Questions

"Ha, ha, ha!" Yizhe laughed heartily.

Ever since his hands had been injured, he had constantly worried whether they could truly be healed. It was only after meeting Tsunade that he had seen hope.

Now that he had finally recovered, all his gloom was swept away!

"Why are you making so much noise?" Tsunade covered her ears, her willow brows raised in displeasure.

"Let's go, we're heading back! I'm starving!" she muttered as she packed all kinds of surgical instruments into a scroll.

"Are you coming or not?" Tsunade frowned and shouted.

She jumped out of the snow pit and saw Yizhe still standing there blankly, staring at his hands and turning them over and over.

"Mm!" Tsunade's shout startled Yizhe.

"I'm coming!"

With that, he used the Body Flicker Technique to leave the snow pit after her.

"They're just two hands. What's so fascinating about them?" Tsunade muttered as she walked.

Along the way, she caught sight of Yizhe happily staring at his hands and examining them over and over. For no apparent reason, it irritated her.

"You just don't understand!" Hearing Tsunade mutter, Yizhe lowered his hands and clasped them behind his head. Looking thoroughly pleased with himself, he said happily, "Getting back what you've lost is one of life's greatest joys!"

"Getting back what you've lost?" A strange glint flashed through Tsunade's eyes.

For some reason, she suddenly fell silent. Seeing this, Yizhe and Shizune did not dare disturb her and could only remain silent as well.

The three of them walked across the snow without a word. The air was frighteningly quiet, broken only by the sound of their shoes rubbing against the packed snow.

"Kid, do you think reincarnation exists in this world? Is there any ninjutsu that can bring the dead back to life?" After a long silence, Tsunade was finally the first to break it.

"I don't know about ninjutsu that can bring the dead back to life." Yizhe shook his head.

"But as for reincarnation, I think it must exist!" he said firmly.

As for why he was so certain, it was because he himself had benefited from reincarnation!

Naturally, he could not tell anyone about something like that. He did not mind assuming the worst of others.

He had no desire to become experimental material for someone else's research into reincarnation!

"Why are you so certain?" Tsunade suddenly turned around, her expression grave.

Her beautiful brown eyes carefully scrutinized Yizhe's face, trying to determine whether he was simply spouting nonsense to attract attention.

But she was disappointed. There was not the slightest wavering on Yizhe's face, only utter conviction.

Yizhe was startled by her abrupt turn, but he fearlessly met her sharp gaze. He had no idea what had provoked this hot-tempered beauty!

Unable to see anything more, Tsunade turned away and kicked up a spray of snow, scattering it through the air. As she walked, she asked, "Why?"

"Do you know about the Nine-Tails Rebellion from more than two years ago?" Yizhe asked in return.

Though he could not reveal his own circumstances, there were still other examples he could discuss.

"Of course we do! So what?" Shizune interjected.

Hearing Tsunade and Yizhe discussing such a strange topic, she became interested as well. Although they had left the village early and had not experienced the Nine-Tails incident themselves.

Still, such a major event as the Nine-Tails rampage in Konoha could not have been kept secret. News of it had long spread throughout the entire Ninja World.

That was why they knew quite a bit about it even while traveling outside the village.

"The Fourth Hokage used a ninjutsu to seal the Nine-Tails. It was called the 'Dead Demon Consuming Seal,'" Yizhe said slowly.

"The 'Dead Demon Consuming Seal'?" Tsunade frowned. This was the first time she had heard of this ninjutsu.

"Rumor has it that it is a forbidden technique that sacrifices the user's soul to summon the Death God, then seals the opponent's soul!" he explained.

"And then?"

Tsunade still did not understand. Why had he brought up this Sealing Technique? What did it have to do with reincarnation?

Yizhe shook his head and said helplessly, "Have you never wondered why people have souls?"

"Where do souls come from? Where do they go after death? Why does the Death God exist?"

"They can't possibly appear out of nowhere and then vanish into nothing, can they?"

"That's right... Where do they come from? Where do they go?" Tsunade murmured, as though she had become entranced.

"My lady, Lady Tsunade!" Shizune, who had noticed something was wrong, called out loudly.

"Mm!" Tsunade jolted and regained her senses.

"My lady, what's wrong?" Shizune asked with concern.

"It's nothing, nothing! I was thinking about something and got lost in thought!" Tsunade waved her hand, indicating that she was fine.

"But even so, you still can't conclude from that alone that reincarnation exists!" she said with a helpless sigh.

"What is longed for will surely find an echo! So long as there is even the faintest hope in your heart, it is better than having nothing at all!" Yizhe said firmly.

"Hope..."

Tsunade looked up at the dim sky in the distance and fell silent again, though her steps became a little faster than before.

Before long, after passing through the city gate, a cluster of low houses piled with snow appeared before the three of them.

Clang!

Before they even entered the city, they heard the sound of steel striking steel.

The three raised their heads and followed the sound. At the corner of the street, two warriors in black were engaged in fierce combat.

The passing pedestrians all wore fearful expressions. They kept their distance, not daring to approach, and watched from the side.

"Come, let's go take a look!" Tsunade said softly, frowning.

With that, she took the lead, striding quickly toward the battlefield.

As a healer, she naturally disliked this sort of fighting.

"Hey, sir, may I ask why those two warriors are fighting?" Yizhe stopped a young man watching the commotion nearby.

"Those two?" The young man curled his lip and said rather helplessly, "One of them is called Yuichi, and the other is called Koji!"

"They both live on this street and have been close since childhood. I've never seen them have a conflict before!"

"But lately, who knows why, they started arguing over some minor issues concerning swordsmanship. At first, they were only small arguments, but gradually there was more friction. Today, they actually started fighting outright!"

After saying that, the young man shook his head regretfully, clearly unable to understand it.

"Swordsmanship?" Tsunade and Shizune, who had been listening patiently beside him, exchanged glances in confusion.

As ninjas, it was difficult for them to understand such obsession.

Since it was a matter of swordsmanship, Yizhe found it understandable instead.

From the various books he had read in his previous life, swordsmen were inherently a group of idealistic, stubborn people. It was perfectly normal for them to come to blows over matters of swordsmanship.

Unyielding even in death—those words described people like them.

The warriors of this ninja world also specialized in the way of the sword. A person was like their sword, and their nature was like their sword! They were presumably much the same as swordsmen. Other issues might be easy to resolve, but if it involved swordsmanship, then it would be troublesome!

To these idealistic people, nothing was more important than the sword!

If they wanted the other party to acknowledge their beliefs, there was nothing more direct than proving them with their blades.

"Lady Tsunade, should we stop them?" Shizune pointed at the two warriors fighting fiercely in the middle of the street and asked quietly.

Tsunade remained silent, merely watching the battle in the street.

This morning, while looking over the draft before uploading it, I suddenly thought of a joke.

So I added it in. O(≧?≦)O You should be able to spot it—it's very obvious!