Death

Five months later, Shiraishi Eizawa died.

He had used the Cocoon Binding Technique in front of Shiraishi Yoshijo and taken his own life.

Many people came to the house.

Shiraishi Yoshijo merely stared at them coldly.

Since Shiraishi Eizawa had been stripped of his ninja status, his name could not be engraved on the Memorial Stone.

So he built a burial mound for Shiraishi Eizawa outside the village.

After Shiraishi Eizawa died, he summoned his Butterfly Seed.

Shiraishi Eizawa, now a Ninja Butterfly, stood before him just as he always had.

He knew perfectly well that this was not the real Shiraishi Eizawa, but he could not stop himself from looking.

Even his parents could not compare with how much he cared for this uncle.

When he was young, his father had been busy, and his mother had a mountain of things to do.

Only Shiraishi Eizawa had nothing to do, and he spent every day playing with him at home.

Shiraishi Yoshijo would always climb onto his back and have him carry him around.

Sometimes, when he felt mischievous, he would pee right down the back of his uncle's neck, then watch as Eizawa scowled, wanting to hit him but unable to bring himself to do it.

Whenever that happened, Shiraishi Eizawa would ignore him for days. Then, as soon as Yoshijo went to apologize, the two of them would be playing together again.

After his parents died, he had never really blamed Shiraishi Eizawa.

Eizawa had simply been too sensitive and too afraid to face himself.

Their relationship had improved over the past few years, but they had never managed to recapture how things used to be.

Back then, Shiraishi Eizawa had been like an older brother. Later, he had become more of an elder.

It started to rain.

Shiraishi Yoshijo opened his umbrella and walked outside the village, where he saw the lonely grave.

He placed the umbrella over the gravestone and stood in the rain.

"You used to shield me from the wind and rain. Now it's my turn. You always say death isn't the end, but as far as I'm concerned, when you're dead, you're dead."

"I won't accept that nonsense about Ninja Butterflies being family. Especially when it calls me 'my lord.' I'll never accept that."

"I'm the only one left in this family. You told me to take care of the rest of the clan, but the truth is, I don't want to bother with them."

"But I can't help it. Since you said so, I'll try. Just don't get your hopes up. I'm selfish, after all."

After rambling on for a long while, Shiraishi Yoshijo fell silent.

He knew perfectly well that mourning the dead was meaningless.

Whether the Shi-Die had declined because of a conspiracy or politics, its downfall had been inevitable.

Or perhaps this was simply the fate of every shinobi clan in Konoha.

The Will of Fire would burn away every fallen leaf beneath the great tree, leaving fresh shoots to grow in their place.

Konoha would still be Konoha.

He followed the path back, but had no desire to go home. Instead, he headed to the Memorial Stone.

Someone was already standing in front of it.

Shiraishi Yoshijo walked over and stood beside him.

Neither of them spoke.

Shiraishi Yoshijo stared silently at the familiar names engraved on the Memorial Stone.

He didn't know how much time had passed before a hoarse voice sounded beside him.

"I heard someone in your family passed away?"

Shiraishi Yoshijo ignored him and turned to leave.

"You should know that this is the fate of a shinobi. Everyone has their own fate. Do you really think you made the right choice?"

"I heard you've been working as a caregiver these past two years. Is that kind of meaningless work really the path you chose?"

Shiraishi Yoshijo sighed. Without turning around, he said, "Orochimaru, I'm a caregiver, not a shinobi. And meaningless doesn't mean it has no meaning."

"As for fate, I believe in myself, not destiny. You're getting more and more boring. You're even starting to seem ridiculous."

After taking more than half a year off, Shiraishi Yoshijo returned to work at the hospital.

Wearing his clan's brightly colored clothes and a cigarette between his lips, he strutted down the street, drawing countless strange looks along the way.

Shiraishi Yoshijo didn't care in the slightest.

He wore the clan clothes because he wanted to. Nobody was forcing him, and he'd probably wear them for the rest of his life.

As for smoking, he'd been a longtime smoker in his previous life. Now he was simply picking the habit back up.

He was alone now, after all. No one could interfere with his freedom.

When he arrived at the hospital, the strange looks still hadn't stopped.

Shiraishi Yoshijo shrugged. Of course he knew why people were looking at him that way.

After all, from the outside, he still looked like a ten-year-old child.

A boy, too, who happened to be dressed like a girl.

And with a cigarette in his mouth, the incongruity was almost unbearable.

In the hospital corridor, Kawadome tugged on Takemoto Anna and asked, "Anna, why has that guy gotten so weird? He used to at least look normal. Now he's practically a lunatic."

Takemoto Anna gritted her teeth. "How should I know what goes on in a lunatic's head?"

Shiraishi Yoshijo picked at his ear. "Could you stop badmouthing people to their faces?"

"And Kawadome, are you really in a position to talk? Take a look at yourself. What kind of girl looks like that?"

Kawadome began grinding her teeth. Takemoto Anna hurriedly held her back. "This is a hospital, and we're still on the clock. Don't make a scene."

Kawadome huffed and turned to leave.

Takemoto Anna took a couple of steps forward. "Could you please stop smoking?"

Shiraishi Yoshijo casually tossed the cigarette butt in his hand onto the ground. Takemoto Anna frowned at the sight.

"I know you're unhappy about Uncle Eizawa's passing, but you don't have to act like this, do you?"

Shiraishi Yoshijo didn't answer. Instead, he spun around a few times on the spot and asked, "Do I look good?"

A vein popped on Takemoto Anna's forehead. She gritted her teeth and said, "You look beautiful. More beautiful than me."

Shiraishi Yoshijo nodded. "At least you know your place. Anyway, that's how it is. You have to look ahead. You'll have to learn to get used to it."

"Don't use your own thoughts to judge me. The me from yesterday isn't the same as the me today, and the me today won't be the same as the me in the future."

"But can you say I'm not myself?"

"I'm me, and I'm standing right here. You might not understand what I'm saying, but that's okay. You'll have plenty of time to think it over."

"I'm saying all this because I want you to know that people change, and they're fickle."

"Maybe you think I'm wrong today, but tomorrow you might decide I wasn't."

"People are really rather boring."

After launching into a long-winded speech, Shiraishi Yoshijo returned to the office.

Takemoto Anna stood there, utterly bewildered. Her face gradually turned livid as she remembered her grandfather telling her to marry Shiraishi Yoshijo.

Just being around someone like him made her uncomfortable. Spend her whole life with him?

She felt like she was going to turn into a lunatic herself.

Shiraishi Yoshijo began using Medical Ninjutsu at the hospital.

It soon caused a sensation.

Then he came here.

In the Hokage Office, the four top officials stared blankly at Shiraishi Yoshijo. He stood there with a cigarette in his mouth, looking utterly nonchalant, and none of them could find a word to say.

After waiting a while and seeing that they still had no intention of speaking, Shiraishi Yoshijo grew impatient.

"Lord Hokage, esteemed advisors, and Lord Danzo, if there's nothing else, I'll be going. I could've read a few pages in the time you've wasted."

"Wasting someone else's time is the same as wasting their life. I'll be off."

His words were quite rude, but they had only themselves to blame for looking at him that way.

Shiraishi Yoshijo had been thoroughly fed up these past few days. Anyone would be irritated if people kept gawking at them like a monkey in a cage.

If these men weren't all high-ranking officials in Konoha, he would've started cursing them already.

In fact, he'd already lost his temper at the hospital more than once. He had quite a short fuse.

Seeing Shiraishi Yoshijo actually turn to leave, the Third Hokage finally gathered his scattered thoughts.

First, he offered his condolences for Shiraishi Eizawa's passing, then asked about his Medical Ninjutsu.

Shiraishi Yoshijo simply tossed him a scroll.

There was nothing particularly special about Medical Ninjutsu. If he could develop it, then other people could too.

In fact, as long as someone had sufficiently precise Chakra control, developing this kind of Ninjutsu was remarkably easy.

Seeing Shiraishi Yoshijo toss the scroll over, the Third Hokage's mouth twitched. "Yoshijo, that's not what I meant."

"I meant to ask if you've considered joining the Anbu. There are quite a few people in the Anbu who know this kind of Ninjutsu."

Shiraishi Yoshijo didn't look particularly surprised at this.

He'd always thought it strange that there were no medical shinobi in Konoha's public ranks.

Now it seemed that the Third Hokage had been keeping all these people hidden as special talents.

Perhaps they would only come out one by one when Tsunade began promoting Medical Ninjutsu in earnest.

He had no interest in talking with those people, and ignored the Third Hokage's veiled suggestion.

"I'm just a doctor who doesn't even have shinobi status. The Anbu's standards are too high. I'm afraid I'd break my leg trying to get in."

The Third Hokage was at a loss for words. He recalled his last meeting with Shiraishi Yoshijo, then looked at the impatient child before him.

If not for that familiar face, he would've thought they were two different people.

It seemed Shiraishi Eizawa's death had affected him deeply!