Free Web NovelChapter 261: True Disappointment Is When Even Reprimanding Someone Feels Unnecessary
That was why Orochimaru deliberately chose the final moment before the operation began to deliver a vague report in a manner that resembled a notification rather than a request for permission.
Relying on his keen intuition, the third Hokage vaguely sensed that dealing a heavy blow to the Village Hidden in the Cloud might only have been a secondary result.
His student seemed to harbor another, deeper objective. It was as though he was using this dangerous operation as an experiment or an opportunity for observation, attempting to verify or discover something.
The third Hokage could not determine exactly what Orochimaru sought to uncover, but it was precisely this curiosity that transcended conventional limits that drove him to insist on carrying out the plan even at the cost of inevitable reprimand and possibly completely disappointing his teacher. freёwebnovel.com
This behavior of placing personal curiosity above everything else filled the third Hokage with deep coldness.
And Orochimaru’s increasingly inscrutable, distant manner only made the third Hokage feel even more disappointed in this student.
Seeing this, Orochimaru’s heart trembled.
His teacher’s gaze was very faint and light, yet it was precisely this incomparably calm indifference that inexplicably shook Orochimaru’s heart and produced a rare trace of panic.
Suddenly, he recalled a saying.
True disappointment is when even reprimanding someone feels unnecessary.
Had his teacher already become like that toward him?
That thought caused him to subconsciously speak again, as though trying to recover or prove something through words.
"Teacher, with Shinichi-kun’s abilities and intelligence, if he truly wants to escape, I believe no one in all of the Village Hidden in the Cloud can stop him."
"Perhaps."
The third Hokage fell silent for a moment before finally nodding slightly, then his gaze returned to the road ahead, and he said nothing more.
Of course, he knew that with Shinichi’s abilities and vigilance, if the child truly wanted to leave, escaping safely would be easy.
But... what if the child himself did not want to leave?
Just like their teacher in the past.
As the fastest ninja in the Shinobi World, if he had wanted to leave, no one could have stopped him. If he had not wanted to die, no one could have killed him.
Yet in the end, their teacher still died.
Because he chose to stay behind, leaving the chance of survival to his students.
As his thoughts churned, the third Hokage could not help recalling that child from five years ago standing in the cemetery and telling his companion, who had lost his father: "I’ll stay behind."
Since the outbreak of this war, every single thing that the child had done was carrying out that heavy promise from back then.
And this time, facing the Village Hidden in the Cloud’s all-out encirclement, once the situation reached its most dangerous point, the third Hokage was one hundred percent certain that this child would make that choice.
The same choice their teacher made back then!
The troops sped through dense forests and cliffside terrain at high speed. The third Hokage’s gaze swept across the surroundings, and suddenly, he felt that the landscape before him seemed increasingly familiar.
After a brief moment of distraction, he remembered.
It was here!
Dozens of years ago, on that night intertwined with blood and fire, it was on this dangerous land that he, Danzo, Homura, Koharu, Kagami, and Torifu had fled in miserable disarray like dogs.
And their teacher had resolutely turned around and remained in that place of certain death, using his own life to block the pursuing enemy for them.
The regret and helplessness from that time remained deeply branded within his heart to this day.
He hated that he had not been strong enough.
He hated his own powerlessness.
He hated that all he could do was helplessly accept the path to survival that his teacher’s life had paved.
And now, dozens of years later, he had once again returned to this land carrying his deepest regrets.
For all these years, he had always remembered his teacher’s entrustment, diligently and cautiously protecting the village.
He knew his wisdom was far inferior to his teacher’s. During his administration, he had left behind far too many regrets and helpless compromises, but he had never slacked off and had always done his utmost.
Yet during countless sleepless nights, the third Hokage’s heart was filled with regret.
Why had he not insisted more back then?
Why had he not more forcefully demanded to stay behind himself?
Why... had he not remained beside his teacher to fight and die together?
So now, he had come.
That night, dozens of years ago, this land buried his teacher.
Today, dozens of years later, he absolutely would not allow that child, who possessed the same will and wisdom as his teacher, to be buried here in the same way!
Therefore, the third Hokage had come while ignoring his own safety!
Regardless of any cost and without concern for any consequences!
"You are still young. That moment will eventually come..."
As they sped rapidly onward, the surrounding scenery became more and more familiar. In a daze, his teacher’s final words seemed to cross time itself and echo once more beside his ears.
That moment... yes, that moment!
The third Hokage’s gaze quietly swept across the subordinates around him one by one.
Most of them were very young, just like himself, Danzo, Koharu, and Homura decades ago...
And what about himself?
The third Hokage suddenly realized that he was no longer young.
He had already reached roughly the same age his teacher had been when he sacrificed himself.
At the same time, the inexplicable throbbing in his heart grew stronger and stronger, as though reminding him of something.
If, when they found Shinichi and the others, the worst possible situation truly appeared, then...
"I’ll do it!"
Dozens of years ago, on that night when someone had needed to act as bait to lure away the Village Hidden in the Cloud’s pursuers, he, still a hot-blooded youth at the time, had spoken those resounding words, intending to sacrifice himself in exchange for a slim chance of survival for his teacher and companions.
But back then, his teacher stopped him, pushed him back toward the path of survival, and then turned alone toward the end of his fate.
Dozens of years had passed.
The land had not changed.
The choice had not changed.
And this heart determined to protect had not changed either.
The only thing that had changed was himself.
He was no longer the youth who needed protection.
He was Konoha’s Hokage.
The moment that once belonged to his teacher... now, perhaps, it was quietly approaching him. frёeωebɳovel.com
That was why his heart felt such a strange throbbing now, wasn’t it?
However, the third Hokage felt no fear whatsoever.
Instead, he became increasingly calm and accepting.
He knew that his current thoughts might be too willful and irresponsible for the Kage of a village.
But the village’s future already had young people worthy of entrusting it to.
Tsunade, Jiraiya, Minato, and that child Shinichi.
No matter who inherited the burden of Hokage in the future, they would certainly do better than he and lead Konoha into an even more prosperous era.
On that night, dozens of years ago, his resolve had been stopped by his teacher.
And on this night, dozens of years later, perhaps it was finally time for him to fulfill that promise delayed for decades.
