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BONG.
BONG.
BONG.
Three solemn tolls rang out from the Hokage Tower.
Across Konoha, villagers stopped what they were doing and turned toward the sound. Shopkeepers stepped into the street, shinobi paused on rooftops, and conversations died mid-sentence. Nobody understood why the village bell had been struck in the middle of the day.
Then a grave voice came through Konoha's public broadcast system.
"An official notice to all residents. Our beloved First Hokage and First Elder, Lord Manji, passed away today from complications of old age despite every effort of the Medical Corps..."
The announcement went on, but most people could not hear it over the wave of grief that spread through the village.
.....
At the Uchiha estate, Tajima froze when he heard that his grandfather was dead.
The pain hit before he could speak. He was already in his sixties and tired from age, so he could not handle the shock. His vision faded, and he collapsed. The family hurried to help, and the medical-nin tried everything, but they could not save him.
Two deaths in a single day!!
Madara and Izuna had lost the last of their family. Konoha had lost two of its founders.
....
White mourning banners lined Konoha's main avenue.
Tens of thousands stood on either side of the road with white flowers pinned to their chests. Black cloth covered the village's shops, public buildings, and gathering halls, and even the towering gates had been draped in mourning.
Two coffins moved side by side down the center of the street. One carried Manji. The other carried Tajima.
Grandfather and grandson died on the same day, and now they were making their final journey together.
Madara, Izuna, Hashirama, Tobirama, Hyūga Tennin, and the daimyō of the Land of Fire bore the coffins on their shoulders. When news of Manji's death reached the capital, the daimyō had ordered that he be buried with the highest honors the country could grant—in recognition of everything he had done for Konoha and the Land of Fire.
White paper floated in the air while funeral music played along the avenue. The sound of weeping spread from the crowd, moving street by street, until it seemed as though the whole village was grieving.
Elders from Konoha's oldest clans knelt by the road, tears running down their lined faces. Many had believed peace between clans was impossible, but Manji proved them wrong and gave their descendants a world they never thought they would see.
The younger people looked unsure. Manji had led Konoha since before most of them were born, and Tajima had been with him almost as long.
Now, with both gone and no Second Hokage chosen, no one knew what would happen next...
Mū and Ōnoki stood among the mourners, watching the procession stretch farther than they could see. Both were shaken by how large it was.
"We really saw history happen..." Mū said softly.
He wished Manji had not died so soon after they met, but part of him also felt relief. If Manji had stayed in power, Iwagakure and the other new villages might have spent generations under Konoha's shadow.
"An extraordinary era ends with him. Rest in peace, Lord Hokage!"
Next to him, Ōnoki licked his lips. "Just a few days ago, we were at Konoha's state banquet—now it's a funeral feast. If this keeps up, I'll be in a carb coma before we go home."
"ŌNOKI." Mū's expression darkened. He brought his heel down on the boy's foot.
"Ow!"
"Have some respect. This is a funeral."
....
News of Manji's death spread across the Shinobi world within hours.
The same report reached every nation, clan, and newly founded village. Their leaders read it in silence, let out the breath they had been holding, then sent formal letters of condolence to Konoha.
At last, it was over.
Manji never started a war outside the Land of Fire, but just knowing he was there made the other villages uneasy. As long as he lived, every leader knew Konoha had someone who could change the balance of power at any time.
With his death, the weight that hung over them finally lifted.
.....
On Mount Myōboku, Fukasaku and Black Zetsu sat together in front of the historical archive and quietly entered the latest record.
[Shinobi Year 870: Manji, the First Hokage and First Elder of Konoha, has passed away. A giant of his time is gone.]
When they finished the entry, both stared at the screen for a few seconds.
"The Grand Sage should be returning soon," Fukasaku said.
"He should." Black Zetsu nodded.
Suddenly—
Tobi rushed into the room before they could say more, holding his phone and looking confused.
"Hey, did someone important die? My whole phone just turned black and white."
Black Zetsu looked up at him. "Konoha's First Hokage passed away. He was also the incarnation the Grand Sage left in the mortal world."
He glanced at the phone. "As for that, Gamamaru probably changed the display as a sign of mourning."
.....
Elsewhere on Mount Myōboku, Kaguya and Uchiha Hikari sat in the garden of Longevity Peak, surrounded by blooming flowers.
"Big Sis Kaguya, the Sage will be back soon, right?" Hikari asked with a smile.
Kaguya rested her chin on one hand and nodded.
"After all these years... he's finally returning."
When Manji lived on Mount Myōboku, she did not think much about him. Only after he stayed in the mortal world for so long did she realize how much she missed him.
A light blush appeared on her face.
Was something wrong with her? Had she fallen in love with Manji?
Hikari noticed the change in her face and smiled to herself.
"You should just tell him how you feel. Why keep it a secret forever?"
Sadness showed in Kaguya's eyes. "It's not that simple. You don't understand what stands between us."
"I just can't say it out loud." She lowered her gaze toward the flowers.
.....
That same day, every phone in the Pure Land switched to black and white. Even the reaction icons on social media lost their color.
"What's going on?" Asura stared at his screen.
"Someone important must have died... Not many people get this kind of tribute," Hagoromo said with a frown.
As far as he knew, only two names carried that much importance: his own and Manji's.
But Manji dead? That hardly seemed possible...
"It must be something that happened in the mortal world," Hagoromo said. "We should ask one of the new arrivals."
A Sarutobi clansman approached soon afterward.
"Lord Sage, one of my relatives who arrived today brought news from Konoha. Their First Hokage has died."
Asura frowned. "Why would one person's death affect the whole Pure Land?"
"Sarutobi, what was the Hokage's name again?" Hagoromo stroked his chin.
"I believe it was Manji."
"..." Hagoromo's eyes widened.
"Then it makes sense... Of course it does." People in the world knew the Sage of Six Paths only by his title. Few remembered that he once had another name.
Manji.
When Manji became known as the Sage of Six Paths—his old name faded so much that later generations remembered the legend but forgot the man behind it.
.....
Elsewhere in the Pure Land, Uchiha Tajima slowly opened his eyes.
A pale sky stretched above him. He sat up and looked around the strange world, confused.
"Where am I?"
Then the last moments of his life came back to him.
"Is this... the World of the Dead?"
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