Regret

Inside the Hokage building, Hiruzen was reading many reports of the ongoing battles around the elemental nations.

Knock, knock, knock (sfx)

"Come in." Hiruzen said without taking his eyes off the papers.

Hiroki opened the door and went inside. Once he stepped inside the office, Hiruzen noticed his presence and was surprised to see the young Jounin.

"Hiroki-kun, I thought you were at the borders near Kiri. What happened?" Hiruzen asked.

"I was there just now. I've returned to hand you this." Hiroki said as he placed the peace treaty signed by the Mizukage on Hiruzen's desk.

"As of now, our troops are returning to Konoha at this moment with the use of my clones." Hiroki finished saying.

Hiruzen didn't understand what Hiroki's words meant, but once he saw what was written on the paper handed to him, he inhaled deeply.

"Hi... Hiroki-kun. This... is this true? Is this real?" Hiruzen asked, not believing what he was seeing.

"It is as real as it can be. The Mizukage signed this treaty of peace and forfeited the war against Konoha. As of now, there are no more needs to have our shinobi die in the war against Kirigakure. The shinobi from Kiri have already started to return to their village." Hiroki said.

"But how did you accomplish this. What did you do that made them give up fighting against us?" Hiruzen asked.

"Yesterday, I came to Konoha to deal with a personal matter. When I went back to our battle camp, Minato gave me the news of him going to the borders of Kumogakure as you had ordered. At the time, he told me that Kiri had sent troops to fight our troops and had set up a trap, using the seven swordsmen of the mist. Many of our shinobi fled as soon as they saw them, but some were unfortunate and were injured and died. Once Minato told me this, I went straight to Kakashi and his team to see if they were alright. It was then that they told me that one team was behind and that the seven swordsmen surrounded that team. It was Gai's team. I ran as fast as I could and arrived on the battle sight only to find four out of the seven swordsmen already dead." Hiroki said and paused his speech, waiting for Hiruzen to understand his words.

"Who was it that had killed them? Could it be Sakumo? I know he is kage level, but to kill four of them while fighting all of them by himself is something I believe to be very hard to accomplish." Hiruzen said.

"It wasn't Sakumo. It was just a father trying to protect his son and his son's teammates. You might know him as 'the eternal Genin' or should I say, Might Dai." Hiroki said.

"Impossible! I know Dai is an upright person with the best personality someone could have, but he is only a genin level shinobi." Hiruzen said, not believing one bit of what Hiroki was saying.

"That might be true if we go by ranks itself. He may be able to only use taijutsu, but if we were to rank him in taijutsu only, there isn't anyone in konoha that can achieve his level of expertise. Anyways, Dai had used his forbidden technique, eight inner gates. Using the Eight Gates is described as a double-edged sword, empowering the user by sacrificing their own health and safety; such risks have caused the Eight Gates to be likened to kinjutsu. Because of this, Dai developed a self-rule to dictate when it was acceptable to open any of the Eight Gates, a rule to only open the Eight Gates when protecting something that is precious enough to give one's life. And for the life of Gai, Dai sacrificed himself to protect him from the seven swordsmen." Hiroki explained.

Hiruzen had a somber look on his face. He never expected that one of the shinobi that everyone looked down upon, because he couldn't mold chakra, had such hidden power.

"After I arrived, I took care of the other three and sealed their chakra. After the seven swordsmen were taken care of, I sealed the bodies of the other four and the seven swords as well. After helping everyone return to the battle camp, I went to Kirigakure's kage building and had a conversation with their Mizukage. I told him that if he forfeited the war I would return the three swordsmen and if he signed the peace treaty, I would return the bodies of the other four. It took some time to convince him, but that paper is enough proof." Hiroki said.

"Hiroki-kun, you have surprised me once more and done something totally out of reach for other shinobi. I can only praise you for your accomplishments. Through your dealing with the Mizukage, the many lives of our shinobi will be saved. I as Hokage can't thank you enough." Hiruzen said.

"Hokage-sama, there's no need for that. I actually could have been of more help if I was more careful. Dai's sacrifice and the death of so many others could have been stopped if I..." Hiroki said, feeling guilty and regretful of not doing enough when and where it was needed the most.

He then took out a scroll from his kunai pouch and handed it to Hiruzen.

"I only ask you to hold a ceremony for Dai-san and expose to everyone that this peace treaty was only achieved thanks to him and his noble actions."

"Hm. That I will do Hiroki-kun. And once more, thank you. You can now be dismissed. I believe you deserve some rest." Hiruzen said.

Hiroki then quickly left the Hokage building as he had his hands on his pockets and his head hanging low.

'I think I'll go visit Kurowashi and Shirawashi in

Hidden fog mountain for a few weeks, but before that, I'll have to go to Kushina-ne.' Hiroki thought as he walked towards her house.

After some minutes of quiet, Hiroki arrived in front of Kushina's door. He knocked on it and she opened it, letting Hiroki walk inside. They talked for over an hour. Hiroki told her about the battle camp, the seven swordsmen, and the peace treaty that ended war against Kirigakure. He also told her that he would be leaving to Hidden Fog Mountain for a few weeks and that if she had any emergencies, to pulse chakra on one of his special kunais.

Once Hiroki left Kushina's house, he went home to prepare his stuff so he could leave Konoha. He had packed a backpack with some pair of clothes and had also bought some sealing scrolls. After having everything ready, he left in a Hiraishin.

———

In Hidden Fog Mountain

Hiroki had arrived where he had last practiced. As he looked around the place, his heart felt refreshed. He felt that every bad thing that had accumulated over the past months, being washed away.

As Hiroki had his eyes closed and feeling the energy of his surroundings, he heard a loud bird cry from far away that trembled the ground. He looked to the sky and saw a black dot approaching closer and closer and in the next second, it was already in front of him.

"Finally had time to come and visit, huh kid." Kurowashi said.

"Oh, you've missed me. I'm touched Kuro-San." Hiroki said in a playful way, knowing that it would hit Kurowashi's nerve.

"Hah, never in your dreams." The giant black eagle said loudly.

"Hahaha. It's good to see you Kuro-san. I can see that you are doing well here. Let's go to Shirawashi. I'm going to be staying here for a few weeks. I've been needing to come here for some time already." Hiroki said as he climbed up on Kurowashi.

As the giant eagle flapped its wings, large gusts surged and brought them up. Kurowashi then flew towards the main area of the mountain, where the other eagles stayed.