Chapter 39: The Butterfly Effect That Fits All Too Well
Things had taken a turn that even Kenichi Amamiya had not expected.
He had heard of the butterfly effect before, but he never imagined that one day he would become that butterfly himself, flapping his wings and setting off such a huge change.
"The Fourth Hokage is dead. In that sense, he really was a qualified Hokage."
Orochimaru sighed as he looked at the grieving villagers of Konoha and at Minato Namikaze, lying silently in his coffin.
He had never truly acknowledged Minato as a proper Hokage. In his eyes, Minato's strength was only average, and his achievements could not compare to his own. But last night, Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage, offered up everything.
For Konoha, the Fourth who had only recently taken office sacrificed not only his own life, but also the life of his wife.
The village was plunged into mourning.
The names of the ninja and civilians who had died or been injured on the night of the Nine Tails were written out in a long list. The thin sheets of paper carried the weight of so many lives.
But alongside grief, another problem surfaced.
The high level combat power of Konoha had taken a serious hit.
"Teacher, why is the Third Hokage missing an arm?"
Kenichi felt that calling himself shocked was not enough to describe his current mood.
The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, stood before his wife Biwako's memorial with a grief stricken expression.
But that was not what drew all eyes.
The Third Hokage was missing his left arm.
His entire left hand was gone.
That was not how things were supposed to be.
In Kenichi's memory from his previous life, although the Third had lost his wife, he himself had remained intact. With all his limbs present, he had taken up the role of Hokage once more and opened another chapter as the Hokage of Konoha.
Yet here and now, the Third Hokage had lost his left hand.
"Last night, the Fourth Hokage was injured while fighting the masked man, and then..."
Orochimaru briefly went over what had happened.
Kenichi's strength was not high enough, so he naturally had not been told.
When the Fourth was wounded and the Nine Tails began forming a second Tailed Beast Ball that would have devastated the center of Konoha, the Third Hokage rushed forward to intercept it.
At that moment, a mysterious figure suddenly appeared, severed Hiruzen's left hand with a single strike, then disappeared under the combined assault of the Third and Fourth Hokage.
Even so, they managed to neutralize the Tailed Beast Ball.
The rest of the story unfolded much as Kenichi remembered.
The Fourth Hokage sacrificed himself to defeat the Nine Tails.
"So, teacher, what about the next Hokage?"
Kenichi blinked. He felt as if the world itself were opposing him.
With Hiruzen missing an arm, could he really still become Hokage again?
"I do not know." Orochimaru narrowed his eyes slightly, clearly deep in thought.
Kenichi gave his teacher a strange look.
Was teacher thinking of becoming Hokage himself?
That was impossible… was it?
But when he looked at the Third Hokage, who had lost an arm, he was no longer so sure.
In the current Hidden Leaf Village, aside from Orochimaru, there truly did not seem to be anyone more suitable to become the Fifth Hokage.
The Third's prestige had risen sharply after the Nine Tails incident, repairing much of the damage left by the previous three wars. Even so, the fact that he had lost an arm would definitely weaken his combat power.
Jiraiya, meanwhile, just happened to be away from the village.
That point had always bothered Kenichi.
His disciple's wife was going into labor, yet the teacher was not in Konoha.
But Kenichi also remembered that in his previous life, many people had picked apart the Nine Tails Night as a plot point filled with holes.
Seen from that perspective, Jiraiya's absence did not seem entirely inexplicable.
"Teacher, where is Jiraiya?" Kenichi could not help asking.
"He just happened to be out of the village," Orochimaru replied with a cold curl of his lips.
If Jiraiya had been in Konoha, Minato Namikaze might not have died.
Kenichi's mouth twitched.
So this was what people called the convergence of world lines, right?
No matter how you shuffled the details, Minato Namikaze was destined to die on the night of the Nine Tails.
Whether Jiraiya was there or not almost felt irrelevant.
"Lord Orochimaru."
Kakashi approached them, and Kenichi's expression stiffened for an instant.
Kakashi was still alive and apparently had not realized that his eye had been replaced.
But even knowing that, Kenichi could not help feeling awkward whenever he faced him.
He was always worried Kakashi might sense something was off.
"What is it?" Orochimaru glanced at his disciple from the corner of his eye and immediately caught the fleeting tension in Kenichi's gaze.
Could it be related to Kakashi?
Orochimaru seemed to file the thought away.
"The Third Hokage asked me to call you over," Kakashi said respectfully.
Even now, he maintained the proper attitude toward Orochimaru, but the bloodshot veins in his eyes betrayed his inner turmoil.
Kakashi really was a pitiful man.
First he lost his friend.
Then he had to watch a teammate die by his own hand.
Now even his teacher and his teacher's wife were gone.
If Kakashi had been a pure blooded Uchiha, he probably would have awakened the Mangekyou Sharingan by now.
"Very well." Orochimaru smiled faintly, then turned and left, without calling Kenichi to follow.
Kenichi took a slow breath and looked at the silent Kakashi beside him, suddenly unsure where to begin.
"Kakashi, I am sorry for your loss."
This was the time to test his acting ability.
Kenichi had already confirmed that Kakashi did not know what had really happened yesterday, or rather, that he did not know the true situation.
Kenichi had taken him down before he could even turn around.
"Kenichi, were you alright yesterday? I think I was knocked out."
Kakashi looked at Kenichi with reddened eyes, and his question made Kenichi quietly relax.
"I am sorry. I only saw a dark shadow flash past and then I blacked out. Fortunately, teacher arrived in time and saved me."
Kenichi spoke with just the right amount of shame.
His strength was below Kakashi's.
Kakashi had not even seen the attacker clearly, so it was perfectly reasonable for someone weaker like him to faint on the spot.
"I am glad you are alright."
Kakashi widened his eyes slightly, as if trying to focus, then turned and walked away.
Kenichi noticed that Kakashi seemed to have stirred his chakra and drawn it up toward his face.
Was he wiping away tears?
Kenichi did not know.
He looked around at the villagers and ninja who were crying over the loss of their loved ones, drew in a deep breath, and quietly followed behind the head of the Akimichi clan.
As the disciple of Orochimaru, one of the legendary Sannin, Kenichi's position in the funeral procession placed him just behind the heads of Konoha's great clans.
That rank allowed him to pay his respects to the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, ahead of the crowd.
This would also be the last time he saw the remains of the Fourth.
Kenichi rested his hand lightly on the edge of the coffin, lowered his head as if in silent prayer, then took a quick glance around.
At the same time, his fingers quietly closed around a strand of yellow hair and slipped it into his palm.
<><><><><>
[P@treon Christmas Discount: 20% OFF]
[Check Out My Patreon For +40 Advance Chapters On All My Fanfics!]
[[email protected]/FanficLord03]
[Every 100 Power Stones = +1 Bonus Chapter]
[Join Our Discord Community For Updates & Events]
[https://discord.gg/MntqcdpRZ9]