"Konoha hadn't seen rain or snow for many years, the villagers must miss it too."
Naori shook her head with a wry smile after hearing Torifu's words.
She knew her husband too well; this so-called "Spring Festival" must have been Torifu's idea just to make Akihara happy.
Otherwise, why hadn't there been such a festival in previous years?
However, Naori wasn't against it. It was a good idea, and the village would be lively again.
"That's a good point, but what exactly is this 'Spring Festival'? You didn't explain it clearly last time."
Torifu organized his thoughts, then said, "The villagers of Konoha have been busy all year, and we're about to enter a new one. So, I plan to give them a good vacation during these last dozen or so days."
"Everyone can go home to spend time with their families, and on the last day of this year, I'll host the Spring Festival in the village, which means everyone will gather outside, play, and make merry."
Since Konoha had no distinction between lunar and solar calendars, Torifu couldn't pinpoint the exact day of the true Spring Festival.
So, he could only set this Spring Festival on the last day of each year.
Moreover, many aspects were simplified, as the goal was simply to make the villagers happy, without needing to be overly complicated.
Naori understood Torifu's intention, but she wondered if this Spring Festival was also a special festival for the Kumotsuru Clan.
Seeing Naori's confusion, Torifu said, "You can think of it as a festival for the Kumotsuru Clan."
Torifu had labeled all the festivals in Konoha Village, big and small, as belonging to the Kumotsuru Clan.
It had become Torifu's shield, but there was no other way; he couldn't very well say these were festivals from his previous life, could he?
"Alright, then what exactly do you plan to do?"
"The general procedures have already been confirmed. I'll tell you once I've refined them."
Always the enigma, it was an old habit of Torifu's, only ever speaking in riddles, leaving people itching for more.
Not far away, Minato, who was morning training, heard Torifu mention the Spring Festival and walked over to join in the fun.
"Big Brother, is there anything I can help with for this Spring Festival?"
Torifu waved his hand, "Most of it is already done.
There's nothing to help with. Tomorrow is also the start of the New Year's holiday, so you should get some good rest."
The New Year's holiday would begin tomorrow, but staff at the Hokage's office would have to wait an extra day or two before they could take time off.
Torifu would compensate them with four times their overtime pay, so the staff were all very willing and had no complaints.
Torifu felt he was a very humane leader, at least never shortchanging his employees on benefits and welfare.
During the First and Second Hokage's eras, working a day in the Hokage's office was essentially non-stop, sheer torture.
Akihara played in the yard for a while, pushing together several large snowballs, but his small face was red from the cold.
Yet he still beamed with a smile.
"Papa! Mama!"
Akihara scampered to Torifu's side and hugged his calf.
"Cold hands…"
Torifu rose from his chair, removed Akihara's snow-covered gloves, and saw the child's small hands were already bright red from the cold.
"It's alright, put your hands in your pockets, they'll warm up soon."
Then he stood up and placed Akihara on the chair, "Are you done playing? If you are, Papa needs to clean up the yard now."
The little dumpling nodded obediently.
Seeing this, Torifu walked to the center of the yard. A strong gust of wind erupted from beneath his feet, scattering all of Akihara's snowballs and merging them into the powerful breeze.
The wind then surged towards all corners of the yard, yet it didn't disturb anything.
It merely lifted all the snow from the ground, revealing the clean earth beneath.
Once all the snow in the yard was cleared, Torifu cast the wind, along with the enshrouded snow, out of Konoha Village.
Naori and Minato were already accustomed to this, but they both felt Torifu's strength had advanced further.
Only Akihara, sitting on the chair, clapped his hands enthusiastically, cheering for Torifu.
Torifu gave him a thumbs-up in return.
"Big Brother, have you gotten stronger?"
"Perhaps, but I still haven't broken through."
Torifu's strength was now infinitely close to Six Paths level. If he went all out, killing a weaker Six Paths level opponent would be no difficult task.
But to truly break through to Six Paths, he still needed a catalyst. He always felt this catalyst wasn't far off, and it even seemed to be intricately linked to Minato.
He was very puzzled by this. Could Minato, under his careful tutelage, still face some kind of danger?
Unsure, he decided not to dwell on it.
No major incidents had occurred in Konoha Village of the ninja world, and there was no safe way to break through to Six Paths level.
The only method was to become the Ten-Tails' jinchūriki, but that would likely lead to becoming a vessel for Kaguya-hime's reincarnation.
Torifu felt that Kaguya's combat strength among Six Paths levels was by no means weak; after all, even the Sage of Six Paths and his brother combined could only seal Kaguya.
Perhaps Torifu could only await that catalyst to truly break through to Six Paths level.
He felt it wasn't far off.
"Six Paths level, that's a realm only the Sage of Six Paths could reach. It's certainly not something ordinary people can achieve, but if it's you, Torifu, then maybe it really is possible."
Naori said from the side. She had a lot of faith in Torifu; there was no one stronger than him in the entire ninja world.
She felt that if that red-haired woman from the Land of Rain were to harass Konoha Village again or try to incite chaos, Torifu could easily kill her.
Hearing his wife's trust, Torifu felt a surge of motivation, "Just for that, Naori, I will definitely break through to Six Paths level."
Breaking through to Six Paths level might grant eternal life.
Although the Sage of Six Paths' physical body died, his soul lived on and could affect the real world; perhaps this was a Six Paths level ability.
However, this wasn't very useful to Torifu, as he possessed the Life Fruit; a single one could extend his life by forty years.
Soul immortality, in comparison, was hardly worth mentioning.
Like Naruto and Sasuke in the anime, Torifu believed they had only briefly reached Six Paths level, returning to their original strength after sealing Kaguya.
It wasn't a complete breakthrough.
This wasn't the realm Torifu sought; he wanted true Six Paths status, not to temporarily become Six Paths at some cost.
For now, he seemed to be overthinking things.
Torifu shook his head. He didn't even know what the catalyst was yet, so thinking so much was useless.
Just as the three of them were chatting happily, Yahiko and Konan emerged from the house.