151 Return To Monke - 3

When the joking conversation died down, Hiruzen turned to Daiki, "Are you ready?" he asked.

"I wouldn't be here if I wasn't old man." Daiki responded, smirk fading as his lips pressed into a thin line, serious mode going into effect.

"Good, because we don't have a whole lot of time," Hiruzen nodded, "I won't be going easy on you at all." he said, placing his hand on Daiki's shoulder.

And it was then the boy noticed.

His pipe was gone.

He hadn't noticed.

…When did he?

That thought didn't get much time to process as the old mans chakra enveloped him and he was brought along via shunshin.

'Fast!' Daiki noticed.

He could barely keep track of their surroundings as the old man transported him along with the jutsu, even with his Heavenly Star Seal and Three Tailed Cloak together, he'd be hard pressed to keep up.

It would be another thing if he could use Lightning Chakra Mode reliably with them in his physical body, but that was currently impossible for him.

Moments later, it ended, and Daiki noticed, that they were standing atop the Hokage monument.

"Why are we-" Daiki began asking, looking around.

But, he never got to finish his question as the elderly Hokage brought his hands together into a single seal and the ground rumbled beneath their feet.

Daiki blinked and stared as the ground rumbled and part of it began to slide away, revealing a staircase that led into the mountain itself.

"…What the..?" the teen gave the old man an odd look.

How was that there?

He'd looked at the mountain plenty of times with his Shinkugan, it was pretty hard not to seeing how big it was, but he'd never saw anything like this!

At his baffled look, Hiruzen gave him a light grin, "I see there are things even you haven't been able to see even with those eyes of yours." he noted, knowingly.

His tone implied he knew why he hadn't seen it before either.

The old man gestured for him to follow him down into the stairs, and Daiki did so, the opening sliding shut once more as Sarutobi made the same hand seal he did previously once they were both inside.

For a moment, they were both in pitch black darkness, before everything lit up. Glowing blue lights travelling down the walls on either side of the staircase lighting the area up.

"What is this place?" Daiki asked as the old man began walking down the stairs and followed behind him.

"I should think that would be quite obvious consider what you're here for," the Hokage chuckled, "But to clarify and speed things up, the Hokage need somewhere private to train as well, to not become rusty, to become stronger and keep up appearances all in one."

Getting stronger and not getting rusty, he could understand that. But, the other, not so much, "Keep up appearances?" he asked.

"Hmm?" Sarutobi looked over his shoulder at Daiki and gave him an almost mischievous look, "I'll give you a hint. When the tree leaves dance, one shall find flames. The fire's shadow will illuminate the village."

A poem…or a haiku? Honestly, he wasn't very well versed in either, so he couldn't tell. But he'd heard those words before, from the very same man in another life.

As he died.

…And he was using it as a riddle for him? A test?

"Seriously?" Daiki gave him a deadpan gaze.

Sarutobi chuckled again, "I'm sure it sounds like hogwash to a young man like yourself, but there is great meaning in this phrase, and in fact, it's only half of it," he replied, "It is a saying created by Hashirama-sama himself and is passed down from Hokage to their chosen successors."

…Wait, what?

But didn't he say it to Orochimaru as he died?

No wait, or was he just thinking it? It was hard to remember that part especially clearly to remember if it was talking aloud or thought.

Well, whatever.

"Fine, I'll play your game old man," Daiki rolled his eyes, "The leaf finding fire is obviously the one that is going to become Hokage. And the Hokage is the one that illuminates the village, so I guess a beacon everyone is drawn to and gathers around? Or use that light to lead them or something."

"Yes, that's correct." the old man nodded, proudly.

...Why though? It wasn't exactly some hard riddle, it was pretty straight forward.

"For reference, the full quote is; 'When the tree leaves dance, one shall find flames. The fire's shadow will illuminate the village, and once again, tree leaves shall bud anew'," the older man revealed, "You were near spot on, only missing one thing. The Hokage is also the pillar that supports the village, their strength and leadership must be seen as infallible, and inspire the belief that as long we are here, there is no greater defender for them and their loved ones."

Daiki stared blankly at the mans back for a moment, pondering those words, before it clicked for him, "This place is super private so nobody can possibly see any mistakes the Hokage make when training," he realised, "It's so nobody can see that the Hokage isn't actually infallible and invincible."

"That is correct Daiki-kun," Sarutobi paused and looked back at him with a warm, beaming smile on his elderly face, "We are strong yes, but we are not gods. Yet, we must cultivate such an image when it comes to strength, to provide the support the new leaves need to bud and flourish to their greatest heights. That is what it means to be Hokage, the fire shadow that illuminates the Leaf Village, it is to be the pillar that supports the village and the undefeatable sentinel that will guard the village against any and all opponents even if it costs our lives."

Daiki fell silent at the mans words, and from there, followed him down deeper into the Hokage mountain without a word.