Rebuilding After the Storm

The storm finally subsided in the early morning.

A sliver of gray appeared on the horizon, and the fog over the sea had not yet dissipated.

The fierce winds that raged from midnight until dawn finally subsided, blowing the last piece of rubble to some unknown place before silently ceasing.

Miraculously, after the storm subsided, although all the houses were gone, everyone landed safely on the ground.

One by one, they floated down slowly from mid-air, like dandelion seeds scattered by the wind, gently falling back to the ground.

After landing on the ground, everyone was exhausted.

The nobles lay in the rubble, their hair ornaments askew, their clothes stained with vomit, too exhausted even to curse.

The Samurai sat leaning against the broken wall, their swords lying at their feet, too lazy to pick them up.

The assassins and killers, exhausted from the fall, lay there stiffly, staring at the sky.

Ordinary People are with their family and friends; some are hugging and crying, some are sitting blankly, and some are still vomiting.

They didn't have the energy to think about why they had suffered such a calamity and how they had even survived.

Izuna stood amidst the Ruins, gazing at the devastation.

He didn't sleep all night.

He's been standing here since last night, watching those people in the sky go around all night.

He was the one who fanned the wind, but he didn't expect it to make such a big commotion.

He tried to stop, but it was his first time using the Banana Palm Fan, and he couldn't control his strength at all. Moreover, he was really angry, and once he swung the fan out, he couldn't take it back.

The wind blew from midnight until dawn, and he stood there until dawn, searching the entire Summer Festival venue of the Land of Hot Water, but he couldn't find a single intact bench to sit on.

I got even angrier.

It's all your fault!

Izuna's voice echoed across the Ruins in the early morning, full of energy, not at all like someone who had stayed up all night.

Everyone looked up at him.

"Now I don't even have a place to sleep!"

Everyone: "..."

Is this something that doesn't happen in a sleeping area?

Don't you know why you have nowhere to sleep?

The thousands of people looked at each other, some opening their mouths as if to say something, but their throats were still full of the acid from last night, and they couldn't squeeze out a single word.

One nobleman was so angry he was trembling. He pointed at Izuna's nose, wanting to curse, but his hand trembled for a long time before finally falling limply to his side. He then turned over and continued to lie down.

Ban leaned against the broken wall, his complexion not looking good.

He got caught up in it too.

Madara Uchiha, spent the entire night flying through the sky with a group of commoners and nobles, vomiting countless times, and is now extremely dizzy.

Hashirama squatted to the side, his hands supporting his knees, his face ashen.

He didn't vomit much, but he felt dizzy and lightheaded from all the spinning; everything looked blurry to him now.

Tobirama had returned sometime earlier and was watching everything with a blank expression.

He was the only one who wasn't caught up in it, because he teleported directly back to Konoha, spent the afternoon reviewing documents, and returned once in the middle of the night to find the storm still ongoing, so he went back to sleep.

He glanced at the Ruins and the people lying scattered on the ground, then looked at Izuna standing angrily in the middle, and his lips twitched.

"Uchiha Izuna."

Izuna turned his head. "What!"

Tobirama pointed around. "Look what you've done!"

"What did I do!" Izuna's voice rose another notch. "I messed up my rescue attempt? What could I do if these people wouldn't follow orders? I couldn't possibly tie them all to the pillars one by one!"

You're exaggerating.

"There's no other way!"

They vomited all night.

"... I stood all night too!"

Tobirama remained silent for two seconds, then finally sighed and said nothing more.

Seeing his "I can't be bothered arguing with you" expression, Izuna got even angrier, but she didn't know who to vent her anger on, so she could only pluck the feathers off her fan and stand there sulking.

The morning sunlight climbed over the sea and fell on the devastated Land of Hot Water.

The rubble, broken walls, overturned stalls, scattered goods, and people lying haphazardly were all bathed in a warm, golden glow.

People finally calmed down, and some recognized their family members, hugging each other and crying.

Some people were still in a daze, sitting there in a daze.

Some people had already started looking for something to eat, after all, they had vomited all night and their stomachs were very empty.

Izuna stood in the middle of the Ruins, looking around. "Everyone's recovered? If everyone's recovered, then let's start cleaning up."

No one moved.

Izuna waited for a moment and found that everyone was still in the same place, not a single person moved.

"What?" He clapped his hands with his Banana Palm Fan. "You want me to blow on you again?"

A nobleman propped himself up and pointed at Izuna's nose. "You... what kind of attitude is this! We are the victims! How dare you... how dare you make us do this kind of rough work!"

Izuna stared at him expressionlessly.

"Victims?" he repeated the three words, his tone flat. "If you had listened earlier and taken Ordinary People in to protect them as well, would I have gotten this angry?"

"Those lowly people..."

"You lowly people, my foot!" Izuna cursed. "Who gave you the audacity to refuse my decision as your savior! I had absolutely no obligation to save you! Saving you was a favor! Not saving you was my right!"

"The houses have collapsed, the roads are blocked, and everything is buried. If you don't want to be sleeping in rubble tonight, get moving!"

"Move stones, clear roads, dig things up, build sheds—do whatever you can! Those who can't, lie down somewhere else! Don't get in the way!"

A moment of silence fell over the Ruins.

Then Hiroyama stepped forward.

The Yakuza leader dusted himself off, glanced back at his disheveled men, and bent down to lift a broken beam that was pressing down on the shop entrance.

His men followed suit, bending down one after another to begin clearing the Ruins.

Ise Haruto sighed and led his clansmen into action.

Seeing that these important figures were starting to move, Ordinary People also gradually stood up and bent down to move the rubble.

An old woman squatted on the ground, picking up the scattered dumplings one by one, blowing off the dust, and putting them into her basket.

Several children were instructed by adults to pick up the bamboo poles and wooden strips scattered on the ground and pile them up in one place.

The nobles remained unmoved, acting as if they were as thick as a rock and as hard as ice.

Izuna sneered, and without saying a word, he raised his fan, sweeping them all into the sky. They flew for a moment before coming down.

The other nobles, who had just recovered and hadn't yet started to retaliate, were terrified at the sight. One by one, they scrambled out of the rubble, brushed the dirt off themselves, and bent down to work.

After a while, the punished nobles descended from the sky.

One of the nobles, clutching his aching back, scrambled to his feet from the rubble, pointed at Izuna, and stammered, "You... you said we could lie flat..."

Izuna tilted her head to look at him, a faint, ambiguous smile playing on her lips.

"I'm talking about those who really can't get up or have difficulty walking." He twirled the Banana Palm Fan in his palm. "If you still want to ascend to heaven, just say so."

The nobleman's face turned deathly pale.

He opened his mouth, but said nothing. He turned around, bent down, and shakily picked up a piece of rubble, moving it towards the edge of the Ruins.

Izuna stood amidst the Ruins, his gaze sweeping over them.

He knew these people were unwilling.

Even if they experience the hardships of commoners, it won't change their minds. These nobles inherently believe they are superior. Making them move a few stones will only make them hate those who "caused them to suffer."

Therefore, Izuna kept a close eye on it.

A nobleman, after carrying two stones, leaned against the wall, panting. Izuna sent him flying into the air with a wave of his fan, where he spun around three times before falling back down. When he landed, he was deathly pale and never complained of being tired again.

Taking advantage of the chaos, a nobleman deliberately pushed rubble at a commoner nearby, hoping to get his money back if the man refused.

Izuna saw this, swung his fan, and the two of them went up into the sky together. After they had spun around enough, they came down. As for the money? Izuna picked it up, weighed it in his hand, and accepted it.

Some commoners saw the easy-going nobleman and tried to bully him. Izuna was also blown away by the wind.

A Ninja tried to slip away in the chaos, but after taking only a few steps, the wind caught up and swept him back to his original spot.

One of the Ninjas, unconvinced, got up from the ground and shouted at Izuna, "You're just relying on Divine Artifact! If you're so capable, put down your fan and fight me fair and square!"

Izuna looked at him and smiled.

Then he tucked the Banana Palm Fan into the arms of Mokushō, who was sitting like a quail.

Then he stretched his wrists and said, "Okay, I've got Divine Artifact, huh?"

He beckoned to the Ninja with his finger, "Come here."

The Ninja charged forward.

Then he flew away, and this time when he fell, there was no wind to catch him. If it weren't for his Ninja physique being better, he would be a meat patty by now.

When the Ninja landed, he lay face down on the ground and didn't move for a long time.

Izuna dusted off his hands and glanced around.

No one spoke anymore.

After subduing this unruly group, Izuna glanced around.

Thousands of people lay scattered on the Ruins, some moving stones, some picking up things, some leaning against the wall panting, and some retching.

Many of them were injured, blood seeping from under their clothes, and their faces were deathly pale.

So he asked loudly, "Who knows medicine, or Medical Ninjutsu?"

A moment of silence fell over the Ruins.

Then several people raised their hands.

A middle-aged man in a gray coat stood up from the crowd, his sleeves rolled up, his fingers bearing the marks of years of grinding medicine.

He was accompanied by a young woman carrying a cloth bag, from which the edges of several rolls of bandages were visible.

On the other side, a tall, thin Ninja leaned against the broken wall, his raised hand still glowing with Chakra, suggesting he knew some Medical Ninjutsu.

Izuna waved his hand. "Go, treat those who are injured. You'll get paid for healing them."

The group was initially reluctant, but upon hearing that there was money to be made, they immediately became enthusiastic.

Izuna glanced around again. "There are still the dead... gather them up first, then dig a pit and bury them."

The air froze when those words were spoken.

In last night's chaos, not everyone made it to the ground alive.

Those who were blown away by human bombs, pierced by poison needles, impaled by hidden weapons, trampled, or engulfed by fire had long since lost their breath.

Their bodies were scattered throughout the Ruins, covered in rubble, and stiffened by the wind all night.

Hiroyama's men made the first move.

Several Yakuza silently walked to the edge of the Ruins, dug out the bodies that were trapped under the broken beams, and carried them one by one to the open space.

Ordinary People gradually joined in, some lifting arms, some lifting legs, and some covering the deceased's face with rags.

No one spoke.

Izuna stood there for a while, pinched the bridge of his nose, and couldn't help but feel his eyelids drooping.

Having not slept all night, and with all that commotion just now, his eyelids were incredibly heavy.

Ban walked over from the other side of the Ruins and helped him up.

"Go to sleep for a while."

Izuna hummed in agreement and followed Madara to sit down next to a tree that hadn't been blown away by the wind. He soon fell asleep with his head tilted to the side.

Ban sat down next to him, leaning against the tree trunk, and looked at the people still clearing the Ruins in the distance.

The morning sunlight grew brighter and brighter, illuminating the entire Ruins.

The sea breeze blowing from the direction of the pier gradually carried away the lingering smells of smoke and burnt food from last night.

After Izuna left, the people on the Ruins visibly breathed a sigh of relief.

Some people started to dawdle, taking a break against the wall after moving a couple of stones, their eyes darting around, only choosing the easiest tasks.

One nobleman simply squatted in a corner, covered his face with his sleeve and pretended to be asleep. When someone nudged him, he even pretended to snore.

Even if Izuna and Madara are gone, there are still Hashirama and Tobirama.

Hashirama stood amidst the Ruins, his brow furrowing as he looked at those who were slacking off and trying to get away with it.

He's usually a kind person, and anyone can joke with him, but this time was different.

People died in the chaos last night. Their bodies are still lying in the open, covered with rags, and blood seeps out from under the rags, staining the ground dark red.

The surrounding area is still in Ruins; it's uncertain whether the body can be buried today.

Even Hashirama would be a little angry if someone were slacking off at a time like this.

He walked over to the nobleman who was pretending to be asleep, bent down, and patted him on the shoulder.

"My lord."

The nobles didn't move.

Hashirama repeated, "My lord, wake up."

The nobleman rolled over and mumbled something incoherent in his sleep.

Hashirama sighed.

The next second, a thick Vines emerged from the crack in the rubble beneath the nobleman, wrapped around his waist, and lifted him upwards.

Before the nobleman could even open his eyes, he was lifted by the Vines and swung around twice in the air.

The wind rushed into his mouth, and he cried out "Ah ah!" twice, the fan in his hand flying far away.

The Vines stopped and gently placed him back on the ground.

The nobleman lay on the ground retching for a long time. When he finally raised his head, his face was deathly pale, and he dared not pretend to be asleep any longer.

Hashirama looked at him with a smile, his tone still gentle. "Are you awake? If you are, get back to work."

The few lazy ones nearby quickly bent down to move the stones; no one dared to dawdle any longer.

Tobirama then directed the construction of a temporary base.

"Take some men and build a shed under that big tree on the east side. Use the broken pillars for the wood, and take the canvas from the collapsed stalls."

"Take some men and clear that open space. Sweep all the broken tiles to the side and use it as a place to eat."

"Go and count the number of people, separate those who can work from those who need care, and gather the wounded in one place, don't let them mix with the healthy ones."

"And," he glanced up at the Merchants in the distance, "Go and call the people out of their shops, ask them if they have any surplus grain."

The Ninjas accepted the order and left.