Parting

Back at the base, everyone changed out of their rain gear. Since Jiraiya had returned, Konan had sat on the tatami, lost in thought, and hadn't assigned them any training as she usually did after an evaluation. Noticing Jiraiya's unusual behavior, she hesitated, then asked, "Teacher, what are we going to do next?"

"Ah... oh!" Konan's question interrupted his thoughts, but Jiraiya wasn't annoyed. He gave an awkward laugh and sheepishly scratched his head.

"I was thinking about some things earlier and forgot to give you your instructions. After today, I won't be assigning you any more training..."

Jiraiya couldn't hide the sadness in his voice.

"How could that be? Why, Jiraiya-sensei?"

Yahiko blinked, unable to understand. But Jiraiya's mood gave him a bad feeling.

"Tea... Teacher, you're not..." Nagato clenched his fists. He'd prepared himself for this long ago, but after spending so much time together, he'd long since forgotten that thought. Jiraiya's strange behavior today made it impossible not to think of it.

"That's right." Jiraiya nodded, confirming Nagato's guess, and sighed.

"I'm returning to Konoha tomorrow. The village has sent me several orders to return over the years, but I stayed here because I wanted to look after you."

"And today, after that test, I feel you're strong enough to protect yourselves."

"You have to understand: true eagles don't hide under someone else's protection forever. If you want to soar through the skies, brave the winds, and fulfill the dreams you had at the beginning, you have to face the storms yourselves."

"Three years have passed. I've taught you everything you need to know about training as ninja. Your future is yours to create, and it's time for me to let go."

"How could it... happen so suddenly..." Konan stammered. Her voice broke near the end, and as soon as the words left her mouth, she hurriedly covered it with her hand. Her eyes grew damp.

"B-but..." Nagato struggled to get the words out, but couldn't manage more than that. He didn't know what to say about Jiraiya's decision.

He wanted to ask Jiraiya to stay, but knew it was impossible. Jiraiya was one of Konoha's Sannin. He had his own village and his own responsibilities. Staying in Amegakure to look after orphans like them had already been a selfish decision.

For their sake, Jiraiya had surely endured a great deal of pressure.

Now that Jiraiya had decided to return to Konoha, they, his students and citizens of the Land of Rivers, were the last people who had any right to ask him to stay.

Besides, Jiraiya was right. Hothouse flowers could never withstand the wind and rain. They were no longer war orphans who could barely survive from one day to the next. They were now capable ninja, and they had to take the first steps toward their dreams and future on their own.

Seeing how upset the young people were, Yuehua Ai hadn't wanted to make matters worse. But since he'd made his decision, it was better to tell them sooner rather than later, so they could prepare themselves.

"I'll be going to Konoha with Jiraiya-sensei this time!"

Yuehua Ai grinned and spoke up.

"What?!"

Konan cried out in surprise, and Yahiko and Nagato were just as astonished.

"Why do you have to leave too, Ai? Even if Jiraiya-sensei goes, we can take good care of you!" Konan grabbed Yuehua Ai by the arms, anxious.

Konan had always had complicated feelings about Yuehua Ai. On one hand, she thought of him as a younger brother, but his mature thoughts and behavior often made her feel as if he were the older brother looking after her. Ai was her friend and confidant. There were no secrets she couldn't share with him. Whenever she faced difficulties or setbacks in life, he was the first person she thought of turning to—not Nagato or Yahiko.

She always felt inexplicably safe around Ai. And yet he was still just a child. While she felt safe with him, all she wanted was to protect him forever. It was a deeply contradictory feeling, but Konan was content to lose herself in it.

Konan had never imagined being apart from Ai. They'd known each other for less than four years, but he'd already become indispensable to her. Like Nagato, she trained so she could protect the people she cherished. Yahiko and Nagato were both stronger than her and rarely needed her protection. Ai was no weaker than she was, but he was still a child. So the person Konan most wanted to protect and care for was Yuehua Ai. He wasn't just a cherished member of her family; he was also the reason she trained.

Yuehua Ai held a place in Konan's heart that no one else could take. She wanted to look after him for the rest of her life. She'd even imagined that if she ever married and started a family, she would still keep Ai with her. But today, before those thoughts could even come to fruition, they'd already fallen apart. Ai had actually decided to leave them and go with Jiraiya...

"It's not about whether you can take care of me!"

Faced with Konan's pleading gaze, Yuehua Ai turned his head away and forced a smile.

"Do you remember when Jiraiya-sensei first took us on as students and asked us why we wanted to become ninja?"

"Of course I remember..." Konan bit her lip, her gaze going distant for a moment. Three years had flown by, yet their first meeting with their teacher still seemed like it had happened only yesterday.

"I said back then that I wanted to become a ninja not only to protect the bonds I had with people, but also because I wanted to go out and see the world. The world is so vast, and the Land of Rivers where we live is so small. I want to see more of it, experience different places and customs, and explore the things that interest me... Besides, I've grown tired of the rain here over the years. I want to see brilliant sunshine and beautiful rainbows. We don't have those here..."

"..."

Ai's words made Konan's heart tremble. She knew this was what he wanted, but she couldn't bear to see him go—not even with her most respected teacher, Jiraiya.

She'd meant to try to talk him out of it, but when she saw the determination in his eyes, she could no longer hold back her tears. Even so, she clung tightly to Yuehua Ai's hand and pleaded, "But... but this is our home, and we're here too!"

Konan's tears pained Yuehua Ai. He didn't want to leave her and the others either, but when he thought about what lay ahead, he knew he needed enough strength to protect everything he cherished. To reach the level of strength he wanted—at least beyond Kage Level—there was no one and nothing in Amegakure that could help him achieve it. If he wanted to keep tragedy from befalling him in the future, he had to seize this chance to leave and pursue the power he needed to reach the pinnacle of the Ninja World.

With a comforting expression, Yuehua Ai reached out and gently wiped away Konan's tears.

"I don't want to leave you either, Konan. But I don't think I'm strong enough to protect you in the future, so I need to learn more ninjutsu. Yahiko and Nagato are here, and I trust them. I know they'll protect you, so I want to use this chance to go to Konoha and study with our teacher. After all, there's no genjutsu here that suits my spiritual talent, and I can't learn the Medical Ninjutsu I'm interested in either, so..."

Yuehua Ai trailed off and spread his hands. Konan understood what he meant.

She still wanted to argue, but in the end, she only hesitated and said nothing.

"Then... Ai, when will you come back?"

"Uh... I'm not sure. It'll probably be a few years at least..."

Yuehua Ai answered uncertainly.

"Oh." Konan lowered her head and bit her lip. A few seconds later, she looked up and spoke earnestly to Ai.

"If you've decided to keep training with Jiraiya-sensei, then we'll work even harder too. You don't like the rain here... so... when you come back, I'll make sure you see sunshine and rainbows here."

Konan's earnest words made Yuehua Ai's heart tremble, and a pang of sadness rose in him. He took a deep breath and finally managed to keep his feelings under control. Forcing a smile, he held out his hand in front of him.

"Then you'd better keep your promise!"

"Mm!" Konan nodded firmly, then laughed through her tears. She held out her hand and slapped it against Ai's. She knew what the gesture meant: as Ai put it, they were sealing their promise with a high five!

Once Konan was taken care of, dealing with Yahiko and Nagato was easy. As men, they couldn't let their feelings show like Konan did. They preferred to keep their emotions to themselves.

Men didn't need to say much to each other. They knew Yuehua Ai's temperament and understood that trying to persuade him wouldn't change his mind. He would comfort Konan and explain himself when she tried to talk him out of it, but he'd probably just ignore them. That jerk Ai had been the sort to favor girls over boys and romance over friendship ever since they'd met!

Seeing that Ai had sorted things out with Yahiko and Nagato without even waiting for him to bring it up, Jiraiya nodded to himself. A few days earlier, Ai had approached him and asked to go with him when he returned to Konoha. Jiraiya had been surprised by how perceptive he was. Ai had figured out from just a few unusual things Jiraiya had done recently that he would be leaving soon. His ability to connect the dots and make a decisive judgment suggested he had quite a talent for espionage.

Jiraiya had thought long and hard before deciding to take Yuehua Ai back to Konoha. Compared to Yahiko and the others, Ai was a better fit to bring back and help develop. First, he was younger and had met Jiraiya when he was still a child. Unlike Yahiko and the others, who were somewhat older, he hadn't yet been deeply marked by the Land of Rivers and Amegakure.

Second, although Ai was already quite strong, he would only waste his talent if he stayed here. Jiraiya knew little about genjutsu and Medical Ninjutsu, so Ai hadn't trained in either of those areas over the past three years. Only if he went back to Konoha would he have the chance to make full use of his talents and pursue his interests.

Jiraiya also had high hopes for Ai's future. Among the four of them, his talent was second only to Nagato's. He would grow into a powerful ninja one day; Jiraiya had never doubted it.

Sometimes, the days leading up to a parting were sadder than the parting itself.

Once it was clear that Jiraiya and Yuehua Ai would be leaving, everyone spent the whole afternoon in low spirits. The relief of having no training assignments did nothing to lift their mood.

After gaining some experience with the cooking, they put much more care into preparing the sand crabs this time. They tasted much better than before, but as everyone ate, the food seemed bland.

All evening, Jiraiya tried telling jokes and sharing embarrassing stories to distract everyone, but in the end, it didn't help much. The mood remained heavy until Jiraiya started talking about Konoha. He and Yuehua Ai talked with Yahiko and the others about the future, which finally lifted their spirits a little.

Even though he'd decided to leave, how could Jiraiya really be as carefree as he seemed? He was just as worried about the young people.

That evening, Jiraiya spoke with each of them in turn. It was, in a way, the last lesson he would give them.

Jiraiya spent the longest time alone with Nagato. Knowing Jiraiya's temperament, Yuehua Ai didn't need to guess that he was giving Nagato another lesson in emotional guidance. Jiraiya clearly cared a great deal about guiding the boy foretold to shape the future.

The mornings were still cold at this time of year. While the dawn mist still hung in the air, five figures were already standing outside the wooden house.

The night before, Jiraiya and Ai had packed their things. Ai had also spent the evening giving the young people the gifts he'd prepared after deciding to leave.

The gift Yuehua Ai gave Konan was a scroll containing his analyses of various jutsu. Konan's unique Paper Style required her to learn other jutsu and incorporate them into it, so Ai's notes on jutsu principles and analyses, which he'd compiled while studying, would undoubtedly help her.

Yahiko was also skilled in Taijutsu and ninjutsu, and he was even better at Taijutsu than Yuehua Ai. Ai had nothing much to teach him about that, and the only areas where he surpassed Yahiko were chakra control and creativity with ninjutsu. So he left Yahiko a scroll containing his ideas for modifying and developing Water Release Ninjutsu. It included jutsu he'd used before, such as Water Curtain Veil.

Nagato's talent was simply too great. Once he fully unlocked the potential of his Rinnegan, he would be just as he called himself in the future: a man destined to become a god. Ai had no idea what to leave him. Then he remembered what Nagato went through in the story, and an idea struck him. He gave Nagato a scroll containing three sentences and warned him to open it only at a critical time.

They couldn't avoid parting. With no more words of farewell, Yuehua Ai slapped hands with Yahiko and Nagato, then seized the chance to kiss Konan on the cheek. Before she could react, he ran off. Waving to them over his shoulder, he disappeared into the morning mist beside Jiraiya's towering figure.

Outside the little wooden house that had once been so lively, only two young men and a girl remained, silently grieving.