The Third Hokage's words instantly stirred everyone's emotions.
Almost the entire crowd erupted in cheers.
"The first to be rewarded—Namikaze Minato, the hero who rose to fame during the Third Great Ninja War!"
"He once stopped the current Fourth Raikage and the Eight-Tails all by himself!"
"At Kannabi Bridge, he faced dozens of jōnin alone!"
"He annihilated countless enemies across the Lands of Water, Earth, Lightning, and Wind!"
"A special reward shall be granted to him!"
Even Sarutobi Hiruzen, seasoned as he was, felt a trace of amazement as he read through Minato's long list of achievements.
Because Namikaze Minato possessed space-time ninjutsu.
He could appear on battlefields across the entire ninja world.
During the chaos of the war, when manpower was desperately scarce, Minato alone was used like four elite shinobi.
And the results were undeniable.
Every word recorded about his achievements was solid proof of his terrifying contribution.
If even the Hokage felt this way, let alone the rest of the people.
The moment Minato's feats were announced, the crowd completely lost its composure.
Aside from the major clans, nearly everyone began shouting his name.
"Namikaze Minato!"
"Minato!"
At the front of the square, standing beside Jiraiya, Minato lowered his head shyly, clearly unused to such overwhelming praise.
"With Minato's reputation at this level… there shouldn't be any problems anymore."
Sarutobi Hiruzen stood atop the platform, listening to the deafening cheers, and finally felt at ease.
Konoha's leadership was never meant to belong to one person alone.
This was a system established by the Second Hokage.
If a Hokage abused power for personal interests, the village's leadership had the authority to impeach them.
Although Konoha had won the Third Great Ninja War, the village's overall strength had declined sharply.
Even twelve-year-old children had been sent to the battlefield.
If Shimura Danzō wanted to use this as grounds to impeach him, Sarutobi Hiruzen knew it would be impossible to refute completely.
And now, Danzō was secretly backing Orochimaru.
That alone made Hiruzen uneasy.
He understood his former disciple very well.
Orochimaru despised trouble and power struggles.
Under normal circumstances, he would never covet the Hokage position.
Yet this time, Orochimaru had personally come forward, declaring his intention to become Hokage.
Something was clearly wrong.
Since losing the Hokage seat was becoming inevitable, Sarutobi Hiruzen had already devised a solution.
He would voluntarily step down, enter the Elders' Council, and—like Danzō—retain firm control over ANBU.
Using the elders' system, he would guide and restrain the new Hokage.
And Namikaze Minato—
Respected by the entire village—
Would be the perfect figurehead.
"Next—Orochimaru…"
Sarutobi Hiruzen steadied himself and continued announcing rewards.
Anyone close to the Hokage had their contributions read out in detail.
As for the Uchiha and Hyūga clans—
They were mentioned only briefly.
The one thing that slightly eased the Uchiha clan's frustration was this:
Sarutobi Hiruzen heavily emphasized Uchiha Shisui, crediting him for nearly turning the tide against the Land of Water.
The Uchiha clan fell silent.
But Shisui was still one of their own.
Compared to the Hyūga clan—whose achievements were barely acknowledged—they considered themselves fortunate.
Once the reward announcements ended, Sarutobi Hiruzen spoke again.
"That concludes today's ceremony. Let us leave this final moment for the fallen."
"Please visit the cemetery… and remember our comrades."
With that, he stepped down from the platform.
The excitement in the crowd quickly faded.
One by one, people headed toward memorial grounds—some to graves with names, others to empty plots holding nothing but a folded uniform.
The square slowly emptied.
At that moment—
A mechanical voice echoed in Uchiha Ryu's mind.
"A new special sign-in location detected: Konoha Cemetery."
Ryu froze.
He hadn't encountered a special sign-in for a long time.
Most daily sign-ins only gave useless knowledge—things like livestock care or mundane theory.
"Brother, I'm going to the cemetery."
Leaving those words behind, Uchiha Ryu turned and walked away.
The cemetery was not large.
Gray stone tablets stood quietly in rows.
Compared to other memorial sites, there weren't many graves here.
Ryu stepped inside slowly.
"So this is where Konoha's past heroes rest…"
He murmured softly.
"System—sign in."
Ding!
Congratulations, Host. Nine-Tomoe Rinnegan proficiency increased by 1.1%.
Total inheritance progress: 30%.
Third ability successfully unlocked.
A series of system notifications flooded his mind.
"The third ability…"
Ryu's heart raced.
"Open the system panel."