Journey to the Land of Waves

Itachi left. From today onward, Itachi would become a S-rank rogue ninja of Konoha, and also the person his own younger brother would most want to kill.

Yamei flashed back to the agreed-upon location. Izumi was there, with twelve three- and four-year-old children, hiding in a corner.

Seeing Yamei arrive, Izumi came out. "Are you done?"

"One more thing. Wait here for a moment. I've set up a genjutsu here, so you don't need to be so vigilant." After speaking, Yamei turned and headed towards Uchiha Fugaku's house.

On the stairs, Sasuke lay unconscious, his expression contorted... his face filled with terror.

With just one glance, Yamei walked towards the living room.

As soon as he entered, he saw two corpses lying in pools of blood. They were Fugaku and Mikoto.

"Itachi is truly something... he actually destroyed his Mangekyo! I don't even know what to say." Yamei shook his head as he looked at Fugaku's damaged eyes.

He could have taken them to achieve Eternal Mangekyo.

But he chose destruction. It seemed he truly loved his younger brother!

Shaking his head, Yamei gently snapped his fingers.

Mikoto's figure dissolved like foam. On the living room sofa, the figure of a beautiful woman appeared, her expression somewhat vacant. She remained unresponsive even as Yamei approached her.

Besides the twelve children, Yamei had left genjutsu imprints on Mikoto and Izumi when he interacted with them. Uchiha Itachi was unaware of this.

"Aunt Mikoto, having already died once, how will you choose? Will you continue to die to fulfill Itachi's ideals? Or will you leave with me?"

Yamei reached out and lifted Mikoto's chin. Her slightly unfocused eyes met his, and slowly, a spark of consciousness returned.

Tears slid down her cheeks.

She was lost. The reason she could face death with equanimity was simply because she didn't want to see her own flesh and blood fight each other, not for the sake of the village.

But as the suffocation of death enveloped her, she ultimately felt fear!

No one could be unafraid of death. Even if they felt no fear before death, they would ultimately tremble at the moment of its arrival.

As the fear subsided, she realized she hadn't died. She also learned the true reason for Itachi's actions and saw that Itachi hadn't even heeded her request to take good care of Sasuke.

It seemed the familial affection she cared about had become a joke at this moment.

Having died once, she seemed to have broken free from the shackles of home at this moment.

Before, she had done it for this home, for Itachi, for Sasuke!

But she had died.

Now... perhaps she should live for herself?

Seeing the change in Mikoto's eyes, Yamei nodded as if understanding. "It seems you've made a choice. Come with me then."

"Everything you see is fleeting. Don't dwell too much on your rebirth. Everyone has their own path, and you've already done enough."

Mikoto followed behind him silently. Hearing Yamei's comforting tone, she said softly, "Thank you."

Yamei said no more. Many things needed to be understood through one's own enlightenment, and Mikoto was at such a moment.

It was a pity, though. While Mikoto had the talent for the Sharingan, she couldn't compare to Izumi and had failed to awaken her Mangekyo.

Izumi and Mikoto were momentarily stunned when they met, but both were preoccupied with their own thoughts and only exchanged a simple greeting.

Yamei looked at the two women and said, "In a little while, I'll take you out of the village to a place to stay temporarily. I'll find a suitable place for you to settle down in about three days."

"I'll listen to you," Izumi nodded directly.

Mikoto also nodded in agreement.

The next morning, the Ninja Academy's classes proceeded as usual.

However, Sasuke was absent due to leave, and the atmosphere among Shikamaru and the others was somewhat strange.

"What's wrong, everyone?" Naruto and Sakura also sensed the strange atmosphere, lowering their voices.

"The Uchiha Clan has been wiped out," Yamei explained to them.

They were still civilians for now and wouldn't be able to get this kind of news so quickly.

"What!?"

The two exclaimed, then thought of Sasuke's absence, a flicker of worry in their eyes.

Although Sasuke and Naruto often bickered, their relationship after more than two years of special training was naturally not bad.

"Let's go to the hospital to see him after school this afternoon," Yamei suggested.

"No problem," Ino nodded.

"Let's follow Yamei's lead," Shikamaru agreed.

In the afternoon, they visited the hospital. Sasuke lay on the hospital bed, looking dejected. He merely thanked them for their visit.

No one said much, and they left after their visit.

As night fell, Yamei left Konoha and arrived at a small tribe in the Land of Fire.

"Yamei."

Izumi and Mikoto came out from a courtyard.

"I'm ready. I can take you to a brand new place to live now."

Yamei had taken the day off from the Ninja Academy and had set up a Genjutsu in his own yard, so leaving for a while wouldn't be a problem.

"Thank you for your trouble," Mikoto said gratefully.

She had spoken a lot with Izumi today, and seeing the twelve Uchiha children had also given her much to think about.

Since she had started a new life, why should she dwell on the past? It would just take some time to adjust.

"It's nothing."

Yamei waved his hand and took out some dumplings from his pocket, handing them to Izumi. "Here, these are for you and the children."

Izumi's eyes lit up, and her somewhat bitter mood turned much sweeter at that moment.

"Thank you."

After everyone prepared, they set off in Yamei's lead towards the Land of Waves.

As they got closer, Yamei also activated the Empathic Mark.

After all, there were too many children. Even though Izumi possessed great strength and Mikoto was at Jonin level, their travel speed wasn't fast.

It took them four days to finally leave the borders of the Land of Fire and reach the seaside.

"Huh!? Doesn't the Land of Fire have a port on this side?" Yamei asked, looking at the empty coastline in surprise.

Puchi... Seeing Yamei's expression, Izumi couldn't help but chuckle.

Mikoto explained softly from the side, "Because the Land of Waves doesn't have a ninja village, they consider themselves weak and rarely interact with other countries. Any interactions are purely commercial routes."

Yamei was taken aback. He suddenly remembered the future plan to build a bridge in the Land of Waves, which was precisely to establish contact with the Land of Fire...

"There's no one here either, and it's still early. Let's just build a boat," Izumi suggested.

"It seems that's the only way. There are no signs of habitation nearby either," Mikoto agreed helplessly.

Yamei was about to agree when his mind suddenly stirred, and he shook his head. "No need. Someone will come to pick us up shortly."

"Pick us up?" The two women were surprised simultaneously.

They actually didn't know why Yamei had chosen the Land of Waves, but Yamei was their pillar of support now, so they had never asked.

Now it seemed that Yamei had made arrangements in the Land of Waves in advance!