Konoha Winter Night

Those who fight monsters should be careful not to become monsters themselves. When you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes into you.

I remember someone said this.

~~~~~~

Back in time.

That was the first day when Rukawa Touya and the three of them accepted the mission and officially left Konoha Village. No, it was past midnight. To be precise, it could be regarded as a new beginning for the next day.

Inside Hokage's office.

The Sandaime Hokage of Konoha always habitually drinks bitter tea at this time. As he is about to enter old age, his energy does not allow him to stay up late as long as he does now, so he can only resort to such small means.

While carefully spreading the bitterness with the tip of his tongue, he leaned back against the soft sofa and tried to squint his eyes slightly to dispel the sleepiness in his consciousness.

Then, heard? No, I felt it, and the door was opened.

"You came?"

"You look for me."

It was not a question, but a calm statement. What he said was more like, because you came to me, I came here, as if using this causal relationship to answer his unnecessary questions.

"Sorry to bother you so late."

"I thought you were asleep."

For specifically asking him to come here, the Sandaime made a sincere apology.

"Really? I thought you were already asleep."

"After all, I'm not used to sleeping alone before you sleep."

When you take the cold tea that is handed to you, if it is a little warm, you will be very sensitive to it in this season.

"You still like to joke."

"When I only have friends, I will try my best to adapt to the atmosphere."

"Even I will cherish my friends. After all, I don't have many friends."

"Is this sentence also a joke?"

"I don't know, what do you think?"

He laughed first, as if he heard something funny. This was his bad habit of always using "jokes" to get past what he wanted to say.

"Drink tea. It won't taste good when it's cold."

"This is already cold tea."

After wrapping the tea in my mouth for a moment, I recognized it as "warmth" before swallowing it down my throat. However, as expected, the cold still invaded my organs.

"It's been half a year, right?"

"what?"

"Sumao, after that, I always feel like I haven't seen him for a long time."

"Lately, I've been thinking why I didn't see him more and talk to him more."

His eyes were lowered, staring at the tea leaves floating in the cup.

"He is dead."

"Hatake Sakumo, he is dead, Sarutobi."

Frowning, he uttered repeated affirmations. His strong will was convincing and admirable, but.

"Yes, he is dead."

"But, you know what? Zang."

The Sandaime Hokage was asking, staring at his [old friend] and asking strange questions.

"He stayed, leaving behind his most important treasure in the world."

"What do you want to say now?"

He didn't ask what his words meant. He just wanted to explore the man in front of him and what he wanted to say.

"Hatake Kakashi, Hatake Sakumo's son."

"He is the most important treasure Hatake Sakumo left in this world."

"I'm getting more and more curious, what exactly do you want to say?"

One is a one-sided self-question and answer, and the other is a similar repeated question. The two figures seem to be having a conversation on different channels.

"Hatake Kakashi, like his father, no, compared to his father, he is more like a genius."

"You look very concerned, this [genius]."

The conversation between the two people finally continued normally, and the third question was not uttered.

"What I care about is not [genius], but Kakashi Hatake."

"is it?"

"you do not believe?"

"No, I believe you."

"But what Konoha needs is [genius], not just Hatake Kakashi."

It seems that he is very aware of the other party's practice of taking quotes out of context, so he reminds him seriously, but the effect does not seem to be obvious. Those eyes are indeed very powerful, because they are eyes that have never changed and still stick to their beliefs.

"So, you suddenly gave a dead person's name in advance."

"What are you trying to say? Sarutobi."

Finally, after asking for the third time, he read out his friend's name and said it seriously.

"Is there something I want to explain?"

"Are you asking for my opinion?"

"Of course, the Hokage of Konoha is not me."

"It's you."

As if to increase his persuasion, he raised his good right hand and pointed at the man in front of him without shaking.

"I didn't expect you to care about my opinion, Ji Zang."

"Did I say something wrong? You seem a little excited."

Ji Zang poured the last of the cold tea into his throat comfortably, and his words were as calm as water.

"So, don't you think it's similar? Hatake Kakashi, and"

"Rukawa Winter Night."

He read out the name of a certain boy with deep memory, a certain boy who swore in front of him that Rukawa Touya's existence was the only meaningful boy left by Rukawa Seihiko in the world.

"what do you mean?"

"I don't think Hatake Sakumo and Rukawa Seihiko look alike."

He didn't refuse the other party's act of adding tea to his empty tea cup. He felt that he liked the taste of this tea. It was a taste that was bitter enough to keep him full of energy.

"Like I said, I don't care about [geniuses], but all the ninjas of Konoha, whether it's Hatake Kakashi or Rukawa Touya."

He is always one step behind and drinks tea very slowly, and there is still a cup of bitter tea left.

"It's been half a year."

"It should be said that it has only been half a year."

"As for the memory, when I think about it now, everything still seems like it happened yesterday."

The Sandaime stood up from the sofa and walked slowly to his Hokage desk.

"People should learn to forget, Sarutobi."

"There are too many reluctances in life, and in the end they all become forgotten. In life, we should not let ourselves live too tiredly, we should learn to relax ourselves appropriately, learn not to be greedy, not to ask for extravagant things, learn to be content with the situation, and be content. "

He also stood up and walked to a place close to the other party.

"Are you comforting me?"

"You could think so."

The Sandaime Hokage had a look of disbelief on his face.

"You've never said anything like this before."

"People are always changing, and so am I."

"Really? I always thought that that kind of people would not include you, Jizo."

Yes, Ji Zang, unlike himself, he will not change.

"Are you talking about my stubbornness?"

"Let's put it this way."

The Sandaime smiled perfunctorily, and at the same time handed the other party a text message sent by the ANBU not long ago.

"what is this?"

While asking questions, he naturally spread out the paper.

"Can I trust you?"

When Ji Zang had finished reading the above content, he suddenly asked.

"I have no idea,"

"I don't know if you'll believe me."

Raising their heads, with those sharp falcon eyes, the two people finally looked at each other completely.

"They are all the future of Konoha."

"The leaves and roots of Konoha."

There was a smile on his face that was completely inconsistent with the impression he gave, so it looked weird.

"I don't want the same thing to happen."

"I will send someone to assist them."

"Roots?"

"After all, they are the only ones I can use."

The conversation between the two ended here, and the figure left alone, leaving only another person staring at the dark night outside the window, whose sleepiness suddenly dissipated. See more! Prestige official account: hhxs665