Serina took three days to walk back to Konoha from Peace River Town.
Not because it was far, but because she treated the Boundary River like her own backyard stroll-she picked a wildflower in Echoing City and tucked it beside the bronze bell as she crossed the boundary; after finishing her last bowl of porridge in Peace River Town, she swiped the bowl, washed it, and put it in her bag; passing the culvert in the Land of Waves, she stopped to listen to the water for five minutes, making sure the seven-beat cycle was still there before moving on.
On the evening of the third day, as she came down the grassy slope in the Valley of the End, Shikamaru was leaning against the base of Hashirama's statue, eating Soldier Pills. When he saw her, he chewed twice, swallowed, and said, "You've put on weight."
"Wujiu's porridge was too thick." Serina set down her canvas bag and pulled out the clean bowl-white porcelain, with a little chip in its base from the last time Mingchen had washed it.
"Did the Unreturning Bell break?" Shikamaru wasted no words.
"It did." She turned the bowl to show him its base-a small answering bell had been drawn there in cinnabar, with the words "Echoing City" beside it. "The city flipped upright, and the black water receded. But there's nobody in it. We need to get people living there."
Shikamaru looked at the drawing on the bowl's base, and the corner of his mouth twitched. "You've engraved the official seal on a bowl."
"Easier to wash than a Steel Ruler."
The two of them headed toward Konoha. On the way, Serina briefly recounted how she had cleared all three levels of the Returnless Abyss-not like someone filing a report, but like a neighbor