Only after Shui Yuan's cries gradually subsided into low sobs did Mito slowly rise and walk over to him.
She did not bend down. She merely reached out and gently rested her hand on Shui Yuan's shoulder, which had tensed from his overwhelming emotions.
That hand was not especially strong, yet it carried a strange, warm, steady strength.
"Foolish child..."
Mito's voice finally caught with a trace of sobbing, but she forcibly suppressed it, making it incomparably clear and firm.
"Lift your head, Shui Yuan.
A man of the Uzumaki Clan may bleed, may die in battle, but he must never... let guilt and the past bend his back forever."
Under her palm and her words, Shui Yuan's trembling gradually ceased.
He raised his head again. Tears streaked his face, and his eyes were bloodshot, but within that bottomless despair, a crack seemed to have opened, allowing in a faint ray of light—the unbroken recognition and bond of a loved one.
"The country is gone, but the clan remains."
Mito stared into his eyes and spoke each word distinctly, every one striking his heart like a hammer:
"As long as you, the clan head, have not fallen, as long as even one Uzumaki's heart still beats, the Uzumaki have not perished!
Our ancestors' wisdom and bloodline will not be cut off!"
She withdrew her hand and returned to the seat of honor, her back straight as she regained the bearing expected of the head of the Uzumaki Clan's Main House.
"Kumoi has already told me that Konoha will do everything it can to help you rebuild your home.
The land in the West District, the university lectureships, participation in the Industrial District... these are all new beginnings, the foundation for the Uzumaki's rebirth in Konoha."
Her gaze shifted to Kumoi,