In the conference room, the Third Hokage stood by the window, silently watching the crows flying in the sky.
In the past few years, there have been more and more crows in the village, and they can be seen everywhere.
Although crow-type ninjutsu is Uchiha Mitsuki's signature, he did not associate the appearance of these crows with his young disciple.
You know, it is a very rare thing for one person to feed wild crows and become ninja beasts. With the current huge number of people in the village, it is simply not something that can be done by humans.
After waiting for a short while, the young disciple did not speak. The Third Hokage knew in his heart that he and his young disciple were far away.
"Xiao Miyue, is the Senju clan so important to you?"
He couldn't help but ask.
"yes!"
Uchiha Mitsuki nodded noncommittally.
"As the leader of the village, I have to take responsibility for what I have said. And this is my belief! I promised that all families will continue in the village, and I must do my best to do so."
"Even if you are going against my master, right?"
"yes!"
"Wow, you are really my good disciple!"
The Third Hokage's tone was full of ridicule, and Uchiha Mitsuki was not to be outdone.
He said calmly to the Third Hokage.
"Aren't you also my good master?"
In just a few words, the atmosphere in the room became extremely tense.
That oppressive feeling of suffocation quickly filled the entire conference room like substance.
"You have no idea how I felt when I dealt with Senju and Kurama four years ago. Do you think I do?"
"Yes, I thought you wanted to."
"..."
The Third Hokage was momentarily speechless.
After a while, he spoke again.
"Can't we just have a nice chat?"
"Of course, Master, what do you want to talk about?"
After hearing this, the Third Hokage didn't know what to say. After thinking for a while, he played an emotional card.
"Let's go have a meal at home tonight. Your wife misses you."
"good!"
Mentioning Lake Biwa, Uchiha Mitsuki nodded.
Seeing that the boy was almost taller than himself, the Third Hokage suddenly sighed with emotion: "Xiao Miyue, you have grown up..."
Such a simple sentence inexplicably brought Uchiha Mitsuki to tears.
At this moment, many beautiful memories appeared in his mind, including the Third Hokage dragging him around the streets, the Third Hokage teaching him ninjutsu, and the Third Hokage joking with him.
As he thought about it, he couldn't help but let out a choked cry.
"Master..."
Hearing such an emotional call unexpectedly, the Third Hokage's eyes flashed with tears. It had been a long time since he heard his young disciple call him "Master" sincerely like this.
"Xiao Miyue, the path you take may not be wrong, and I may not be right. At my status, even if I don't want to do something myself, the people below will push me to do it. And
You are different from me. You have time to gamble, but I don’t."
After four years, this was the first time that the Third Hokage confided in his young disciple.
"Sure enough, there are some things that will make you feel much better after you say them."
With a relaxed breath, he turned around and looked at the young disciple's face. The boy's slightly immature face was always full of determination.
Once upon a time, he was just like the young man in front of him, loving this village and its people so purely and firmly.
But the intersection of ideal and reality defeated him in the end.
He wanted to protect everyone in this village, but he was slapped down by the Senju and Kurama families. The pure kindness in his heart died so easily before it could grow into a towering tree.
He wanted to be a good and selfless Hokage, but he was also the leader of the Sarutobi clan. Faced with repeated choices of family or village, village or family, he couldn't resist the temptation and made a mistake.
As long as there are zero or countless mistakes like this, to him, the prayers of his tribe are like deadly poison, and he has no way to refuse.
"However, Xiaomizuki may be able to do it, because he is much more determined than me!"
After sighing silently in his heart, the Third Hokage said to Uchiha Mitsuki: "You brat, if you want to change the village, defeat me first!"
If it was for the young man in front of him, or for his former self, he wouldn't mind being a sad stepping stone.
"Master, what are you...?"
Uchiha Mitsuki felt a little uncomfortable inexplicably.
Seeing this, the Third Hokage smiled and patted the boy on the shoulder, encouraging him: "Come on, little Mitsuki!"
After saying that, he turned and left.
With a "bang", the door was closed, and Uchiha Mitsuki was the only one left in the entire conference room.
He fell silent thoughtfully.
…
Under the Hokage Building.
At this moment, several figures were quietly waiting for Uchiha to see the moon.
After a while, when he saw the young man walking out of the building, Enzo Shimura rushed forward first. He wanted to use the eyes of everyone to complete the last step of the agreement.
"Lord Miyue, I'm really sorry about the mistakes in today's meeting!"
Uchiha Mianyue's eyes flashed and he said with a smile: "Don't worry too much, just pay attention next time. However, if you do something wrong, I will still punish you."
"Please speak up!"
"Your Majesty the Daimyo wants to form a powerful ninja escort team. You should select a few outstanding candidates from the ANBU!"
"ah?"
This is different from what I said before!
Enzo Shimura was instantly frightened by the boy's words. He wanted to relax, not find something to do.
Seeing this, Uchiha Mitsuki smiled and patted Enzo Shimura on the shoulder, leaving a sentence of "Remember to come back" before turning around and leaving.
"Remember to come back...? Wait! Lord Miyue, what does this mean?"
"you guess!"
Seeing the young man looking back and smiling, Shimura Enzo was suddenly stunned. After a while, when he came back to his senses, he found that the young man had already left.
"Remember to come back...remember to come back! I understand!"
It turns out that what the young man meant was that he wanted to be the leader of the team and give them away. In this way, wouldn't he be able to take a paid vacation?
Thinking of this, Enzo Shimura couldn't help but become excited, and even his steps became a lot lighter.
…
After leaving the Hokage Building and coming to the corner of the long street, Uchiha Mitsuki had an inexplicable feeling of being watched. After taking a few steps forward, he found that right in front of his field of vision, Nara Shikadai was standing at the street lamp.
next to.
"Shikadai-sensei, why are you here? Are you waiting for me on purpose?"
Nara Shikadai nodded seriously.
"Yes! I am indeed waiting for you! However, this is not the place to talk. You should go to my house!"