Rasa opened his eyes and looked around.
An empty courtyard.
Clearly, this Aoki Nii was alone in the world.
"Konoha…"
Rasa climbed to a high place and looked down over Konoha.
The traces of the Nine-Tails' rampage could still be seen, though much had already been repaired. The people seemed to have moved on from that disaster. At night, dim yellow lights flickered throughout the village.
"As expected of Konoha."
"Even after the Nine-Tails' rampage, it still looks wealthier and more prosperous than my Sunagakure."
"This is Konoha's foundation."
"How enviable."
"But being born in a shinobi village like this isn't necessarily a good thing."
Rasa thought of many people.
Konoha's White Fang, Sakumo Hatake.
The Uchiha clan.
Minato Namikaze.
Naruto Uzumaki.
…
Rasa controlled Aoki Nii's body and went to many places.
It was slightly different from the previous time he had used a Ninja Experience Card. Aoki Nii was a jonin, and jonin held a certain status in Konoha. There were quite a few places he could go.
Since he had come, Rasa wanted to obtain as much value as possible.
He went to the Hokage Building.
He looked at the Hokage Rock.
He glanced at the Uchiha compound.
He lingered for a while near the Hyuga compound.
…
Until noon.
The busiest time on the commercial street.
Many people lined up outside various restaurants.
Some houses had been destroyed by the Nine-Tails and had yet to be rebuilt. Those people had no choice but to solve their food and lodging problems outside.
The aroma of noodle broth.
The smoky scent of grilled meat.
Rasa arrived beneath the Hokage Building.
"May I ask Hokage-sama, what is the Will of Fire?"
"Who exactly released the Nine-Tails?"
"Why was it Minato-sama who died?"
"Why was Hokage-sama not the one who used the Dead Demon Consuming Seal?"
"Is the Will of Fire merely something to be spoken of?"
"Was the Second Hokage wrong to take the initiative and stay behind as the rearguard?"
"Who exactly should sacrifice themselves for whom?"
His thunderous voice echoed across the entire square.
In an instant, everyone who heard it had their expression change dramatically.
"Who is this person?"
"What nerve!"
"He actually dares to question Hokage-sama like this? Is he not afraid of death? Does he not want his life anymore?"
The questions Rasa raised were things that some people had discussed recently as the rumors spread.
Some people truly did have doubts in this area.
Minato Namikaze's death did indeed seem to contradict the Will of Fire.
But no one had ever dared to speak of these things in front of Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Soon, large numbers of ANBU shinobi appeared.
Hiruzen Sarutobi, his face dark, arrived at the window and looked down at "Aoki Nii."
"Who is that person?"
An ANBU shinobi quickly replied,
"Hokage-sama, that person is Aoki Nii, a jonin of the village."
"A jonin?"
Memories related to "Aoki Nii" immediately appeared in Hiruzen Sarutobi's mind.
A shinobi from a civilian background, unremarkable among the many jonin.
Hiruzen Sarutobi could not understand why such a shinobi would suddenly run to the front of the Hokage Building and loudly question him like this.
Did this man still have him as Hokage in his heart?
Did he still have respect for him?
Did he still understand hierarchy?
"Take him down!"
"Capture him alive!"
"Have ANBU interrogate him!"
Following Hiruzen Sarutobi's order, the surrounding ANBU shinobi suddenly rushed toward "Aoki Nii."
But the discussions around him, those strange gazes, pierced Hiruzen Sarutobi deeply.
Hiruzen Sarutobi could not help recalling the scene from before, when Uchiha Dō had come to the Hokage Building to question him.
"Could it be the Uchiha again?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi's brows furrowed tightly.
At that moment—
Puchi!
"Aoki Nii" pulled out a kunai. Before the ANBU shinobi could reach him, he stabbed it fiercely into his own neck, then pulled it back out. Blood sprayed violently.
"A Konoha without the Will of Fire—is it still Konoha at all?"
"A village like this isn't worth it!"
"Minato-sama, no one cares about your life or death. No one is speaking up for you. You must be disappointed too. Then I, Aoki Nii, will be the first. I, Aoki Nii, will speak up for you!"
The next moment—
"Aoki Nii" collapsed heavily to the ground.
The ANBU shinobi around him froze in place.
The order they had received was to seize "Aoki Nii" and capture him alive.
But now, "Aoki Nii" was dead.
The blood from his body had stained even their masks red.
Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression turned even uglier. It was almost green.
A wave of screams rang out.
"Someone's dead!"
"He's dead!"
The entire square immediately descended into chaos.
"Investigate! Investigate this thoroughly!"
"No matter who it is, they must be found!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi's mind was in turmoil.
If "Aoki Nii" had not died, Hiruzen's mood would have been terrible, but he would still have had ways to deal with the follow-up effects.
But once "Aoki Nii" died, the situation became somewhat different.
Because there would now be even more people criticizing him over Minato's death.
Just as Hiruzen Sarutobi expected.
There were already people discussing Minato's incident because of "Aoki Nii's" death.
And their tendency to stand on Minato Namikaze's side was obvious.
"It's not just us who think this way. Among the shinobi, there are people who think the same."
"That Aoki Nii was a jonin. He definitely knew more inside information."
"When the village faced disaster, why was it the younger generation who had to sacrifice themselves?"
"In that case, should the one who stayed behind back then not have been the Second Hokage?"
"When someone had to sacrifice themselves back then, it was the senior who sacrificed himself."
"When someone had to sacrifice themselves now, it was the junior who sacrificed himself."
"That isn't right."
"The Will of Fire is fake."
Through Aoki Nii's death, Rasa reignited the matter of Minato Namikaze's death within Konoha.
The ANBU shinobi acted with all their strength, hoping to investigate the hidden mastermind.
Hiruzen Sarutobi's face was gloomy as he thought about who could be so unscrupulous in targeting him. A jonin—sacrificed just like that.
But soon, ANBU's investigation results came out.
There was no hidden mastermind.
Hiruzen Sarutobi froze.
"There isn't?"
"Yes, Hokage-sama."
"It was only Aoki Nii himself?"
"Yes."
Hiruzen Sarutobi remained silent for a long time before waving for the ANBU shinobi to leave.
"Idiot!"
"Stupid beyond belief!"
"How did someone like this become a jonin?"
"Has Konoha's shinobi promotion system become this lax?"
There was no hidden mastermind, and Aoki Nii was already dead. Even if Hiruzen Sarutobi wanted to find someone to vent on, there was no one.
Rasa's consciousness returned to his own body.
With a thought, the system panel appeared.
The points displayed on it rose at an extremely rapid pace.
Very soon, they surpassed the number 3000.
Rasa did not hesitate.
"Thirty-pull. Begin!"
An invisible lottery wheel began spinning rapidly.
[Congratulations, Host. You have obtained an F-rank item: One tael of gold.]
…
Join my Patreon to read public release chapters and get 1 chapter ahead for free. Paid members can read more advanced chapters.
Continue reading here
patreon.com/Inkveil_