Chapter 8

The cleanup after the battle was easier said than done.

The team had to gather the remains of all 54 ronin and pick them up before burning them. All the children had been sent to their village to prevent them from seeing such a sight. The air stank of blood, urine and fecal matter.

Kiyomi could not hold any longer and puked in the nearby bush.

"I imagine this was a regular sight during the war." Kenji said.

"It was a tough time. Aside from shinobi, a lot of innocent people also died as a consequence of the war. Sometimes, we had to burn entire villages of dead people.

Land and resources has always been the motive, and Konoha lost much more than it ever gained. In fact, all the villages suffered from greater amounts of loss."

"... And people question me why I didn't graduate early. This... isn't something a child who learnt to talk for merely two years should see. Sensei, don't you think that allowing early graduation from the academy does more harm than good? Look at Hatake Kakashi. A jonin at twelve. Yet, look what he has been through. Lost his father in such a tragic way, and then lost his teammates to the war. Isn't that simply too much trauma?"

Hayama smiled sadly as he placed his hand on Kenji's head.

"It's the reality of our world. It's the truth of our chosen lifestyle. To try and change something like this, you'll have to change the minds of hundreds of thousands of people. Everyone is driven by something or the other. Some by greed for power and money, some by vengeance,and some by ideology. It's improbable for anyone to achieve that."

Kenji offered Kiyomi some water as the team stood beside the pyre for a while. A myriad of thoughts were running through the genin's minds, and Hayama promised to himself that he would be there for his students until the time they didn't need his support.

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"Shinobi-san! Here, try this karaage! My mom makes the best Karaage in the village!" Said a starry eyed kid to Kenji.

The village was celebrating their saviors with food, sake, and music.

Kenji smiled at the little girl and gently accepted the plate with karaage. As be bit into them, a savory taste followed a satisfying crunch that made his cheeks squeeze from the intense taste.

'A foodgasm.'

"Your mother is truly talented. Thank her for me. These are very good! So delicious!!"

The little girl beamed and ran to her mother with great joy.

"I'm fine, sensei." Kenji said as he sensed Hyama approach him.

"Here, have one."

Hayama silently accepted the karaage as Kenji continued to watch the villagers celebrate with a smile.

"It's all worth it. I get it now, sensei. Being a shinobi is worth everything if it means I get to save this happiness. Having the blood of someone who wanted to take this happiness away on my hands, I'm fine with it. And, I feel even more adamant about my stance on the age of graduation. Look at these children. Such innocence, such purity, so true to their emotions... Someone who never lived these emotions will always remain inept. Something will always remain... empty in them. And that will make them vulnerable to hate, apathy, and depression. No, it's cruelty in its barest of forms to make children fight our battles for us."

Hayama was amazed by Kenji's insight. But, it still didn't matter as a single person could never bring change to the ways of the world.

"I know what you're thinking, sensei. But, how will change happen when everyone gives up before even trying?"

One thing was certain to Hayama. The fourth Hokage would be delighted to know that he was right in placing his bets on the boy.

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The team took its time to return to Konoha.

It gave Kenji time to study the Hiraishin seal and he even gained a few insights from it.

Along with that, Hayama had been interested in the boy's new elemental kenjutsu style. While he had been coating his sword with futon chakra for years, Kenji's style was something entirely new.

He used suiton and futon in tandem, and it was extremely frustrating for Hayama during the spars. Especially when Kenji would switch one form of chakra to the other mid attack.

Kenji was having a blast. The breathing techniques from Kimetsu no Yaiba were amongst his favorite anime powers. To be able to use them with such efficiency gave him a rush of endorphins.

Theoretically, he could practice all the breathing styles. But, he needed to fulfill certain conditions to execute the moves effectively. Such as; For those techniques that involved elements, he needed higher skill in the respective elements to be able to safely use the styles.

As for styles like 'Beast breathing', 'Serpent breathing', and 'Insect breathing', he needed to reach a certain threshold in physical stats.

'Sound breathing' required him to reach legendary level in kayakujutsu, i.e., weilding explosives.

As for 'Love breathing' and 'Flower breathing', either out of toxic masculinity or childish mysogeny due to the femininity of the names as per traditional norms, Kenji chose not to practice them much.

Instead, he found that 'Flower breathing' was a perfect style to teach to the Uchiha. He would have to just change the name into something that sated their ego. As for 'Love breathing', a brute gorilla like Tsunade was the perfect candidate with her huge pectorals.

He tried to teach the 'Wind breathing' to Hayama, but it was easier said than done. For one, Hayama's lungs weren't strong enough for 'Total concentration breathing', something that Kenji had achieved through his taijutsu.

And even though he could practice the techniques, he still hadn't managed to achieve the state of 'Constant', a state that would allow his physicality to skyrocket.

After staying for two days at Hacho village to help with the clean up and rebuilding, the team returned to Konohagakure. Kohaku and Kiyomi were emotionally drained after the gruesome fight and went back to their homes.

Kenji decided to go with Hayama and visit the Hokage.

"Hayama-san, Kenji-kun, welcome back to the village." Minato greeted them with a smile as they entered his office.

"So, did you learn anything from my kunai?"

Kenji nodded with excitement and went on a lengthy conversation about the seal with Minato. Meanwhile, Hayama stood awkwardly as he found himself out of his element with the two nerds.

'Two very dangerous nerds. One can kill me within a blink of an eye and the other...'

Hayama looked at Kenji and thought, '... He may not look like it, but he's strong enough to do it.'

They discussed the seal for an hour, all the while Hayama was in the room and had taken a seat to wait for the discussion to end. He had even went out to eat a bowl of ramen and returned, only to see the two still amidst a heated and passionate discussion about seals.

He dozed off, woke up, drank some tea, dozed off again, and just managed to wake up in time for them to end their conversation. The two were looking at him stangely when Kenji asked, "Did you actually fall asleep amidst our casual talk? How easily bored are you, sensei?"

'Casual talk?!'

"Leave him be, Kenji-kun. Some people just don't have the intellect. I guess, Hayama-san is simply normal."

'I'm sitting right here!!' He was simply too outraged to voice his misgivings.

"Well, I'll take my leave, Hokage-sama, sensei. My mom promised to bake my favorite cake for me upon my return!"

"Oh? Which flavor?"

"Caramel!"

"Hmmm it is a good flavor..."

Kenji took his leave before Minato could ask him to bring a piece back to the office. He wasn't going to share it with anyone, come what may!!

Minato sighed at that. Despite all the discussion of the seal, Kenji was still a child.

He took a deep breath and sat on his chair. His calm and gentle demeanor vanished and was replaced by cold absolution. Hayama was reminded of the tales of the 'Yellow flash' in that moment.

"How did he perform during the mission?"

Hayama cleared his throat and went into detail, explaining the ins and outs of the mission. Minato was once again amazed by the boy's talent.

"To have figured out elemental integration with kenjutsu and creating an entire style based on it. It seems I was underestimating him. He's even better than I thought."

Hayama was feeling unsettled and asked, "Hokage-sama, may I know why are you so interested in knowing about Kenji's exploits?"

Minato got up from his seat and walked up to the wondow in his office. He looked out towards the sky and said, "The politics of this village is far more convoluted than you can imagine, Hayama. There was strong opposition against me becoming the Hokage. But, they simply could not ignore my achievements. The third hokage reigned for all three shinobi wars. For nearly three decades he was the Hokage. Only reason he resigned was from the political pressure of the merchents who suffered huge losses as a result of the war."

"Y-You mean..."

"He wasn't ready to give up his power. Nor were his friends. But, a change in power was necessary for konoha. It's dangerous being the Hokage."

Hayama was shell-shocked by the revelation.

"Why are you telling me this? And what role does Kenji play in all of this?"

Minato turned around and stared right into Hayama's eyes. Then, he said, "Come on, Hayama. Anyone who has fought beside me would know why I'm always so willing to share my thoughts with people. As for Kenji-kun, you're his sensei, so obviously you'll be worried for him. I can promise you this, I mean no harm to him. In fact, I see a bright future in him."

Hayama's eyes widened as his throat went dry.

"Betrayal has consequences, Hayama. And trust isn't something you can give to just about anyone. Do you remember?"

"I-I do, Hokage-sama."

Minato's smile made Hayama feel that he was standing in front of the Shinigami itself.

"Dead men tell no tales, my friend."