Valley of the End

Hatake Sakumo stood at the edge of the Forest of Death, gazing towards the distant Valley of the End.

The night was deep, and the moonlight was obscured by thick clouds, leaving only scattered spots of light on the treetops.

The wind rustled through the woods, as if whispering something.

His fingers unconsciously caressed the hilt of the White Fang Short Sword, the cold metallic touch giving him a slight sense of reassurance.

" The Valley of the End..."

Hatake Sakumo murmured to himself, Orochimaru's words echoing in his mind.

That golden rain of light, a power capable of instantly altering the entire Shinobi World, was used to create a false peace.

What exactly is hidden behind this?

He took a deep breath, stepped forward, and the withered leaves under his feet made a slight cracking sound. Every step felt like walking on the edge of the unknown.

The surrounding trees gradually thinned out, and the view opened up.

In the distance, the outline of the Valley of the End was faintly visible in the night, with two enormous statues.

Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha.

They stand silently on either side of the canyon, as if guarding something.

Hatake Sakumo stopped and carefully observed his surroundings. A faint Chakra fluctuation permeated the air, weak yet exceptionally pure, unlike any Chakra he had ever sensed before.

This power seems to belong to someone other than humanity, more like some higher-dimensional being.

"Is this the trace of a 'miracle'?" he wondered to himself, his brow furrowing slightly.

This Chakra gave him a strange sense of oppression, as if an invisible eye was watching his every move.

Continue forward, taking each step with utmost care.

As the distance decreased, the Chakra fluctuations grew stronger, and the surrounding air seemed to thicken.

Hatake Sakumo's breathing gradually became rapid, as if something was pressing down on his chest.

Suddenly, a slight noise came from behind.

Hatake Sakumo turned around instantly, drawing his White Fang Short Sword, its cold light flashing in the night.

However, there was no one behind him, only a few fallen leaves being swept up by the wind and slowly drifting down.

"Illusion?"

He muttered to himself, but his vigilance remained undiminished.

In this eerie world, any rustling of the wind could conceal danger.

Sheathed her dagger and continued on her way.

The entrance to the Valley of the End was just a stone's throw away, and the faces of the two statues appeared exceptionally clear in the moonlight.

Hashirama Senju's gaze was calm and profound, while Madara Uchiha's expression carried a hint of barely perceptible mockery.

Hatake Sakumo looked up at the two statues, a complex mix of emotions welling up inside him.

"If you were still alive, how would you view this world distorted by 'miracles'?" he asked softly, his voice fading into the night wind, with no one answering.

The moment you step into the canyon, the surrounding scenery changes abruptly.

The once silent night was replaced by a faint golden light, and a warm and sacred atmosphere filled the air.

Hatake Sakumo's pupils contracted slightly; the scene before him made him feel momentarily disoriented.

The interior of the Valley of the End was completely different from what he remembered.

The once desolate canyon is now covered by a lush forest, with tall, straight trees whose branches shimmer with golden light.

The ground was covered with soft green grass, and walking on it felt like stepping on clouds.

In the distance, a clear stream meanders by, its surface reflecting the starry sky.

"This is... Genjutsu?" Hatake Sakumo subconsciously bit his tongue, feeling a clear pain, but the scene before him remained unchanged.

He shook his head, trying to dispel the doubts in his mind.

Just then, a soft singing voice came from afar, ethereal and pure, as if it could cleanse the soul.

Hatake Sakumo looked in the direction of the sound and saw a woman in a white robe sitting by the stream. Her long silver hair reached her waist and shone softly in the moonlight.

The woman's face was covered by a thin veil, revealing only a pair of clear, watery eyes.

Her fingers gently stirred the stream, creating ripples on the surface, and her singing voice echoed across the water.

Hatake Sakumo stood there, unsure whether he should step forward.

The woman's presence gave him a strange sense of peace, but reason told him that in this eerie place, anything that seemed beautiful could hide a deadly danger.

After hesitating for a moment, he finally stepped towards the woman.

As the distance shortened, the woman's voice became clearer, and the lyrics seemed to contain some kind of ancient prophecy.

"Lost traveler, why have you entered this place?"

The woman's voice suddenly rang out, interrupting Hatake Sakumo's thoughts.

She raised her head, looking directly at Hatake Sakumo, her eyes showing no hostility, only a faint concern.

Hatake Sakumo stared at the woman in white robes before him, the inexplicable sense of familiarity in his heart growing stronger.

Her voice, her posture, even the way she splashed the stream, all reminded him of a vague figure from his memory.

"Have we... met before?" he couldn't help but ask, a hint of hesitation in his voice.

Under the moonlight, her silhouette appeared exceptionally soft, yet carried an indescribable sense of detachment.

The woman did not answer immediately, but simply raised her hand slightly, her fingertips brushing against the edge of her veil.

"Perhaps we've met in another world," she replied, her voice as soft as a sigh. "Or perhaps, it's a shadow deep within your heart calling to you."

Hatake Sakumo frowned slightly.

Such an answer was too vague; normally, he would never easily believe a stranger.

But at this moment...

"Who exactly are you?" Hatake Sakumo asked again, this time with a hint of urgency in his voice.

The woman remained silent for a moment, then slowly removed her veil.

Hatake Sakumo's breathing suddenly became rapid.

Under the moonlight, a face he had been longing for was revealed: gentle eyebrows and eyes with faint smile lines, a small dimple on the left cheek, and a perpetually slightly upturned mouth.

" Yukiko..."

His voice trembled, and the White Fang Short Sword clattered to the ground.

I can't remember how many years it's been.

He hadn't seen that face since receiving news of his wife's death that rainy night while on a mission in the Land of Hot Water.

Hatake Sakumo's vision blurred, and his legs moved forward uncontrollably.

The woman looked puzzled and took a small step back. " Yukiko? Who's that?"

These words were like a bucket of ice water poured over Hatake Sakumo's head.

He froze abruptly, his outstretched hand hanging in mid-air.

"Don't you remember me? I am Hatake Sakumo, your husband..."

The woman shook her head, her long silver hair shimmering in the moonlight. "I don't know you."

Her eyes were clear yet unfamiliar. "But I know you're here seeking answers."

Hatake Sakumo felt a sharp pain in his chest.

Reason told him it was impossible, but his heart stubbornly kept beating.

That face, that voice, even her habitual tilt of her head—it was exactly the same as the wife I remembered.

"Then why... why are you here?"

The woman put her veil back on, reached out and touched her heart, and said softly, "This place tells me to wait for someone here, and you seem to be that person."

Hatake Sakumo forced himself to take a deep breath.

Chakra circulated within his body, attempting to dispel the unnatural sense of disorientation.

But the more he circulated his Chakra, the clearer the woman's figure became, and he could even smell the faint herbal scent in her hair.

That was my wife's favorite flavor when she was alive.

"You look like you're in pain," the woman said softly, a hint of pity in her eyes. "Is it because of that name? Yukiko, is she important to you?"

Hatake Sakumo's lips trembled, and a broken syllable squeezed out of his throat.

"Important? She is the meaning of my life..."

As soon as the words left his mouth, he was stunned. He had never said such a thing to anyone, not even to himself.

A strange light flashed in the woman's eyes. "So, do you want to see her again?"

Her voice suddenly took on a peculiar rhythm, like the soft sound of a stream lapping against pebbles.

Hatake Sakumo felt a wave of dizziness.

The woman's figure in front of me began to blur, then gradually became clearer.

This time, she wore a familiar light-colored kimono, with the Mu Jin hairpin he had given her years ago adorning her hair, and even the worn threads on her cuffs were exactly the same.

"Mao," she called softly, her voice exactly as she remembered, "Come with me."

The White Fang Short Sword lay silently on the grass, the moonlight reflecting off its blade stinging Hatake Sakumo's eyes.

He should pick it up; he should stay alert.

But the woman's hand had already reached out, the warmth of her fingertips seeping through the glove, a warmth so real it was heartbreaking.

" Yukiko..."

Hatake Sakumo murmured, letting the other take his hand. They walked along the stream, the reflections on the water gradually changing.

Young Hatake Sakumo awkwardly slips a ring onto his bride's finger at their wedding, Yukiko, Kakashi, and smiles tenderly at him. The family of three enjoys a picnic under the cherry blossom trees of Konoha...

Each scene felt like a dull knife cutting into his flesh, Hatake Sakumo's breathing grew heavier and heavier.

At the end of the stream is a calm lake, in the center of which stands a Faceless stone statue.

Unlike the statue at the valley entrance, this stone statue holds a glowing crystal ball in its hands, and the shadowy figures can be vaguely seen moving inside the ball.

Several figures were standing around, Hatake Sakumo recognized them at a glance.

Members of the Akatsuki.

Their attire was completely different from that of the main world; white robes replaced the black uniforms with red clouds, and their faces no longer held the usual indifference and murderous intent, but instead displayed an almost pious tranquility.

"Look," the woman said, guiding his gaze toward the crystal ball, "She's right there."

Hatake Sakumo staggered forward.

Inside the crystal ball, Yukiko was brewing tea in their old home, while the maple trees outside the window were ablaze with fiery red.

"As long as you hold onto it, you can be with her forever," the woman whispered in his ear.

The view inside the sphere became increasingly clear.

Yukiko looked up and smiled, as if she were looking at him through time and space. Her lips parted slightly, as if to say, "Let's go home."

Hatake Sakumo's hands reached out towards the crystal ball uncontrollably.

No war... no separation... isn't this exactly what you wanted?

Hatake Sakumo's fingers touched the surface of the crystal ball, countless fragments of memories surged forth like a tide.

The slightly cool touch of Yukiko's fingers when she first bandaged his wound, the sly smile on her face when she secretly slipped a bento box into his ninja tool bag.

And in her final moments...

With her husband absent, Yukiko could only lull Kakashi to sleep before closing her eyes forever.

Tears blurred my vision.

Hatake Sakumo hugged the crystal ball tightly to his chest, as if it could fill the void in his heart that had never healed over the years.

"Mao..."

A familiar voice immediately echoed in my mind.

The crystal ball gradually melted, turning into a warm liquid that enveloped him.

Hatake Sakumo felt himself sinking, as if sinking into the softest cloud. In the distance, there was light, and in that light stood the figure he had been dreaming of, reaching out to him...

"You'll see her soon! This time, you won't be separated again!" the woman murmured softly, her voice gradually overlapping with that of Yukiko in her memory.

Hatake Sakumo's consciousness began to fade.

In the reflection of the lake, he saw himself changing; his wrinkles disappeared, his white hair turned black, and he gradually returned to the appearance he had more than twenty years ago.

But surprisingly, he also saw a figure at the bottom of the lake that was pierced by dozens of chains!

The pale panel was covered with black Cursed Seal, and her long hair flowed like seaweed.

The most horrifying thing was the face. The right half was a familiar outline, but the left half was rotten and crawling with maggots. Where the eyes should have been, there were only two blood-soaked holes.

" Uchiha... Madara?"

"Idiot!"

Suddenly, a black flame erupted from the bottom of the lake, and the chains trembled violently, emitting a piercing metallic wail.

Madara Uchiha's mangled body slowly raised its arm from the center of the chains.

This simple movement seemed to have exhausted all his strength; the rotting muscle fibers snapped one by one, revealing the stark white finger bones.

But that hand still pointed firmly at Hatake Sakumo, a faint light gathering at its fingertips.

For three years, Madara secretly stored up every bit of Chakra that leaked out.

The power that should have been drawn away by the chains was retained by him in an almost self-destructive way; with each bit he retained, his wounds deepened.

At this moment, the pent-up resistance that had been building up for three years finally erupted.

The black fire pierced the lake water like an arrow, carving a tiny crack in the crystal ball on Hatake Sakumo's chest.

What seemed like a minor injury caused the entire lake to boil.

"Ah!!!"

The woman let out a shriek, her body contorting like a melting wax figure.

Yukiko inside the crystal ball suddenly froze, then shattered into countless fragments like a broken mirror, reflecting different memory scenes, which dissipated into specks of light as they fell.

Hatake Sakumo seemed to awaken from a dream.

Meanwhile, the spot on the lakebed had already exhausted its life force, and the arm that had unleashed Amaterasu had been completely carbonized. The chains took the opportunity to deepen the erosion, dragging the other side of the body into the process of decay as well.

A mocking smile appeared on that mutilated face.

"It's really... ugly..."

The shards of the crystal ball emitted an eerie hum beneath Hatake Sakumo's feet, and within each shard, Yukiko was repeating her final farewell.

"Mao..."

"Mao..."

"Mao..."

Countless voices overlapped in his ears, crashing against his reason like a tidal wave.

Hahahaha!

Suddenly, the spotted creature at the bottom of the lake let out a hoarse laugh, its carbonized right arm turned to dust, but the seal was already complete.

" Shinjutsu: Ōmikami Release!"

This simple action seemed to have exhausted Ban's last bit of life force, and his broken body disintegrated at a speed visible to the naked eye.

But those empty eye sockets were fixed on the moon in the sky.