[Hokage] The Realm of the Sky

An old man who was waiting for the last moment of his life.

Stepping on the grass and walking into the equipment room, I found that the inside was not as seriously damaged as the outside.

Quack, quack, quack, creak.

... The sound of insects can also be heard in the school building.I stopped and stopped walking down the empty hallway.

"Xuanwu, Gaoyue." I thought again about the teacher just now.

He is also very similar to Hei Tonggan.Similar words are indeed similar, because everyone's face makeup is the same, so everyone looks similar.

But that's not just the similarity in appearance, even the atmosphere around them is the same.

"...It's really similar, that look." However, there are some decisive differences between them.

what is it then?I can't find an answer.

Obviously, he had almost thought of it, but he just missed the goal.Knowing but not understanding, it seems that I have become quite a normal person.

I remember it was a few years ago - when I first awakened, there was absolutely nothing I didn't understand.

Because the things you don't understand are things that the two rituals and Uchiha Sasuke don't know, so there is no need to think about it at all.

But now, the two ceremonies and the things Uchiha Sasuke experienced but didn't know are all experienced by me as knowledge.

Between the two rituals before the accident and between Sasuke Uchiha and me after recovery, the desperate precipice seemed less and less obvious.

Presumably it is because the self without self-emotion has gradually accumulated "my memory" by encountering these unknown things?

I—— Gradually fill the hole in my chest with boring reality and trivial feelings.

Although I still don't have the real feeling of being alive, the sense of nothingness I had just awakened has disappeared.

——One day, when the hole in my chest no longer exists, maybe I can see dreams that are no different from ordinary people!

"What a small hope, Weaving," I whispered to myself, knowing there would be no answer.

"No, that's a poor hope."

——However, someone answered me.

Chirp, chirp, chirp—the insects were chirping.

Something lightly touched the back of my neck.

"—!!"

My consciousness gradually faded away, and the memory of being here began to disappear.The scenery in front of my eyes gradually blurred as if being erased with an eraser.

...It's really embarrassing, I came here knowing that this place is an insect nest, but I——

"This guy." Displeased, I stretched out my wrist and reached the back of my neck, feeling sure I was grabbing something.

The touch in the hand found that it was a humanoid shape slightly larger than the palm.

I crushed the thing in my hand just like that, and it made a "chirp".

Then, the consciousness that gradually drifted away returned.I retracted my hand from the back of my neck and stared at it.

There was only a puddle of white liquid on the palm, and this puddle of viscous liquid dripped to the floor.The moment it was crushed, it became like this.

I haven't seen goblins, so I can't tell if this is what Bofeng and the others call goblins.

"...It's disgusting." I shook off the mucus on my hand, but this incredible pile of liquid, which was obviously sticky but would not adhere to the skin, left my hand with ease.The sound of insects is no longer heard.

...It seems like a failed move to crush the goblin because it was too unpleasant.Originally gathered the breath of many goblins, but now there is not even a feeling of one.

Did you run away because you saw your companion being killed?Or did the owner of the goblins see me catch the goblins and tell them all to retreat?

In any case, the clues had disappeared from the school building.

……

Sasuke returned to the corridor according to the way he came, and Naikaze should have left with his students, but he found someone unexpected waiting for him.

——Hatake Kakashi.

His personality is completely different from his grown-up. Although he still wore a mask when he was young, he could observe his unsmiling nature from his frowns all the time.Kakashi, who had been hostile to him before, didn't leave now?

Sasuke didn't think much, just when the other party's head had a sudden cramp, he walked to Kakashi's side without saying a word.

"... Shiki? Are you not going?" Kakashi suddenly said something very strange to Sasuke.

"Not going? Where not going?"

"—That's it, the equipment room."

...have no idea what he's talking about.

Sasuke squinted at Kakashi and suddenly looked at him and the equipment room in the distance with an incredulous look on his face.

——Hey.That's why I finally understood.

"Hatake, do you know what time it is?"

"If I remember correctly, it should be around four o'clock in the afternoon—?!!" Kakashi who had just finished telling the time stopped his voice in surprise, because the time is now five o'clock in the afternoon according to the clock upstairs.

"If you can stand here for an hour, you are really free. But if you still remember what you did, then it doesn't matter."

Kakashi's wrist trembled slightly, and he silently put his fingers on his mask.His expression looked incredible, just staring blankly at the sky.

I'm afraid, Kakashi has no memory of what he did between watching Sasuke leave with Namikaze Minato and when he came back.

"Could it be...Could it be..." The boy's somewhat slender body suddenly began to tremble.But it wasn't out of fear, it was purely out of anger.

For Hatake Kakashi, who is a complex of self-esteem, being recruited by someone without knowing it, this kind of thing is nothing but humiliation.

"I don't need to tell you, your memory was taken away by the goblin." Sasuke looked coldly at Hatake Kakashi, who was rarely emotionally fluctuating.

There was nothing superfluous in the reflexive movements. The plain black kimono was really elegant and suave when it was swinging in the wind. The cold tone said crisply: "You should go to Bofeng quickly, maybe he will make some action plan for you. I won't I'll accompany you."

Now that the sun was setting, the students of Ninja School had finished their day's classes and came out of the teaching building in twos and threes.It is also from the expressions on the faces of those children that Sasuke has a sense of reality that he is now in a war period.

Sure enough, even Konoha would not be defenseless during the ninja war.Today's young ninjas have chills, hesitation, confusion, melancholy, and disappointment on their faces that do not match their age.No one will know their own future, maybe there will be their own corpses waiting to be cleaned up on the next battlefield.

Sasuke walked towards the school gate with nothing to do, thinking about whether to go to the Ichiraku ramen recommended by Obito to solve today's dinner problem, but a voice so familiar that he couldn't help crying broke into him unexpectedly in the ear:

"Welcome back, Itachi-kun. How did you feel at school today?"

! ! ! !

Ahh... this voice... this voice is...

Sasuke Uchiha turned his head abruptly——

The author has something to say: I went to chase AZ in the middle of writing the article, and I was so fascinated by Slein that I didn't climb out of the AZ pit for several months. As a result, I owed another pit before the end of the article [Kneel]

I'm sorry for you QAQ tears filled the eyes of those who still insist on waiting! !

Ah, by the way, it is said that Hokage has started to serialize again. Ni Meng, have you watched it?It is said that in the latest episode, Sasuke attacked his daughter...

——Ab can’t be stopped, what the fuck! !

PS: This article will be updated together with my other article "[Comprehensive] Aldnoah/ExtraFate" (AEF for short). The length of AEF is shorter than this, about 10 words. Since I haven’t come out recently, I may be more diligent. Please forgive me QAQ

☆、Meiqinyu · Deja vu

Today, as usual, I went to pick Itachi-kun home after school.

Seeing the sunset in the western sky gradually fade away, dusk descends quietly in the pines and sea breeze.I can't help thinking about Fugaku who is now discussing the war because of the war.He is really tired these days, no one knows when the ninja war will end, and whether we will live to see peace one day.

If we can't, at least keep the kids alive.

Fuyue thinks highly of Itachi-kun, and that kid does have something to be proud of.He can be said to be one of the most outstanding geniuses in the history of the Uchiha clan, and his aptitude is even higher than that of Shisui.I am very happy that Uchiha has the best candidate to revitalize the clan, but I am worried whether Itachi-kun has the energy to inherit the position of patriarch of the Uchiha clan in the future.

After all, the detached calmness and composure he showed at a very young age destined him to think more than others.

However, he is still just a child.In any case, children always need the care and love of their parents.Even in the Uchiha family, Itachi-kun has the right to be cared for, right?

"Welcome back, Itachi-kun. How did you feel at school today?"

"Mother, everything is fine today."

Hey, occasionally I hope Itachi-kun can act like a baby to me.

If Itachi-kun could have a younger brother, wouldn't the expression on his face be more vivid?After all, children always bring hope.

"Really. As long as it's okay, let's go back. I made your favorite natto and three-color meatballs today."

"That's really good, my lord."

Sure enough, he was still a child.Itachi-kun still has a smile on his face when he mentions his favorite food.Thinking this way, I held Itachi-kun's hand, and when I was about to leave the school——

Met unexpected people.

Hair as gorgeous as black silk, just long enough to hang down to the shoulders.With a face that can be described as harsh rather than beautiful, it makes it difficult to distinguish between genders—however, I always feel that face is familiar.

But more than those features, it was her eyes that attracted me the most.Sharp but quiet eyes and thin eyebrows.It seems to be always looking at something that cannot be seen.

The man stood in front of me in a kimono, and his standing posture in a plain kimono top suited his slender shoulders perfectly.All in all, a person who can be called beautiful.

However, he should not be from Konoha, right?It doesn't look like a ninja either.What was that man here for?

"Hello, may I ask..."

"Uchiha... Mikoto?"

——? ! !

My name was called out in an uncertain tone, and a puzzled expression appeared on that person's face.

Shocked, puzzled, stunned, nostalgic.

For some reason, a kind of joy with a touch of pain also inexplicably emerged in my heart.

"Yes, I'm Uchiha Mikoto."

"...Then, two ceremonies." His expression quickly returned to normal, as if all the changes that appeared on his face just now were illusions.

--wrong.not like this.

His name is definitely not two ceremonies.It should be a name that I know well and is about to come out.

That name should be - "Uchiha..."

"Is this your child?" He asked without warning.

……

"Yes. This child's name is Uchiha Itachi. Itachi-kun?" Under the mother's voice, the boy bowed slightly and greeted politely: "Nice meeting, Shiki-san."

There is no reply for a long time.Uchiha Itachi raised his head in confusion, and was facing the boy's wide-open eyes, the depth in those dark pupils made him subconsciously take a step back.

"Itachi-kun? What's the matter?" Meiqin noticed that her child was withdrawing somewhat abnormally, so she couldn't help asking with concern.

"..."

"Uchiha, Itachi." Sasuke quietly looked at the face that was not much different from the memory but more immature, silent.He lowered his eyes, trying not to let the sudden disgust and hatred show clearly on his face.

The moment he saw Itachi just now, the inexplicable resentment in his heart was conveyed to the central nervous system, making Sasuke startled, wondering why he had such thoughts, he had already walked towards the retreating boy step by step, stretched out his hand Grabbing his neck and lifting his whole body, the boy struggled hard and his eyes widened.

"Itachi-kun?!! Wait, please wait! What do you want to do to Itachi-kun?!"

Mikoto's voice suddenly raised in his ears, but Sasuke didn't know much about it, he just looked at the struggling boy, his eyes were getting darker, and the strength of his hands was also increasing.

"What are you doing... let go... let go of me, please let go of... me!"

"Hey, he didn't even let this kid go. That thing is really troublesome."

The unbearable suffocation suddenly left his body, Itachi blinked, and the focus was restored in the slack pupils.In front of him, the teenager who tried to strangle him to death suddenly let go of his hand, and shook off the white liquid sticking to his hand with a disgusted expression.

"...Is this? Blood?" After being stunned for a moment, Meiqin quickly realized what happened.She frowned, thinking of the recent rumors about goblins in Konoha, she gave her own guess, "The blood of the goblin who was pinched to death by Shiki-kun?"

That being said, the boy's abnormal behavior just now was just to kill the goblin who possessed Itachi at some point.After reaching this conclusion, Mikoto felt inexplicably relieved.

"It can't be said to be blood, it's something like the scale powder on the wings of a butterfly. Because if it's body fluid, those people will also notice something wrong. ... Also, the teacher named Xuanwu also has it on his neck. When we met Although I don’t know what it is, but in retrospect, he did have it on his neck.”

Sasuke was talking to himself, but Mikoto noticed someone's name in his words: "Genwu? Do you mean Mr. Xuanwu Gaoyue?"

Sasuke nodded in disbelief as a response. He patted the dust that didn't exist on his clothes: "It's getting late... go back quickly. If you can, please don't step out of the house tonight." After finishing speaking Then he turned and left.

Then, I don't know if it was Mikoto's illusion, she seemed to hear the boy's murmur faintly—ah, maybe she heard it wrong.Because how could that boy be——

——"Long time no see, my lord."

……

"Sasuke-kun, what do you think is the reason for taking away the memory?"

"I don't know, because I didn't do it. Also, did you come to my place in the middle of the night in a hurry? Bo Feng."

At night, Sasuke returned to the hotel where he was staying, took out the monochromatic bathrobe prepared by the hotel from the built-in wardrobe, turned and walked into the bathroom.Then the boy who had just started taking a bath heard a faint knock on the door amidst the sound of splashing water.

Who would come to find him, a stranger, at such a time?So Sasuke continued to take a bath, ignoring it.

The knock on the door lasted for a while and then disappeared.

——Sure enough, I knocked on the wrong door.

After drying himself off and putting on his yukata, the boy who began to dry his hair with a towel turned the handle and opened the bathroom door.

So, as soon as he came out, he saw a certain blond-haired ninja sitting on his bed with a smile that was too stupid to be stupid.

After that, the above dialogue was triggered.

"...In December, letters began to be sent to the students in that class, and the contents of the letters were 'secrets that even I have forgotten'. At the same time, stories of goblins began to spread in the school. These goblins seem to run to the pillow While capturing memories. In the classroom of Class D before the holiday, two students stabbed each other with knives after a quarrel. The reason for the quarrel was still because of letters. For one month in a row, the students in Class [-] kept receiving memories that they didn’t even know about. The mental state has been paralyzed to the point of ignoring the quarrels of the classmates. After talking with the students in Class [-], I realized that it is really not surprising that someone commits suicide.”

However, Minato didn't pay too much attention to Sasuke's indifference, and muttered to sort out the information collected so far.

"Sasuke-kun also met a goblin, and Kakashi also had a blank memory for an hour... What would Kakashi do during that time, if there is an hour, anything is possible."

"Hey, Bofeng." At this time, Sasuke seemed to remember something, and he asked: "How can I find out the memory that I have forgotten?"

"Well... Maybe it's using hypnotic ninjutsu to draw out the memory deep in the brain?"

"Do you know the four functions of memory?"

"……what?"

"It's remembering, saving, playing, and recognizing." Sasuke said self-consciously, "Just like a video tape, the recorded images are labeled and recorded. Keep them carefully, and use the VCR to play them back when you want to watch them." .Confirm that the content of the regeneration is the same as before, as long as one of them malfunctions, the mind cannot function normally."

"...So, what is a videotape?" Minato ruffled his blond hair, talking to himself as if he had no time to spare: "But according to what you mean—even if I forgot , but as long as the mind is normal, the memory must exist somewhere in the brain. Because the mind will not forget what has been recorded, it can only be regarded as a goblin taking it away."

... Gathering fairies who have forgotten their memories.Although Sasuke once said that there was malice in it, Minato really didn't feel the existence of malice.Because even if the memory that I have forgotten is taken away, I will not feel anything.Sending those memories in letters seems like an act of kindness, doesn't it?This kind of behavior is like reminding you: You forgot this matter, please don't forget it next time!

"Taking away memories may also be to conceal some kind of evidence, but what's the point of letting people see their forgotten memories?" Then, Sasuke's question turned into words.

Minato leaned on the chair - Sasuke kicked him to sit on the chair as soon as he came out, while he unceremoniously occupied the entire bed - replied: "Should you be reporting a crime? Inform the other party, you I've committed crimes like this before... or something like that."

"Are you reporting different crimes for a month in a row? That's not considered reporting, but like a child's prank." However, when you think of fairies, you think of children, so maybe it's true.

"Oh, by the way, Sasuke-kun, I want you to tell me one thing." Minato, who was sitting on the chair, suddenly felt a little embarrassed and asked.

"Well... what should I do if I want to see a fairy?"

The author has something to say: Sasuke really thought about strangling the young Itachi, but Shiki restrained him abruptly. Just in time, she saw a goblin on Itachi's neck, so she pinched it to death.

Mikoto has a sense of familiarity with the style, and it really must be because blood is thicker than water.

The fourth generation feels that it is fun to pinch...

Fix some bugs. ——2015.6.3

☆、Two Rituals·The Moment of Encountering the Devil

That guy said: "Memories can be recorded like a film, why can they be forgotten?"

I replied: "Because everyone forgets their memories at will!"

The guy said: "You must still remember, but you can't remember it. Unlike me who can't record it, people's memories will not be lost."

I replied, "If you can't remember it, you've lost it."

The guy said: "The so-called forgetting is just the deterioration of memory. Memories are waste that will not be lost, but will only fade with time. Don't you think it's a pity? People have rusted the eternal things."

I can't answer.

"It's not about eternity, it's a kind of eternity." The guy said, "It's impossible not to return to eternity, because the exclamation will be reborn again. Even if you can completely forget it, the record is still engraved on you."

I said, "Who decides eternity?"

The guy replied, "I don't know, that's why I've been looking for it."

——I think so... For the guy who can't even think, the answer is not found by himself, but can only be found in others.

……

"Well... what should I do if I want to see a fairy?"

...It seems that the memory was taken away by the fairy.It really made Bo Feng quite curious.But to be honest, I don't know how to see fairies.

"Who knows, it's impossible for Bofeng anyway. If you really want to find it, just go to a place where it feels warmer. If your intuition is right, you can catch it."

"Is it a place where the air is warm?" Bofeng showed an original expression.While the method sounds weird, I'm not lying.Even fairies should have a fever when they are alive.

So as long as it is a place that is warmer than other places, if you are lucky, you can at least encounter them.Anyway, that's the end of the conversation.I fell on the bed and said unceremoniously to the uninvited guest: "I'm going to sleep, so leave me quickly."

But in fact, because I am used to walking at night, I can't fall asleep easily. It was just an excuse to hurry up and pass the wind.Even though the hour hand has passed two o'clock, I still don't feel sleepy at all, I just keep looking at the scenery outside the window.

There was no light outside, only the darkness of the trees.Not even the moonlight can shine into the village, making this inn as silent as an abyss.

At this time, the number of Konoha trees has become an unfavorable condition.I looked at the village and the darkness while juggling the knife that never left my body with one hand.

Although I hope that I don't have to use this knife at such a time, it is really an impossible dream.

"You guys are quite busy tonight..." I muttered to myself while looking at the scenery outside the window.

In the dark night of Konoha, there are countless things like fireflies dancing.The number is more than a dozen or twenty.Compared with only one or two last night, it seems to be particularly active tonight.

It should be because of the people led by Bo Feng and I was inquiring everywhere, the person who manipulated the goblin rushed to advance the scheduled work.

"Looking at the situation, it's impossible not to use this thing." I looked at the knife reflecting the dim moonlight and said this sentence.

Spending the night in Konoha is also the last night, no matter what the result is, it is an established fact that the ending will come tomorrow.

……

Namikaze Minato did not choose to go home after leaving the hotel where Sasuke lived, but returned to the Ninja School.He didn't have any particular purpose, but he felt that Sasuke had to check at least once the house where the goblin had encountered.

Then he suddenly remembered that the reason why that place needs to be repaired is because it was burned once not long ago.

The area that used to belong to the room is now all burned and collapsed, and it feels like it will be turned to ash if touched.The west corridor opposite to the east has survived intact.If the light is just walking in the corridor, its completeness will even make people think that there has never been a fire at all.But after opening the door of the burned room, there was only the scenery outside and the ruins with only a few foundations in front of them.

Watergate wanders through such a contrasting, avant-garde-like building.

— Chirp, chirp, chirp.He suddenly heard a sound like the chirping of insects.

Appeared.A fairy who can steal people's memories.

If this continues, he will follow in the footsteps of Kakashi yesterday, and Minato will be robbed of his memory without knowing it, and then stand here for a few hours.

"If you really want to find it, go to a place where it feels warmer and look for it. If your intuition is right, you can catch it."

He suddenly remembered what Sasuke said before, and began to feel the unnatural warmth in the air.How Sasuke judged he didn't know.But when it comes to detecting heat sources, he can easily do this kind of thing.

As soon as he closed his eyes, Minato could feel the unnatural warmth in the air.

"...Is it here?" He grabbed "that thing" that was already approaching his chest with his bare hands.He really felt something in his hand, but Minato didn't even look at the chirping thing, his eyes were fixed on the door not far away.

"Hey, I can already see fairies. As expected of Minato-kun."

A familiar figure standing there quietly.Minato narrowed his eyes, and there was no emotion in his tone: "It really is you, Xuanwu Gaoyue."

"It's actually like 'Sure enough'...but it's just right to cover up the surprise."

"You will appear here, which means... you and Kakashi talked for an hour yesterday."

"That's right, thanks to this, I can fully understand everything about you. After all, there is a whole hour. About you and what kind of people you are, as long as there are these children, it is very easy to ask." Xuanwu smiled faintly road.

The cry of "chirp" sounded.I'm afraid there are goblins over there too?

No, heat sources other than him could be felt around him.Minato tried to count, and the total number was more than fifty.

...For someone like him who couldn't see fairies, that was a desperate difference in combat power.

The invisible enemy is always the most difficult enemy.Although he thought about shooting Xuanwu directly, those invisible things would definitely have an unavoidable impact on his actions.

"Please don't act rashly. I didn't come here to conflict with you, Minato-kun."

"I want to know your purpose of sneaking into Konoha. Is it just to cause panic."

"Hey, that's a bit superficial. My target is not Konoha, but - that child."

"that……?"

"Because you've been with him all the time, so I need your memory too. Oh, by the way, Minato-kun, do you want to see what it is that you're holding in your hand?"

--what?

Subconsciously, he turned his gaze to the thing he was holding in his hand.Things that could not be seen before are now clearly seen.This goblin is a little different from what he imagined.

——It was... a thing with a human face.Surprised, Minato let go of his hand.Taking advantage of this gap - Xuan Wu's hand grabbed his face.

Minato's consciousness fell straight down as if bouncing from high altitude.

……

I said, "I don't know what to do anymore."

He replied: "Is there any means available? If something is broken, just fix it." I said, "But I can't fix it."

He replied: "Let me do it then - you are not guilty, beautiful things don't need to touch dirty things, you just stay as they are."

I said, "... am I beautiful?"

He replied: "You haven't become filthy, even if you can't completely suppress the black emotions in your heart, your hands are still white."

He nodded—smiled softly.

"You must keep your hands beautiful. There is no such filth in this world. It is the best way to deal with the filth by the filth itself, because no matter who you are, if you want to remove the filth, you will definitely be contaminated by the filth. This Ominous cycle, we call it the 'curse'."

In order not to get dirty, he said, I just had to use something other than myself.I didn't speak.Because even then, the result would still be——

He replied: "After all, people have to return to eternity to reproduce that sigh. Even if you plan to forget, the record is still engraved on you."

I said, "I haven't forgotten anything."

He replied: "Forgetting is an unaware defect, and it is impossible not to forget anything."

...So, what is the memory that I have severed?

……

A cold rain began to fall from the sky.Two rituals that didn't feel hot or cold, now feel cold.In the rain, very cold and painful rain.

I held a knife in my hand, and kept looking at something with empty eyes——instantly, I woke up.There is a "fairy" flying in the air in front of you.At the same time as I opened my eyes, I took the knife out of my clothes and stabbed the thing.

The knife plunged into the wall with a "dang".Between the knife and the wall, the goblin who was stabbed screamed.A creature with the appearance of a girl and insect wings, on the way to pull out the knife with its small hands, it melted because of the loss of power.

"Oops, if I have a little more patience..." After finishing speaking, I closed my mouth.What if I endured a little longer?I—the two rituals will remind me of that forgotten day three years ago?

——The traffic accident that made me sleepy for two years?If I think of something that I don't remember at all...

"That's enough! I'm so upset!" After I complained briefly, I jumped out of bed. From the person who was still standing at the door to inquire about the situation until now, there was a small creaking sound from the corridor when I fled.I repositioned myself with the knife and rushed out the door.

The corridor extends to the east and west, and the figure running away is going to the east, and that figure is indeed——

I ran down the hallway with aging floors, chasing after his back.The person's footsteps were faster than expected, and the distance between them did not shorten much.

The man left the hotel without hesitation and headed towards the ninja school.I went to the equipment room through the forest walkway that I walked with Bofeng and the others, but I found that the person did not enter here, but ran into the next classroom.

I know it's a trap.But it's pretty stupid to come here and walk back to the room. After thinking about it for a while, I opened the door of that classroom roughly.

The heavy door made no sound.In the dimly lit classroom, there was only one figure.I closed the door and confronted the man.

The person about ten meters away, silently adjusted his glasses, and looked at this place as if observing a statue.

"Oh, what's the point of coming to school at this time? Uchiha Sasuke-kun." A faint smile appeared on the man's face.It was a very gentle, childlike smile.But it has no color, just the emotion of the emptiness inside.

As before, Xuanwu Gaoyue stood there with a dry smile on his face.