Fourth Hokage still drove off the masked man, safeguarded the jinchūriki, and dealt with the Nine Tails. It was nothing short of turning the tide.
Yet the presence of the Sharingan and the shifting looks around the room left Uchiha Fugaku mortified and ill at ease.
No one there was a fool. The Uchiha clan might not be the prime suspect, but they could not be ruled out.
Space–time ninjutsu, an unknown true face—who knew where the masked man was hiding.
After the report, Danzō immediately proposed that Root increase surveillance on the jinchūriki to prevent a repeat.
Hiruzen naturally disagreed, but he was not the sitting Hokage. The two traded barbs back and forth.
Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane tried to smooth things over, yet their view still leaned toward Danzō—only they wanted ANBU to handle the watch.
Hiruzen still refused, so Danzō asked the others for their opinions.
Most sided with Danzō's proposal.
It felt indecent to monitor the wife and child of the Fourth Hokage right after his death, but reality argued for it.
First, the havoc wrought by the Nine Tails still had everyone shaken.
Second, the masked man could appear anywhere. If there were another Nine Tails Night, the consequences would be terrifying.
Could Konoha handle it?
Even if it could, what price would it pay?
The Third War had only just ended. Konoha had barely begun to recover, and now everything had been lost again with new debts piled on.
One more blow, and even if Konoha survived, surrounded by enemies on all sides it might face annihilation.
With the tide so strong, not even a current Hokage could simply go against it, let alone a former one.
He lacked the mandate, and the concerns were not groundless.
Unable to change the outcome, Hiruzen could only alter the details by replacing Root operatives with ANBU.
On that point Danzō could not defy the tide either.
Most present knew all too well what Root shinobi were like and disliked them intensely.
The Fourth Hokage's body was barely cold. They could not do something so repugnant.
With that topic settled, the next was the Hokage's seat.
Danzō wanted the post himself but knew the odds were slim, so he nominated Orochimaru.
Orochimaru was not in the village—he had gone out with Anko.
By rights, with Minato gone, Orochimaru had the strongest claim.
Hiruzen, however, believed Orochimaru's thinking had gone awry—deviant rather than evil—and did not want him to take the post.
The two advisory elders, having already discussed it with Hiruzen, spoke in opposition, listing their reasons before turning their argument.
In this time of peril, they said, the steady and experienced Sarutobi Hiruzen should serve as acting Hokage. The matter of a Fifth Hokage could wait until the crisis had passed.
Though Hiruzen made some mistakes during the Third War, Konoha still emerged victorious.
And his long-standing reputation had not yet faded. Most favored Hiruzen as acting Hokage.
Orochimaru's temperament also put people off and made them uneasy.
Half a win and one loss left Danzō sullen, yet powerless to change it, reduced to impotent anger.
With the two most important items past, the rest—though not light—were discussed more harmoniously.
First, to increase surveillance of the Four Great Hidden Villages and quietly squeeze the already tight budget to prepare for war.
Next, to outline reconstruction for the devastated districts, plans for compensation to the bereaved, and support for orphans.
Among these, the Uchiha clan lands were reassigned to the village outskirts, the stated reasons being heavy damage and a steadily growing population.
Land prices differed some between the areas, though not by much.
By the numbers on the plots Danzō marked out, the Uchiha clan even came out ahead, and there was a relocation subsidy.
On the surface there was nothing to fault, yet the shrewd had already sensed something wrong.
Unfortunately, Uchiha Fugaku lacked the steel to fight it. Feeling on the back foot, he did not dare argue the case, and the decision was set in stone.
After the meeting, sensing danger, Fugaku decided to send his eldest son to the Academy.
He also chose a given name for his younger son that matched Hiruzen's father's, hoping to show goodwill.
The Nine Tails incident could not be hidden. Soon the Four Great Hidden Villages received the news.
Gloating aside, each reacted differently.
Sunagakure merely sneered. Pressured by two small wars, it had no energy for more.
Kirigakure made no big moves but dispatched scouts to the continent to observe and adapt.
Iwagakure, wiliest of all, was calm as dead water on the surface while quietly redeploying forces.
Kumogakure was the most direct. The Fourth Raikage sighed and immediately ordered rapid mobilization to launch an attack.
It was not a large mobilization—more a probe to test Konoha's current strength.
The Raikage's decisiveness also had to do with his own position.
No village is truly of one mind. Even Kumogakure is only relatively united.
Minato's meteoric rise meant Ay had won few major military merits. Inheriting his father's seat was never going to be easy.
Even with two jinchūriki and the Third Raikage's old guard behind him, consolidating power was no simple task.
All five great villages had elders, and the smaller ones were ruled by them even more.
By the start of the original tale, the Fourth Raikage had already cowed his village's old guard so thoroughly their presence was minimal, yet his clout ranked last among the five leaders.
From weakest to strongest in practical authority: Kumogakure, Iwagakure, Konoha, Sunagakure, Kirigakure.
In Sunagakure, Chiyo and Ebizō could decide the Kazekage's succession and issue orders even with the Kazekage present.
In Konoha, only when the Hokage was absent could the advisors issue direct orders.
In Kirigakure, Elder Chief Genshi was even more formidable, running the village's administration while the Mizukage was generally the strongest fighter.
Each of the five Kage had symbols—Konoha's Hokage Rock, the Raikage's 雷 tattoo, the Kazekage's sand-rock monoliths, the Tsuchikage's stone reliefs—only the Mizukage lacked a clear emblem.
Kirigakure's reforms were incomplete, retaining some small-village traditions. Orders came from many mouths, a root of its chaos.
Terumī Mei had not even secured authority over the Byakugan protection seal, and at the Five Kage Summit her grasp of jinchūriki was shallow.
In the other four villages this would be unthinkable.
War could expand the Raikage's powers, letting him seize more authority.
Gains taken from Konoha would only enhance his prestige.
With Konoha weaker than ever, the Fourth Raikage chose to march without hesitation.
Konoha received the intelligence and responded at once…
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