Nawaki's Death

Konoha Year 36.

After several years of development, goods from the Land of Rain had become bestsellers across the world and had also spurred a technological revolution in the Naruto world. Machinery was beginning to enter people's lives, though the great nations remained rather resistant to it!

The Land of Rain was no longer poor. It had transformed from a backward agricultural nation into a powerful industrial nation!

Due to Konoha's reparations, the Sand Village had also developed exceptionally smoothly, while Konoha had long since emerged from the shadow of war.

Uchiha Clan compound.

"Obito, come catch me!" A black-haired boy ran ahead cheerfully.

"Okay!" Obito chased after him, but whenever he was about to grab the other boy's clothes, the boy would dodge away, making him furious!

The black-haired boy was naturally Su Zheng. Development in the Land of Rain had already gotten on track, so he did not need to remain there every moment. Thus, he used an Identity Vest—Uchiha Jitsu—to come to Konoha.

After playing around for a while, Su Zheng heard Obito's stomach growl.

"Come on, let's go eat ramen!" Su Zheng said.

Obito said awkwardly, "I don't have any money!"

Su Zheng took his hand and said, "I have money. I'll treat you!"

Ichiraku Ramen Shop.

"Teuchi, two bowls of miso chashu ramen!" Su Zheng called out.

"Coming right up!" Teuchi replied.

At this time, he was still a teenager helping out at the shop!

Soon, two bowls of ramen were placed before them.

"Mmm!" The rich aroma assaulted his nose and stimulated his taste buds. Obito could no longer wait. He snapped apart his chopsticks, lowered his head, and began eating, while Su Zheng savored his bowl carefully.

The noodles were springy and smooth, while the broth was deeply flavored, rich, and fragrant!

It had to be said that this ramen was far more delicious than any ramen Su Zheng had eaten in the past. He simply could not stop.

After enjoying the meal, they paid the bill and left.

After agreeing to play together again tomorrow, they returned home.

Late at night, Senju Clan compound.

Whoosh! Su Zheng arrived at the location he had marked in advance.

He had investigated beforehand. Tsunade had gone out on a mission, and only Nawaki was home.

Huff, huff, huff!

Su Zheng looked at Nawaki, who was asleep, and injected the prepared jutsu formula into his body.

Death Substitute Jutsu!

The pale blue glow vanished, and the character "Substitute" appeared. A moment later, it faded away.

"Nawaki, for your sister's sake, you must not die!" Su Zheng vanished in a flash.

"Teacher Orochimaru, let's take this mission!" Nawaki took a scroll down from the mission wall.

Orochimaru glanced at it. "Investigate whether hostile ninja have appeared along the Land of Fire's border." It was merely a B-rank mission. With him present, there should be no problem.

"Okay!"

After returning from the Land of Rain battlefield, the three of them had become famous. Nawaki had just graduated from the Ninja Academy and wanted to become Orochimaru's disciple, and Tsunade had agreed.

After receiving training, Nawaki had achieved some success and had already advanced to chunin.

Land of Fire border.

In the forest, Nawaki landed on the ground. After surveying the surroundings, he picked up a fallen branch.

"There are trampled marks ahead. Is it this way..." Nawaki looked forward.

Orochimaru sighed inwardly. Nawaki's intelligence analysis abilities were gradually improving. Once his rash temperament was tempered, he would become an outstanding ninja.

Orochimaru naturally knew where those ninja were, but if he told Nawaki, there would be no point in training him.

Ahead, Nawaki saw a ninja fleeing and said, "Leave it to me, Teacher!"

Orochimaru had just wanted to warn him when Nawaki immediately leaped after the target!

At that moment, he suddenly stepped into a trap laid by the enemy.

BOOM!

A violent explosion from Explosive Tags erupted. Nawaki, caught inside, took the blast head-on. Yet within the smoke and dust, Nawaki's body completed a substitution in an instant!

Orochimaru stared at the flames before him and Nawaki's ruined body. Icy killing intent spread madly through him!

BOOM!

Orochimaru swiftly caught up to those ninja and executed them without mercy!

He stared blankly at the Cloud Ninja forehead protectors they wore!

Konoha.

Upon hearing the news, Tsunade could not believe it. Orochimaru had been by Nawaki's side. How could anything have happened to her younger brother!

But when she saw Orochimaru's pale face, terror overtook her. "Impossible! This isn't real!"

Jiraiya stopped Tsunade. "Don't look. It's too horrible!"

Tsunade shoved him away and saw Nawaki's body wrapped into a bundle. She burst into tears.

How could her younger brother be dead? Nawaki had said he wanted to become Hokage! He had said he would protect her!

Overwhelming grief washed over her, making Tsunade tremble all over.

Jiraiya could only keep comforting her, while Orochimaru contemplated the meaning of life.

The human body was simply too fragile. A single kunai or a single Shuriken could take a person's life.

"I will learn every jutsu in this world and grasp the only true truth of this world!"

"Before that, there is still one thing I must do!" Orochimaru thought silently.

Nawaki's death changed two people. Tsunade became withdrawn, immersing herself in gambling dens and taverns every day to numb the pain in her heart.

Orochimaru, meanwhile, descended into darkness. He began worshipping power and pursuing truth, and he colluded with Danzo, helping him carry out many inhumane experiments.

At the same time, Orochimaru infiltrated the Cloud Village and destroyed the seal of Blue B, the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki. This caused the Eight-Tails to go berserk, resulting in Blue B's tragic death and forcing the Cloud Village to search for another Jinchuriki.

Land of Rain, Development Department office building.

Because the Land of Rain was developing so rapidly, the original Development Department had no choice but to expand. Positions that everyone had once despised now made them say, "Ah, this is amazing!"

"How much of this year's economic target has been completed?" Su Zheng asked.

An official reported excitedly, "My lord, our gross domestic product has reached 165.3 billion ryo, an increase of roughly twenty percent from last year. We are expected to maintain this growth this year as well!"

How could he not be excited? A few years ago, the Land of Rain's GDP had only been 51 billion ryo. In just a few short years, it had more than tripled. This was practically a miracle!

Su Zheng merely glanced at him. And this gets you excited? You clearly don't know about a speed called the Eastern Miracle. That would truly scare you to death!

As expected of my lord! Such incredible composure. He does not even care about this amount of growth. I must work even harder in the future and never hold my lord back! The official admired Su Zheng even more!

Su Zheng asked, "How is population growth going?"

"My lord, thanks to your advance planning, we have taken excellent care of newborns. Therefore, the birth rate has been steadily rising. This year, it has reached 4.13 million, seven hundred thousand more than several years ago!"

Su Zheng pondered. The early planning had basically been realized, but it was still far from enough to achieve his dream!

He handed the official a document and dismissed him to carry out its contents.

It was a plan to improve the Land of Rain's identity system. As the Land of Rain grew wealthier, neighboring countries had gradually turned their attention toward it, and they had to be prevented from infiltrating.

Su Zheng had actually wanted to carry out modernization reforms long ago, but the conditions had not allowed it! This rotten system would only drag down the Land of Rain's progress. The Development Department had already become the de facto national government, and all resource allocation had to go through it.

The Daimyo should be swept into the garbage heap of history!

Thinking about his plans, Su Zheng headed toward his uncle Hanzo's home.

Hanzo's home.

"A Zheng, you haven't come by in quite some time. What brings you here this time?" Hanzo asked with a loving smile.

Su Zheng stepped forward and sat down. "I want to tell you about my next plan, Uncle..."

Hanzo waved his hand. "There's no need to tell me. Ever since I handed the important matters to you, I've had much more free time. I no longer have to suffer through those documents every day. Just make your own decisions. You don't need to report them to me!"

Several years ago, Hanzo had handed the Development Department to Su Zheng. He had originally thought it was merely a plan, but Su Zheng had actually succeeded, and things had only continued to improve. Hanzo was more than happy to relax, spending every day leisurely doing whatever he wanted. Life was wonderful!

Su Zheng said seriously, "Uncle, this time is different. It may lead to war with other countries, so I must tell you!"

Hanzo looked at him seriously and said, "Go ahead!"

"I want to send our people into the Land of Grass and the Land of Rivers, gradually bringing those two countries under our control!"

BOOM!

Like a thunderbolt splitting the pitch-black night, the words shocked Hanzo.

After a long while, Hanzo asked, "You want to control those two countries. Is there a reason?"

"There are two reasons. First, our factories need a great deal of raw materials from their countries. Their people have gradually joined together and want to force us to raise our prices. I will never allow such a vital lifeline to be held in someone else's hands!"

"Second, since we have already decided to intervene in their countries, rather than bicker with them endlessly, we might as well prepare to take those two countries completely for ourselves!"

Hanzo asked, "Then what about the Land of Birds, the Land of Fields, the Land of Iron..."

"Are you planning to hold every country in the palm of your hand?"

Damn! Uncle had seen through him. Then again, what normal person would harbor such enormous ambition?

Moreover, this was Hanzo. He might not understand economics very well, but he knew national politics perfectly!

Su Zheng looked at Hanzo somewhat guiltily. Since he had been exposed, he might as well admit it outright.

"Yes! Uncle, will you support me?"

Hanzo fell silent for a long time before saying, "If you want to do it, then go do it. I will always stand behind you!"

"Thank you, Uncle!" Those were the most heartfelt words Su Zheng had ever spoken.

"We're family. What are you thanking me for?"

Before dawn arrived, one had to endure the deepest darkness. Was this before the morning light, or after dusk?

PS: As mentioned earlier, some unreasonable events and characters will be changed. Nawaki was revised here, dying several years later. Also, Uchiha Fugaku and Uchiha Mikoto's ages were changed to fifteen to nineteen and twenty to twenty-three, respectively.