Chapter 42: Unveiling Ceremony
Chapter 42: Unveiling Ceremony
Aoba had been carefully watching everyone's whereabouts. Therefore, when someone looked at the rock wall in that direction and made a surprised sound, his whole body immediately tensed up. He was worried about being discovered. At the same time, his head also began to overload. He was thinking about how to make up for it if he was really discovered.
"What's wrong? What did you find?"
Sure enough, the soft exclamation just now attracted the people's attention next to him.
After hesitating for a moment, the man said, "I think I saw a rock wall fluctuating a few times like water over there just now..."
"Huh? There's such a thing? Could it be that you were mistaken? How could the rock wall move? Let me see..."
"Aiya!"
At this critical moment, a scream was heard!
The craftsmen who were attracted by this scream all turned their heads to look. Only then did they realize that Aoba, this kid, had somehow almost fallen off the hanging board. Now, he held the hanging board tightly with both hands, looking extremely dangerous.
"Not good, quickly save him!"
"Inform the people below, quickly put the hanging board down!"
Everyone became nervous, including the two people who noticed something strange.
The two of them did not have the time to observe the rock wall. Only when Aoba was safely saved did they let out a sigh of relief.
"Let's go. We will go down too. That brat Aoba is really good at causing trouble. He almost caused big trouble!"
"But..."
"I also took a look just now. The rock wall didn't move at all! I think you drank too much last night, so your eyes were blurred."
"... Maybe my eyes were really blurred."
The man looked at the rock wall again and found nothing unusual, so he stopped struggling and finished his work with the people around him and went down.
After seeing this scene, Aoba, who had safely landed, breathed a sigh of relief. It was really dangerous that he almost wasted all his efforts!
However, it was too early for him to be happy!
He had just received the big guy's concern and education when Yamashita, the old man who had rushed over after hearing the news, scolded him.
If anything happened to him, his conscience would be uneasy for the rest of his life!
Aoba also knew that he was in the wrong. Moreover, Yamashita, the old man, was so concerned about Aoba that he did not dare say anything. He just lowered his head and listened quietly.
As he cursed and cursed, Yamashita finally calmed down. "Since there's nothing else, you can go back. You don't have to come tomorrow. You just have to practice your skills at home."
"Ah?"
Aoba was dumbfounded. If he was not allowed to come tomorrow, how could he keep an eye on these guys? Today, he had successfully escaped because of him. If anyone were curious tomorrow, it would be completely exposed.
So he immediately became anxious!
"Don't. I won't go up anymore, okay? The curtain will be covered tomorrow. I want to see it."
"Hmph, you can only watch from the bottom. Do you hear me?" Yamashita was still soft-hearted and reluctantly agreed.
On the other hand, Aoba was a little depressed. The same move might not work again, but if he did not see it with his own eyes, he would not be able to do anything else.
Therefore, this was the only way.
....
The next day, Aoba arrived at the bottom of the HokageRock as usual and watched the craftsmen do the final inspection.
The guy who almost made him fail the mission yesterday was the target he was focused on!
Whenever someone approached the smooth rock wall, his heart would immediately jump up.
Fortunately, yesterday was indeed an exception. No one paid attention to the place he chose. The focus of his observation was on the completed statue of Yondaime.
The guy from yesterday seemed to really think that he was seeing things. He did not investigate further.
As a result, good luck replaced bad luck. The last inspection passed!
Aoba looked at a huge red curtain covering the statue of Yondaime from top to bottom and finally felt relieved.
As for the rest, it would depend on tomorrow's unveiling ceremony!
However, after causing such big trouble, Yamashita and Mikawa should not be able to protect him and could only depend on the mood of the Hokage-Sama.
Speaking of which, Minato should be in a good mood recently. After all, he was someone who was going to be a father, so he would not lower himself to the level of a child.
In the end, the more uneasy Aoba felt, the more he could only comfort himself like this.
...
On this day.
The statue of Minato had already been carved and was covered with a layer of red curtains.
Before the scheduled time reached ten o'clock, many villagers spontaneously went to the vicinity of the Hokage Rock with warm smiles, ready to witness this glorious moment.
Although they could see it every day during the process of carving, it was the first time they had seen the complete picture.
And what was important was this atmosphere. This was the spiritual symbol!
Although the number of people who came this time was not as many as the last time Minato took over the Hokage ceremony, there were at least a few hundred people, including some ninjas who happened to have time to attend the ceremony.
This included the hot-blooded Guy and Mikawa, who had just finished the task and returned yesterday.
In the crowd of civilians, Mikawa also saw Aoba, who was peeking his head and sighing.
As if sensing that someone was staring at him, Aoba could not help but look left and right, and then he saw the serious face of Mikawa.
At the thought of what he was going to do next, Aoba imagined the dark expression on Mikawa's face. Therefore, after forcing a stiff laugh twice, he did not hesitate to shrink his body and directly drilled into the crowd and disappeared.
For some reason, Mikawa suddenly felt a strong sense of foreboding, "Is that bastard going to make trouble again?"
Suddenly, this thought appeared in his mind, and it became more and more intense, lingering!
"Don't scare yourself! No, it's just an unveiling ceremony. What can that bastard do..."
Mikawa's sudden nervousness immediately eased a little, but a sense of unease still surrounded him.
"No! I have to keep an eye on him!"
However, just as Mikawa and Jonin had made up their minds to find Aoba and keep an eye on him the entire time, the time for the opening happened to arrive.
"Begin!"
Following Yamashita's command, he led the craftsmen to pull the veil down!
The huge red cloth instantly fell down, revealing Yondaime's statue that was hidden inside!
It had to be said that every generation of Hokage statues could be called art, and it was remarkably lifelike!
Even Mikawa, who was just about to start moving, was attracted by this scene.