Senju Yūki

The next morning, Yūki was awakened by the sound of light, hurried footsteps in the corridor.

He opened his eyes; it was still dark outside.

But why is it so noisy?

He got dressed and pushed open the door, just as he bumped into Ichiyo coming out of the next room.

My cousin's face was no longer relaxed; his brows were furrowed.

"Yūki, things have changed." Ichiyo lowered her voice, "Uncle Izuna had an accident last night."

Yūki paused.

Ichiyo Ye's solemn expression made his heart skip a beat.

"... Are you injured?" he asked instinctively.

"No." Ichiyo shook his head, his expression somewhat complicated. "He wasn't injured. But he destroyed the entire street."

Yūki: "... Huh?"

When he and Ichiyo rushed to the inn's lobby, they found that everyone had already arrived.

The children gathered to one side, Uchiha Hinata and Takuma stood together, Yamanaka Harukawa was so sleepy he kept rubbing his eyes, and even the Akimichi brothers were unusually not looking for food, obediently following their parents.

The adults' expressions... were neither entirely serious nor entirely relaxed.

Lord Madara stood to one side, his head slightly lowered, seemingly lost in thought. Elder Naoaki and Elder Jiangyi whispered among themselves, their expressions not very pleasant.

The others, Rokuhiko and Sasuke, all had solemn expressions.

Only Lord Hashirama was trying to force a "it's all right" smile, but the smile looked forced no matter how you looked at it.

Izuna himself was not present.

Yūki opened his mouth, wanting to ask something, but not knowing where to begin.

Hashirama cleared his throat. "Ahem, well... children, we won't go back to the village today. We need to go..." He paused, seemingly organizing his thoughts, "To help out."

"Go and repair the streets that Lord Izuna damaged last night."

Children: "..."

Harukawa was startled awake from his drowsiness.

Takuma muttered under his breath, "Beat... break... a whole street?"

Sarutobi Sasuke seemed to be recalling something, his expression somewhat dazed. "We crossed three city blocks and finally stopped at the edge of town."

The children fell silent.

Yūki's mind went blank.

He destroyed an entire street? How did he destroy it? Was it Lord Izuna? Why would he do such a thing?

No one explained it to him.

The group set off quickly. The adults walked in front, and the children were arranged to follow behind, like a group of tails.

Kyoto's streets are far more bustling than Konoha's; most of the shops are already open in the morning light, with cooking smoke mingling with the shouts of vendors at the early market.

But they bypassed the busiest areas and gradually ventured into deeper, more secluded regions.

Then, they passed through the Pleasure Quarter.

Yūki is something I've never seen before in a place like this.

It's not that they're unsophisticated; there are also Pleasure Quarter near the Senju Clan Compound.

During the Warring States period, many men were engaged at the age of 15, and Yūki was one of them. In a few months, he would marry the princess of the Land of Whirlpools. He had been to places like Pleasure Quarter once or twice.

In this day and age, paying to find women is commonplace.

But Pleasure Quarter Kyoto a different story altogether.

The vermilion railings, the exquisite lattice windows, and the silk curtains hanging in the morning light still carried the lingering fragrance of last night.

Wisteria flowers were planted on both sides of the street, creating a beautiful purple curtain everywhere.

A faint scent of perfume mingled with the aroma of wood and incense in the air.

But no one was in the mood to look around; only the children and women who had never tasted meat before were curious about the place because of its beauty.

Then, Harukawa softly exclaimed, "Wow! What a huge tree!"

Yūki followed his gaze.

In the Pleasure Quarter stands a Cherry Blossom tree.

Huge, towering Cherry Blossom trees.

It's not the flowering season, so the tree is covered in a lush green canopy, its deep, dense green layers piled up towards the sky, filtering the sunlight in that area into a warm, bluish-green hue.

The branches are thick and gnarled, each line etched with the marks of time.

Like a giant, open umbrella, it silently shelters this street woven from cosmetics and lights.

Yūki slowed its pace.

He imagined what it would be like in spring.

The trees are covered in pink and white blossoms like cascading clouds, and the falling cherry blossoms will probably dye the entire Pleasure Quarter a pale pink.

What a sight it must be to see those carved railings and painted beams appearing and disappearing in the rain of petals.

I really want to see it with my own eyes...

Ichiyo gently nudged him, and he snapped out of his daze and caught up with the group.

After leaving the Pleasure Quarter and passing through two quiet alleys, the view suddenly opened up before me.

Then, Yūki saw that street.

He stopped in his tracks.

That used to be a street.

Now, it's a Ruins.

The first thought that popped into Yūki's mind was:

It's so far away, no wonder I didn't hear it.

The second sentence:

Holy crap, what is this?!

Yūki stood on the edge of the Ruins, his mind blank.

He stood there, mouth agape, stunned for a full five seconds.

A street.

It's not just a room, not just half a wall, it's an entire street.

The bluestone pavement looked as if it had been scratched by the claws of some giant beast, with crisscrossing gullies stretching from one end to the other, the deepest of which had directly uprooted the foundation.

Some of the houses along the road were missing half a wall, while others had their entire roofs vanished, leaving smooth surfaces that could be used as mirrors.

Yūki suddenly realized that his brain wasn't quite up to the task.

What kind of attack could cause this kind of damage?!

"... Is this Ninjutsu?" Takuma asked softly, a hint of awe in his voice, "Wind Release?"

Hinata mumbled in a daze, "Wind Release... Lord Izuna shouldn't... use such a large-scale Wind Release... right?"

Harukawa was wide awake, his eyes wide as he scanned the horrifying slash marks, muttering, "What kind of technique was used...?"

Yūki finally shut his mouth. He blinked hard, forcing himself to look away from the smooth cuts and instead look around.

Then he noticed something else strange.

There was no wailing or lamentation.

There was no angry accusation.

There weren't even as many onlookers as he had imagined.

A few scattered civilians stood in the distance, their expressions less of fear and more of... disorientation?

An old woman stood in front of her house, where half a wall had been removed. Instead of crying, she poked the clean-cut section with her cane, muttering, "Oh dear, this is even neater than the old carpenter's work back in the day..."

Yūki:"..."

Is he still asleep?

Just as I was in a daze, a familiar voice came from ahead.

"Children, come here for a moment."

It's Hashirama.

Yūki straightened his back instinctively and walked briskly forward with the other children.

Hashirama stood in the center of the Ruins, the morning light shining on his face.

"Ahem," Hashirama cleared his Hashirama, "Well, we're not going back to the village today. We have a mission—a very urgent one."

He paused, as if organizing his thoughts.

"Repair this street."

Children: "..."

Yūki paused for two seconds, then spoke with difficulty, "Repair... the entire street?"

"Right."

"Within today?"

"Uh, it might take a few more days." Hashirama, a hint of embarrassment in his smile. "Well, it shouldn't be too long, right?"

Yūki fell silent once again.

He looked down at the Ruins stretching to the edge of the city wall.

Yes, Father.

No problem, Father.

If you say it needs fixing, then let's fix it.

Anyway, it's not the first time you've assigned me a task that sounds like a fantasy.

He sighed silently to himself and began to roll up his sleeves.

He silently followed the adults, carrying bricks and leveling the ground.

Just then, a timid voice came from the side.

"That..."

Yūki turned around and found a commoner boy, about his age, standing a few steps away, cautiously observing him.

The boy's gaze lingered on the Forehead Protector on his forehead for a moment, then quickly looked away, as if he had been burned.

"Are you... those Ninja masters from last night?" the boy asked.

"Yes." Yūki nodded.

The boy didn't speak, but looked again at his hand that was rolling up his sleeves.

"You... you're doing this?" The boy pointed to the rubble and wood on the ground, looking confused. "Aren't you Ninjas? Why are you doing this kind of work?"

Yūki stopped what it was doing.

He looked into the boy's eyes. There was curiosity, awe, and something else he couldn't quite explain... awkwardness.

It's as if it's saying: How can someone as capable as you do such dirty and tiring work?

Yūki found this question strange.

"Why not?" he retorted, picking up a rock nearly as big as himself from beside his feet. "We're the ones who destroyed this house."

He moved the stone to the designated spot, placed it securely, and straightened his back.

If you make a mistake, you should make amends; if you break something, you should fix it.

He dusted off his hands and spoke without thinking.

"Isn't this just common sense?"

The boy was stunned.

Yūki he uttered those words, he paused for a moment.

Yūki stood still, the morning light falling on his shoulders.

What did he just say?

--If you make a mistake, you should make amends; if you break something, you should fix it. Isn't that just common sense?

I can't believe I blurted those words out.

But this shouldn't be something that can be said out loud without question.

At least, not for him in the past.

Yūki's thoughts drifted back to a few years ago.

That was during the Warring States period, and he trained with his cousins.

Once, while practicing Water Release, he lost control and washed away a section of the low wall surrounding the clan's territory.

He was terrified, standing amidst the mud and water stains, waiting to be scolded.

The elders of the Senju did indeed criticize him.

He was criticized for having a weak foundation, insufficient self-control, and wasting Chakra.

But no one said: Go and fix the wall.

He had no idea who later built that wall.

Perhaps it was a craftsman from the clan who was specifically responsible for repairs, perhaps.

In short, it wasn't him.

In his mind, strength is for fighting, Ninjutsu is for missions.

Damage is damage; repairs are someone else's problem.

This is something a Ninja takes for granted.

So where does this sense of "taking it for granted" come from?

Yūki slowly moved a pebble aside, the movement somewhat mechanical.

Then he remembered.

It's Uncle Izuna.

Uncle Izuna is that kind of person.

He never believed that being "powerful" meant being able to ignore "responsibility".

He never felt that "no one would know if I did it" was a reason to "not do it."

He does many things not because anyone asks him to, not because there is any benefit to it, and not even because anyone will be grateful.

He just felt that this was the right thing to do.

Yūki recalled that once, Izuna came to the Senju Clan Compound on business, presumably to see his uncle Tobirama, but he encountered a lost child on the way.

The child was from an ordinary farming family, and he was squatting by the roadside crying.

Uncle Izuna stopped in his tracks.

He squatted down, asked the child a few questions, then took his hand and led him back to his anxiously searching parents.

When some clansmen later mentioned this incident in casual conversation, their tone was somewhat puzzled.

"The Uchiha vice- Clan Head personally escorted a commoner child home? It must have taken him almost half an hour, right? Why bother?"

When Yūki asked Izuna about it, Izuna was eating dango.

After listening, he blinked and asked, "Why not?"

At the time, Yūki didn't understand why Izuna acted so matter-of-factly.

Now he seems to understand.

It's simply because, in Uncle Izuna's eyes, it's abnormal to see someone in need of help and not lend a hand.

Of course.

Just like the sentence he blurted out earlier.

Yūki lowered his head, looking at his hands covered in dust.

Without realizing it, he began to think in that person's way.

When did it start?

He didn't know.

But he found that he didn't dislike the feeling.

"Hey, what are you spacing out for?"

A hand suddenly waved in front of his eyes.

Yūki snapped out of his daze and realized it was the same ordinary boy from before.

The boy walked up to him without him noticing, holding a small piece of wood in his hands, his expression awkward.

"Where... should I put this?"

Yūki paused for a moment, then pointed to the waste dump not far away. "Over there."

The boy said "Oh," and ran over, carrying the piece of wood.

Yūki watched his retreating figure.

Just now, this boy was asking, "Why do you do this kind of work?"

Now, he's involved himself.

The boy put down the piece of wood, dusted off his hands, and turned around to meet Yūki's gaze.

His face flushed, and he stubbornly said, "What are you looking at! This, this is my street! Of course I want to do my part!"

Yūki remained silent.

He bent down and continued moving another stone.

The sunlight gradually rose, falling on the Ruins, on the backs of the silent, hardworking Ninjas, and on the shoulders of the civilians who joined in one after another.

The farewell three days later was a complete mess.

On the way back from the chaotic scene, Yūki once again pondered that question.

What do I really want?

I want to become stronger. I want to be able to stand on my own even if my father and Uncle Tobirama are gone.

Furthermore, to become someone like Izuna, someone whose existence is taken for granted.

But how do we do it?

I am no match for any of them in Strength, nor can I match Uchiha Izuna in terms of charisma.

Especially after witnessing last night's overwhelming battle, and Izuna's seemingly silly but actually effective response afterward, Yūki felt that it was even more impossible to accomplish.

I'm still scared.

The feeling of fear started from that scene and continues to this day.

It has always existed.

On the way to find Izuna, Yūki clenched his fists.

This won't do! We need to find a way out before we're overwhelmed by the pressure!

I absolutely do not want to end up like Koremori...

Like that, becoming utterly despondent, and in the end, all they can do is... prove their innocence with their death!

This is absolutely unacceptable!

I need to become as useful as possible!

I am Senju Yūki! The son of the God of the Shinobi World, Hashirama Senju!