Meanwhile, the plaza in front of the Kazekage Tower still hadn't dispersed.
The assembly had begun. The representatives had already entered.
The doors to the hall were already shut.
By all logic, the people in the plaza should've gone back to their lives.
Go do whatever they normally did…
Go home and cook, go on missions, go on patrol…
But no one moved.
The packed crowd still gathered in the plaza, staring up at that towering building.
Some craned their necks as if they could see through the thick walls and catch what was happening inside.
Some pricked up their ears as if they could pierce layer after layer of obstruction and hear a few scraps of the proceedings.
Some formed little clusters, arguing and guessing, faces bright with excitement they couldn't hide.
"What do you think they'll bring up?"
"How would I know? But I heard that old potter from the West District got elected. He says he wants to propose repairing the West District houses…"
"Repairing houses? That's something you can bring up in the assembly?"
"Why not? Kazekage-sama said anything could be brought up!"
"Then I should've run too. My roof's been leaking for two years…"
"Oh, give it up. The election's already over. Wait for the next one."
"The next one? There's going to be a next one?"
"Of course there is! Kazekage-sama said it's every three years!"
"Then I'm going to prepare. Next year I'll definitely get elected…"
Conversations like that rose and fell in every corner of the plaza.
Kids squeezed through gaps in the crowd, chasing each other and laughing.
They mimicked the adults, debating with serious little faces.
Old folks sat on the stone steps beneath the shade of trees, eyes half-lidded as they watched it all.
Their wrinkles hid emotions no one could quite name…
They'd lived a whole lifetime and had never seen a Sand Village like this.
And at the edge of the plaza, in an unremarkable corner—
A group wearing the attire of another village stood quietly, watching.
Konoha's delegation.
Kakashi leaned against the trunk of a dead tree, arms folded, his exposed right eye slightly narrowed.
His gaze swept over the excited faces in the plaza.
Then settled on the distant Kazekage Tower.
There, that young Kazekage… was doing something that had never been done before.
"Sand's people…"
Might Guy stood beside Kakashi, hands on his hips. Under those thick brows, his eyes shone with a kind of simple light.
"So hot-blooded, huh!"
His voice carried open admiration, and even a restless eagerness.
"This feeling, the whole village participating together, it's amazing! Youth! This is youth!"
Kakashi didn't answer.
His eyes stayed on the tower.
Deep in his pupils, something slowly gathered.
Hot-blooded?
No.
He refuted it silently.
This wasn't about hot blood.
This was…
His gaze shifted to the faces in the plaza.
A young mother held her child, pointing at the Kazekage Tower as she spoke, the kid's little face full of worship.
A white-haired elder leaned on a cane, cloudy eyes glistening with tears…
This was public sentiment.
Even Kakashi startled himself a little.
He'd seen plenty of powerful shinobi.
The Third and Fourth Hokage, the Sannin, Uchiha elites, Hyuga prodigies.
He'd heard stories of the First Hokage.
All of them possessed tremendous strength.
Strength enough to destroy.
But he had never seen anyone—
Someone who could make an entire village wear expressions like these.
In those expressions: worship, trust, belonging.
And something that could almost be called "home."
As if that young man standing at the podium…
wasn't a Kazekage perched high above them.
But the shared… hope of every single person here.
Kakashi closed his eye and drew in a deep breath.
Konoha's image rose in his mind.
There were crowds in front of the Hokage Tower too.
But most of them were there to submit mission reports, or wait for assignments.
More often than not, their faces held numbness, fatigue, the bland calm of routine.
The Fifth Hokage, Tsunade-sama, was strong, and deeply respected.
But "devotion"…
Kakashi opened his eye again.
His gaze returned to the tower.
How long had this Teizawa been in office?
One month? Two?
What had he done?
To make these people look at him like that?
"This guy…"
Asuma's voice cut in, low and strained.
He stood on Kakashi's other side, fists clenched tight.
His eyes were locked on the tower, his face twisted with complicated emotion.
"He's dangerous."
No one answered.
But no one disagreed either.
Because they all knew Asuma was right.
Sand Village was no longer the little brother that bowed its head when it couldn't win.
Somehow, it had changed.
It had become… different.
And that difference made these Konoha elites feel something they didn't want to name.
Unease.
"S-so handsome…"
A voice as small as a mosquito suddenly broke the heavy silence.
Everyone turned toward it.
Ino stood at the back of the group.
Both hands pressed to her cheeks, cheeks flushed red.
Her eyes sparkled like stars.
She stared toward the tower… even though she couldn't see the man inside.
"So handsome… I like him so much…"
She murmured, completely lost in her own world.
"…"
Shikamaru's mouth twitched.
Choji's chip-chewing paused.
Sakura stood beside Ino. Her face was faintly pink too, though she was still clinging to her sanity.
She pressed her lips together and whispered,
"Ino… rein it in…"
"Rein what in!" Ino didn't hear a word. "A Kazekage this handsome, this strong, and also… also…"
She struggled for the right word, then stomped her foot in frustration.
"Anyway, I just like him!"
Sakura fell silent.
She sneaked another look at the tower.
In her mind flashed that handsome face, those deep eyes, that suffocating pressure…
Then she shook her head hard.
I like Sasuke!
Sasuke-kun is number one!
But that figure wouldn't leave her thoughts.
Shikamaru watched the two lovestruck girls, then glanced at the distant tower.
Then at the feverish crowd in the plaza.
Finally, he looked up at the sky and let out a long sigh.
"Man…"
He scratched the back of his head and muttered to himself.
"This is going to be a pain."
"What's going to be a pain?" Choji asked, finally swallowing his chips.
Shikamaru didn't answer right away.
He just stared at the tower, eyes complicated.
A leader who could make an entire village, from top to bottom, go mad with devotion…
A leader who could make the former Kazekage stand willingly at his side…
He paused, then added a word in his head.
A monster.
A "monster" like that was right here beside them.
Was that good or bad?
Shikamaru didn't know.
But he did know one thing…
From this day on, Sand Village would never be calm again.
The whole place was going to flip over.
"Let's go."
Kakashi finally spoke. His voice was as lazy as ever, but the weight in his eyes gave him away.
"Back to the inn."
"We're not waiting for the result?" Guy asked.
Kakashi shook his head and turned toward the inn.
"The result?"
He paused, a bitter smile tugging at his mouth.
"The result is already obvious."
The Konoha group followed in silence.
Only Ino lingered, unwilling to look away from the tower.
"Ino!" Sakura turned back and grabbed her.
"We're going!"
"O-oh. Okay!" Ino snapped out of it, then followed after them, turning back every few steps.
In the plaza, the crowd still hadn't dispersed.
Cheers, chatter, laughter. All of it churned together into a boiling sea.
And at the center of that sea, inside that towering building…
A meeting that would change history was underway.
(End of Chapter)
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