Chapter 484: The Final Regret
Back when Kushina first arrived in Konoha from the Land of Whirlpools, aside from Ryo and Mito, the person who treated her with the greatest affection was Hiruzen, who frequently visited Mito's estate.
Consequentially, when Kushina later discovered that Hiruzen's motives weren't entirely 'pure'—that his kindness was seemingly a calculated effort to retain her strictly to serve as the second Nine-Tails Jinchuriki—she was exceptionally heartbroken. Compounded by the subsequent political handling of Naruto's childhood, she had harbored a bitter grievance against Hiruzen for over a decade.
It wasn't until this exact moment, with Hiruzen bedridden, that she finally dissolved the emotional knot locked inside her chest.
Hiruzen let out a long, sweeping breath, feeling his physical body grow significantly more comfortable. This monumental regret of his had finally been released!
"Minato, what about you? Originally, you..."
"If I had been placed in your position, I would have likely made the exact same choice. Consequentially, I have never once blamed you... In fact, there are quite a few matters for which I must explicitly thank you for your active assistance," Minato responded with a gentle smile.
Kushina immediately shot him a fierce sidelong glare.
"Papa, Mama, what on earth are you two talking about?" Naruto asked, face full of absolute bewilderment.
"Talking about your historical origins," Ryo chuckled.
"My origins?!" Naruto was startled. Could my biological lineage actually be anything but simple?
"The idiot brother was scooped right out of a trash heap, I've known that for ages!" Tsukika giggled cheekily.
Naruto's IQ had experienced a decent elevation over these past few years. Turning his head, he immediately reached out to pinch Tsukika's cheek...
"So annoying! Idiot brother, you've completely learned bad habits from the Great Ancestor! Humph-ha!" Tsukika drove a rapid 'Return My Radiant Face Fist' straight into his ribs... and Naruto fell into a classic orz posture.
Ryo adopted a thoroughly serious expression: "Stop making a chaotic commotion, the two of you! A person is literally dying right here, do you possess zero baseline of empathy?!"
Shinnosuke and Asuma exchanged a complex look. They desperately wanted to kick people out of the room, yet they lacked the courage to lay a single finger on the Great Ancestor...
"Cough, cough..." Hiruzen let out two light coughs, dragging everyone's focus back to his position. "I don't desire to silently kick the bucket right inside this bed."
Category: Ryo given a subtle pause: "Then exactly where do you wish to die? Any location under the sun is fine, the Great Ancestor can smoothly accommodate you! How about... I launch you straight into outer space?"
"Cough, cough, cough, cough!" This time around, it was an authentic, violent coughing fit, coughing until Hiruzen nearly rolled his eyes into the back of his head.
To ensure Hiruzen could comfortably stretch out his remaining days for a fraction longer, Ryo along with Kushina's family departed the Sarutobi compound.
Along the highway, Minato spoke up after a brief moment of contemplation: "Elder Ryo, Lord Third likely intends to..."
Ryo nodded smoothly: "Mmm, I figured as much, which is why I stated I would accommodate his wish."
Kushina and her two children exchanged completely blank, bewildered looks.
"But if things play out down that track..."
"It's no issue. Early death or late demise, a person has to die eventually. Shifting the timeline by a few days won't make a monumental structural difference."
"...True enough."
"Hey, hey! Great-grandfather, Minato, exactly what kind of cryptic riddles are you two spinning?!" Kushina voiced her deep dissatisfaction.
Ryo tilted his head with a broad smile: "In another two days, you will smoothly find out."
Kushina paused. Directing a thoroughly threatening glare toward Minato, Minato pursed his lips and immediately leaned down to whisper a soft, detailed explanation right into her ear.
Tsukika pouted her tiny lips: "Idiot brother, they're deliberately keeping the logistics a secret from the two of us!"
Naruto was instantly utilized as a direct weapon by Tsukika's framing: "Great Ancestor, exactly what is happening to Grandpa Third?"
Ryo waved his hand, signaling Naruto to close the distance. Leaning right against his ear, he whispered in a low tone: "Mami-mami-hong, I'm simply not telling you. Frustrating, isn't it?"
Naruto: ???
Tsukika stomped her feet in frustration: "Why are you strictly keeping it a secret from me too?! Idiot brother, hurry up and narrate it to me!"
"I... Mami-mami-hong?"
"...Humph-ha!" Another round of the Return My Radiant Face Fist.
Ryo raised his eyebrows. Tsukika's miniature boxing style was coming along exceptionally well; those custom gloves of hers definitively commanded the primary credit...
Trading rowdy banter the entire way, Naruto endured countless rounds of Radiant Face Fists before he finally managed to convince Tsukika that Ryo truly hadn't shared a single scrap of detail with him. Parsing out that she had been thoroughly tricked, Tsukika immediately turned her focus to drive a wave of Radiant Face punches straight at Ryo...
"Ah, shift the target slightly higher, excellent, right there. Now give the lower back a gentle thumping!" Ryo wore a face full of complete, blissful intoxication.
"Humph! I'm going to track down Sister Tsunade to master her Monster Strength Fist!" Tsukika pouted.
Ryo chuckled: "Then it will feel even more spectacular. Your current tiny fists are still slightly lacking in raw impact."
Tsukika was thoroughly infuriated, turning her head to instantly land a heavy thud straight onto her idiot brother... and Naruto fell right back into the orz posture.
Without requiring a detailed explanation from Ryo, the confusion locked inside the two children's minds was swiftly answered.
Shinnosuke Sarutobi paid a personal visit to their doorstep, officially delivering Hiruzen's final request to Ryo.
"Every member of your lineage granted absolute consent?"
Shinnosuke let out a heavy sigh: "We lack the capability to dissuade him."
Ryo smiled gently: "I figured as much. Orchestrating this specific maneuver right at his terminal boundary... Hiruzen is likely doing it entirely to resolve the absolute final regret dwelling within his heart."
"The final... regret?"
Ryo nodded: "Go initiate the logistical setups. Notify Obito to dispatch the official instructions down the chain. Lock the schedule for noon the day after tomorrow; any later, and I am afraid his vessel won't hold out."
"...Understood!"
Two days later.
The plaza stretching in front of the Hokage Residence was packed to the absolute brim, creating a literal ocean of humanity. Well over half of Konoha Village's entire active population had systematically assembled on location.
In the historical past, such a grand scale of congregation manifested strictly when a brand-new Hokage formally assumed their mantle. This time, however, the parameters were entirely reversed—this was Hiruzen's official 'Farewell Address'.
At the absolute summit of the Hokage Residence, Obito and Shinnosuke materialized before the eyes of the commoners, supporting Hiruzen from his left and right flanks. Standing directly behind Hiruzen, Ryo extended his right hand, pressing his palm firmly against the elder's spine to continuously stimulate his vital organs via high-powered Medical Ninjutsu.
This was Hiruzen's absolute final request. He completely refused to passively wither away inside a quiet hospital bed; he desperately desired to broadcast one final, resounding declaration of the Will of Fire.
"Senior, exactly how much duration do I command?"
"Two solid hours. Ample time for you to speak to your heart's content," Ryo responded from behind.
Standing beside them, Obito hurriedly twitched his nose, mentally screaming: Can't weep, absolutely cannot weep... He extended his arm to wave downward, and the massive sea of citizens gathered before the Hokage Residence instantly plunged into absolute, dead silence.
Hiruzen scanned the expanse below, a warm smile squeezing across his heavily withered countenance. His voice, amplified across vast distances via Ryo's specialized technique, reverberated through the air blocks: "Thirty-seven years ago, Lord Tobirama formally transmitted the mantle of Hokage to my hands. The exact visual parameters of my inauguration address back then remain vividly etched within my memories. The vast majority of Konoha's citizens assembled on location, yet their total volume didn't even equal a single quarter of the population standing before me today! I am deeply, profoundly gratified..."
Hiruzen steadily slipped into a long, nostalgic narrative, smoothly dragging even Ryo's consciousness into historical recollections. Commanding a completely maxed-out Yin attribute, Ryo's memory recall parameters were exceptionally razor-sharp. Gazing at the lines of Konoha citizens stretching a full kilometer down the streets, the volume had indeed expanded four to five times over. It was a spectacular, vibrant prosperity...
As for the subsequent segments regarding the Will of Fire, Ryo fundamentally lost the capacity to listen further. Hiruzen had declared it during his own inauguration, Hiruzen had declared it yet again during Minato's inauguration, and Obito's... This was the solid fourth time he was hearing it; did the old man seriously never alter his script lines?
The commoners of Konoha, however, never seemed to grow weary of the prose. Specifically the elders pushing fifty or sixty—having sat through the declaration four distinct times, their eyes remained completely brimming with hot, emotional tears.
The address marched forward seamlessly. Half an hour, one hour, an hour and a half... when suddenly, Hiruzen abruptly froze mid-sentence...
Ryo given a subtle pause: There's still half an hour left on the clock. Did the Great Ancestor's medical estimation actually execute an error?
Hiruzen slowly shook his head. Under the intense, anxious gaze of the citizens below, he systematically tilted his head to look toward the western flank, his eyes locking directly with a middle-aged man standing right at the corner vertex of a distant building structure.
"Orochimaru... is that you?"
Ryo was startled, squinting his dual eyes to lock onto that specific coordinates. Within a fraction of a second, that middle-aged man was entirely surrounded by a dense formation of high-tier Konoha powerhouses, while a squad of Anbu razor-sharply partitioned the surrounding civilians and ninjas away from the zone.
The middle-aged man calmly scanned the perimeter closing in on him, extending his elongated tongue to lightly lick the edge of his lips: "As expected of Lord Hiruzen, to think you could smoothly detect my presence even under these physical parameters?"
"To think... it truly is you!" A deeply nostalgic, sighing expression washed over Hiruzen's countenance. His detection just now had been driven strictly by pure, raw instinct.
Ryo's brow furrowed, and he cast his voice out across the plaza: "Refrain from deploying the Four Violet Flames Formation! The entity standing right there is merely a clone!"
"A clone, is it?"
For Orochimaru to genuinely travel across distances just to participate in his 'Farewell Address' brought a trace of profound comfort to Hiruzen's old heart. It was merely a pity that the entity deployed was strictly a clone...
The final regret of his lifetime had, when all was said and done, only been half-rectified.
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