Something had gone very, very wrong.
Amamiya Kenichi had heard of the butterfly effect before.
He just never thought he would one day be that butterfly—
Flapping his wings once, and watching an entire timeline twist out of shape.
"The Fourth is dead," Orochimaru murmured, looking down at the coffin. "In that sense… he really was a qualified Hokage."
Kenichi followed his teacher's gaze.
Wave after wave of Konoha villagers and shinobi passed by, dressed in mourning black, faces twisted with grief. In the center, lying inside the coffin, was Namikaze Minato—calm, handsome, and terribly still.
Orochimaru had never held much respect for Minato before.
To him, Minato's strength was "good, but not extraordinary." His achievements? Impressive, yes—but nowhere near his own.
But last night, the Fourth Hokage had given everything: his life, his future… and his wife's life as well.
All for the village.
Konoha was drowning in sorrow.
The list of dead from the Nine-Tails' attack wasn't even thick—but every line was a person, a name, a story.
And the cost hadn't just been numbers and corpses.
High-end combat strength had taken a hit too.
"Sensei… why is the Third… missing an arm?"
Kenichi stared, pupils practically shaking in his skull.
Hiruzen Sarutobi stood not far away, head bowed, face heavy with grief as he mourned his wife, Biwako. That alone was enough of a blow.
But the real shock?
His left arm was gone.
Completely.
That wasn't how this was supposed to go.
As far as Kenichi remembered, the Third had lost his wife during the Nine-Tails' attack, yes—but he had survived unscathed. Four limbs intact, body mostly fine, spirit shaken but functional.
He was supposed to slide smoothly back into the Hokage's chair.
Now?
One arm short.
"This doesn't make sense…"
"Last night," Orochimaru began quietly, "the Fourth was badly injured in his fight with the masked man. Because of that, he couldn't stop the Nine-Tails' second Tailed Beast Bomb in time."
Kenichi listened in silence as his teacher recounted what he'd learned.
"To keep the Beast Bomb from hitting the village center, Lord Third charged in to block it," Orochimaru continued. "But the masked man appeared again and severed his arm."
"After that, he and the Fourth joined forces to drive the masked man off. The threat of the Beast Bomb was removed. Then…"
Orochimaru's golden eyes lowered slightly.
"…the rest went as you already know. The Fourth still sacrificed himself to stop the Nine-Tails in the end."
Different route.
Same destination.
"So, Sensei…" Kenichi asked slowly, "about the Hokage's position now?"
He really felt like the world had it out for him.
If Hiruzen was whole and healthy, he'd reclaim the title of Hokage without question. Timeline restored. Canon somewhat intact.
But a one-armed Third Hokage?
That changed everything.
"I don't know," Orochimaru replied, eyes half-lidded. His tone was calm, but something unreadable flickered beneath it.
Kenichi gave his teacher a sidelong glance.
…Don't tell me he was starting to seriously consider becoming Hokage?
That couldn't be, right?
Right?
He looked again at Hiruzen's missing arm.
Suddenly, he wasn't so sure.
In the current Konoha, who was most "qualified" to become the Fifth Hokage?
Putting aside personal feelings and popularity…
In terms of sheer strength, prestige, and wartime achievements—
There really was no one more suitable than Orochimaru.
Hiruzen's reputation had just risen sharply after the Nine-Tails' attack, the impression of his "retirement-era mediocrity" partially washed away by his sacrifice.
But losing an arm wasn't a minor injury.
It was a permanent downgrade.
As for Jiraiya?
He wasn't even in the village.
And that was something Kenichi truly couldn't make sense of. His student's wife about to give birth, the village about to face a major risk… and Jiraiya just happened to be out wandering?
Then again, the Nine-Tails night had always been full of plot holes and convenient absences. Fans from his previous life had torn it apart countless times already.
This might just be… whatever passed for "world correction" here.
"Sensei, where is Jiraiya-sama, anyway?" Kenichi still asked.
"He's away from the village," Orochimaru said softly, lips curling in something that wasn't quite a smile. "If he were here… perhaps the Fourth wouldn't have had to die."
Kenichi's mouth twitched.
So this was what, worldline convergence?
No matter how the details changed, some people were destined to die on that night?
If the plot needed Minato dead, then Jiraiya being absent became "reasonable" by force.
"Orochimaru-sama."
Kakashi walked toward them.
Kenichi's heart jumped once in his chest.
Kakashi was alive.
Intact.
And judging by his calm expression and steady gait, he hadn't noticed that his left eye had changed.
That should have been good news.
But facing him now, Kenichi still felt a prickle of guilt under his skin.
He kept worrying that Kakashi would suddenly realize something was off.
"What is it?" Orochimaru asked lazily, though his gaze flicked, just for a moment, toward his disciple.
He had noticed Kenichi's brief stiffness.
So it really does have something to do with Hatake Kakashi…
Orochimaru filed that away for later.
"Lord Third asked me to call you," Kakashi said respectfully.
His eyes were bloodshot, the rims red and swollen.
He'd lost a friend.
Then another friend.
Then his sensei.
Then his sensei's wife.
If Kakashi had been a full-blooded Uchiha with that emotional load, his Mangekyō would've probably awakened three times over already.
"I understand."
Orochimaru gave a small nod and turned to leave.
He did not ask Kenichi to follow.
Kenichi let out a slow breath.
Then he turned to find Kakashi still standing beside him, silent.
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
"…Kakashi," Kenichi finally said quietly, "my condolences."
Kakashi's fingers twitched.
"Kenichi," he asked hoarsely, "were you okay yesterday? I… think I was knocked out by someone."
Kenichi almost sagged with relief.
So that's all he remembered.
"Sorry," Kenichi lowered his head, letting guilt color his voice. "I only saw a dark silhouette rush past. Then I blacked out too. When I woke up… Sensei was already there. He saved me."
His rank was lower than Kakashi's.
If Kakashi couldn't react in time, him collapsing instantly was perfectly logical.
"…As long as you're fine."
Kakashi's voice was rough. He blinked hard, chakra surging faintly around his face.
Maybe to wipe away tears without anyone noticing.
Kenichi didn't ask.
He just watched Kakashi's back as he walked away into the crowd.
Around them, people cried, wailed, collapsed beside covered bodies. The air was thick with incense, grief, and the smell of burnt earth.
Kenichi took a deep breath and moved forward with the others.
As Orochimaru's disciple, his place in the funeral procession was fairly prominent—just behind the heads of Konoha's major clans.
Close enough to approach the coffin.
Close enough for one last view of the Fourth Hokage's face.
He stepped up to the casket, placed a hand lightly on the polished wood, and lowered his head in silence like everyone else.
For a few long heartbeats, he simply stood there.
Then, when no one was looking—
His fingers brushed the edge of the coffin.
And a single blond hair disappeared into his palm.