Naruto: Starting as the Third Hokage with Tears in His Eyes

The Yuan Master's palace was less a room and more a dark and damp tomb.

The air was filled with a strong smell of medicine, a lingering musty smell, and... a decaying stench of life slipping away.

The exhausted Master Yuan struggled to sit up from his disheveled sickbed. The pillows behind him were piled up like a small mountain, barely enough to support his hunched body.

He was so thin he was just skin and bones. The oversized hospital gown he wore looked loose and flimsy, as if it could be blown away by the wind at any moment.

Yagura and Mei Terumi stood by the bed, their feelings extremely complicated.

Looking at this old man who was once as steady as a mountain and controlled the lifeline of the entire Hidden Mist Village, but was now as weak as a candle flame that could be extinguished at any moment, a sense of sorrow rose in their hearts.

Hozuki Kaigetsu and Hozuki Shio, the brother and sister duo, were assigned to stand in the corner of the room.

Hozuki Shio seemed a little impatient. She sniffed, as if trying to figure out which smell in the air made her more uncomfortable.

Haiyue clutched the scroll of the revitalization plan tightly, her palms sweating profusely.

Master Yuan's cloudy gaze slowly swept over everyone in the room.

His eyes, which seemed to be veiled by a thick fog, finally settled on Hozuki Kaigetsu in the corner.

This action made Yagura and Mei Terumi's hearts sink.

Yuan Shi's lips twitched a few times, producing a hoarse sound like sandpaper rubbing together.

"Yagura, Mei Terumi..."

The two men trembled and immediately stepped forward respectfully: "Elder!"

"You... are excellent ninjas."

Master Yuan's praise sounded strange at this moment: "Your strength, your loyalty, the village has seen it all. But..."

He coughed violently, as if he were coughing up his lungs. A medical ninja nearby quickly stepped forward to help him catch his breath.

After a long while, he recovered and continued in that barely audible voice, "But... times have changed."

His withered, trembling hands reached under his pillow and pulled out a palm-sized, antique-looking black lacquered wooden box.

The box, worn smooth by time, has no patterns on it, yet it exudes an unassailable majesty.

Yagura and Mei Terumi's breathing completely stopped the moment they saw the box.

They recognized the box.

This is a token symbolizing the successive power of the Mizukage!

Inside was not only the seal symbolizing the Mizukage's identity, but also the highest-level confidential scroll of Kirigakure.

The master, trembling, pushed the box toward the bedside.

It was pushed towards... Hozuki Kaigetsu's direction.

"Why...why?"

Yagura finally couldn't hold back and asked in a hoarse voice.

His pride and his forbearance were shattered at this moment.

He didn't understand why he was being ignored, or why the highest power in the village was being handed over to someone who had recently been a traitor.

Mei Terumi didn't speak, but her tightly clenched lips and slightly trembling body betrayed the turmoil in her heart.

"because……"

Yuan Shi turned his gaze to them, and for the first time, such a clear sorrow and helplessness appeared in his cloudy eyes. "Because he saw a future that we cannot see. Because... he can keep up with the Hokage."

"What Kirigakure needs is no longer just a powerful warrior."

"We need a guide... who can understand what the Hokage is saying and who can... turn those words into reality."

This explanation was like a bucket of ice water poured over Yagura and Mei Terumi's heads, chilling them to the bone.

They finally understood.

This is not a choice, but an appointment.

It was the Third Hokage, who stood at the door of the room, never stepping inside, but simply leaning quietly against the doorframe like an outsider, who gave the final appointment to Kirigakure.

Hozuki Kaigetsu watched the box getting closer and closer, feeling as if it weighed a thousand pounds.

His hands were trembling violently.

He recalled those days and nights in Konoha, the books in the library that overturned his understanding of the world, the bowl of Ichiraku Ramen that changed his sister's soul, the revitalization plan full of grand visions, and the emerald giant that stood like a god or a demon last night...

He took a deep breath, his throat tightening.

Once he accepts this box, his life and the fate of Kirigakure will be completely tied to him, with no way out.

He raised his head, his gaze passing over the crowd, and looked at the blurry figure at the doorway.

Hiruzen Sarutobi seemed to notice his gaze and nodded slightly at him.

The movements were light, yet carried an undeniable force.

Hozuki Kaigetsu closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, the confusion and fear in his eyes had faded, leaving only a resolute determination.

He walked step by step to the bedside, and amidst the complex gazes of the crowd, he stretched out his trembling hands and solemnly picked up the black wooden box.

He turned around to face Yagura, to face Mei Terumi, and to face the battered village that was about to be handed over to him.

His voice wasn't loud, but it was unusually steady.

"I, Hozuki Kaigetsu, hereby swear."

"I will end the blood mist."

"And with Konoha as their beacon, they will lead Kirigakure towards a new beginning."

……

On the first morning after the coup was quelled, the sunlight pierced through the thick fog that had shrouded Kirigakure for many years, casting a warm golden glow.

In the center of the village, on the square stained red with blood, a makeshift platform was erected.

Hozuki Kaigetsu stood on the high platform. Behind him stood the expressionless Sarutobi Hiruzen, and the complex expressions of Yagura and Terumi Mei.

Below the stage were all the surviving Kirigakure ninja. Their expressions varied: some were bewildered, some relieved, some unwilling, and some... a faint glimmer of hope.

Hozuki Kaigetsu gathered his chakra in his throat, making his voice resound clearly throughout the entire village.

"From this day forward, the title of the Village of Blood Mist will forever remain history!"

"All cruel graduation assessments that aim to kill each other are hereby abolished!"

The audience erupted in uproar.

Haiyue ignored him and continued to read the program he already knew by heart.

"All members of the Kaguya clan who participated in the rebellion will be sent to the mines for labor reform, to atone for their sins with their sweat!"

"Starting tomorrow, we will immediately launch the 'Three-Year Revitalization and Development Plan for Misty Village'!"

"I promise everyone that within six months, every person in the village will have food to eat, shelter to live in, clean water to drink, and a future to look forward to!"

"in addition……"

Hozuki Kaigetsu paused for a moment, recalling the Hokage's casual remark during breakfast, and added, "Construction will immediately begin next to the village's central square to build Kirigakure's first public barbecue plaza, open to all villagers!"

"..."

There was a deathly silence in the audience.

Everyone was completely bewildered by this sudden and bizarre supplementary clause.

One second it was a serious declaration concerning the life and death of the village, and the next second it jumped to barbecue?

In a corner, a Kaguya clansman, who had been starving all night, couldn't help but swallow hard and whispered to his companion, "Roast...roasted meat, what's that?"

"I heard... it's a kind of food from Konoha, where meat is grilled over a fire and then coated with sauce... supposedly it's a hundred times tastier than sashimi!"

"Really? Let's go mining! Will meals be provided? Will there be barbecue?"

The commotion spread like ripples.

Yagura and Mei Terumi on the stage were completely numb.

They are now absolutely certain that this unique governing approach must have originated from the Third Hokage.

In this absurd and eerie atmosphere, the crowd parted to make way.

With the help of two medical ninjas, Master Yuan walked step by step with difficulty to the foot of the platform.

Everyone fell silent.

They saw that the Yuan Master was holding a bamboo hat in his hands.