Wither and Flourish's Fall

"Do you know me?" As Senju Tobirama spoke his name, he kept a close watch on Hanyu Yu's facial expressions. Upon hearing the introduction, the latter was startled and surprised, yet beneath that emotion lay a faint trace of "as I expected."

"Ah... anyone who pays even the slightest attention to the Great War would naturally know the name of the Hokage of the Land of Fire. To ordinary people like us, you are one of the culprits responsible for our displacement and the separation of life and death." Hanyu immediately reined in his expression. Although the memories sealed away in his mind for years were churning, he could not afford to be too obvious... he even provided a seemingly reasonable explanation for his momentary emotional anomaly.

As he spoke, he pointed to the center of his forehead, signaling that the other person had a ninja emblem in that very spot. Although being a ninja was a highly mysterious profession, for an ordinary person, recognizing the symbol on a forehead protector was by no means impossible... it belonged to a ninja village called "Konoha."

The Land of Fire, Konoha Hidden Village, the Second Hokage—after the man stated his name, it was "logical and reasonable" for a civilian like Hanyu to accurately describe his identity...

Although, for Hanyu, if the man's face hadn't been half-covered in blood and half in mud, he should have recognized him much sooner; yet, he absolutely could not reveal anything unusual about that.

"A big shot, then..." Hanyu could only feign such a sentiment. In his mind, cross-referencing his memories, the sequence of events before him became clearer—the dying man in front of him was the Second Hokage, and the two who had just died in a heap outside should be Kinkaku and Ginkaku of Kumogakure.

"War, is it?" Under normal circumstances, Hanyu's near-accusatory words should have prompted the other to say something like, "War is never the business of one side; no one wants to start a war." But for Senju Tobirama at this moment, there was no need to say such things... even though Konoha was indeed the side being invaded in this current conflict, and their war should be described as a defensive counterattack, was it really necessary to quibble over such things with a stray child?

Senju Tobirama even considered himself the "culprit" Hanyu spoke of.

"How old are you?" Senju Tobirama asked Hanyu. Perhaps it was the final burst of energy before the lamp ran dry, but he seemed to have a bit more strength now.

"Thirteen? Probably around there, I don't remember clearly... is there a problem?" Hanyu answered subconsciously, following the other's lead.

"No, I just feel your words and actions don't quite match a child of that age, but... it is of no consequence."

Whether it was the clarity of his speech, his calm attitude, or the logic of his behavior, Hanyu's performance indeed did not seem like that of his age group... the most obvious characteristic of children was emotional behavior, which was completely absent in him.

A child of this age, if not a ninja, would be lucky not to scream and shout when facing a dying man like Senju Tobirama, let alone engage in a calm conversation.

The Second Hokage was puzzled by Hanyu's "precociousness," but it was not actually worth praising, boasting, or even specifically mentioning. After all, Hanyu might look young, but this was already his second life.

Unluckily, he seemed to have been born into a chaotic era. The only advantage was that if he dug deep into his memories, Hanyu could find some information about this chaotic world, or what was called the "Ninja World."

"When you've experienced enough, you naturally become more mature," Hanyu said ambiguously. By now, he had sorted out the memories in his mind and focused his attention on the matter at hand.

One was a figure among the Five Kage capable of shaking the world, the other was merely a "stray child." The disparity in their status was immense, but even greater than the difference in status was the fact that one was already a dying man, while the other had just begun his life.

"Can you do me a favor?" For Senju Tobirama, there was no time or need to dwell on trivial questions. "In a moment, please dispose of my remains. Someone like me carries too many secrets and intelligence, so I must prevent them from falling into enemy hands. The best way is to burn me to ashes and completely erase my existence."

"For such a significant matter, can't you handle it yourself?" Hanyu did not expect the other to make such a request.

"I originally had the strength and means to do so, but after treating your wounds, I am beyond caring for myself... as you can see, I cannot even stand up. Furthermore, asking someone to erase their own remains is, to say the least, quite heartless." At this moment, Senju Tobirama rarely displayed a side of black humor.

Yes, black humor... for a ninja who needed to protect secrets, disposing of one's own remains while committing suicide was a common occurrence.

Not giving Hanyu a chance to refuse, Senju Tobirama continued, "Through our conversation just now, I can tell you are someone who longs for a peaceful life. For the current world, there is no place safer than a ninja village. So, if you bring the news of my passing back to Konoha, they will take you in."

A ninja village was naturally relatively stable, but... "Would a ninja village just let an ordinary outsider settle down? Especially during wartime..."

Hanyu was tempted, yet even more doubtful.

"Konoha will take you in, as long as you are not a spy from another village. Give this to them, and everything will be fine," Senju Tobirama said firmly, placing a piece of paper on his lap.

Hanyu was certainly not a spy, but he did not understand why the other would trust a stranger like him. After all, this man was the Second Hokage, so he couldn't help but ask, "If you really are a big shot from Konoha, wouldn't handing you over to another village yield many benefits?"

"No, you won't."

"Why do you say that?"

"This place is closer to the border of the Land of Fire, much closer than to any other country."

"Understood..."

Even if only for the sake of safety, Hanyu would not go far when a closer option existed.

"Then, everything regarding me is settled," Senju Tobirama sighed deeply, whether in regret or relief, he did not know. After saying this, he never spoke again.

Hanyu also sat there quietly. He had no heart to think about the Hokage for the moment, only trying to suppress his own pain and slowly recover his strength.

"Hey."

About two hours later, he tried calling out to the other.

There was no reply; the tree hollow was silent.

Hanyu knew it was time to start his work.

He struggled to stand up and walked to the man's side. He first picked up the paper, finding it written in a code he couldn't read. Not caring about the content, Hanyu carefully placed it in his clothes.

Then, he reached out to check Senju Tobirama's breath, finding that he had indeed stopped breathing.

Given Hanyu's injuries, it was logically impossible for him to regain mobility so quickly. Since he could walk freely now, it was clear that the man had indeed treated him using some method.

The tree hollow was filled with fallen leaves and small dry branches. Hanyu did not move the body but piled these things all around him. Then, he turned and walked out of the hollow, searching in the drizzle for firewood that was damp but still capable of burning. After spending the better part of the day going back and forth, he finally filled more than half of the tree hollow with combustibles.

Starting a fire was not difficult for someone like Hanyu, who was used to wandering. However, before lighting the flame, he fell silent for a moment, then walked toward Senju Tobirama again and reached out to remove his forehead protector.

Then, he finally lit the fire. After confirming the flames had caught, he quickly retreated from the tree hollow.

Smoke spread rapidly. Under the heat of the flames, the chill brought by the autumn rain was dispelled. However, since it was in the rain and the fuel was merely wood, Hanyu still doubted whether such a fire could achieve the "burn to ashes" requirement the man had asked for.

But the next moment, his worry vanished, for with a few popping sounds from the flames, the fire surged as if a large canister of gasoline had been thrown into it. In no time, it consumed the entire tree along with the fire.

It seemed the flames had reached something the ninja carried, triggering a chain reaction.

To avoid being caught in the fire, Hanyu had to retreat further.

This tree, which would take ten people to encircle, must have grown for decades or even centuries, but in just a few breaths, it had turned into a huge, roaring torch... death was always shorter and more violent than growth.

Under the intense heat, the drizzle falling from the sky quickly turned into steaming mist, causing the surroundings to become shrouded.

He didn't know if this would cause a forest fire, but that didn't seem to be something Hanyu cared about. What he cared about was that it seemed he could fulfill his promise to the man. Thinking this, he glanced at the flames one more time... and the sight that followed made his hair stand on end.

Senju Tobirama's figure flickered in and out of the flames, but at this moment, Hanyu saw with absolute clarity that one of the man's hands had raised a thumb.

It seemed to be a gesture of praise for Hanyu fulfilling his end of the agreement.

In other words, even while being consumed by the raging fire, and even up to this very moment, Senju Tobirama had not only failed to die but had actually maintained his consciousness.

"Truly worthy of being... a ninja."

Ninjas never trust others easily, let alone a ninja like the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama.

Looking at the scene before him, Hanyu truly did not know how to describe his own feelings.

Having walked out of the era of war, followed his elder brother to pacify the chaotic world, possessed peerless intellect, never shied away from schemes and tricks, always speculated about his enemies with the most sinister intentions, ruthless and cold-blooded, with hands stained in blood, having waged war externally countless times and killed innumerable people, while maintaining high-pressure rule internally with a tough and somber style—Senju Tobirama's entire life had been spent in slaughter.

Yet, even for a man like that, slaughter was merely a means to achieve an end, never the goal itself. That he was willing to save the accidentally injured Hanyu was not out of kindness, but simply to illustrate a plain fact:

He was the Hokage of Konoha, not a bloodthirsty criminal or an anti-human terrorist.

In the sixteenth year of the founding of Konohagakure, the First Shinobi World War had reached a strategic stalemate, and Konoha was even preparing to conclude a peace and alliance treaty with its primary enemy, Kumogakure. However, it was precisely at the alliance ceremony that Kumogakure rebels launched a surprise attack, successively assassinating the Second Raikage and the Second Hokage, causing all the joint efforts made by both sides since the start of the war to go down the drain.

The figure in the flames vanished rapidly, yet the "torch" continued to burn until nightfall, by which time Hanyu had long since departed.

Not long after, as dawn approached, the rain finally ceased. The faint morning light reflected off the azure sky after the rain, and Hanyu looked back at the place where he had stayed the previous night. The rolling mountains and lush vegetation naturally blocked his line of sight; he had no way of knowing what the situation was like there anymore, yet... as he gazed out, everywhere his eyes could reach, the world after the rain was filled with exceptionally beautiful scenery.

"Konoha, is it..."

Compared to constant wandering, Konoha might be a better choice for Hanyu.

One rain stops here, and another will fall on the horizon beyond one's sight.