Chapter 103 Return

Three years have passed since the second ninja world war came to an end and the hustle and bustle in the village that emerged victorious has reached its peak, the streets packed with civilians and tourists around the world.

At the entrance gate, where anyone who wanted to enter the village had to go through a complete entry procedure, a tall figure wearing a black cloak that covered him mostly and only revealed a pair of brown eyes easily slipped through the senses of chunin guards and entered the village.

The cloaked figure walked through the streets and his movements couldn't help but halt for a moment when he passed by a house that seemed deserted for years, the name "Aoyama" carved on the wooden slate hung by the door.

May nothing waver my resolve

The brown eyes gazed at the wooden slate for a long time and so much in them seem to flash by but eventually the words rang in his mind, causing the calm to return in those eyes and he continued walking again.

Stopping at a tavern the cloaked figure ordered some dango and a cup of green tea and while he was eating words of the people around piqued his interest.

"I don't understand why this is happening? The village won a war under lord thirds reign and economically we seem to be doing good as well"

"But he himself hardly played a part in that war and don't forget the chunin exam incident, also one of the elders who was granted power by him misused that power and caused immense damage to the village, this was on the cards for a long time."

The words caused the brown eyes under the cloak to flicker, some thoughts running in them instantly.

"So who do you think will succeed him?"

"Lord White Fang clearly stood out in the recent war and caused the enemy to tremble at his name, who could be a better choice them him?

"But Princess Tsunade played a crucial role on the sand front as well and she is the granddaughter of lord first, she can be a good choice too"

"Don't forget Orochimaru-Sama, it was his tactical brilliance that paved the way for princess Tsunade to win at the sand front"

The discussion in the tavern heated up as people present shared their opinion and wishes for the next hokage, the cloaked figure listening to everything quietly.

"I think we seem to be forgetting one important candidate, the one who nearly led konoha towards the victory all by himself"

"Even the chunin exam incident was resolved by him single handedly, no one deserves this position more than him"

Suddenly someone in the tavern pointed out something very important, the whole tavern going quiet at his words as they couldn't help but remember the man who has been missing for three years.

Not a word about him has been heard by any civilian for three years and they all nearly forgot about him, clearly shown by their conversation just now.

"But no one knows about his whereabouts and from what I heard from some of my shinobi friends he was only twelve years old three years ago"

"Yes he is strong and clearly has the most merit but would a fifteen-year-old hokage be able to lead the village?"

No one in the tavern could bring anyone who had merit even close to that man but one factor seemed to worry some people, his age that clearly pointed out the lack of experience.

"We shouldn't rule him out just because of his age; I mean lord third and the advisors will always be there to impart their experience into him"

Some people went silent at the age reason put forward but some still stayed optimistic and showed hope.

But the cloaked figure seemed to have heard enough as paying the bill he walked out of the tavern and closed his eyes to sense something, his face turning towards the forest behind the hokage mountains with some surprise on it as he disappeared next moment.

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Hokage Building.

Hokage Office.

"Why aren't you doing something about these rumors Hiruzen? Are you really planning to retire?"

The elders Homura and Koharu with anxious faces questioned Sarutobi who seemed to have aged ten years in just three and was leisurely smoking tobacco sitting on the chair.

"Yes I'm, I have sat in this office enough and its time I give some time to my family and hand over the village to the new leaves"

"Especially when all I feel sitting here is regret for some of the things I have done"

Said Sarutobi with a sad look on his face and his eyes couldn't help but reveal memories of some decisions he had made in the past; which had affected so many others.

He knew playing fair won't always help you maintain the peace so he allowed danzo to create root and do the dirty work but he seemed to have failed to see through his friend completely as for the sake of power he even hurt the very village he was supposed to protect.

The scene of Danzo killing Kagami played in his head nearly every night and he couldn't help but think that if he had lived, would he had done the same to him in the future?

These thoughts had troubled him so much that it even affected his duties as a hokage and it ultimately led to him deciding to retire.

…

At Sarutobi's words both Homura and Koharu went silent and couldn't come up with anything to convince him.

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