Konoha Notes

Chapter 437 A Stroll Before the Curtain Falls

The chirping of a thousand birds echoed in my palm for a moment, then abruptly stopped.

Almost.

It was just a little bit short.

Sasuke could sense that he was just a hair's breadth away from fully unleashing that move.

He is prepared to try again.

"If you continue, you'll get hurt."

A lazy voice came from the side and behind.

Kakashi Hatake had somehow found himself leaning against a tree trunk by the side of the field, a small booklet with an orange cover lying open in his hand, his right eye clearly looking in his direction.

"It's you."

"Yes, it's me." Kakashi closed the book and tapped the spine lightly with his fingertips. "Although a certain student unilaterally announced a few days ago that he no longer needs guidance, I am very pleased."

"But after all, he is the younger brother of my important assistant. If he hurts himself in a place like this, it will be a real headache for me."

Upon hearing this, Sasuke didn't speak, but silently began to gather the ninja tools scattered at his feet.

After packing his things and slinging his backpack over his shoulder, he turned and walked towards the exit of the training field.

Sasuke took a few steps, but out of the corner of his eye he noticed that Kakashi showed no sign of leaving.

The silver-haired Jonin leaned back against the tree trunk, reopened the booklet, and read it with great interest in the fading light of dawn.

"Aren't you going back to work?" he couldn't help but ask.

"Huh? Work?" Kakashi peeked half his face out from behind the book. "The Five Kage are all in Konoha now. They have a lot of troublesome matters to deal with. They just meet up, say a few words, and it's all settled. There's no need for a nobody like me to get involved."

"It's a rare moment when I can catch my breath."

Sasuke frowned.

“My brother,” he stared at Kakashi, “is still working late every day these past few days. The hours haven’t changed at all.”

"Ah, this..." Kakashi closed the book and shrugged. "The martial arts competition is about to begin. The five Kage are all gathered, and many representatives from various countries and villages have also come. There's nothing we can do about the increased workload."

This contradictory statement made Sasuke's forehead twitch slightly.

“This is completely different from what you just said.”

"Is that so?" Kakashi replied in a flat, emotionless tone, "Then I'm truly sorry."

Sasuke's obviously dismissive attitude made him put the bag he had just slung over his shoulder down again and place it heavily at his feet.

"Huh? Aren't you going home?" Kakashi seemed a little surprised, pointing to the sky. "It's dinnertime right now. Mom must be getting impatient, right?"

“Since we can’t continue practicing Chidori for the time being,” Sasuke said, his voice filled with the stubbornness unique to young men, “we can always do other training, right? Practical training is fine too.”

Kakashi immediately looked troubled: "No, no, training also needs to be balanced with rest. Today is enough. You should get some rest..."

"I want to spar," Sasuke insisted.

After a while, Kakashi slowly straightened up and stretched. His joints made a soft clicking sound.

"Sigh, alright, alright, I just can't do anything with you." He stretched his shoulders and neck. "But I suddenly remembered that I seem to have some work to do tonight... So, shall we call it a day?"

As he spoke, he actually turned around and made a move as if he was about to slip away.

"So you'll just run off somewhere else to slack off?" Sasuke sneered. "Since you're so busy, I won't keep you any longer. I'll train on my own."

Kakashi's back stopped. He turned around, his dead fish eyes still smiling, but he said something different: "You really aren't cute at all, Sasuke-kun."

"Each each other."

The two gazed at each other for a moment in the deepening twilight.

Kakashi finally sighed, "Fine, fine, let's go."

"what?"

"Isn't it because you're worried that you have to keep an eye on me?"

Sasuke immediately grabbed his bag and followed.

This time, Kakashi headed directly out of the village and towards the Joint Affairs Bureau.

But the final destination was not the familiar five-story building, but a construction site further out.

A brand-new building's framework has risen from the ground, even larger than the current Joint Affairs Bureau building, standing tall against the darkening sky. The construction site is quiet, seemingly already closed.

A figure dressed in a dark uniform and wearing an animal mask emerged from the shadows at the bottom of the building.

Upon seeing Kakashi, he initially intended to remove his mask, but stopped when he saw Sasuke.

"Kakashi-senpai."

"Hey Yamato, how's the progress?" Kakashi waved.

Yamato, who was called by his name directly, then took off his mask.

"The main structure is basically completed, and the internal partitions and pipeline laying are underway."

"Based on the current progress, it should be completed in about four more months."

“Four months…” Kakashi stroked his chin, his tone sounding somewhat critical. “Isn’t that a little bit slow? I remember when we built the current secret service building, it didn’t seem to take this long.”

Yamato's face twitched slightly, but he still calmly explained, "Senior, the original building of the Secretariat was just a temporary building prepared for the Five Kage Summit, and it only had five floors."

"This new building was designed to meet the Future Affairs Bureau's expansion needs for at least the next ten years; its specifications are completely different. Moreover..."

He reminded him, "My primary job is still in the Dark Division, and the workload there has been increasing lately. If it weren't for this extra arrangement from you, senior, I would be carrying out other missions."

"Oh—! I see!" Kakashi clapped his hands as if suddenly realizing something, showing no remorse whatsoever. "So, you took time out of your busy schedule to help your senior! You've really worked hard, Yamato! You truly are my most promising junior!"

Yamato: "..."

Sasuke watched silently from the side, becoming even more convinced of his previous judgment: Kakashi Hatake was indeed a complete scumbag who was good at pushing trouble onto others.

Kakashi seemed completely oblivious to Yamato's silent accusation and Sasuke's disdainful look. He patted Yamato on the shoulder and said, "Keep it up! I believe in you! That's all for now, we're off."

After saying that, he turned around without hesitation and gestured for Sasuke to follow.

After leaving the construction site for a while, Sasuke finally couldn't help but speak with sarcasm: "You're just dumping your work on people who can do it."

"Hmm?" Kakashi tilted his head. "No, Sasuke. My job is precisely to delegate tasks to those who are suitable for them."

"The new building belongs to the Joint Affairs Bureau," Kakashi continued, his tone unusually serious. "But its construction is the result of joint funding, personnel, and technical support from the five great ninja villages." "In such a delicate collaborative project, why do you think Konoha sent ANBU to participate in its construction, Sasuke?"

Sasuke frowned, thinking rapidly. The Anbu… a special force directly under the Hokage, responsible for the most confidential and sensitive missions. Sending the Anbu to participate in the construction meant…

"To ensure safety and prevent other villages from tampering with the buildings," he concluded.

Kakashi gave an affirmative answer: "Yes. Especially now that the Joint Affairs Bureau is becoming increasingly important, the safety and purity of this future core building must be absolutely guaranteed."

"Therefore, we need someone who can be trusted, who has the corresponding authority and ability, and who can represent Konoha's position to lead and supervise."

"This is not about passing the work to others, but rather about trusting my colleagues' abilities and considering the overall interests of the village."

Sasuke remained silent.

Kakashi's logic seemed sound—no, it should be said that what he said made a lot of sense. But for some reason, Sasuke still felt that something was off.

"That's settled then. Let's move on to the next project."

For the next two days, Kakashi would appear whenever afternoon training ended, and then lead Sasuke on a tour of Konoha and its surroundings. They visited the newly built supply warehouse, inspected a section of the recently reinforced wall, and even caught a glimpse of a border patrol squad gathering for training.

Kakashi rarely explains things in detail, but he will occasionally point to a spot and say, "This is part of the future plan..." or "That team's configuration is to deal with...".

Sasuke mostly followed silently, observing and thinking. He still suspected Kakashi of slacking off, but he had to admit that the man did seem to have a lot of things about the overall operation of the village in his mind that he couldn't see.

On the evening of the third day, as his routine walk was about to end, Kakashi stretched lazily, gazing at the lights already illuminating the stadium area in preparation for the opening ceremony the next day, and said languidly:
"Tomorrow is the official opening day of the joint martial arts exercise. The ninja academy has been on holiday for a few days, right? Even if you're worried about me, how about you take a break once in a while and go see what's going on?"

He escorted Sasuke to the vicinity of the Uchiha clan's territory, waved, and his figure disappeared into the shadows at the street corner.

Sasuke stood there, looking in that direction, and after a long while, he turned and walked home.

When I opened the door, the aroma of food already filled the entryway.

"I am back."

"Welcome back, Sasuke." Mikoto Uchiha poked her head out from the kitchen with a gentle smile. "Perfect timing, dinner's almost ready. Go wash your hands."

In the dining room, Fugaku was already seated at the head of the table, holding a document. Itachi, unusually, was also at home during dinner time, helping to set the table.

"The martial arts competition opens tomorrow, so the ninja academy is on holiday, right?" Mikoto came out carrying a bowl of miso soup, her tone light and cheerful. "I bought the tickets a long time ago. Shall we go together?"

Fugaku looked up from the documents, his brow furrowing slightly: "At times like this, the secretariat must be very busy..."

“Itachi said he’s arranged everything.” Mikoto looked at her eldest son, her eyes curving into a gentle smile. “Right, Itachi?”

Itachi nodded and said calmly, "The work for this period has been completed ahead of schedule, so having a day free is no problem."

Mikoto smiled with satisfaction, then turned to look at her husband, her smile carrying an air of undeniable authority: "Dad will definitely have time, right?"

Fugaku was silent for a moment, then finally lowered his head again, his voice low and deep: "...Hmm."

"Then it's settled!" Mikoto clapped her hands happily. "I've already decided: we'll go to the opening ceremony in the morning, have lunch in the venue area, and browse the newly opened shops in the afternoon. Oh, right—"

As if suddenly remembering something, her tone became even more excited: "It just so happens that Izumi is off tomorrow too. She's been working really hard lately, so how about I invite her and Hazuki to come along?"

Sasuke looked at his mother's smile, his father's relaxed demeanor, and his brother who had returned home. He silently washed his hands and then sat down.

At the dinner table, Mikoto was still enthusiastically planning tomorrow's itinerary. Fugaku occasionally responded, while Itachi listened quietly, only replying when asked a question.

Sasuke echoed his mother's words.

I calmly welcomed the arrival of the next day.

When he woke up, Uchiha Izumi had already arrived, along with her mother, Hazuki.

Uchiha Mikoto warmly welcomed the two.

After breakfast, the group left the Uchiha clan compound and joined the flow of people heading to the stadium area.

There were already quite a few people who set off from the village, but it was far less than the flow of people in the venue area.

When we arrived at the main stadium, there was already a long queue at the entrance.

They moved slowly forward with the flow of people, passed through security, and entered the venue.

The stands are divided into several tiers, forming a bowl shape around the huge central arena. But today, instead of the familiar ring, a spacious stage has been erected in the center. The lighting equipment, sound system, and various musical instruments are all in place, and the staff are making final adjustments.

Sasuke's gaze swept over the musical instruments, and a thought suddenly popped into his mind.

Could it be that Naruto and the others were really preparing for today?

Mikoto got a great seat, in the upper middle section, with a wide view, allowing her to see the stage clearly and have a panoramic view of the entire venue.

Everyone found their seats and sat down. Mikoto and Hazuki sat together, Izumi naturally sat next to Itachi, and Sasuke and Fugaku sat on one side.

Sasuke looked around.

The stands were already more than half full. The stadium, packed with tens of thousands of people, was a cacophony of voices, creating a buzzing background noise. Children excitedly pointed to the center of the field, adults chatted in hushed tones, while the ninjas mostly maintained a vigilant, observing posture.

The huge screens hanging on all four sides of the venue lit up simultaneously, with extremely high clarity.

Sasuke could feel his father beside him slightly adjust his posture.

Fugaku leaned forward slightly, his usually half-closed eyes opening a little wider, his sharp gaze fixed on the arena. He didn't speak, but his focused posture made Sasuke involuntarily tense up.

Just then, a thick fog rose up in the center of the field without warning.

White mist billowed out from the edge of the stage, quickly spreading and engulfing the entire stage area in the blink of an eye.

The fog was so thick that even with Sasuke's sharp eyesight, he could only see a blurry white expanse with vague shadows moving within it, but he couldn't make out what they were.

He subconsciously activated his Sharingan.

The view became much clearer, and I could see figures moving around, but it was still not very clear.

“Dense fog is one of the few environments that can hinder the Sharingan,” Fugaku’s voice rang out from the side. “Even so, we can still obtain more information than others thanks to our superior perception.”

"Of course, this is only relative. Specially trained Kirigakure ninjas can gather more information in the mist than we can."

Sasuke nodded solemnly: "Yes."

He maintained his Sharingan, staring intently at the swirling mist.

Then, at the moment when the fog was thickest and visibility was at its lowest.

A high-pitched voice exploded out from the depths of the thick fog without warning:

"Yo! Listen up! Everyone, pay attention—!"

(End of this chapter)